Month: November 2023

In NY State Court, Tangerine Moved For A Mistrial (On Specious Claims Of Bias). Summarily… Denied.

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Some times, an image handles it all best. This is one of those times. Here is the relevant part of the able Justice Engoron’s order (just filed on the public docket) — and by reprinting it, I intend to combat the lies Tangerine has been spreading on his social site and in broadcast interviews and at his rallies — about what was actually said, when he tried to lie on the stand. He was told to stop making campaign speeches, and answer the questions put to him, while under oath, directly. The Justice repeatedly warned him about non-responsive, false and argumentative statements. There is no jury, by Trump’s choice. So this Justice will… decide his fate on $250 million worth of bank and tax frauds — in NYC:

Now you know.

Stick a fork in Tangerine — he’s done.

नमस्ते

Hayward Derides A Kennedy Third Party Run… Because It Splits Off Trump Voters…

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Steve pretends to be a concern troller, but in point of fact, he well knows RFK, Jr. (if he has enough money to burn, to stay in until next November)… only hurts Tangerine.

Mr. Biden might lose 5,000 votes across the whole nation, if Kennedy remains in November 2024.

Tangerine (whether Ms. Haley beats him out for the GOP nomination, or he gets it)… is the only one who will see his base materially eroded by RFK, Jr. staying in.

But as we’ve long said, ‘24 will be a wipeout for GOP and Trump.

It’s all already over, except for some shouting Steve. Doesn’t matter who is the Democratic nominee — GOP cannot win 1600 Penn. this cycle. Tangerine, not RFK has guaranteed it.

Cheers, chucklehead.

Among Many, John Leguizamo Is Calling For A Boycott Of Univision, Until It Meets With Latin Rights Groups, And Clarifies Editorial Policies — Saying “We Don’t Want Mexican Style TV Coverage — Of US 2024”

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Recall that during the 2016 cycle, Univision aired hard hitting, but clearly factual coverage of Tangerine’s campaign (due in large part to Tangerine’s open disdain for asylum seeker / immigrant rights, and “monsters / cartels / rapists” boogey-manning).

Flash forward to 2023, and suddenly — as of last week, despite Tangerine vowing in his speeches to thwart more US laws, and treaties in his treatment of asylum seekers, should he win in 2024… the network aired what can only be styled as a full hour love letter to him. Cloying questions, no follow ups on obvious lies, and a picture painted, with the aid of the interviewer… that all US latin peoples would be far better off under his dictatorial style. [This despite the fact that at his rallies, he now regularly calls for mass deportations, without process of law.]

To his credit, Mr. Leguizamo has risen to the challenge, and with many others of good will, and with many others of good will, is seeking meetings, to be sure that Univision will commit to independent, factual coverage of the 2024 cycle — else, a boycott. In point of fact, Univision suddenly refused to accept a statement from Mr. Biden, or the Democratic Party in response to the one hour Trump commercial, citing a “just adopted” policy. The TV networks air almost uniformly pro-business coverage in Mexico, treating authority figures like Tangerine with near reverence.

There is almost no coverage of dissenting views. And the peoples of the US do not want to see Univision become a “Mexican-style outlet” — as to Tangerine.

Here is the WaPo on it all — but is sure feels like there’s been some payola offered / gifts exchanged via son-in-law Jared Kushner, for this new “soft focus” coverage — doubly so, where Trump just was this weekend endorsed by “old razor wire” Gov. Abbott of Texas:

…The nation’s largest Spanish-language media company, Univision, faced growing backlash Friday for its handling of a recent interview with former president Donald Trump, as major Latino advocacy groups delivered a letter of protest to the network’s executives and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus prepared to request a meeting with the network.

Actor and comedian John Leguizamo, who recently took a turn as host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” also posted a video on Instagram on Thursday night calling for a boycott of the network until it stopped its rejection of Biden ads, some of which were canceled just before the Trump interview aired….

These are strange times, and low information voters are the ones — if any — the Democrats need to worry about. Anyone getting solid independent news, and evaluating it critically… is going to be pretty unlikely to vote for Tangerine (unless they buy into whyte replacement theory). That may in fact be a rather small risk, but it is worth working to short circuit yet another means by which Trump’s lies go out, unchecked to people not paying close enough attention. Onward.

नमस्ते

Harassed, Then Fired — A San Bernadino Amazon Warehouse Worker Just Won A $1.2 Million Verdict Against The Behemoth.

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The man came to work (because Amazon required, as a policy at the time, that all workers travel, and be seen in person, before a sick day might even be considered for approved, by line management!), with a verified doctor’s note, for a panic attack that was causing him to vomit, and feel light-headed. [This was in the Time of Tangerine, when the at right was being permitted.] There was no dispute that the doctor had actually seen and diagnosed him. There was no dispute that he had available sick days to take.

Yet his manager, the nurse and the HR lead all told him it was Amazon’s policy NOT to accept doctor’s notes, as a valid excuse to take a sick day. They each ordered him to report to the line, for his shift. He walked out — never to return, but to. . . quite appropriately, sue.


That bit of odious behavior, in just one man’s case, has now cost Amazon $1.2 million:

…The case went to trial and, on Nov. 2, a jury awarded Kopp $1.2 million, concluding that Amazon intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Kopp because its human resources department failed to properly address his complaints and stop the harassment.

Jurors, however, deadlocked on Kopp’s disability harassment claim in a 7-5 split in favor of Kopp, so there will be a retrial on that claim. In state court civil trials, at least nine of 12 jurors must find in favor of a plaintiff for the plaintiff to prevail….

“It became apparent that (Kopp) was the joke and/or punching bag of the warehouse, which seemed to operate much like a high school bullying the disabled kid,” the suit alleges.

One employee told Kopp she was fired from her previous job because she stabbed a co-worker, leaving Kopp feeling “very threatened,” according to the lawsuit….

Now you know. That is the third of three — I had previously been waiting on a verdict, to report on this California Amazon HR malfeasance case (but then got busy on other matters, and forgot to check back in with local counsel in California). My apologies, as this came down about three weeks ago.

Onward, in any event, into a busy week of long dispersed family arrivals, and whipping up… some kitchen delights!

नमस्ते

“Space Is… A Mug!” Once Again, Another Of Mr. Musk’s Uncrewed SpaceX Rockets… Went EOM — In Fire. Last One Was April 20, 2023…

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I do not fault Mr. Musk for the ambition. I do think he is doing most of it right, at least from a tech standpoint.

But in getting to space — EVERYTHING must go perfectly.

Every time.

And the main good news is that no human lives were aboard that capsule.

But expect delays now — certainly in his rumored IPO for the venture, and likely even in the Moon to Mars initiatives.

As I’ve said repeatedly, contra to his “techie-ethos” we simply cannot afford to lose human lives in space, due to “going too fast, and breaking things”.

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And now, almost trivially, he has again broken the feeds of the NASA remote code — out of his X-itter social media site. Those are his partners in space — the ones who drive his engagement for any future IPO dream at SpaceX. Hilarious.

And, whilst speaking of the Xitter site, he is facing advertising walk-aways — from Apple, IBM and Microsoft, among others… due to his odious views.

He really lacks even a scintilla of emotional intelligence.

Out.

नमस्ते

For The Feckless Rube Pompeo, All Politics… Is Personal. Ugh.

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Scott Johnson praises him — in a “my kinda’ guy” way… saying he’s a great PUBLIC servant.

Oh. My. Gurd.

And Scott’s own pull quotes explain clearly, and un-ironically why this cannot be so.

Asked about whether he worries about matters at the US border, THE US BORDER — Pompous Pompeo immediately launches into the supposition that the Iranians presently in charge in Iran… want him dead.

He says he’s awake nights about it — and his family… worries.

What is simply preposterous is that he ever thought that taking the job, under Tangerine, as aligned with his own imperialist world views, would ever NOT lead to direct rebukes from Iran, Iraq and even the Saudis… is too precious for words.

He well-understood that fatwahs would ensue, as he chose his bellicose words, for four long years. And to be clear, the Iranians, if a Pompeo fatwah has been declared, are in the wrong. Completely in the wrong. But make no mistake, our CIA has killed in Iran, over and over again, agents we have orders for — without any judicial process. In sum, we too use hit squads. And Pompeo and every administration high official before, and after him… knows it.

But as to questions about US border policy, he wants us all to break out the tiny violins, since he’s at some risk, personally — or so he claims.

Yes — wild egotist that he is — he’s EXACTLY Scott’s kinda’ guy.

Out.

BBC’s Further Update: The Rescuers Will Now Widen The Vent Shaft, From Overhead — Vertically, With The Borer — And Possibly Lift The Men Out One By One…

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Due to how unstable the mountain’s rock is, on the horizontal plain where the roadway tunnel was being cut, multiple attempts to reach them by the way they went in, have failed. And while the company is saying they will only need to cut a few hundred feet, the reality may well be that a vertical shaft near the men, at lower altitude, will still hit lots of fractured / highly unstable rock, and thus be prone to collapse — very much like the horizontal tunnel, at the known collapse point. [It is not known how many hundreds of feet of the tunnel have collapsed… so that could be hundreds of yards of what we used to call… “bad rock”.]

And so, it is my assessment that the only way to be sure that the vertical, or near vertical, shaft won’t collapse in on these modified rescue efforts… is to go to the most stable point (likely far nearer the mountain top) and drill straight down. Moreover, many of the 40 missing may be very young — boys, in fact — as young as 15.

But of course, now that rescue would involve drilling down vertically, perhaps as much as some 2,480 feet (756 meters) from the top of the mountain, from above. And, my experienced guess is that to bore through almost a half mile of rock… will likely take three to four weeks, even with 24/7 shifts. [It is a matter of pure geological physics that a vertical shaft, even through bad rock, need only avoid side to side swaying forces (much rarer), and need not worry about overhead burdens, into the hundreds of millions of tons.]

So, not unexpectedly, families of the trapped men, in the Himalayas of northern India are voicing great discontent — at the mouth of the tunnel, per the Beeb — BBC:

…Also on Saturday. there was an angry confrontation between rescue officials and colleagues and friends of the trapped workers.

Tensions ran high as officials were challenged about the lack of progress. One man cried out: “It’s been seven days and my brother is trapped in there.”

Rescuers responded by saying they were spending sleepless nights to reach the workers. One official said the boys in the tunnel were like his own children: “I go to my bunk at night and cry as well. I can’t cry in front of you otherwise you will lose hope.”

The Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district is part of the federal government’s ambitious highway project to improve links with famous pilgrimage spots in Uttarakhand.

The mountainous state, where several Himalayan peaks and glaciers are located, is home to some of the holiest sites for Hindus….

And all of that… before we consider that this may involve drilling into what Hindus regard as a sacred deity-infused mountain — from above. Do stay tuned, but starting a drill at too low an altitude will likely lead to more failures, in reaching the men. That’s my assessment… at least. Onward.

नमस्ते

The Last 2012 Solar Max Was Relatively Mild, And Late-Arriving. This One, As Reconnects Go — May Come Early, And Be… Rather Fierce: NCAR

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Last solar max, in late 2012… was mild and later arriving than predicted. Not so, this time, we are reliably told by the fine scientists at NCAR, the national lab for atmospheric research, in beautiful sunny Boulder Colorado.

The latest forecast off of Table Mesa in Boulder suggests an early arrival of the next solar max, and a more intense one compared to the last, in 2012. Thus “the bright points (at left, in the image at right) mark the travel of magnetic field bands, which wrap around the Sun. When the bands from the northern and southern hemispheres — which have oppositely charged magnetic fields — and when they meet at the equator, they mutually annihilate one another leading to a “terminator” event.

These terminators are crucial markers on the Sun’s 22-year clock, [NCAR] says, because they flag the end of a magnetic cycle, along with its corresponding sunspot cycle — and act as a trigger for the following magnetic cycle to begin….”

As of October 25, NCAR is predicting year end 2023 as the start of this solar max.

In any event, here’s a bit of the “pop sci” version media reporting on it:

…From a distance, the sun may seem calm and steady. But zoom in, and our home star is actually in a perpetual state of flux, transforming over time from a uniform sea of fire to a chaotic jumble of warped plasma and back again in a recurring cycle.


Every 11 to 12 years, the sun’s magnetic field gets tangled up like a ball of tightly wound rubber bands until it eventually snaps and completely flips — turning the north pole into the south pole and vice versa. In the lead-up to this gargantuan reversal, the sun amps up its activity: belching out fiery blobs of plasma, growing dark planet-size spots and emitting streams of powerful radiation….

And that may lead to only spotty cell coverage from time to time — and play havoc with various airlines’ satellite based avionics. Thus, the old school back-ups will likely be in copious use — by New Year’s 2024. Now you know — onward, grinning — but an ominous update from the Himalayas, in a few — next post.

नमस्ते

[U] Clearly, Hinderaker Simply Wants To Be An Unblinking, Unthinking Racist, Here…

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Update: Just as I expected, here not six hours later, Hinderaker admits to what I guessed — in a new post, no less: he wishes to demonize all Gazans, so as to see them exterminated. He doesn’t believe, despite ample evidence, that any Gazan is not with Hamas. Yet even the Israelis (as he admits) have vetted, and issued work permits to over 10,000 Gazans… who commute daily into and out of the Israeli urban centers.

What a putz. Palestinians in Gaza are not coterminous with Hamas members. Just ask… Israel, John. Damn. End update.

Only a blithering idiot (John) would substitute… one population, for another (even where there might be some overlap) when pretending to be decrying purported inaccurate headlines.

Only a fool — or a racist. But, as we’ve long demonstrated… you, John, are… both.

Not all “Gazans” are… Hamas. Not all Israelis are… Hasidic. Just as not all Black people… like… rap.

Holy crap, John — even you are not this feckless. No — this is an intentional provocation, likely because you’ve also read that a cease-fire, and perhaps multiple exchanges toward a lasting peace… are drawing nearer due to Biden Administration efforts at diplomacy.

Damn. You are a lost soul.

Paul Mirengoff Regularly Talks About “Reverse” Discrimination Cases… But Usually Invents “Facts” About Them, In Doing So…

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And tonight is no exception. Two and three quarters years ago, he wrote — without a scintilla of evidence that Blacks that make Law Review at Harvard and Yale are… worse students than many whytes NOT on Law Review. What a… feckless pile of crap.

Tonight, he claims that a suit being brought by whyte Gannett employees is a winner, on the basis of “facts” that Paul has only conjectured might in the future appear (there has been zero discovery, as the suit was just filed a few days ago). But he has zero compunction about stepping forward, and asserting… his imaginings, as fact.

In truth, it all becomes deadly… boring, actually. He and the Powerline boys are so, so desperate to claim that whyte replacement theory is a thing, in America… they just make sh!t up, on the regular.

Pretty sad.

But onward, we’ll sail — grinning, anyway. Out.