Post by t-bob on Aug 6, 2022 16:38:17 GMT -5
"All the News That Fits on One Page"
The Price of Lies: The Texas jury in the Alex Jones defamation trial awarded a Connecticut couple $45.2 million in punitive damages, bringing the total judgement to $49.3 million. And this is just one of three lawsuits brought against Jones.
The jury had already awarded $4.1 million in compensatory damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.
The sums are enormous, but they could be drastically reduced under Texas law limiting awards.
Jones had spouted a slanderous fiction on his Infowars broadcast claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that left 20 children and 6 adults dead was a hoax staged by actors to spur government confiscation of firearms.
Lewis, who lost her 6-year-old son Jesse in the shooting, said after the award, “I got to look into his eyes and I got to tell him the impact his actions had on me and my family. And not just us — all the other Sandy Hook families, all the people that live in Sandy Hook and then the ripple effect that that had throughout the world.”
Bernard Pettingill Jr., an economic consultant and former professor of economics at Florida Institute of Technology, estimated the net worth of Alex Jones and his Free Speech Systems at between $135 million and $270 million.
Lewis and her husband, Neil Heslin, had sued Jones for $150 million. Punitive damages are what the name suggests … punishment in this case for Jones’s defamatory lies and they are sometimes, as in this case, multiples of the damage award.
Jones appears to have begun trying to hide his wealth from people suing him. He filed for bankruptcy and is reported to have funneled $11,000 a day into a shell company he controls.
Yesterday, Wesley Todd Ball, a lawyer for the Lewis and Heslin, told the jury that they had “the ability to send a message for everyone in this country and perhaps this world to hear. We ask that you send a very, very simple message and that is: Stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Please.”
Econ 101: The Labor Department delivered a surprise report with 528,000 new jobs added to the economy in July, far exceeding expectations for the month. The labor market is not flagging even as the federal reserve has raised interest rates to cool the economy and curb inflation.
The president said this proves the economy is not entering recession.
This latest bump brings employment back to where it was in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic hit with full force. The unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent in June, equaling the 50-year low at the brink of the pandemic.
The numbers defy republican claims that the economy is entering recession, a shrinkage. Gasoline prices are dropping, but while inflation is a problem, that too is beginning to ease.
Mini War: Israel and Gaza militants have been exchanging fire after an Israeli air strike killed a senior militant and 10 other people, including and a 5-year-old girl. Fighter jets yesterday dropped two bombs on the house of an Islamic Jihad member, a two-story building in Gaza City and badly damaging surrounding homes.
Israel had acted in response to what it said was a perceived threat from Gaza. Prime Minister Yair Lapid said, “This government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks — of any kind — from Gaza towards Israeli territory.”
China Syndrome: As it continues with military exercises to show its displeasure with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China also announced diplomatic measures to punish the US.
They include cancellation of future phone calls and meetings between Chinese and US defense leaders, and cancellation of annual naval meetings.
Significantly, China also suspended climate change talks, a major area of cooperation between the two countries. They also suspended cooperation on repatriation of illegal immigrants, and criminal matters.
They also announced personal sanctions on Speaker Pelosi and her family, although what those are the Chinese didn’t say. Maybe she won’t be allowed to order takeout.
Life After Roe: Indiana yesterday became the first state to approve abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The ban to take effect September 15th includes exceptions, including for cases of rape and incest, the health of the mother, and if the fetus has a lethal anomaly. Under the bill, abortions can be performed only in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by hospitals, meaning all abortion clinics would lose their licenses.
Fatal Fire: A fire that broke out in a two-story house early yesterday morning in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania killed seven adults and three children, ages 5, 6 and 7. The victims included the son, daughter and three grandchildren of the first volunteer firefighter to arrive. “We tried to get into them,” Harold Baker said. “There wasn’t no way we could get into them.”
Baker told a local television station that his children were visiting their aunt and uncle for a family gathering.
Police say the fire is of suspicious origin and a criminal investigation is under way.
The Spin Rack: US and Russian officials say they will discuss a prisoner swap involving the US women’s basketball star Britney Griner, who was sentenced Thursday to 9 ½ years in a Russian labor camp. --- Three people have died after being hit by lightning Thursday near The White House. Among them are a Wisconsin couple, Donna, 75, and James Mueller, 76, who were high school sweethearts and spent their lives together. A 29-year old man also died and a fourth is in critical condition. --- The US Army is developing a tactical bra for female soldiers to be known as the Army Tactical Brassiere. So far, none of the Kardashian sisters have modelled it.
The Price of Lies: The Texas jury in the Alex Jones defamation trial awarded a Connecticut couple $45.2 million in punitive damages, bringing the total judgement to $49.3 million. And this is just one of three lawsuits brought against Jones.
The jury had already awarded $4.1 million in compensatory damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.
The sums are enormous, but they could be drastically reduced under Texas law limiting awards.
Jones had spouted a slanderous fiction on his Infowars broadcast claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that left 20 children and 6 adults dead was a hoax staged by actors to spur government confiscation of firearms.
Lewis, who lost her 6-year-old son Jesse in the shooting, said after the award, “I got to look into his eyes and I got to tell him the impact his actions had on me and my family. And not just us — all the other Sandy Hook families, all the people that live in Sandy Hook and then the ripple effect that that had throughout the world.”
Bernard Pettingill Jr., an economic consultant and former professor of economics at Florida Institute of Technology, estimated the net worth of Alex Jones and his Free Speech Systems at between $135 million and $270 million.
Lewis and her husband, Neil Heslin, had sued Jones for $150 million. Punitive damages are what the name suggests … punishment in this case for Jones’s defamatory lies and they are sometimes, as in this case, multiples of the damage award.
Jones appears to have begun trying to hide his wealth from people suing him. He filed for bankruptcy and is reported to have funneled $11,000 a day into a shell company he controls.
Yesterday, Wesley Todd Ball, a lawyer for the Lewis and Heslin, told the jury that they had “the ability to send a message for everyone in this country and perhaps this world to hear. We ask that you send a very, very simple message and that is: Stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Please.”
Econ 101: The Labor Department delivered a surprise report with 528,000 new jobs added to the economy in July, far exceeding expectations for the month. The labor market is not flagging even as the federal reserve has raised interest rates to cool the economy and curb inflation.
The president said this proves the economy is not entering recession.
This latest bump brings employment back to where it was in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic hit with full force. The unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent in June, equaling the 50-year low at the brink of the pandemic.
The numbers defy republican claims that the economy is entering recession, a shrinkage. Gasoline prices are dropping, but while inflation is a problem, that too is beginning to ease.
Mini War: Israel and Gaza militants have been exchanging fire after an Israeli air strike killed a senior militant and 10 other people, including and a 5-year-old girl. Fighter jets yesterday dropped two bombs on the house of an Islamic Jihad member, a two-story building in Gaza City and badly damaging surrounding homes.
Israel had acted in response to what it said was a perceived threat from Gaza. Prime Minister Yair Lapid said, “This government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks — of any kind — from Gaza towards Israeli territory.”
China Syndrome: As it continues with military exercises to show its displeasure with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China also announced diplomatic measures to punish the US.
They include cancellation of future phone calls and meetings between Chinese and US defense leaders, and cancellation of annual naval meetings.
Significantly, China also suspended climate change talks, a major area of cooperation between the two countries. They also suspended cooperation on repatriation of illegal immigrants, and criminal matters.
They also announced personal sanctions on Speaker Pelosi and her family, although what those are the Chinese didn’t say. Maybe she won’t be allowed to order takeout.
Life After Roe: Indiana yesterday became the first state to approve abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The ban to take effect September 15th includes exceptions, including for cases of rape and incest, the health of the mother, and if the fetus has a lethal anomaly. Under the bill, abortions can be performed only in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by hospitals, meaning all abortion clinics would lose their licenses.
Fatal Fire: A fire that broke out in a two-story house early yesterday morning in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania killed seven adults and three children, ages 5, 6 and 7. The victims included the son, daughter and three grandchildren of the first volunteer firefighter to arrive. “We tried to get into them,” Harold Baker said. “There wasn’t no way we could get into them.”
Baker told a local television station that his children were visiting their aunt and uncle for a family gathering.
Police say the fire is of suspicious origin and a criminal investigation is under way.
The Spin Rack: US and Russian officials say they will discuss a prisoner swap involving the US women’s basketball star Britney Griner, who was sentenced Thursday to 9 ½ years in a Russian labor camp. --- Three people have died after being hit by lightning Thursday near The White House. Among them are a Wisconsin couple, Donna, 75, and James Mueller, 76, who were high school sweethearts and spent their lives together. A 29-year old man also died and a fourth is in critical condition. --- The US Army is developing a tactical bra for female soldiers to be known as the Army Tactical Brassiere. So far, none of the Kardashian sisters have modelled it.
