Distribution of Meme Users

Fundamentally, no meme is an island. "A text that just spreads well, and a lot of people see it, is not a meme," says Shifman. "It's viral. But if a lot of people create their own versions then it becomes a group of texts and then it's a meme."

How was it possible that live, lethal rounds had gotten into the mix with the blanks that traditionally make movie gunfire and the inert dummy rounds that play the role of bullets on screen, then into the revolver that Baldwin, in character, was pointing at Hutchins?

With the trial ended in its infancy, it is difficult to say whether the case made by Baldwin’s elite and expensive team of lawyers would have shed light on the live rounds question or would have muddied it further.

Baldwin’s lawyers tried to suggest that authorities had under-investigated Kenney and had an overly cozy relationship with him, and they had looked away from his possible responsibility for the live ammunition because Gutierrez-Reed could be tied directly to Baldwin. The defense didn’t get to provide the thorough version of this theory because the trial ended so quickly.

“He was an actor, acting,” Spiro said.Spiro argued that Baldwin could not be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter because prop guns are almost never loaded with live ammunition. He told jurors that actors typically shoot blanks out of real guns — and that his client was simply following film industry norms.

Sommer’s decision dealt a blow to a key plank of the prosecutors’ strategy. They had planned to argue that Baldwin’s role as co-producer invested him with special responsibility on the set — including on Oct. 21, 2021, the day Hutchins was shot inside a church set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe County.

The day before the trial officially got underway, Sommer ruled that Baldwin’s role as a co-producer of “Rust” was not relevant to his involuntary manslaughter trial.

Spiro and Baldwin’s other attorneys pounced on this revelation, arguing that prosecutors had concealed evidence of ammunition that may have been linked to the fatal shooting. The defense lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing in part that they should have had the ability to determine for themselves whether the ammunition brought in by Teske was important.

Baldwin, who was holding the revolver at the time, pleaded not guilty in the case and said he believed the weapon was loaded with blanks, not live rounds.

But how exactly did the prosecution’s case come apart — and so quickly?

The charges were dropped last year and brought again earlier this year due to evidentiary issues, and a gun enhancement that could have led to a multiyear sentence was tossed out last year after Baldwin’s lawyers argued the law creating the gun enhancement wasn’t in effect at the time of the shooting.

Discussion around how live ammunition made it onto the “Rust” set was a large point of contention in the lead-up to Baldwin’s trial and the trial of the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Baldwin has also claimed in the past he didn’t pull the trigger, and has argued he wasn’t the primary person responsible for on-set safety.

Gun enhancement charges initially filed in the case against Gutierrez and Baldwin were ultimately dropped last year.

The lead investigator with the sheriff's office, Alexandria Hancock, testified Friday that the ammunition in question was not similar in appearance to the live rounds found on the "Rust" set but admitted they appeared "similar" to the dummy rounds used on set.

She said the rounds Teske provided were placed in a separate case file as they did not match those collected on the set, which were sent for FBI testing.But when defense lawyers inspected them, they found some had brass casings with the “Starline Brass” logo, just like the live rounds found on the set of "Rust." Others looked like inert dummy rounds taken into evidence on the set.

Meanwhile, prosecutors argued Baldwin handled the gun irresponsibly, exhibited "bullyish behavior on set" and changed his story to cast blame on others.

In their filing, defense attorneys argued "The State affirmatively concealed evidence potentially pointing to an external source of the live ammunition (Seth Kenney) because the evidence would be favorable to Baldwin."

On Friday, Baldwin's lawyers said the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office was in possession of live rounds they argued might be connected to the one that killed Hutchins but failed to list them as evidence in the "Rust" investigation file or disclose their existence to defense lawyers.On Thursday, testimony revealed Troy Teske, a friend of "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather, had delivered Colt .45 live rounds to the sheriff's office on March 6. Baldwin's team claimed this was evidence that could have established a connection to Seth Kenney, the prop supplier for "Rust."

Baldwin's lawyers alleged in their filing that Santa Fe sheriffs and state prosecutors "concealed from Baldwin" evidence that could be linked to the source of the bullet that killed Hutchins. Prosecutors and sheriffs argued the evidence had no relevance or value to Baldwin's case.

breaks down in tears

"This case unraveled spectacularly fast, allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, misconduct by the state, and Alec Baldwin is going to be a man unburdened by these charges," Day said. "It's an incredible development."

The involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin have been dismissed. Those charges were dismissed with prejudice.

However, Cpl. Alexandria Hancock, the lead investigator on the case, testified under questioning from the judge the rounds looked “similar” to the dummy rounds on the set of “Rust.” She said she attempted to reach Teske for a further interview, but he did not return her calls.

The witness, judge, and attorneys all donned blue gloves and gathered around a table in the center of the courtroom, where the envelope holding the rounds was unsealed and examined by the judge to determine whether it matches the rounds recovered from the film set. The courtroom was silent and thick with tension as the judge compared the rounds.

The evidence issue first came to light on Thursday. In court, a crime scene technician testified that a man had delivered a box of ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March after the conviction of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The man, Troy Teske, a retired police officer and friend of the armorer’s father, told investigators he believed the ammunition could be associated with the “Rust” incident, crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified. However, the technician testified the items were catalogued separately from Baldwin’s case and were not included in the “Rust” case inventory or tested to see if they matched the lethal round.

The case unraveled in real time on Friday afternoon and culminated with a bizarre scene in which special prosecutor Kari Morrissey agreed to take the stand as a witness and answer sharp questions under oath from defense attorney Alex Spiro.

In March, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for “Rust,” was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin was practicing a “cross draw” – pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand – with a prop gun when it fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

The involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed in dramatic fashion on Friday after the judge overseeing the case ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defense. Baldwin’s attorneys had filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing state investigators did not properly share with the defense that a man had delivered a box of ammunition purportedly connected to the case to investigators.

The decision came after a chaotic hearing Friday just a few days into Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial related to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on the New Mexico set of the Western film “Rust.” Baldwin had pleaded not guilty and could have faced up to 18 months in prison.

Morrissey described Teske as “a good friend” of Gutierrez’s stepfather Thell Reed, a longtime Hollywood armorer and sharpshooter.

The lead bullets found on the “Rust” set were housed in Starline Brass casings,

Earlier this week, prosecutors were dealt a setback when the judge ruled that the jury could not consider Baldwin’s role as a producer on “Rust.”

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office received the evidence in question three months ago, but it was never turned over to Baldwin’s defense team, Nikas said.

During the Santa Fe trial, the actor’s lawyers had sought to shift focus away from whether he pulled his gun’s trigger in the accidental shooting that killed a cinematographer on the set of the movie “Rust” and onto another key question: Where did the lethal bullet come from?

“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Marlowe Sommer said.

The involuntary manslaughter case against “Rust” star Alec Baldwin was dismissed by a judge Friday after the actor’s defense attorneys raised new questions over how New Mexico law enforcement officers and prosecutors handled evidence.

Spiro and Baldwin’s other attorneys pounced on this revelation, arguing that prosecutors had concealed evidence

Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.

The wrenching imagery underlined the surprise of the shooting, which sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and beyond.

“He was an actor, acting,” Spiro said.

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins,

In a scene befitting a Hollywood legal thriller, Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to an abrupt and stunning end

studio never wants to stop climbing

elevate the franchise

reunite with franchise director and producer Chad Stahelski, plus producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee.

set to murder at the box office

Keanu Reeves

Make a Killing

It is long past time to end the ruse of "listener supported" NPR. It is "taxpayer supported" NPR, and that ought to end. If NPR is still getting even a dime from the budget after the reconciliation process, the House and Senate GOP was never serious to begin with.

I don’t believe that. She claimed an audience of 43,000,000. That’s a huge audience. I’m not part of that audience and I shouldn’t subsidize it. Most likely readers of this column don’t want to do so either. Ms. Maher made her case —I played her opening statement on my radio show— and she didn’t persuade me.

If NPR can’t stand on its own feet in the marketplace of ideas, it ought to fade away. I don’t think it will, but most of America is very tired of paying for the hobbies of the left, especially the radical left.

The country is $36 trillion in debt.

You see, NPR is simply radio with funding from the government and enthusiasts. Bravo to the enthusiasts. But it’s time to end the federal subsidy.

NPR fails to make its case

That is fine. Beg away. NPR also has corporate sponsors, which are advertisers but with a tonier name. And that’s fine too.

Now NPR is also "member supported," which means listeners send in dollars.

See how that works? Pretty neat.

Much of it comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting…which receives most of its funding from Congress

taxpayers put money into NPR

I don’t think you could find 10% of its staff that support President Trump. I don’t think you could find 5%. I suppose it is possible there is a closet Trump supporter around NPR somewhere, but let’s be candid. It’s an ideological machine that has a mission to make America think like it does.

NPR is hard left

NPR is simply biased in a way that cannot be remedied.

problem of deeply biased story selection and coverage.

A good dodge, that, but not responsive

Ms. Maher did not recall some of the posts. In response to other posts she replied that her views had changed. In response to particularly risible takes on the news stories from NPR in years past, Ms. Maher’s response was a simple "That was before I was CEO."

posting some very outrageous takes that members of the subcommittee had fun reading to her.

It did not go well for Ms. Maher, and not just because she is the CEO of a left-wing outlet.

The festival accepted proposal requests for cities, assessing each location's infrastructure, ethos and equity values, event-hosting capabilities and ability to support the festival as it grows.

Cincinnati was named one of three finalists to host the city in September.

According to an announcement from Film Cincinnati CEO Kristen Schlotman on Thursday, the festival did not choose Cincinnati.

Verstappen admits Chinese GP weekend poses ‘a lot of unknowns’ as he assesses whether Red Bull can challenge McLaren

Verstappen

Verstappen suggested that “a lot of different areas” have to come together in order for Red Bull to “unlock a little bit more pace”,

Verstappen commented

“[There are] a lot of unknowns, I would say,” Verstappen explained during media day on Thursday. “Of course, this is quite a different layout and we have different, new tarmac here now.