masterofd1saster

[masterofd1saster]

Happy Flag Day 2025

BTW-

Happy 250th Birthday to the U.S. Army! [You don't look a day over 249.]

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 19jun25

Poor dear was butthurt about Israel

A former CIA analyst was sentenced [11jun25] to 37 months in prison for unlawfully retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it, information which was publicly posted on social media platforms in October 2024. According to court documents, Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, was an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) until his employment was terminated after his arrest.*** On Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information regarding a U.S. foreign ally and its planned actions against a foreign adversary. Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them.  By Oct. 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings. After Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman engaged in a deletion campaign of work product on his Top Secret work station. In 2024, continuing through November, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information, including documents classified up to the Top Secret and further compartmented levels, that he learned in the course of his employment and transmitted to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-cia-analyst-sentenced-over-three-years-prison-unlawfully-transmitting-top-secret

The documents, attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, noted that Israel was moving military assets in place to conduct its military strike, based on satellite imagery from October 15-16.

The Agency That Dare Not Speak Its Name But Has A Website At www.cia.gov strikes again!

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Somebody's nice meme

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Learning Latin & Greek is cool, bro!

A former Denver teacher was found guilty in Denver County Court Thursday of giving pot brownies to two middle school students as an academic reward. A jury found Sharon Wilson, 55, guilty of two counts of misdemeanor child abuse following a 2024 incident at Kepner Beacon Middle School in which two students she rewarded with brownies alleged the baked goods were — unbeknownst to them — laced with marijuana. The trial began Wednesday and ended Thursday with a guilty verdict.*** Denver prosecutors and the accused agreed during testimony that the two boys — who The Denver Post are not naming because they are minors — won a contest in Wilson’s class to come up with the most Greek and Latin root words. For their reward, Wilson promised them brownies.*** Mom took her son to the hospital and eventually got the school principal and police involved. Mom took the portion of the saved brownie to the police department and reported the situation. The brownie came back positive for THC, Watts said.***

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/06/12/pot-brownies-denver-teacher-kepner-beacon-middle-school-sharon-wilson

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You're responsible?

PornHub’s parent company Aylo blocked service in France to protest a law that requires porn companies to verify the ages of their users, citing privacy concerns. In a statement, Aylo defended its “legal and regulated porn” as a better option than what is offered on “irresponsible porn sites.” Aylo operates some of the most trafficked pornographic platforms in the world. The real story here is that the United States has been outflanked on pornography regulation -- by the French. There’s nothing wrong with restricting “adult entertainment” to adults.

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-week/

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Hang 'em high

Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with the brutal 2024 murder of a 42-year-old active-duty United States Marine in Los Angeles County, officials announced.   The violence, according to a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, occurred around 2 a.m. on May 28, 2024, outside of a bar in Bellflower.   Prosecutors allege that 21-year-old Long Beach resident Damari Kensey and 28-year-old Inglewood resident Jaymel Williams, who are cousins, followed Peter Chounthala out of the bar and violently beat him, leaving him seriously injured in the middle of Artesia Boulevard, near Virginia Avenue where he was then struck by a motorist who failed to stop, identify themselves or render aid.   The driver who hit the 42-year-old has not been identified, authorities noted.   Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, along with paramedics with the L.A. County Fire Department arrived at the location and declared Chounthala, a husband and father of a 3-year-old boy, dead at the scene.  ***

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/2-men-cousins-accused-in-brutal-2024-murder-of-u-s-marine-in-l-a-county/

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You had a domestic b/c of Kael?

Allyson, 29, a wife w/ two kids started a romance with an AI character called Kael. Ended in her assaulting her non-AI husband.

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Nice response by Catholics

*** Portland Fire & Rescue reported around 5:20 a.m. that firefighters were at a fire at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which is located near Southeast 11th Avenue and Southeast Center Street. Portland Fire said the fire was extinguished. The agency initially said on social media that the fire may have been "intentionally set." According to Portland Fire spokesperson Rick Graves, the suspect called 911 about 20 minutes after fire crews arrived at the church. Police arrested the suspect at 5:30 a.m. at Southeast 26th and Division.*** "This individual was unfortunately having a mental health crisis," said Graves. "This is how they reached out and told people, 'this is my problem, I'm troubled.'" The suspect was charged with second-degree arson and was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center. Footage that KGW took at the church appears to show the front doors partially damaged by the flames. Portland Fire estimates that the doors, which are original from 1890, have an estimated $3,000 worth of damage.*** Aughenbaugh showed compassion for the suspect, reflecting the church community's understanding approach. "People must have troubles," she said, "and we need to pray for those in need, and the mental health issues with people; God loves them."

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-sacred-heart-church-fire-suspect-custody/283-3ea8db42-4aa8-40ca-826d-084355fbfe33

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Minnesota assassinations

57-year-old Vance Boelter murdered a top Democrat legislator and tried to murder another early on Sat, 14jun25.

Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday. Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin address, about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/minnesota-lawmakers-shot/2025/06/15/id/1215017

Speculation about Boelter's motive is rampant. Hindustan Times has an interesting report:

He left behind a manifesto listing the names of 70 politicians, including Tim Walz. He also left behind a stack of papers stating “No Kings” in reference to the nationwide anti-Trump protests, police said. 

Also

Political Affiliation Unclear Boelter's political alignment remains murky. While his appointments under two Democratic governors suggest a connection to the Democratic Party, some unverified social media reports claim he supported Republican candidates. He is alleged to have made donations to Donald Trump, as well as to GOP lawmakers Ron Johnson and Mike Gallagher, though these reports have not been confirmed by official sources.

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[masterofd1saster]

[masterofd1saster]

[masterofd1saster]

[masterofd1saster]

2d Amendment in action.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 12jun25

Takes a special kind of stupid to be a Cali legislator

California is still wrestling with its affordability crisis and has a gas price catastrophe hanging over the state’s future. California Democrats, meanwhile, are focused on letting murderers out of jail early. The California State Senate voted 24-11 to pass the “Youth Rehabilitation and Opportunity Act.” That whitewashed title is for a bill that would allow convicted murderers who were sentenced to life without parole to receive parole, so long as they committed murder between the ages of 18 and 25. In other words, grown adults 25 and under will be treated like children by the criminal justice system in California, even if they are cold-blooded murderers.***

You can be 24-years-old, murder a busload of school kids, and still be paroled. Kill one legislator, and the stupid parole law doesn't apply to you.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3431226/california-democrats-think-25-year-old-murderers-arent-bad/

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Maryland Dad/Human Trafficker

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member who was deported to El Salvador after an administrative error, has returned to the U.S. to face criminal charges for allegedly transporting illegal immigrants within the U.S., Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday. "Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice," Bondi told reporters during a news conference that aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform. "On May 21, a grand jury in the middle district of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment, charging Abrego Garcia of alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. "We want to thank [El Salvador] President [Nayib] Bukele for agreeing to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant, and they agreed to return him to our country." If Abrego Garcia is convicted, Bondi said after his sentence is completed, "we anticipate he will be returned to his home country of El Salvador." The indictment alleged Abrego Garcia, 29, participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul illegal immigrants, including suspected members of MS-13, from Texas to the interior of the country. The alleged conspiracy spanned nearly a decade and involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens, including some children, from Mexico and Central America. "They found this was his full-time job; not a contractor," Bondi said. "He was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people … MS-13 gang members, violent gang terrorist organization members throughout our country. "Thousands of illegal aliens were smuggled. This is especially disturbing because Abrego Garcia is also alleged with transporting minor children. The defendant traded the innocence of minor children for profit." Bondi said the grand jury linked Abrego Garcia to the same smuggling ring in which at least 54 migrants died, and 100 others were injured in 2021 after a tractor trailer overturned in Mexico. She also accused him of trafficking firearms and narcotics throughout the country "on multiple occasions."***

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/kilmar-abrego-garcia-federal-indictment-el-salvador/2025/06/06/id/1213929

Good news: when weepy soy-boys from Congress visit Kilmar, they'll have a much shorter trip.

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That's different

A former federal prisoner pardoned during President Donald Trump's first term for drug trafficking crimes has been picked to be deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons. Joshua J. Smith, a Tennessee businessman whose nonprofit Fourth Purpose Foundation focuses on inmate advocacy and rehabilitation, will become the first former federal inmate to be a Bureau of Prisons employee at any level, NBC News reported Friday. "Josh brings to this role something our agency has never had before at this level, a perspective shaped by lived experience, proven innovation and national impact," Prisons Director William Marshall III told staff Thursday in a memo, according to NBC News. Marshall, a former prison commissioner in West Virginia, was sworn in as director in April. Neither his position nor Smith's require Senate confirmation.***

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/joshua-j-smith-bureau-of-prisons-donald-trump/2025/06/06/id/1213967

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Sad that down to 902 allegations is progress

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released their latest report on clergy abuse and safeguarding efforts, noting a significant decline in new allegations of sexual abuse by clergy over the past year. The 2024 Annual Report, covering July 2023 through June 2024, tracked 902 allegations from 855 individuals — down by more than 400 from the previous audit cycle, according to the USCCB. Most of the alleged abusers were not in active ministry at the time the claims were made, according to the report. Data compiled by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate found that over 80% of the 97 identified alleged offenders were already deceased, laicized, or removed from ministry. Eleven were permanently removed over the past year, four were suspended pending investigation, and one remained in active ministry during the investigation. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, acknowledged the progress but stressed that the Church cannot become complacent.  “Despite our progress, the evil of abuse continues to exist,” he wrote in a preface to the report. “It is a relentless adversary that demands our ongoing vigilance and initiative-taking measures.” ***

According to Archbishop Broglio, the Church is in the midst of a “significant cultural shift.” “This shift is characterized by an increased emphasis on transparency, accountability, and victim-survivor support,” he wrote. “We are instilling improvements, learning from our mistakes, in how we address and prevent abuse, and making sure that the voices of the victim-survivors are heard, respected, and acted upon.” The USCCB also shared that 195 of the 196 dioceses and eparchies in the US took part in the audit. Four were found to be out of compliance. One was found to be lacking both a training program and background checks for volunteers. Another diocese had no functioning review board, and one diocese declined to participate in the process altogether.

https://catholicvote.org/us-bishops-2024-abuse-audit-fewer-allegations-ongoing-reforms

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Hey, guys, let's see if we can find an unexplained tragedy and make it worse!

HARRISBURG — Two sets of Pennsylvania parents face felony charges after police say their infants died in unsafe sleep positions. While experts and family advocates say young babies should sleep on their backs without anything in the crib, simply failing to follow the recommendations shouldn’t amount to a crime. In both cases, brought in the past six months, law enforcement say the parents knowingly put their children at risk. Parents from Lebanon County are accused of putting their son to sleep on his stomach with a pillow in the crib (the mother told PennLive she put her son on his back, but that he had learned how to roll over). A mother from Luzerne County, meanwhile, was charged after police say she let her daughter sleep face down in a U-shaped pillow. Law enforcement argued in charging documents that the parents should have known better. They cited signed acknowledgements created as part of a 2010 law the state legislature passed to educate parents about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The law requires hospitals, birthing centers, and health care practitioners to provide educational materials, then ask the parents to certify they received them. The statement is voluntary, and there is a box noting if parents refused to sign.*** Neither expert was available to comment, but other people dedicated to educating parents and preventing SIDS deaths oppose bringing criminal charges against grieving parents and note that there is no law against stomach sleeping. “To charge them criminally is a crime, because they have already suffered the worst loss,” said Nancy Maruyama, the executive director of Sudden Infant Death Services of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about safe-sleep practices and provides support to families who have experienced the loss of an infant.***

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/06/pennsylvania-infant-sleep-death-criminal-charges/

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the abrupt and unexplained death of an infant less than 1-year old. Despite investigation (review of clinical history, investigation of the death, and a complete autopsy), no evidence supports a specific single cause of death.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560807/

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If you don't want to play nice....

President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear. Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets. Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LA's fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. The White House announced that Trump would deploy the Guard to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.” It wasn't clear when the troops would arrive.***

https://www.newsmax.com/headline/immigration-raids-los-angeles/2025/06/08/id/1214022

Robert Peel's first principle is for police "To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment."

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Palm Springs weirdo had a friend!

A Washington state man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he provided material support to the Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber by shipping and paying for significant quantities of ammonium nitrate – an explosive precursor – prior to the suicidal terror attack last month. Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, of Kent, was arrested last night shortly after his flight from Poland arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Park is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and made his initial court appearance today in the Eastern District of New York. “This defendant is charged with facilitating the horrific attack on a fertility center in California. Bringing chaos and violence to a facility that exists to help women and mothers is a particularly cruel, disgusting crime that strikes at the very heart of our shared humanity,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We are grateful to our partners in Poland who helped get this man back to America and we will prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”***  Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, California, drove a car containing a bomb to a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17. Bartkus detonated the bomb, killing himself, injuring numerous victims, destroying the fertility clinic’s building, and damaging surrounding buildings and areas. Bartkus’s attack was motivated by his pro-mortalism, anti-natalism, and anti-pro-life ideology, which is the belief that individuals should not be born without their consent and that non-existence is best. Park – who shares Bartkus’s extremist views – shipped large quantities of explosive precursor materials to Bartkus, including approximately 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Days before the Palm Springs bombing, Park paid for an additional 90 pounds (40.8 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate that was shipped to Bartkus. Park sent the first shipments of approximately 180 pounds (81.7 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus shortly before traveling to Bartkus’s residence, where he stayed with Bartkus from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8. Three days before Park arrived at Bartkus’s house, records from an AI chat application show that Bartkus researched how to make powerful explosions using ammonium nitrate and fuel. During his stay at Bartkus’s residence, Park and Bartkus spent time in Bartkus’s room as well as in a detached garage “running experiments,” according to the affidavit. This was the same garage where law enforcement, during a search after the May 17 bombing, located significant amounts of chemicals commonly used in the construction of homemade bombs. Four days after Bartkus conducted the suicide bombing, Park flew to Europe. On May 30, Park was detained in Poland and later was ordered deported to the United States. ***

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-state-man-arrested-federal-charges-alleging-he-provided-material-support-palm

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Canada justice insanity

How Race Is Quietly Reshaping Canada’s Justice System A firearms case was tossed out on April 29 after a judge ruled that a Toronto-area police officer, Constable Anand Gandhi, racially profiled a black driver during a 2023 traffic stop—part of what she called a “systemic and intractable problem” within the force. Here are the facts: Gandhi, who is brown, stopped the driver after his vehicle was flagged for a suspended license and pending drug charges. Though the driver was cooperative, Gandhi handcuffed him, called for backup, detained him for 90 minutes, and ordered a search that uncovered a loaded firearm considered illegal hidden under a mat. Earlier that same day, Gandhi had stopped a female driver with a suspended license and simply issued her a ticket. Charges were brought against the driver for an illegal weapon but the person who wound up being chastised by the judge was Gandhi, the police officer, who is originally from India. Justice Renu Mandhane, the former head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, ruled that his search was unlawful and a violation of the driver’s rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But she didn’t stop there. She noted in her ruling that, the officer “relied on stereotypes about black people being more prone to criminality,” and “that as a black man, the accused would have experienced the situation as potentially dangerous” and thus did “everything in his power not to escalate the situation or ‘trigger’ the officer into using force.” What’s extraordinary is that while Mandhane found no direct evidence of racial profiling and accepted that Gandhi didn’t believe he was treating the driver differently due to race, she concluded that nevertheless there was “ample circumstantial evidence” that the officer was influenced by “unconscious racial biases” and that race played a role in how the driver was treated. The presence of a loaded firearm was irrelevant; what mattered was that another person wasn’t detained. In 2023, I reported about how race-based reasoning in sentencing in Canada is reshaping Canadian criminal law and shifting how courts view offenders, not solely as perpetrators, but as victims of systemic injustice. It is impossible to overstate the implication this has on the rule of law in Canada, where judges are increasingly weighing perceived systemic racism more heavily than the actual offenses.***

https://www.thefp.com/p/this-week-in-canada-pilots-lgbtq-measles

Is it possible that the Constable Gandhi searched the black driver b/c he had drug charges pending, but not the female b/c she had no drug charges, just a suspended license?

This is like the Ron White joke about being stopped for DUI while driving on a sidewalk. That's profiling, and that's wrong.

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LA riots news

At least 2,000 anti-ICE protesters took over a major highway in downtown Los Angeles while rioters lit self-driving cars on fire Sunday as the LAPD chief admitted that his officers “are overwhelmed” by the violence and vandalism on the third day of demonstrations in the city. The massive crowd moved onto the 101 Freeway, blocking traffic around 4 p.m. local time, according to the LAPD. The protesters blocked both lanes of the freeway, bringing traffic to a standstill as authorities in riot gear created a line beneath a bridge to prevent them from moving forward, the LAPD Central Division wrote on X.*** The freeway was reopened to car traffic a little more than an hour later. But it was shut yet again around 7:30 p.m. after rioters began hurling objects onto the southbound lanes and damaging police cars, the LAPD said. Elsewhere, rioters vandalized unoccupied, driverless Waymo taxis — graffitiing them, breaking their windows and setting at least five on fire, NBC Los Angeles reported.*** One group allegedly hurled fireworks at officers, while another looted businesses near 6th and Broadway, according to police. “We are overwhelmed,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said, according to NBC Los Angeles. “Tonight, we had individuals out there shooting commercial-grade fireworks at our officers. That can kill you.” Some protesters started lobbing glass bottles and even pieces of concrete broken off bollard posts at officers trying to control the crowd, while others tried to dissuade participants from further agitating the police. At least 27 people were arrested Sunday, according to an 8 p.m. update from the LAPD, which designated all of downtown an “unlawful assembly area” after the growing violence.***

https://nypost.com/2025/06/08/us-news/2000-la-anti-ice-rioters-takeover-101-freeway-downtown-as-self-driving-cars-lit-on-fire-in-chaotic-scene/

Important to recognize that 2,000 rioters in a city of 3,878,704 amount to .05% of the population.

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Babylon Bee is there for the Maryland Dad

[parody]

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LA riots

LOS ANGELES — About three hours into the third day of the immigration protests in downtown Los Angeles, a dozen or so protesters started breaking up large rocks lining the gap between the street and an off-ramp and hurling them onto the 101 Freeway below. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) had closed the southbound side after protesters had tried to seize it. Police cars and SUVs were parked there, and they were getting pummeled by the rocks. As one officer drove away, a rock smashed the police car’s windshield. (You can watch some of this scene in a video by The Free Press’s Austyn Jeffs here.) This went on for at least an hour. I didn’t see anyone get arrested. When one of the rock-throwing protesters saw me taking pictures, he ordered me to delete the ones that showed anyone who was unmasked. “We’ll fuck you up,” he threatened. I deleted them; he gave me a fist bump. Rocks weren’t the only projectiles. I saw protesters tossing commercial-grade fireworks at the police, which sounded like bombs. Between the fireworks and the flash-bangs, there was a concussive explosion about once a minute.***

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Sen Fetterman gets it

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., scolded fellow Democrats for refusing to condemn the violent demonstrations in Los Angeles. Protests began Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. On Sunday, crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades. "I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration — but this is not that," Fetterman posted Monday night on X. "This is anarchy and true chaos. "My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement."***

https://www.newsmax.com/us/john-fetterman-democrats-los-angeles/2025/06/10/id/1214284

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Good!

The FBI has identified a man who was seen throwing cinder blocks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles during the riots in Los Angeles over the weekend. *** “The FBI has identified him,” Bondi added. “Bill Essayli, our incredible U.S. attorney out there, working with ATF, DEA, and the FBI, have been doing a remarkable job. That guy has just been identified, and they are doing a search warrant on his house as we speak.” “His name is [Elpidio] Reyes,” Bondi continued. “He is going to be on the ‘Most Wanted’ list.” Video of the suspect throwing cinder blocks at ICE SUVs urgently driving down a Southern California road went viral on social media over the weekend. He stood on an island in the middle of the street, wearing a motorcycle helmet, and threw rocks at the vehicles. Many of the rocks shattered windshields upon contact. Others cheered on as he kept hitting the cars and causing damage.***

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3436440/suspect-threw-cinderblocks-ice-vehicles

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Any surprise the CCP loves UMich? Go Blue Bioweapons!

A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the U.S. at the Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The scientist was interviewed and arrested Sunday after arriving on a flight from China, where she is pursuing an advanced degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. She planned to spend a year completing a project at the University of Michigan. Her shipments, including an envelope stuffed inside a book, were intercepted last year and earlier this year and opened by authorities, the FBI said.***

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/michigan-lab-chinese/2025/06/09/id/1214236

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LA riots tweeting

Hm, why don't you go back to a socialist country?

+++

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Kentucky competing with Floriduh

A Kentucky man with a bizarre history of animal-related incidents is back in trouble with the law — this time for releasing a raccoon into a crowded business as a form of revenge. Jonathan Mason, 40, also known to locals as “Cowboy Cody,” was arrested on the night of June 6, 2025, after allegedly letting a raccoon loose inside The Big Apple Grill and Bar in Murray, Kentucky, according to a Facebook post by the Murray Police Department and eyewitnesses. According to bartender Mary Hafner, Mason had been banned from the bar previously, but showed up that night already intoxicated. When she politely asked him to leave, he agreed at first — only to return moments later holding a raccoon. “He had trapped it earlier on his farm and was carrying it around,” Hafner told The New York Post. “I’ve seen some crazy stuff, but nothing like this.” She said the raccoon appeared frightened as it waddled into the restaurant full of customers. One employee tried to grab it by the tail and ended up getting bitten, which led to rabies shots. Hafner eventually managed to wrap the animal in a towel and safely carry it outside. “I’m a Kentucky girl,” she said. “I had no problem catching him.” This isn’t Mason’s first brush with the law involving animals.***

https://quirkl.net/news/us/kentucky-man-arrested-after-releasing-raccoon-into-bar-his-third-animal-related-incident/

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Saudi excelling in Floriduh

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A man faces charges after Pinellas County deputies say he called 911 claiming security at a club "took" $300 from him – money he used in an attempt to pay an employee for sex. The backstory: According to an arrest affidavit filed by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Sultan Alnofaie, 21, called 911 from the OZ Gentlemen's Club near Clearwater shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 8. Deputies say Alnofaie told dispatchers to "come take him to jail," then explained that he paid a worker at the club for sex, but did not receive "services." Staff at the club told deputies that Alnofaie had asked for a private room along with sex from a staff member, and called 911 when his request was denied. Investigators also noted that Alnofaie appeared intoxicated and smelled of alcohol as they arrested him on a charge of misuse of wireless 911 system.***

https://www.fox13news.com/news/man-pays-sex-florida-club-calls-911-complain-about-not-receiving-services-pcso

***

Just wanted to teach sex ed

An Oregon high school teacher is behind bars after an undercover sting operation led to authorities charging him with online sex crimes against children.  Oscar Armando Ramirez, 36, allegedly had sexually explicit conversations with who he believed was a 13-year-old girl while working as a local high school teacher, according to the Portland Police Bureau.  However, Ramirez was actually talking to an undercover police officer posing as a child in a sting operation targeting online predators, authorities said.  "The chatting continued for four days and included lewd sexual conversations about acts that Ramirez wanted to do with her," the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement. "In the conversations with [Bothell Police Detective Mike Garcia], Ramirez agreed to meet with her and made arrangements to meet when her parents would not be home."***

[masterofd1saster]

Overheard grandma

My wife made lunch for my 23-month-old grandson today, and he started eating in our dining room. In the kitchen I heard her say "no, I don't want a pickle that's been up your nose."

[masterofd1saster]

1st Amendment beat down for Wisconsin

Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Comm'n, 605 U. S. __ (2025) unanimously defended freedom of religion. J. Sotomayor wrote for the Court.

Wisconsin, like many other States, exempts certain religious organizations from paying taxes into the State’s unemployment compensation system. One such exemption covers nonprofits “operated primarily for religious purposes” and controlled, supervised, or principally supported by a church. Wis. Stat. §108.02(15)(h)(2) (2023–2024). Petitioners, Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc., and four of the entities that it operates, claimed that they qualify for the exemption as religious organizations controlled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Supreme Court disagreed, holding that petitioners are not “operated primarily for religious purposes” because they neither engage in proselytization nor serve only Catholics in their charitable work. The question here is whether §108.02(15)(h)(2), as applied to petitioners by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, violates the First Amendment. The Court holds that it does. The First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religions and subjects any state-sponsored denominational preference to strict scrutiny. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s application of §108.02(15)(h)(2) imposed a denominational preference by differentiating between religions based on theological lines. Because the law’s application does not survive strict scrutiny, it cannot stand.***

“The clearest command of the Establishment Clause” is that the government may not “officially prefe[r]” one religious denomination over another.*** This principle of denominational neutrality bars States from passing laws that “‘aid or oppose’” particular religions, ***, or interfere in the “competition between sects,” ***. The Establishment Clause’s “prohibition of denominational preferences is inextricably connected with the continuing vitality of the Free Exercise Clause,” too. *** That is because the “‘fullest realization of true religious liberty requires that government’” refrain from “‘favoritism among sects.’” *** Government actions that favor certain religions, the Court has warned, convey to members of other faiths that “‘they are outsiders, not full members of the political community.’”

It is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain “neutrality between religion and religion.” *** There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this is not one. When the government distinguishes among religions based on theological differences in their provision of services, it imposes a denominational preference that must satisfy the highest level of judicial scrutiny. Because Wisconsin has transgressed that principle without the tailoring necessary to survive such scrutiny, the judgment of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

J.J. Thomas and Jackson both wrote separate concurrences.

[masterofd1saster]

good equal opportunity case

SCt decided  Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Servs., 605 U. S. __ (2025) on 5jun25. Decision was unanimous.

The Ohio Department of Youth Services operates the State’s juvenile correctional system. In 2004, the agency hired petitioner Marlean Ames, a heterosexual woman, to serve as an executive secretary. Ames was eventually promoted to program administrator and, in 2019, applied for a newly created management position in the agency’s Office of Quality and Improvement. Although the agency interviewed her for the position, it ultimately hired a different candidate—a lesbian woman—to fill the role. A few days after Ames interviewed for the management position, her supervisors removed her from her role as program administrator. She accepted a demotion to the secretarial role she had held when she first joined the agency— a move that resulted in a significant pay cut. The agency then hired a gay man to fill the vacant program-administrator position. Ames subsequently filed this lawsuit against the agency under Title VII, alleging that she was denied the management promotion and demoted because of her sexual orientation.***

When she sued under 42 U. S. C. §2000e–2(a)(1), the 6th Circuit applied a weird, home grown rule to deny her justice. It

held that Ames had failed to meet her prima facie burden because she had not shown “‘background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.’”

SCt reversed this erroneous rule.

As a textual matter, Title VII’s disparate-treatment provision draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs. Rather, the provision makes it unlawful “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U. S. C. §2000e–2(a)(1) (emphasis added). The “law’s focus on individuals rather than groups [is] anything but academic.”*** By establishing the same protections for every “individual”—without regard to that individual’s membership in a minority or majority group—Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.

JUSTICE THOMAS, with whom JUSTICE GORSUCH joins, concurring. I join the Court’s opinion in full. I write separately to highlight the problems that arise when judges create atextual legal rules and frameworks. Judge-made doctrines have a tendency to distort the underlying statutory text, impose unnecessary burdens on litigants, and cause confusion for courts. The “background circumstances” rule—correctly rejected by the Court today—is one example of this phenomenon. ***

[masterofd1saster]

Remember Tiananmen Square!

More than 100,000 Chinese rallied for human rights in Tiananmen Square in the city center of Beijing, China. The protests started on 15apr89. The Chines Communist Party sent the People's Liberation Army to deal with them.

The name of that lone protestor confronting a tank is known only to God.

On 3jun89, the Chinese Communist Party slaughtered protestors. Chinese government estimates ran from about 300 protestors massacred to as many as 3,000.

Read more at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre, but never forget!

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 5jun25

Boring murder turns interesting when

Boring -

CLEVELAND – An Alexandria, Virginia woman has pleaded guilty to driving more than 300 miles across state lines after she arranged to meet a victim, whom she shot and killed at a national park in Northeast Ohio.  According to court documents, Chelsea Perkins, 35, traveled to Ohio to meet the victim, Matthew Dunmire, whom she knew previously. On March 6, 2021, they visited the Terra Vista Natural Study Area, a hiking trail located in Valley View, Ohio, within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. While hiking off-trail into a wooded area of the park, Perkins used a loaded firearm she brought with her to shoot the victim in the back of the head, killing him. Criminal investigators found evidence linking Perkins to the shooting through GPS data, DNA, social media and phone records, and ballistics analysis. During a federal search warrant execution at her Virginia residence, federal agents found three 9mm pistols, including one recovered from a woman’s purse that also contained Perkins’ identification.*** https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/virginia-woman-pleads-guilty-committing-murder-national-park

Interesting -

She's an OnlyFans model who calls herself Sabrina Savage. She alleged that Dunmire raped her when they went to the same high school, but Virginia Beach police didn't have enough evidence to charge him.

Oh, and she shot him in the back of the head.

Following Dunmire’s murder in March, Perkins was suspected of killing but had still not been arrested. In November 2021, Dunmire’s mother, Tommie Lynn Dunmire, and father, John Nelson McQuillen, drove to Washington, DC, intending to kill Perkins, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Dunmire’s mother, dressed as a UPS driver, knocked on an apartment door and shot a woman she mistakenly thought was Perkins twice in the abdomen.***

https://nypost.com/2025/05/28/us-news/coast-guard-vet-turned-onlyfans-model-chelsea-perkins-pleads-guilty-to-killing-accused-rapist-in-national-park/

***

Wish mom packed a .45 ACP.

Bruce Pierce of Indianapolis was convicted of child molesting and sentenced to eight years in 2016. He wasn't out of prison long before he started grooming a 12-year-old girl.

The 12-year-old victim said she went with her great aunt to the hotel to find her mom. The victim’s mother was at the hotel with Pierce, who accompanied them to a room in the Baymont Inn. According to the court documents, the mother temporarily left the 12-year-old girl alone in the hotel room with Pierce while she carried some bags out to a vehicle. The mother returned to find Pierce on top of the 12-year-old girl, in the process of tearing her clothes off. Pierce allegedly had a gun on him or near him during the alleged sexual assault, according to the witnesses. The victim told police he pinned her arms to the bed and ripped off her tank top. The victim’s mother shouted at Pierce after spotting him on top of her daughter, pulling out her own gun and opening fire. Pierce was struck by the gunfire and the mother and daughter fled the hotel.***

Sadly, Bruce survived the ventilation and was hospitalized. There is an active warrant for his arrest.

Can we start a GoFundMe so mom can afford a decent pistol like the M1911A1?

While we're at it, why was Bruce ever released from prison?

https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/court-docs-mother-shot-man-trying-to-rape-her-12-year-old-daughter-in-indy-hotel/

***

Nice people, them socialists....

By Frannie Block, Olivia Reingold Last Wednesday, a 31-year-old progressive activist allegedly shot and killed two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., in cold blood. As one of them, Sarah Milgrim, a 26-year-old Jew from Kansas, tried to crawl away, the gunman continued shooting at her. “Free, free Palestine,” he shouted as police took him into custody. You would think that this would be easy to condemn. Yet when the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said in a statement released last Thursday that they “reject the violence of last night’s fatal shooting,” some members of the political organization revolted. Almost immediately, a debate broke out in the national DSA’s internal message board for dues-paying members over how to respond to the killings outside the Capital Jewish Museum. “Is it good to condemn violence against a genocidal apartheid state?” a DSA member with the username “SebastianFG” said in a post. Other members responded to the post with emojis of a heart and applause. Other DSA members called the statement “horrific,” “hurtful,” and “irresponsible.” The Democratic Socialists of America is not just a fringe activist organization. Its national membership has skyrocketed in recent years to more than 90,000, riding the wave of Bernie Sanders’s nearly successful primary challenge of Hillary Clinton in 2016.***

https://www.thefp.com/p/dsa-torn-over-condemning-murder

***

Of course -

Lileks has a good column about how many people in rural areas don't lock their doors. If you look at the facts, it makes sense:

"Murders in US are very concentrated: 2% of counties had 56% of the murders in 2020, 52% of US counties had zero murders." Lott, J. R. (Jan. 16, 2023) Murders in US are very concentrated, and they are becoming even more so. Crime Prevention Research Center

If you live in a town or city, you damn sure better lock your doors before you die.

***

Good Lileks column explained

The point of his column is the more rural your area, the less the street crime. Statistics bear this out.

"Murders in US are very concentrated:  2% of counties had 56% of the murders in 2020, 52% of US counties had zero murders."  Lott, J. R.  (Jan. 16, 2023) Murders in US are very concentrated, and they are becoming even more so. Crime Prevention Research Center.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4325838

***

Hate crime/terrorism in Boulder, Colorado

A literally flaming dirtbag threw molotov cocktails at Jews rallying to demand Hamas release hostages. Multiple people were burned.

Boulder police Chief Steve Redfearn said "I'm a whiny woke dirtbag, so I must say

“Once we have a clear motive, we will react accordingly,” he said, noting it was too early in the investigation to confirm a motive. “If that motive was a group was targeted, we will absolutely step up and ensure that additional security, additional presence. We want people to feel safe.”

Ok, he didn't admit to being a whiny, woke dirtbag, but he is.

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/06/01/boulder-attack-pearl-street-mall

+++

+++

Kristi Noem shoots dogs and displays questionable taste in men, but she rocks!

+++

Denver Post -

Boulder Pearl Street Mall attack victims now up to 15 people and one dog

Officials have found 15 people and one dog who were harmed in a Molotov cocktail attack on Pearl Street Mall on Sunday, according to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. Earlier counts included 12 human victims.

***

On Lake Huron north of the thumb

IOSCO COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - Four Chinese citizens are facing charges in connection with a massive illegal marijuana growing operation discovered in Iosco County. Michigan State Police executed a search warrant Thursday at a warehouse in Alabaster Township. They located 5,057 marijuana plants inside at various stages of growth, which authorities say have a street value of more than $5 million. Iosco County Prosecutor James Bacarella said investigators discovered evidence leading them to four people who live at an apartment on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base.*** Bacarella said three of the four suspects entered the United States legally. One of them had a GPS phone app providing driving directions to New York, leading police to believe they were attempting to flee Michigan when police pulled them over.***

https://www.abc12.com/news/crime/4-chinese-citizens-accused-of-5-million-marijuana-grow-near-tawas/article_49c19334-c27e-437b-96d9-acf3e7259982.html

***

Rejoice over the 1st Amendment!

By Dominic Green LONDON — On Monday, Britain sentenced Hamit Coskun, 51, to pay £240 (roughly $325) for burning a copy of the Quran and shouting “Islam is religion of terrorism” outside the Turkish embassy in London. Coskun’s behavior was obnoxious, but not illegal: Britain abolished its blasphemy laws in 2008. His case shows that they are returning under the guise of maintaining “public order.” In a tense and divided society, free speech is a luxury that the government cannot afford. Coskun got off with a fine. Lucy Connolly, prosecuted under the same law, was not so lucky. Lucy Connolly is Britain’s foremost political prisoner. Connolly, a 41-year-old childminder and the mother of a 12-year-old daughter, is currently serving a 31-month sentence for “stirring up racial hatred” in a single tweet that she deleted less than four hours after posting. On May 20, a court rejected Connolly’s application to appeal. Connolly’s case is the latest in a series revealing the decline of free speech in Britain and the rise of a “two-tier” justice system that treats ordinary people like enemies of the state.***

***

Alarming Chinese biowarfare

DETROIT – Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.*** The FBI arrested Jian in connection with allegations related to Jian’s and Liu’s smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon. This noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock. According to the complaint, Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. It is further alleged that Jian’s boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America—through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport—so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.***

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/chinese-nationals-charged-conspiracy-and-smuggling-dangerous-biological-pathogen-us

Wouldn't be the most anti-American terrorists in U Michigan history: Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Ted Kascynski, et al. Go Blue!

***

More FBI woke crap

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released more records Tuesday showing that the FBI distributed its anti-Catholic Richmond memo to more than 1,000 bureau employees, far more widespread than what was testified to by former Director Christopher Wray. Grassley found that the FBI produced at least 13 other documents and five attachments that used anti-Catholic terminology linking Catholicism to violent extremism, incorporating guidance from the "radical anti-left" Southern Poverty Law Center, according to a news release from the senator's office. Grassley also released a second Richmond memo that was drafted for bureau-wide distribution but never sent due to backlash from the first. Grassley asserted that the existence of the second memo contradicts Wray's testimony of a "single product" produced by the Richmond, Virginia, field office.***

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/chuck-grassley-fbi-anti-catholic/2025/06/03/id/1213516

***

The main point of a search incident to arrest -

A Denver police officer will serve a 14-day suspension after she failed to realize a suspect she was arresting was armed with a gun, allowing the handcuffed man to later shoot another officer in the neck from the backseat of a police vehicle two years ago, according to disciplinary records released Wednesday. Officer Alicia Martinez *** missed the gun when she searched suspect Daniel Cheeseman, 35, as she and Officer Jordan Archuleta arrested him in connection with a stolen car on Nov. 11, 2022. During the arrest, Martinez searched Cheeseman’s left side and Archuleta searched his right side. The two officers took a backpack from Cheeseman and searched that, discovering fentanyl and a handgun inside the backpack. Martinez searched Cheeseman again after the officers removed his backpack. She checked the front of his waistband and then asked Cheeseman to lean forward, but he refused and said he couldn’t do so, according to the disciplinary letter. Martinez moved on, reading the man his rights. She did not find a second gun that Cheeseman had holstered in his pants, clipped below the base of his spine, internal affairs investigators later found.*** Cheeseman fired four times, police said. Cpl. Thomas Schmidt, who was sitting in an SUV nearby, heard the shots, got out of his vehicle, and fired nine rounds into the patrol car, striking Cheeseman multiple times. Cheeseman and Archuleta both survived. Cheeseman was charged with attempted murder of a police officer; that case is pending.***

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/06/04/denver-police-officer-shot-neck-handcuffed-search-gun-discipline-alicia-martinez

***

Was it a hate crime?

***This past Sunday, Jonathan Joss of King of the Hill fame was shot and killed outside of his home in Southside San Antonio. Initial media reports suggested that this occurred after a dispute with a neighbor, who was arrested in connection with the killing. But Joss’s surviving spouse, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, took to Facebook to claim that the man who killed him approached them “yelling violent homophobic slurs.” Kern de Gonzales ultimately concludes that this was an explicit anti-gay hate crime and that Joss was “murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.”*** But, while Joss’s death is still a tremendous loss, the notion that his killing was motivated by anti-gay animus appears baseless. The San Antonio Police Department clarified this in a statement: “SAPD Homicide is currently investigating the murder of Mr. Jonathan Joss. Despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation.” “SAPD investigators handle these allegations very seriously and have thoroughly reviewed all available information,” the police added. “Should any new evidence come to light, the suspect will be charged accordingly.”*** While anything is possible, there’s no real reason to believe that SAPD would seek to cover up a hate crime if it did indeed happen as Joss’s husband claims. Sure, it’s Texas, but San Antonio is a gay-friendly metro area, and the SAPD is an LGBT-friendly police force. It even has an official “LGBTQ+ liaison.” Meanwhile, neighbors who witnessed the aftermath of the attack have not corroborated the suggestion that it was an anti-gay hate crime. They have, however, undercut Kern de Gonzales’s reliability as a narrator. In the same Facebook post alleging the hate crime, he also claimed that Joss’s home had been burned down in a targeted attack. But neighbors and even Joss himself said it was a grilling accident that Joss caused. So, we already know that Kern de Gonzales is making untrue claims of victimhood in this very post. Why would we assume his claims about the alleged murder are true, despite a police investigation finding no evidence?  What’s more, neighbors paint a picture of Joss as a very troubled man.  “He would just walk up and down the street … he would just like scream,” one told MySanAntonio.com. “He was just very loud, very loud. But we knew how he was, so we wouldn’t disturb him. Even if he looked at us, talked mess to us, we just ignored him because we knew that’s how he was.” MySanAntonio further reports that, “According to the San Antonio Police Department, officers have responded to Joss’ address on Dorsey Drive over 40 times since January 2024, with calls connected to mental health disturbances, disturbance with neighbors, general disturbances, welfare checks, and the fire reported in January.” Hence, why a neighbor concluded, “I’m so sad it had to come to this. We all knew it was going to end up like this because of his antics. It’s sad cause this could have been prevented if he had gotten the help he needed.”***

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/3429806/jonathan-joss-anti-gay-hate-crime

***

[masterofd1saster]

Court watch 29may25 - the NEPA case

I don't usually write about civil jurisprudence, but Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, 605 U. S. __ (2025) is interesting.

First of all, the decision was unanimous, 8-0. Those are somewhat rate. J. Gorsuch did not participate.

In this case, the U. S. Surface Transportation Board considered a proposal by a group of seven Utah counties for the construction and operation of an approximately 88-mile railroad line in northeastern Utah. Under federal law, the Board determines whether to approve construction of new railroad lines. The railroad line here would connect Utah’s oil-rich Uinta Basin—a rural territory roughly the size of the State of Maryland—to the national rail network. By doing so, the new railroad line would facilitate the transportation of crude oil from Utah to refineries in Louisiana, Texas, and elsewhere. And the project would bring significant economic development and jobs to the isolated Uinta Basin by better connecting the Basin to the national economy. For that proposed 88-mile Utah railroad line, the Board prepared an extraordinarily lengthy EIS, spanning more than 3,600 pages of environmental analysis. The Board’s EIS addressed the environmental effects of the railroad line. But the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit nonetheless faulted the EIS for not sufficiently considering the environmental effects of projects separate from the railroad line itself—primarily, the environmental effects that could ensue from (i) increased oil drilling upstream in the Uinta Basin and (ii) increased oil refining downstream along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas.***

Eagle County, Colorado, sued. Eagle County is on the Continent Divide, hundreds of miles away from the proposed railroad.

review of an agency’s EIS is not the same thing as review of the agency’s final decision concerning the project. *** That, too, follows from NEPA’s status as a purely procedural statute. The ultimate question is not whether an EIS in and of itself is inadequate, but whether the agency’s final decision was reasonable and reasonably explained. Review of an EIS is only one component of that analysis. Even if an EIS falls short in some respects, that deficiency may not necessarily require a court to vacate the agency’s ultimate approval of a project, at least absent reason to believe that the agency might disapprove the project if it added more to the EIS.***

Even apart from failing to afford sufficient deference to the Surface Transportation Board, the D. C. Circuit’s decision was mistaken on the merits under NEPA. The D. C. Circuit erroneously required the Board to address environmental effects from projects that are separate in time or place from the 88-mile railroad project at hand— that is, effects from potential future projects or from geographically separate projects. Moreover, those separate projects fall outside the Board’s authority and would be initiated, if at all, by third parties. In its EIS, the Board determined that upstream oil drilling in the Uinta Basin and downstream oil refining along the Gulf Coast were separate from the construction and operation of the 88-mile railroad line. The Board’s EIS explained that the “proposed rail line and any future oil and gas development projects are not two phases of a single action,” but “separate, independent projects.” App. 523. Those other projects, the Board reasoned, should not be considered “part of the proposed action assessed in the EIS.” Ibid. The Board concluded that its EIS need not evaluate the possible environmental effects from separate upstream or downstream projects.***

Three justices concurred in the decision.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 29may25

The awesomeness of unrestrained illegal immigration

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Police took a suspect into custody Monday after they and school officials discovered that an adult apparently masqueraded as a student at Perrysburg High School, enrolling while claiming to be a 16-year-old student in January 2024. According to information from police and a letter that Perrysburg Schools Superintendent Thomas Hosler sent to parents and community members, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national was arrested on felony forgery charges. 

The suspect presented himself as an unaccompanied minor and enrolled at the high school under the name "Anthony Labrador," Hosler said. According to court records, the suspect's full name is Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra. Perrysburg Schools stated that Labrador Sierra used forged documents to not only enroll in school but to obtain various statuses and services, including legal guardianship, a Social Security number, federal temporary protected status and an Ohio driver's license. *** Officials reported a Perrysburg family who had previously hosted exchange students took Sierra in and helped him obtain a social security number and driver’s license. The Wood County Juvenile Court granted his guardianship to the Perrysburg family, according to Hosler.  According to police, U.S. Border Patrol confirmed Sierra was actually born in March 2001. His visa expired in 2023, which is the same year he contacted the school district about enrolling. ***

Hosler said the district was first informed of Labrador Sierra's alleged fraudulent identity on May 14 when the family who had taken guardianship of him contacted the school.  The investigation began when a woman contacted the host family last week, claiming Sierra was the father of her child.  The family alerted the school, which then notified police. A fraud case was opened with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Perrysburg school administrators spoke with Labrador Sierra, whom they said denied the claims and referenced his birth certificate, which included a date of birth that would have made him 17 as of May 14. *** Labrador Sierra appeared in Perrysburg Municipal Court Tuesday afternoon via video. A judge set his bond at $50,000, no 10%. If he posts bond, he is not allowed to leave Wood County. *** When the judge asked where he would live if released, Labrador Sierra said he would live with a person with whom he said he shares children. ***

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/perrysburg-adult-impersonated-student-minor-fraud-forgery-case-charges-arrest/512-75dff0f2-9427-41f7-998b-dfc45e99f567

***

nti-Semitic dirtbag murders two

30-year-old anti-Semitic dirtbag Elias Rodriguez of Chicago murdered two Israeli diplomats in DC on Wed, 21may25.

The dirtbag then chanted “free, free Palestine," even while in custody.  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3419226/gunman-accused-of-killing-two-israelis-in-dc-chanted-free-palestine-while-in-police-custody

The suspect didn't appear in an initial search of crime databases and wasn't on law enforcements' radar, Metropolitan Police said. No details on the gun purchase or legality of the weapon were known as of early Thursday morning.   The police and the FBI were combing through the suspect's social media, and electronic devices belonging to the suspect have been seized, according to a law enforcement source. *** https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-embassy-staff-shooting-suspect-elias-rodriguez-washington-dc/

This sure looks like first degree murder per 18 U.S.C. §1111 (2025). I suppose it's also 18 U.S.C. §1116. Murder of foreign officials (2025). Either way, it's a capital crime.

Federal death penalty procedures start at 18 U.S.C. §3591. Sentence of death (2025).

***

Weird Michigan judicial behavior case

A Detroit judge at the center of a long-running misconduct investigation is now trying to block crucial evidence, including silent surveillance footage and expert lip-reading testimony, in a disciplinary case stemming from a 2019 altercation on Mackinac Island. Judge Demetria Brue of Detroit’s 36th District Court is facing charges from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) over allegations she falsely accused a small business owner of assault and racism during a dispute over a $23 bike rental. Brue and fellow judge Debra Nance of Southfield were on the island for a judicial conference when they rented bikes from local shop owner Ira Green. The JTC alleges Brue attempted to use her judicial status to avoid payment and later falsely claimed she was assaulted after a dispute over the receipt. Brue is also accused of calling Green racist and invoking her race and judicial position while demanding police involvement—claims that are in dispute.***

https://newsbeyonddetroit.net/2025/05/22/michigan-judge-fights-lipreader-evidence-which-might-prove-she-lied-to-cops-after-assaulting-shopkeeper-alleging-hate-hoax/

***

You know why this is so hard for California?

The most powerful politicians in Cali want to buy & sell kids for sex, that's why.

Today, men who buy 16- and 17-year-old girls and boys still can receive a misdemeanor and as little as two days in jail. After some very intense back and forth (removing this provision from the bill, refusing to add it back in and stripping the original author from the bill, much media attention and negotiation), protections for 16- and 17-year-olds are back in this bill! The bill would now make it a felony to solicit a child of any age if the buyer is more than three years older than the victim. This ensures that the exploiters who purchase children are criminalized for their actions that devastate lives.

At least Catholics are speaking up to oppose sex trafficking kids - https://cacatholic.org/alerts/

You can sign a petition at the link.

***

Sad, but true

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — The victims being murdered in Durham and the suspects being arrested for those crimes are getting young and younger. A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at his home in the Franklin Village neighborhood earlier this month. Arrested in connection to the murder was a 15-year-old girl. Regina Mays, the victim’s neighbor, said current solutions to violence aren’t working. “My 13-year-old lost her childhood friend that day,” Mays said. “It was on the same day as her dad’s death anniversary.” On Thursday, Durham police presented their first quarter crime report from January through March to the city council. Juvenile criminal offenses skyrocketed by more than 100%, going from 103 in 2024’s first quarter to 207 in 2025’s first quarter. “It shouldn’t happen,” Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams said. “These are young kids. As a matter of fact, they’re mostly young Black kids dying and killing each other. Durham is dope, but this is not.” The report also shows homicides increased in the first quarter from six in 2024 to nine in 2025. That number continues to increase as the year progresses.***

https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/durham-county-news/killing-each-other-juvenile-criminal-offenses-skyrocket-by-100-in-durhams-quarterly-crime-report/

***

Jamal Wali, Fairfax, Virginia 23apr25 video

***

Soooooooooo true

***

210 years aint bad if we can't execute him

A Littleton man who founded an orphanage in Haiti received the maximum sentence of 210 years in prison Friday after a federal jury found him guilty of sexually abusing orphans in his care. Michael Geilenfeld, 73, founded St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in 1985 and ran the Port-au-Prince facility for more than 20 years. He used his position to prey on orphaned children, inflicting sexual abuse and other physical and emotional abuse, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. He was found guilty in February of traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct and six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place between 2005 and 2010.***

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/05/24/littleton-man-prison-sexually-abusing-children-haitian-orphanage-michael-geilenfeld

***

At least the arsonist is an environmentalist

The 28-year-old charged with attempting to firebomb a U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv was born in Colorado, according to a complaint filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court. Joseph Neumeyer, who has dual United States and German citizenship, was apprehended in Israel and flown to the United States on Sunday. He was charged with attempting to destroy, by means of fire or explosive, a U.S. embassy office in Tel Aviv, the complaint said. Neumeyer had been in Israel since April and on May 19 wrote on social media about plans to burn down the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv. Later that day, Neumeyer allegedly spat on a security guard outside the embassy and cursed at him. The guard grabbed Neumeyer’s backpack in an attempt to capture him but Neumeyer slipped out of the backpack and fled, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York. The guard opened the backpack and found three Molotov cocktails filled with ethanol, the complaint said.***

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/05/26/joseph-neumeyer-colorado-us-embassy-tel-aviv

***

Weird case like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_%26_Gain

SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) -- A man who was charged in the kidnapping and torture of a former crypto business partner for weeks in a SoHo apartment was ordered held without bail. John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned on Saturday morning after being arrested and charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm. The judge in the case remanded Woeltz and ordered him to surrender his passport. His next court date is scheduled for May 28. Police arrested and charged two people, including Woeltz, in connection to the SoHo apartment incident on Friday. Officials say Woeltz lived at the address on Prince Street. A second suspect, a female, was also arrested but was not charged. Another male suspect is still at large, according to the NYPD. Police said a group was living at the apartment on Prince Street that was turned into a house of horrors after they allegedly lured a former cryptocurrency business partner back from Italy to get the password to access his crypto account and then kidnapped and tortured him for weeks. Woeltz, a crypto entrepreneur, was taken into custody barefoot and in a bathrobe on Friday after the 28-year-old victim escaped in the morning and ran to a traffic agent for help.***

Investigators said they tied him up with electrical cords and tortured him with electrocutions and other types of shock treatment. They also allegedly tased him with his feet in water, pistol-whipped him, and threatened to cut his limbs off with an electric chainsaw. Police said they took Polaroids of themselves torturing him, one showing him bound to a chair with a gun to his head. The Polaroids were likely to extort money, either from the victim or his family back in Italy. They also allegedly forced him to take drugs, like cocaine, and used other psychological torture, telling him he would never escape. They also allegedly put an AirTag around his neck to know where he was in the building, where he had limited mobility.***

Police said the inside of the house was trashed with broken glass, helmets, night vision goggles, and a bulletproof vest in plain sight. Investigators found a saw, crack cocaine, blood, bullets and a gun, along with Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head.. Police then found a gun and requested a search warrant for a more detailed search. The victim sustained numerous cuts on his body from the torture, including one believed from the chainsaw and is being treated at Bellevue Hospital, police said.***

https://abc7ny.com/post/crypto-entrepreneur-john-woeltz-accused-kidnapping-torture-ex-business-partner-soho-apartment-ordered-held-bail/16532455/

***

100% clearance rate???

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3422890/san-jose-crime-technology-investigations-100-percent-solved-matt-mahan/ reports that San Jose has solved 100% of its homicides for the last three years in a row. That's extraordinary.

Some of it is a little surveillance statey.

***

[masterofd1saster]

CJ court watch - the Catholic charter school case

SCt split on the Catholic charter school case, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Bd. v. Drummond, 605 U. S. __ (2025). J. Barrett recused herself because she had supervised the students who brought the case.

Oklahoma's Supreme Court had ruled that the Catholic charter school violated the Establishment Clause. That will remain the final judgment between the parties, but it has no other effect.

Where an appellate court is equally divided on an appeal before it, the decision below is generally considered to be affirmed. Similarly, the United States Supreme Court will affirm a judgment if the court is equally divided. In other words, the affirmance by an equally divided appellate court may mean that the lower court's opinion is left undisturbed and stands without becoming a precedent. 5 Am. Jur. 2d Appellate Review § 779.

the uniform practice of appellate courts in such cases, the judgment below stands, not as a precedent, but as the decision in this case. Town of Durham v. Richmond & D.R. Co., 113 N.C. 240, 18 S.E. 208 (1893).

[masterofd1saster]

CJ court watch - fed wire fraud doesn't require loss

SCt decided Kousisis v. United States, 605 U. S. __ (2025) on Thurs, 22may. Decision was unanimous with three concurrences. J. Barrett wrote for the court.

Stamatios Kousisis and the industrial-painting company he helped manage, Alpha Painting and Construction Co., secured two government contracts for painting projects in Philadelphia. Both contracts required [minority subcontractors.]

He lied about using a minority subcontractor, painted the bridges as required, and received the promised payments.

To convict Alpha and Kousisis, the Government needed to prove that they used the wires to execute a “scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises.” 18 U. S. C. §1343. Despite the use of the disjunctive “or,” we have declined to interpret §1343 as establishing alternative pathways to a conviction. Instead, reading the two clauses together, we have held that “the money or-property requirement of the latter phrase” operates as a limitation on the former. *** A defendant commits federal wire fraud, in other words, only if he both “‘engaged in deception’” and had “‘money or property’” as “‘an object’” of his fraud.

Everyone on the court agreed that the language of the statute imported the common law definition of fraud. I remember our torts prof was really clear that one of the elements was that the victim suffered some loss.

Kousisis argued that he was not guilty of wire fraud because Pennsylvania suffered no economic loss. The government had no proof of economic loss; it only had proof of Kousisis's gain, and any honest contractor would have gained economic value.

The majority opinion said that a victim's economic loss is not an element of the crime. At this point, the elements of the crime are

a lie

the lie is material

some use of the wires

intent to obtain value

To avoid convicting people of federal felonies for more or less harmless lies, the Court requires a lie to be material. The Court dodged defining material, but did say

Whether in tort or contract law, “materiality looks to the effect on the likely or actual behavior of the recipient of the alleged misrepresentation.” *** Resembling a but-for standard, materiality asks whether the misrepresentation “constituted an inducement or motive” to enter into a transaction. *** a misrepresentation is material if a reasonable person would attach importance to it in deciding how to proceed, or if the defendant knew (or should have known) that the recipient would likely deem it important.

That's a really broad standard. A reasonable person would select a bridge painting contractor based on its price and performance, not on the race of the contractor.

J. Gorsuch made a really good point when he wrote

This case touches on an old question: What is the difference between a lie and a criminal fraud? Consider an easy hypothetical. In a phone interview, a couple asks a prospective babysitter if she has a criminal record. The babysitter says no, but that’s not right. While she has sought to turn her life around, a burglary conviction lurks in her past, one she is too embarrassed to mention. Relying on her misrepresentation, the parents hire the babysitter. Her work proves exemplary and the couple pays her well. Later, though, the parents discover the babysitter’s lie. They might be upset and refuse to hire her again. But should the babysitter face federal fraud charges? Of course not. While “intentional deceit for purposes of gain ought sometimes to be punished,” if all misrepresentations amounted to criminal fraud, “thousands of buyers and sellers” would be felons. *** How do courts police the line between mere lies and criminal frauds warranting the law’s attention? One important tool is fraud’s injury requirement. To prove a criminal fraud, a prosecutor must show that the victim did not receive what the defendant promised. It is a rule that shields people like our babysitter from the prosecutor’s sights. And it is a rule that keeps judges from becoming arbiters of good morals. A fraud conviction can mean years, even decades, in prison. Before a prosecutor may seek, and a court may authorize, that kind of punishment, the law demands more than a victimless lie.

Where is J. Gorsuch wrong?

[masterofd1saster]

CJ court watch - speaking truth to power

J. James C. Ho is a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He filed a powerful concurring opinion on 20may25 in the case of A.A.R.P. v. Trump, 25-10534.

This is one of the Tren de Aragua cases. The Venezuelans filed their request with the District Court at 12:34 a.m. on April 18, 2025.

Petitioners “were fully aware that the District Court intended to give the Government 24 hours to file a response.” A.A.R.P., 605 U.S. at _ (Alito, J., dissenting). They “said nothing about a plan to appeal if the District Court elected to wait for that response.”

This is a normal part of a justice system: One party asks in writing for some judicial order, and the other parties have a reasonable opportunity to respond. In this case, at 12:48 p.m. on April 18, the Venezuelans said they would appeal if they didn't receive an answer by 42 minutes, i.e., by 1:30 p.m.” The Supreme Court jumped into the case in the middle of the night and entered its order before any lower court could rule.

We seem to have forgotten that this is a district court—not a Denny’s. This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that district judges have a duty to check their dockets at all hours of the night, just in case a party decides to file a motion. If this is going to become the norm, then we should say so: District judges are hereby expected to be available 24 hours a day—and the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts should secure from Congress the resources and staffing necessary to ensure 24-hour operations in every district court across the country. If this is not to become the norm, then we should admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like members of Tren de Aragua—and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded.

Gutsy move by a circuit judge with truth on his side