Thursday, April 18, 2024

Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Visits Bragg's Bodega, Mayorkas Skates Without Trial

The next few days might be kind of meager, we have an out-of-town visitor who's likely to take up some time. First, a small Key Bridge update. WMAR News,  "There's a lot of pressure on us": Removing and recycling Key Bridge wreckage  

We saw crews cutting into the biggest piece of steel the salvage teams have removed from the Key Bridge wreckage site so far. They used the biggest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to do it - the Chesapeake 1000. "The piece itself was quite big - roughly 400 - 500 tons worth of steel," Frank Schiano, member of the U.S. Coast Guard's Atlantic Strike team, and salvage branch director for Unified Command, said.  

At the Balmer Sun, Dali’s owner declares ‘general average’ in Key Bridge disaster. What does that mean? Basically, it's a old nautical device used to spread the costs to shippers out over the whole cargo. 

General average, a maritime principle written into shipping contracts, has roots in ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire. If a ship was in a storm, for example, and the crew needed to jettison some cargo to avoid sinking, they might throw certain goods overboard. Afterward, the ship owner and everyone who had cargo aboard would be responsible for covering that shipper’s loss — not just the unlucky owner whose possessions were sacrificed. That’s how general average works on a small scale. On a large scale and in modern times, it can mean that cargo owners have to share in the cost of huge salvage efforts — say, pulling thousands of tons of steel off the 984-foot Dali and repairing its bow — with the ship owner.

The Trump Trial in New York continues This Is the Biggest Head-Shaking Issue in the 'Bogus' NYC Case Against Trump. Vicky Taft at PJM thinks This Is the Biggest Head-Shaking Issue in the 'Bogus' NYC Case Against Trump. "Bragg's legal theory is that Donald Trump stole the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton. Yes, really. Clinton won nearly two to one in Bragg's state of New York, but there's something even more odd going on here than the fact that he bases his state case on other states' electoral outcomes. The founder of the Article III Project and Trump supporter, Mike Davis, wonders how someone could steal an election if all the alleged "crimes" happened in 2017 — after the election. All 34 charges are stated to have happened after the election, according to Bragg's indictment." mrcTV is outraged that DA Bragg Calls on Judge to Hold Trump in Contempt for Social Media Posts About Daniels & Cohen. PJM's Athena Thorne admires  Trump’s Brilliant Prosecution Juxtaposition Campaign, a visit to the bodega where Alvin Bragg attempted to prosecute the owner for stabbing to death the robber attempting an armed robbery. From TNP, Trump Tells Tish James ‘PAY UP’ After Her Frivolous Bond Claim. "The attorneys for former President Donald Trump affirmed that his $175 million bond posted in connection with the ongoing civil fraud case in New York is financially sound. They have requested that the judge consider New York Attorney General Letitia James‘s challenge to the bond invalid. Additionally, Trump’s legal team is asking the former President to be awarded costs and fees for having to produce additional documents to comply with James’s challenge of the bond."

The Dersh to Newsmax: Dems '100% Correct' in Dismissing Mayorkas Charges. Senate Dems disposed of the Mayorkas impeachment trial in three hours by the simple of expedient of voting on party line to declare the impeachment charges unconstitutional. I hope somebody remembers that strategy for the next impeachment attempt against Donald Trump. From Ace, Illegal Alien Released by Biden Charged in Hit-and-Run Death of Senator's Aid "The Third Worldization of America continues." At least she was a Democrat. At Da Wire, Dem Congresswoman Called Deportation ‘Cruel And Unusual Punishment,’ Fought Against Removal Of Refugee Charged With Molesting Child. Breitbart reports  House Dissatisfaction with Johnson Explodes over Foreign Aid ‘Insanity’ that Neglects Southern Border.

At NYPo, Biden suggests uncle eaten by ‘cannibals’ in New Guinea — but military says his WWII plane lost at sea. NewsMax, Biden Is Off on Details of His Uncle's WWII DeathJohn Podhoretz@jpodhoretz "People. This is not good. And don’t whatabout me on Trump. I’m not a Trumper. Quote RNC Research@RNCResearch, "BIDEN: "I made it clear to the Israelis — don't move on Haifa!" Haifa is a major city *IN* Israel." I&I is disturbed by Joe Biden’s Wars

NewsMax, Rep. Comer Calls Out WH Obstruction in Impeachment Inquiry, again.

The Balmer Sun has a Sun/FOX45/UB poll: Lagging support for Biden, Trump underscores lack of enthusiasm. I dunno. I see a lot of enthusiasm for and against Trump. I don't think anyone is excited by Biden. Hat Hair's Dave Strom cites a Former Biden Supporter on Why She Enthusiastically Supports Trump "Now, I wake up every morning in a panic that our last best hope of ending the monopoly of power on the Left rests on the imperfect shoulders of Donald Trump." Breitbart asserts Swing-State Voters Sour on Endless Ukraine Funding

Shawn Fleetwood at Da Fed reports California Sues Huntington Beach To Overturn Voter ID Measure Approved By Voters, because, well, California, and wonders Why Did This Left-Wing Elections Group Send An Iraqi Refugee A Voter Registration Form? At NewsMax, OANN, Smartmatic Settle 2020 Election Voting Case on undisclosed terms. 

Reagan Reese and Henry Rogers at Da Caller notice Trump-Aligned Republicans Silent After Voting To Extend Warrantless FISA Powers. From TNP, FISA Bill Progresses, As ‘Checks and Balances’ Amendment Fails. At HE, Dave Krayden asserts America is already a police state; it just hasn't captured you yet

Paul Sperry at RCI reports Impeachment ‘Whistleblower’ Was in the Loop of Biden-Ukraine Affairs That Trump Wanted Probed 

In 2019, then-National Intelligence Council analyst Eric Ciaramella touched off a political firestorm when he anonymously accused Trump of linking military aid for Ukraine to a demand for an investigation into alleged Biden corruption in that country.

But four years earlier, while working as a national security analyst attached to then-Vice President Joe Biden’s office, Ciaramella was a close adviser when Biden threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine unless it fired its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Ukraine-based Burisma Holdings. At the time, the corruption-riddled energy giant was paying Biden’s son Hunter millions of dollars.

From NRO, Uri Berliner Burned His Bridges at NPR, Then Set the House Ablaze. Matt Taibbi at Racket has Thoughts on the resignation of the former NPR senior editor On Uri Berliner's Resignation from NPR . "We all saw this coming, but many journalists reacted angrily to this news. A lot of people in media still have affection for the old NPR and wanted this moment to become its turnaround. Finding a way to keep Berliner around would have been a powerful message that the network intended to try to fix its problems. Sadly, this was never going to happen, as we learned in the last week." Ace, NPR Whistleblower Resigns, Stating He Cannot Work For an Organization Whose CEO "Disparages" Him. "Disparages? Or defames? Might be a promise of a lawsuit to come." Twitchy, Dozens of NPR Staffers Sign Letter to CEO and Unwittingly Prove Uri Berliner's Point. Chris Rufo at CJ has some Quotations from Chairman Maher "NPR’s new CEO exemplifies the ideological capture of America’s institutions."

What you notice first about Maher’s public speech are the buzzwords and phrases: “structural privilege,” “epistemic emergency,” “transit justice,” “non-binary people,” “late-stage capitalism,” “cis white mobility privilege,” “the politics of representation,” “folx.” She supported Black Lives Matter from its earliest days. She compares driving cars with smoking cigarettes. She is very concerned about “toxic masculinity.”

On every topic, Maher adopts the fashionable language of left-wing academic theory and uses it as social currency, even when her efforts veer into self-parody. She never explains, never provides new interpretation—she just repeats the phrases, in search of affirmation and, when the time is right, a promotion.

Maher understands the game: America’s elite institutions reward loyalty to the narrative. Those who repeat the words move up; those who don’t move out.

Frankly, I don't see how she survives in the post much longer. I just hope she gets the chance to testify to a House committee before the end. Althouse, "No one’s been harder on Trump than me. But I get it, and I’m bored with it. And there’s a different way to do this...." ""Not to defend Trump, but to defend the people who still vote for him. Because what they see on the other side, to them, is even more dangerous. Because it’s closer to home: 'My kid is coming home from school and he thinks he’s a racist? He’s five, what have you been telling him? My son thinks maybe he’s not a boy.' And maybe that’s true, that happens. Those kind of things are what they say. 'That’s why I’m voting for Trump.'" Said Bill Maher, criticizing the mainstream commentators who endlessly express negativity toward Trump, quoted in "Bill Maher Defends Trump Voters in Contentious Katie Couric Sit-Down" (Daily Beast)(video at the link)."

Spin, Strangness and Charm, explores an UnHerd exclusive: the shady company behind the “disinformation demonetization” apparatus. It's a pretty good video, but I won't embed it.

Dan Greenfield at Front Page is shocked, shocked when CAIR Asks Prosecutors to Lock Up Journalists Exposing Hamas Supporters, "With penalties from 1 to 5 years in prison for Jewish activists." Da Wire wants you to WATCH Democrats Refuse To Condemn Burning American Flag, Chanting ‘Death To America.’ The Free Bacon reports Harvard Taps Longtime DEI Advocate To Help Pick University’s Next President. "Vivian Hunt, an ex-McKinsey consultant who has argued meritocracy ‘isn’t good enough,’ will serve as president of the Harvard Board of Overseers." Ace, ACLU Fires Asian Lawyer For Using "Racially Harmful" Language to Complain About Black Boss. She Didn't Say Anything Racist; the ACLU Contends That Simply Criticizing a Black Boss Is Inherently "Harmful" Because It Caused "Hurt Feelings" Among Other Blacks. "Nice to have it laid out like this. You are now claiming it's racist to disagree with a black person or to dislike their management style. No backtracking; you said what you said. "Racism" now means simply "failure to sufficiently praise a privileged minority.""

Nina Power at Compact thinks The Trans Reckoning Is Here. It may be starting, but I think she's optimistic. 

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