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First Amendment Grounds, AI Journalists, and Hate Crime Hoax
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Marketing Rebels
December 02, 2023
Good morning. It's Saturday, Dec. 02, and we're covering a hate crime hoax, teachers’ union fox, the hip-drop tackle, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.
American Fact of the Day!
Dinosaurs loved it here: The United States has not only found the most dinosaur fossils, but it also has the most variety. Although the finds have been scattered throughout the country, most of them were in desert areas, where vegetation isn’t likely to grow and fossils remain more accessible since they are covered by nothing but sand and rock, as opposed to trees and soil. If you’d like to see dinosaur bones without digging for them, these are the best dinosaur museums in the world.
Breaking Updates
Hate Crime Hoaxer Jussie Smollett Is Going Back to Jail After Losing His Appeal
Actor Jussie Smollett just can’t seem to get a break, not that he deserves one. On Friday, the Illinois appeals court upheld Smollett’s disorderly conduct conviction related to the hate crime hoax he pulled in 2019. The jury found him guilty of five out of six charges of disorderly conduct in 2021 and the actor’s team indicated it would appeal the verdict.
An Illinois appeals court upheld actor Jussie Smollett's conviction for a staged hate crime in an opinion filed Friday. The decision was 2-1, with Justice David Navarro and Justice Mary Ellen Coghlan agreeing. Judge Freddrenna Lyle dissented, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. Smollett's legal team will file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The failed appeal means Smollett will have to finish his 150-day sentence in jail. He had only spent about six days imprisoned before being released while his appeal was pending. His lawyers claimed he was the victim of a racist justice system and political concerns.
His legal team indicated that they would take Smollett’s case to the Supreme Court. But even if the highest court in the land agreed to hear the case, it is doubtful that the outcome would be any different.
Read more updates here
Shapiro Appoints Teachers’ Union Fox to Oversee PA’s Pension Henhouse
As recently as two years ago, Pennsylvania’s Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS) was among the top 25 public pension funds in the nation. Every year, it sends out approximately $7 billion in retirement checks to 250,000 former school employees.
Despite that huge infusion of money, however, the plan reported a $40 billion deficit, and retirees had not seen a benefit increase in nine years.
After the $34.5 billion fund botched a crucial financial calculation in 2020, exaggerating investment returns, the FBI launched an investigation, the fund’s board began its own, and 100,000 public school employees suddenly faced paying more into the system.
With no explanation and after a meeting closed to the public and media, the PSERS board said that executive director Glen Grell, 64, and investment chief James H. Grossman Jr., 54, had both retired.
In early November, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the appointment of Gregory C. Thall, a longtime government official who now works as a lobbyist, as chair of the $71.2 billion PSERS system.
After all, PSERS spends a whopping 20 percent of the dues revenue it collects on member services, with the rest going to overhead and political activity. While the union was contributing only $1.1 million to its own members’ pension liability, the union somehow managed to funnel nearly $3 million to a full spectrum of wildly liberal candidates and causes.
Read more updates here
