#Deputy Public Defender

[remembertheplunge]

Transcription of my 3 blogs yesterday re: 1992 HIV test results

11/24/2024

I decided to type out the contents of the three blogs that I posted yesterday re: February 10-12, 1992 entries concerning HIV test results. The way that I posted them yesterday made it hard to follow the story line. I've include some editorial notes as points of reference.

_____________________________________________________________

Page 1:  2/10/1992 Monday

First day back. Has a good feeling  to it—fully alive—robust. Trials stretching out to mid April Two preliminary hearings tomorrow. It’s all wild, wooly, crazy stuff. (This is in regard to the Deputy Public Defender job that I had in 1992.)

Dinner with Anne and Steve tonight. A lot of talk about HIV (HIV-AIDs virus). Anne tests again tomorrow. I get my HIV test results at 10:30am Wednesday.

Arturo and I discussed the possibilities (of my HIV test reults). He told me that when he found out (he had tested positive with the HIV virus) he could not sleep all night..

My feeling is—if I got it, I got it. That bugged Steve. I just wanna snuggle and sleep. Nite.

2/11/1992 Tuesday

Just now our wind—is silent…a mournful train whistle speaks through the space that the wind has left behind.

Tomorrow, the HIV test results. I don’t really think about bit too much. Maybe, deep down, I do a lot.

2/12/1992. Wednesday

Test results were “non reactive”…thank god. “You can test again in 3 to 6 months if you want to. 

‘ Eg: from late last November , point of last possible transmission via Alan.

The negative results makes me feel more solid about life.

Steven gave me a hug saying “I’m glad you are OK.” Suprized me.

And, the beat and rhythm of life goes on. I’m really glad that I tested, for the experience, to say I diid it. I did my rhythm dance up to the time of it and found that there was no way to be prepared. All I asked was  “as much as possible, be open to the feelings, whatever they may be."

“The game is not to get it” AIDS… instruction to 9769. Today, we were all numbers…0033, 00 this, 97 that—waiting (for the HIV test results) in the (hospital) hallway with the cemetery (across the street) view. “Is my trip shortened?” Is my journey lighter by time and distance?”

For me, for now, the answer is No, in this odd world where negative is good and positive is bad.

I feel an underlying joy, but a surface level melancholy…Why? For those who have gone before? I don’t know.’

End of entries

[santaclaralocalnews]

With the Santa Clara Superior Courthouse in San Jose backed up with court cases, the perjury trial of Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker had taken a back seat to other trials more than once. That’s not the case now. On Sept. 16, Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson assigned the trial to Judge Javier Alcala at the South County Superior Courthouse in Morgan Hill. Judge Alcala heard arguments from Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky and Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya on Sept. 17. The meeting happened in chambers. Read complete news at svvoice.com.

[amateurvoltaire]

The Deputy of Humanity

In August 1790, Robespierre, then deputy in the National Assembly, received a letter from a young man in Aisne. The subject of the letter was of little consequence in the grand scheme of things: the author was expressing his concern that the free monthly markets for grain and sheep in his village of Blérancourt might be moved to the rival village of Coucy.

The subject of the letter may have been trivial, but its author was not. Louis Antoine Saint-Just, not yet twenty-three, was quickly outgrowing local politics and had his eyes on debuting on the national stage. In around two years’ time, he would become one of Robespierre’s closest allies. But back in 1790, the young man only knew him “like God, through miracles” ("comme Dieu, par des merveilles"). This would be the first contact between the two men.

The letter has been widely translated, quoted, and speculated on. It is very well-written, with the effusive admiration and almost hero worship of the young man practically jumping off the page. Whether Saint-Just was entirely genuine or not is hardly consequential. Robespierre clearly found his admiration touching because he kept the letter until the end of his life.

The fact that Robespierre kept the letter is a sweet gesture that can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways. Perhaps he enjoyed the flattery, or maybe he wanted to keep a memento of the beginning of their friendship with Saint-Just. Maybe he simply forgot to throw it away. In my opinion, it's not very important.

What I find more interesting and revealing about Robespierre's character is that a young lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of the department of Aisne felt empowered to raise his provincial concerns to a deputy who wasn't even representing his constituency. Why would he do that? Setting aside Saint-Just's audacity and desire for recognition, the simple reason is that he knew he would be heard.

Since the days of the Estates General, Robespierre had not only been gaining popularity but was also notorious for standing up for the interests of the common man beyond his own province (later on department). For all the flattery, Saint-Just was right: Robespierre wasn’t only the deputy from Arras; he was “[the deputy] of humanity and the Republic (1)”. He frequently weighed in, as a dissenting voice, on matters of national importance, maintaining a consistent stance that always favoured the underdog. This was nothing new. His entire career in Arras had been built on helping the common man. On a national stage, he vocally continued that work.

He opposed the king's veto power over constitutional laws and emphasized the sovereignty of the nation over monarchical traditions. He also opposed the exclusion of "passive" citizens (2) from the National Guard and advocated for extending voting rights. All this, along with his defense of civic equality for various groups, including actors, Protestants, and Jews, solidified his position as a defender of the people.

Despite facing mockery from royalist publications and some of his peers, he remained steadfast in his dedication to the universal principles of the Revolution, with the most crucial principle being the sovereignty of the people. If the people are sovereign, then their grievances are significant. It's understandable that Saint-Just would reach out to him regarding the issue with the village market. He wasn't the only one.

For what it's worth, Robespierre probably didn’t intervene in the matter, but Blérancourt ultimately did retain its markets.

Translation (3)

Blérancourt, near Noyon, August 19, 1790

You who support the faltering homeland against the torrent of despotism and intrigue, you whom I know only, like God, through miracles; I address you, sir, to ask you to join me in saving my sad country.

The town of Coucy has transferred (so the rumour goes here) the free markets from the village of Blérancourt. Why should the cities swallow up the privileges of the countryside? Then, nothing will remain for the latter but the taille (direct tax) and taxes! Please, support with all your talent a petition that I am sending by the same mail, in which I ask for my inheritance to be joined to the national domains of the district so that my country may retain a privilege without which it must starve.

I do not know you, but you are a great man. You are not just the representative of a province; you are that of humanity and the Republic. Please ensure that my request is not scorned.

I have the honour of being, sir, your humble and obedient servant,

Saint-Just,

elector (4) in the department of Aisne.

Notes

(1) Here Saint-Just doesn't refer to Republic as a form of government, but uses the word as a substitute for nation/country. In 1790 France was a constitutional monarchy.

(2)Passive citizens were those who, for a variety of reasons (mostly tax related), were not allowed to vote. (3) The parts that are in bold, are underlined in the original . As usual, this is my own translation and you can surely find much better ones out there!

(4) Touchy subject...

(BONUS) The letter is Recto-Verso. The small red arrows in the image indicate where the back page starts. I edited the two sides in one image for ease of reading.

Source

I really like Saint-Just but his handwriting is just as bad as mine (yes. I can barely read mine either). The french text of the letter comes from:

Saint-Just, Louis Antoine Léon. Œuvres. Paris: Gallimard, 2014

[mariacallous]

A court in Dagestan has jailed a local blogger and well-known sports commentator for illegal weapons possession. Police say they found a pistol and a live grenade on Ramazan Rabadonov’s person when they arrested him on November 6. 

Shamil Khadulaev, the deputy head of Dagestan’s public monitoring commission (a kind of human rights watchdog), has speculated that Rabadonov’s arrest is connected to his stated plan to attend courtroom hearings in the case against alleged perpetrators of the October 2023 anti-Jewish riots at Makhachkala Airport. Rabadonov has spoken out in support of the defendants. He reportedly told his family that the arresting officers planted the weapons on him.

Rabadonov’s son serves in the Russian military and is currently deployed to Ukraine. Following his father’s arrest, the young man released a video message asking Vladimir Putin to “sort out the situation,” calling the decision to jail his father “lawlessness and an outrage.”

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese, in his ruling, emphatically stated, “Here in America, we do not arrest our political opponents.” He underscored the importance of the constitutional protections for free speech, particularly the right to criticize public officials and representatives.

Calabrese held that the sheriff, two deputies, and the two county commissioners named in the lawsuit, one of whom has since left the board, are personally liable for damages. A subsequent hearing will determine the extent of these damages.

Judge Calabrese pointed out that the evidence clearly demonstrated that Frenchko’s arrest was a consequence of her speech, and he rejected the defendants’ claims to immunity from damages. He emphasized that any reasonable official should know that arresting someone for protected speech is a violation of the First Amendment.

[todaysdocument]

Memorandum Opinion - Madalyn Murray O'Hair v. Thomas O. Paine.

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United StatesSeries: Civil Case FilesFile Unit: 69CA109: Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Richard F. O'Hair v. Thomas O. Paine

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AUSTIN DIVISION

Filed Dec 1 1969 Dan W. Benedict, Clerk

by W E Lyons Deputy

MADALYN MURRAY O'HAIR, ET AL. (brackets)

VS. (brackets)

THOMAS O. PAINE, ET AL. (brackets)

CIVIL ACTION NO. A-69-CA-109

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an action brought by Madalyn Murray O'Hair,

Richard F. O'Hair and the Society of Separationists, Inc., against

Thomas O. Paine, individually and as Administrator of the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The plaintiffs are

seeking an order enjoining NASA from (1) doing any act whatsoever

which abridges the plaintiffs' freedom from religion or establishes

Christianity as the official religion of the United States, and

(2) enforcing any policy or regulation which has been heretofore

promulgated and which has such above effect. The plaintiffs

also seek a temporary restraining order enjoining the defendants'

"from doing any act whatsoever which restricts or abridges plaintiffs'

freedom from religion and specifically enjoining NASA and its

administrator and and personnel from further directing or permitting

religious activities, or ceremonies and especially the reading

of the sectarian Christian religion Bible and from prayer reci-

tation in space and in relation to all future space flight activity."

Jurisdication of the case is founded upon 28 U.S.C. 1346 (a) (2).

Upon request of the plaintiffs, a three-judge court was

convened in accordance with Jackson v. Choate, (name is underlined) 404 F.2d 910

(5 Cir., 1968). That Court, consisting of the United States Circuit

Judge Homer Thornberry, United States District Judge Adrian A. Spears,

and United States District Judge Jack Roberts, determined that this

case was not properly a three-judge matter. Sardino v. Federal Re-

serve Bank of New York, 361 F.2d 106 (2 Cir. 1966); Pennsylvania

Public Utility Commission v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 383 U.S. 281

(1965). The case was accordingly remanded to Judge Roberts of

decision.

The various plaintiffs are atheists, deists, and believers

in the complete separation of church and state. They have asserted

the right to bring suit in two separate grounds: (1) taxpayer status; [complete document and transcription at link]

[offender42085]

Post 1289

Before and after.....

Harley Ray Ard, born 2000, South Carolina inmate 371808, incarceration intake September 2020 at age 20, scheduled for release February 2026

Failure to Stop for an LEO, Grand Larceny, Burglary, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle

In September 2017, a 17-year-old Paxville man who was indicted with 27 charges in for his role in a string of burglaries, automobile break-ins and larcenies was sentenced to concurrent sentences under the Youthful Offender Act to a term not to exceed six years and not to exceed three years after in post prison supervision.

Clarendon County Public Defender Scott L. Robinson represented Ard during the plea. Sheriff Tim Baxley said that deputies arrested both Ard and another man for their alleged roles in "15 home and auto break-ins, including larcenies that were reported during the same week." He said stolen property included guns, electronics, cash and four-wheelers. At the time of Ard's arrest, Baxley said not all of the property had been recovered.

At that time, Ard was already serving concurrent probationary sentences for second-degree burglary, non-violent, second-degree assault and battery and possession of stolen vehicle of a value greater than $2,000, but less than $10,000. He received sentences of five years, three years and four years in prison, respectively, on those charges, all of which were suspended to six months in prison and three years’ probation.

Failure to satisfy probation terms resulted in his incarceration as an adult.

4u

[communist-manifesto-daily]

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Part 2

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At the request of my friend, Paul Lafargue, now representative of Lille in the French Chamber of Deputies, I arranged three chapters of this book as a pamphlet, which he translated and published in 1880, under the title: "Socialisme utopique et Socialisme scientifique". From this French text, a Polish and a Spanish edition were prepared. In 1883, our German friends brought out the pamphlet in the original language. Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, and Roumanian translations, based upon the German text, have since been published. Thus, the present English edition, this little book circulates in 10 languages. I am not aware that any other Socialist work, not even our Communist Manifesto of 1848, or Marx's Capital, has been so often translated. In Germany, it has had four editions of about 20,000 copies in all.

The Appendix, "The Mark", was written with the intention of spreading among the German Socialist party some elementary knowledge of the history and development of landed property in Germany. This seemed all the more necessary at a time when the assimilation by that party of the working-people of the towns was in a fair way of completion, and when the agricultural laborers and peasant had to be taken in hand. This appendix has been included in the translation, as the original forms of tenure of land common to all Teutonic tribes, and the history of their decay, are even less known in England and in Germany. I have left the text as it stands in the original, without alluding to the hypothesis recently started by Maxim Kovalevsky, according to which the partition of the arable and meadow lands among the members of the Mark was preceded by their being cultivated for joint-account by a large patriarchal family community, embracing several generations (as exemplified by the still existing South Slavonian Zadruga), and that the partition, later on, took place when the community had increased, so as to become too unwieldy for joint-account management. Kovalevsky is probably quite right, but the matter is still sub judice [under consideration].

The economic terms used in this work, as afar as they are new, agree with those used in the English edition of Marx's Capital. We call "production of commodities" that economic phase where articles are produced not only for the use of the producers, but also for the purpose of exchange; that is, as commodities, not as use values. This phase extends from the first beginnings of production for exchange down to our present time; it attains its full development under capitalist production only, that is, under conditions where the capitalist, the owner of the means of production, employs, for wages, laborers, people deprived of all means of production except their own labor-power, and pockets the excess of the selling price of the products over his outlay. We divide the history of industrial production since the Middle Ages into three periods:

handicraft, small master craftsman with a few journeymen and apprentices, where each laborer produces a complete article;

manufacture, where greater numbers of workmen, grouped in one large establishment, produce the complete article on the principle of division of labor, each workman performing only one partial operation, so that the product is complete only after having passed successively through the hands of all;

modern industry, where the product is produced by machinery driven by power, and where the work of the laborer is limited to superintending and correcting the performance of the mechanical agent.

I am perfectly aware that the contents of this work will meet with objection from a considerable portion of the British public. But, if we Continentals had taken the slightest notice of the prejudices of British "respectability", we should be even worse off than we are. This book defends what we call "historical materialism", and the word materialism grates upon the ears of the immense majority of British readers. "Agnosticism" might be tolerated, but materialism is utterly inadmissible.

And, yet, the original home of all modern materialism, from the 17th century onwards, is England.

[ First | Prev | Table of Contents | Next ]

[eyedrateanatomy]

I needed to share this idea to you because it’s too GOOD

what if the mayor isn’t part of the cult and the cult kills him? Imagine he’s just a narcissistic idiot who doesn’t know how to manage the town and makes the police do everything so he gets all the glory?

it seems like a funny possibility because of all the build up around it. Sounds like a joke that can easily be made, but I think that he’s gonna get killed off by the cult by drowning (to go with the Narcissus myth)

but why would I bring this up? The town would CRUMBLE without him. It would make them vulnerable to the cult and all the pressure would fall onto John’s back

also, there wouldn’t be any authority for the town to follow. Someone would have to fill that spot

still, I’m DEAD SET in the idea he isn’t actually a cult member

I thought this was a very interesting idea and I wanted to share it with you 👍

LET ME THINK ABOUT THIS cause there are some good points. so, i half agree with evermore not being a member. i think hes in on it, hes just not aware that he is. no one can recognize when theyre in a cult. i think evermore was given the finances by the cult to rise to this amount of power and fame and become the mayor because of his insistence. remember, his sin is greed

its just hard for me to imagine someone with such a high ranking in the town to Not know about skiddad and his followers, and perhaps the eyes. i think he knows of the missing children, but not what happens to them. hes a pawn whos not being told everything. they just let him loose after reshaping his worldview and making him dependent on them. evermore is just... good enough for the cult. yes hes great at public speeches and controlling the masses, yes he spends 99% of his time in his office staring at a mirror so others can do his dirty work (meaning he wouldnt know the extent of everything going on in town). hes like the cults mascot in a way

i think the most rational explanation for this is that he had a quick visit with the eyes of the universe, and had his greed and desire for fame and riches get taken advantage of. hes indoctrinated just enough to side with the cult so that he wont question anything theyre doing. surely they Must be a good group, they helped him become the mayor!

it wouldnt exactly matter if evermore knew of the cult or not, because hes still doing exactly what they want. and evermore doesnt work alone. kill him off by drowning, or whatever is most fitting, and he could be replaced with anyone... it Could be john, but in all honesty, my bet is on garcia

so. this is something ive been considering for some time. garcia is confirmed to be a secretary + lawyer. he holds a lot of responsibilities in this position, organizing events and meetings, handling large amounts of data, keeping track of all of evermores employees, etc. he has a lot of insight on the town, if not more than the mayor. hes also capable of controlling evermores decisions by being a secretary. being a lawyer means he can represent criminals and cult members, and defend them in court. hes a very convincing man

i know pelo probably doesnt understand the exact definitions of secretary and lawyer, but im trying to say that garcia has an insane amount of power by having these organizational and social skills. hes not deputy mayor, but he is up there with evermore, being his assistant and all. and like i said earlier, evermore likes making people do the work for him

also he is Undeniably mr clown. you cannot convince me otherwise. not only are they visually similar, but its odd how garcia just Showed Up after mr clowns supposed "death" (which he likely faked). we know mr clown is a dedicated member, hes been kidnapping and murdering children for who knows how long, and now hes confirmed to have political power over the town on nearly the same level as the mayor. if evermore truly doesnt know enough of whats going on compared to his own secretary, that makes all this information scarier

between evermore and garcia, whos really the one in control?

[nesiacha]

Survey: Who is your favorite mathematician from the French Revolution among this group?

These individuals contributed to mathematics during the Revolution, or used this field to better support or contribute to the Revolution.

Here are a few I’ve selected (a brief introduction even though we all know them, or almost)

Lazare Carnot:

Before the Revolution, he was a captain in the Corps of Engineers and had completed brilliant scientific studies. Elected as a deputy for Pas-de-Calais along with his brother, he immediately focused on military matters before his appointment to the Committee of Public Safety, where he oversaw the conduct of the war, both in Paris and on the battlefield. Upon his re-election after the fall of the monarchy, he voted for the king’s execution without delay and supported the proposal for public assistance, among other initiatives. He also collaborated with Condorcet, Pastoret, and Guilloud on women’s education. Despite his revolutionary activities, Carnot continued to write on mathematics, including his "Réflexions sur la métaphysique du calcul infinitésimal ", written in 1790 (first edition published in 1797). So, even during the Revolution, he did not forget mathematics.

Nicolas de Condorcet:

Here is the revolutionary defender of gender equality that everyone anticipated. Born a noble, he became a revolutionary and engaged early on with progressive ideas, whether scientific or political. He advocated for the rights of Black people, equal rights, and gender equality. He was critical of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the Constitution of 1791, which he found too moderate. Elected to the Paris Commune and later as a deputy, he held republican views and proposed a public education plan that laid the foundation for the school system envisioned under the Third Republic. Strongly opposed to the death penalty, he suggested condemning Louis XVI to hard labor instead. Condorcet also made contributions to mathematics. While in hiding, following his wife Sophie de Grouchy's advice, he wrote a mathematical work titled "Esquisse", which was published posthumously by his widow and traced the general progress of the human spirit across political and scientific history. He also passed notes to his wife for his "Éléments d'Arithmétique et de Géométrie", a two-part book for teachers and students.

Prieur de la Côte-d'Or:

After brilliant scientific studies in Dijon and Paris, he joined the Jacobin Club in 1790 and even presided over it during Louis XVI's flight. Elected to the Legislative Assembly, he opposed the royal veto and supported measures such as the decrees against émigrés and refractory priests, as well as the call for volunteers in 1792, while working on various committees, especially the education committee. After the fall of the monarchy, he was sent to eastern France with Carnot to reorganize civil and military authorities in an urgent context. Often dispatched on military-related missions throughout France, he joined the Committee of Public Safety. As a scientist and mathematician, he was particularly useful to the Revolution, notably in technical aspects like troop supply, weapons innovations, and the creation of military schools. After leaving the Committee, he joined the Education Committee, where he contributed to the creation of elite schools and the development of the metric system.

Gaspard Monge:

One of the main architects of the 19th-century mathematical revival, he was also a professor and friend of Lazare Carnot. Monge entered politics in 1790 and was an enthusiastic member of the Jacobin Club. He served as Minister of the Navy from August 1792 until 1793, tasked by the Committee of Public Safety with the procurement of arms, ammunition, and clothing for the army. He succeeded in significantly increasing the production of bronze cannons and rifles, among other resources, finding ways to secure saltpeter and other materials that were hard to obtain during the war with neighboring countries. Monge also contributed to the establishment of École Polytechnique and served as its director. One of his most important works is "Feuilles d'analyse appliquée à la géométrie", published in 1795. He was a professor at the École Normale, created in 1793, and was appointed a member of the Institut de France in 1795.

Charles-Gilbert Romme

Lastly, one of the last Montagnards, often called "the Crêtois." He also pursued brilliant studies, excelling in mathematics . He welcomed the French Revolution with enthusiasm and was one of the few deputies advocating for more civic rights for women, co-founding with Théroigne de Méricourt the mixed-gender Club des Amis de la Loi. Elected as a deputy to the Legislative Assembly, he supported the war effort. Later re-elected, he initially sat with the Plain before permanently joining the Mountain, where he voted for the king’s execution without delay and opposed Marat’s prosecution. He was sent on several missions for the Convention, including one to Caen, where he was imprisoned. Romme joined the Hébertists in supporting de-Christianization, endorsing the Cult of Reason and the de-priesting of Gobel. However, he did not witness the executions of the Dantonists, Hébertists, or the events of 9 Thermidor as he was on a mission that began in February 1794 and ended in September 1794. He remained faithful to his beliefs, even in 1795 when the liberalization of the economy worsened poverty, and the Convention took a more right-wing turn. He supported the 1st Prairial insurrection. Regarding mathematics, Romme was one of the creators of the Republican Calendar. His mathematical skills were vital in its design, as it adhered to the decimal system.

Sources:

Antoine Resche

Jacqueline Feldman

Le bicentenaire de Gaspard Monge ( article) write by Sergescu

[bumblee-stumblee]

A man in Singapore has sued a woman who rejected him for $3m, claiming that she caused emotional “trauma” to his life.

The man, Mr K. Kawshigan, filed his lawsuit against Ms Nora Tan after she told him she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with him, according to Singapore-based newspaper The Straits Times.

The publication reported that Kawshigan filed two lawusuits against her, including a $3 million High Court claim that alleged the woman caused “damage to his stellar reputation” and “trauma, depression and impacts” to his life.

He claimed that due to the remarks she made, he lost earnings from his business partnerships and had to pay high costs for therapy in order to overcome his trauma.

The second lawsuit was a $22,000 magistrate’s court claim in which Kawshigan alleged that Tan had breached their agreement about working on their relationship.

The $22,000 claim was struck out earlier this month by State Courts deputy registrar Lewis Tan, who expressed that Kawshigan’s claim was “manifestly groundless and without foundation,” per The Straits Times.

His judgment was published earlier this week, in which he said: “Considered in totality, I find that the present action was intentionally initiated by the claimant with the ulterior motive of vexing or oppressing the defendant by requiring her to defend various claims that fundamentally stem from the same factual matrix in different forums.”

“This court will not be an accessory to his calculated attempt to compel engagement from the defendant who, after years of massaging the claimant’s unhappiness, has finally decided to stand up to his threats rather than cower and give in to his demands,” he added.

The magazine noted that Kawshigan and Tan first met in 2016 and then became friends. In September 2020, their friendship changed, with Tan regarding her peer as a “friend” while Kawshigan considered her his “closest friend”.

Tan then told him that she needed to distance herself from the friendship and encouraged him to be “self-reliant”. That following month, Kawshigan sent her a letter and threatened to file a lawsuit with a claim for “monetary damages arising from negligent infliction of emotional distress and possible defamation,” as reported by Straits Times.

Although Tan tried to have a conversation, Kawshigan told her she either had to meet his demands or face “irrevocable” damage to her professional reputation. Kawshigan’s counsellor also reached out to Tan and asked her to be a part of his sessions, which he agreed to.

However, a year and a half later, she stopped going to the sessions. She started her harassment proceedings against him in April 2022.

The magazine went on to note that after multiple conversations, Tam cut contact with Kawshigan in May of that year because she realised that he couldn’t respect her request for boundaries.

Kawshigan filed his $3m claim against her in July before filing his $22,000 claim in August. Tan has applied to strike out the $3m claim, with a pre-trial hearing set for 9 February, according to Straits Times.

[remembertheplunge]

The generated ash wisdom of the days

April 22, 1991

Today, in a way, I  invite the dreaded grey insanity. Come eat me up you devil! You are my secret wind, aren’t you? Just playing tricks on me. Just playfully hiding one from me.

Why do I resist me? Why do I so restrict Life and her movements of grace?

I’m afraid of me.

I’m afraid to let go.

I’m afraid to let go of pain.

April 5, 1991

I met a guy who wondered around for 6 months without talking as result of an injury. He loved the experience. What would that be like?

End of entries:

Note: December 16, 2024

I found these two entries in my 1991 journal the other day. I decided to post them together because they kind of fit. Maybe the answer to being unable to let go of my pain is to not talk for 6 months! More and more as I move through my day I ask , “What does my existence need now?” It needs me to be as close as possible to clear consciousness. No thoughts. Just being aware of self and environment. 

The dreaded grey insanity that I referred to in the first entry above was my job as a Deputy Public Defender. It's relentless harshness led to the gifts of insight and a deeper truth and sense of being. These are the things I was accusing it of hiding from me. It all led my pen to the page. And the journal entries captured the generated ash  wisdom of the days.

[aedesluminis]

Simonne Évrard's speech of 8 August 1793 in the National Convention

"I am not here to ask you the favors of cupidity that claims and craves for indigence. Marat’s widow just needs a grave. Before I get to the relieving end of my tormented life, I come to ask you for justice towards the new attacks committed against the memory of the most intrepid and outraged of the people’s defenders. These monsters, how much gold did they lavish! How many hypocritical pamphleteers were paid to put his name to shame! With such hateful rage, they tried so hard to give him a colossal political existence and a detestable celebrity, in order to dishonor the people’s cause that he proudly defended. This day, still stained by his blood, they persecute him to his grave; some other day, they still dare to murder his memory. They are even trying to depict the monster, who pierced his chest with the parricide iron, as an intriguing heroine. In this circle we see the vilest of them all, the Carra, the Ducos, the Dulaure, the shameless praises in their periodicals to encourage their peers to slaughter what is left of the defenders of liberty. I do not talk about the vile Pétion who, in Caen, during a meeting with his accomplices, dared to say that the murder was a virtue.

Soon enough the foolish treachery of the conspirators, who pretend to honor the civic virtues, will make the infamous publications grow, where the horrible murder is presented in favorable ways and the martyr of the patrie is disfigured by the most hideous convulsions.

But here it is the most wicked of their schemes: They bribed some foolish writers who shamelessly usurp his name and tarnish his principles to immortalize the empires of lies which he was victim of! Cowards! First, they flatter the people’s pain to get their praise, then they speak the language of patriotism and morality so that the people believe to still be listening to Marat; but all of this is just to slander the most zealous defenders who have protected them. It is to preach, in Marat’s name, the exaggerations that his enemies attributed to him.

I denounce two men in particular, Jacques Roux and Leclerc, who claim to carry on his patriotic papers and make his shadow talk to insult his memory and to betray the people. After spouting revolutionary platitudes, they encourage the people to outlaw the government. It is in those occasions that they use his name to stain in blood the day of the 10th of August, because his sensitive soul, devastated by the sight of the crimes of tyranny and the uneasiness of humanity, sometimes let out some rightful curses towards the people’s oppressors and public leeches. They try to preserve the parricide lie that persecuted him and made him look like a foolish apostle of anarchy and chaos. And who are these men that claim his place? It is a priest, who the day after the faithful deputies triumphed over their cowardly enemies, came to insult the National Convention through a seditious and wicked speech. There is another man, no less perverse, who is associated with the mercenary furors of said impostor. What is important to remark is that these two men are the same who had been denounced by him at the Cordeliers’ club  just a few days before his death as people paid by our enemies to create public disorder and, on the same occasion, they were also formally expelled from this popular society. What is the aim of this perfidious faction that fuels these criminal intrigues? It is to vilify the people who honor the memory of the one who died for their cause. It is to slander all the friends of the patrie, whom it has designated as Maratists; to deceive all the French people across the whole republic, who gather for the reunion of August the 10th, by presenting them their perfidious writings, in which they preach the teaching of the very people’s representative they slaughtered. It is to cause disturbance in these solemn days through some disastrous catastrophe.

God! What will become of the people? If these men can usurp their trust! What is the deplorable condition of their intrepid defenders if death itself cannot avoid them the fury of their murderers! Legislators, for how long would you endure it if crime insulted virtue? Where does this privilege come from, of English and Austrian emissaries to trap public opinion, to give daggers to the defenders of our laws and to know the founding valor of our raising republic? If you let them go unpunished then I denounce them all here to the French people, to the universe. The memory of the martyrs of liberty and the heritage of the people; that of Marat is the only good deed left to me, I devote to his defense the last days of a languid life. Legislators, avenge the patrie, the honesty, the misfortune and the virtue, striking at the most cowardly of all the enemies.”

Original in French

I did the translation in English myself. Let me know if I made some mistakes or if some parts need revision!

Last edit: 31/10/23

[freetheshit-outofyou]

It is currently 2339 in Texas right now. My little brother who lives North of Austin was just visited by the BATF, at 2300hrs, on a freaking after work Friday. Why would the BATF be showing up at someone's house at such an hour? To fucking intimated my brother over his possible purchase of one or more Rare Breed FRT-15 trigger (Forced Reset Trigger). The odd thing is, this government overreach, unlike others I know that have been approached about FRT's because of "alleged" debit/credit card buys, my brother is accused of buying them with cash. Hummmm, if such a buy was done, and I'm not saying one was, with cash how would the BATF be able to follow a cash buy? I can only think of a few ways that could happen, this is the former LEO in me speaking. 1. Someone you know dropped a dime on you for whatever underhanded Blue Falcon bullshit reason. 2. The location you bought the item from rolled over on you for buying an item that was a legal commodity in the open market when it was bought. 3. Big Brother's nose is tracking your shit, this covers everything else. My little brother said he could not help them in their search and tried to close the door. An agent put his foot in the door and asked if they could search the house. He said, If you don't have a warrant, you should get your foot out of my door before I take this as an act of aggression and I am forced to defend myself. At this the BATF drew their weapons but removed there foot from the door while backing away. My SIL had already called the Williamson Co Sheriff and apparently after my brothers words the BATF called in the whole planet in. The Williamson Sherriff came to his door and was allowed in and told my brother that the BATF was saying he threatened to kill them if they did not leave. My brother said he laughed out loud and a lot. He explained To the Sheriff what he said and why, he also added that the entire exchange was recorded not once but twice from two different home security camera. He showed the Deputy the footage from both and was visibly angered, he got up and said he'd be back. By this time more BATF folks had gathered just this time better armed. The Deputy was out there about 20 minuets with the BATF yelling about threats and fear of being shot. Apparently someone with actual power on the ground told the agents to leaved. The Sheriff came back and said there would be no more trouble from the BATF and that an agent would be contacting him by phone in the morning to discuss what transpired. Folks, the police, all of them, have to follow the law by not following the law they put themselves in danger and endanger the public through their criminal actions. Police CANNOT stop you from closing YOUR DOOR even if they reasonably suspect a crime is being committed on the other side of the door. Further they cannot conduct a warrantless entry into a dwelling without "exigent circumstances" or permission from someone residing in the dwelling. That is case law set in Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980) and supported by Steagald v. United States, 451 U.S. 204 (1981). The Fourth amendment was written to stop these very things from happening. The BATF is out of control. They cannot make a rule, then make that rule punishable by both imprisonment and or fines and removing ones RIGHTS forever. THE BATF CANNOT MAKE ANY LAWS!

[mariacallous]

Every president of the United States has within their grasp the power of a vast surveillance state that has grown significantly over the past few decades and has beaten back any real effort to rein it in. Through America’s numerous enigmatic intelligence agencies, presidents possess the ability to dive deeply into the communications, movements, and relationships of everyday Americans. Presidents of both parties have abused the surveillance state, but under a second Trump administration, this power could be abused in ways it has never been before.

Donald Trump, a now convicted felon and the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has said he plans to prosecute his political opponents should he return to the White House. He’s said he would allow states to monitor pregnant women and prosecute those who seek abortions. Trump wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He plans to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell civil unrest, which means sending the military into the streets. The much publicized Project 2025 outlines how he would quickly replace thousands of career civil servants in the federal government with loyalists.

If a president was interested in prosecuting their political opponents, crushing protests, targeting undocumented immigrants, and had the right people in place to help them carry out those plans, surveillance could become a valuable tool for accomplishing those goals. Like former US president Richard Nixon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Trump could use the surveillance powers available to him to monitor his political opponents, disrupt protest movements, and more.

Nixon and former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover famously surveilled the president’s political opponents and activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., through a program called COINTELPRO. One of the main goals of the program was to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” civil rights groups.

If he so desired, Trump could create his own version of this program, but he’d be working with much more advanced technology—and it’d be in a time when there are countless data points available on every American. Hoover could have only dreamed of a world where everyone was walking around with tracking devices.

“So much of what we depend on, in terms of the rule of law, depends on norms. When those norms are ignored, that’s when things start to fall apart,” says Jeffrey L. Vagle, an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University. “Some of the norms, like prosecutorial discretion, might be eroded or disappear entirely. That could mean a number of things in terms of surveillance.”

Vagle says that if a second Trump administration wanted to defend its abuse of surveillance powers, it could stretch the use of national security as a justification for doing so. He says presidents have done this in the past in other ways.

“Administrations from both parties have invoked the term ‘national security’ and have used national security loopholes to justify surveillance and profiling,” says Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. “They have too often used national security as a pretext for law enforcement to target Muslims, communities of color, and immigrants.”

Toomey says Trump has sent “mixed signals” when it comes to how he feels about surveillance, but he’s made it clear he plans to target his political opponents in various ways if he’s elected again.

“A second Trump administration could be disastrous for many of our most fundamental freedoms,” Toomey says.

The administration may not even need to come up with a justification for surveilling Americans without a warrant, because it could simply purchase scores of people's personal data. The federal government has been known to purchase data from private brokers in the past, and doing so doesn’t require a warrant.

“We are just awash in data, and data brokers can just collect and sell these data,” Vagle says. “Law enforcement or quasi-law enforcement can collect that information.”

Surveillance can be done in secret so that the people being surveilled don’t realize they’re being surveilled, or it can be done openly as a way to stifle free expression, Vagle says. The government might tell you they’re keeping an eye on people, and then you might be less likely to speak out.

“If you think you’re being watched, you act differently,” Vagle says. “You could see a Trump version of COINTELPRO—only maybe not so covert. They might be more open about it with the idea that it might chill speech.”

As for the abortion issue, some of what may occur will depend on the future legal status of abortion, which could involve a US Supreme Court decision or congressional action. A major change in its legal status would likely affect how the federal government approaches the issue. If it remains a state issue, the federal government wouldn’t typically get involved in how a state is implementing a law it’s passed, but that’s not to say it couldn’t. If a state wanted help tracking people who are crossing state lines for abortions, for example, the federal government could conceivably assist with that.

“The federal government is not in the business of enforcing state laws, but there are a lot of what-ifs. How crazy might a Trump administration be willing to be?” Vagle says.

Whether it’s monitoring political opponents, activists, immigrants, or pregnant people, there are many ways in which a second Trump administration could utilize surveillance powers to exert more control over the populace. If the FBI and the Department of Justice are staffed with people who won’t push back when Trump orders them to do things that might be legally or morally questionable, they may carry out his wishes, and Americans may discover how much their privacy rights have eroded over the years.

“One of the things about Project 2025 is that it’s clear that the Trump camp, and more broadly the Republican Party that’s behind Trump, want to make it a more organized presidency than his first presidency was,” Vagle says. “It would be very unsurprising if the Department of Justice and the FBI dismissed anyone if they even had a whiff of disloyalty.”

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Agribusiness groups want to overturn rule that reduces deforestation in Brazil

Federal deputies defend the end of the Soy Moratorium, which prevents the purchase of soy produced in deforested areas

On Friday (12), a public hearing in the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development Committee of the Chamber of Deputies revealed that groups in the agribusiness sector want to end the Soy Moratorium. This agreement aims to eliminate deforestation from Brazil's soy production chain. The Soy Moratorium was defined through an agreement among civil society organizations, the federal government and part of the industry that uses the grain as a raw material.

"We're going to overturn the Soy Moratorium in Brazil," said Congresswoman Coronel Fernanda (Liberal Party), who presented the request for the hearing.   

The Soy Moratorium was signed for the first time in 2006 by industry associations that, at the time, controlled more than 90% of the soy market in Brazil, as well as civil society organizations. The agreement establishes the commitment of the signatory companies not to purchase soy produced in deforested areas in the country after July 22, 2008, the year the Brazilian government joined the pact. It was initially valid for two years, but was renewed indefinitely from 2016.

Under the agreement, rural properties in municipalities with more than 5,000 hectares of soybean plantations are monitored via satellite by the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (PRODES, in Portuguese), an initiative managed by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE, in Portuguese). The monitoring seeks to identify whether there is an increase in areas deforested for farming exceeding the limit established by the Brazilian Forest Code, which is 20% of rural properties.

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