Sat: Is Previous Guy the New Lyndon LaRouche?

Will Mississippi Continue to Live in 1890?

A Mississippi appeals court overturned a Jim Crow law imposing a lifetime voting ban on people convicted of certain crimes.

A 2-1 decision Friday ruled that disenfranchising an individual who has paid their debt to society is “unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment.”

Tens of thousands of Mississippi residents are prohibited from partaking in the nation’s democratic process — most of whom are Black, according to the Mississippi Free Press.

The appellate court ruled that barring ex-convicts from voting constitutes ongoing punishment and assures they “will never be fully rehabilitated.” The practice further “serves no protective function to society,” U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James L. Dennis wrote on behalf of the court’s majority.

Article 12, Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution previously held that those convicted of crimes including murder, rape, bribery, theft, perjury or bigamy forfeit their right to vote.

The law dates back to 1890, but was upheld by a circuit court in 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of that case in June, much to the chagrin of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor.

In Friday’s reversal, Mississippi jurists said the Magnolia State had become an “outlier” among its 35 “sister states” that have disavowed discrimination against ex-cons.

A Sweet Lupin is Not a Harry Potter Character.  Actually, It Is, But ..."

If you walk into a bar in Italy, you might be served a dish of salty, nutritious snacks: lupin beans, a legume that has been eaten around the Mediterranean and in parts of the Middle East and Africa for thousands of years.

Lupins are very high in protein and fibre, low in carbs, have a low glycaemic index, and they’re easy to grow in a variety of climates. However, some varieties also contain high levels of unpleasantly bitter alkaloids.

In new research, an international team of researchers has for the first time identified the “sweetness gene” responsible for low alkaloid levels. This discovery may make it easier to reliably produce more palatable plants.

Around 100 years ago, plant breeders in Germany found natural mutations that produced “sweet lupins” with far lower levels of bitter alkaloids. They produced sweet varieties of white lupin (Lupinus albus), narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius, the main type grown in Australia), and the less common yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus).

Is this the protein plant of the future? New study finds ‘sweetness gene’ that makes lupins tastier

If Pakistan Can Do It ...

Police have arrested Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of Lahore after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his premiership from 2018 to 2022 to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($497,500).

“His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” judge Humayun Dilawar wrote in the ruling. “He has been found guilty of corrupt practices by hiding the benefits he accrued from national exchequer wilfully and intentionally.”

The verdict includes a 100,000-rupee fine ($355) which, if not paid, could amount to a further six months in jail.

The Sky is Falling!  The Sky is Falling!

Politico hit piece on Dem fundraising manages to confuse increases for decreases




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From Politico:

Whistling past the graveyard’: Dem fear grows over massive grassroots fundraising hit

The decline is a major warning sign as the presidential campaign heats up

That’s among the findings of an analysis of fundraising for the first half of the year through ActBlue, the party’s primary donation processor. Small-dollar giving at the federal level totaled $312 million in the first half of 2023 — a drop-off of more than $30 million compared to this point in the 2020 cycle.

The platform also had 32 percent fewer donors in the second quarter this year compared to four years prior, although its total fundraising increased slightly due to several factors, including more recurring donors and greater giving to non-federal groups.
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Total fundraising via ActBlue is actually up 16.4% for the first half of 2023 vs. the first half of 2019.

So what’s going on here? Well, the key is the federal vs. non-federal clarifiers.

Donations to federal races (and other organizations/PACs like the DNC, DCCC & DSCC) are down 8.8% ($312M vs. $342M)

But what about non-federal races/orgs/PACs? Well, simple math tells us that:

ActBlue donations to non-federal funds have skyrocketed by 226% or nearly 2.3x as much so far this cycle.

In other words, Politico says that an 8.8% drop in federal fundraising is “dire” but a 16.4% increase in overall fundraising is a “slight” increase. Huh.

In any event, what could possibly account for that 8.8% drop in federal fundraising? Well, let’s see...what was different about the federal Democratic election landscape in the first half of 2019 vs. the first half of 2023?

For the first half of 2019 there were a whopping 24 at least vaguely credible candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for President (that doesn’t even include Michael Bloomberg or Deval Patrick, who both entered the race later that year).

If Anything Is Falling from the ActBlue Sky, It's Money

The Defendent Who Can't Shut Up

The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him. The president’s spokesperson later defended the Truth Social entry as “the definition of political speech.”

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to issue a protective order in the case a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order — which is different from a so-called “gag order” — would limit what sensitive information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Such protective orders are common in criminal cases, but prosecutors said it’s “particularly important in this case” because Trump has issued “public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”

They pointed specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday in which Trump wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.”

Prosecutors said that if Trump were to begin posting about details from grand jury transcripts or other information handed over by the Justice Department, it could have have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”

Sanity In Texas?

Women in Texas with complicated pregnancies will be exempted from a state abortion ban under a temporary injunction issued on Friday, with the judge citing a lack of clarity on the ban's medical exemptions.

Travis County District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum in her ruling sided with women and doctors who sued Texas over the abortion ban.

"The Court finds that there is uncertainty regarding whether the medical exception to Texas' abortion bans … permits a physician to provide abortion care where, in the physician's good faith judgment and in consultation with the pregnant person, a pregnant person has a physical emergent medical condition," Mangrum said in the ruling.

The temporary injunction will stand until the lawsuit against Texas is complete, unless a higher court intervenes. The injunction is expected to be appealed.

The judge ruled that doctors cannot be prosecuted for application of "good faith judgment" for provision of abortions for physical medical conditions including: those that pose infection risk or make pregnancy unsafe, where the fetus is not likely to survive the pregnancy after birth, and where a medical condition cannot be effectively treated during pregnancy or requires "recurrent pervasive intervention."

Previous Guy Hasn't Claimed They Were Protesting His Indictment ...  Yet.

Thousands of people filled Manhattan's Union Square on Friday afternoon for an internet personality's hyped giveaway that got out of hand, with some in the crowd clambering on vehicles, hurling chairs and throwing punches, leaving police struggling to rein in the chaos.

Aerial TV news footage showed a surging, tightly packed crowd running through the streets, scaling structures in the park and snarling traffic. Shouting teenagers swung objects at car windows, and some people climbed on top of a moving vehicle, falling off as it sped away. Others pounded on or climbed atop city buses.

By 5:30 p.m., police officers in growing numbers had regained control of much of the area, but small skirmishes were still breaking out, with young people knocking over barricades and tossing bottles and even a flower pot at officers. Police were seen wrestling people to the ground and chasing them down the street.

The New York Police Department didn't immediately have information on injuries or arrests. Numerous people were in hand restraints, sitting on the sidewalks, and at least one young man was led away by two officers. Police formed lines in the street to try to direct the crowd.

On his Instagram feed, the streamer Kai Cenat had an image promoting a giveaway at 4 p.m. Eastern in the park. Some young people leaving the park said they had come expecting to get a computer for livestreaming and a new PlayStation.

Skylark Jones, 19, and a friend came to see Cenat and try to get something from his giveaway, which they said was promoted as a chance for things like gaming consoles or a gaming chair, as well as an opportunity to see the popular streamer.

When they arrived the scene was already packed, bottles were being thrown by people in the crowd and there was a commotion even before Cenat appeared, they said.