Ok so there’s a conspiracy theory going around that this woman was faking her injury with an onion.

This is likely false. Onions are a folk remedy for pepper spray.

This is premature, but I want to walk you though why some of the charges coming through are incredible significant. This is one of the recently unsealed complaints.

1512(b) is a very, very strong crime. Section 1512 is about obstruction of the administration of justice. The statute is supposedly about disrupting court proceedings, but it's broader. The way it's written, Congressional Proceedings count.

The statutory maximum for a single violation of 1512(b) is 20 years in prison. That's a lot. Most related federal crimes—231 civil disorder, 2101 riots—are only 5 years on the top end.

But that's not all.

See, federal sentencing is done via a complicated formula that computes sentencing guidelines.

Sentencing guidelines are based on the statute, the elements of the criminal offense, and the defendant's criminal history. It also factors in things like if the defendant takes responsibility, and takes a plea deal, etc.

Alright, time to stop ignoring the J6 discourse...

It is necessary to confront the Proud Boys because the Proud Boys are only coming to DC to fight "antifa," and if there are no antifascists there, they will simply assault whoever they determine is "antifa."

Because the Proud Boys are racist, sexist homophobes, this generally ends up being racial, ethnic, or sexual minorities.

This happens and the police allow this to happen. Some form of pushback is necessary.

The Proud Boys exist only to create violence. They are not a drinking club, they are a militant political wing of the Republican Party, and their mission is to generate a cultural notion of right wing immunity.

This is the violent obverse of the same coin that has the Republican Party's other immunities on the reverse: the ability to tamper with elections, engage in financial fraud, ignore the Constitution, and in general participate in corruption.

However, while the Proud Boys must be confronted, we must also recognize that their entire raison d'être is that antifa also shows up to face this confrontation.

Having spent a lot of time over the past several years thinking about and studying ethics in technology, the more I am convinced that the discussions about ethics in technology have a major, irreconcilable blind spot.

“If you are neutral in the face of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor,” as Desmond Tutu summarized.

Our discussion about eliminating bias in AI is an aggressive march towards neutrality. Our measure of fairness is a line drawn too early.

Maybe we shouldn’t be trying to eliminate bias in AI. Maybe we should be designing for bias in the favor of the oppressed. Worth thinking about.

Should we be eliminating power dynamics or inverting power dynamics? If we try to scrub power dynamics from a system too early in a neatly bounded space, we just let those power dynamics to creep back in, or we need those boundaries to be impenetrable.

My next ethics talk may just be a single slide that says REVOLUTION

Here's the challenge with disrupting militia plots: most militia dudes are Dunning-Kruger levels of incompetent, but not Dunning-Kruger levels of dangerous.

So the problem is that militia culture is wrapped up in this sort of virtue signalling nonstop. It's all around trying to project yourself as a leader, a military expert, a tactical master, based entirely on what you've read in Tom Clancy novels

So a militia might say things like, alright, here's the plan. We're gonna get 1000 guys, and we're gonna set up a barricade at each of the three entrances to the statehouse, and then we're gonna neutralize the security forces.

Super scary stuff! Just one problem.

Where are they gonna get 1000 guys? How are they going to implement a Command and Control structure for 1000 guys? What are they gonna make the barricades out of?

This requires a high-level of coordination and logistics support that they really just don't actually have the talent or network for. Let alone that the number of guys they claim is always a factor of 100 larger than the number of guys who actually guy.

I know we’re all enamored with the new Christmas tradition of blowing up an entire city block on Christmas Day, so I must join the chorus of concerned folks who worry that if we don’t provide a forum for people who want to blow up city blocks, a vital Xmas tradition will be lost.

If we don‘t let angry white men blow up city blocks, then we will lose so many other vital liberties. How can you connect with other people exploring gender, if your city blocks aren’t blowing up?

I’m here today to honor those dead in the latest Target mass shooting, a tragic but necessary cost of our freedoms, without their sacrifice we might not be able to express displeasure at our cable companies.

^ this is what y’all sound like

The digital freedom movement has not proposed a single solution for dealing with Nazi murder and has essentially decided that that is not its problem.

Alleged N260 Fraud: EFCC Presents First Witness Against Cast Oil and Gas MD, Amusan

The trial of Olatunji Amusan, Managing Director, Cast Oil and Gas, for an alleged N260 million fraud, continued on Wednesday, December 2, 2020...

...before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, presenting its first witness, Hycenth Obinna, an investigator with the Commission.

Amusan, who was first arraigned alongside his company in November 2019, is standing trial for allegedly defrauding Nkasi Onyung, Managing Director, Energy Limited.

During today’s proceedings, the witness narrated how Onyung had approached the Commission after she was defrauded by Amusan.

The petitioner alleged that her company had issued the sum of N260 million to Amusan's company for the purchase of 3, 250litres of diesel (AGO), which was never delivered.

Back at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning attempting to monitor a call over hearing in the case of @wikileaks publisher Julian Assange. This is the last such hearing scheduled before the extradition decision will be given on 4 January.

Thread. 1/

The goal posts for access constantly shift at this court, in a completely arbitrary manner. We are currently being told by a court official that no journalists will be allowed in (told they can access the Cloud Video Platform) and only two people can access the public gallery. 2/

At times, even under Covid measures, four journalists have been allowed into the well of this same courtroom, and five people into the public gallery. Two in total today is completely arbitrary. We’re told the access restrictions are the judge’s decision. 3/

We’re hearing that two seats in court are being held for @AusHouseLondon, so we circle back to the same issue as the “VIP” seats held in the September proceedings at the Old Bailey, when these “VIP” diplomats never took their seats, but they were held back from the public. 4/

Again, the only way for professional NGO observers to access these hearings (and do our job) is in person, as the court will not give us remote access. This is not only a barrier to open justice, but the court is creating unnecessary Covid risks as London heads towards Tier 3. 5/

@SBrownloe @fudge1 @fight_far @AnnaPembroke @pritipatel @UKLabour So neither you nor any other lawyer or MP have failed to declare a loan from the bank of mum & dad

Or #GeoffreyRobinson as #PeterMandelson did

Or any cop or judge

None of you have arranged your cashflow to artificially inflate your apparent earnings on a loan application

@fudge1 @fight_far @AnnaPembroke @pritipatel @UKLabour So none of you have had a verbal disagreement with your future wife and when rugby tackled from behind by a drunk off duty cop not had your boot head-butted by him

Nor injured a cop's arm with your neck when he jumped on you from behind

@fudge1 @fight_far @AnnaPembroke @pritipatel @UKLabour So no lawyer judge cop MP or their families has ever dabbled or even "dealt" in drugs

One real straight honest judge threw out a case against #TommyRobinson & effectively accused the police & home office of stitching him up

Can you name ONE reporter jailed for contempt & when?!

@fudge1 @fight_far @AnnaPembroke @pritipatel @UKLabour Can you tell me how many times actual criminals get fines they don't pay community orders they ignore suspended sentences they breach the conditions of...

Even getting suspended sentence for assault then punching cop as leaving court

Or getting restraining order for assault...

@fudge1 @fight_far @AnnaPembroke @pritipatel @UKLabour Then immediately asssulting one of original victims

And only "punishment" for repeat assault & contempt of ignoring court order is extension of duration of suspension or increase of jail sentence that's suspended

I've seen several Letters To The Editor from retired magistrates

SEX, DRUGS & SANTA CLAUS

It's Friday, March 278th, 2020, and this is the longest thread we've ever written. Let that sink in.

So, we need to talk about how we're going to spend our holidays. Before we get into it, let's pause to appreciate being able to have this talk. (1/13)

We should be proud of our efforts that got us here. But we must stay the course. The winds can quickly change if we let our guard down.

We'll still celebrate the holidays...no one is taking that away from us. It'll just be different than normal. So let's chat about that. (2/13)

You've likely heard the term 'harm reduction' before. It's a pillar of public health based on reducing harms while still respecting autonomy. Evidence shows that just telling people to avoid certain things can be futile, so this approach guides you on being safer about it. (3/13)

Yes, when things are really bad, stronger methods are needed (i.e. lockdowns), but we're not there now.

So, why not say DO NOT GATHER WITH ANYONE & be done with it? Because experience tells us it doesn't work. Look at the ill-fated "Just Say No!" campaigns of the 80s-90s. (4/13)

Or go watch Reefer Madness. It's...it's a thing.

In our approaches to sexual health or substance use, our goal isn’t to simply tell you not to do something and then call it a day. It’s to provide you with the best information available so that you can make safer choices. (5/13)