Flotsam and Jetsam - Palm Sunday Edition

Whodda thunk? Indictment gives Trump a political boost, but some GOP operatives wonder how long it can last (Fox). Althouse notes The new Yahoo/YouGov poll — taken after Trump's indictment — has Trump with his largest lead yet. Of course, there's been plenty of speculation that one of the reasons for Democrats to go after Trump is to boost him in the minds of Republicans, figuring that he's the easiest to beat in 2024. If the boost from this indictment doesn't last, there are two more in the wings, and they're only a ham sandwich away from the next. "Yahoo News reports."  KT at Hat Hair pays attention to Stormy Daniels: "There's going to be death" no matter what happens to Trump

“It’s monumental and epic, and I’m proud,” Daniels says. “The other side of it is that it’s going to continue to divide people and bring them up in arms. He’s already gotten away with inciting a riot, and causing death and destruction.

“Whatever the outcome is, it’s going to cause violence, and there’s going to be injuries and death,” she says. “There’s the potential for a lot of good to come from this. But either way, a lot of bad is going to come from it, too.”

At NYPo,  House Dems who ripped Trump for jailing opponents threat support indictment. Remind me again, which opponent did Trump put in jail? At Behind the Black, a Midnight repost: The Democratic Party of thugs and goons. The Bookworm Room, Rubicon Crossed. Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard, "The fact that Dem elite/permanent Washington is able & willing to use the power of law enforcement to go after political opponents, everyone from parents attending school board meetings to a former president, is evidence that our country is no longer a functioning democracy or a truly free country. It’s time to vote out these anti-democracy politicians and take back our country." Eric Lendrum at Am Great, The Final Fight Begins Now. "Will we answer the call to save our history, and in the process make history ourselves? Or will we continue to be complacent and watch this nation perish from the earth?"

I can't tell if she's pleased or not, Althouse, "Every local prosecutor in the country will now feel that he or she has free rein to criminally investigate and prosecute presidents after they leave office." Duke at Red State features a Detroit Reporter who Calls for the Trump Investigation Treatment of Michigan's Gov Whitmer.According to Steve Miller at World Spec, Hunter Biden is going to be indicted, "So is Joe, Hillary, AOC… all thanks to Alvin Bragg opening Pandora’s Box." Let the whirlwind begin! 

At Breitbart, Bragg Confirms Federal Funds Used in Trump Probe, Bolstering GOP Investigation. "The funds, Bragg’s general counsel Leslie Dubeck wrote to three powerful GOP chairmen, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY), and Bryan Steil (R-WI), came from the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Fund and were used to investigate Trump and his organization between October 2019 and August 2021, before Bragg took office. Dubeck also noted that the district attorney’s office was enrolled in three federal grant programs, which allocate more than $2 million total to the Manhattan office for its casework, though she stated that no grant money has been used to pay Trump investigation expenses." At LI, Fuzzy Slippers WaPo’s Glenn Kessler Posts Three Pinocchio ‘Fact Check’ On Bragg Being “Soros-backed,” Gets Schooled "“Claiming Soros ‘funded’ Bragg is simply false, but many rely on the more ambiguous phrase of ‘backed,’ which is technically correct by several degrees of separation. But it’s still misleading and worthy of Three Pinocchios.”"

Pushing Grandma off a cliff, Hypocritical Biden Goes Through With Cut to Medicare Advantage 2024 Rate (Nick Arama at Red State). At WaEx, As threats to our national security grow, the Biden administration turns to Ibram Kendi, who really doesn't wish us well. Breitbart, Exclusive—Anatomy of a Biden Crime Family Business Deal: Get Son Hunter or Sister Valerie to Sign ‘on Behalf of the VP.’ At PM, FDIC moves to force big banks to pay 'special assessment' after Silicon Valley Bank collapse. "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), staring down nearly $23 billion in outstanding costs following recent bank failures, is deliberating shifting much of that financial burden onto the nation’s largest banks." It seems fair to me; if depositors in the superbanks need to be protected because they're too big to fail, they should pay for the privilege. Emily Peck at Anxious is anxious to add that SVB's collapse was a failure of ESG (as in governance).

All in on Trump, sundance at CTH has a REMINDER: The Foundation of DeSantis 2024 Is Built on a Ridiculous Lie.

Matt Vespa at Town Hall wonders did you Notice Anything Odd About How NBC News Described How Police Stopped the Nashville Shooter? ". . . this NBC News piece which didn’t even identify Hale as transgender. To make things more interesting, they said Hale was “gunned down” by police when confronted." At WaEx, Biden rips anti-transgender ‘attacks’ on Trans Day of Visibility with no mention of Nashville. Hat Hair's Beege Wellborn notes Be their deeds ever so vile, trans genders are a protected class. From Hat Hair, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears takes no prisoners ""They are misgendering and dead naming the murderer. They are referring to the murderer by their given name and not their chosen name. ... If someone says they're a man they're a man." "This person murdered 6 people. I don't really care who you say you are." Twitchy, Winsome Sears dropping truth nukes during Bill Maher’s show was pretty awesome. Matt Margolis at PJM notes even Bill Maher and J.K. Rowling Are Asking Questions About Transgenderism That Many on the Left Won’t. Althouse goes Potter, "No one ever thinks that! No one ever thinks they’re Umbridge!" "Said J.K. Rowling, in Chapter 7 — "What If You're Wrong?" — of the podcast "The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling" (transcript), responding to this question from the interviewer, Megan Phelps Roper. . ." but hastens to add, "The presumption that gender-diverse identities are not real — that young people will eventually come to accept their birth assigned gender as their minds catch up to their maturing bodies..." ""... is not supported by the evidence and is likely harmful...." says the surgeon whose business model is gender reassignments. Dave Strom at Hat Hair goes to Canada to find Billboard Chris assaulted; police take side of trans attacker. 

Another angle of the assault on me today. Police did nothing.

The investigating officer says I instigated, and she told me it was a mutual fight. pic.twitter.com/rCQZyntjSY

— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@BillboardChris) April 1, 2023

Jazz Shaw at Hat Hair thinks Montana's latest trans bill has a couple of issues "It might have been easier to simply construct the law based on DNA and the presence or absence of a Y chromosome in the 23rd pair. But even that approach would run into issues. There are people who are born with missing or even extra sex chromosomes, resulting in a condition known as ambiguous genitalia. While also exceedingly rare, these are the people who could most honestly be described as being legitimately “transgender.” Because of that, this law should provide accommodations for such people to avoid eventual lawsuits against the state and the punishment of people with irregular reproductive systems through no fault of their own." Hat Hair also notes, Just so you know, the National Weather Service all in on visible trans type, too, best stick to predicting actual storms.

Chicks on the Right observe MIT Will Be Hosting a DEI Debate… and Their DEI Deans Refuse to Attend. Across da pond at Da Mail, some Federal judges announce they will refuse to hire clerks from Stanford Law School after woke students and diversity dean ambushed conservative member of the bench: 'They terrorize people into submission and self-censorship'. A good start. 

Althouse wonders What will happen on Twitter, now that the elite are no longer boosted by the old blue check system? and then Talked myself into buying the blue check. Ann Althouse@annalthouse, "I'm thinking the new approach will be more democratic, more marketplace-of-ideas, more about the actual writing in particular posts than the status of the speaker — and perhaps more magically surprising, like TikTok." At Hat Hair, Capt. Ed worries Has the FTC been politically weaponized against Musk -- and others? Of course it has. Gabe Kaminsky at WaEx, Revolving door: Big Tech staffed with hundreds of ex-DOJ employees amid antitrust battle.

 Reason claims The RESTRICT Act Would Restrict a Lot More Than TikTok. "Once again, politicians use popular fears to push for open-ended power." Da Caller sees a ‘Clear Threat’: Critics Raise Concern ‘RESTRICT’ Act Empowers Biden While Leaving Chinese ‘Spyware’ In Place. Politicians tend to overdo things. 

WUWT, Did an AI Convince Someone to Sacrifice Himself for Climate Change?

A Belgian man reportedly ended his life following a six-week-long conversation about the climate crisis with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

According to his widow, who chose to remain anonymous, *Pierre – not the man’s real name – became extremely eco-anxious when he found refuge in Eliza, an AI chatbot on an app called Chai. Eliza consequently encouraged him to put an end to his life after he proposed sacrificing himself to save the planet. “Without these conversations with the chatbot, my husband would still be here,” the man’s widow told Belgian news outlet La Libre.
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The chatbot was created using EleutherAI’s GPT-J, an AI language model similar but not identical to the technology behind OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT chatbot.
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The beginning of the end started when he offered to sacrifice his own life in return for Eliza saving the Earth.

“He proposes the idea of sacrificing himself if Eliza agrees to take care of the planet and save humanity through artificial intelligence,” the woman said.

In a series of consecutive events, Eliza not only failed to dissuade Pierre from committing suicide but encouraged him to act on his suicidal thoughts to “join” her so they could “live together, as one person, in paradise”.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Elena Santarelli and FMJRA 2.0: Crazy Nietsche – Der Freie Geist up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.