Sande

Friday, April 26, 2024

Mickey

“During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.” — Mickey Mantle

Calm

Paul Klee 1879 - 1940 - 'Calm Sea'

'Love'

Have An Excellent Friday

"Flying under the south pole of Jupiter, taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft"

BBC News - China’s Xi Jinping Meets US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken

Rachel Maddow - Murder, Coup, Bribery - Trump Team Stands By Extreme Hypotheticals In Supreme Court Immunity Case

Lawrence O'Donnell - Supreme Court Justices Can Protect The Constitution Or Trump

Brian Tyler Cohen - Bombshell Update At US Supreme Court

Meidas Touch - Fed Up Navy Vet Done With MAGA Sellouts

John Flannery - April 25, 2024

Those students on Thursday showed little appetite for folding up their tents and signs as the academic year comes to a close. In some places, the police action drew recruits to their cause.

Asia

Washington Post: Asia’s next war could be triggered by a rusting warship on a disputed reef By Rebecca Tan, Regine Cabato and Laris Karklis

The BRP Sierra Madre, which has remained on Second Thomas Shoal ever since, has now become the epicenter of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China...

Agenda

NY Times: Xi Meets Blinken With Tough Issues on the Agenda - The direct meeting with China’s leader is a sign of continued effort to ease tensions, but officials expect little progress on core issues like Taiwan, trade and Chinese support of Russia. By Ana Swanson and Vivian Wang - Reporting from Beijing

“China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving United States. We hope the U.S. can also look at China’s development in a positive light,” Mr. Xi said, according to Chinese state media.

King

Gift article available to everyone.

NY Times: This Whole King Trump Thing Is Getting Awfully Literal By Jamelle Bouie

In delaying the trial, the Supreme Court may well have denied the public its right to know whether a former president, now vying to be the next president, is guilty of trying to subvert the sacred process of presidential succession...

The Market On Friday

Good morning. At 6:22 a.m. ET DOW futures are +60, S&P futures are +35.25, and NASDAQ futures are +163.75. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

Salon: Trump's isolation deepens after his coup crew is hit with Arizona criminal indictments - The January 6 co-conspirators are likely too wrapped up in their criminal cases to help Trump with another coup By Amanda Marcotte

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Black

Meidas Touch - Trump Gets Crushed By Pecker At Trial

CNN - 'Big Mistake' - Former Trump Lawyer Reacts To Trump's Remark Outside Court

Five

Gift article available to everyone.

NY Times: Five Moments That Have Defined Donald Trump’s Trial So Far - Trials are wars of words. These are some of the most memorable that have been spoken as a jury hears the criminal case against Donald J. Trump. By Wesley Parnell

Nicolle Wallace - Trump Administration Officials Were Consulted On ‘Catch And Kill’ Well After 2016 Election

MSNBC - ‘Complete Lack Of Remorse’ - Weissman Breaks Down David Pecker’s Testimony

Andrea Mitchell - Not Just About 'Business Records' But 'Election Interference' - Paul Butler On Hush Money Trial

J-L Cauvin - Donald Trump Responds To David Pecker's Testimony

Meidas Touch - Trump On Trial - Day 7 Recap

Soon

Washington Post: Supreme Court seems poised to allow Trump’s D.C. trial, but not soon

Bullsh*t

NY Times: Supreme Court Live Updates: Conservative Majority Seems Ready to Limit Election Case Against Trump - Such a ruling in the case, on whether the former president is immune from prosecution, would probably send it back to a lower court and could delay any trial until after the November election.

The arguments signaled further delay and complications for a Trump trial.

Immunity

NPR: Supreme Court appears skeptical of blanket immunity for a former president By Nina Totenberg

A Real S**t Show

Salon: MAGA begins to panic: Trump may not make it to the ballot “It’s a real s**t show to consider” By Brian Karem

Crayons

"Diem Chau sculpts detailed figures on the top of crayons"

Meidas Touch - Trump Caught In New Possible Hush Money Scheme

CBS Mornings - Inside Knicks Star Jalen Brunson's Journey As A Franchise Player Under His Father's Coaching

Morning Joe - Neal Katyal - I Really Hope The Supreme Court Moves Fast On Immunity Case

Brian Tyler Cohen - Republican Group Hit With Humiliating News

Rallies

Washington Post: Police arrest 108 at Emerson College protest as antiwar rallies spread By Jennifer Hassan, Justine McDaniel and Emily Davies

A total of 108 arrests were made, and four officers were injured, Sgt. Detective John Boyle of the Boston Police Department said in an email. He said there were no reports of injuries among the protesters.

Trial

NY Times: Live Updates: Tabloid Publisher Resumes Testimony in Trump Trial - David Pecker is testifying about concealing the Playboy model Karen McDougal’s claim of a sexual relationship with Donald J. Trump. Prosecutors say the deal to buy her story and bury it was part of a broader conspiracy.

Pecker said that Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, encouraged Pecker to buy her story, and that Trump described McDougal as “a nice girl,” leading Pecker to believe Trump knew her.

The Onion - Teenagers Explain What It's Like Partying With Matt Gaetz

The Onion: Teenagers Explain What It's Like Partying With Matt Gaetz

Downtown

Axios: Visitors are returning to most — but not all — of America's downtowns By Alex Fitzpatrick, Alice Feng

'Harvest Bell Ride'

Have An Excellent Thursday

Artwork By Max Ernst 1891-1976

CNN - Former Trump Aide Describes Impact Of Being Attacked By Trump

The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle Highlights - April 24

Meidas Touch - Trump White House Insider Miles Taylor Debunks Biggest Trump Lie

Brian Tyler Cohen - Trump Makes Devastating Mistake In NY Criminal Trial

Meidas Touch - Journalist Speaks Out On Trump’s Courtroom Secret

Jimmy Kimmel - Trump Milks Gag Order For Every Drop - MyPillow Mike Loves Jimmy’s Wedding Gift

Choosing

Vox: Why couples are choosing cohabitation over marriage - First comes love, then comes … moving in together. By Allie Volpe

Voyager

Good News Network: ‘Hello, Voyager!’ Celebrated Spacecraft Is Once Again Transmitting After Nasa Repair from 15 Billion Miles Away By Andy Corbley

How

The Bulwark: Here’s How Trump Will Try to Defend Himself in the Hush-Money Case Plus: Why tabloid kingpin David Pecker’s testimony matters. By Kim Wehle

Alabama

Inside Climate News: Alabama Coal Mine Keeps Digging Under A Rural Community After Hundreds of Fines and a Fatal Explosion. Residents Are Rattled - Following the death of a grandfather, Crimson Oak Grove Resources has left a community afraid for their homes and lives. An expert warns one resident may need to evacuate her home while she still can. By Lee Hedgepeth, James Bruggers

Optics

Guardian UK: The Trump family’s latest side hustle: Melania’s selling $245 Mother’s Day necklaces By Arwa Mahdawi - With her husband on trial over hush money payments – and desperate for cash – the ex-first lady isn’t worried about optics

Billionaires

Guardian UK: World’s billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers - Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis By Larry Elliott - Economics editor

Another Biden Win

Washington Post: Aid to Ukraine seemed dead. Then secretive talks revived it. In one meeting, Biden and others sprang a surprise effort to persuade Speaker Johnson to pass the aid package By Liz Goodwin , Yasmeen Abutaleb and Tyler Pager

The bipartisan pile-on showed results Wednesday, when Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package into law — just weeks after it seemed dead and beyond any hope of revival.

Arizona

Washington Post: Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

Trump was not charged, but he is described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator.

How

NY Times: In Immunity Case, Trump Can Lose in Ways That Amount to a Win - After the justices hear arguments on Thursday, how they decide may be just as important as what they decide. By Adam Liptak - Reporting from Washington

In July 2020, Mr. Trump lost the case. But the loss was a kind of victory. The court sent the case back to the lower courts for more analysis, running out the clock.

Absolutely Not

NY Times: Supreme Court to Hear Trump’s Claim to ‘Absolute Immunity’ - The justices will consider on Thursday whether the former president must face trial on charges that he tried to subvert the 2020 election. By Adam Liptak - Reporting from Washington

Most legal experts do not expect Mr. Trump to prevail on his broadest arguments. But when and how he loses may turn out to be as important as whether he loses.

The Market On Thursday

Good morning. At 6:24 a.m. ET DOW futures are -120, S&P futures are -28, and NASDAQ futures are -154. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

Salon: "Where's Melania?": Missing wife is why Trump's lawyers can't pull off the "family man" defense - National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that Trump's wife was the last thing on his mind By Amanda Marcotte