The News Thread

[HamburgerBoy]

I'm not sure if any countries do it better than we do, but our district attorneys regularly exercise "discretion" in prosecution, which is just another way of saying they don't have to enforce the law when they want to, and imo by far one of the worst aspects of our current system. I was expecting Smollett to plead down to the lightest charge he was faced with, having to issue an apology, 200 hours community service, and donating $100k to the SPLC or similar. This is one of the more egregious cases, though in Chicago anything goes, like 5 out of the last 9 Chicago mayors or something have gone to prison.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

What happened?

 

[CiG]

I was just watching Smollett's statement to the media, "I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one..."



Brazen shit.

 

[Einherjar86]

My wife made an interesting comment about this. She thinks Smollett did something wrong, but she also thinks there may have been misconduct by the police during the investigation. If there's no trial and the files are sealed, then it lets both sides maintain their positions without anything ever having to come to light. Pretty shady. But then, it's Chicago.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Wouldn't be surprised, honestly. There was an undercover Obama-directed investigation by the DOJ of various state police forces, and shockingly they uncovered that a few cops actually made racist jokes over official email once. I think one may have even been at the CPD. Until this horrific problem is finally fixed, all minorities should be immune from prosecution.

 

[rms]

My wife made an interesting comment about this. She thinks Smollett did something wrong, but she also thinks there may have been misconduct by the police during the investigation. If there's no trial and the files are sealed, then it lets both sides maintain their positions without anything ever having to come to light. Pretty shady. But then, it's Chicago.

"This was not an exoneration. To say that he was exonerated by us or anyone is not true," Magats said. "We believe he did what he was charged with doing."

"Our goal and our No. 1 priority is combating violent crime and the drivers of violence and we look to our resources to do that and I don't think that Mr. Smollett is a driver of violence or a violent individual," he said.

https://abc7chicago.com/charges-aga...;-not-an-exoneration-prosecutor-says/5218125/

but sure, conspiracy theory and not privilege

 

[Einherjar86]

I think it's equally possible that privilege explains the whole thing. All we can do is speculate because they've basically shut the case down. But it also makes sense for the Chicago PD to avoid a lengthy court battle in which potential misconduct gets dragged into the light of day, especially given their track record.

 

[rms]

you are vastly over stating the public impact of misconduct on a PD. and if they were coordinated in the dropping and sealing, then surely the PD and Mayor wouldn't have combined and exploited the political gain they now "have"

 

[CiG]

All the talk of "this hurts real hate crime victims" makes me think the slap on the wrist was what they thought was the best way to deal with the bad optics. Give the story such a deflating ending that people forget it out of boredom and the usual players can get back to business as usual in Trump's racist America.

 

[Einherjar86]

you are vastly over stating the public impact of misconduct on a PD. and if they were coordinated in the dropping and sealing, then surely the PD and Mayor wouldn't have combined and exploited the political gain they now "have"

I wasn't thinking of public impact (i.e. media perception or some such) as much as I was thinking about its impact during trial.

 

[EternalMetal]

All I can say about this case is that Smollett's lawyers are apparently really fucking good.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

All I can say about this case is that Smollett's lawyers are apparently really fucking good.

It didn't even go to trial. Smollett's connections are what are really fucking good.

 

[rms]

apparently it's normal to have fake things like this go away, but I only saw one example where it happened http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27350530/...n-volunteer-charged-attack-hoax/#.XJuDOiJKghg

 

[HamburgerBoy]

That one was egregious too, but at least 1) she confessed, and 2) she "served" probation. I guess one could argue that $10k bail is a bigger penalty than probation, though when we're talking about a wealthy person with a history of lying to cops that started a $150k investigation and was immediately taken seriously by nearly all the major news networks, the fact that he wasn't even made to admit guilt is still very unusual.

EDIT: Apparently she confessed after just two days as well.

EDIT #2: But broadly speaking I still agree with you overall. We take minor property crimes 100x more seriously than false witness and even perjury, despite the latter crimes often being far more expensive and damaging.

 

[Dak]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150748.htm

Our brains' neural circuitry creates spatial maps as we navigate through new environments, allowing us to recall locations and directions. While it's been known for some time that we have these internal maps, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine to be published online March 29 in Science shows how, in rats, those maps get redrawn when the rats learn they'll receive a reward at a certain place on the map. This same process could play a role in addictive behavior in humans.

This is absurd, the freebie is supposed to stop the behavior! Clear laws of behavioral science have been violated.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

If I ever try nofap it's going to be when I get evicted from the basement. I can go weeks without if I'm out of town and busy but the moment the familiar scent and stains of the room guide me home, it's all over.

 

[Dak]

Imagine how strong the scent is from the gibsmedats.

 

[Dak]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...st-anthony-anderson-hopes-he-wins/3298234002/

Smollett is nominated for the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, scheduled for Saturday. Six-time host and "Black-ish" star Anthony Anderson told Variety on Wednesday that he hopes to see the controversial actor there.

“I hope he wins," Anderson added. "I’m happy for him that the system worked for him in his favor because the system isn’t always fair, especially for people of color. So I’m glad it worked out for him."

Well the system still wasn't fair. Unfortunately there's some poor guy rotting in jail because of half a blunt and his ass is just soaking up more undeserved praise.

 

[CiG]

"The system worked in favour of a man with massive privileges."

I'm shocked.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I hope he wins the award. It certainly won't benefit the image of the NAACP or the DNC.