;)
November 4, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Sadly, much of the news is about the Biggest Jerk & his friends. I just ignored it earlier in the day, but I guess these are things you might want to know.
Michael Bender & Haley Johnson of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is expected to announce a third White House campaign soon after the midterms, possibly as soon as the week of Nov. 14, according to people familiar with the planning. Advisors cautioned that no final decisions had been made and that the former president could change his mind on the details. The potential announcement date was first reported by Axios. Mr. Trump has been eager to launch a new campaign, in part to shield himself from a stream of investigations, including some focused on his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election."
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department hopes to reach a decision on whether to bring charges against ... Donald J. Trump before the 2024 campaign heats up, and is considering appointing a special counsel to oversee investigations of him if he runs again, according to people familiar with the situation.The department is investigating Mr. Trump's role in the efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and his retention of sensitive government documents at his residence and resort in Florida. It has made no decision in either case...." CNN's report is here.
MSNBC reported live today that Trump missed his deadline to produce records in according with a January 6 House committee subpoena.
Annie Grayer & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The House January 6 select committee is getting a window into ... Donald Trump's motorcade on the day of the US Capitol attack, interviewing on Friday the Secret Service agent who was in the lead car on January 6 and scheduling testimony from the driver of Trump's presidential vehicle as soon as next week, multiple sources tell CNN."
Tom Jackman & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes took the stand in federal court Friday in an attempt to convince a jury of Washington, D.C., residents that he committed no crime when members of his group went into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes asserted his belief -- unsupported by courts -- that the 2020 presidential election was 'unconstitutional,' because of pandemic-related changes made to voting procedures in some states. 'That made it invalid,' Rhodes said. But he also sought to downplay the Oath Keepers' desire for violence. He contrasted his group with the Proud Boys, another far-right organization, saying they 'want to go and street fight' while the Oath Keepers preferred to 'stay calm.'"
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump's longtime friend and former fundraiser, Tom Barrack, was found not guilty Friday of charges that he acted as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration and then lied to the FBI about those contacts. The jury deliberated for about two days in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, before voting to acquit Barrack, who prosecutors alleged had traded on his decades-long friendship with Trump to 'illegally provide' UAE officials with access to -- and inside information on -- the Trump White House and his 2016 presidential campaign." The Washington Post's story is here.
Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A Republican congressional candidate in North Carolina criticized his Democratic opponent's campaign on Friday for showing one of his homes in a TV ad, saying that someone had recently fired a bullet into his parent' house. The Hickory Police Department confirmed that the parents of the Republican candidate, Pat Harrigan, had reported on Oct. 19 that someone had fired a bullet that put a hole in a window in their home's laundry room the night before. No one was injured.... Mr. Harrigan's Democratic opponent, Jeff Jackson, took down the ad showing a different Harrigan residence. The ad had been running since Oct. 18, apparently the same date the bullet hole was found."
~~~~~~~~~~
Some additions between 8 & 9 am ET.
Congress, Honor Your Treaty. Simon Romero of the New York Times: "In 1835, U.S. officials traveled to the Cherokee Nation's capital in Georgia to sign a treaty forcing the Cherokees off their lands in the American South, opening them to white settlers. The Treaty of New Echota sent thousands on a death march to new lands in Oklahoma. The Cherokees were forced at gunpoint to honor the treaty. But though it stipulated that the Nation would be entitled to a nonvoting seat in the House of Representatives, Congress reneged on that part of the deal. Now, amid a growing movement across Indian Country for greater representation and sovereignty, the Cherokees are pushing to seat their delegate, 187 years later." MB: Gee, do you think Trumpy judges would rule that the Cherokees had a Second-Amendment right to force Congress "at gunpoint to honor the treaty" just as the Cherokees were forced to do? Perhaps not. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "The Canadian man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer and trying to kidnap Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been living in the United States with an expired immigration status for years, officials at the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. David DePape, 42, who the authorities say broke into the Pelosis' home in San Francisco on Friday, entered the United States legally on March 8, 2008, from Mexico through a port of entry in California, the department said. Typically, Canadian visitors who travel to the United States for work or pleasure are admitted for six months." MB: Cue the screams that the attack on Paul Pelosi was all Democrats' fault because "open borders," "illegals." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater & Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "Six days after suffering a fractured skull in a vicious attack, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been discharged from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Mr. Pelosi, 82, is resting at home, recovering from the injuries to his head, arm and hand. He spent most of his time at the hospital in the intensive care unit...."
Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Kash Patel, a loyal aide to Donald Trump and former White House deputy, faced questions before a grand jury Thursday as part of a criminal investigation into the former president's possession of classified records.... National security prosecutors asked Patel about his public claims this spring that Trump had declassified a large number of government documents before leaving office in 2021. Patel was also questioned about how and why the departing president took secret and top-secret records to Mar-a-Lago.... Investigators did not expect Patel to offer evidence implicating Trump in possible crimes, these people said. But they added that the government badly wanted his firsthand account, under oath, of any declassification decisions made by Trump."
As a private company, nobody knew very much about the great business that then-businessman Donald Trump had built but now it is being revealed by [Letitia] James and much to her chagrin. The continuing witch hunt that has haunted and targeted Donald Trump since he came down the 'golden escalator' at Trump Tower in June of 2015 continues. -- Language in a frivolous, hilarious complaint filed by Donald Trump's lawyers against New York AG Letitia James ~~~
~~~ Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "A tirade of a lawsuit that Donald J. Trump filed on Wednesday against one of his chief antagonists, the New York attorney general, was hotly opposed by several of his longstanding legal advisers, who attempted an intervention hours before it was submitted to a court. Those opposed to the suit told the Florida attorneys who drafted it that it was frivolous and would fail, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The loudest objection came from the general counsel of Mr. Trump's real estate business, who warned that the Floridians might be committing malpractice. Nonetheless, the suit was filed. It accuses Attorney General Letitia James of trespassing on Mr. Trump's right to privacy in Florida, where he lives, and seeks to halt her own civil case in New York against the former president and his company.... On Thursday, a judge granted a recent request from Ms. James to stop Mr. Trump from transferring assets and to appoint a monitor to make sure that he does not." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Law & Crime story is here. ~~~
~~~ Biggest Toddler Gets a Babysitter. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A judge Thursday granted the New York attorney general's request that ... Donald Trump's business empire be overseen by an independent monitor. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued an order after a daylong hearing, requiring that the Trump Organization's dealings with banks and sale of major assets be subject to supervision by a third-party expert to be named by the court. One provision in the order requires 14-days notice to the court before Trump can dispose of any 'non-cash asset' listed in a financial statement his firm prepared last year. The judge's order came over strenuous objections from Trump's lawyers in Manhattan earlier Thursday, where Trump's team pleaded with Engoron to reject Attorney General Tish James' bid to impose potentially far-reaching supervision of Trump's business empire as litigation proceeds over her claims that the firms engaged in vast bank and insurance fraud in real estate transactions. Engoron said in his ruling the evidence of fraudulent valuations by Trump and his businesses was 'more than sufficient' to indicate that James is likely to prevail in the lawsuit she filed in September, which is seeking strict limits on the Trump businesses' activities in New York and a ban on the former president and his three eldest children from serving as an officer of any New York corporation."
Mike Isaac & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, is throwing everything against the wall to make more money at the social media company.... Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages -- which would let users send private messages to high-profile users -- to the service.... They have also talked about adding 'paywalled' videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee.... This week, Mr. Musk moved to make money from Twitter's 'blue check' verification program, a method of making sure users are who they say they are.... To finance his Twitter deal, he loaded the company with $13 billion in debt, putting it on the hook to pay more than $1 billion annually in interest alone. But last year Twitter had less than $1 billion in cash flow.... Mr. Musk has already ordered job cuts across Twitter.... In meetings with engineers, his advisers have proposed saving from $1 million to $3 million in infrastructure costs a day...." ~~~
~~~ Bye-Bye, Birdie. Kate Conger & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "Elon Musk will begin laying off Twitter employees on Friday, according to a companywide email, culling the social media service's 7,500-person work force a little over a week after completing his blockbuster buyout. Twitter employees were notified in the email that the layoffs were set to begin, according to a copy of the message seen by The New York Times. Workers were instructed to go home and not go to the offices on Friday as the cuts proceeded. The message, which came from a generic address and was signed 'Twitter,' did not detail the total number of layoffs."
Tracey Tully & Shlomo Schorr of the New York Times: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning synagogues in New Jersey of a broad security threat after getting what it called 'credible information' about an increased level of risk.... The warning comes as incidents of antisemitic bias and violence have been on the rise across the country." ~~~
~~~ Tania Ganguli of the New York Times: "The Nets suspended guard Kyrie Irving indefinitely Thursday, calling him 'unfit to be associated' with the team because he has declined to say he has no antisemitic views in the week since he posted a link on Twitter to a film with hateful claims about Jewish people. 'Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team,' the Nets said in a statement. Irving will be suspended without pay for at least five games and 'until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct,' the team said." ~~~
~~~ Update. Oh, Look Who's Sorry Now. Ben Golliver of the Washington Post: "In a message posted to Instagram late Thursday evening, Irving finally relented and apologized 'to all Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post,' acknowledging that he had linked to a film that 'contained some false antisemitic statements, narratives and language that were untrue and offensive.'" MB: And we're sure that's one sincere apology.
November Elections
Rachel Leingang of the Guardian: "... the Arizona secretary of state has received more than a dozen complaints from voters about intimidation from drop box watchers, many of which have been forwarded to the US Department of Justice and the Arizona attorney general as of late October, as well as a threat sent to the secretary of state herself. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on 1 November to limit the watchers' activities.... Though Arizona has become a hotbed for these tactics, it is also a sign of the mounting national threats to security that voters are facing as the 8 November elections near -- part of an orchestrated countrywide strategy pushed by rightwing groups who believe baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 presidential election was rife with fraud and irregularities.... In Michigan, a local offshoot of a group called the America Project is training volunteers to set up hidden cameras to monitor drop boxes and to carry guns in case they encounter criminals while watching the boxes, the Detroit Free Press reported.... A pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, told PennLive he had seen increased traffic in his community, where trucks with Maga flags drive through regularly, which he sees as an attempt to intimidate the largely Black community." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course it's intimidating to have masked gunmen dressed in camo & bulletproof vests taking pictures of you & IDing you by snapping photos of your license plate. Add to that that you know these masked gunmen are stark-staring crazy & believe you're a criminal trying to steal the election from Kari Lake .
Pennsylvania Senate. Oprah Tries to Atone, Backs Fetterman. Dan Merica of CNN: "The woman who helped turn Mehmet Oz into a household name is backing the Republican's opponent in Pennsylvania's key Senate race. Television icon Oprah Winfrey announced on Thursday night that she prefers Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman over Oz in the midterm election contest. 'If I lived in Pennsylvania, I would've already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons,' Winfrey said during a conversation she hosted on voting. Oz rose to national fame as a regular guest on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and later when Winfrey backed his own spin off, 'The Dr. Oz Show.'"
Wisconsin Fake Voter Fraud. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Milwaukee's mayor fired a top elections official after learning she had sent military ballots under fictitious names to a state lawmaker who has questioned how elections are run in Wisconsin, the mayor said Thursday. Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D) announced he had fired Kimberly Zapata, the deputy elections director for the city, after discovering she had sent the ballots in an apparent attempt to show committing such a crime was possible.... State Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R) -- the chairwoman of the Wisconsin State Assembly's elections committee... -- announced Monday she had received three military ballots under what appeared to be fake names at her home. Brandtjen turned the ballots over to the Waukesha County sheriff's office and disclosed what happened in a news release.... Zapata used the state's online portal for ordering absentee ballots that is available to anyone and did not use any systems that are available only to election workers, said Claire Woodall-Vogg, Milwaukee's elections director."
Beyond the Beltway
Oregon. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "The mayor of a small Oregon town has been charged with attempted murder after he opened fire at a moving car with two children in it, police said. The alleged road rage incident happened about 9 p.m. Monday when Dowen Jones, the mayor of Rufus, Ore., abruptly pulled over along a highway, raising another driver's concerns, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. When the driver, who had slowed down to get a description of Jones's SUV, passed the pulled-over vehicle, a man stepped out of the passenger side and 'fired multiple rounds from a handgun' at the other vehicle, police said.... [Jones] remains at the Northern Oregon Corrections facility on $100,000 bail as of Thursday, jail records show." "He's a good man," the Rufus town council president said. MB: Apparently not.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live briefings for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "Russia's military command has already withdrawn [from in & around Kherson] to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, 'leaving demoralized and leaderless men to face the Ukrainian assaults,' Western officials told reporters.... A Russian-installed official in Kherson ... said Moscow would 'likely' pull its troops from the west bank of the Dnieper River to the eastern bank -- even as Ukrainian officials warned that Russian troops could be setting up a trap by signaling a retreat, as an element of uncertainty about Moscow's precise plans remains.... Top diplomats from the world's major industrialized economies, among them the United States, have agreed to combine efforts to pay to repair and defend Ukraine's critical infrastructure, including water and energy, at a meeting in Germany on Friday, a senior State Department official told The Washington Post.... President Volodymyr Zelensky said some 4.5 million people across [Ukraine] were without power as he accused Russia of carrying out 'energy terror.'"
Marc Santora & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "With Russian and Ukrainian forces apparently girding to battle for the city of Kherson, signs of Kremlin rule are disappearing from the city's streets while the remaining residents, unsure what to believe and afraid of what comes next, are stocking up on food and fuel to survive combat. Russian soldiers, patrols and checkpoints have suddenly become extremely scarce in the city center, according to residents reached by phone on Thursday, and most civilians have left. The Russian tricolor flag, raised over government offices after Moscow's forces captured Kherson in February, was missing on Thursday from the main regional administrative building and other sites.... Kremlin-appointed administrators have relocated to a site 50 miles away -- after looting anything of value they could take, residents and Ukrainian officials said." ~~~
~~~ Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian officials have signaled that an assault on Kherson city -- the only regional capital that Russia has managed to capture since its invasion began Feb. 24 -- could be imminent. President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainians to 'expect good news' from the region, and another top official recently said he expects to retake the city by the end of the year. Russia, however, has shown no indication that it is willing to give up the city, or the broader Kherson region, which carries enormous strategic and political importance for the Kremlin.... The Kherson region forms the last crucial component of the 'land bridge' from mainland Russia to Crimea that Putin has coveted ever since Moscow invaded the peninsula and annexed it illegally in 2014."
James McKinley, et al., of the New York Times: "U.S. officials met with the jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday for the first time since a Russian court rejected her appeal on a drug-possession conviction, and the White House said she was doing 'as well as can be expected.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
China. Eh, Wherever. Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "On Friday, a 23-ton center Chinese rocket stage tumbled back to Earth in the Pacific Ocean, the United States Space Command reported in a tweet on Friday morning.... That was a large piece of the Long March 5B rocket that launched a third and final module to complete its Tiangong space station. And once again, that created some nervous sky-watching around the world as China's rocket designers left it to chance where exactly the rocket stage would re-enter, scattering tons of metal pieces across the surface."
Israel. Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: With the concession of PM Yair Lapid "on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu cemented his return to the prime minister's post that he has held for longer than any other Israeli leader. With years of political instability and repeated elections seemingly resolved at last, the question ahead for Israel was how Mr. Netanyahu and his political partners on the far right would wield their new power." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Pakistan. Salman Massod & Christina Goldbaum of the New York Times: "Former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was wounded at a rally on Thursday after at least one unidentified man opened fire on his convoy, in what aides have called a targeted attack. The attack, one of the most serious outbreaks of political violence targeting a prominent government official since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, hit while Mr. Khan was in Wazirabad, in eastern Pakistan, leading a protest march to the capital, Islamabad. Mr. Khan, 70, sustained bullet wounds in both legs and was moved to Lahore for treatment, officials said.... Seven people including Mr. Khan were injured in the attack and one person died, according to Waqas Nazeer, the spokesman for the Punjab Police. One suspect has been detained, he added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
CNBC: "Job growth was stronger than expected in October despite Federal Reserve interest rate increases aimed at slowing what is still a strong labor market. Nonfarm payrolls grew by 261,000 for the month while the unemployment rate moved higher to 3.7%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Those payroll numbers were better than the Dow Jones estimate for 205,000 more jobs, but worse than the 3.5% estimate for the unemployment rate. Average hourly earnings grew 4.7% from a year ago and 0.4% for the month, indicating that wage growth is still likely to pressure inflation."
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Reader Comments (21)
Waaaahhhh….witch hunt! Mean ol’ black lady who should respect her betters (because you know how much this must piss him off) is hounding that wonderful Donald Trump, who is still really president!
Well, boys, back when the Decider and Darth Cheney were illegally spying on and investigating Americans, we were all told by Republicans to shut our mouths. If we weren’t into any funny business, we had nothing to worry about.
Can a career criminal, con man, fraudster, liar, and traitor like Trump say the same?
Why we can’t have nice things…
I’ve never been much of a Twitter user. I read the occasional tweet but that’s about it. When it started, in 2006, a few of my higher order geeky friends jumped on it right away. One of them described it as an instant bulletin board. Back then it was pretty much a basic SMS (short messaging system) app. Twitter went live in the summer of 2006. Early messages were things like “Going out to walk the dog” or “Have you guys seen ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’?”.
400,000 messages were sent in the last Q of 2007. The next year that went up to 100 million tweets per Q. By 2010 Twitter logged 50 million tweets per day. A year later it was up to 140 million/day.
It was a platform for the little guy. Anyone could voice their opinion about issues large and small. In 2010, the Arab Spring found Twitter to be an essential tool for protesters to bypass authoritarian systems. Users could share information, plan rallies, and fly under the radar of state security forces.
But then the authoritarians found out they could use Twitter to spread disinformation. So too bigots, racists, antisemites. And Donald Trump.
A week ago, this SMS app, once a source of bottom up messaging by little guys, was bought by the richest big guy in the world, Mr. Moneybags (I keep waiting for someone to photoshop Musk as that mustachioed guy with the top hat in Monopoly).
But isn’t this how capitalism works? Great ideas don’t stay a secret for long. Everyone wants a piece of the action. The internet itself started as a government (DoD) project, ARPANET. Now look at it. I’m not suggesting it’s all bad. It’s not. Look at this site. It’s just that change is inevitable. And often that change brings with it some nasty outcomes.
So now, it belongs to Mr. Moneybags. It’s his newest toy. And he wants “free speech” to trump “wokeness”. In other words, bring back Trump, Ye, the bigots, racists, antisemites, and authoritarians, cuz who is less woke than those fuckers?
But here’s where that whole capitalism thing does some ass biting.
So here you are, Ms. CEO. Unless you sell pillows you made in your garage, you probably don’t want your product ad showing up next to a rant suggesting that Jews should all be killed, right? But Mr. Moneybags has spent a packet on his new toy and he’s gotta make that money back. Twitter hauls in about $5B a year in ad revenue, but a number of big corporations have already suspended advertising on Mr. Musk’s Free Speech for Bigots site. Oops!
Last year, Twitter, despite that revenue of $5 bill, posted losses of $220 million. Once you start losing advertisers, that gap widens. What to do? Hey! We can gouge users. Make them pay for what amounts to nothing at all.
Then…fire a shitload of people. Just like Fatty did when he took over the guv’mint. And we saw how well that worked. Once you start shoving people out the door, people who know how the place works and know how to keep it running, and try to replace 100 experienced employees with five flunkies, well, it’s time for “Paging Mr. Yeats…things fall apart, the center cannot hold”.
Why we can’t have nice things.
AK: Congratulations! You have described the Tweety turmoil to a T. I have never tweeted and don't intend to unless I join a group of discouraged discontents who plan to capture that guy who is in love with his own musk and do him in––which is not likely. And yes, "things"––-and there are so many––are falling apart and we'll have to wait a spell before we can say for sure that the center cannot hold––but what we can be sure of is right now it feels pretty wobbly.
Akhilleus,
There are necessities and there's stuff no one needs, and the success of American capitalism has long depended on selling a lot of the latter.
Granted the line between the two is sometimes a bit blurry, but the advertising behemoth deliberately blurs it ever further.
Still, at base our version of capitalism depends on a population eager to produce (or import), sell and buy stuff of no earthly or heavenly use.
Hence the proliferation of overweight Americans who have so much stuff they have to build and rent storage space for all the junk that won't fit into their houses...
Gullers (and good ole American capitalism) have always needed gulls, and America has gulls aplenty.
Guess we'd much rather have so much unnecessary stuff we have to stuff it into little spaces far from our homes than have health insurance or a reasonable retirement income for everyone.
Small consolation, but Frazz has lately had some amusing thoughts on how silly we and our purchasing habits are.
Today's:
https://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2022/11/04
George Carlin on "your stuff"~~~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
@PD: My problem with 'stuff' started about 20 years ago when a
neighbor we gardened for occasionally moved to Mexico. He had
lots of stuff and gave me furniture I actually didn't need. But now
it seems very useful and we made room for everything, mostly.
This has continued through the years.
Two years ago, close friends moved to Houston for work. We now
have 3 shop vacs, 4 leaf blowers and three truckloads (pickup truck)
of other stuff in the basement and a library overflowing with books.
So it's not my fault. It would be impolite to say "I don't want your
stuff" dontcha think?
P.S. When the CEO of the Shedd Aquarium and his wife had a summer cottage here, we did their landscaping and became good
friends. When they decided to move to Florida and sell their cottage,
the wife gave me a carload of dress shirts, sweaters, jackets, etc.
that he wouldn't need. Before the house sold, she died of lung cancer
and had made him promise to find another wife ASAP to take care
of him.
He did just that and the new wife didn't like any of the stuff that was
associated with the former wife, so, more stuff we couldn't refuse
because it would be impolite.
I'm practicing on learning to say no and refer any in the future to
someplace like Goodwill.
Forrest: you just became even more interesting with your notes today-- sorry I don't live near y'all next to a lovely lake in Michigan...
Have been avoiding all politics today-- just bad for my health. I did read a story on HuffPo about the circus that came to town last weekend, courtesy of Michael Flynn, assorted nutbrains and religious kooks, the pillow guy, a psychic targeting a lot of people with death, Asstriano the crazed bald guy running for governor, Eric Trump, and a church near Elizabethtown that provides security for Baldy and also is stuffed with people in some orbit not known to us. Here it is-- I don't know how to make it a link-- sorry--
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doug-mastriano-prophets-christian-nationalism-great-reawakening-pennsylvania_n_6364050ae4b05f221e77b47a
I am afraid one of those Christian nationalists, already having gotten on to our school board, is going to dump our only Dem on the lege, who is not a great legislator but isn't an R, and has been there 30 years trying to make a name for himself...ha! Anyhow, I am not listening to polls at this point, so if I am sounding stupid, it is because this is all driving me insane. We are fighting a rising tide, not to sound all climate-y; in our state, the people controlling EVERYTHING that is acted upon by the country's largest full-time con group, the lege, is decided by committee chairs. They don't work, the lege, and they get themselves raises, perks, and no legislation they don't approve. Nothing is ever passed that the people really want, like property tax reform and other things needed for the last 40 years. It's all Rs, of course. Including all committee chairs that set the legislation. Without a D governor, we are doomed.
I have had to look hard to find good news these past several weeks (a federal judge nixing the merger between Penguin-Random House and Simon & Schuster qualifies), but I did get a giggle out of the bit Marie posted of the former guy's latest lawsuit. The first sentence contains a classic grammatical error--an opening phrase intended to modify the subject of the sentence that follows. In this case, the subject is "nobody" and the modifying phrase is "As a private company." So, the former guy's "great" private company is "nobody." Seems accurate.
Elizabeth,
Good pick. Does it surprise you that a barely literate jamoke who claims to have “the best words” employs hack lawyers of questionable grammatical abilities?
The grammatical error I’m praying for, regarding the Orange Monster, is a run-on sentence. A prison sentence that runs on for years. And it won’t be a mistake.
@Forrest: Maybe more important than knowing how to decline stuff is knowing how to give it away -- or not. When I moved out of my big house (a "mansion," according to the huge cleaning bill I got) in Florida, I had accumulated more stuff than I would be able to house again. As I figured out things I probably wouldn't want to take with me, I tried to think of friends who might be able to use each of them rather than trying to foist a boatload of things onto any one person. Then, to increase the chances the person would take whatever it was, instead of asking them to think about this & that, I would tell them -- truthfully -- "The guys are going to load this big ole gen-u-wine oriental rug into my van to take to GoodWill this afternoon. Can you come over & look at it & see if you think you want it? It won't hurt my feelings one bit if you don't. But it's a nice, valuable rug & might look good in your house." And be sure you mean that bit about not hurting your feelings; it's no skin off your nose if your friend doesn't want the same thing you don't want. Nine times out of ten, I found good homes for my unwanted but decent stuff. So, in my mind, the people who offloaded all that stuff on you were kind of mean.
As for accepting free stuff, the next time somebody offers you a bunch of things you don't need, want or have a place for, thank them for their offer, say you can use that set of socket wrenches, but you just don't have a good use for the rest of the stuff and it would be wrong for you to accept it. It's easy. Really. And somebody, somewhere is going to want that adorable, primary-colored garden gnome showing off his butt-cheeks.
That will be 5 cents, please.
@Marie: Muchas gracias for the advice. I'm going to try and follow
it.
And it was a cement toadstool with a gnome sitting under it.
The check is in the mail. (Ha).
Toadstools and gnomes beat the stuff you’re liable to see down here in Trump country. The other day, waking Rocket, I went by a house with one of those black lawn jockey statues out front. And this is a new acquisition because we walk by that house three days a week.
If Reagan made it safe to be racist, Trump made it cool. At least for white supremacist types. These people don’t have Trump and MAGA signs in their yard like other houses, but they don’t need it. Shit like this makes it 100% obvious who they voted for (and will again in 2024).
And once all these election deniers get put into positions of power, it won’t matter if Fatty gets 50 million fewer votes, he’ll be declared winner by a landslide. Lawn jockeys for everyone.
If someone is cleaning out their house and wants to give you some used democracy, grab it.
My family giveaway problem is going to be finding someone willing to accept the beer stein collection I've amassed over all the years. Everything from 1.5 liter to .25 liter.
@Bibby Lee: Try 40 Royal Worcester egg coddlers in varying sizes
when most people have no idea what they are
@Bobby Lee: Sorry about that. My fingers aren't working too well today.
Leaving the political scene for a minute or more–––we need to do this for our own sanity–-I want to respond to Forest's gatherings from various and sundry. Because of close relationships with many who moved away we were given beautiful pieces of their once prize possessions. I love that we have these pieces to remind us of their friendship. The one I cherish most is a round wood coffee table given to me by my first boyfriend when I was a freshman in high school. As we moved on to other people we remained the closest of friends for about 40 years. That table belonged to his parents who brought it to the states from England. It has been with me in the nine homes I've lived in since. This table's history is in part the story of a life and in a sense it represents a continuum of many lives––and I cherish it.
But-–––"stuff" is another matter and getting rid of it before one kicks the can is essential. We can't expect our children or others to despose of it.
And I can't resist: If that fucking freak thinks he can run again and get elected then we are dealing with a monster/mobster who actually believes he is immune to justice of any kind. Should I add––-by the grace of God?
Forrest: I love those egg coddlers! Can I have ‘em? I’ll trade you my 27 teapots…🤩
A primer on corporate vultures:
https://slate.com/business/2022/11/albertsons-kroger-apollo-cerberus-private-equity.html
Raiding's effect on inflation contained therein. It's not minor.
BTW, Bob Ferguson is one of my heroes.
My coddlers are by Coalport, with Paddington Bear illustrations.
I’m guessing that the Fat Fascist is announcing another attempt to steal a presidential election for several reasons, but a big one is likely that he believes once he does, Merrick Garland will forget about any further investigations and indictments. Sadly, he may be right. Garland won’t want to look like he’s going after Trump for political purposes. Christ. Why did he wait so long to do this?