Thurs - "Take Our Washing Machines, But Go in Peace." Nyet!

Stupid Prosecutor Tricks

A viral video showing a former Mississippi daycare worker scaring kids in her care while wearing a creepy mask has prompted child abuse charges against five daycare workers, NBC affiliate WTVA of Tupelo reported.

The video, which WTVA reports was filmed Oct. 4 at Lil’ Blessings Child Care in Monroe County, prompted an investigation by the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office days after it surfaced on social media, The Associated Press reported.

Former employees Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton each face three counts of felony child abuse, and Traci Hutson faces failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor, both misdemeanors, WTVA reported.



Bad Judgement?  Yes.  Felony Child Abuse?  Ridiculous!

"Take Our Washing Machines, But Go in Peace."  Nyet!

What is clear is that Russia’s position in Ukraine—not just in Kherson—appears to be on the brink of disintegrating. On Russian state TV, pundits who just weeks ago were sneering about how all of Ukraine would soon be under Russian control, are mourning what they describe as inevitable losses of territory. It’s been just two weeks since Putin announced the annexation of four regions in Ukraine, and Russia has lost territory in all of those regions. Now Russia seems to be poised for more massive losses at opposite ends of the front, even as they continue to make minimal gains in one tiny area.

The situation is bad enough that Russian pundits are now proposing genocide as the only possible solution. It’s horrific. But it’s also delusional. It’s just another example of how Russia finds anything at all acceptable, except for the idea of leaving Ukraine in peace.

Gov. Douchebag Ignores the Law

Arizona has refused the federal government’s demand to take down double-stacked shipping containers it placed to fill gaps in the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying it won’t do so until the U.S. moves to construct a permanent barrier instead.

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs dug in its heels in an Oct. 18 letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, saying “the containers will remain in place until specific details regarding construction are provided.” It was signed by Allen Clark, the department’s director.

A regional spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Arizona’s refusal in the most recent flap between the Biden administration and Republican-led border states over immigration policies.

The federal agency told Arizona officials in a letter last week that the containers were unauthorized and violated U.S. law. The bureau also demanded that no new containers be placed, saying it wanted to prevent conflicts with two federal contracts already awarded and two more still pending to fill border wall gaps near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma, Arizona, area.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered installation of more than 100 double-stacked containers that were placed over the summer, saying he couldn’t wait for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to award the contracts it had announced for the work.

Migrants have continued to avoid the recently erected barriers by going around them, including through the Cocopah Indian Reservation. The Cocopah Indian Tribe has complained that Arizona acted against its wishes by placing 42 of the double stacks on its land.

The Pillars of Creation

NASA released a new image of the iconic Pillars of Creation on Wednesday, an updated and intricate view showcasing the far-reaching power of the James Webb Space Telescope.

“The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable,” NASA wrote. “These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light.”

The image was captured with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam.

The region lies about 6,500 light-years away within the Eagle Nebula, and was first captured by the Hubble telescope in 1995 and again in 2014. The latest image, however, adds striking new detail: Bright red orbs are newly-formed stars, thought to be just a few hundred thousand years old. Wavy lines that look like lava on the edge of some pillars are ejections from stars that are still forming.




This combination image provided by NASA on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, shows the Pillars of Creation as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2014, left, and by NASA's James Webb Telescope, right.

The Crime of the Century Millisecond

Former President Donald Trump once predicted that a special prosecutor appointed during his administration would uncover “the crime of the century” — a conspiracy to sink his 2016 campaign.

Yet here are the results of the three-year probe by prosecutor John Durham: two trial acquittals — the latest on Tuesday — and a former FBI attorney sentenced to probation.

That has fallen far short of Trump supporters’ expectations that Durham would reveal a “deep state” plot behind the U.S. government’s investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The outcome has led to scrutiny over the purpose of Durham’s appointment by former Attorney General William Barr, who tasked him with sussing out misconduct in the Trump-Russia probe. It also has raised questions about whether or when the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, might move to rein in Durham’s work or hasten its completion.

“You really measure the success of an investigation by what it uncovers in terms of pernicious activity, and he’s uncovered nothing,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former senior Justice Department official.

There are no signs Durham plans to charge anyone else in his investigation. He is expected to produce a report at some point, but it’s unclear whether he will identify any significant misconduct or errors beyond those already reported by the Justice Department’s watchdog.

Did She Invent the Internet, Too?

Republicans lie, quite a lot, and about everything. Their lies are an active threat to our democracy, like denying that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and denying that a win by a Democratic candidate is legitimate. Their lies are stupid, like flashing a toy police badge during a televised debate.

Their lies are also bizarre, like this doozy from Rep. María Elvira Salazar. During an interview with the Fox News propaganda network this week, the Florida Republican and former reporter falsely claimed that she was “one of the founders of Spanish television, Univision and Telemundo.” But Univision was founded in September 1962, when Salazar was not quite 1 year old. Wow, talk about child prodigy. Telemundo, meanwhile, had already been around for several years before Salazar was born.