CURRENT EVENTS - April 27-30

[lawtig02]

At 6pm this evening, Trump will speak to a rally in Macomb County, Michigan. The subject will be his first 100 days. The crowd will undoubtedly resemble his campaign rallies. Trump will tell lie after lie after lie after lie. And the crowd will get more excited with every one he tells.

I say this to Silence and Ram and (because I know they're reading, even if they've been conspicuously silent) callatoroy and HeelYeah. You have been played for fools. Wake up. Speak out. It may be too late already, but the least you can do is acknowledge Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do, and he has harmed America more in 100 days than any president has done in the last 250 years combined.

Wake up. Speak out. It may be too late, but you can at least take a shot at saving your souls before we all go down with the ship.

 

[superrific]

Serious question: why would anyone cover themselves in gang related tattoos if they weren't, in fact, in the gang? Doing so, i would imagine, would put your life in danger if gang members saw your tattoos where you were falsely advertising membership in their gang.

Possible reasons, off the top of my head:

1. The "gang related tattoos" aren't actually gang-related. This is called Lawyering 101. Do not accept the government's representations at face value, especially when it's this government
2. The tattoos are gang related because gang members get them, which does not mean that *only* gang members get them. For instance, tattoos indicating affection for MJ and the Bulls.
3. Even it the tattoos are exclusively gang related in one area, maybe the person got the tattoos somewhere else where they weren't.
4. The tattoos are now exclusively gang related but were not when the person got them.
5. The person might have at one point been in a gang and dropped out. Or was aspiring to be in the gang but didn't make it.
6. The person might have gotten the tattoo in prison to seek protection/affiliation with a gang, having no intention to join it or associate with it in any way on the outside.

 

[lawtig02]

Correct. I mentioned the items I read and the affidavit was not among them.

I have read the affidavit now and it seems to align with what NBC reported, which was original source for what I was saying. Did you read the affidavit?

Judge DUGAN escorts Flores-Ruiz through a “jury door” to avoid his arrest.29. Multiple witnesses have described their observations after Judge DUGAN returnedto her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the Chief Judge’s office. Forexample, the courtroom deputy recalled that upon the courtroom deputy’s return to the courtroom,defense counsel for Flores-Ruiz was talking to the clerk, and Flores-Ruiz was seated in the jurybox, rather than in the gallery. The courtroom deputy believed that counsel and the clerk werehaving an off-the-record conversation to pick the next court date. Defense counsel and Flores-Ruizthen walked toward each other and toward the public courtroom exit. The courtroom deputy then saw Judge DUGAN get up and heard Judge DUGAN say something like “Wait, come with me.”

Despite having been advised of the administrative warrant for the arrest of Flores-Ruiz, Judge DUGAN then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the “jury door,”which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse. These events were also unusual for two reasons.First, the courtroom deputy had previously heard Judge DUGAN direct people not to sit in the jury box because it was exclusively for the jury’s use. Second, according to the courtroom deputy, only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.30. Attorney B similarly explained that after returning to the courtroom, Judge DUGAN forcefully motioned for Flores-Ruiz’s attorney and a male she did not know (Attorney Bhad never met Flores-Ruiz) to approach. Flores-Ruiz’s attorney appeared to be confused by the judge’s gesture but complied with her directive. Judge DUGAN commanded Flores-Ruiz’sattorney and the male to leave through a backdoor of the courtroom. Attorney B then saw Judge DUGAN escort Flores-Ruiz’s attorney and the male through a non-public door near the courtroom’s jury box. Shortly thereafter, Judge DUGAN came back to the courtroom andconducted hearings on that morning’s docket. Later that morning, Attorney B realized that FloresRuiz’s case had never been called and asked the court about it. Attorney B learned that FloresRuiz’s case had been adjourned. This happened without Attorney B’s knowledge or participation,even though Attorney B was present in court to handle Flores-Ruiz’s case on behalf of the state,and even though victims were present in the courtroom.

"Judge DUGAN escorts Flores-Ruiz through a “jury door” to avoid his arrest."

Come on, Zen. You're smarter than this. The government's own complaint makes it clear Flores-Ruiz exited into the public hallway, where the ICE and FBI agents were waiting. One of them RODE DOWN THE GODDAMN ELEVATOR with him. If Dugan was trying to "avoid his arrest," she must be the dumbest person in the history of the world. With the possible exception of the ICE and FBI agents who somehow failed to arrest him when they saw him in the public hallway.

 

[superrific]

but the least you can do is acknowledge Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do, and he has harmed America more in 100 days than any president has done in the last 250 years combined.

That's not quite true. He has done some of the things he promised. It's just that the good is a a glockenspiel and the bad is an aircraft engine. People who hate DEI will be pleased at his attacks on DEI.

And it's their choice whether to prioritize DEI over everything else. It's a revealing choice, though. There's no race-neutral explanation for why ending DEI could be more than a rounding error in the equation of overall welfare -- but we're not dealing with a race neutral population. These are people who have been seething about minorities for decades. These are the people LBJ was talking about in his famous quote.

 

[lawtig02]

That's not quite true. He has done some of the things he promised. It's just that the good is a a glockenspiel and the bad is an aircraft engine. People who hate DEI will be pleased at his attacks on DEI.

And it's their choice whether to prioritize DEI over everything else. It's a revealing choice, though. There's no race-neutral explanation for why ending DEI could be more than a rounding error in the equation of overall welfare -- but we're not dealing with a race neutral population. These are people who have been seething about minorities for decades. These are the people LBJ was talking about in his famous quote.

Fair. I'm going to claim royalties on the title for the definitive account of Trump 2.0 -- "The Pyrrhic Presidency"

 

[nycfan]

I try to post articles from "acceptable" sources (When in Rome, right?), but a Yahoo article said that this guy had pics of decapitated people on his phone:

In March, a judge ordered Ortega-Lopez be released on bail and into the “third party custody” of Nancy Cano. The federal government later successfully argued that he be kept locked up after prosecutors said his cellphone had images of a decapitated body and Ortega-Lopez associating with known TdA gang members, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Former New Mexico judge accused of tampering with evidence in Tren de Aragua case

Federal officials accused Joel Cano of destroying the cellphone of a Venezuelan man who was in the country illegally and allegedly staying on property the recently resigned judge owns.

www.nbcnews.com

Woah. Yikes if so!

 

[superrific]

"Judge DUGAN escorts Flores-Ruiz through a “jury door” to avoid his arrest."

Come on, Zen. You're smarter than this. The government's own complaint makes it clear Flores-Ruiz exited into the public hallway, where the ICE and FBI agents were waiting. One of them RODE DOWN THE GODDAMN ELEVATOR with him. If Dugan was trying to "avoid his arrest," she must be the dumbest person in the history of the world. With the possible exception of the ICE and FBI agents who somehow failed to arrest him when they saw him in the public hallway.

The one who rode down was identified as a DEA Agent. Not sure why the DEA Agent was there but it's entirely possible the DEA agent didn't have the authority to arrest him. In any event, you can't try to arrest someone by yourself in an elevator. Bad idea.

The affidavit seems more or less legit to me. I think the judge was trying to frustrate the ICE agents. For the reasons you and I have stated, though, there's no basis for any criminal charges. It's not actually a crime to frustrate the government. It's not a crime to do the Looney Tunes thing and say "I think he went that way" when he went the other. It's a crime to conceal or harbor, neither of which the judge did and didn't even get remotely close to it.

 

[superrific]

Woah. Yikes if so!

Here's a more Yikes moment:

The judge’s wife, Nancy Cano, was charged Friday with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. The criminal complaint alleges that she told Ortega-Lopez to delete his Facebook account where he had posted photos with weapons allegedly owned by the judge, his wife, or their daughter.

Advising someone to scrub their social media is now conspiracy to tamper with evidence? Um, yeah, a lot of people are apparently at risk of being charged with felonies. You cool with that MAGA?

 

[Ramrouser]

At 6pm this evening, Trump will speak to a rally in Macomb County, Michigan. The subject will be his first 100 days. The crowd will undoubtedly resemble his campaign rallies. Trump will tell lie after lie after lie after lie. And the crowd will get more excited with every one he tells.

I say this to Silence and Ram and (because I know they're reading, even if they've been conspicuously silent) callatoroy and HeelYeah. You have been played for fools. Wake up. Speak out. It may be too late already, but the least you can do is acknowledge Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do, and he has harmed America more in 100 days than any president has done in the last 250 years combined.

Wake up. Speak out. It may be too late, but you can at least take a shot at saving your souls before we all go down with the ship.

I couldn't be happier the way things have gone the first 100 days. I'm not wild about the the tariffs and "liberation day" but this shall soon pass as we make trade deals with our allies over the coming months allowing us to focus on China. Have trust in Bessent.

What exactly to you want us to "speak out" about? That DOGE isn't making even bigger cuts in spending and eliminating even more waste? That deportations aren't occurring fast enough? That the border isn't even more secure? That DEI isn't been rooted out of government fast enough? That federal district courts in liberal jurisdictions are slowing down Trump's agenda? Fair enough.

"Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do..." - Huh, are you kidding me?

 

[lawtig02]

The one who rode down was identified as a DEA Agent. Not sure why the DEA Agent was there but it's entirely possible the DEA agent didn't have the authority to arrest him. In any event, you can't try to arrest someone by yourself in an elevator. Bad idea.

The affidavit seems more or less legit to me. I think the judge was trying to frustrate the ICE agents. For the reasons you and I have stated, though, there's no basis for any criminal charges. It's not actually a crime to frustrate the government. It's not a crime to do the Looney Tunes thing and say "I think he went that way" when he went the other. It's a crime to conceal or harbor, neither of which the judge did and didn't even get remotely close to it.

Occam's Razor tells me the feds didn't want to arrest him inside the state courthouse because they knew they were on thin ice with the administrative warrant. I think they were hoping the state officials would roll over, but when that didn't happen, they decided they needed to arrest the guy after he left the courthouse. They only problem with that plan was he ran, but they appear to have caught him with no problem.

The biggest takeaway to this whole story to me is that in no circumstances should ANY law enforcement -- state or fed -- be lying in wait for people on the domestic violence floor. There's no scenario in which it serves the public interest to disincentivize people to show up for court in DV cases. Here, the guy they were waiting to arrest was the DV defendant. But it could just as easily have been the victim. I will never, ever, ever condone any law enforcement actions that interfere with the ability of DV victims to receive justice and protection.

 

[ZenMode]

"Judge DUGAN escorts Flores-Ruiz through a “jury door” to avoid his arrest."

Come on, Zen. You're smarter than this. The government's own complaint makes it clear Flores-Ruiz exited into the public hallway, where the ICE and FBI agents were waiting. One of them RODE DOWN THE GODDAMN ELEVATOR with him. If Dugan was trying to "avoid his arrest," she must be the dumbest person in the history of the world. With the possible exception of the ICE and FBI agents who somehow failed to arrest him when they saw him in the public hallway.

A public hallway to an elevator that is not the closest to the courtroom. My guess, based on the fact that they were directed out of the "jury door", is that the intention was to avoid DEA/FBI by sending them out a different door and to a different elevator.... hence the suspect sprinting once outside and confronted by DEA/FBI.

Had Ruiz left through the courtroom door, where DEA was expecting him to leave, he would have met with multiple agents, not just the one who happened to see him and make it into the elevator with him.

The fact that a DEA agent managed to get in the elevator with them is secondary to the intentions of the judge.

I am familiar with the layout of the sixth floor of the courthouse and know that the south elevators are not the closest elevators to Courtroom 615, and therefore it appears that Flores-Ruiz and his counsel elected not to use the closest elevator bank to Courtroom 615.

DEA Agent A followed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney towards the south elevator bank. At approximately 8:50 a.m., DEA Agent A alerted other members of the arrest team that DEA Agent A was on the elevator with Flores-Ruiz. While on the elevator, Flores-Ruiz and his attorney spoke to each other in Spanish,Case 2:25-mj-00397-SCD Filed 04/24/25 Page 12 of 13 Document 112 which DEA Agent A did not understand. They exited the elevator on one of the bottom floors of the courthouse and used the Ninth Street public entrance/exit to leave the building.34. Having received the above-referenced information from DEA Agent A, other members of the arrest team scrambled to locate Flores-Ruiz and arrest him. DEA Agent B and FBI Agents A and B took another elevator down to one of the bottom floors of the courthouse and quickly exited the building onto 9th Street. After DEA Agent A notified the team that Flores-Ruiz was in the front of the courthouse near the flagpole, the agents ran towards the front of thecourthouse. FBI Agent B and DEA Agent A approached Flores-Ruiz and identified themselves as law enforcement. Flores-Ruiz turned around and sprinted down the street. A foot chase ensued.

 

[heelinhell]

better that 10 innocent citizens are captured than let one criminal brown skin person go free...

'We're citizens!' Oklahoma family 'traumatized for life' after ICE wrongly raids home

A family in Oklahoma City said they would be traumatized for the rest of their lives after federal immigration agents raided their home, even though they are citizens.The family wished to remain anonymous, but the woman who lives in the home told KFOR that they had moved from Maryland in the...

www.rawstory.com

 

[lawtig02]

I couldn't be happier the way things have gone the first 100 days. I'm not wild about the the tariffs and "liberation day" but this shall soon pass as we make trade deals with our allies over the coming months allowing us to focus on China. Have trust in Bessent.

What exactly to you want us to "speak out" about? That DOGE isn't making even bigger cuts in spending and eliminating even more waste? That deportations aren't occurring fast enough? That the border isn't even more secure? That DEI isn't been rooted out of government fast enough? That federal district courts in liberal jurisdictions are slowing down Trump's agenda? Fair enough.

"Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do..." - Huh, are you kidding me?

The deficit is higher than ever.
Ukraine and Russia are still at war.
China is kicking our asses in trade.
Manufacturing is not moving back to the US.
The markets are way down.
Inflation is NOT down.
Most economists are now predicting a major recession.
You're still taking dumps next to biological women.

What exactly are you suggesting Trump HAS done so far?

 

[heelinhell]

The deficit is higher than ever.
Ukraine and Russia are still at war.
China is kicking our asses in trade.
Manufacturing is not moving back to the US.
The markets are way down.
Inflation is NOT down.
Most economists are now predicting a major recession.
You're still taking dumps next to biological women.

What exactly are you suggesting Trump HAS done so far?

excellent question and look forward to Ram's response...

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess he is happy with the rounding up and deporting of brown skin people without bothering to grant them their Constitutional right to due process.

 

[nycfan]

Here's a more Yikes moment:

The judge’s wife, Nancy Cano, was charged Friday with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. The criminal complaint alleges that she told Ortega-Lopez to delete his Facebook account where he had posted photos with weapons allegedly owned by the judge, his wife, or their daughter.

Advising someone to scrub their social media is now conspiracy to tamper with evidence? Um, yeah, a lot of people are apparently at risk of being charged with felonies. You cool with that MAGA?

Yeah, I raised that as problematic originally. That said, the swift actions of the NM Supreme Court to prohibit this judge from running for or serving as a judge again suggests there is something serious at play, even if the DOJ is exaggerating the details of the case. One that I am watching for actual evidence that makes it into court to come out.

 

[ZZLPHeels]

I couldn't be happier the way things have gone the first 100 days. I'm not wild about the the tariffs and "liberation day" but this shall soon pass as we make trade deals with our allies over the coming months allowing us to focus on China. Have trust in Bessent.

What exactly to you want us to "speak out" about? That DOGE isn't making even bigger cuts in spending and eliminating even more waste? That deportations aren't occurring fast enough? That the border isn't even more secure? That DEI isn't been rooted out of government fast enough? That federal district courts in liberal jurisdictions are slowing down Trump's agenda? Fair enough.

"Trump has done NOTHING that he promised he would do..." - Huh, are you kidding me?

Are you happy that Elon Musk eliminated cancer research while also using his position to profit to the tunes of billions of dollars by eliminating any regulation of his companies? Are you OK with the government subsidizing half-trillionaires while literally leaving normal people out to die?

 

[Healing]

Objectively, in 100 days Trump has turned the US government into an overtly racist mafia racket, with the most inept economic policy in 100 years of US government, yet maga “couldn’t be happier” because Trump et. al is terrorizing people maga doesn’t like. That’s it. All this fantasy about returning manufacturing jobs and tariff revenues, and countries lining up to “make deals” is such abjectly facile cover for the bigotry, as to be laughable at a “bless your heart” level.

Trust in Trump is as effective as trusting the Flying Spaghetti Monster to guide your life towards righteousness.

 

[superrific]

I couldn't be happier the way things have gone the first 100 days. I'm not wild about the the tariffs and "liberation day" but this shall soon pass as we make trade deals with our allies over the coming months allowing us to focus on China. Have trust in Bessent.

1. Have trust in Bessent? You'd never heard of the guy three months ago. You still don't know anything about him, apparently, because he's not a dealer. He's a currency trader who tried to be a hedge fund manager but mostly failed. And he has written in support of the universal tariffs. The tariffs you don't like -- those were his ideas.

2. I can promise you that there will be no trade deals of any significance. Each one takes much longer than 90 days to complete, even if the US had a clear set of goals. Which it does not.

To be clear, Trump knows that the "high tariffs are screwing" story is bullshit because countries like Canada and in Europe barely have tariffs at all. So he's pointed to non-tariff barriers? Do you know what a non-tariff barrier is? I do. I've written about them. They are not nefarious. The US has tons of them. They are usually not created as trade barriers; usually (like the EU's GMO laws) they are public initiatives that have trade implications. Traditionally, when other countries complain about US non-trade barriers, the right wing blows a gasket because they think it interferes with American sovereignty. As with everything, you've changed your tune completely.

When you can demonstrate a basic knowledge of trade law, we can have a conversation but as of now, I'd get further with my son. Trade economics would also be helpful (for instance, understanding the relationship between a country's current and capital accounts).

3. In the coming months? Shelves are going to start emptying if Trump doesn't cancel the tariffs. You're really going to keep supporting Trump if you go to Wal Mart over Memorial Day weekend and the shelves are half empty because of the trade war? Seriously?

Trump seems to think that China is going to cave. They won't. It's like a soccer game in which one team is kicking the ball in the wrong direction. Do you think the other team is going to tell them, "um, you're supposed to go this way"? No, they will fucking let their opponents keep scoring own goals.

Trump is the best thing to happen to China in a while. Their economy was sputtering. Their demographics looked bad. But now they've roared back to life. China, not the US, is currently the most powerful country in the world because Trump has weakened the US so badly. Trump is leading the world into a Chinese dominated century.

You don't have to believe me -- the Chinese (and Russians) are gleefully saying it themselves. Every economist or foreign policy specialist anywhere (other than the current administration where people are afraid) says that Trump has opened so many doors for China and greatly eroded

 

[superrific]

Yeah, I raised that as problematic originally. That said, the swift actions of the NM Supreme Court to prohibit this judge from running for or serving as a judge again suggests there is something serious at play, even if the DOJ is exaggerating the details of the case. One that I am watching for actual evidence that makes it into court to come out.

Well, what I flagged was about the judge's wife (and if you flagged it earlier, I must have missed it). I think we can all agree that, whatever the judge did, going after his wife because she advised someone to scrub social media is heavy-handed jack-bootery.

It's worth remembering that this guy wasn't an actual judge. He was a magistrate in the NM state court system. Judges could be the most law abiding citizens anywhere and still 1 in 10000 might break the law. PA had some issues with corrupt judges a few years back, IIRC, some of which was related to the PSU pedo. When my wife was working in MO, a local judge there was arrested for something. She didn't pay attention to what, and maybe it was just something like back child support.

Point is, we should be giving zero credence to this story. The administration is trying to push a narrative of lawless judges impeding Trump's agenda and it's obvious that line of thinking goes nowhere good. So we need to push back. Joel Cano had no interaction with the federal government in his role as state magistrate (except possibly the federal government as a landowner). He didn't rule on any federal policies. That's what MAGA world needs to know.

 

[ZenMode]

The one who rode down was identified as a DEA Agent. Not sure why the DEA Agent was there but it's entirely possible the DEA agent didn't have the authority to arrest him. In any event, you can't try to arrest someone by yourself in an elevator. Bad idea.

The affidavit seems more or less legit to me. I think the judge was trying to frustrate the ICE agents. For the reasons you and I have stated, though, there's no basis for any criminal charges. It's not actually a crime to frustrate the government. It's not a crime to do the Looney Tunes thing and say "I think he went that way" when he went the other. It's a crime to conceal or harbor, neither of which the judge did and didn't even get remotely close to it.

If a suspect is in my house, there are police at the front waiting for that suspect to come out, and I intentionally direct that suspect out the back door of my house to help them evade arrest, that's not illegal?