Connecticut judge rules professional hate-monger and seditionist Alex Jones is ‘guilty by default’ of defaming the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre

Adriana Zehbrauskas/NYT

A mere slap on the wrist for somebody who – if we lived in a sane country – should be in a prison cell for the rest of his life. How many millions of minds and hearts have been poisoned by this individual’s various crusades over the last twenty years; from the lie about 9/11 being an ‘inside job,’ to his long-time anti-vaccine activism (long predating the arrival of COVID), to enabling the rise of Donald Trump, and to this vile Sandy Hook conspiracy theory, few of these multitudes of grifters have quite as much blood on their hands as he. Nobody – probably not even Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, or even Trump himself - been quite as effective as Alex Jones in sowing the seeds of the coming civil war. No other civilized nation in the 21st century would tolerate this evil, but in no other first-world country is ‘freedom’ a rallying cry for oppressing and dominating others quite as it is in #Murica and with its legions of ‘freedom-loving,’ far-right ‘patriots.' -

A superior court in Connecticut granted a sweeping victory to the families of eight people killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., suing the far-right broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars media outlet for defamation. 

The judge in Connecticut ruled on Monday that because Mr. Jones refused to turn over documents ordered by the courts, including financial records, he was guilty by default. The ruling combines with three previous rulings in Texas to grant the families of 10 Sandy Hook shooting victims four victories in four defamation lawsuits against Mr. Jones. (Read more)

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Week in review, 02/17 - 02/23

U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpasses 500,000

‘(O)ut of 163 countries assessed worldwide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off’ than ten years ago: The United States has transitioned from a First World power to a developing nation

‘Life expectancy in the United States fell by a full year during the first half of 2020, a staggering decline that reflects the toll of the covid-19 pandemic as well as a rise in deaths from drug overdoses, heart attacks and diseases that accompanied the outbreak, according to government data released Thursday. The last time life expectancy at birth dropped more dramatically was during World War II. Americans can now expect to live as long as they did in 2006’

Pentagon officials tell Congress that about one-third of troops offered the COVID-19 vaccine have refused

‘Pfizer and BioNTech say the first U.S. participants have been given shots in a large-scale clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of their COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women. The companies are aiming to enroll some 4,000 pregnant women’

Two Florida women, ages 44 and 34, facing charges after posing as elderly women at vaccine distribution site

Finally, some degree of progress is being made: COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. dip to the lowest level since November

UK Foreign Office spokesman says the government cannot guarantee there won’t be another COVID-19 lockdown as there is no way to predict how the virus will evolve

Enrollment at U.S. community colleges plummets amid the pandemic

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about: Russia registers world’s first case of human infection from the new H5N8 bird flu

Unfathomable what happened in the Lone Star State. Also shows us the chaos that would ensue if the national power grid were to collapse: Power outages leave millions of Texans desperate for heat and safety

‘Nearly seven million people in the US state of Texas have been told to boil tap water before consuming it after a deadly winter storm caused power blackouts at treatment facilities’

Fear of parasites in Texas water supply revived after winter storm damage

As Texas deep freeze subsides, some households now face electricity bills as high as $10,000

White House sending emergency generators and other supplies to Texas amid power outages and freezing weather

A disgraceful, pitiful coward that is no longer fit to serve: Sen. Ted Cruz flees to Cancun as millions in Texas freeze without power

Conspiracy theorists allege the U.S. government and Bill Gates manufactured the deadly winter storm in Texas as a ploy to prevent the state from seceding from the union

CPAC cancels a speaker who goes by the name of ‘Young Pharaoh’ after said speaker posted anti-Semitic comments on Twitter, including calling Judaism itself ‘a complete lie’

‘(A) number of these newly enlisted Republicans appear to have come to the GOP not for the ideology or the philosophy, but for the signs, the flags and, the fight.’ Republicans in one Wisconsin county refuse to vote for resolution condemning political violence

U.S. seeks to reclaim leadership role as it rejoins the Paris Agreement and UN climate change talks approach

President Biden and centrist Democrats taking a pragmatic and measured approach to the minimum wage and student loan forgiveness, angering leftists who are seeking more sweeping measures

Good fences make good neighbors: ‘U.S. Capitol Police officials told congressional leaders the razor-wire topped fencing around the Capitol should remain in place for several more months as law enforcement continues to track threats against lawmakers’

‘Six more people linked to the far-right Oath Keepers militia group have been indicted on charges that they planned and coordinated with one another in the attack on the U.S. Capitol’

DOJ and FBI investigating the role high-profile figures on the far-right - including Alex Jones and Roger Stone - played in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot

Mars landing: Excitement builds over new images from NASA Perseverance rover

‘Two pilots flying a training mission were killed Friday when a military jet crashed near Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama, the U.S. Air Force confirmed’

Rush Limbaugh has died. He revolutionized radio and politics itself. All for the better? Probably not, but he made a huge impact in the world. Rest in peace

Justice denied yet again: Russian court denies appeal of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny

‘The U.N. human rights office said Friday that it has asked the United Arab Emirates for evidence that an Emirati princess held against her will for almost three years is still alive’

‘Nearly a third of all freshwater fish species are threatened by extinction, according to a new report released by 16 conservation groups on Tuesday’

Prayers for Tiger Woods following a major car crash. Not a golf fan at all, but Tiger is undoubtedly one of the great athletes of our time

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Standing alone in an era of collective madness

While I believe President Biden is doing his best and will continue to do so - governing in good faith - Americans are still very much on the wrong track. I don’t like the direction the right-wing has gone in, going all in on nationalist populism and Trump worship even after suffering humiliating defeat after defeat. And I don’t like the direction the hard left - which is far more numerous and venomous now than before Trump was president - is going, either. Both sides are acting like, well, Nazis. No hyperbole needed. Even as we again have a moderate and sensible president, the country is splitting apart and the sides are growing ever more extreme and intolerant of anything not fitting their extremist world-views. Both extremes are absolutely out of control. Whether it’s one side storming the United States Capitol building, or the other side celebrating a man’s death and demanding that anyone who doesn’t join them is scum of the earth. The over-the-top reaction to the death of a radio host - someone who deserved his fair share of criticism, but is also now dead and can’t piss anyone off anymore - was quite telling. You know, I have never been more glad to be independent and free from having to engage in group-think and hate campaigns, because this is pathetic what we are witnessing all around us. Grown-ass adults who are so butthurt about everything and have no capability or desire to agree to disagree with others. Our country is literally dying on the vine right now - COVID, infrastructure failing, democracy being threatened by demigods, the economy collapsing, morals in the sewer, so forth - and all anyone wants to do is tear other peoples’ heads off all day and night if the other is not marching in lockstep with the tribe. No, I’m never playing that game. I will think for myself at all times, and I will conduct myself as an adult whether children like it or not. My views are nuanced and not easily confined to any one ideology, and I will express myself freely. And, again, it says right on the top of my FB profile, ‘NOT running a debating society.’ I am under no obligation to coddle anybody or to confirm anyone’s worldview, whatever that worldview may be. I’m not even under any obligation to speak to anybody or entertain their views, period. So, in other words, f**k off with the phony outrage and casting aspersions, whoever needs to hear it. And, each of you - whether you’re mindlessly cheerleading for Trump, or are a raving mad ‘social justice warrior’ out to destroy anyone who doesn’t give you exactly what you want - who are engaging in this crap know who you are. Enough of your bulls**t. Those of you who are more sensible and mature, thank you and carry on.

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.