Larry Felton Johnson

Biden Spared 37 Killers From Execution. Trump Ordered Up a Lifetime of Torment. Even America’s harshest federal prison, where inmates spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, was too good, one official said. “I’ve got no problem with gruel.”

Unless we slide into long-term fascism, I foresee Nuremberg-style trials in the future:

I was a skeptic about the import of the Epstein files.

But 3 invasions of cities, one military buildup outside Venezuela, a government shutdown, and so many other things meant to distract have me convinced whatever’s in there is the biggest presidential scandal in U.S. history.

BOOM 🔥:

Judge Immergut issues a second Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the relocation, federalization, or deployment of ANY NATIONAL GUARD FROM ANY STATE into the state of Oregon.

It’s of note that during tonight’s hearing the DoJ didn’t even try to make the case that changing conditions on the ground in Portland warranted the CA National Guard. Instead they relied on legal technicalities. Proving again that what they say in court is different than lies they tell the public.

Holmes's interview on the Cramer show was a study in cultish babble all on its own, making the unsupported claim that every person quoted in the Carreyou WSJ expose said they were misquoted. The falls in the "many people are saying" category of amorphous claims.

In watching the HBO documentary on NXIVM I noticed that Raniere used the quote (often paraphrased and almost always attributed to the wrong person) that begins "First they ignore you ..." Holmes also used that quote in her interview with Jim Cramer.

Another common factor among the three is that they are all currently in prison. That isn't an inevitable outcome of cults and cultish organizations, but the behavior in these cases reached that point.

Hildebrandt: Mormon women and to a lesser extent their husband.

Raniere: primarily young women in high-pressure entertainment field (who could then attract other young women).

Holmes: a mix of infatuated older influential men for the board and investors, and star-struck young sci-tech types.

There's also a level of incoherent babble from all three that nonetheless resonated with their target audience. (Listen to all three sometimes and try to map the rhetoric to a semblance of reality).

But Holmes also wasn't far removed. The paranoid levels of control and surveillance of employees was necessary for the project "to change the world."

The two most similar are Hildebrandt and Raniere. Adjusted for differences between a Mormon-themed cult (Hildebrandt) and a new agey cult (Raniere) the language was strikingly similar, paraphrased "In order to move forward you need to experience pain and discomfort, and give me money"

Those included a "we're changing the world" pitch, charismatic hold over supporters via the leader, requirements for secrecy and long work hours, and harassment (via Boies) of people leaving the organization.

While it might be argued Theranos was just a corrupt business rather than a cult, I think a lot of the techniques applied by Holmes, Balwani, and Boies used control techniques applied by cults.

I've always had an interest in cults, charisma, and manipulative behavior, and have been comparing Jodi Hildebrandt, Elizabeth Holmes, and Keith Raniere.

We proofread and copyedit to avoid typos, but tens of thousands of words per day make it impossible to catch them all, and from time to time, a comment from a reader makes it seem we're advocating mass infanticide.

I'm in awe of the intensity of indignation and righteous zeal some readers bring to pointing out minor typos.

I'm burnt out on hoping for a short-term reversal of the worst impulses in American life.

Through a combination of cowardice on the part of corporate and elected leadership and a surge of hatefulness in the base, the bigots and scam artists have won, probably for the remainder of my life.

Bottom Line Up Front, Fam:

Charlie Kirk deserves no national honors.
He was a vile, unapologetic racist & White supremacist.

BUT he had a RIGHT to speak all the racist White supremacist twaddle he wanted without getting shot.

1) Find the killer.
2) Let justice be done.

I think people should train themselves so that alarm bells go off whenever approached by anyone with "charisma." In my observation, charisma is just an outward manifestation of narcissism, and recognizing it can be a good early warning system against con artistry.

I looked over GA Power materials, and the cost per kilowatt hours they quote from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. is only 2.2 cents.

So I need to keep the Bolt plugged in when I'm at home, with the charging system programmed to activate from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. with an 80 percent limit (about 200 travel miles).

He told me there are a lot of free level 1 chargers around metro Atlanta.

Level 1 charging is painfully slow, but the trick is to charge often (up to the 80 percent charge limit that protects battery life) and do it at home off-peak hours and at free stations along normal routes (eg EpiCenter)

Most people were at the DC fast chargers (GA average rates are about 38 cents per kilowatt hour, and I was there at peak hours, so it was probably more expensive than that).

But there was one guy at one of the free Level 1 (115 V) charging stations, and he gave me some good ideas.

I was at the EpiCenter in Mableton for a meeting and decided to go down to the EV charging stations and chat with people about charging there.

I love one-pedal driving. It's just much more fun than switching between accelerator and brake pedal.

Using the 80 percent rule for charging I'm charging to 200 estimated remaining miles. I've driven a moderate amount over the past four days, and have managed to keep it at 200 with level 1 charging (regular 115/120 volt home plugin) easily so far.

Going electric: Initial impressions of my 2023 Chevy Bolt EV As part of a project to convert to electricity as much as possible, I purchased a used 2023 Chevy Bolt 1LT EV (electric vehicle)

I'm enthused (for now) about the 2023 Chevy Bolt EV I bought a few days ago, and am going to start this running thread, with my observations about both the Bolt itself, and about electric vehicles in general. Here's a link to an article I wrote about the first few days:

And it doesn't matter whether the district certifies me as press, the Open Meetings Act applies to all Georgians.

The district is willing to continue to look stupid to, as the superintendent put it fight the "fight against good and evil."

I was live streaming the event with a very unobtrusive phone and tripod setup (not very successfully, getting the sound right in that meeting room is a work in progress).

I was told to move into the audience, the MDJ photographer wasn't.

Then a staffer does a countdown for the video to resume.

It's a clownish procedure, all in the interests of protecting the thin-skinned leadership from public scrutiny.

The complaint I'm filing is for the Courier being singled out (not allowed to stand against the wall where all reporters stood).