Wednesday, May 29, 2024

At Long Last, Recognition




After a century of ghosting the records of black players in the segregated Negro Leagues, Major League Baseball will now recognize the statistics of that league's players. Many of the league's greats like catcher Josh Gibson, who played mostly for the Homestead Grays, will now have their names at the top of MLB's official statistics. From CBS News:

"In a milestone decision decades in the making, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that it is now incorporating statistics of Negro Leagues that operated in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s into its record books.  

'This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible,' MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. 

Black players were barred from MLB until Jackie Robinson broke the league's color barrier in 1947 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. That breakthrough ultimately led to the Negro Leagues ending play in 1960.

'Their accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie Robinson's 1947 Dodger debut,' Manfred said in his statement."

The move came after three years of study and decades after the MLB's Special Committee on Baseball Records declined in 1969 to include the Negro Leagues' records, after recognizing several other baseball leagues' player statistics. There's no doubt that many white players knew that the quality of play and athleticism of Negro Leagues players was superior to theirs. Jackie Robinson was proof of that when he joined the majors in 1947 and made an immediate impact. One of the wonderful outcomes is that Gibson will replace vicious, racist player Ty Cobb as the career batting average leader, with his .372 average over Cobb's .366.  Some stories of the Negro Leagues' exploits are here. 

(photo: Josh Gibson, right, with pitcher Satchel Paige. Getty Images)

 

Censored By Blogger (At The Behest Of Trolls?)

 

Our readers should know there's nothing in the Tweets/ Xeets of the Day post below that merits a "sensitive content" warning -- it's all taken from widely viewed material from known entities.  Once you click through to view the post, you'll wonder as we do what triggered the warning.  We suspect it's the result of Blogger being beset by one or more right- wing trolls who wanted to exercise some control over what you can see on this blog.  They apparently succeeded for now.

As we note in the post below, we have no idea what content is sensitive and we can't find out from Blogger what triggered their putting the post behind a Sensitive Content warning.  Basically you can't appeal if you don't know what the problem is.  That's how they do business, apparently.

Once again, we can assure you there's nothing in the post below that we think our regular readers would consider "sensitive."


Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Mid-Week Song

 

Singer / songwriter Charlie Puth had his breakout in 2015 with his debut milti-platinum single, "Marvin Gaye" with featured singer Meghan Trainor. Since then, he's teamed with Wiz Khalifa, Jason Derulo, Boyz II Men, Elton John and more, winning Billboard Music Awards, Critics Choice Awards and People's Choice Awards. Puth has a new single out, the light, melodic pop number "Hero." Enjoy.


I wanna stop by and play it cool

It's hard to talk with all these people in your room

I try to lock eyes and give you clues

So you can come and follow me out by the pool


"Birdbrain" Has A "Message"

 



Über- ambitious lightweight Nikki "Birdbrain" Haley, after capitulating and kissing the Malignant Loser's ample ass, is visiting Israel this week (is she deluding herself into thinking the Malignant Loser will pick her as his VP nominee?).  She couldn't let the visit pass without a birdbrain message (our emphasis):

Days after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes against displacement camps in Southern Gaza, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley wrote “Finish them!” on Israeli artillery shells. 

"Finish them"?  At the very least, writing such a, let's say it again, birdbrain message on a bomb days after the bombing of a tent camp in Rafah that killed two Hamas leaders while also killing 45 civilians, including children, displays a lack of moral clarity.  It's especially appalling now that we know it was an American-made GBU-39 bomb that was used in the Rafah attack.  But she wasn't finished with her faux moralizing:

Haley, who recently sputtered in her bid to defeat former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, toured a kibbutz ravaged by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel in the company of current Knesset member and former UN Envoy [Likudnik] Danny Danon. 

“If you think this will only be in Israel, if we are arrogant enough, this could absolutely happen in America too and this is the moral of this story,” Haley said at one point during the visit...

Exactly what could happen in America, "Birdbrain"?  What puerile connections exactly are you making?  A large scale Hamas terrorist attack on an American town?  Or American-made weapons reducing an area the size of Philadelphia to rubble?   Perhaps the moral of this story is simply that one should never be where one does not belong.

On further reflection, she might make a good running mate for the Malignant Loser.  Her ambition far outweighs her competence, and she has the superficiality, the bold ignorance, and the sycophancy to make a good match for the Malignant Loser.  

Her voters now need to see her for what she is and always has been, and know that there's only one way to keep her chosen candidate out of the Oval Office -- reelecting President Biden.

(Photos:  via Twitter/X)


Trump Hush Money / Business Fraud Case Goes To Jury

 

Today, after Judge Juan Merchan gives his instructions to the jury, they will begin deliberations on the 34 felony counts of business fraud on which the Malignant Loser is charged.  If you're looking for a bare bones summary of the core of the case, this works:

On Tuesday afternoon, Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presents the state's closing argument against former President Donald Trump, seeking to reframe the case after two hours of defense arguments that it all relies on the credibility of one Michael Cohen.

Steinglass began by arguing that that the case is not in fact about Trump’s former fixer. “That’s a deflection,” Steinglass told the jury, CNN reported. “It’s about Mr. Trump and whether he should be held accountable for making false business entries in his own business records,” he continued, and "whether he and his staff did that to cover up election interference.”

The prosecutor reminded the jury of the testimony from David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, and his stated belief that Trump had an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied the affair but, Steinglass noted, Pecker testified that the former president had described her as a "nice girl," indicating that he knew her.

Steinglass called Pecker's testimony "powerful evidence of the defendant’s involvement, wholly apart from Cohen."  [snip]

The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. And while the charges against him stem from his reimbursement payments to Cohen, who paid off adult movie star Daniels, Steinglass reminded the jury that Cohen’s “significance in this case is that he provides context and color to the documents, the phone records.”

In fact, each criminal charge Trump faces is directly related to a specific entry among the business records of his organization. Steinglass said jurors should see Cohen as "like a tour guide through the physical evidence," and that while his own credibility has been questioned, "those documents don't lie and they don't forget."  (our emphasis)

The jury will deliberate until 4:30 today (if that's necessary).  As we've noted previously, there are multiple variations on what the jury may decide.  Let's see if "no one is above the law" still applies in this country.


Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com)

(John Cole, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA)


(Pedro Molina, Counterpoint)

(Bart van Leeuwen, Creators.com)


(Jesse Duquette, @_jesseduquette)


 (Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Brian McFadden, gocomics.com)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Steve Brodner, Los Angeles Times)
 

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Pia Guerra, @PiaGuerra)


Dithering On Rushing Aid To Ukraine Continues

 


Note to President Biden: it's time to kick some rear ends to get aid delivered immediately to Ukrainian forces trying to repel Russian attacks. This has been a problem almost from the beginning of the brutal Russian invasion in February 2022: supplies are often not what Ukraine is urgently in need of, and once approved, they're delays in getting there.  Of course, pro-Putin MAGA Republicans blocked new U.S. aid for months before passing the President's aid bill last month.  From Reuters:

"Ukraine will receive its first supplies of F-16 fighter jets 'very soon', but around half of its desperately needed foreign military aid is arriving late, Kyiv's defence minister has said.

Rustem Umerov, 42, told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv late on Monday that Russia was deploying more manpower and equipment to the front, more than 27 months after its full-scale invasion.

Kyiv's forces have managed to stabilise the new front in the northeastern Kharkiv region where Russia attacked earlier this month. But Umerov said Moscow was preparing for a new push.

'Their objective is to open a new front in the north to start using all their manpower, firing power, against us, they are continuing with their objective to destroy the nation,' he said.

'We are withstanding, but of course we need more weapons, we need more firing power, we need long-range missiles, not to allow them to enter our state.'

He said Ukraine was grateful for the military aid and weapons supplied by its partners, but that only half of the promised deliveries arrived on time. Every delay benefited Ukraine's much larger and better-equipped foe, with a front line stretching 1,200 km (750 miles)." (our emphasis)

This is a problem throughout the NATO alliance: promises about arms deliveries not kept in a timely fashion. There's also a sense that the Russian aggressors have exploited the Administration's fears regarding its policy of not permitting Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with weapons we've provided (ATACMS, in particular). That policy is, belatedly, under discussion inside the Administration. The longer a decision is not reached, the more Putin calculates that the collective resolve of the West is weakening, creating an even more dangerous situation.

(photo: Pallets of ammunition being loaded for transfer to Ukraine. Airman 1st Class Cydney Lee, U.S. Air Force)

 

Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

As his trial resumes, whining about standard judicial procedure --


 


The Malignant Loser wants to emulate dictator Kim Jong-Un here --



Repeat this until it cuts through the broken media's doomsaying -- 



Good on Melinda Gates. Others need to step up -- 



Bimbo Christofascist says the quiet part out loud, and the soulless rise to the top -- 


 


Speaking of Christofascists, DeSantis' Florida plans to indoctrinate children -- 



Book burners are not limited to Nazis -- 



New York Effing Times still pulling their punches on the Malignant Loser --



To each his unknown --


 

Cannon Footdragging And Third Defamation Suit Coming For Trump?

 



Keep flapping those orange lips, you deranged moron:

After Donald Trump on Monday again denied rape and defamation claims successfully brought against him by E Jean Carroll, a lawyer for the writer said “all options are on the table”.

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, has previously suggested that she could file a third defamation lawsuit against the ex-president for comments he has continued making against Carroll.

During the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social a long rant about his various civil and criminal court entanglements, including litigation leveled against him by Carroll. In April, a federal judge upheld a jury’s decision to award Carroll $83.3m and denied Trump a new trial.

“Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country,” he wrote. He referred to Caroll as “a woman, who I never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!)”.

“She didn’t know when the so-called event took place – sometime in the 1990s – never filed a police report, didn’t have to produce the ‘dress’ that she threatened me with (it showed negative!) … The Rape charge was dropped by a jury!”

Carroll has filed and won two defamation lawsuits against Trump, who she said sexually abused her in a New York department store changing room in 1996. In the lawsuits, Carroll said that Trump’s accusations that she is lying about the case had ruined her reputation.

Trump, who is appealing both cases, appears to be undaunted by the fact that Carroll has already had success in court against him and continues to make comments disparaging her credibility.  [snip]

In response to those comments, Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said that “the statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years”.

“As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump makes about our client,” Kaplan said.

On Monday, Kaplan responded to Trump’s Memorial Day comments, appearing to reiterate her statement from earlier in the spring that suggested she could help Carroll pursue yet another defamation lawsuit against the former president.

“We have said several times since the last jury verdict in January that all options were on the table,” Kaplan said. “And that remains true today – all options are on.”

Please, please, please file that lawsuit!  His disordered mind, sense of victimization, and lack of impulse control make his flapping lips a cash register for Ms. Carroll and others he has and will continue to defame.

__________________

Meanwhile, Malignant Loser ass kisser Judge Aileen Cannon continues to drag out proceedings in the classified documents case:

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida on Tuesday denied prosecutors' request to bar the former president from making public statements that could endanger law enforcement agents participating in the prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in her order that prosecutors didn’t give defense lawyers adequate time to discuss the request before it was filed Friday evening. She denied the request without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could file it again.

The request followed a distorted claim by Trump last week that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 were “authorized to shoot me” and were “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was referring to the disclosure in a court document that the FBI, during the search, followed a standard use-of-force policy that prohibits the use of deadly force except when the officer conducting the search has a reasonable belief that the “subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”

Yes, what we need is more time for the defense to discuss the gag order request.  "Ten days?  A month?  After the election?  Why, whatever I can do to help."

(Images: Seth Wenig/ AP;  Rebecca Blackwell/ AP)


Quotes Of The Day -- Bill Walton

 

Basketball great, sportscaster, man- who- marched- to- the- beat- of- his- own- drum, and all- around mensch Bill Walton passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer.  He was 71.  He was truly one of a kind, a fierce competitor with a gentle heart, and a thinking man with a great sense of goofy, self- deprecating humor.  We remember him with a few of his quotes today:

Music is critical in our lives and culture. It's the inspiration that drives us. It's also the window to our souls. It's a reflection as to who we are, what we stand for and where we're going.

____________________

The Grateful Dead, they're my best friends. Their message of hope, peace, love, teamwork, creativity, imagination, celebration, the dance, the vision, the purpose, the passion all of the things I believe in makes me the luckiest Deadhead in the world.

____________________

I lived to play basketball. Growing up as a kid, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics were my favorite team. The way they played, the teamwork, the sacrifice, the commitment, the joy, the camaraderie, the relationship with the fans.

 

The many fans, players, and admirers of Walton had their say on Twitter/X, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and many others.  As Kareem said, "He was the best of us," meaning it in the fullest sense possible.  R.I.P.


Trump Trial Closing Arguments Today

 



Today we'll have closing arguments in the trial of the Malignant Loser/ Don Snoreleone on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a conspiracy to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election.  It's likely the case will go to the jury tomorrow, pending last minute desperation moves by the defense:

Donald Trump’s first criminal trial has arrived at its dramatic final act with lawyers for both sides primed on Tuesday to hammer home their cases before jurors consider a verdict that could make history.

The summations mark the climax of a trial that started more than a month ago. They are expected to last all day Tuesday and could stretch into the following day. After Judge Juan Merchan instructs jurors on the law, Trump and the rest of the country will be held in suspense to see whether he will become the first ex-president and presumptive GOP nominee to be convicted of a crime after allegedly falsifying financial records to hide a hush money payment to an adult film star in 2016.  [snip]

Trump’s defense team is trying to spare their client the ignominy of a conviction that would stain his reputation. The ex-president’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, is expected to zero in on the credibility of Trump’s former fixer-turned-nemesis, Michael Cohen, who endured a bruising cross-examination, and to ask why other key figures in the ex-president’s business and personal orbit were not called by prosecutors, CNN’s Kara Scannell reported.

Joshua Steinglass, who is conducting closing arguments for the prosecution, will follow Blanche and is expected to spend several hours taking the jury through text messages, phone logs, other witnesses’ testimony and the 34 allegedly falsified documents to corroborate Cohen’s testimony. Ultimately, the team working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, will try to convince seven men and five women jurors that Trump orchestrated a scheme to keep unflattering information from voters in what was an early example of election interference...

You can follow live updates here.  What's the over/ under on him staying awake?

A unanimous jury is required for conviction on any count, so there are several verdict permutations possible.  Any outcome other than guilty verdicts would benefit the Malignant Loser, of course.  Fingers crossed.

(Photo:  awake, for now/ Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)


Monday, May 27, 2024

Trump's Memorial Day Message Is All About Him, Naturally

 

As if to underline the points made in the VoteVets ad below, the sociopathic narcissist Malignant Loser / Cadet Bone Spurs wanted to thank those who have served their nation whine about his criminal prosecutions for Memorial Day:



The future nominee of the Republican /MAGAt party/ cult, ladies and gentlemen: endless grievance coupled with endless entitlement, oblivious to all who don't serve his immediate needs for attention and glorification.

BONUS:  In addition to the VoteVets ad below, The Daily Show had a supercut video of the Malignant Loser's feelings about those who serve in the military.


Message From VoteVets On Trump's Unfitness

 

Powerful ad on why we can't have the Malignant Loser as our Commander-In-Chief.



Please support VoteVets by going here.

Protecting Our Health Researchers From Trump




The Malignant Loser's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. His approach was to "downplay" the virus as  a flu ("Kung flu" in his racist jibe), to suggest that it would disappear with the return of spring weather, to push quack remedies like hydroxichloriquine and injecting bleach, and to give people the false sense that the virus was under control by trying to limit testing. His downplaying of vaccines also signaled his cult members to refuse them, many paying with their lives. A second term of the Malignant Loser would undoubtedly bring restrictions on public health officials, retribution against those that pushed back against his dangerously ignorant health policies, and funding cuts like the one that eliminated our "early warning" program for pandemics three months before the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Biden administration has recognized the extreme danger the Malignant Loser poses to our medical research institutions, and is putting obstacles in his path as a contingency. From Politico:

"The Biden administration is setting up new tripwires for Donald Trump at America’s premier health research agency to safeguard against political interference if Trump wins in November.

The White House fears Trump could try to advance an ideological agenda at the National Institutes of Health, like the ones he’s suggested on everything from vaccines to diversity policies.

In an effort to Trump-proof, NIH has designated an official to identify political meddling in the agency’s work and is tasking a soon-to-be-established scientific integrity council with reviewing those cases. The White House knows Trump could still cast those plans aside but is calculating that doing so will set off alarms with the media, Congress and the public. The Biden administration likely hopes GOP lawmakers, even those who think the NIH needs an overhaul, will temper Trump’s moves."

As president, Trump threatened to fire a top agency official, Anthony Fauci, and prompted another to quit after Trump pitched hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment. Scientific organizations that work with NIH now worry Trump’s potential return to the White House, inflamed by GOP anger over the public health bureaucracy’s pandemic advice, might bring more concerted attempts to influence the agency’s decisions." (our emphasis)

Dr. Fauci and China became the Malignant Loser's scapegoats for the COVID-19 debacle when he realized he had utterly mismanaged the crisis. His misinformed, violent and conspiracy-minded cult went along. A determined Malignant Loser, who has threatened to be dictator "on day one," may only be slowed down by these "tripwires," especially since they rely in part on a broken media to enforce. But it's a start.

(image: If he only had taken his own advice....)