Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 8/14

[SVPete]

Fabricating the News

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/08/fabricating-the-news.php

The New York Times is not a legitimate  newspaper. It is not just that it is absurdly biased. It is not just that pretty much every story is driven by obsessive hatred of Donald Trump. The Times can’t be trusted not to lie about the most basic facts. Newspapers

Thus, this is how the Times characterizes the shooting of Alex Pretti:
...
“Alex Pretti was fatally shot while filming officers.” That is a flat-out lie. Pretti was shot while fighting with several ICE agents when he was armed with a pistol. He was shot when the officers realized he was armed and, rightly or wrongly, thought he was trying to use his weapon against them. ...

Having seen months of Progs' Good- and Pretti-Canonization on FB, this lie does not in the least surprise me.

[SVPete]

LA Judge Gives Insane Reason for Going Easy on Felon Who Tried to Blow LAPD Copter Out of the Sky

https://redstate.com/terichristoph/2026/08/13/cop-killer-gets-light-sentence-from-la-judge-n2205566

A story out of Los Angeles is making waves on social media – and likely in LA, too – after an ex-con who was found guilty of shooting at and striking a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) helicopter last year was handed a relatively light sentence by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo.

And her reasoning for going easy on him was absolutely bonkers.

Douglas Byers, 62, was convicted in March on two counts of assault on a peace officer and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon after using an AR-15-style rifle to shoot at the LAPD helicopter on Aug. 15, 2025. There were two officers aboard at the time, and it subsequently had to make an emergency landing. Despite Byers' best efforts, the officers were not hurt.
...
Which leads us to Byers' sentencing on Tuesday, where Judge Escobedo rejected the prosecutor's recommendation that Byers, who had multiple prior felony convictions and was not allowed to own a firearm, be sentenced to 41 years in prison. Escobedo, instead, gave him 13 years, and "reasoned" that had been "friendly" and "respectful" in court when acting as his own attorney.