RIP

Rusty Young Dies: Cofounder Of Rock Group Poco Was 75

 “My heart is saddened; he was a dear and longtime friend who help me pioneer and create a new Southern California musical sound called ‘country rock.’

BEFORE THE EAGLES

By Bruce Haring
pmc-editorial-manager

Randy Young (r) with Randy Meisner

AP

Rusty Young, the cofounder of Poco and only member to last though its entire five-decade history, died Wednesday at 75 of a heart attack at his Davisville, Missouri home, a representative confirmed.

“I just received word that my friend Rusty Young has passed away and crossed that line into eternity,” cofounder Richie Furay said in a statement. “My heart is saddened; he was a dear and longtime friend who help me pioneer and create a new Southern California musical sound called ‘country rock.’ He was an innovator on the steel guitar and carried the name Poco on for more than 50 years. Our friendship was real and he will be deeply missed. My prayers are with his wife, Mary, and his children Sara and Will.”

Poco and Young continued to tour through March 2020, finally derailed by the pandemic. The group was formed in 1968 by Young and ex-Buffalo Springfield members Furay and Jim Messina. Young later became the frontman when they departed, leading the group to its most successful years in the ’70s..

Young was the writer for Poco’s biggest hit, Crazy Love, named the No. 1 adult contemporary song of 1979.

Born on Feb. 23, 1946, in Long Beach, Calif. Young grew up in Denver and played lap steel in local groups. He came to L.A. in 1967 to play steel on sessions for Buffalo Springfield’s final album, Last Time Around.

A 1989 reunion album Legacy, brought Furay, Messina, and Randy Meisner back to Poco.

The final version of the band had Young backed by Jack Sundrud, Rick Lonow, and Tom Hampton, and was still doing more than 100 gigs a year. The group celebrated its 50th anniversary reunion in 2017. Young released his first solo album, “Waitin’ For The Sun ” that same year.

Survivors include his wife, Mary, their daughter, Sara, son, Will, and three young grandsons, Chandler, Ryan, and Graham, as well as Mary’s three children Joe, Marci and Hallie, and grandchildren Quentin and Emma.

A memorial service will be held October 16 at Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville, Missouri.

BORAT VS THE CHILD MOLSTER
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Battle With Roy Moore’s $95M Defamation Suit Now Centers On Who Looked Where & When, Seriously

By Dominic Patten
Senior Editor, Legal & TV Critic

@DeadlineDominic

April 13, 2021 

Sacha Baron Cohen, Roy MooreID PR; AP

EXCLUSIVE: Unsurprisingly, there is little on which Sacha Baron Cohen and failed GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore see eye to eye. However, it still might raise an eyebrow a bit to discover that the discord literally includes which way The Trial of the Chicago 7 star turns his gaze.

As the defendants seek to dismiss Moore’s almost three-year old $95 million defamation suit against master satirist Baron Cohen over a damning appearance in Showtime’s Who Is America?, the political plaintiff’s lawyer is hoping to take the double Oscar-nominated performer to task for where he was looking during a recent deposition via Zoom. Really.

“The video does clearly show [sic] Cohen looking downward – most likely at his phone or tablet — with virtually every question that I posed, and it is thus obvious that he was being fed answers by someone,” Moore’s lawyer Larry Klayman wrote in an amended letter sent to U.S. District Court Judge John P. Cronan on April 7. The letter (read it here) takes on the confidentiality of the video of the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm actor’s deposition and his on-camera mannerisms, so to speak.

“He is indeed the self-described proud master of fraud and deception and his being fed answers comes as no surprise given his past conduct,” the conservative and litigious (just ask Hillary Clinton) Judicial Watch founder continued. “I urge the Court to watch the [sic] Cohen video and reach its own conclusion, which is obvious.”

“The ramifications of this obvious conduct are criminal in nature,” Klayman adds, tossing an implied statutory grenade into the mix.

Commonly, lawyers for both sides are in the room during a deposition, along with technical support staff and the individual being deposed. And on such occasions, there is often some chatter or permitted interruption from said lawyers depending on the nature and direction of the questions. However, amid a global pandemic and bicoastal participants in this New York-based case, things are a little different. That’s what seems to be the heart of this tempest in an apparent teacup.

Showtime had no comment on the matter when contacted Tuesday by Deadline. But Baron Cohen’s personal attorney did explain.

“Sacha Baron Cohen is 6’3’’ and this was a Zoom deposition,” Russell Smith tells Deadline of what actually went down in the digital sit-down a few weeks ago. “He had to look down at his laptop to see the lawyer asking him questions,” added the SmithDehn LLP lawyer

“He never looked down at text messages from counsel during the deposition, because there were no such messages,” Smith adds.

Nonetheless, with a formal response to Klayman’s letter coming from Defendant’s lawyers on April 9, Cronan on Monday stepped in to turn down the volume and try to find common ground. As the federal judge’s order of April 12 noted:

The parties are directed to meet and confer on the confidentiality designation issue raised by Plaintiffs pursuant to Paragraph 13 of the Protective Order entered by the Court on December 22, 2020. The parties are ordered to file a joint status letter on April 16, 2021, notifying the Court whether this dispute has been resolved. In the event this issue has not been resolved by the parties, the Court will conduct a conference to address the issue. Further, after receiving the parties’ joint status letter on April 16, 2021, the Court will schedule a conference to discuss the other issues raised in Defendants’ April 9, 2021 response letter, including Plaintiffs’ counsel alleged violation of Local Civil Rule 1.5(h)(1) and his communications with Defendants’ counsel. This conference likely will also address the confidentiality designation dispute in the event it is not resolved by the meet-and-confer process.

First filed in September 2018 in D.C. District Court, then moved to the Empire State at the defendants’ urging, the defamation case from Moore and his wife centers on the one-time Alabama Supreme Court chief justice’s appearance in Baron Cohen and Showtime’s 2018 limited series Who Is America?, along with a supposed “pedophile detector.”

Moore says he was conned into the interview with a disguised Baron Cohen, who was posing as an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. Baron Cohen, Showtime and the one-time CBS Corp (the case was filed before its 2019 corporate remarriage with Viacom) say Moore signed a release. Moore, who faced a slew of accusations of sexual misconduct with minors during his unsuccessful 2017 Senate bid, alleges his signature “was obtained through fraud” and therefore the release is “void and inoperative.”

In the course of the ongoing case, the April 7 letter from Klayman, who has been recently suspended by the D.C. Court of Appeals for 90 days over ethics issues and intends to contest the ruling, came one day after Davis Wright Tremaine LLP attorneys for Baron Cohen and fellow defendants Showtime and CBS participated in a briefing on their latest motion to have the matter tossed out.

In fact, the letter quote above is the second from Klayman on the same topic, submitted later on April 7 “after Defendants sent an email to Plaintiffs’ counsel pointing out that the letter provided false information to the Court and requesting its immediate withdrawal,” to quote the defendant’s lead lawyer Elizabeth McNamara in her April 9 correspondence to Cronan – a letter where the Davis Wright Tremaine LLP attorney calls out Klayman for “repeated deceptive conduct.”

“Plaintiffs have repeatedly confirmed that their objection to Defendants’ confidentiality designation is based on their outrage at the fact that the Who Is America? segment featuring Roy Moore is available to the public while the video of the [sic] Cohen deposition is not,” McNamara goes on to say (read it here). “In other words, Plaintiffs wish to make the video public purely to cause Mr. [sic] Cohen public discomfort in retaliation for the discomfort Defendants allegedly caused Plaintiffs, and, at the same time, to generate publicity for Plaintiffs’ counsel.”

Arguing that courts “regularly restricted access” to depositions and other visual material related to celebrities like Baron Cohen, McNamara concludes: “Such use of deposition video is inappropriate and should not be countenanced by the Court.”

What the court ultimately decides will come in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Baron Cohen is up for Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as infamous activist Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7 at this month’s Oscars, as well as for Best Adapted Screenplay for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. The 93rd Academy Awards are on April 25.

SAG-AFTRA Panel Explores New Opportunities For Native Americans


By David Robb
Labor Editor

April 15, 2021 7:32pm

SAG-AFTRA


Native American-themed films and TV shows have been on the rise recently – Ava DuVernay and Bird Runningwater are developing a dramatic series for NBC about the struggles and triumphs of an Indigenous family – but Hollywood has a long way to go to include Native Americans into its storylines.

During today’s SAG-AFTRA panel discussion about Re-Creating Native Americans in the Media, Hollywood was urged to tell more stories about Native Americans as the modern people that they are, not just as throwbacks to the bygone era of cowboys and Indians – and to give Native Americans a seat at the table to tell their own stories.

“We have the sense of being invisible,” said Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative, a nonprofit initiative designed to increase the visibility of Native Nations and peoples. “And if we are invited into the room, we’re usually the only Native person in the room. And in interactions out in the world, we just constantly run into being reduced to being a caricature, a stereotype.

Research her organization has conducted found that “one of the greatest threats to Native people is our invisibility and erasure, which is perpetuated by big systems, such as K-12 education, in which 90% of the schools don’t teach about Native Americans past 1900. So generation after generation of Americans are literally conditioned to think that we’re of an ancient past and don’t exist today.

“But Hollywood, media entertainment, and pop culture is a big culprit within that. Our representation in TV and film hovers somewhere between zero and 0.4%. And what little representation ekes through is either before 1900, or as toxic stories that fuel these tropes about savages or mystical, magical Indians. And with Native women, if they do show up at all, they’re often being brutalized, and oftentimes don’t even live to the end of the show.”

“What we found,” she said, “is that invisibility, plus those toxic stereotypes, fuel racism; they fuel bias. And those have real-world consequences against our people that show up in how our people are treated in the courts and in Congress; to the way that our children are treated every day in classrooms, and to the epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous people in this country.

“What our research told us is how important representation is. And it’s not just about representation showing up on screen; it matters what’s behind the camera; it matters who’s elected to office. It’s really about representation through all levels of society. That’s how we’re going to not only dismantle that invisibility and toxic stereotypes, but how we’re going to advance equity and justice for our people.”

“I have really seen such an explosion recently of Native content,” said Princess Daazhraii Johnson, producer of Molly of Denali and a member of SAG-AFTRA’s Native Americans Committee. “There’s been so much good work coming out of content creators.” She also spoke about the “positive effects of reclaiming Native truth; of us actually being able to have that narrative sovereignty and inform what our image looks like.”

“It is exciting. There’s definitely an uptick,” Echo Hawk agreed. “But there’s a couple of key points as we think about that. There have been Native people fighting for our representation in entertainment and media for decades and decades…It’s unfortunate that it took the murder of George Floyd and the beginning of a reckoning with systemic racism that is opening an opportunity now, finally, for this narrative sovereignty for Native peoples to really, truly author stories. It’s so exciting. There’s a definite uptick. But it’s been a long time coming, and there’s a lot of work to be done, because those numbers in TV and film have literally not moved at all. So I’m hoping, that with all the good things that are coming in 2021 and beyond, we’re going to start to see changes, not only in what we’re seeing in TV and film, but what’s happening behind the camera, as well.”

“We continue to commit and re-commit to making systemic change, because it is systemic,” Johnson said. “Whether it’s the justice system or the education system, and to creating some shared understanding of our histories, because so many people have no idea about the history of Native people in this country.”

“When we look at fighting systemic racism,” Echo Hawk said, “there’s such a powerful opportunity for Hollywood, which creates 80% of global content and shapes the way that people think about the world and communities – there’s such a deep responsibility, in is this powerful moment, in this reckoning, to call people in, to really take this introspective moment to understand the power and opportunity that exists to be a force for good in dismantling white supremacy and systemic racism. And to tell stories that are reflective of our ever-rapidly changing and diverse society, of which Indigenous people play an important role. We are still here; we are thriving; we have wonderful stories to tell.”

More Stories By David

SAG-AFTRA Panelists Say “Disability Consistently Overlooked In Conversation About Diversity & Inclusion”

SAG-AFTRA Panel Explores Efforts To Combat Hate Against Asian Americans

See all of today’s Stop the Hate panel discussions here.

 

“Its All Hush Hush Now”: Postmortem With a Bessemer Amazon Worker

Post on: April 14, 2021 

 Left Voice

Left Voice spoke with a Bessemer Amazon worker to discuss the defeat of the union and the possibilities going forward.

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Left Voice spoke with a Bessemer Amazon worker to discuss the defeat of the union and the possibilities going forward. This person wishes to remain anonymous. We had previously spoken to them about the conditions at Amazon.

[Name redacted], it’s great to talk with you again. Last time we talked, it was a few days before the end of the vote for the Amazon union. We were eager to find out the results and hoping for a yes. So, from your perspective, what happened?!

Apparently, according to what my fiancé told me, the union didn’t win, Amazon won.

Have folks been talking about it at the warehouse?

I haven’t really heard anybody taking about it. It’s kind like an awkward silence. It feels in the air like some people wanted the union to win. Then there is the other people there who didn’t want it to win. And then it’s just like, the air is really awkward there.

It’s been hush-hush now. We haven’t heard anything else about it. That’s the crazy part. They got what they wanted, and now there is nothing else. But beforehand the whole deal with the union, we were going to classes and we were hearing this, that, and the third. And now silence. Just radio silence, nothing.

Left Voice is hosting a panel with Bessemer Amazon worker and Black liberation activist Frances Wallace and Robin D.G. Kelly, author of Hammer and Hoe to discuss the results of the unionization vote. Sign up and RSVP to the Facebook event.

What’s your feeling about it?

It doesn’t make sense why so many people didn’t vote. I really don’t understand them. But I guarantee you, those people that voted no are the supervisors and people well taken care of in the building. The people being looked out for and not having any problems.

Why do you think people voted no on the union?

There was probably a small percentage of them that Amazon actually got to with the classes and everything. Oh, Amazon’s offering this and Amazon is offering that. There are people that they got with that whole propaganda, but the rest, I think were supervisors or employees that are well taken care of at work.

I’m kind of a little disappointed because I feel like there was a little opening for radical change at Amazon. I was reading reviews before I started work, and there’s just so many people just talking about all this stuff that has gone down there, and it’s this ridiculously outrageous stuff that should not happening in a workplace. Just crazy stuff.

Do you feel the union election was fair?

Kinda sorta in a way. Because we were right there in their presence within the facility, they were able to corral us into these rooms and get a chance to thoroughly tell everybody about what they’re offering without the union getting to talk to these people.

That’s the other thing that I feel like wasn’t right, is that they kept pounding in our heads, don’t support the union stuff. And then they kept texting us every single day, and I bet some people voted just whatever so that they could just stop getting bombarded with this stuff.

I will say one thing I don’t agree on is, the union is out there, outside the warehouse, and they were open for us to come to them versus being there on site. Amazon came in, and they forced us to go to class and the action. We didn’t have an option. I was annoyed because I did not want to go to this class.

You preprogram these people who are standing outside as the bad guy. And they haven’t even heard what those people have to say.

What do you think about the mailbox fiasco?

The mailbox? Oh, you’re talking about the on-site mailbox. What happened with that?

The federal government, through the National Labor Relations Board, told Amazon, you cannot put a mailbox site. What does Amazon do? They contact the postal service in Bessemer and demand that they install a mailbox on site — directly against the directive of the NLRB.

Wow. I didn’t even know that. Wow. That really goes to show how dedicated Amazon is to trying to keep things the way they are. I hadn’t even known anything about it. Wow.

I didn’t put my ballot in that mailbox. I put it in my own mailbox at my house. I didn’t think about it in that way, but just something just told me something told me there is something weird that they put up a mailbox.

Because they [supervisors] most definitely kept telling us about the mailbox on site. “There is a mailbox on site. There is a mailbox on site.” And it was like, OK, I got it. Why are you pushing this with the whole mailbox thing? They pushed it really hard with the mailbox.

So it makes you wonder, did some of those ballots disappear? What happened? And if that wasn’t authorized, it makes you wonder what else did they do that wasn’t within regulations, right?

Do you feel like the union could have organized it better?

The union did really pretty OK. As far as passing out information, advertisement, and so forth. Like they, they came pretty hard. They’re out there every night on the curb, you know, with the signs and stuff and their pamphlets. They came with it.

I really feel like everybody should use their own judgment and see both sides and not just what our employer is feeding us. They don’t even know the other side of the story about what’s being said as far as the union. They gave us a little bit of information. We don’t even know if their information is completely true or not. All we know is what they say to us.

At the end it was kind of odd because they started showing us some of the deals that the union had made with other companies, but it was from a lot of previous years. Like one was from 2012. I was like, OK, can we see some recent stuff? It was showing union negotiations where the pay was settled at like $7 and some change. It was a lot of monetary figures. I wish I could remember thoroughly everything that was shown to us. ’Cause they just bombarded us with so much information.

You all may be able to vote again for the union because Amazon violated the rules so much. What do you think will happen if there is a second vote?

I feel like if we get a second chance, the union will actually win this time because if the government gets really, really involved, like I have a feeling they will, they’re going to make sure that everything is completely fair. And then everything is on a level playing field and no mailboxes or anything like that.

What would it look like in your opinion for it to be fair?

All the votes being counted, and nothing like the whole mailbox thing. And the union being allowed on the premises and speak to us. I don’t know how to describe how it would look.

But I don’t think it was fair that the union had to just be out there on the curb open to the elements or whatever versus we’re inside and Amazon, could take us into a classroom. ’Cause I know when one day they weren’t outside because it was storming and pouring down raining, but we were still able to have an anti-union meeting while the union people had to be at home and not advertise themselves that day because of their lack of accommodation.

Were people scared to talk to the union?

I’m sure there were more than a handful of people who were feeling that way. Like they didn’t want to be seen and you have some of our coworkers who are snitches, hate to use that word, but they’re snitches so they can get in the good graces of our management and receive some other perks that they are seeing some of their peers receiving. And who knows what kind of backlash would have resulted from that.

Did you ever talk to any of the union people?

I talked here and there when I could. I was just so overwhelmed with it because Amazon was bombarding us every single day. One day this lady, she was so nice and she reached out and sent me this sweet text message and I completely forgot to respond. I was actually interested in hearing what she was trying to talk to me about, but Amazon had already overloaded for the day. And I was just like, no union stuff. Plus, I had to look after my kids and I completely forgot.

What would you say to your coworkers? What would you say to those who voted yes and those who voted no?

For those who votes yes, I would say, “You did the right thing.”

So the ones that voted no because they were overloaded with information and Amazon got to them first, I wouldn’t really have too much to say to them except, well, next time vote yes.

The ones that voted no because they are being taken care of and are under the wing of management, I have nothing to say to them.

SO LONG —
Bezos says Amazon should “do a better job for our employees” after union vote

Farewell letter also reveals his concerns about the company’s carbon footprint.

TIM DE CHANT - 4/15/2021


Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos used his final letter to Amazon shareholders to focus on employee well-being and the company’s significant carbon footprint.

Bezos’ new emphasis on employee well-being comes on the heels of a contentious unionization vote at one of its warehouses in Bessemer, Alabama. Though Amazon won, with 1,798 employees voting against unionizing out of 3,041 total ballots cast, participation was low, with just over half of eligible voters participating. Labor organizers have made it clear that even if unionization votes continue to go against them, they’ll keep pressuring Amazon through other means.

That strategy may be working. Bezos dedicates a significant portion of his letter to both the unionization vote and to employee well-being. Whereas Bezos wrote a single paragraph about a tuition reimbursement program three years ago, he wrote nearly 1,200 words about pay rates, employee satisfaction, and workplace safety this year.

“Does your Chair take comfort in the outcome of the recent union vote in Bessemer? No, he doesn’t,” Bezos wrote. “I think we need to do a better job for our employees. While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees—a vision for their success.”

Among his proposals are new staffing rotations that he hopes will reduce repetitive stress injuries at warehouses. Injuries aren’t uncommon at warehouses—many actions are repeated hundreds of times per day—but Amazon’s fulfillment centers seem to be particularly prone to injuries, according to an investigation by Reveal. Because Amazon's warehouse robots move quickly, workers move faster, too, giving their muscles less time to rest between repeated movements.

Bezos also touts the company’s decision to increase Amazon’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, a rate that labor groups have been advocating for since at least 2012. He cites a recent study that says that pay in low-wage areas increased by 4.7 percent when the company bumped rates to $15 per hour.Advertisement

Climate Pledge

Amazon’s enormous carbon footprint has also drawn scrutiny in recent years, and Bezos again spills a fair number of bytes discussing the matter. The company’s carbon footprint surged in 2019 to over 51 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is only about 6 percent less than Peru’s annual emissions.

Bezos points out that Amazon helped co-found the Climate Pledge, which commits companies to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. As part of that pledge, Amazon has installed or purchased 6.9 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity that produce 20 million gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. The company has also invested $1 billion in automaker Rivian and has placed an order with the startup for 100,000 electric delivery vans. By 2030, the EVs will shave the company’s footprint by an estimated 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Amazon has also invested $2 billion in a climate tech fund, and Bezos himself has committed $10 billion in grants for climate-oriented companies and organizations.

The Climate Pledge also calls for companies to offset emissions “to compensate for economic activities where low-carbon alternatives don’t exist,” Bezos wrote. Offsets span a range of activities, from planting trees and protecting forests to burning methane from landfills, though most revolve around trees. As a whole, offsets are contentious because of a number of their shortcomings. Some offsets might end up being double-counted, others may not be as permanent as originally intended, and still others may count forests that were already protected, which won’t lead to any net reductions. The Nature Conservancy, for example, has recently come under fire for the way it was calculating offsets from its program, which includes many properties it already owned and protected.
End of an era

This letter is Bezos’ last, since he will be stepping down as CEO later this year, more than 20 years after founding the company that has changed e-commerce. He left an indelible mark on Amazon—one that isn’t likely to fade, as he’s not really leaving. Rather, he’ll be serving as executive chair, a role that will find him overseeing the board and advising the incoming CEO, current AWS head Andy Jassy.

“In my upcoming role as Executive Chair, I’m going to focus on new initiatives. I’m an inventor,” Bezos wrote.

Anthony Fauci, Maxine Waters, Entire World Agree: Time For Jim Jordan To STFU
Doktor Zoom

April 15, 2021

 
When Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before the House Coronavirus Crisis Subcommittee today, Rep Jim Jordan (R-Fox News) wanted some damn specifics about when Fauci would let Americans have their freedom back, because Jim Jordan has made pretty good political hay of the very same goddamn talking points for nearly a year now. But Jordan's colleagues, and Dr. Fauci, seem noticeably less tolerant of Jordan's stupid freedombabble these days, and today, first Fauci and then subcommittee chair Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) and finally Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) said as much to the obstreperous little stinkbug from Ohio. It was pretty awesome, really!

Jordan yelled at Fauci for failing to set a clear date for the pandemic to end. After all, if Joe Biden can specify when US troops will leave Afghanistan, then why won't Fauci tell Americans the precise day a wave of infectious disease will be gone?

Fauci, to his credit, rejected Jordan's framing entirely:

Jordan: Dr. Fauci, when is the time? [long pause as if that question made any damn sense] When is the time? [Shorter pause, then the brilliant payoff] In your written statement, you said, "Now is not the time to pull back on masking, physical distancing, and avoiding congregate settings." When is the time? When do Americans get their freedom back?

Fauci explained to the congressman who seemed not to have a watch that it would all depend on when rates of infection are low enough that people are at less risk of spreading the virus, but Jordan wanted specifics: "Give me a number!" After all, a whole year ago, the 15 days of initial social distancing and business closures didn't do the job, and now we have no freedom left. Jordan certainly was not about to let Fauci get away with vague statements like "no longer a threat," because wouldn't a real scientist would be able to give a precise number of some kind? (No. Not really. We're still learning about the virus, which keeps evolving and refuses to agree to anyone's schedule.)

Fauci finally had quite enough of the badgering, and said that infectious diseases tend not to respect talking points, either. (Some dialogue below paraphrased, as indicated by it's coming from Jordan's yap-hole)

Fauci: You're indicating liberty and freedom. I look at it as a public health measure to prevent people from dying and going to the hospital.

Jordan: You don't think Americans' liberties have been threatened? Bibble bobble freedom, religion, hoopsa boyaboy Flagfreedom!

Fauci: I don't look at this as a liberty thing, Congressman Jordan —

Jordan: Well duhh, tyrant! I win and am very smart!

Fauci: — I see it as a public health thing. I disagree with you —

Jordan: Constitution! First Amendment! Church! Assaulted! Assaulted!

Jordan went on bloviating for a while about what a mean tyrant Fauci was, and how he was personally responsible for YouTube taking down bullshit anti-mask videos that Fauci had no idea what Jordan was talking about, or at least that's what Fauci pretended although he is secretly making all the decisions at YouTube these days, except for the ones made by Joe Biden which forced Larry Klayman to sue him. At the suggestion that YouTube is pulling videos "because they dare to disagree with Dr. Fauci," the good doctor said Oh Knock It Off before Jordan could go Full Belushi and fall off his chair in apoplexy: "I think you're making this a personal thing, and it isn't."

"It's not a personal thing!" Jordan replied, but Fauci was pissed. "You are. That is exactly what you're doing."

Fauci then explained that he certainly wasn't out to step on anyone's freedoms, and that he didn't make up recommendations based on his own anti-liberty whims. Rather, he said, everything he said was based on the CDC's anti-liberty whims. Or not that, really: "We're not talking about liberties. We're talking about a pandemic that has killed 560,000 Americans."

Yeah, Jordan shot back, that's sad, but what about the liberties, because wouldn't freedom to spread the virus just be better? He insisted on getting a definite time when Fauci would let freedom come back, and then he was out of time. At least officially.

Also, this seems like a pretty good place to mention that while Fauci and the CDC can set guidelines, actual decisions about safety measures are up to state and local officials. (Then again, maybe Fauci controls them just like he does YouTube.)

Clyburn, clearly tired of Jordan, said that for a start, it would be useful if 90 percent of members of Congress got the vaccine, but that set Jordan to yelling at Fauci again, because he's the doctor, and when, sir, when is it the time? Also, what's the frequency?

Finally, Maxine Waters spoke for most of America, admonishing Jordan, "Your time has expired, sir! You need to respect the chair, and shut your mouth!"

And lo, there was rejoicing.

OPEN THREAD!

[Aaron Rupar on Twitter / Forbes]

CHICAGO

Mayor Lightfoot Won’t Confirm Or Deny Adam Toledo, 13, Was Holding  Gun When He Was Shot Dead By Police, But Believes Prosecutors Who Say He Was Were ‘Correct’

CBSN Chicago01:30 - 2M AGO



CHICAGO (CBS) — At a news conference Thursday ahead of the release of the body cam video of the police shooting that killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she had seen “no evidence whatsoever” that Adam shot at police.

“I don’t want to get into the real substance of this because the independent investigation is going on, but I’ve seen no evidence whatsoever that Adam Toledo shot at the police,” Mayor Lightfoot said.

But as to the reports that Adam was holding a gun when he was shot and killed by police, the mayor declined to confirm or deny it – citing the ongoing investigation – but said she believed it was correct as articulated by prosecutors at a bond hearing for Ruben Roman, a man police said was with him at the time of the shooting.

“It’s not for me to confirm that,” Mayor Lightfoot said. “I’m very aware of what was said at the bond hearing for Mr. Roman. I believe that as articulated, the comments of the State’s Attorney were correct.”

Subsequently, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said a prosecutor misspoke over the weekend in saying Adam had a gun in his hand.

State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Sarah Sinovic told CBS 2’s Chris Tye in a statement: “An attorney who works in this office failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court. Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved. The video speaks for itself.”

At the earlier news conference, the mayor added that a slowed-down version of the body cam video is also being released because it was offered to the family, and they agreed it would be helpful. She said it is difficult to see what is going on in the raw video.

“He’s running through an alley. The raw video footage is extraordinarily jumpy,” Lightfoot said. “It’s really hard to see anything.”

Thus, she said, providing a slowed-down frame-by-frame version to see what happened will be helpful.

Mayor Lightfoot also said the video will show the officer springing into action to try to revive Adam and call for medical assistance. She emphasized that every officer is traumatized when they fire their weapon, whether anyone is struck or not.

The mayor earlier said: “I urge everyone reserve judgment until the civilian office of police accountability (COPA) has done its work. And I’m urging COPA, to do that work. Early transparently and with all deliberate speed.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, Toledo’s family viewed the video footage of the teen’s shooting death by police during what authorities have said was an armed encounter in a Little Village alley early on the morning of Monday, March 29.

At a bond hearing Saturday for the man who was with Adam Toledo, prosecutors said Adam had a gun in his hand when an officer shot and killed him.

Prosecutors said while defendant Roman was the one to fire the gun, Adam was holding it when he was shot and killed by police at a point when Roman was already being detained.

 

Adam Toledo, Age 13, Had His Hands in the Air. A Chicago Cop Shot and Killed Him

Post on: April 15, 2021 

 Ezra Brain

Adam Toledo was shot by the police while complying with their orders. Then the state tried to cover it up, claiming that he was shooting at the officers. Body cam footage released on Thursday shows that to be a lie.

Image: Thumy Phan

Adam Toledo died with his hands in the air, following the orders of the Chicago police officer who chased him down. 

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old. He was in the 7th grade. 

In the days following Toledo’s murder, the Chicago PD and their allies in the so-called “justice” system attempted to cover up the murder, clearly realizing that the protest movement kicked off by George Floyd’s murder last summer would not accept the gunning down of a 13 year old at the hands of the cops. They claimed that Toledo had a gun and was shooting at the officers. They charged the man Toledo was with with child endangerment. They said they were investigating. Lori Lightfoot, the Democratic Mayor of Chicago, got on television, cried, and talked about herself as a mother and condemned “gun violence”.

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But Lightfoot knew what would happen. Yesterday she closed one of Chicago’s main bridges to prevent protests from moving throughout the city. 

But the body and dash cam footage released on Thursday show, very clearly, what happened. Toledo was walking with a friend, there were reports of gunshots in the area — allegedly from Toledo’s friend firing the gun, seemingly at random — the cops began to chase them. They yelled for Toledo to stop. He did. They told him to put his hands in the air. He did. And then they shot him. 

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old. 

Lightfoot, in her emotional and performative statement upon the release of the footage, was quick to highlight that the murderer rushed to provide medical treatment. And the footage does show the murderer crouching over the body calling for help and asking his victim to “stay with him.” But Toledo died. Because he was shot by a police officer with his empty hands in the air. 

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old. 

Protests are already sweeping across Chicago, full of fury at yet another senseless police murder of a child. Toledo was shot down in the street with his hands over his head while he was complying with the cop’s orders. 

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old.

There is nothing more to say. If you don’t understand by now, then this article won’t convince  you. I don’t know how many more people need to die before we realize what the role of the police in a capitalist society is. They don’t care if they kill. They’ll shoot first and sort things out later. And there always is a story, later, about why they couldn’t help but murder someone. They thought their gun was a taser, he was pointing the AirSoft gun at you, he was raising his hands. His hands were in the air. And they gunned him down.

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old. 

Chicago spends over $4.8 million a day on their police force. $5 million a day as their schools suffer, as their social programs get cut, as city-wide austerity rages. $5 million a day to shoot boys with their hands in the air. And then Lori Lightfoot has the gall to get on television and cry. Crocodile tears from another bourgeois politician who cares more about protecting the police and the system of capitalism they protect than literal children. Lightfoot is, after all, battling the teachers unions to force teachers and students back to school, even if it is unsafe, and is refusing to adequately fund schools. 

Adam Toledo was thirteen years old. But it doesn’t matter his age. He was killed by a cop with his empty hands in the air. 

Last night, members of organized labor drove the National Guard from the union hall in Minneapolis. The transit workers union refused to transport arrested protesters. This is the only way forward: we must unite the labor movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Left into an unstoppable  force that will fight in the streets and the workplace to bring down this entire murderous system. This system that shoots children with their hands in the air. 

LEFTVOICE

HE HAD A TOY GUN

Mother of teen killed by trooper mourns ‘awesome young man’

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

April 14, 2021

This undated photo provided by Kristee Boyle shows Boyle's 16-year-old son Peyton Ham. A trooper responding to a pair of 911 calls fatally shot Ham, on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, outside a home near the State Police barracks in Leonardtown, Md. Investigators determined that Ham had an airsoft gun and a knife and pointed the replica toy gun at the trooper, State Police Superintendent Woodrow Jones III said during a news conference Tuesday. (Kristee Boyle via AP)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Maryland State Police trooper was an honor student who loved cooking with his mother and spirited political debates at the family dinner table, the teenager’s relatives said Wednesday.

A written statement from the family doesn’t address the circumstances of Peyton Ham’s encounter with the trooper who shot him Tuesday afternoon outside a home near the State Police barracks in Leonardtown. Investigators determined that Ham had an airsoft gun and a knife and pointed the replica toy gun at the trooper, who was responding to a pair of 911 calls, according to State Police Superintendent Woodrow Jones III.

Instead, the family statement focuses on their memories of Ham and his academic and personal achievements. They described him as “an incredibly smart, gifted sweet young man” with a “Alex P. Keaton” type personality, referring to the conservative, overachieving character played by Michael J. Fox on the 1980s-era sitcom “Family Ties.”

“Our family is absolutely heart broken and shattered over this sudden, unexpected loss of life of a talented young man, filled with promise,” the statement says. “Words cannot express the gratitude our family is feeling with the overwhelming love and support being extended by our friends and family in our amazing community.”

Ham’s mother, Kristee Boyle, provided The Associated Press with a copy of the family’s statement. During a brief telephone call, she described her son as “an awesome young man.”

“It’s a horrific situation,” Boyle said.

A witness saw Ham in the driveway of a home “in a shooting stance” and pointing the gun at the trooper, who fired at the teenager and wounded him, Jones said Tuesday during a news conference. Another witness told investigators Ham then pulled out a knife and tried to get up, according to the superintendent.

“The trooper ordered him to drop the knife before he fired again,” Jones told reporters.

The airsoft gun that the teenager wielded is commonly used to shoot BBs and is “a close representation of an actual handgun,” Jones said.

The trooper who shot Peyton Ham responded alone within minutes of the State Police receiving two 911 calls about someone acting suspiciously, according to the superintendent.

The first caller, a man, said he thought that the suspiciously acting “guy” had a gun, Jones said, adding, “The dispatcher asked for his location, but the call was disconnected.”

The second 911 caller also said he saw a “guy” acting suspiciously and thought he had a gun, according to the superintendent. That caller gave a street address for the suspicious person but hung up without giving a name, according to Jones.

After the shooting, the trooper who shot the boy called for emergency medical personnel while other troopers and sheriff’s deputies gave him first aid. Ham later died at a nearby hospital. Jones said police recovered the airsoft gun and a knife at the scene.

The teenager was white, as is the trooper who shot him, according to State Police spokesman Greg Shipley. In an email on Wednesday, Shipley said he expects the trooper’s name to be released this week.

The trooper who shot the teen has been with the State Police for two years and seven months and has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, Jones said.

Hollywood Street Protest For Daunte Wright Draws Heavy Police Presence

By Bruce Haring

April 16, 2021 

YouTube

A protest against the death of Minnesota man Daunte Wright in a confrontation with police spilled into Hollywood Thursday night, as several hundred people marched and held a vigil at Sunset and Vine.

Police were out in force to monitor the event, which saw protesters take over the street in a march that started in mid-evening. The marchers chanted Wright’s name and Black Lives Matter.

The street protest follows another earlier this month in Hollywood regarding the death of Louisville, Kentucky resident Breonna Taylor. That protest resulted in a more aggressive police response.

The Thursday night protest in Hollywood was one of many nationwide this week, as Wright’s death and the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis for his role in the death of George Floyd has heightened tensions

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