HEADLINES: 2024

  • US·Associated Press Finance

    Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg will be sentenced for perjury and faces a second stint in jail

    Allen Weisselberg, a former longtime executive in Donald Trump’s real estate empire, is set to be sentenced Wednesday for lying under oath in the ex-president’s New York civil fraud case. Weisselberg, 76, is expected to be sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty last month to two counts of perjury. The ex-chief financial officer admitted lying when he testified he had little knowledge of how Trump’s Manhattan penthouse came to be valued on his financial statements ... https://news.yahoo.com/


 
From that article

Prosecutors promised not to prosecute Weisselberg for other crimes he might have committed in connection with his Trump Organization employment.

That's very much a get out of jail free card - after all, if (when?) they discover other wrongdoings that means he's completely off the hook.
 
Prosecutors promised not to prosecute Weisselberg for other crimes ...

"That's very much a get out of jail free card - after all, if (when?) they discover other wrongdoings that means he's completely off the hook." S2 #82
I haven't read the fine print, but I've wondered whether it's a component of "prosecutors" trying to pump Weisselberg for details on Trump's crime spree.

Trump seems to have a talent for turning associates into enemies, VP Mike Pence comes to mind. If that, Weisselberg might sing like a canary if he's prosecution-proof.

Either that or the prosecutors are idiots, & gave away the store with nothing to show for it, as #82 suggests. Such incompetence at this level of government barely rates a headline.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Cards on table : >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I gather (hope) what the Dems. are up to:
They'll string Trump along as the GOP presidential challenger for the 2024 election,
and then after the deadline to replace Trump, they'll take Trump out, either by incarceration, or some similar.
Result: one of the least popular in presidential re-election campaign history (Biden) retakes the office in a leisurely stroll, or in Biden's case a geriatric shuffle.
 
D6xPCS3W4AAKXgf.jpg:large
#79

CNN It’s jarring to think that Arizonans today – thanks to a new state Supreme Court ruling – will soon be living under an abortion law from when Arizona was a frontier territory and that predates the light bulb and antibiotics.


"... predates the light bulb", "antibiotics", and women's right to vote (& subsequently, a half-century of right of choice). - But -

Out of curiosity:
Since the U.S. Founding there's been a standard in U.S. law known as "doctor / patient privilege".

Gertrude the gregarious could stumble into the OB/GYN clinic appearing to smuggle a volleyball. BUT !!

Isn't what she discusses w/ the doctor "protected speech"?
Isn't any procedure the pregnant patient undergoes beyond the intrusive leering of government on that basis?

How could this new / old Arizona law possibly be enforced, if any evidence would be inadmissible?

Arizona Republicans want to revert to the 1800's. Enjoy yourselves. Don't forget to water your horse.
Let us know when you want back into the new millennium.
 
"Millions of people use apps to help track their menstrual cycles." #85

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1097482967/roe-v-wade-supreme-court-abortion-period-apps
Switch to Yamaha?
"Flo, which bills itself as the most popular period and cycle tracking app" #85

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1097482967/roe-v-wade-supreme-court-abortion-period-apps
"Flo" ! :eek:

note:
A few years ago I bought a wristwatch style device for tracking cardiovascular exercise progress.
After purchase I learned the software ONLY works by uploading my personal medical information to the Internet. So I never used the device (and should have returned it).

I'm not denying the meddlesome role Republicans are intruding here. That's a problem for the ballot box (or the courtroom). BUT !!
There's an obvious technological solution.
- Either an app. that keeps strictly confidential all details the app user designates, or
- a stand-alone device (akin to a calculator) that fulfills the function without possibility of inadvertent electronic disclosure / betrayal.

I occasionally use a "Pulse Oximeter", clamps to a fingertip, & in a few seconds discloses only to the user:
- Oxygen %
- Pulse Rate
- Pulse Strength in bars (a cell-phone gets a max. of 5 bars, my finger gets 6 !)
To my knowledge this simple $20 device is fully Wi-Fi incapable. excellent
 
I have a Fitbit and except for a little basic info (height, weight, etc) I've never had to provide any real medical info.
 
"Fitbit" #87
That may be the swindle I fell for.
They seem to want me to upload my cardiogram to the solar-system.

And the benefit that accrues to me for this global insecurity is ... ?
Why not just put it on MY computer screen?
 
Superficial notice of Trump's positions might suggest Trump has an illogical, or even ignorant mind.
The reason logical observation can arrive at that erroneous conclusion is it presumes logic.

But Trump's position here, arrived at only after days of analysis and composition,
is based not on the logic of women's rights, but on the motive of attracting electoral support.

Thus Trump has chosen a position that won't cost him much with his base,
yet might help attract a few former fence-sitters.

Superficially illogical perhaps. But Trump knows what he's doing.
And winning the election is a higher Trump priority than the right & wrong of the usurpation of women's right of choice.
 
My inner sear says
226257849260d12d94e74cc99e45670d6db2725.gif


At superficial glance:
- Republicans have savaged our federal apparatus, legislating from the bench to usurp a Constitutional right recognized for half a century
- thereby discriminating against the majority, females.
- They've done so conspicuously if not proudly, but only after discovering the authoritarian usurpation of a fundamental right is not wildly popular in the United States have they straddled. They want credit, if any can be found, but attempt to dodge the consequence with a political hot potato toss.

Females are a majority. The inner sear shrug above is not an expression of indifference, but a confession of bafflement. Why has the GOP not already been burned to the ground on this issue?
They / we are going to wait until November, and then ... ?
CNN FOX MSNBC bar graph #91
That's a vivid graphic revelation about how it is FOX maintains & retains its horde of innocent / misinformed / disinformed angry.
And while the perverse market share incentive is obvious, the potential consequence is Constitutionally cataclysmic. FOX may be doing the heavy lifting in seeing to it our Constitutional republic ends within a day or two of the next presidential inauguration.

note:
We know we are in grave danger when simply objectively stating the facts bears strong resemblance to hysterical, irrational hyperbole, if not outright delusion.
 
Fundamental to Soviet, or Chinese authoritarianism is central planning, the politburo.
The Soviet's was so incompetent they engineered their own demise.

China's politburo is far more agile, and therefore more sinister.
The issue of this post:
China's military has recently been escalating military aggressions against U.S. allies in the region, the Philippines for example.

Will China draw the U.S. into War?

AFP

Biden vows 'ironclad' defense of Philippines, Japan as China tensions mount​

Danny KEMP / Thu, April 11, 2024 at 10:48 PM EDT
US President Joe Biden heads to a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) and Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (L) at the White House on April 11, 2024 (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

President Joe Biden made "ironclad" defense pledges to Japan and the Philippines on Thursday as he hosted his counterparts amid growing tensions with Beijing, whose actions the three leaders described as "dangerous and aggressive."
Biden cemented the United States' security commitments in the South China Sea, as repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels have stoked fears of wider conflict.
"Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty," Biden said as he met Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House.

An increasingly assertive China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines.
The tensions, combined with saber rattling over China's claims to the self-governing island of Taiwan, have prompted Biden to boost alliances in the region.
- 'Dangerous and aggressive' -

 
I'm not sure I'd label him the "architect" of the healthcare crisis. Although he didn't exactly help the problems have been brewing for a very long time.

But don't worry - if he's reelected you can expect him to roll out the bestest plan the US has ever seen. Two weeks after his inauguration.
 
Shades of Baltimore

More than two dozen river barges broke loose from their moorings and floated down the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, striking one bridge that had already been preemptively closed and damaging a marina, officials said. The boats eventually were pinned to the riverbank or went over a dam downstream, officials said.
 
"Donald Trump is the architect of this healthcare crisis." VP Kamala Harris #89
"I'm not sure I'd label him the "architect" of the healthcare crisis." S2 #95
I'm not sure you're the prettiest VP in a quarter millennium of American history.

What came to mind when I saw the brief Kam Hare vid clip: the Biden team lags in the polls.
Biden has his executive distractions with Israel / Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, etc.

So VP Harris is trying to strengthen Biden in the race.
AND I'm not sure Roe would have been reversed if Trump hadn't appointed 3 of 9 SCOTUS justices, helping to compose the slim majority in Dobbs.

Shades of Baltimore
"More than two dozen river barges broke loose from their moorings and floated down the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, striking one bridge that had already been preemptively closed and damaging a marina, officials said. The boats eventually were pinned to the riverbank or went over a dam downstream, officials said." S2
"Dam"!?
Shore!
Life's a beach! Don't gravel.


"BARGE IN"
Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats.
These were hard to control an d would sometimes swing into piers or other boats.
They were said to "barge in".
 
No idea what, if anything, this means

zKp0tXH.jpeg


Justice Thomas absent without explanation this morning. It could be nothing, but it could have widespread implications given the current political climate. Given hat Republicans have blocked SC nominees of Democratic Presidents in recent elections years, if this is anything other than a fluke, it could complicate an already tumultuous election cycle.

 
"No idea what, if anything, this means" S2 #98
But,
we can hope.


The Daily Beast

George Santos Explains Why He’s Raised $0 for Return Congressional Bid​

Reese Gorman / Mon, April 15, 2024 at 2:45 PM EDT
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) reported raising a stunning zero dollars in the first quarter of the year as he attempts to run against his nemesis, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY)—and explained away the goose egg as an intentional decision to stop people from thinking he’s a grifter.


:)
 
Back
Top