msbellows

msbellows, 1 day ago to random

My wife and I both filled out our ballots today, and then because we live in Oregon (which is a relatively sane state that has vote by mail and dropbox), I went to the nearby city hall to drop off our ballots, only to realize that there is an 8:00 p.m. cutoff and the box was locked.

When I got home, I had my first panic attack in years. This is the first election I haven't participated in since 1980, and I hadn't realized how much I rely emotionally on the perception of control that voting gives me in a world that's dying and falling apart.

Please, friends: protest and rebel and fight back any way you can. Burn everything down if you need to. But please, please, don't abstain from voting.

msbellows, 1 day ago to random

@shoq Help me with something? Do you follow @longreads ?

msbellows, 3 days ago to random

You: "I wonder what it would be like to be an English major with a brother who also was an English major."

Me:

msbellows, 3 days ago to random

We've been like this for twenty minutes at least. I'm not allowed to move my hand, and wouldn't want to; to be so loved and trusted by such a small creature in such a large universe is a miracle to be appreciated moment by moment.

msbellows, 6 days ago to random

I'm gonna just say it (and from the perspective of a former trial lawyer with 37 years' experience): the posse of GOP slanderers Trump's bringing with him daily, and Trump's defense's failure to finish cross-examination of Michael Cohen today, are partly because they're hoping some #MAGA idiot will kill Cohen before he's left the stand (because under the Sixth Amendment, no jury is allowed to rely on his testimony until his cross is complete).

Yes, I believe they're that evil. Stochastic terrorism is a tool, not an accident.

msbellows, 7 days ago to random

Okay, I'll admit it. I did not have this on my 2024 bingo card.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/angie-harmon-sues-instacart-delivery-driver-fatal-shooting-dog-north-carolina/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

msbellows, 8 days ago to random

Under the Sixth Amendment, the jury isn't allowed to rely on Michael Cohen's testimony until cross-examination is complete. I hope he spends the time between now and Thursday sitting quietly in a reinforced-concrete safe room with an emergency physician and a well-vetted bodyguard.

msbellows, 14 days ago to random

Yes, a bug dying in #RFK Jr.'s brain is a sexy headline, but to me the bigger story is that he also had severe memory problems due to MERCURY POISONING – 10x the maximum acceptable level – from massively overconsuming tuna and perch –

– despite being an environmental lawyer who should understand how heavy metals get concentrated in predatory fish –

AND THEN! AND THEN!

– urged parents to protect their children from mercury poisoning, not by limiting their' tuna consumption, but by denying them vaccines bECaUse oMG THiMeRoSaL!!!!

What a freaking idiot. What a nimrod. What a waste of privilege.

msbellows, 16 days ago to random

Today is a good day for anyone whose 2024 bingo card had "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (whose wife was driven to suicide by his dozens of infidelities, which he recorded religiously in a private journal) is popular with the 'powerful, famous male sex abuser' demographic."
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kevin-spacey-endorses-loyal-friend-robert-f-kennedy-jr

msbellows, 16 days ago to random

I'd like to see a solid poll, conducted once in the U.S. and again in Israel, asking this simple generic query:

"Genocide is always wrong and should never happen. _Agree _Disagree"

I fear the numbers would be both utterly depressing and highly illuminating in both countries. #Gaza

msbellows, 17 days ago to random

Erp. This whole concept is scary but arguably unavoidable; the last sentence, however, is terrifyingly naive for someone whose most important job qualification is to be "not naive":

"This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence, not a human pilot. And riding in the front seat was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall... Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned warplanes, the first of them operating by 2028....

'The AI-controlled F-16, called Vista, flew Kendall in lightning-fast maneuvers at more than 550 miles an hour that put pressure on his body at five times the force of gravity. It went nearly nose to nose with a second human-piloted F-16 as both aircraft raced within 1,000 feet of each other, twisting and looping to try force their opponent into vulnerable positions.

"At the end of the hourlong flight, Kendall climbed out of the cockpit grinning. He said he’d seen enough during his flight that he’d trust this still-learning AI with the ability to decide whether or not to launch weapons in war."
https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-fighter-jets-air-force-6a1100c96a73ca9b7f41cbd6a2753fda?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

msbellows, 20 days ago to portland

I'm at a conference at the federal courthouse, and as I drove here l observed cops (not in riot gear) on every corner surrounding Portland State University (the urban campus downtown), and schoolbuses pulling up in front of the Schnitz and also backing up traffic on the freeway nearby. Looks like they're about to roust the antiwar encampment, and expecting multiple arrests.
#Portland #PDX

msbellows, 27 days ago to random

Trump's lawyer arguing for additional proceedings in the lower court, and Gorsuch apparently liking the idea.

This case is all and only about delaying the Jan. 6 trial until after the election.

msbellows, 27 days ago to random

The scummiest thing we learned from David Pecker's testimony today has nothing to do with Trump.

It's that sometimes the National Enquirer will get dirt on a celebrity, such as an affair, then blackmail them into agreeing to be on the cover or do an interview in exchange for suppressing the story. Gross.

msbellows, 29 days ago to random

@GottaLaff Hey, Industry-literate friend: I know that scripts for WKRP in Cincinnati are available, but do you have any idea whether there's also documentation of stage directions (particularly what music the deejays are playing)? There are commercial DVDs but they have alternate music due to licensing issues and I'm wondering how to learn what the original music was.

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

You, a cold-hearted unforgiving jerk: "Ha ha Trump has terrible, stinky flatulence when he's asleep, even in the courtroom!"

Me, a more compassionate and kind-hearted soul: "Oh God I feel awful for his future cellmate."

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Help, please: In one of the semi-recent presidential campaigns, one of the candidates paused his campaign because his opponent was sick or something. Maybe 2008 (Obama-McCain)? Does anyone remember? Thanks.

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

People: please stop making fun of Trump sleeping through his own trial. He just wants to make sure his eventual conviction gets overturned on appeal, and got a little confused about which person has to be asleep in court to make that happen. Easy mistake for nonlawyers!

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Q for my fellow #LawFedi: anyone know if NY law will allow this jury to convict Trump on the 34 lesser included misdemeanors if they hang on the primary "election fraud" felony?

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Wife had a conversation Friday with an unmasked friend who casually mentioned that their partner was home sick with COVID. This evening (three days later), she's developed a cough, chest congestion, and runny nose.

Sigh.

So now I'm making up the Murphy bed in the back bedroom and setting out a COVID test kit.

C'mon, people. Do better.

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Answer from sealed envelope: "1,342, definitely including Ted Cruz but probably not Lindsey Graham."

Carnac the Magnificent: "How many prominent Republicans who publicly pretend to love Trump will privately exclaim 'oh, thank fucking GOD!' when they finally hear the news that he has died?"

Carnac The Magnificent Johnny Carson GIF

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

"Motions in Limine" explainer:
For those wondering why the lawyers in Trump's trial are arguing about what evidence is and isn't admissible before the jury has even been selected:

We're all familiar with how evidentiary objections are handled during trial, with one lawyer asking a question and the other objecting before it's answered. But merely asking a question can plant an Idea in jurors' minds, and arguing over objections interrupts the flow of testimony and causes trial delays. Therefore, objections also can be made ahead of time via "motion in limine" ("limiting motion"): "hey, judge, we all know the other side wants to ask about x, but that should be inadmissible, so can you just order them up front not to go there?" It's not just common; it's standard.

And some MLims need to be resolved even before jury selection begins, because the lawyers' questions to potential jurors often preview what the evidence will be (eg, "would you still be able to remain impartial even if there's evidence that the defendant eats babies?").

So that's what's been happening this morning. No idea why it wasn't completed earlier, except that "what we think the other side might try to do that we don't want the judge to allow" constantly evolves based on new information, so limiting instructions can be requested at pretty much any time.

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Are these two marshals/bailiffs outside the Manhattan courthouse twins? It's And if so, isn't it a little odd that they seem to keep getting the same shift and assignment? (It's not the first time I've seen them together on the news.)

image/jpeg

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

"On March 29 near Lookingglass Hatchery in northeast Oregon, a fish tanker truck was involved in an accident while transporting approximately 102,000 spring Chinook smolts for release in the Imnaha River.

"The ODFW employee who was driving the truck is safe but received minor injuries. The accident occurred on a sharp corner with the 53-foot truck rolling onto the passenger side, skidding on its side on the pavement, and then going over a rocky embankment causing it to roll onto its roof.

"The accident occurred alongside Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the Grande Ronde River. About 77,000 smolts made it into the creek when the tanker overturned...."
https://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2024/04_Apr/040224.asp

msbellows, 1 month ago to random

Am I doing this right? #ThickTrunkTuesday