@lesblazemore@mastodon.social
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lesblazemore

@lesblazemore@mastodon.social

Seeking warmth in a cold universe

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Lizette603_23, to random
@Lizette603_23@mastodon.social avatar

Some yahoo asked a question about when Bannon might go to jail. I looked up some suppositions by journos and his response? "I know. I could have looked that up myself......" What would YOU have answered?

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@Lizette603_23 Sorry i replied flippantly without having my coffee or reading downstream first. Now hopefully safely deleted ;)

He'll apply for a full hearing at the appeals level, I'm guessing that will be denied but who knows...then he'll apply to the S. Ct. and I figure that will be rejected just like Navarro's.

So, say 6 months max

GottaLaff, to legal
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

New 🧵starts HERE.

REMEMBER: I can’t/won’t reply while live-posting. Please use NFL (Not For Laffy) so I can skip your reply, but NO hashtag on that. Thx.

Picking up after my "mistrial" thread/ 1/...

All via McB for awhile:

Counsel approaches, brief sidebar

"Binoculars down."

As I mentioned, courtroom rules strictly enforced. During sidebar, court security doesn't allow reporters to use binoculars they had brought to see exhibits and facial expressions better

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff FL thanks for your efforts! It's so helpful!!

SteveThompson, to nyc
@SteveThompson@mastodon.social avatar

Guessing he knew he was going to delete it before he put it out there. Daring the judge with a kinda loophole. That's how he rolls.

Of course, there's a copy of his 'deleted' post included here...

"Trump Posts — Then Deletes — Rant About Stormy Daniels Testifying"

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-testimony-1235016428/

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@SteveThompson publishing and then quickly deleting has become a common tactic of the right. The deletion doesn't matter, because it gets screenshotted and then shared

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

💪🏼 Via Kyle Griffin:

A coalition of reproductive rights advocates say they've submitted the required number of signatures to get a proposed amendment to enshrine access in 's constitution on the November ballot.

55,000 signatures were collected — far more than the 35,000 needed.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff if Ohio can do it then South Dakota certainly can

JoshuaHolland, to acab
@JoshuaHolland@mastodon.social avatar

“I have been reporting on political dissent and violent policing for 15 years, particularly in New York City. Compared to Tuesday night, I have never witnessed, at the scene of a protest, the use of police power so disproportionate to the type of demonstration taking place.”

https://theintercept.com/2024/05/01/nyc-gaza-college-protests-police-outside-agitators/

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

Yeah I wonder why you haven't seen more violent repression in China

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc I have no problem with the argument that the US needs to do better and get criticized when it doesn't.

But to compare China...that's just not logical.

Say it's bad, sure. Don't say it's worse than China

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc I take it personal because I lived there for many years. If you bother to do the research you wouldn't make such a comparison. It's ignorant.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc I'm American, and lived in China for a long period.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc No I left 8 years ago, like many expats, luckily before the virus arrived.

The situation there got worse and worse. XJP is hardcore, a true believer, and I don't mean that in a good way

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc Over the last decade, rights for Chinese have gotten worse. They held up blank pieces of paper in Shanghai to communicate that they don't have any rights.

Of course the propaganda is nicer, meanwhile labor rights barely exist in China. People do protest and they get long jail sentences. I could go into detail.

It's great that we criticize the US when it fails to hold up its standards, but in China no one believes there are any standards.

https://www.newsweek.com/china-white-blank-paper-a4-revolution-covid-protests-1762736

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc I think what you should understand is that America's dirty laundry is out for everyone to see. If someone makes a video, we see it, the local police can't suppress it.

And that's the important note, that with the US we get to see everything, bad and good.

China has thousands of political prisoners, from Uighur professors to labor organizers. Any protest leads to long jail sentences for the 'organizers'.

Here's just one example, a scientist suppressed:

https://apnews.com/article/covid19-scientist-virus-sequence-protest-laboratory-eviction-b54e2a88610e813c9383833f2c9a2379

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc Just one example, my friend. The US goes over the line a lot, and we should complain 100%. Prisoners are treated poorly, illegal workers are exploited. We also know the bad history of the FBI, reporting on internal dissent and much worse.

But all of that is far and away different from countries like China and many others, where the law is a joke and a tool to be used by the powerful.

May I ask where you are from? Just as to your perspective on world politics.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc yes it's frustrating, that's actually why I left the US, in part. I still pay attention but prefer not to be inundated with the bs.

But the comparison is stark today about where you are free and where you are not. Russia has zero freedom of speech, as does China.

The rich keep there money in western countries, why? Safety. They are not the same tbf, rule of law does matter.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@enoch_exe_inc @GreenFire wait you're happy with the HK police approach to the protests Enoch?

yes Kevin there are those trying i agree.

jeffjarvis, to random
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social avatar

Where to start? The press critic resents the President as subject (and victim) of the press criticizing it. He excuses the press' credulous coverage of Trump. He engages in unique bothsidesism: can't they do both stakes and polls still? When we need press critics most, they, too, are too busy circling wagons.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/01/bidens-false-choice-for-the-media-00155434

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@jeffjarvis Notable that he felt triggered.

I went through a few of his recent pieces. He is definitely writing pieces that are part of the problem.

Half of the 4 I clicked into were garbage. He counted the words spoken in the SOTU speech per minute and judged it!

Comical. And profitable

ai6yr, to random

Based on the amount of stuff on the curb today, it's apparently spring cleaning weather. Dressers, desks, shelves, coffee tables (many coffee tables), TVs... Typical of our middle class neighborhood. Although, better that it can be scavenged off the curb than directly into the trash!

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@sysop408 @ai6yr and spray them for fleas as I learned once

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

1/... Emptywheel:

New Yorkers will be amused that nepo-kid's idea of stamina is stopping by a Bodega after a 7 hour day sitting on your ass and a USSS escort drive across town.

Eric : His stamina, I've never seen anything like it in my life. He'll be in trial all day long only to step out and do events at bodegas and go to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The whole world knows his toughness

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff He was in Ohio a month ago...

Nonilex, to Law
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Day 4 🧵 starts here.

Yesterday came to an abrupt end when the dishwasher leaked all over the floor. It’s fixed now, but what a mess.

Linus, Ramone & I are all doing well.

Yesterday’s 🧵 start:
https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/112332007257451711

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@CarlG @Nonilex seems Bove is in the weeds with...no particular purpose there.

heidilifeldman, to random
@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social avatar

Honestly, the Supreme Court justices today sounded even more deranged and clueless than I even expected. They are just too worried about hypothetical future presidents to focus on the fact that we have a former president indicted for attempting to overthrow an election who is now running for reelection on an explicitly authoritarian, anti-democracy platform. 1/

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@heidilifeldman any of them can break free at any time. they're lifers, it's over. they can ultimately do what they want.

but it's also the reality that when this shit breaks, it will lead to some killings. no one wants to be on the front line rn

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via Obama advisor Eric Schultz:

wow - NYT reporter says their nonstop coverage of ’s age is retribution for not giving their boss an interview:

“It’s A.G. He’s the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn’t done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/25/new-york-times-biden-white-house-00154219

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff since forever it's been, sadly

Teri_Kanefield, (edited ) to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

If you read my weekend blog post, you know that I've been pointing out that the predicate crime in the Trump trial is not clear.

(For what I mean, see my weekend blog post).

Here is what the Washington Post reported.

See screenshots #1 and #2.

Here is the law: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ELN/17-152?utm_medium=email&wpisrc=nl-nationalpopup&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=wp_the_trump_trials

To be clear: I have no idea how this trial will turn out. I cannot substitute my judgment for the jury because I am not seeing what they are seeing.

1/

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield @dsurkin At the risk of annoyance, this analysis by Quinta Jurecic indicates that an underpayment is not required.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/charting-the-legal-theory-behind-people-v.-trump

"Merchan seems to have been convinced, rejecting Trump’s argument “that the alleged New York State tax violation is of no consequence because the State of New York did not suffer any financial harm.”"

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield @dsurkin Yes I hope everyone cares deeply about the danger of a solid appeal.

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@dsurkin @Teri_Kanefield Thanks for that Dean, I got something wrong a few days ago with Teri so I wanted to be careful.

I want to note we're talking (I hope) about Cohen's overpayment of taxes and how Cohen (at the requirement of Donald Trump) falsified his New York State tax filings, categorizing the repayment of his payment to Stormy Daniels as income, on which he paid taxes.

In other words, the filing was false but he paid more than he "had" to...

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@dsurkin @Teri_Kanefield

The filing was false but he paid more than he "had" to, given that the receipts were repayments and not new income. He overpaid rather than evaded taxes, to hide the purpose of the money transfers.

Overpayments should not be a bar to prosecution, given that the ultimate goal is to launder illegal transfers.

Paying "extra" taxes in exchange for laundering funds would be quite acceptable to criminals with illicit money, if the payment acted as protection

lesblazemore,
@lesblazemore@mastodon.social avatar

@dsurkin @Teri_Kanefield

Paying "extra" taxes in exchange for laundering funds would be quite acceptable to criminals with illicit money, if the payment acted as protection from prosecution for the transfers themselves.

A bit of burden perhaps but not an unacceptable route for a sophisticated player, as we see here.

The State is not just requiring its fair share of proceeds, but that records and filings be accurate. Fraudulently filing them is always illegal.

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