Will they shadow docket this one?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11/2:

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday put a temporary hold on the handover of former President Donald Trump's tax returns to a congressional committee.

Roberts' order gives the Supreme Court time to weigh the legal issues in Trump's emergency appeal to the high court, filed Monday.

Without court intervention, the tax returns could have been provided as early as Thursday by the Treasury Department to the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee.

Roberts gave the committee until Nov. 10 to respond.

[...]

Lower courts ruled that the committee has broad authority to obtain tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims that it was overstepping.

If Trump can persuade the nation’s highest court to intervene in this case, he could potentially delay a final decision until the start of the next Congress in January. If Republicans recapture control of the House in the fall election, they could drop the records request.

The temporary delay imposed by Roberts is the third such order issued by justices in recent days in cases related to Trump.

  Yahoo

It's nice to have installed your own personal court.

SCOTUS takes on affirmative action

Bullshit.

This is from the "affirmative action" cases now before the Supreme Court.

And then let's see them rule against legacy admissions as unfair advantage. 

And I can tell you why that is.  This case was brought on behalf of Asian Americans as a get-around to dismissing affirmative action for blacks, not because Asian Americans are discriminated against in college admissions.

Or they want to pretend they don't understand.  Every person considered for admission has already passed every requirement needed to attend the college.  Affirmative action allows for colleges to THEN consider a person's race in order to achieve a diverse student population.  

Sum and substance.  

Bingo.

But he knows exactly what it means.  Diversity plus affirmative action is how he is sitting on the Supreme Court.

Impeach Clarence Thomas.

Helena, that's the whole point.  

UPDATE:

Jesus Tapdancing Christ

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Nice

Kinda seems like Musk wants Twitter to fail. 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Maybe he does...

Elon Musk has been named sole director of Twitter, dissolving the board in place before he completed his $44 billion acquisition of the company, the social media platform said in a securities filing on Monday.

  The Hill

New York lawsuit underway

UPDATE 11/1:

There are just no words

This deplorable family - and this one is being groomed to run for the presidency.

A defeat for autocracy in Brazil

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has fallen silent after his chastening election defeat to his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A stream of world leaders have stepped forward to recognize Lula’s stunning political comeback, including the US president, Joe Biden, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and China’s Communist party chief, Xi Jinping.

His last message on Twitter – an excerpt from the book of Ephesians – was posted at two minutes before midnight on the eve of an election he went on to lose by a margin of more than 2m votes.

  Guardian

Unsurprising that autocrats and dictators appeal to religious zealots the world over.

Lula secured 50.9% to Bolsonaro’s 49.10%. Lula received 60.3m votes while the rightwing incumbent had 58.2m.

[...]

Bolsonaro – a pro-dictatorship radical who has repeatedly hinted he might not accept defeat – has yet to concede.

I wouldn't call that being chastened.

While Bolsonaro remained mute, key allies did accept the result in a sign that the populist’s power was rapidly ebbing away after four tumultuous years in office.

Silas Malafaia, a prominent televangelist who was one of Bolsonaro’s most vocal cheerleaders, tweeted: “The sovereign will of the people has established itself.”

[...]

The newly elected pro-Bolsonaro governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, also recognized Lula’s win, telling journalists: “The election result is sovereign.”

Another key ally, the lower house leader, Arthur Lira, said: “The will of the majority, expressed at the polls, should never be challenged.”

Even Sergio Moro, the pro-Bolsonaro judge who controversially jailed Lula in the lead-up to the 2018 election before taking a job in Bolsonaro’s cabinet, recognized the leftist’s victory.

“Thus is democracy,” Moro tweeted.

So...not like US Republicans.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

1) Expect MAGAland to be screaming about a stolen election in Brazil.

2) Ali Alexander should be doing time.

Happy Halloween

 

It's Sunday

One of my favorite historically Catholic traditions is going into countries with pagan traditions and torturing them into being Catholic. What goes around comes around, perhaps.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Misogyny rising

Almost 1,000 references to dehumanising misogyny or violent action are recorded each day in the “incelosphere” as the toxicity of male supremacist content continues to intensify.

Analysis of the incel [involuntary celibates] movement found that online references to inflicting violence and extremely degrading language on dedicated incel forums are running eight times higher than in 2016, when researchers first began tracking misogynist content on the internet.

Academics from the University of Exeter also noted an increasing overlap between incel followers and the far right, with online algorithms blamed for pushing young boys towards extreme rightwing ideology.

[...]

[Researcher Lewys Brace] said the movement had evolved from a series of subreddits to dedicated forums – the “incelosphere” – but which were now spreading across other online spaces, such as Instagram, TikTok, Discord and Twitch.

  Guardian

Misogyny - toxic masculinity - has also been found to be a major motivator for mass killings. 

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Closer and closer

UPDATE:

Democracy is on the docket

Want to know what's happening with voting in the courts?  Follow Mark E. Elias.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Democracy on the docket

The judge is probably right.  And, in the interest of free and fair elections, the government should then send out the National Guard to all places where these (often armed) "observers" are stationed to make voters feel safe, and we can appear to the rest of the world like the anti-democratic fascist country we are becoming.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Crybaby crying

Sending his flying monkeys after another official by publicizing that person's name.

What Judge Arthur Engoron is actually doing is making decisions concerning a lawsuit against Trump and his three eldest children for $250 million over the alleged use of inflated company financial statements to mislead lenders in obtaining loans.

The suit was filed last month by New York Attorney General Letitia James (whom Trump always insists on calling “Peekaboo”). James’ office asked Engoron for “an expedited preliminary conference” to quickly schedule the trial for next year, arguing that the Trumps are engaged in an “ongoing” fraud.

James is seeking to prevent the Trumps in the interim from conducting business in the state and to curtail their access to loans.

[...]

Engoron earlier this year held Trump in contempt of court for failure to turn over documents demanded by James.

Trump and his attorneys tried — and failed — to get Engoron bounced from the case.

  HuffPo

Fox logic and political violence

I'd like to know what they think murdering Nancy Pelosi is going to get them.  I want Nancy Pelosi to train up a young Democrat to take her place.  But she can hardly quit now, can she?  It would look like she's giving in to the violent MAGA party.

More on the attack.

Federal officials on Friday warned that domestic violent extremists pose a heightened threat to the 2022 midterm elections, in a joint intelligence assessment sent to state and local officials and obtained by CNN.

[...]

The joint federal assessment comes as election workers are increasingly concerned about physical threats to themselves and election infrastructure, and foreign actors seek to widen divisions in the United States.

“We assess that election-related perceptions of fraud and [domestic violent extremist] reactions to divisive topics will likely drive sporadic [domestic violent extremist] plotting of violence and broader efforts to justify violence in the lead up to and following the 2022 midterm election cycle,” the bulletin states.

“The midterm elections are occurring at a time when the nation is experiencing what has been described as the most volatile, complex and dynamic threat environment in recent times,” former DHS intel chief and counterterrorism coordinator John Cohen told CNN. “Communities across the nation continue to experience mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence by individuals inspired by conspiracy theories.”

[...]

The assessment was released on the same day that Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked at the couple’s home in San Francisco.

  CNN

Heavy Trump on January 6 vibes there at Fox.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:  The charges and official declaration of events.

Working women have made little to no gains in 20+ years

And it's not going to get any better if Republicans gain control of Congress next month.

The root of the problem: the lack of so-called care policies like paid leave and child care that have been shown to boost women’s prime-age labor force participation in other, similar countries.

  Politico

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Nothing to look at here

Impeach Clarence Thomas.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Political carnage with GOP in power

While Democrats play silly buggers around the stakes in November, Republicans, who have been trying to shrink government to the point that you could “drown it in the bathtub” for decades, can now see the possibility to do just that at their fingertips.  So, they're going for it.  You think England is in the shitter since voting for Brexit?  You're right.  And that's what we have to look forward to if the GOP takes control of our government.  They'll shrink it.  And the Red States that are clamboring for that outcome will be the foremost losers when there's no federal government to allot them shares of Blue State taxes and to protect them from corporate greed and loss of health, privacy, and even water rights that are certain to follow.

Brian Lehrer discusses this - specifically, the right's desire for a new constitution - with ex-Senator Ron Feingold, who was one of the early casualties of Republican voters being too blind to fucking see where they're actually headed.  Have a listen.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Too much to hope for?

[Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia] is considering whether to unseal secret court documents detailing former President Donald Trump’s effort to prevent former aides from providing testimony to a grand jury investigating efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

[...]

The legal clash around [Michael] Short’s testimony intensified after Howell issued a sealed ruling against Trump on Sept. 28, court records show.

Howell’s ruling dismissed attempts by the former president to postpone the hearings while claims of executive privilege were litigated.

[...]

POLITICO moved to unseal [...] last week. On Wednesday, Howell ordered the Justice Department and Trump attorneys to respond to that motion by Nov. 15. The New York Times filed a similar unsealing motion on Friday.

[...]

Trump’s appeal remains pending, so he could still ask the D.C. Circuit to dive into the legal issues and produce a formal ruling on whether he has a right to block testimony from other White House aides or advisers. He may still take the emergency matter to the Supreme Court to prevent additional witnesses from testifying.

  Politico

Count on it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Secret Service on January 6

Elon Musk now controls Twitter

He fired a string of executives.  How long before he reverts to Twitter's posting rules?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long.  I have a feeling the folks above are going to be disappointed.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

“I am staying on Truth. I like it better, I like the way it works. I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth,” Trump told Fox News Digital on Friday in an exclusive interview.

Trump received a lifetime ban from Twitter after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

[...]

Experts and Trump allies have cast doubt on the idea that he would be able to resist the platform, were he allowed back on.

  The Hill

There's no reason he can't do both, and I'm willing to bet he'll be back on Twitter. We could have a pool to pick when.

UPDATE:  I did not know this.

UPDATE:

Elon Musk has been named sole director of Twitter, dissolving the board in place before he completed his $44 billion acquisition of the company, the social media platform said in a securities filing on Monday.

  The Hill

They no longer care if you know it

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Leniency in Jan 6 sentence

I understand the leniency and approve of it for people with mental impairments, but may I ask what mob influenced him to arrive with a hatchet?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  On the other hand...

There is power in a union

Yet another union voted down a proposed contract with the freight railroad industry Wednesday, again pushing the nation toward an economically crippling rail strike as soon as next month.

Wednesday’s vote by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen makes it the second rail union to reject a compromise since Sept. 15, when eleventh-hour deal-making by the Biden administration averted the threat of an immediate work stoppage.

[...]

Despite that momentary political victory, a strike could still happen as soon as Nov. 19 unless 12 rail unions approve their contracts, or Congress steps into the fray — another looming dark cloud for the U.S. economy as voters head to the polls for the midterm elections.

  Politico

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

We've failed miserably

People think Musk and Besos are engaged in rivaling vanity projects building rocket ships. I have another belief: they're planning their escapes from the planet.

There is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place”, the UN’s environment agency has said, and the failure to reduce carbon emissions means the only way to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis is a “rapid transformation of societies”.

The UN environment report analysed the gap between the CO2 cuts pledged by countries and the cuts needed to limit any rise in global temperature to 1.5C, the internationally agreed target. Progress has been “woefully inadequate” it concluded.

Current pledges for action by 2030, if delivered in full, would mean a rise in global heating of about 2.5C and catastrophic extreme weather around the world. A rise of 1C to date has caused climate disasters in countries from Pakistan to Puerto Rico.

If the long-term pledges by countries to hit net zero emissions by 2050 were delivered, global temperature would rise by 1.8C. But the glacial pace of action means meeting even this temperature limit was not credible, the UN report said.

[...]

New reports from the International Energy Agency and the UN’s climate body reached similarly stark conclusions, with the latter finding that the national pledges barely cut projected emissions in 2030 at all, compared with 2019 levels.

[...]

The UNEP report said about a third of climate-heating emissions came from the global food system and these were set to double by 2050. But the sector could be transformed if governments changed farm subsidies – which are overwhelmingly harmful to the environment – and food taxes, cut food waste and helped develop new low-carbon foods.

[...]

The UNEP report said the required societal transformation could be achieved through government action, including on regulation and taxes, redirecting the international financial system, and changes to consumer behaviour.

  The Guardian

Well, that's not going to happen. 

Those reports are just further confirmation of the elite class belief that it's too late to save the planet and therefore they should keep on partying like there's no tomorrow. Because, in this sense, there isn't. Politics is the distracting game we play while we kill ourselves and everything around us.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Closer and closer

Next stop: SCOTUS.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oh, get in line

It won't matter to Republican voters.  The GOP has long been the party of closeted gays, pedophiles, and misogynists.  After so many busts and scandals, I think they've finally just decided to embrace the sexual proclivities they've denounced in others in the past.  And, good, I guess. 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Fascists win from the Big Lie

The Election Integrity Partnership, a non-partisan group that has helped the CISA combat election disinformation, said the vast majority of disinformation and false rumors about the 2020 election spread primarily through far-right influencers catering to Trump voters.

[...]

"At this time, we are not aware of any specific or credible threats to compromise or disrupt election infrastructure," top U.S. cybersecurity official Jen Easterly told reporters last week during a video conference on election security.

"That said, the current election threat environment is more complex than it has ever been," added Easterly, who heads the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

[...]

The two U.S. officials who described to Reuters the current election-related threats said they were not aware of any ongoing foreign information operations aimed at misleading Americans about the voting process.

  Reuters

They don't need to. MAGA has it covered.

And in the document theft case...

A key focus for prosecutors is Walt Nauta.

[...]

Prosecutors have indicated they are skeptical of an initial account Mr. Nauta gave investigators about moving documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and are using the specter of charges against him for misleading investigators to persuade him to sit again for questioning

[...]

Proving intent is often a challenge for prosecutors, and that hurdle has repeatedly come up in various investigations into Mr. Trump. To that end, prosecutors are particularly focused on Mr. Nauta because he could provide insight into Mr. Trump’s intentions as he parried the Justice Department’s attempts to reclaim the documents from him at the same time the materials were moved around at Mar-a-Lago.

If the boxes were moved against the Justice Department’s wishes or to conceal them from the authorities, it could help prosecutors in developing the obstruction investigation.

Mr. Nauta, a native of Guam and a U.S. Navy sailor, grew close to Mr. Trump during the White House years, when he worked as a cook in the Navy mess in the White House and then as a valet in the West Wing. He was a frequent presence around Mr. Trump, bringing him the Diet Cokes he often consumes or carting things to and from the White House residence for him.

[...]

At the same time, the prosecutors are trying to force a longtime aide and ally to Mr. Trump, Kash Patel, to answer questions before a grand jury about how the documents were taken to Mar-a-Lago and how Mr. Trump, his aides and his lawyers dealt with requests from the government to return them.Mr. Patel was designated by Mr. Trump this year as one of his representatives to the National Archives and Records Administration to deal with his presidential records, particularly in relation to materials from the investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign had ties to Russia.

[...]

Shortly after the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago in August to reclaim the classified documents, Mr. Patel publicly proclaimed that the former president had declassified the records before leaving office. But Mr. Patel refused to answer many questions this month before a grand jury in Washington hearing evidence about Mr. Trump’s handling of the documents, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

  NYT

And repeating that Trump declassified records to the FBI or before a Grand Jury would certainly incriminate him.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Jan 6 Committee still hauling 'em in