Author: John Rivera

We need a political revolution that will restore government to We The People.

Judge Warned In 2021 Of Gay Bar Attack Suspect’s Shooting Plans

The criminal justice system failed in this case as it has for so many others over and over again. It particularly fails when it comes to people with ‘mental illness.’ There is no system for dealing with it:

A judge dismissed the 2021 kidnapping case against the suspect in the Colorado gay nightclub shooting even though she had previously raised concerns about the defendant stockpiling weapons and explosives and planning a shootout, court transcripts obtained Friday by The Associated Press reveal.

Relatives, including the grandparents who claimed to have been kidnapped, had also told Judge Robin Chittum in August last year about Anderson Aldrich’s struggles with mental illness during a hearing at which the judge said the defendant needed treatment or “it’s going to be so bad,” according to the documents.

Still, no mention was made during a hearing this July of the suspect’s violent behavior or the status of any mental health treatment.

Anderson Lee Aldrich surrenders to police at a home.(AP/Leslie Bowman

He even made a bomb threat but was allowed to walk the streets a free man until the shooting in November. How was that possible?

Colorado gay club shooter tried to reclaim guns seized after 2021 bomb threat but prosecutor says they were not returned.

Joe Manchin’s Anti-Environment Amendment Defeated Despite Support from Biden, Schumer

Just a reminder that the Democratic Party, along with the GOP, is no friend of the environment. Here we have a powerful Democratic Senator and the President conspiring to help the fossil fuel industry. And it was a dirty deal done under the cover of the defense budget, which always passes:

The U.S. climate movement and people on the frontlines of the planetary crisis celebrated Thursday after the U.S. Senate declined to add Sen. Joe Manchin’s fossil fuel-friendly permitting bill to a military spending package.

…”Defeated for the third time this year, this zombie bill would have fast-tracked dangerous fossil fuel and mining projects that would undercut the positive impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act,” explained Chelsea Hodgkins, Oxfam America’s climate policy adviser. “Sen. Manchin’s proposal would do nothing to address the real barriers to renewable energy development, which include fully resourcing underfunded agencies and investing in community-supported renewable systems.”

…”We are thrilled that Manchin’s push to get his Big Oil wish list attached to must-pass legislation has failed for the third time,” said Ariel Moger, government and political affairs director at Friends of the Earth. “Leader Schumer and Democrats who voted for the dirty deal should be ashamed of themselves.”

…Ahead of the vote, Biden on Thursday reiterated his support for Manchin’s proposal, provoking widespread outrage.

Texas Republicans want to Round up all the Transgender in the State

History is repeated when we don’t learn from it. In the 1920s and 30s the NAZIs attacked and threatened Jews. In America today, it’s people of color and other groups, including transgender individuals. Are we going to allow history to repeat itself. We obviously can’t wait on the Democrats to protect us. They won’t:

On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that officials working for Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton tried to get employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety to compile them a list of transgender people in Texas, by cross-referencing the people who had changed their sex on their driver’s license.

“‘Need total number of changes from male to female and female to male for the last 24 months, broken down by month,’ the chief of the DPS’s driver license division emailed colleagues in the department on June 30, according to a copy of a message obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request,” reported Molly Hennessy-Fiske. “‘We won’t need DL/ID numbers at first but may need to have them later if we are required to manually look up documents.’ After more than 16,000 such instances were identified, DPS officials determined that a manual search would be needed to determine the reason for the changes, DPS spokesman Travis Considine told The Post in response to questions.”

So are we surprised when the transgender community are under physical attack. They are being targeted by individuals and groups whom are incited to commit violence against them throughout the country:

When five people were killed and dozens more injured in a mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, on the eve of Transgender Remembrance Day, the nation was rightfully horrified. But no one should be surprised.

Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump, and Raymond Green Vance were enjoying community with their friends, families of origin, and chosen families when they were heinously murdered by a gunman with a history of violence. Their deaths follow an unprecedented surge of anti-LGBTQ legislation, vile rhetoric from politicians and staff, and threats against LGBTQ people by white supremacists who are encouraged by extremists on social media and pundits within right wing media.

Dad Accused Of Strangling Daughter In Honor Killing For Refusing Arranged Marriage in Italy

Arranged marriages should not be tolerated in any modern democracy. It should be required that any immigrant abide by the rule of being able to choose your own partner for marriage. And under no circumstances allow child brides, punishable by prison time:

A Pakistani father has been arrested in the suspected honor killing of his daughter in Italy after she reportedly declined an arranged marriage, police said Friday.

Shabbir Abbas was arrested in his village in the eastern Punjab province of Pakistan, following Italian authorities and local police’s tip-off in relation to his daughter’s disappearance, the New York Post reported, citing senior police official Anwar Saeed Kingra.

Sore Loser Kari Lake Still Won’t Concede. But who cares?

It’s such a bad joke that even Lake didn’t show up.

The outgoing GOP Governor doesn’t seem to think the election was stolen from his fellow GOPer.

There are some wack-jobs in the right-wing media trying to push a stolen election conspiracy alas 2020. It ain’t working much.

Another view of the massive pro-Lake crowds that showed up to support her fight to count the thousands of votes that haven’t been counted yet. All Republican

Republicans are the Party of Sexual Depravity

Which is ironic since they call themselves the party of family values. The opposite is the case.

Continue reading “Republicans are the Party of Sexual Depravity” →

San Antonio Cop Shoots Teen Eating A McDonald’s Burger In His Car

Huffpost:

A San Antonio police officer was fired on Wednesday after he shot a 17-year-old driver who was eating a McDonald’s sandwich in his car.

James Brennand was a probationary officer who had been with the department for just seven months. According to mySA, he initially reported that he shot at the teen’s car after it hit him. However, body camera footage of the incident didn’t back up his story.

The video showed Brennand on an unrelated call when he spotted a maroon vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot and concluded it had recently fled from him.

Brennand called for assistance, approached the car and opened the driver side door. Erik Cantu and an unnamed 17-year-old female passenger were inside, per a police report described by KSAT-TV.

“Get out of the car!” Brennand told Cantu, who was munching on a McDonald’s burger.

“Why?” Cantu asked as his vehicle began to move backward. Brennand responded by firing his gun multiple times.

Continue reading “San Antonio Cop Shoots Teen Eating A McDonald’s Burger In His Car” →