Tracker

Buttigieg is one of the brightest lights in the Democratic party and ought to be a contender for the presidency in time.

Sad as it is for another human being to suffer this fate, it is Darwin's Law in action. As another addict (Robin Williams) said: "cocaine is nature's way of telling you you have too much money". Even sadder is the lionization of these idiots by their young followers.

Par for the course in Cowgary, Alabama. Doesn't matter if people get sick and die, so long as their souls are saved.

Reports out of the States indicate that Gaetz' close friend (Joel Greenberg) is facing 30 charges involving a decade of sexual contacts with minors and is under pressure to flip on Gaetz. Given the severity of the charges facing Greenberg and the potential consequences and the history of pedophiles being eager to save their own butts, it is almost certain that he will turn on Gaetz. Trump could face "legal consequences" for bilking supporters of campaign fundraising – analyst President Donald Trump could face "legal consequences" for fundraising scams that were uncovered by The New York Times. On Saturday, the newspaper published a damning report titled, "How Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations." "An investigation from The New York Times reveals Trump's cash-grabbing tactics with donors which the former president's spokesman is not denying. The Times reports Trump's campaign made recurring donations the default, then doubled them in an operation nicknamed the 'money bomb,' unbeknownst to many unsuspecting donors," MSNBC's Alicia Menendez reported Saturday. "One retiree said they withdrew seven times from his account." For analysis, Menendez interviewed Jill Wine-Banks, the former organized crime prosecutor who was an assistant Watergate special prosecutor. "Millions of dollars obtained through these practices," Menendez noted. "While they may be shady, are these tactics illegal?" "They may be legal, you have to be really careful," Wine-Banks replied. "You don't expect a former president of the United States to be using these kind of tactics. This is the kind of thing you expect from, oh, scam artists who sell really low-quality products," she noted. "In this case, what was happening was people would sign up thinking they were donating one time and there would be a little button they didn't see that said make this monthly, make this weekly, and sometimes it changed from monthly to weekly after they had hit it or had entered the one-time donation amount," "I think that that kind of fraud should have political consequences, even if it doesn't have legal. But I think there are legal consequences," she said. "He is facing so many civil and criminal charges right now that he's going crazy trying to defend himself. He needs full-time law firm, not a full-time lawyer, but he needs a full-time firm to handle all of the cases from the varying -- from Georgia, from the Manhattan D.A., from the New York attorney general, from the District of Columbia, from the policemen who have sued," she explained. "The New York courts ruled the defamation case can proceed, which means, by the way, that there will be under oath depositions, the president is going to have to testify, the former president, he has absolutely no way to evade any longer."

Thank you for the condolences, but it was long ago. I am not the same as I was, and perhaps that was why she passed out of my life. All wisdom comes at a price and I am grateful for all she was and brought into my life. She came here to do and learn certain things and when they were done, she moved on.

When I was 30ish, I could look back and see what an idiot I had been. When I was in my 50's, I became aware that I had been stupid in my 30's in so many ways. This means, by implication, I am probably a pompous ass now. My late wife and I used to say that we got married, had kids and then grew up while we were doing all that. L'Chaim.

Everyone screws up now and then. When we are younger, we can delude ourselves into thinking we don't but as we age, the evidence gets pretty hard to ignore.

He should be considered a piece of #2.

Kenny does not want to alienate his base. You could consider that Darwin's theory in action.

Apparently the Trump followers are both depressed and enraged because Trump has not emerged from his Mar-A-Lago tomb after three (or more) days and regained all his former power and glory. They are also feeling that way because of the steady parade of arrests in the Capitol insurrection and no GOP figure has stepped forward with the proof that was promised that would exonerate all the right-wing participants and place the blame on Antifa. I have little doubt that this was the motivating factor in this incident. A futile incident and deaths in a support of a failed movement.

Epidemiologist Who Helped Wipe Out Smallpox Issues Stark Warning About COVID-19 Variants Epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant, best known for his work eradicating smallpox, on Thursday expressed concerns over new coronavirus variants and stressed the need for a backup plan in addition to vaccinations to control the pandemic. “I’m quite worried about the variants. We seem to be getting not only many variants, but variants of concern almost every week,” Brilliant told CNN’s Erin Burnett. Daily new infections in the United States have plateaued at around 60,000, and public health experts warn that a fourth wave of the virus could be about to crash down on the country. A coronavirus strain that originated in South Africa, for example, renders the AstraZeneca vaccine 90% ineffective, Brilliant pointed out. A variant first seen in Brazil can allow reinfection, and one that emerged in the United Kingdom is more transmissible. “I do think we have to have a backup plan in addition to vaccinating everybody as fast as we can,” said Brilliant. “I think we have to get really much better at outbreak containment, detecting of diseases, finding them, isolating them, and vaccinating them with the vaccine that matches the variant that our genomics tells us they have.” Burnett asked if vaccine booster shots being developed against the variants would be enough. “I think it could be that the booster does it,” Brilliant replied. “I’m hopeful that there’ll be boosters that vaccinate us and immunize us for everything since the last vaccine we had. But, in addition, we will have dozens of vaccines and some will match better against certain variants.”

Gotta copy your idol.

In and out of the Convention Center this morning in 25 minutes. Had the Pfizer vaccine- yaaaay!!!

Pretty soon Trump isn't going to have many "friends" who are not in jail. On the other hand, he might be joining them.

Pfizer Vaccine Is Effective for 6 Months, Works for South Africa Variant: Study -Reuters A new study has found that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective on new variants, marking a step towards full FDA approval. In a clinical trial with 46,000 people, participants were at least 90% protected from symptomatic COVID-19 for six months after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Results show that 927 participants tested positive for the virus, and out of those, only 77 had received the vaccine, while 850 had received a placebo. The study also showed that Pfizer is effective against a virus mutation called B.1.351, more commonly known as the South Africa variant, which is said to be more contagious. “It’s really wonderful news that these vaccines continue to progress very rapidly toward licensure,” said Luciana Borio, a biotech official and former FDA scientist. The vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use only by the FDA.

We should be proud of that. The only people Carlson like are horrible ones.

Dementia does have its benefits- you get to meet new people every day and you can hide your own Easter eggs- a handy tip right now.

Manhattan Prosecutors Subpoena Trump Org CFO’s Bank Records: Report -Getty Manhattan prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization’s finances have subpoenaed the bank records of the company’s longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg, The New York Times reports. Lawyers in District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office are also scrutinizing lavish gifts Donald Trump and his family gave to Weisselberg, which included an apartment on Central Park South, cars, and private school tuition. The executive, like the ex-president, has not been charged with a crime.

New report reveals why Bill Barr didn't want to get caught anywhere with Matt Gaetz Rep. Matt Gaetz's name has been in the headlines a lot this week — not only in connection with an Axios report that he is considering leaving Congress to work as a pundit at Fox News competitor Newsmax TV, but also, in connection with two federal criminal investigations. And an article written by reporters Matt Dixon and Betsy Woodruff Swan and published by Politico this week explains why former U.S. Attorney General William Barr avoided being seen in public with Gaetz at one point in 2020. Gaetz is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a broad sex trafficking probe, and one of the things being examined in that probe is allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid her to travel with him across lines — which the congressman has vehemently denied. Gaetz has also claimed the FBI is investigating a related extortion plot that Gaetz and his father, former Florida State Senate President Don Gaetz, allege was organized by former federal prosecutor David McGee. The Politico report points out that the investigation of Gaetz's conduct began under the Trump administration, undercutting allegations that it's driven merely by partisan bias. In 2020, the Politico reporters add, "Then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr was briefed on the Gaetz probe and did not take issue with it, a source familiar with the matter told Politico. Barr and the Office of the Attorney General received multiple briefings on the Gaetz probe, beginning in the summer of 2020, a second person familiar with the probe said. They encouraged Florida prosecutors to move as quickly as they needed to and take whatever steps were appropriate." According to Dixon and Swan, Barr even avoided attending a GOP event because of Rep. Gaetz's presence. New report reveals why Bill Barr didn't want to get caught anywhere with Matt Gaetz - Alternet.org Judge voids Trump campaign non-disclosure agreement he used to silence employees A federal judge on Tuesday voided a Trump campaign non-disclosure agreement, ruling that it was too vague to be legally enforceable. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Gardephe, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Trump campaign cannot enforce its overly broad NDA against Jessica Denson, a former Hispanic outreach director who was ordered to pay nearly $50,000 after she filed a sexual discrimination and harassment lawsuit against the campaign in 2017 and criticized Trump on social media. Though the ruling only applies to Denson, her attorneys argued that it invalidates every campaign NDA. (Should be verrry interesting)

Here are 7 new bombshell details from the complex and unraveling Matt Gaetz investigation story: 1. The Washington Post confirmed two separate Justice Department investigations As we already knew, Gaetz has been under investigation for months under suspicion of a sex crime. But after this news broke, he revealed the existence of another federal investigation — an investigation of an attempt to "extort" him for $25 million over the sex crime allegation. 2. The request for $25 million relates to an Iranian prisoner The Post reported that the request for money from the Gaetz family was driven by a need to fund an operation to save Robert Levinson, a man who was imprisoned in Iran and who the U.S. government reportedly believes is dead. Levinson's family, it seems, believes he may still be alive. Interestingly, despite Gaetz's claim that he is being "extorted," the Examiner report describes the documents requesting the $25 million as a request for a "loan." 3. The incentive in the so-called "extortion" plot is highly dubious According to the document obtained by the Examiner, the plan was for Gaetz to get a presidential pardon if the rescue plan were successful: 4. The document obtained by the Examiner suggests a wider probe of Gaetz than has been reported Though the reports of the DOJ investigation into Gaetz have focused on the sex crime, the document reportedly given to the Gaetz family proposing the funding of the rescue operation suggests the Republican lawmaker is facing scrutiny for a wider range of conduct. In addition to the suspicion of sex trafficking, Gaetz is also supposedly being investigated for "political corruption, public integrity, and other criminal allegations." 5. The document also indicated the sex crime investigation into Gaetz is well-developed Again, it's hard to say whether the documents' claims are at all reliable, but it asserts that the FBI knows there are pictures of Gaetz and another "Elected Official" in a "sexual orgy with underage prostitutes." 6. It's not clear if there's actually evidence of an extortion scheme The reports do somewhat bolster Gaetz's allegation that he's facing an extortion scheme. But scrutinizing the documents and claims published by the Examiner, it's actually not clear if all the components of extortion fit the facts of the case. 7. Gaetz claimed he's looking into job opportunities from conservative outlets — but two denied any interest But a Fox official told the Beast: "No one with any level of authority has had conversations with Matt Gaetz for any of our platforms and we have no interest in hiring him." And OAN CEO Robert Herring said: "Right now, I'm not really hiring anybody for talk shows. I think he is a great congressman..."

This is the usual PC playbook. No surprise at all.

When you are 65, its pretty much anywhere you want it to be.

But will you be able to stay awake for it? BTW: you are officially "old" until you have to start planning how you are going to stand up. Or start wondering why you are in the kitchen. The other day I actually remembered why I was in a room- it was the bathroom, but still....

And your point is.....?