Dec 22 2020

How Can We Indict Thee, Let Us Count The Ways

“America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani is in deep trouble with the feds. He has been under investigation since February by the prosecutors of Southern District of New York where he was the US Attorney way back when.  The SDNY attorneys remained quiet during the election, but now the election is finished. Things got hotter last night when news broke that prosecutors are looking to subpoena his e-mail.

Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have been in communication with Justice Department officials in Washington about gaining access to Giuliani’s emails, the two sources said. The Southern District needs Washington’s approval before its prosecutors can ask a judge to sign a search warrant for materials that may be protected by attorney-client privilege, according to department policy. It is not known whether Washington has been granted that approval.

The scope of the current investigation is unclear, but in October 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors from the Southern District were reviewing Giuliani’s bank records as part of an investigation into his dealings in Ukraine. Two of his former associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested that month on charges of campaign finance fraud and have since been charged with additional crimes related to wire fraud conspiracy. Parnas and Fruman have pleaded not guilty.

In February, The Washington Post reported that prosecutors were contacting witnesses and seeking to collect additional documents as part of their investigation into Giuliani.

Since then, little had been known about the status of the investigation and whether Giuliani was still under scrutiny for his efforts to convince Ukraine to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden over his son Hunter’s business dealings in the country.

The two sources familiar, however, say the investigation into Giuliani is ongoing, with one saying it is “very active.”

Last night when this news broke, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow wondered just what the prosecutors were looking for

It’s hard to narrow it down. There is a veritable cornucopia of possibilities in terms of what exactly Mr. Giuliani may be under investigation for, and which of those many investigations might have been the trigger for trying to get a warrant. I mean take your pick. [..]

It could be all of them.

“It’s really complicated,” said NBC News reporter Julia Ainsley, “because not only is Giuliani an attorney, but he’s the president’s attorney. So when you talk about getting information, getting communications that are protected under attorney-client privilege, you have to go through main Justice and a lot of times they set up a filter team. These are people who have the very tedious task of reviewing communications, deciding what is protected, and then they are the ones who decide what to hand over to prosecutors so the prosecutors don’t see anything that could be protected under attorney-client privilege.”

But much of that evidence would likely be permissible for prosecutors to review, because Giuliani serves many roles for the president.

“He wears many hats, so some of the communications very well could not be protected by attorney-client privilege,” Ainsley said. “But then you have the added layer he’s the president’s attorney, and that could be a reason why some of this investigation was at least, it kind of went quiet for a while. You can’t take overt actions that’s as closely tied to a candidate, and at that time, the president was a candidate, and the lead-up to the elections. That’s why we may have not heard as much about this investigation.”

I’ll bet it’s all of them and the Squatter pardons him before it goes to indictments.

Dec 22 2020

Cartnoon

Trump’s Border Wall: A Four-Year Saga

Trump’s border wall went from “Mexico’s gonna pay” to Mexicans literally stealing pieces of the wall. Here’s a recap of the four-year saga.

TMC for ek hornbeck

Dec 22 2020

The Breakfast Club (Sound Of Freedom)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Uprising topples Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu; Richard Reid tries to light explosives in his shoes on Miami flight; French army officer Alfred Dreyfus convicted of treason; Pop star Madonna marries Guy Ritchie.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.

Lady Bird Johnson

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Dec 21 2020

Late Night Today

In the tradition of ek hornbeck, we bring you Saturday Night Live.

Pence Gets the Vaccine Cold Open

Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) and his wife Karen (Lauren Holt) receive the COVID-19 vaccine live on national television.

Kristen Wiig 2020 Holiday Monologue

Kristen Wiig bids farewell to the year 2020 by listing her favorite things with some help from Maya Rudolph and Kate McKinnon.

Christmas Morning

A family (Kristen Wiig, Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Chloe Fineman) shows off what they received for Christmas this year.

Secret Word Holiday Edition

Mindy Elise Grayson (Kristen Wiig) and a contestant (Kate McKinnon) compete on Secret Word, hosted by Grant Choad (Kenan Thompson).

Home Alone 2

In an alternate ending to Home Alone 2, Kevin McCallister (Melissa Villaseñor) strikes up a friendship with a pigeon lady (Kristen Wiig).

The Weekend Update is after the jump.
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Dec 21 2020

Winter Solstice 2020: Here Comes the Sun

The shortest day, the longest night, for those of us who reside in the Northern climes Winter Solstice is here. The sun reaches is most Southern destiny and touches for but a moment, the Tropic of Capricorn and immediately reverses her course. That moment occurred early this morning at 5:02 AM ET. Sky watchers this year are in for a treat as Jupiter ans Saturn will travel together across the evening sky appearing to be a single planet in what astronomers call a conjunction. This is the closest they have come since 1623.

The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years.

What makes this year’s spectacle so rare, then? It’s been nearly 400 years since the planets passed this close to each other in the sky, and nearly 800 years since the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night, as it will for 2020, allowing nearly everyone around the world to witness this “great conjunction.”

The closest alignment will appear just a tenth of a degree apart and last for a few days. On the 21st, they will appear so close that a pinkie finger at arm’s length will easily cover both planets in the sky. The planets will be easy to see with the unaided eye by looking toward the southwest just after sunset.

From our vantage point on Earth the huge gas giants will appear very close together, but they will remain hundreds of millions of miles apart in space. And while the conjunction is happening on the same day as the winter solstice, the timing is merely a coincidence, based on the orbits of the planets and the tilt of the Earth. [..]

For those who would like to see this phenomenon for themselves, here’s what to do:

  • Find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright, so they can be seen even from most cities.
  • An hour after sunset, look to the southwestern sky. Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible. Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21, when Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse positions in the sky.
  • The planets can be seen with the unaided eye, but if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you may be able to see Jupiter’s four large moons orbiting the giant planet.

If the skies are very clear the conjunction may be seen in the southwestern sky shortly after dark on December 21, and it should be visible from roughly 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Jupiter and Saturn will be very close together. Anyone will be able to see the pair with unaided eyes. No telescope or binoculars is required, but a magnified view through a Griffith Observatory telescope will be live streamed. You can also observe both planets and their moons through your own telescope. If the sky is too cloudy where you are, you can watch it here from the Mount Wilson Observatory in California starting at 8 PM ET.

 

 

Besides this special celestial event, the Winter Solstice is a special night for those who practice the craft and has a rich history from many cultures. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel. It is one of the eight holidays, or Sabbats, that are held sacred by Wiccans and Pagans around the world. In Celtic traditions it is the battle between the young Oak King and the Holly King:

the Oak King and the Holly King are seen as dual aspects of the Horned God. Each of these twin aspects rules for half the year, battles for the favor of the Goddess, and then retires to nurse his wounds for the next six months, until it is time for him to reign once more.

Often, these two entities are portrayed in familiar ways – the Holly King frequently appears as a woodsy version of Santa Claus. He dresses in red, wears a sprig of holly in his tangled hair, and is sometimes depicted driving a team of eight stags. The Oak King is portrayed as a fertility god, and occasionally appears as the Green Man or other lord of the forest.

The re-enactment of the battle is popular in some Wiccan rituals.

As we prepare for the longest night, we decorate our homes with red, green and white, holly, ivy, evergreen and pine cones. We honor the solar year with light. We place candles in the windows facing the North, South, East and West to ward off the darkness and celebrate the return of the sun/ With the setting sun, fires are lit in hearths and fire pits and kept burning to keep us warm until Sol returns at dawn.

There is food a plenty, roasts and stews and winter vegetables and sweets, chocolate and peppermint candy, apples and oranges and sweet breads. All these reminding us of the last harvest, the gifts of Gaia, Mother Earth and the hunts by Hern of the Wild Hunt. Of course there will be honeyed and spiced wine and hearty, dark beers, some made by friends who will join the festivities.

What ever your beliefs, or none, may the traditions and celebrations bring you peace and joy. Blessed Be. The Wheel Turns.
 


 

 

Dec 21 2020

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Margaret Sullivan: Journalists, it’s time for a cold-turkey breakup with Trump

Long before he glided down that golden escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump was an object of media fascination. He could never actually become president, of course — that was unthinkable — but he captivated us all the same.

Once he was elected, the media’s fascination turned to utter obsession. Newscasts, front pages, opinion columns — whatever the form, we couldn’t seem to tear our gaze away.

The relationship was bumpy, sometimes abusive — “scum,” he called us early on — but Trump commanded attention nearly every hour of every day. [..]

But soon, very soon, the party needs to end. It’s late, everyone’s had too much to drink, and it’s time to head home and sleep it off.

Take inspiration where it can be found: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell managed a hollow smile Tuesday as he acknowledged that Joe Biden is the president-elect and Kamala Harris the vice president-elect. Now the news media needs to do something every bit as challenging: Go cold turkey on Trump.

Yes, breaking up is hard to do. And this one is going to hurt more than most.

Aaron Schwid and Tom Frieden: How to reopen the economy safely? Immunity passports.

With the authorization of a second effective vaccine against the coronavirus, we can imagine an end to the pandemic, like voyagers on a ship seeing the safety of shore.

But it will take many months before we reach the end of this perilous journey, and the public is increasingly losing patience with broad restrictions on day-to-day life. So as more and more people are vaccinated, it’s time to carefully design a system of “immunity passports.”

These passports would serve as a form of proof of immunity, allowing people who have immunity to engage in some activities others cannot. That could make it possible to ratchet down protective measures, such as stay-at-home orders and business closures, without increasing health risks. A venue could finally reopen to some performers, fans and staff. Visitors could return more freely to nursing homes and prisons. International travel could increase.

Versions of these passports already exist. Travel between certain countries requires proof of yellow fever vaccination. Measles and other vaccines are mandatory for school admission. Hospitals and nursing homes require that staff get an annual flu shot.

Immunity passports for covid-19 — although controversial for scientific, practical and ethical reasons — are already being developed. We need minimum standards to get this right.

Helaine Olen: Almost no one wants a neighbor like Donald Trump

Trump is a bad neighbor. Who could have guessed?

This week, The Post reported that a lawyer for the evangelical DeMoss family, President Trump’s next-door neighbor at Mar-a-Lago, had submitted a letter to the town of Palm Beach pointing out that an agreement Trump signed with the town decades ago forbids anyone — including the soon-to-be-former president — from using the property as a primary residence.

This presents a practical issue for Trump: In 2019, he changed his legal residence to the private club. That’s a problem, the DeMoss family has declared. “Palm Beach has many lovely estates for sale, and surely he can find one that meets his needs,” the family’s lawyer wrote in an admirably understated style. [..]

But maybe those neighbors will start complaining, too. Trump, you will be unsurprised to learn, is not the sort of person you want living next door. Almost everywhere he goes, the neighbors want him gone. Think of it this way: Would you want to reside near someone who not only attracts protesters but needs them tear-gassed so he can stage a photo op? Or one who hosts covid-19 superspreader events?

Amanda Marcotte: A return to fake right-wing outrage: Without Trump, Republicans run back to sexist resentments

Desperate to keep the rubes riled up, the right reverts to faking umbrage at “unladylike” self-expression

Needless to say, 2020 was quite the year — and not just for people who believe in preserving democracy and containing deadly pandemics.

For Republican politicians and right-wing media, whose careers are centered around feeding silly victimization narratives to the right-wing base, there was all manner of made-up nonsense to get the rubes riled up. For months, the right-wing narrative was focused on claims that the coronavirus pandemic and/or measures to contain it were all a giant conspiracy aimed at tanking Donald Trump’s re-election chances. The fall was then consumed by similarly bonkers conspiracy theories about “voter fraud” and Joe Biden somehow “rigging” the election.

And while both narratives are still being pushed by right-wing media — and Trump himself is still raving like a madman on Twitter with his election conspiracy theories — it’s becoming clear to many in the right-wing media that it’s time to move on. There’s going to be a Democrat in the White House, and it’s time to put to bed the grievance narrative of “deep state trying to take a good man down!”

So the right is returning to the strategy of the Barack Obama years, churning out a steady stream of fake outrage over supposed Democratic transgressions — remember how angry they were that Obama wore a tan suit? — all to feed their metanarrative that Democratic governance is inherently illegitimate. And they know that the quickest way to stir the furies of right-wing America is to tell them stories about how all those Democratic women are out of control. Who do those b*tches think they are?

Robert Reich: Joe Biden’s biggest challenge is avoiding “back to normal”

Biden ran on a promise to return to political “normalcy,” but that kind of complacency would be deadly

“Life is going to return to normal,” Joe Biden promised in a recent address to the nation. He was talking about life after Covid, but he might as well have been making a promise about life after Trump.

But a return to “normal” would be disastrous. We can’t give in to the allure of “normal” — because normal is what got us here. Normal led to Trump.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the last four years have been traumatic for the nation. After Trump’s abuses of power, human rights violations, blatant racism, and maliciously incompetent response to the pandemic, people are understandably exhaling a sigh of relief.

But we can’t return to “normal” because “normal” was four decades of stagnant wages and widening inequality when almost all economic gains went to the top.

The Republican Party’s core response has been stoking division and hate while suppressing the votes of communities of color. And the Democratic Party abandoned the working class.

Another reason we can’t go back to normal is that “normal” led to our staggering Covid death toll and devastating economic fallout that have most brutally harmed lower-income Americans, especially communities of color.

That’s because normal in this case has been decades of systemic racism as well as shredded safety nets for everyone in need, the most expensive but least adequate healthcare system in the modern world, and a growing climate catastrophe that’s steadily undermining public health.

Dec 21 2020

Cartnoon

“Twas The Coup Before Christmas” A Late Show Animated Holiday Classic

The little Late Show Elves have crafted another holiday cartoon classic, tailor-made for the steaming pile of joy that was 2020!

TMC for ek hornbeck

Dec 21 2020

The Breakfast Club (Longer Shelf Life)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Pilgrims land in Plymouth Massachusetts; Pan Am flight 747 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland; Apollo 8 lifts off on first manned mission to the Moon; Actress Jane Fonda is born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.

Frank Zappa

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Dec 20 2020

Rant of the Week: Ticked Off Vic – Leave Santa Claus Alone!

Our very funny but fouled mouthed Brooklyn neighbor Vic DiBitteto is ticked off about some folks who think Santa Claus should be a female or neutral gender – whatever that is. He wants people to leave Santa Claus alone. Be warned Vic’s colorful language is not exactly safe for the work place, young children or those who just don’t like cussing.

Dec 20 2020

Cartnoon

Monty Python Society For Putting Things On Top of Other Things

This video is about Society For Putting Things On Top of Other Things

BobbyK for ek hornbeck

Dec 20 2020

The Breakfast Club (PT Omelet)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club!

AP’s Today in History for December 20th

New Orleans marks completion of Louisiana Purchase; South Carolina is first state to secede from Union; Vermont Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexual couples; ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ premieres in New York.

Breakfast Tune Gettysburg Banjo 12 – Buffalo Gals

Something to think about, Breakfast News & Blogs below

 

Something to think about over coffee prozac

 
Literary Scholars Discover First Draft Of ‘A Christmas Carol’ Where All 4 Ghosts Show Up At Once And Just Beat The Shit Out Of Scrooge
T.O.
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Dec 19 2020

Late Night Today

Because we know you can’t stay up and watch these shows, here is a round up of the previous night’s late night talk show host’s opening monologues and highlight segments. We all need a good laugh at the end of the day.

Some of our hosts have already begun their break for the Christmas holiday. Last night Stephen and Trevor begin theirs.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert gets nostalgic for 2020.

Stephen Colbert Hosts “2020: The Year That Took Years, What A Clusterfond Look Back”

For his final monologue of 2020, Stephen Colbert recaps the year that brought us the clumsiest coup in history, a global pandemic, one of the most active hurricane seasons on record, a presidential election, and so much more. Join us for this epic trek down recent memory lane.

On The Daily Show with Trevor Noah we get a recap of the week and OH! what a week.

What the Hell Happened This Week? – Week of 12/14/2020

Trump officially loses the Electoral College, Mitch McConnell congratulates Biden, and Trump finally meets the moment by rolling back water restrictions on toilets and shower heads.

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