01/23/23
Good morning! It’s Monday, January 23rd. National Handwriting Day. Finally, a day to celebrate me and my terrible handwriting. “Oh come on Kim, it can’t be that bad.” Well, my friend’s regularly refer to it as “serial killer handwriting” so you decide.
And now, the news.
Shooting in Monterey Park
-via LA Times
This is one of those days where there’s a LOT of news. So let’s jump into it.
We start in Los Angeles’ Monterey Park, where at least ten are dead and at least ten more have been injured in a mass shooting on Saturday night.
About 20 minutes after the shooting in Monterey Park, the suspect entered a second dance studio in Alhambra. There, two community members disarmed him, but he was able to run away.
He was on the run for about 12 hours before police surrounded a white van that was seen leaving both dance studios. As officers approached the van, a single gunshot was heard. The 72-year-old suspect was pronounced dead and is believed to be the only one connected to the shootings.
We’ll know more when we know more but this is obviously a developing story.
This is one of the worst mass shootings in California’s recent history, and on the 21st day of the year, this was the 33rd mass shooting this year.
More Classified Biden Documents Found
-via CNN
After a 13-hour search of President Biden’s personal home, more classified documents have been found. Some were from his time in the Senate, while others were from his time as Veep.
This remains still not the same thing as what Trump did. It also remains a serious problem and perhaps, hear me out, we need a better chain of command when it comes to these documents. Because at this point I’m wondering if I have classified documents at home.
Trump Crime Update Time
-via Politico
Trump Crime Update Time!
Okay, so this one was a surprise but you’re gonna love it. First, you’ll need a little context.
As a reminder, Trump lost the 2020 election. That’s not part of this, but it’s fun to remember. Less fun to remember is that he won in 2016. And even though he won, he still tried to say that Clinton conspired with former FBI director Comey on allegations that Trump worked with Russia to get elected. And so, back in March, be filed a case to sue Hillary Clinton at al.
Clinton moved to dismiss the case in April., which was ultimately dismissed in September. Well then… the judge that dismissed the case in September gave it a real good think and decided – “hey. You know something? It was one thing when it was just one case, but that Steak guy sues a lot of people and I don’t like it.”
So on Friday the Florida judge ordered almost a $1M in sanctions against Trump and his lawyer. Not only that, but he went on to call Trump “a mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process.”
I read the 46-page order that the judge wrote and let me tell you something… it’s a burn book. It’s a book of sick sick burns.
Would you like some pull quotes? Yes. Yes you would.
Well first, this is how it opens:
“This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.
Thirty-one individuals and entities were needlessly harmed in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative. A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm.”
He added-
“The Amended Complaint is a hodgepodge of disconnected, often immaterial events, followed by an implausible conclusion. This is a deliberate attempt to harass; to tell a story without regard to facts.”
And finally -
“Mr. Trump’s lawyers saw no professional impediment or irony in relying upon Russian intelligence as the good faith basis for their allegation.”
Florida Cancels AP African American Studies
-via Politico
In its race to be our worst state, Florida has taken a giant leap to hold their lead.
They announced on Friday that education officials are rejecting a new AP class on African American studies, stating that it “significantly lacks educational value.”
And while I’m not sure there’s much more in this story than this, let me add that the state education officials did also say, “In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion.”
While no one should be surprised that the state that passed the lame, and lamely named, Stop WOKE Act, also decided Black history lacks educational value… I want to state the obvious – they are wrong. Black history is the history of this country and anyone who wants to say otherwise is saying the quiet part out loud.
Let me also remind you that these positions – college boards, education officials, all of them… they are typically elected officials and get voted into office in elections that have incredibly low turnout. And so these people, with a slim percentage of voters that elected them, and an even slimmer percentage of those voters who actually looked into, get to make big dumb decisions like this.
I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again – Vote. Them. Out.
Brett Kavanaugh Documentary
-via Washington Post
Justice, the new (and surprise) documentary that premiered at Sundance this year, looks into the FBI investigation in Brett Kavanaugh prior to his Supreme Court confirmation.
Hours after news got out that the documentary existed, the film’s producers said they’d received new tips from people who said they reached out to the FBI about Kavanaugh and never heard back, including at least one credible accusation.
Producers still have a tip line open at justicefilm.com and are hoping this triggers an investigation with someone who has subpoena powers.
L.A. Bans Thin Blue Line Flags
-via LA Times
The LA police department has banned all thin blue line flags, also known as the Blue Lives Matter flags, from public view. They are also no longer allowed to have patches on their uniforms or bumper stickers on their police cars.
In an email, Police Chief Moore said that, while the flag started as a symbol of support for police, it has been overshowed by its use from Proud Boys and other extremist groups.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of… my handwriting. Look, it does the best it can. You can still kind of make out the words I’m writing, so what else do you need.
But more than that, more than me being honest right now and letting you know that, yeah, sometimes I can’t read my own handwriting but that really is the best I can do… I’m proud of you!