Hijack This Thread

[AndyinPA]

I'm happy for her now, but that whole mess was infuriating.

[andersweinstein]

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
A Texas appeals court just threw out the five-year prison sentence for Crystal Mason, the Texas woman sentenced for trying to cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 election that was rejected.

I also wondered where on Fogbow this good news belonged. I found the court's reasoning a little bit interesting:

The appeals court had rejected an earlier appeal. It was then appealed up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (essentially state's Supreme Court for criminal cases), who ruled that law required showing she had knowledge that she was inelgible (based on Tom DeLay case!) and remanded to the appellate court to review. This time round, appellate court ruled that there was insufficient evidence of that and acquitted. Think this opinion written by same judge who earlier rejected.

Original case had a lot of testimony about whether she had read the affidavit section of the provisional ballot. She testified that if she had read it, she would have known she was ineligible, but denied reading it. Her testimony was contradicted on lots of points by poll workers, whose testimony could lead factfinder to conclude she had read it. And she is a convicted fraudster who, the court recognized, might be judged not credible.

Court ruled that even if factfinder concluded she had read the affidavit, the language in the affidavit was not sufficient to prove she thereby knew she was ineligible. This because the language just affirms that one is not a convicted felon still on probation, etc, and also affirms that one knows that voting while ineligible is a crime. But it never informs that being a convicted felon renders one ineligible. “We conclude that the quantum of the evidence presented in this case is insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that she voted knowing that she was ineligible to do so and, therefore, insufficient to support her conviction for illegal voting."

Decision here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24522961-02-18-00138-cr_18138crremand

[bill_g]

Is TX one of those states that permanently rescind your right to vote if you've been convicted of a felony? IOW, you never pay your debt to society.

[andersweinstein]

Is TX one of those states that permanently rescind your right to vote if you've been convicted of a felony? IOW, you never pay your debt to society.

Info I found suggests they're automatically eligible again once they've fully discharged their sentence, which includes completing probation, supervised release, paying fines, fees, restitution etc. (Mason was on supervised release when she cast provisional ballot.)

One source

[bill_g]

Is TX one of those states that permanently rescind your right to vote if you've been convicted of a felony? IOW, you never pay your debt to society.

Info I found suggests they're automatically eligible again once they've fully discharged their sentence, which includes completing probation, supervised release, paying fines, fees, restitution etc. (Mason was on supervised release when she cast provisional ballot.)

One source

Thank you so much. :hattip:

[Estiveo]

Here's some USDA Prime, A-#1, weapons grade bat-shit crazy right here.

[AndyinPA]

[pipistrelle]

First, two seconds on Google yielded:

Makanda was been known by several names of Markanda, Markands, and Markauda. In 1872, it received its present name of Makanda and was named after a local Indian chief. [My guess was Native American from the spelling.] The village was incorporated on February 7, 1888.

The significance of a whimsical man-given name to sandstone formations that have a vague resemblance to a city combined with a predictable and predicted solar eclipse is going over my head. Help.

(I can't help but think she's kidding. She is kidding. Right?)

[jez]

Picked up the new car on March 8. Driven it an amazing 70 miles so far. But I'm very much liking it. I believe the car has named itself Imogene. That is the name that pops in my head when I'm driving. So, on to Imogene.

For those that don't remember, I turned in my 16-1/2 year old Chevy Cobalt for a 2024 Subarau Impreza RS. I am loving this car. Cars have changed a bit since I last bought one. Such as there is pretty much a freaking iPad in the middle of my console now. There is no CD player. Everything is digital through this touch screen. Which is cool, I'll give you that. I was able to connect my Sirrus XM app account to the car, so I can now listen to my music, news, etc. through that. The radio stations kind of suck in Dayton, except for the classical station.

A few other things that I have noticed in the little driving I do:

• The backup camera is very helpful. I have depth perception issues, and this helps me when I'm backing up.
• There are small lights on my side mirrors that will light up when there is a car next to me in my blind spot.
• If I have my cruise control on (yes, took Imogene out on the highway for a short run), I have the option of lane drift control. It will actually lightly move the steering wheel to keep me between the lines if I start to drift a bit.
• There are two levels of heat on the butt warmer.
• Calls are crystal clear through the bluetooth connection on my phone.
• The review mirror will automatically dim if there are cars with headlights on behind me at night.

I'm still discovering things every time I run down to the store, or something. I don't drive much, but I'm starting to think I may just drive a bit more now.

[Rolodex]

Sounds great, jez! Cars are basically computers with wheels these days. Glad you're enjoying it - there's a learning curve for sure!

Imogene sounds like a perfect name. We've always named our cars:
1969 VW Fastback: Henry Weasel
1966 Mustang: Sparky
1983 Fiat Spider: Tony
1983 Accord hatchback: The Goat (not the greatest of all time)
white minivan: Snowflake
Infiniti JX35 Jinxy (named after Jinx Monsoon, who is a drag queen for people wondering)
My current plug in hybrid: Buzz
My son's Honda Element was Furbert
We've had some others and can't remember their names off the top of my head.

[qbawl]

Sounds great, jez! Cars are basically computers with wheels these days. Glad you're enjoying it - there's a learning curve for sure!

Imogene sounds like a perfect name. We've always named our cars:
1969 VW Fastback: Henry Weasel
1966 Mustang: Sparky
1983 Fiat Spider: Tony
1983 Accord hatchback: The Goat (not the greatest of all time)
white minivan: Snowflake
Infiniti JX35 Jinxy (named after Jinx Monsoon, who is a drag queen for people wondering)
My current plug in hybrid: Buzz
My son's Honda Element was Furbert
We've had some others and can't remember their names off the top of my head.

Never named our cars but all our riding mowers have been called Nelliebelle.

[Flatpoint High]

and now for something completely stupid:

4inhmqwllwrc1.jpeg (331.03 KiB) Viewed 428 times

[p0rtia]

[Uninformed]

“Germany fans banned from buying number 44 kits over Nazi symbolism”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68708981

“Adidas has banned football fans from buying German football kits customised with the number 44, after media raised their resemblance to the symbol used by World War Two-era Nazi SS units.”

[Rolodex]

So this was a new concept to me. It makes sense; I fit in Generation Jones but people I know who are 10 years older - still Boomers like me - had a pretty different young adulthood.

Generation Jones is the social cohort[1][2] worldwide[3] of the latter half of the baby boomer generation to the first year of Generation X.[4][5][6][7] The term Generation Jones was first coined by the American cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who identified the cohort as those born from 1954 to 1965 in the U.S.,[8] who were children during Watergate, the oil crisis, and stagflation rather than during the 1950s, but slightly before Gen X.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

[RTH10260]

so the sneaky US places sanctions on Russia, but allows them to send uranium for power plants and birch wood

Russian ship caught with sanctioned cargo destined for USA detained in Germany

April 3, 2024, 10:00 AM

German authorities have detained a Russian vessel, the Atlantic Navigator II, in the port of Rostock for transporting goods listed under EU sanctions to the United States, Ostsee Zeitung reported.

Port authorities in Rostock stated that customs detained the vessel due to the presence of goods prohibited for import into the EU. The ship, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, is prohibited from leaving the port.

The vessel departed from St. Petersburg at the beginning of March and was detained in Rostock three weeks ago after entering the port due to damage to its propeller. It was en route to the USA carrying timber and enriched uranium for nuclear power plants.

The total value of the vessel's cargo is estimated to be around 40 million euros.

Birch timber was also on board, supplied by the logging company Sveza, which is part of the Severstal conglomerate owned by Russian businessman Alexey Mordashov, who is under sanctions. He transferred his shares in Sveza to company management in October 2022.



https://english.nv.ua/nation/russian-sh ... 06690.html

[RTH10260]

Patient With Transplanted Pig Kidney Leaves Hospital for Home
Richard Slayman, 62, is the first patient to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig. Two weeks after the procedure, he was well enough to be discharged, doctors said.

By Roni Caryn Rabin
April 3, 2024

The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has fared so well that he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery.

The transplant and its encouraging outcome represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, possibly heralding an era of cross-species organ transplantation.

Two previous organ transplants from genetically modified pigs failed. Both patients received hearts, and both died a few weeks later. In one patient, there were signs that the immune system had rejected the organ, a constant risk.

But the kidney transplanted into Richard Slayman, 62, is producing urine, removing waste products from the blood, balancing the body’s fluids and carrying out other key functions, according to his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“This moment — leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time — is one I wished would come for many years,” he said in a statement issued by the hospital. “Now it’s a reality.”

He said he had received “exceptional care” and thanked his physicians and nurses, as well as the well-wishers who reached out to him, including kidney patients who were waiting for an organ.

“Today marks a new beginning not just for me, but for them as well,” Mr. Slayman said.



https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/heal ... ayman.html

[John Thomas8]

[AndyinPA]

[pipistrelle]

I'm on a public transportation route that used to get a lot of proselytizers. Ear plugs work wonders.

[bill_g]

This is why God invented ear buds, playlists, and volume controls with a bass boost button.

[Whatever4]

More amazing photographs in this thread. “Accidental art”

[pipistrelle]

Fergie Chambers Is Heir to One of America's Richest Families -- and Determined to See the U.S. Fall
He’s a scion of wealth, a loud and proud Communist, and a “professional revolutionary” who has been on the front lines from Standing Rock to Cop City — and made plenty of enemies along the way. Now, after some uncomfortable brushes with the law, he’s moved overseas but is still making plans to use his vast fortune to overthrow the United States

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu ... 234983156/

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

This is why God invented ear buds, playlists, and volume controls with a bass boost button.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Accidental art ^ is COOOOOOL!!!!