A couple points to amplify what Lucian has said. DOJ is going to bend over backwards to make sure it is as bullet proof (legally) as possible from charges it limited TFG's ability to continue campaigning in the time he is not in court. Garland wants to be Caesar's wife on this one. Second, every legal eagle I have heard opine on the indictment and what has leaked about it said there are numerous employees from Trump's camp, particularly at Mar Lago who have dropped a whole lot of dimes. So it is sensible DOJ and the judge are taking steps to protect their interests particularly if and when they have to be put in the box and raise their hand to drop more dimes on their old boss.
Truth is we are going to see a whole lot of legal maneuvering from TFG's team on a whole range of issues to obfuscate, confuse and delay. We, the people, are going to have to persevere through the delays until and actual trial when we will see TFG try to pull the Full Monty to save his skin. But, and I know I sound like a broken record on this, the Thrilla in Miami is not what he needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law on . That is is January 6 and the conspiracy. It is for that he and several of his henchmen and women need to go to jail for a long time. I hope all the drama in trials leading up to that whether they be in Florida or Georgia do not give the public so much legal fatigue they miss the consequences of his greatest, by far, criminal act.
We've all seen the fake bravado from this bunch but when you get in front of a Grand Jury, where your friends aren't allowed in or anywhere near, and not even your own attorney, and they start impressing on you the severity of lying under oath, there aren't many people who're willing to walk that scary path.
Mike Flynn? Manafart? They were convicted of it to the FBI or DOJ, right? Let’s see if Dump testifies (doubtful) would he be able to stop himself from his favorite activity, lying?? Asking for a friend....
He is a thing unto himself. He knows. The way he lies, he has to know. His habit is to tell a lie even when the truth would be good for him. Then when that lie doesn't work so well, he comes up with a completelty different and contradictory lie to overrcome the first lie. And then the game starts with him. He keeps on until everyone is hoplessly lost and confused, and then he commits another crime and it all starts all over again. Imagine living your entire adult life that way.
I'm limiting this to his adult life which is the demarcation line for me of no more excuses., Bud. You're an adult now. I don't like dealing with those periods where this is probably all set in one's personality and being because they cut so much slack for 17 year olds and younger. But I do believe Trump was bad at birth and then the "nurture" of his environment made these awful choices the ones his cruel father would have approved. I think DeSantis was always unlikable too and from littles tales around, it seems a lot of people felt about him the same way a lot of people felt about Trump. Both horribly distasteful in every way.
Might as well prosecute Trump for Aggravated Mopery, to engage in some hyperbole in support of holding Trump and his co-conspirators accountable for all of the crimes, if the charges will stick, let them all twist slowly, slowly in the wind.
True, there will be too many ongoing legal cases demanding close attention to keep track of them all, but what does that tell us about having a gangster wannabe elected to the presidency? That THIS crazy chaos and uncharted territory, with even some form of civil war as a possible outcome, that's what.
"Whatever is actual, is possible," I think Aristotle said that.
In other words, just throw the whole damn book at him, including the binding and the glue, let Trump and all desperate lawyers &^#@! around with their depraved, corrupt scheming to avoid Mango Mussolini's fate, toolate, it's over for him, only the precise timing and possible violent responses from his diehard quasi-fascist supporters is left to sort out.
I wish I had been paying more attention in the 2 years of latin classes that both Benedictine's and Jesuits endeavored to pound into my developing brain, Richard, some of it stuck around the edges and that maybe was the point. I have no doubt your statement about justice nailed it.
What Latin I have is MAYBE just beyond `dog Latin,' along with what percolated through from studying some of the roots of the languages, via two years of high school French, college Spanish at the U. of M-Twin Cities, (just enough to satisfy the second language requirement), law school where it is of course ubiquitous, and phrases one picks up in ancient history or lit classes, plus learning what mottos mean, like that of an alma mater of mine, Macalester College, " Revelatio et Natura Coeli Gemini," et cetera.
This Wiki rundown of "Fiat justitia" might be of interest -
"Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness contains a possible reference to the maxim at the very end of the text. Protagonist Marlow says, "It seemed to me that the house would collapse before I could escape, that the heavens would fall upon my head. But nothing happened. The heavens do not fall for such a trifle."[19]
George Eliot has Mr. Brooke mangle and misattribute this phrase in Middlemarch, where he says, "You should read history – look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know. But what is that in Horace?—fiat justitia, ruat ... something or other."[20] *****
In the Oliver Stone 1991 film JFK, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) uses a variation, "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall", in reference to his investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy."
The translated phrase used in the film JFK is the example that really resonated with me, I had already spent countless hours reading books like
as well as reading extensively in the Warren Commission's twenty-six volumes, available at the Drake University library - for in-library study only. It's farcically misleading, as even my somewhat haphazard research quickly revealed, the early critics like Meagher and Mark Lane had no trouble beating the tar out of it, so to speak.
Most of the grunts in the military are MAGA, and many cops. When push comes to shove, this is what is back of mind for many fair minded people in the judiciary, I'm pretty sure. That fact alone could swing a Grand Jury, regardless of all the niceties of the justice system.
I just realized, it's also not clear which grand jury, in which case - or is it supposed to cover all of them? - this is meant to apply to, the stolen documents case is beyond that part of the process, unless Trump does something to get another one empaneled.
But they will be seating a trial jury for the documents case, maybe before spring 2024, or even earlier, maybe later. All sorts of events could supervene on the entire set of legal cases.
Again, what are you talking about, cannot even agree or disagree at this point, Jess!
You'll have to explain that conclusion - that is, what fact alone is it that "could swing a Grand Jury," to do what?
This part of the comment is clear enough, backed up by various surveys and the assessment of observers positioned to know:
"Most of the grunts in the military are MAGA, and many cops." It's what follows from that which is unclear as stated.
"[T]his is what is back of mind for many fair minded people in the judiciary, I'm pretty sure."
"This," meaning what, exactly? That many enlisted persons in the military and many cops are MAGA? Ok, but what then, that is, why would knowing or believing that is factual, is accurate, "swing a grand jury," and if it WOULD (very likely would, seems to be the implication) cause some decision or other by them, what decision, or what kind of decision, about what?
I guess you'll have to polish up your understanding of how military juntas work and how the highest courts in the land can be stacked with sympathizers to rebels and the 'justice' handed out to those who interfere with a fascist takeover--after the fact.
At least I won't have to fish out my copy of Edward Luttwak's guide*, or review my own extensive studies of EXACTLY THAT topic, beginning with the material the Worker's League and the Sparts directed me to, lo these many years ago, when I was in my Trotskyist phase, and continuing on for decades and decades, Jess.
People online constantly amaze me, it's as if they have no clue whatsoever of the background of their interlocutors, but feel completely free to post what amounts to incoherent gibberish, and when asked in detail to clarify what on earth they on on about, opt for a sophistical debating trick.
Again, thanks for the "ROTFLMAO, " you obviously have no relevant answers because you rely instead on lame, all-purpose slogans dressed up as if they were cogent explanations, to cover that up.
Btw, you'll have no objection if I save our interchange for use in a seminar on "Media Propaganda and Online Logical Howlers," will you? I would hate to deny graduate students in philosophy here at the U who are interested in a closer study of paralogical ideation, the opportunity to savor a paradigm case.
A fairly obvious motivation for anyone to intentionally walk off with secret government documents is to trade them for some benefit, usually money. I doubt there are too many historical examples of other motivations for purloining such documents. There are clearly good reasons to carefully investigate whether that was the motivation here. As always, we, and the prosecution, should heed the advice of Deep Throat: follow the money.
*Rump tries to monetize just about anything, including wine and steaks, and he knows a grifting opportunity when he sees one. Aside from bragging rights to keep his ego overinflated, the documents could also be used as bargaining chips in an attempt to stop prosecution. No doubt he still has come powerful stuff that he intends to use if he really is looking at incarceration of some kind. He thinks and behaves as a mobster, because he is one.
He has lost at most of the businesses he's tried. But his one huge talent is tapping into the rage and anger and smallness and bigotry and racism in this country and that is where he's succeeded and they will fund his legal fees which are going to be staggering because this ain't the only trip he's about to make into this branch of the legal world. They have deeper pockets, they can outlast him and they're not intimidated by the criminal.
Perhaps. But I do not believe any national secret could be more valuable than upholding the rule of law and preserving democracy – those are really the stakes in this particular case, unlike, say, one in which a relatively unknown person might have similar bargaining chips available.
In theory, nothing could be more valuable, but in practice? So many people talk as if democracy and the rule of law were in good shape before Trump, or the Freedom Caucus, or Reagan, or Nixon, came along. Those people tend to be class-privileged white people who weren't paying all that much attention besides, maybe, voting from time to time. Democracy and the rule of law have long been beholden to what is in practice the fourth and most powerful branch of government: big money. If "we the people" win the cases against Trump and his allies, and the cases against voter suppression in at least half the states, we get a chance to take on that fourth branch of government. Will we take advantage of the opportunity? I'm not holding my breath.
Arthur, the Rosenbergs were put to death for allegedly giving secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. There is plenty of evidence they were innocent. Let’s never forget our history.
I understand that the special counsel has to consider the political ramifications of any action against trump that can be used as fodder in his campaign as well as being used by trump’s GOP allies and remoras, but jeez…if any other citizen pulled the crap that he’s done in handling critical classified papers, they’d be in a holding cell in federal lockup. Damn…so sick of this. He still thinks he’s untouchable…someone should throw him in jail and wake him up already.
I believe letting him continue to think he's untouchable is the plan. He will continue to run his mouth and further implicate himself and his co - conspirators. He will ignore his attorneys advice, probably losing more representation. The adage 'give him enough rope' applies very aptly here...
As I've observed here and elsewhere many times, t-Rump is a Perfect Seven: powerful, rich, old, white, gentile, heterosexual and male. Those who can check all seven of those boxes can get away with damn near anything.
So many traitors; so little justice meted out. . . With a lifetime of unpunished criminality, why wouldn’t tRump expect to beat this latest fiasco? He could actually get elected. The people of this country who support tRump are traitors themselves. The entire Repug Party operates as a crime syndicate for fascist billionaires; they aren’t going anywhere so long as “citizens united” stands. I can’t imagine that the co-conspirators don’t plan to lie and cover up their involvement. No one knows what this special counsel has on the back burner. We do know that Mueller sold out to the Mobsters of the right-wing . . .
Just because we don't talk about it anymore doesn't mean we forgot or don't remember what it's done and what it means and who did it. Thank you, Justice Roberts. Next time we'll know with you you're as bad as Thomas.
Oh, I wish I were a true believer at this point. But a few things really bother me. The biggest one obviously is that Loose Cannon is still on the case as the judge and I can see absolutely nothing to support the idea that she would do anything other than sabotage things for Chump. And equally disturbing is that he has been allowed to roam free. Nothing restricted and of course he went out, and flapped his big ugly mouth and fund raised over $1 million almost immediately. I just don’t see anything telling me that he is going to be held to account, and that he won’t be able to run for, and potentially become president, which would be the nightmare that ends this country. Because we all know it would be a presidency of spite vengeance and greed.
I don't like it either. But I comfort myself with the FACT -- and we know how Republicans like to refute and ignore facts -- that Jack Smith has other just as serious investigations going on and Cannon has a lot to lose if she pulls what she pulled before. I'm thinking Judicial Misconduct charges. I'm sure she's very aware of that. She got her wrist slapped big time last go.
If Trump does become president, judicial misconduct will be awarded with a medal. The country will become very angled towards the radical right and pertinent laws will be interpreted through a radical right lens. In other words, hard core fascism.
I pretty much believe that too. I keep trying not to think how that would be but it keeps creeping in when I let my guard down. This is the conclusion of a lot of my friends as well. Our conversations have hard turned to how we're way to close to this happening. I was with two very conservative friends for dinner last night and the wife teaches school to little kids at the Jewish Community Center school. And she was happy to tell me two of the people there had come to her and started trashing Biden and saying they'd not vote for him again. And all you can do is just sit there and blink or start cursing and not be friends again. I have avoided talking politics with them for three years. They're just so so sure of what they believe and I don't want to argue with friends
It's not worth arguing. Consensus reality is breaking down and people are basically participating in parallel worlds that only intersect on a mundane level.
The new oft repeated exercise in futility. My friends with whom I agree, and that's most of them, all, along with me, feel we are in a very, very dangerous period.
Yes, got her wrist slapped, but she wasn't disbarred or thrown off the bench. Why should she have learned anything from that wrist-slapping, other than that she can continue to get away with her unabashed favoritism toward her lord and master with no lastingly negative consequences?
Today it will embolden her. We'll have to see. Because it looks like we're going to havee her in spite of all the promises from people writing on this topic that there's no way she would. Looks like once again we have something that blows up normalcy.
I continue to wonder whether TFG and his folk are paying taxes on all that money they raise.
And every time I get another appeal to "Contribute now and have your support octupled!", I wonder whether the FTC or some other agency could be persuaded to look into that claim that contributions can be multiplied as they promise. I'd be happy to be a test case complainant.
Grand juries interviewed 20 Secret Service, everyone who worked for or around Himself, writers for Meadows at Bedminster, PAC member who spent time with him at Bedminster. Select boxes were on the plane with him to and fro. Betting Jack Smith hasn’t needed a search warrant for Bedminster.
Mary Trump on podcast related behavior of her uncle when he was a young boy. Said she didn’t witness but heard told so many times it feels she was actually present. Family was gathered and preparing for a big meal. Lots of preparation going on in kitchen. Himself was behaving so cruelly, terrorizing brother Robert. Completely out of control and no one could get him to stop. There was a big bowl of mashed potatoes ready for the meal. Someone picked it up, turned it over and dumped on his head. That stopped him.
I have no doubt Jack Smith knows how to cook it and serve it up.
Did you notice that she said money was the be-all-and-end-all in that family? One wouldn't say that about the Rockefellers, so you know the old man was a grasping, money hungry pos with no character and no values. It appears the only one who knew better was Mary's father, and he drank himself to death because he wasn't allowed to live the life he wanted. My own father was right when he said, "Money doesn't care who has it."
Yes I did hear her express that. Am I right that she filed a lawsuit against her entire family because they screwed she and her brother out of any of her grandfather’s inheritance? I don’t believe that has gone to trial yet, if it ever does.
You are right. That lawsuit is in play. And it gets worse. The only girl of the Trump children, Maryanne Trump Barry, went on to be a Federal Appellate judge (in New Jersey) who left the bench -- which somehow closed off her being investigated and *removed* from the bench! for fiddling with the old man's will. I never understood why resigning prevented any legal redress. They were not, let us say, a family who particularly cared about their reputation. Only their money.
Yes, the only daughter, the judge who’s corrupt as hell. This family is in so much muck up to their nostrils that they make Al Capone and his ilk look like Mother Theresa!
I've been saying it tongue in cheek somewhat for a long time but the last thing on the planet that would surprise me today is if the documents were found in there with poor little Ivana whom he disrespected over and over in life.
Agreed, it seemed as though deference was shown to the miserable SOB who was president, more's the pity, but it was not, I believe, a show of respect. I just think Jack Smith wanted to see what the defendant would say or do. Granted, not many defendants have their own planes, but Trump's tail number is no secret. (It is Nellie757AF). Should that plane veer out to sea, betcha' two AF fighter jets would join him up there, and no private pilots are gonna play catch-me-if-you-can at 38,000 feet.
Re this indictment not being loaded, there could be some charges held out for a rainy day (or New Jersey) should Loose Cannon decide to totally ruin her reputation.
A small addendum. There *was* one restriction on what Lardass could say. He could not reveal any bit of classified information from he documents he pilfered. And because the man cannot control his mouth, whaddya' bet one or two such tidbits slip out? Then, my friends, he will show up in court having spent the previous night on a cot.
Margo, I completely agree with you that the Dumpster cannot/will not restrain himself from violating the restrictions on what he can publicly or privately reveal concerning classified information. I think Mr. Smith knows that too and he's waiting for Big Mouth to add more fuel to the fire that's consuming him.
Just remember, down there in Miami in Republican Leader Land, it will enhance her reputation. I don't think we all are aware how truly red it is down there and how long it's been going on and corruption of logical thought even among the intellegencia.
I hope so. I'm not inclined to give DOJ the benefit of the doubt right now. The lack of a single pre trial condition which would have been meted out in spades, including detention and bond, to anybody else thus charged and the filing of the case in Aileen Cannon's court smells like sandbagging to me.
If we all got what we'd like, it would just come back to a gigantic tit for tat. We'd love to see him hogtied and made to answer for what he's done and still plans but it would make him sympathetic and that anyone can be sympathetic toward him says a lot about how bad things really are.
As you describe, things are going in this prosecution at about the pace they should be going. While it would be nice to see the Former Guy treated like others who were charged with espionage (high bail, giving up passport, restrictions on travel, etc.), this is an unusual case given the indictee, and it calls for unusual approaches. Let's see what the coming weeks bring in terms of pre-trial disclosures by the government, motions by the Former Guy, and Cannon's rulings on such motions.
To paraphrase the old adage from Sun Tzu, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Here, the Former Guy is at long last, for the first time in his life, being drawn in to those wheels.
Sun Tzu, ok, but there are reasonable doubts about his existence, and about The Art of War being written by a single author, rather than as series of texts compiled over many years.
"Historicity
Around the 12th century AD, some Chinese scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sun Tzu, primarily on the grounds that he is not mentioned in the historical classic Zuo zhuan, which mentions most of the notable figures from the Spring and Autumn period.[13] The name "Sun Wu" (孫武) does not appear in any text prior to the Records of the Grand Historian,[14] and may have been a made-up descriptive cognomen meaning "the fugitive warrior" – the surname "Sun" can be glossed as the related term "fugitive" (xùn 遜), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, valiant" (wǔ 武), which corresponds to Sun Tzu's role as the hero's doppelgänger in the story of Wu Zixu.[15] The only historical battle attributed to Sun Tzu, the Battle of Boju, has no record of him fighting in that battle.[16]"
The Wiki article moves on to discuss others answering with a defense of Sun Tzu, as both really existing and (largely) responsible for The Art of War. See also:
Mills of God
The proverbial expression of the mills of God grinding slowly refers to the notion of slow but certain divine retribution.
[P]hilosopher Sextus Empiricus (2nd century) in his Adversus Grammaticos as a popular adage:[4]
Ὀψὲ θεῶν ἀλέουσι μύλοι, ἀλέουσι δὲ λεπτά.
"The millstones of the gods grind late, but they grind fine."[5]
The same expression was invoked by Celsus in his (lost) True Discourse. Defending the concept of ancestral fault, Celsus reportedly quoted "a priest of Apollo or of Zeus":
when I see posts like this, Richard, it gives me hope that---at least at some point in the future--people will once again realize that the "humanities" are actually very useful.
I majored in philosophy for about two months (if that), before I realized it was just too HARD. History of Ideas was more my thing. but both of them are obviously YOURS.
I credit it to professors like David White, a conscientious objector from Oklahoma in WW2, who live for some nine years in India, and taught philosophy for decades at Macalester, here's an example of what I mean:
Review
«What distinguished this translation of the 'Gitã' from innumerable others is that it approaches it as a 'philosophical' text, focusing on the philosophical issues it raises. This may help to explain why the rendition is unusually clear and precise.» (Huston Smith, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley)
«...the most readable and insightful translation into English of the 'Bhagavad gitã' that we have available to us... The only way to bring this point out is to compare White's translation with others. Every stanza is rich with deep insight and extensive consideration of precise nuances accurately rendered into colloquial speech. It is this thorough feeling for the appropriate nuance of sentiment with which to render each passage that makes White's translation so effective. His explanatory paragraphs are intended to make the 'Gitã' accessible to today's student, not to propose new theories of insights into the meaning of the text. This little book is strongly recommended for those first being exposed to Indian thought, as well as for those steeped in the 'Gitã'.» (Kar. H. Potter, Philosophy East and West)
«What distinguishes this translation of the 'Gitã' from innumerable others is that it approaches it as a 'philosophical' text, focusing on the philosophical issues it raises. This may help to explain why the rendition is unusually clear and precise.» (Huston Smith, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley)
«...the most readable and insightful translation into English of the 'Bhagavadgita' that we have available to us. The only way to bring this point out is to compare White's translation with others. Every stanza is rich with deep insight and extensive consideration of precise nuances accurately rendered into colloquial speech. It is this thorough feeling for the appropriate nuance of sentiment with which to render each passage that makes White's translation so effective. His explanatory paragraphs are intended to make the 'Gita' accessible to today's student, not to propose new theories or insights into the meaning of the text. An example is White's proposed rendering of 'samkhya' as 'analytical philosophy', a translation which will ring bells for pupils in contemporary philosophy classes... This little book is strongly recommended for those first being exposed to Indian thought, as well as for those steeped in the 'Gita'.» (Karl H. Potter, Philosophy East and West)
About the Author
The Author: David White is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Macalester College, where he taught for thirty-nine years. His doctorate is in Asian Studies from the American Academy of Asian Studies, University of the Pacific. He has published articles on the philosophy of the Gita and has worked on the present translation for more than twenty years, using the various earlier versions of his translation in teaching the philosophies of India. He is cited in Who's Who in Religion and Who's Who in America.
David also managed, rather easily I imagine , to get Robert Pirsig of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fame, to visit and answer questions, the Philosophies of India course lecture room can't possibly have ever been more packed to the rafters.
A precocious child with an alleged IQ of 170 at the age of nine, Pirsig skipped several grades at the Blake School in Minneapolis.[3][5] In May 1943, Pirsig was awarded a high school diploma at the age of 14 by the University High School (later renamed Marshall-University High School), where he had edited the school yearbook, the Bisbilla. Pirsig then studied biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, he describes the central character, thought to represent himself,[6] as being an atypical student, interested in science in itself rather than a professional career path.
In the course of his studies, Pirsig became intrigued by the multiplicity of putative causes for a given phenomenon, and increasingly focused on the role played by hypotheses in the scientific method and sources from which they originate. His preoccupation with these matters led to a decline in his grades and expulsion from the university.[7]
In 1946, Pirsig enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in South Korea until 1948. Upon his discharge from the Army, he lived for several months in Seattle, Washington, and then returned to the University of Minnesota, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1950.[8] He subsequently studied philosophy at Banaras Hindu University in India and the Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods at the University of Chicago. In 1958 he earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.[7][9]
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.
One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.
The truth knocks on the door and you say, go away, I'm looking for the truth, and it goes away. Puzzling.
I noticed the Brainy Quoters ripped this out of any context:
"There's no such thing as morality."
Robert M. Pirsig
This, from someone quoted on the same page with statements like:
It's the dualistic ways of looking at things that produces the evil.
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.
We do need a return to individual integrity, self-reliance, and old-fashioned gumption. We really do.
Whatever else you might think of Pirsig, he is a moralist through and through, but his writings reflect many other concerns as well, there's no contradiction, of course!
June 18 in history : 1928 American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the 1st woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Burry Port, Wales
1940 Winston Churchill gives his "this was their finest hour" speech to the House of Commons urging perseverance in the war after the Dunkirk evacuation and the fall of France
Rossellini is involved in conservation efforts. She is the president and director of the Howard Gilman Foundation — a leading institution focused on the preservation of wildlife, arts, photography and dance[32] — and she has been a board member of the Wildlife Conservation Network.[33] She received US$100,000 from Disney to help with her conservation efforts in those two organizations.[34] She has also helped with the Central Park Conservancy,[35] and is a major benefactor of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society in Bellport, Long Island, where she is a part-time resident.[36]
Rossellini is involved in training guide dogs for the blind.[37] She is a former trustee of the George Eastman House and a 1997 George Eastman Award honoree for her support of film preservation.[38] She is also a National Ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[39]
Overlooked in practically every other sketch of her life is her studies in animal behavior, which started in 2007 at Hunter College and finished up with an M.A. from New York University. Her book Some of Me is well worth reading.
Isabella Rossellini. Random House (NY), $29.95 (179pp) ISBN 978-0-679-45252-2
Awkwardness is this memoir's greatest flaw; but it is also its greatest virtue, as actress and model Rossellini rambles charmingly about her life, loves and career, evidently without the aid of a ghostwriter. Anyone looking for literary polish or even a narrative is likely to be disappointed, but those who enjoy something that reads like the after-dinner talk of a beautiful and worldly celebrity will find much that is entertaining. There are detailed instructions on dishwashing from Rossellini's mother, Ingrid Bergman, pronouncements on art and politics from her father, the Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, and a memory of young Isabella and her siblings (including her twin sister, Ingrid) flinging rocks at paparazzi. Rossellini speaks with affection but not much detail about her relationships with filmmakers Martin Scorsese and David Lynch, and provides what even she calls ""boring"" detail about her long association with Lancombe cosmetics and its unpleasant ending. Along the way are goofy digressions about ants and aphids, a few forgivable displays of celebrity petulance (four pages on how she hates being told she looks like her mother) and, throughout, imaginary dialogues, including several fictional conversations between her father and Scorsese. Here and there Rossellini's table talk takes on weight, as when she discusses her childhood battle with scoliosis, but readers are most likely to come away from this pleasant, ephemeral volume with a vivid memory of Rossellini's voice and striking face (the book is liberally illustrated), but without quite remembering what she said. Author tour. (June)
^^^^^ The smug nonsense is far more about the reviewer than the reviewed. Mais chacun a son gout, c'est la vie!
I've always loved "The Great Thoughts," and lots of people mention it, but his earlier book of quotations (which is pretty different in a lot of ways) is actually the one that I prefer. I have a very nice reference book library, but to most people, it's now outmoded because you can Google things. I disagree, because the serendipitous things that happen when you're browsing cannot be replicated using ANY computer. I feel the same way about libraries with actual physical books. I'm sure you feel the same way.
Today in History - with a quotation from William Penn...
Biography: An early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed.
Born: October 14, 1644
Birthplace: London, England
Star Sign: Libra
Died: July 30, 1718 (aged 73)
Historical Events
1681-03-04 English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania
1682-06-18 English Quaker William Penn founds Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania Colony
1682-08-24 Duke James of York gives Delaware to William Penn
1682-08-30 William Penn leaves England to sail to the New World
1682-10-26 William Penn accepts area around Delaware River from Duke of York
1682-10-27 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is founded by Englishman William Penn
1682-10-29 William Penn lands at what is now Chester, Pennsylvania
1683-06-23 William Penn signs friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape indians in Pennsylvania; only treaty "not sworn to, nor broken"
1700-05-07 William Penn began monthly meetings for blacks advocating emancipation
1701-11-08 William Penn presents Charter of Privileges, guaranteed religious freedom for the colony in Pennsylvania
1984-11-28 Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States
Quotes by William Penn
"Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders than from the arguments of its opposers."
Penn was a Quaker, the kind of religious fidelity to original teachings that Richard Milhous Nixon failed to learn from his Quaker roots.
Another brilliant exponent of something akin to Penn's Quaker views and actions:
FROM ABELARD TO ZOLA, FROM ANCIENT GREECE TO CONTEMPORARY AMERICA, THE IDEAS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
By George Seldes
ABOUT THE GREAT THOUGHTS, REVISED AND UPDATED
Upon its publication, George Seldes’s The Great Thoughts instantly took its place as a classic–a treasure house of the seminal ideas that have shaped the intellectual history of the world down through the ages. Seldes, a pivotal figure in the history of American journalism and a tireless researcher, spent the better part of his extraordinary lifetime compiling the thoughts that rule the world, casting his net widely and wisely through the essential works of philosophy, poetry, psychology, economics, politics, memoirs, and letters from the ancient Greeks to the modern Americans.
Now Seldes’s splendid and important work has been revised and updated to include the great thoughts that have changed our world in the decade since the book’s first appearance. Quotations from leaders as varied as Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Yitzak Rabin, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Jackson reflect the radical shifts in the world political scene. Toni Morrison and Cornel West speak out on the enduring vitality of African-American culture. Alvin Toffler and Arthur C. Clarke give us a glimpse into the future. Gloria Steinem and Monique Wittig define the motives and the goals of late twentieth-century feminism. Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner ponder the meaning of wilderness in an increasingly populated and industrialized world. These and scores of other thinkers in all major disciplines have added their voices to this new edition of The Great Thoughts.
USA Today praised the first edition of The Great Thoughts as "a browser’s delight." The work of a lifetime, brought up-to-date to reflect the global upheaval of the past decade, The Great Thoughts stands alone as an enduring achievement and an invaluable resource.
ABOUT GEORGE SELDES
George Seldes was one of the great muckraking journalists and the author of twenty books, including Witness to a Century. He began his career as a cub reporter for the Pittsburgh Leader, rose to international correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and founded his… More about George Seldes
Thank you Richard, for the historical background. It still makes for a nice adage, no matter its provenance. And as you conclude, one that is applicable here.
It is indeed interesting that there are developments that Jack Smith is pursuing other legal charges, as well he should-because as a Special Prosecutor he has the power and leeway to investigate nearly every single aspect of Donald Trump's illegal doings for the past 7 years.
I'm pretty sure Merrick Garland gave him the orders to do so without hesitation.
He has made no secret of it, though-just being very, very circumspect to keep his cards hidden away from those who would like to see them.
I'm pretty sure he's been interfacing with the Jan 6 investigators and getting information that he can use against Trump in the future, plus having all those witnesses in the grand jury room.
But perhaps the most surprising turn is that of Aileen Cannon, who is suspected of being a Trumper, but it is a little unclear where she really stands because there was an article about a case she is involved in that is just as intricate and complex as Trump's will be right now.
The article tells of someone who happens to know a little law, and perhaps we're too fast to condemn her completely out of hand (I know, heresy)-but reading this article gives me pause, and don't say the magazine quoted is a right wing mouthpiece:
" Trump judge’s thin criminal trial resume comes with a twist"
The Trump-appointed judge, preparing to oversee his documents case, is about to undertake a massive and complex health fraud trial."
Now, forgive me for hedging my bets on this, but from what the article says, she is not as stupid, naive or uneducated in law as we all think she is. True, this is a criminal trial she's taking on, but note where she worked before she became a judge-the DOJ. She has in the past, been very favorable in rulings for the DOJ and I think she's learned her lesson from the slap down of the 11th circuit by now.
I mean, she was a literal laughingstock throughout the legal world and country. How humiliating it must have been to be so publicly smacked around by her superiors.
I'm starting to believe that we might have been a little too premature on our dismissal of her, but I'm hoping that this is a good sign that we might expect her to be less deferential to Trump than we saw before.
Call me a optimist of the worst sort. I like happy endings and right now a happy ending would be for Donald Trump to be found guilty and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life.
I think that's the main goal of Jack Smith, too. That man has the 'thousand yard stare' which would stop most people in their tracks. He means goddamn business, and he's gonna get what he wants.
Donald Trump better be prepared-and get some new lawyers as well. He's going into a fight with a rubber sword when the opposing side has a ready and loaded artillery gun pointed at him.
I was so lucky to have worked with some of the brightest attorneys on the planet for a long time and Jack Smith "feels" like those guys. He also has a face that would fit well on Mt. Rushmore. No good attorney ever puts all his cards on the table in the beginning. There's a time for that. And we know Trump is having multiple meltdowns and bad moments now in every single day. There is still a lot going on out there in legal land connected to Trump and his crimes. I'd feel a lot better if there was a different judge on the case but if she pulls a save Trump on this, there's comfort knowing Georgia and Smith/DOJ have a lot of cross investigation going on and we'll just see what there is to see soon. If Trump thinks this is all, and I don't think he's quite that stupid, he's going to be very unpleasantly surprised. I'll like that a lot.
I believe the phrase is “give him enough rope to hang himself.” Please.
Like as not, *Rump, who doesn’t know when or how to keep his mouth shut, will do exactly that. I’ll glad donate the rope.
Your lips ➡️ God’s ear.
Led Zeppelin, Gallows Pole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmxaT37yeOs
😄 You are welcome to use it and pass it on . . .
Great update. I have a devious nature, and, I think Jack Smith is allowing Trump a free reign to blather on incessantly.
In fact, E Jean could have him on commission. Imagine all the speeches Trump will give filling her coffers! Run an office pool!
I think he is too. Trump is now in an arena where they aren't intimidated by criminals.
A couple points to amplify what Lucian has said. DOJ is going to bend over backwards to make sure it is as bullet proof (legally) as possible from charges it limited TFG's ability to continue campaigning in the time he is not in court. Garland wants to be Caesar's wife on this one. Second, every legal eagle I have heard opine on the indictment and what has leaked about it said there are numerous employees from Trump's camp, particularly at Mar Lago who have dropped a whole lot of dimes. So it is sensible DOJ and the judge are taking steps to protect their interests particularly if and when they have to be put in the box and raise their hand to drop more dimes on their old boss.
Truth is we are going to see a whole lot of legal maneuvering from TFG's team on a whole range of issues to obfuscate, confuse and delay. We, the people, are going to have to persevere through the delays until and actual trial when we will see TFG try to pull the Full Monty to save his skin. But, and I know I sound like a broken record on this, the Thrilla in Miami is not what he needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law on . That is is January 6 and the conspiracy. It is for that he and several of his henchmen and women need to go to jail for a long time. I hope all the drama in trials leading up to that whether they be in Florida or Georgia do not give the public so much legal fatigue they miss the consequences of his greatest, by far, criminal act.
We've all seen the fake bravado from this bunch but when you get in front of a Grand Jury, where your friends aren't allowed in or anywhere near, and not even your own attorney, and they start impressing on you the severity of lying under oath, there aren't many people who're willing to walk that scary path.
Mike Flynn? Manafart? They were convicted of it to the FBI or DOJ, right? Let’s see if Dump testifies (doubtful) would he be able to stop himself from his favorite activity, lying?? Asking for a friend....
If it's true that if somebody tells a lie often enough s/he comes to believe it , can we know whether trump is even aware when he lies?
He is a thing unto himself. He knows. The way he lies, he has to know. His habit is to tell a lie even when the truth would be good for him. Then when that lie doesn't work so well, he comes up with a completelty different and contradictory lie to overrcome the first lie. And then the game starts with him. He keeps on until everyone is hoplessly lost and confused, and then he commits another crime and it all starts all over again. Imagine living your entire adult life that way.
Adult life? His parents sent him to military school because he was out of control. Some job they did.
I'm limiting this to his adult life which is the demarcation line for me of no more excuses., Bud. You're an adult now. I don't like dealing with those periods where this is probably all set in one's personality and being because they cut so much slack for 17 year olds and younger. But I do believe Trump was bad at birth and then the "nurture" of his environment made these awful choices the ones his cruel father would have approved. I think DeSantis was always unlikable too and from littles tales around, it seems a lot of people felt about him the same way a lot of people felt about Trump. Both horribly distasteful in every way.
Might as well prosecute Trump for Aggravated Mopery, to engage in some hyperbole in support of holding Trump and his co-conspirators accountable for all of the crimes, if the charges will stick, let them all twist slowly, slowly in the wind.
True, there will be too many ongoing legal cases demanding close attention to keep track of them all, but what does that tell us about having a gangster wannabe elected to the presidency? That THIS crazy chaos and uncharted territory, with even some form of civil war as a possible outcome, that's what.
"Whatever is actual, is possible," I think Aristotle said that.
In other words, just throw the whole damn book at him, including the binding and the glue, let Trump and all desperate lawyers &^#@! around with their depraved, corrupt scheming to avoid Mango Mussolini's fate, toolate, it's over for him, only the precise timing and possible violent responses from his diehard quasi-fascist supporters is left to sort out.
Fiat justitia ruat caelum!
"Aggravated Mopery" is the funniest charge I have ever encountered!!! You DO have a way with words, Mr. T!
OK, maybe I should work on it, "Accessory after the fact to aggravated mopery," but that maybe becomes overly prolix and strained, so leave as is.
I cannot remember where I first saw that term, but laughed out loud when I looked up the definition!
I wish I had been paying more attention in the 2 years of latin classes that both Benedictine's and Jesuits endeavored to pound into my developing brain, Richard, some of it stuck around the edges and that maybe was the point. I have no doubt your statement about justice nailed it.
What Latin I have is MAYBE just beyond `dog Latin,' along with what percolated through from studying some of the roots of the languages, via two years of high school French, college Spanish at the U. of M-Twin Cities, (just enough to satisfy the second language requirement), law school where it is of course ubiquitous, and phrases one picks up in ancient history or lit classes, plus learning what mottos mean, like that of an alma mater of mine, Macalester College, " Revelatio et Natura Coeli Gemini," et cetera.
This Wiki rundown of "Fiat justitia" might be of interest -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_justitia_ruat_caelum ***** After a lengthy exploration of the historical roots, there are modern examples provided:
"Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness contains a possible reference to the maxim at the very end of the text. Protagonist Marlow says, "It seemed to me that the house would collapse before I could escape, that the heavens would fall upon my head. But nothing happened. The heavens do not fall for such a trifle."[19]
George Eliot has Mr. Brooke mangle and misattribute this phrase in Middlemarch, where he says, "You should read history – look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know. But what is that in Horace?—fiat justitia, ruat ... something or other."[20] *****
In the Oliver Stone 1991 film JFK, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) uses a variation, "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall", in reference to his investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy."
The translated phrase used in the film JFK is the example that really resonated with me, I had already spent countless hours reading books like
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/accessories-after-the-fact-sylvia-meagher/1000166733
as well as reading extensively in the Warren Commission's twenty-six volumes, available at the Drake University library - for in-library study only. It's farcically misleading, as even my somewhat haphazard research quickly revealed, the early critics like Meagher and Mark Lane had no trouble beating the tar out of it, so to speak.
Most of the grunts in the military are MAGA, and many cops. When push comes to shove, this is what is back of mind for many fair minded people in the judiciary, I'm pretty sure. That fact alone could swing a Grand Jury, regardless of all the niceties of the justice system.
I just realized, it's also not clear which grand jury, in which case - or is it supposed to cover all of them? - this is meant to apply to, the stolen documents case is beyond that part of the process, unless Trump does something to get another one empaneled.
But they will be seating a trial jury for the documents case, maybe before spring 2024, or even earlier, maybe later. All sorts of events could supervene on the entire set of legal cases.
Again, what are you talking about, cannot even agree or disagree at this point, Jess!
You'll have to explain that conclusion - that is, what fact alone is it that "could swing a Grand Jury," to do what?
This part of the comment is clear enough, backed up by various surveys and the assessment of observers positioned to know:
"Most of the grunts in the military are MAGA, and many cops." It's what follows from that which is unclear as stated.
"[T]his is what is back of mind for many fair minded people in the judiciary, I'm pretty sure."
"This," meaning what, exactly? That many enlisted persons in the military and many cops are MAGA? Ok, but what then, that is, why would knowing or believing that is factual, is accurate, "swing a grand jury," and if it WOULD (very likely would, seems to be the implication) cause some decision or other by them, what decision, or what kind of decision, about what?
I guess you'll have to polish up your understanding of how military juntas work and how the highest courts in the land can be stacked with sympathizers to rebels and the 'justice' handed out to those who interfere with a fascist takeover--after the fact.
ROTFLMAO, that's your "answer," really?
At least I won't have to fish out my copy of Edward Luttwak's guide*, or review my own extensive studies of EXACTLY THAT topic, beginning with the material the Worker's League and the Sparts directed me to, lo these many years ago, when I was in my Trotskyist phase, and continuing on for decades and decades, Jess.
People online constantly amaze me, it's as if they have no clue whatsoever of the background of their interlocutors, but feel completely free to post what amounts to incoherent gibberish, and when asked in detail to clarify what on earth they on on about, opt for a sophistical debating trick.
Again, thanks for the "ROTFLMAO, " you obviously have no relevant answers because you rely instead on lame, all-purpose slogans dressed up as if they were cogent explanations, to cover that up.
Mais c'est la vie!
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27État:_A_Practical_Handbook
Btw, you'll have no objection if I save our interchange for use in a seminar on "Media Propaganda and Online Logical Howlers," will you? I would hate to deny graduate students in philosophy here at the U who are interested in a closer study of paralogical ideation, the opportunity to savor a paradigm case.
Thanks in advance, it's been real!
Hmmmm.Very intriguing indeed.I think Jack Smith may be holding his cards close to the vest and I cannot wait for this tale to unfold.Stay tuned.
I think so too. I have a feeling what was read in court is just like a tapas plate, just a taste. There's more where that came from. Lots more.
What chefs would call the “amuse bouche.”
Doris, the good news is when Jack wins the pot, We The People win. YUGE win for us all....♥️♠️♦️♣️
A fairly obvious motivation for anyone to intentionally walk off with secret government documents is to trade them for some benefit, usually money. I doubt there are too many historical examples of other motivations for purloining such documents. There are clearly good reasons to carefully investigate whether that was the motivation here. As always, we, and the prosecution, should heed the advice of Deep Throat: follow the money.
*Rump tries to monetize just about anything, including wine and steaks, and he knows a grifting opportunity when he sees one. Aside from bragging rights to keep his ego overinflated, the documents could also be used as bargaining chips in an attempt to stop prosecution. No doubt he still has come powerful stuff that he intends to use if he really is looking at incarceration of some kind. He thinks and behaves as a mobster, because he is one.
He has lost at most of the businesses he's tried. But his one huge talent is tapping into the rage and anger and smallness and bigotry and racism in this country and that is where he's succeeded and they will fund his legal fees which are going to be staggering because this ain't the only trip he's about to make into this branch of the legal world. They have deeper pockets, they can outlast him and they're not intimidated by the criminal.
Perhaps. But I do not believe any national secret could be more valuable than upholding the rule of law and preserving democracy – those are really the stakes in this particular case, unlike, say, one in which a relatively unknown person might have similar bargaining chips available.
In theory, nothing could be more valuable, but in practice? So many people talk as if democracy and the rule of law were in good shape before Trump, or the Freedom Caucus, or Reagan, or Nixon, came along. Those people tend to be class-privileged white people who weren't paying all that much attention besides, maybe, voting from time to time. Democracy and the rule of law have long been beholden to what is in practice the fourth and most powerful branch of government: big money. If "we the people" win the cases against Trump and his allies, and the cases against voter suppression in at least half the states, we get a chance to take on that fourth branch of government. Will we take advantage of the opportunity? I'm not holding my breath.
Arthur, the Rosenbergs were put to death for allegedly giving secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. There is plenty of evidence they were innocent. Let’s never forget our history.
The claim of the Rosenbergs being innocent was pretty well tossed out with the release of the Venona files. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg> (read the second paragraph)
That is my understanding, anyway. I read a lot of that, and about that, when the various files were released,
Thank you, Edward. It's still unsettled in my mind. I was in Union Square with my family when they were executed. A very dark time in our history.
I understand that the special counsel has to consider the political ramifications of any action against trump that can be used as fodder in his campaign as well as being used by trump’s GOP allies and remoras, but jeez…if any other citizen pulled the crap that he’s done in handling critical classified papers, they’d be in a holding cell in federal lockup. Damn…so sick of this. He still thinks he’s untouchable…someone should throw him in jail and wake him up already.
I believe letting him continue to think he's untouchable is the plan. He will continue to run his mouth and further implicate himself and his co - conspirators. He will ignore his attorneys advice, probably losing more representation. The adage 'give him enough rope' applies very aptly here...
As I've observed here and elsewhere many times, t-Rump is a Perfect Seven: powerful, rich, old, white, gentile, heterosexual and male. Those who can check all seven of those boxes can get away with damn near anything.
So many traitors; so little justice meted out. . . With a lifetime of unpunished criminality, why wouldn’t tRump expect to beat this latest fiasco? He could actually get elected. The people of this country who support tRump are traitors themselves. The entire Repug Party operates as a crime syndicate for fascist billionaires; they aren’t going anywhere so long as “citizens united” stands. I can’t imagine that the co-conspirators don’t plan to lie and cover up their involvement. No one knows what this special counsel has on the back burner. We do know that Mueller sold out to the Mobsters of the right-wing . . .
Well there is that: "The entire Repug Party operates as a crime syndicate for fascist billionaires;". Exactamundo!
I'm thinking a new song is coming, "RICO,RICO,RICO" With a heavy Bakersfield back beat. Wheres' Dwight Yokum when we need him
Maybe you could convince Randy Rainbow to collaborate!🎶😂
I'm happy to see that someone still remembers Citizens United.
Citizen’s United is the syphilitic chancre sore on this democracy, the fascist festering of right-wing billionaires.
Your description...needs to be in a script somewhere! :)
do you actually think any of us have FORGOTTEN it?
it invades my consciousness on a daily basis.
You might be surprised how many people never heard of it. I know I'm in good company here.
Just because we don't talk about it anymore doesn't mean we forgot or don't remember what it's done and what it means and who did it. Thank you, Justice Roberts. Next time we'll know with you you're as bad as Thomas.
It feels good to know that others are still outraged.
One of my favorite t-shirts says:
Corporations are not people,
Money is not speech,
Guns are not freedom”
from Nabraskans Against Gun Violence.
Yes it does. And I'm sorry that the important stuff often gets lost because there's so much junk put out to distract.
Me too. That's why I read this Newsletter.
Yes it is. One of the problems we've never confronted before is just how thick the news is with everything that feels like it's going down the drain.
Oh, I wish I were a true believer at this point. But a few things really bother me. The biggest one obviously is that Loose Cannon is still on the case as the judge and I can see absolutely nothing to support the idea that she would do anything other than sabotage things for Chump. And equally disturbing is that he has been allowed to roam free. Nothing restricted and of course he went out, and flapped his big ugly mouth and fund raised over $1 million almost immediately. I just don’t see anything telling me that he is going to be held to account, and that he won’t be able to run for, and potentially become president, which would be the nightmare that ends this country. Because we all know it would be a presidency of spite vengeance and greed.
I don't like it either. But I comfort myself with the FACT -- and we know how Republicans like to refute and ignore facts -- that Jack Smith has other just as serious investigations going on and Cannon has a lot to lose if she pulls what she pulled before. I'm thinking Judicial Misconduct charges. I'm sure she's very aware of that. She got her wrist slapped big time last go.
If Trump does become president, judicial misconduct will be awarded with a medal. The country will become very angled towards the radical right and pertinent laws will be interpreted through a radical right lens. In other words, hard core fascism.
I pretty much believe that too. I keep trying not to think how that would be but it keeps creeping in when I let my guard down. This is the conclusion of a lot of my friends as well. Our conversations have hard turned to how we're way to close to this happening. I was with two very conservative friends for dinner last night and the wife teaches school to little kids at the Jewish Community Center school. And she was happy to tell me two of the people there had come to her and started trashing Biden and saying they'd not vote for him again. And all you can do is just sit there and blink or start cursing and not be friends again. I have avoided talking politics with them for three years. They're just so so sure of what they believe and I don't want to argue with friends
It's not worth arguing. Consensus reality is breaking down and people are basically participating in parallel worlds that only intersect on a mundane level.
The new oft repeated exercise in futility. My friends with whom I agree, and that's most of them, all, along with me, feel we are in a very, very dangerous period.
Yes, got her wrist slapped, but she wasn't disbarred or thrown off the bench. Why should she have learned anything from that wrist-slapping, other than that she can continue to get away with her unabashed favoritism toward her lord and master with no lastingly negative consequences?
Today it will embolden her. We'll have to see. Because it looks like we're going to havee her in spite of all the promises from people writing on this topic that there's no way she would. Looks like once again we have something that blows up normalcy.
Exactly this!
Don’t forget the State cases in Georgia and New York. He can’t pardon himself in State cases.
I continue to wonder whether TFG and his folk are paying taxes on all that money they raise.
And every time I get another appeal to "Contribute now and have your support octupled!", I wonder whether the FTC or some other agency could be persuaded to look into that claim that contributions can be multiplied as they promise. I'd be happy to be a test case complainant.
Grand juries interviewed 20 Secret Service, everyone who worked for or around Himself, writers for Meadows at Bedminster, PAC member who spent time with him at Bedminster. Select boxes were on the plane with him to and fro. Betting Jack Smith hasn’t needed a search warrant for Bedminster.
Mary Trump on podcast related behavior of her uncle when he was a young boy. Said she didn’t witness but heard told so many times it feels she was actually present. Family was gathered and preparing for a big meal. Lots of preparation going on in kitchen. Himself was behaving so cruelly, terrorizing brother Robert. Completely out of control and no one could get him to stop. There was a big bowl of mashed potatoes ready for the meal. Someone picked it up, turned it over and dumped on his head. That stopped him.
I have no doubt Jack Smith knows how to cook it and serve it up.
Yes, I loved that story Mary told on MSNBC. She always puts things into perspective when dealing with her family members.
Did you notice that she said money was the be-all-and-end-all in that family? One wouldn't say that about the Rockefellers, so you know the old man was a grasping, money hungry pos with no character and no values. It appears the only one who knew better was Mary's father, and he drank himself to death because he wasn't allowed to live the life he wanted. My own father was right when he said, "Money doesn't care who has it."
Yes I did hear her express that. Am I right that she filed a lawsuit against her entire family because they screwed she and her brother out of any of her grandfather’s inheritance? I don’t believe that has gone to trial yet, if it ever does.
You are right. That lawsuit is in play. And it gets worse. The only girl of the Trump children, Maryanne Trump Barry, went on to be a Federal Appellate judge (in New Jersey) who left the bench -- which somehow closed off her being investigated and *removed* from the bench! for fiddling with the old man's will. I never understood why resigning prevented any legal redress. They were not, let us say, a family who particularly cared about their reputation. Only their money.
Yes, the only daughter, the judge who’s corrupt as hell. This family is in so much muck up to their nostrils that they make Al Capone and his ilk look like Mother Theresa!
I love that image--the white mashed potatoes plopped onto his combover contrasting with his outraged orange face.
lt's beyond the potato stage. Now Smith is dumping evidence on that head of his. He is disgusting and always been.
Re: Documents that may be in Bedminster:
Keith Olbermann has said this, repeatedly...and I believe it bears repeating, endlessly.
In terms of hidden documents and Ivana Trump as an unwitting accomplice:
"Dig.
Her.
Up!"
I've been saying it tongue in cheek somewhat for a long time but the last thing on the planet that would surprise me today is if the documents were found in there with poor little Ivana whom he disrespected over and over in life.
Agreed, it seemed as though deference was shown to the miserable SOB who was president, more's the pity, but it was not, I believe, a show of respect. I just think Jack Smith wanted to see what the defendant would say or do. Granted, not many defendants have their own planes, but Trump's tail number is no secret. (It is Nellie757AF). Should that plane veer out to sea, betcha' two AF fighter jets would join him up there, and no private pilots are gonna play catch-me-if-you-can at 38,000 feet.
Re this indictment not being loaded, there could be some charges held out for a rainy day (or New Jersey) should Loose Cannon decide to totally ruin her reputation.
A small addendum. There *was* one restriction on what Lardass could say. He could not reveal any bit of classified information from he documents he pilfered. And because the man cannot control his mouth, whaddya' bet one or two such tidbits slip out? Then, my friends, he will show up in court having spent the previous night on a cot.
Margo, I completely agree with you that the Dumpster cannot/will not restrain himself from violating the restrictions on what he can publicly or privately reveal concerning classified information. I think Mr. Smith knows that too and he's waiting for Big Mouth to add more fuel to the fire that's consuming him.
Just remember, down there in Miami in Republican Leader Land, it will enhance her reputation. I don't think we all are aware how truly red it is down there and how long it's been going on and corruption of logical thought even among the intellegencia.
Great summary, Lucian. I hope Jack Smith has some surprises in store for everyone, especially *Rump.
I hope so. I'm not inclined to give DOJ the benefit of the doubt right now. The lack of a single pre trial condition which would have been meted out in spades, including detention and bond, to anybody else thus charged and the filing of the case in Aileen Cannon's court smells like sandbagging to me.
Jack Smith has been chasing bad guys a long time. Trump might be his gift to humanity.
On a silver platter with an apple in his mouth—is that what you mean? 😉
As long as the apple is rotten.
Haha! At any rate, in my metaphor, both the pig and the apple in his mouth are COOKED.
I love these little fantasies. When I've had enough some days, I imagine his discomfort in all sorts of ways. I'm glad it's not just me.
If we all got what we'd like, it would just come back to a gigantic tit for tat. We'd love to see him hogtied and made to answer for what he's done and still plans but it would make him sympathetic and that anyone can be sympathetic toward him says a lot about how bad things really are.
I don't think there was any option other than to file in that district in Florida and that's not her court.
As you describe, things are going in this prosecution at about the pace they should be going. While it would be nice to see the Former Guy treated like others who were charged with espionage (high bail, giving up passport, restrictions on travel, etc.), this is an unusual case given the indictee, and it calls for unusual approaches. Let's see what the coming weeks bring in terms of pre-trial disclosures by the government, motions by the Former Guy, and Cannon's rulings on such motions.
To paraphrase the old adage from Sun Tzu, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Here, the Former Guy is at long last, for the first time in his life, being drawn in to those wheels.
Sun Tzu, ok, but there are reasonable doubts about his existence, and about The Art of War being written by a single author, rather than as series of texts compiled over many years.
"Historicity
Around the 12th century AD, some Chinese scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sun Tzu, primarily on the grounds that he is not mentioned in the historical classic Zuo zhuan, which mentions most of the notable figures from the Spring and Autumn period.[13] The name "Sun Wu" (孫武) does not appear in any text prior to the Records of the Grand Historian,[14] and may have been a made-up descriptive cognomen meaning "the fugitive warrior" – the surname "Sun" can be glossed as the related term "fugitive" (xùn 遜), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, valiant" (wǔ 武), which corresponds to Sun Tzu's role as the hero's doppelgänger in the story of Wu Zixu.[15] The only historical battle attributed to Sun Tzu, the Battle of Boju, has no record of him fighting in that battle.[16]"
The Wiki article moves on to discuss others answering with a defense of Sun Tzu, as both really existing and (largely) responsible for The Art of War. See also:
Mills of God
The proverbial expression of the mills of God grinding slowly refers to the notion of slow but certain divine retribution.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_of_God
[P]hilosopher Sextus Empiricus (2nd century) in his Adversus Grammaticos as a popular adage:[4]
Ὀψὲ θεῶν ἀλέουσι μύλοι, ἀλέουσι δὲ λεπτά.
"The millstones of the gods grind late, but they grind fine."[5]
The same expression was invoked by Celsus in his (lost) True Discourse. Defending the concept of ancestral fault, Celsus reportedly quoted "a priest of Apollo or of Zeus":
Ὀψὲ, φησι, θεῶν ἀλέουσι μύλοι, κἆϛ παίδων παῖδας τοί κεν μετόπισθε γένωνται.
'The mills of the gods grind slowly', he says, even 'To children's children, and to those who are born after them.'[6]
The Sibylline Oracles (c. 175) have Sed mola postremo pinset divina farinam ("but the divine mill will at last grind the flour").[7]
In any case, this is long overdue but we'll take it, right?
when I see posts like this, Richard, it gives me hope that---at least at some point in the future--people will once again realize that the "humanities" are actually very useful.
I majored in philosophy for about two months (if that), before I realized it was just too HARD. History of Ideas was more my thing. but both of them are obviously YOURS.
thank you.
I credit it to professors like David White, a conscientious objector from Oklahoma in WW2, who live for some nine years in India, and taught philosophy for decades at Macalester, here's an example of what I mean:
Review
«What distinguished this translation of the 'Gitã' from innumerable others is that it approaches it as a 'philosophical' text, focusing on the philosophical issues it raises. This may help to explain why the rendition is unusually clear and precise.» (Huston Smith, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley)
«...the most readable and insightful translation into English of the 'Bhagavad gitã' that we have available to us... The only way to bring this point out is to compare White's translation with others. Every stanza is rich with deep insight and extensive consideration of precise nuances accurately rendered into colloquial speech. It is this thorough feeling for the appropriate nuance of sentiment with which to render each passage that makes White's translation so effective. His explanatory paragraphs are intended to make the 'Gitã' accessible to today's student, not to propose new theories of insights into the meaning of the text. This little book is strongly recommended for those first being exposed to Indian thought, as well as for those steeped in the 'Gitã'.» (Kar. H. Potter, Philosophy East and West)
«What distinguishes this translation of the 'Gitã' from innumerable others is that it approaches it as a 'philosophical' text, focusing on the philosophical issues it raises. This may help to explain why the rendition is unusually clear and precise.» (Huston Smith, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley)
«...the most readable and insightful translation into English of the 'Bhagavadgita' that we have available to us. The only way to bring this point out is to compare White's translation with others. Every stanza is rich with deep insight and extensive consideration of precise nuances accurately rendered into colloquial speech. It is this thorough feeling for the appropriate nuance of sentiment with which to render each passage that makes White's translation so effective. His explanatory paragraphs are intended to make the 'Gita' accessible to today's student, not to propose new theories or insights into the meaning of the text. An example is White's proposed rendering of 'samkhya' as 'analytical philosophy', a translation which will ring bells for pupils in contemporary philosophy classes... This little book is strongly recommended for those first being exposed to Indian thought, as well as for those steeped in the 'Gita'.» (Karl H. Potter, Philosophy East and West)
About the Author
The Author: David White is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Macalester College, where he taught for thirty-nine years. His doctorate is in Asian Studies from the American Academy of Asian Studies, University of the Pacific. He has published articles on the philosophy of the Gita and has worked on the present translation for more than twenty years, using the various earlier versions of his translation in teaching the philosophies of India. He is cited in Who's Who in Religion and Who's Who in America.
David also managed, rather easily I imagine , to get Robert Pirsig of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fame, to visit and answer questions, the Philosophies of India course lecture room can't possibly have ever been more packed to the rafters.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig *****
Excerpt -
A precocious child with an alleged IQ of 170 at the age of nine, Pirsig skipped several grades at the Blake School in Minneapolis.[3][5] In May 1943, Pirsig was awarded a high school diploma at the age of 14 by the University High School (later renamed Marshall-University High School), where he had edited the school yearbook, the Bisbilla. Pirsig then studied biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, he describes the central character, thought to represent himself,[6] as being an atypical student, interested in science in itself rather than a professional career path.
In the course of his studies, Pirsig became intrigued by the multiplicity of putative causes for a given phenomenon, and increasingly focused on the role played by hypotheses in the scientific method and sources from which they originate. His preoccupation with these matters led to a decline in his grades and expulsion from the university.[7]
In 1946, Pirsig enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in South Korea until 1948. Upon his discharge from the Army, he lived for several months in Seattle, Washington, and then returned to the University of Minnesota, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1950.[8] He subsequently studied philosophy at Banaras Hindu University in India and the Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods at the University of Chicago. In 1958 he earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.[7][9]
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.
One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.
The truth knocks on the door and you say, go away, I'm looking for the truth, and it goes away. Puzzling.
If you run from technology, it will chase you.
www.brainyquote.com/authors/robert-m-pirsig-quotes
I noticed the Brainy Quoters ripped this out of any context:
"There's no such thing as morality."
Robert M. Pirsig
This, from someone quoted on the same page with statements like:
It's the dualistic ways of looking at things that produces the evil.
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.
We do need a return to individual integrity, self-reliance, and old-fashioned gumption. We really do.
Whatever else you might think of Pirsig, he is a moralist through and through, but his writings reflect many other concerns as well, there's no contradiction, of course!
most of the quotes I see (when they're actual quotes) are free of any context about 95% of the time.
June 18 in history : 1928 American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the 1st woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Burry Port, Wales
1940 Winston Churchill gives his "this was their finest hour" speech to the House of Commons urging perseverance in the war after the Dunkirk evacuation and the fall of France
1952: Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini born, Rome, Italy.
Activism
Rossellini is involved in conservation efforts. She is the president and director of the Howard Gilman Foundation — a leading institution focused on the preservation of wildlife, arts, photography and dance[32] — and she has been a board member of the Wildlife Conservation Network.[33] She received US$100,000 from Disney to help with her conservation efforts in those two organizations.[34] She has also helped with the Central Park Conservancy,[35] and is a major benefactor of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society in Bellport, Long Island, where she is a part-time resident.[36]
Rossellini is involved in training guide dogs for the blind.[37] She is a former trustee of the George Eastman House and a 1997 George Eastman Award honoree for her support of film preservation.[38] She is also a National Ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[39]
www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/13/isabella-rossellini-ageing-brings-a-lot-of-happiness-you-get-fatter-but-there-is-freedom
Overlooked in practically every other sketch of her life is her studies in animal behavior, which started in 2007 at Hunter College and finished up with an M.A. from New York University. Her book Some of Me is well worth reading.
www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-679-45252-2
Some of Me
Isabella Rossellini. Random House (NY), $29.95 (179pp) ISBN 978-0-679-45252-2
Awkwardness is this memoir's greatest flaw; but it is also its greatest virtue, as actress and model Rossellini rambles charmingly about her life, loves and career, evidently without the aid of a ghostwriter. Anyone looking for literary polish or even a narrative is likely to be disappointed, but those who enjoy something that reads like the after-dinner talk of a beautiful and worldly celebrity will find much that is entertaining. There are detailed instructions on dishwashing from Rossellini's mother, Ingrid Bergman, pronouncements on art and politics from her father, the Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, and a memory of young Isabella and her siblings (including her twin sister, Ingrid) flinging rocks at paparazzi. Rossellini speaks with affection but not much detail about her relationships with filmmakers Martin Scorsese and David Lynch, and provides what even she calls ""boring"" detail about her long association with Lancombe cosmetics and its unpleasant ending. Along the way are goofy digressions about ants and aphids, a few forgivable displays of celebrity petulance (four pages on how she hates being told she looks like her mother) and, throughout, imaginary dialogues, including several fictional conversations between her father and Scorsese. Here and there Rossellini's table talk takes on weight, as when she discusses her childhood battle with scoliosis, but readers are most likely to come away from this pleasant, ephemeral volume with a vivid memory of Rossellini's voice and striking face (the book is liberally illustrated), but without quite remembering what she said. Author tour. (June)
^^^^^ The smug nonsense is far more about the reviewer than the reviewed. Mais chacun a son gout, c'est la vie!
I've always loved "The Great Thoughts," and lots of people mention it, but his earlier book of quotations (which is pretty different in a lot of ways) is actually the one that I prefer. I have a very nice reference book library, but to most people, it's now outmoded because you can Google things. I disagree, because the serendipitous things that happen when you're browsing cannot be replicated using ANY computer. I feel the same way about libraries with actual physical books. I'm sure you feel the same way.
Today in History - with a quotation from William Penn...
Biography: An early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed.
Born: October 14, 1644
Birthplace: London, England
Star Sign: Libra
Died: July 30, 1718 (aged 73)
Historical Events
1681-03-04 English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania
1682-06-18 English Quaker William Penn founds Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania Colony
1682-08-24 Duke James of York gives Delaware to William Penn
1682-08-30 William Penn leaves England to sail to the New World
1682-10-26 William Penn accepts area around Delaware River from Duke of York
1682-10-27 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is founded by Englishman William Penn
1682-10-29 William Penn lands at what is now Chester, Pennsylvania
1683-06-23 William Penn signs friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape indians in Pennsylvania; only treaty "not sworn to, nor broken"
1700-05-07 William Penn began monthly meetings for blacks advocating emancipation
1701-11-08 William Penn presents Charter of Privileges, guaranteed religious freedom for the colony in Pennsylvania
1984-11-28 Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States
Quotes by William Penn
"Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders than from the arguments of its opposers."
Penn was a Quaker, the kind of religious fidelity to original teachings that Richard Milhous Nixon failed to learn from his Quaker roots.
Another brilliant exponent of something akin to Penn's Quaker views and actions:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2QTdxXmd0k
Bonnie Raitt's version of the Eric Kaz/Libby Titus tune, "Love Has No Pride," showed up on her "Give It Up" album in 1972.
{NOTE: the substack spell check flags "opposers," it is simply archaic spelling. We would use "opponents," of course.}
The Great Thoughts, Revised and Updated
FROM ABELARD TO ZOLA, FROM ANCIENT GREECE TO CONTEMPORARY AMERICA, THE IDEAS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
By George Seldes
ABOUT THE GREAT THOUGHTS, REVISED AND UPDATED
Upon its publication, George Seldes’s The Great Thoughts instantly took its place as a classic–a treasure house of the seminal ideas that have shaped the intellectual history of the world down through the ages. Seldes, a pivotal figure in the history of American journalism and a tireless researcher, spent the better part of his extraordinary lifetime compiling the thoughts that rule the world, casting his net widely and wisely through the essential works of philosophy, poetry, psychology, economics, politics, memoirs, and letters from the ancient Greeks to the modern Americans.
Now Seldes’s splendid and important work has been revised and updated to include the great thoughts that have changed our world in the decade since the book’s first appearance. Quotations from leaders as varied as Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Yitzak Rabin, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Jackson reflect the radical shifts in the world political scene. Toni Morrison and Cornel West speak out on the enduring vitality of African-American culture. Alvin Toffler and Arthur C. Clarke give us a glimpse into the future. Gloria Steinem and Monique Wittig define the motives and the goals of late twentieth-century feminism. Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner ponder the meaning of wilderness in an increasingly populated and industrialized world. These and scores of other thinkers in all major disciplines have added their voices to this new edition of The Great Thoughts.
USA Today praised the first edition of The Great Thoughts as "a browser’s delight." The work of a lifetime, brought up-to-date to reflect the global upheaval of the past decade, The Great Thoughts stands alone as an enduring achievement and an invaluable resource.
ABOUT GEORGE SELDES
George Seldes was one of the great muckraking journalists and the author of twenty books, including Witness to a Century. He began his career as a cub reporter for the Pittsburgh Leader, rose to international correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and founded his… More about George Seldes
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/163841/the-great-thoughts-revised-and-updated-by-george-seldes/
Thank you Richard, for the historical background. It still makes for a nice adage, no matter its provenance. And as you conclude, one that is applicable here.
Cheers!
You're welcome, sometimes I admit I am "channeling" the spirit of the Guardian commenter who uses the name "Unashamed Pedant," so there's that, too!
Or...Sooner or later Karma, aka Jack Smith, is going to bite him in the ass, if not in the documents case, then in January 6 case.
It is indeed interesting that there are developments that Jack Smith is pursuing other legal charges, as well he should-because as a Special Prosecutor he has the power and leeway to investigate nearly every single aspect of Donald Trump's illegal doings for the past 7 years.
I'm pretty sure Merrick Garland gave him the orders to do so without hesitation.
He has made no secret of it, though-just being very, very circumspect to keep his cards hidden away from those who would like to see them.
I'm pretty sure he's been interfacing with the Jan 6 investigators and getting information that he can use against Trump in the future, plus having all those witnesses in the grand jury room.
But perhaps the most surprising turn is that of Aileen Cannon, who is suspected of being a Trumper, but it is a little unclear where she really stands because there was an article about a case she is involved in that is just as intricate and complex as Trump's will be right now.
The article tells of someone who happens to know a little law, and perhaps we're too fast to condemn her completely out of hand (I know, heresy)-but reading this article gives me pause, and don't say the magazine quoted is a right wing mouthpiece:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/15/aileen-cannon-criminal-trial-record-00102135
" Trump judge’s thin criminal trial resume comes with a twist"
The Trump-appointed judge, preparing to oversee his documents case, is about to undertake a massive and complex health fraud trial."
Now, forgive me for hedging my bets on this, but from what the article says, she is not as stupid, naive or uneducated in law as we all think she is. True, this is a criminal trial she's taking on, but note where she worked before she became a judge-the DOJ. She has in the past, been very favorable in rulings for the DOJ and I think she's learned her lesson from the slap down of the 11th circuit by now.
I mean, she was a literal laughingstock throughout the legal world and country. How humiliating it must have been to be so publicly smacked around by her superiors.
I'm starting to believe that we might have been a little too premature on our dismissal of her, but I'm hoping that this is a good sign that we might expect her to be less deferential to Trump than we saw before.
Call me a optimist of the worst sort. I like happy endings and right now a happy ending would be for Donald Trump to be found guilty and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life.
I think that's the main goal of Jack Smith, too. That man has the 'thousand yard stare' which would stop most people in their tracks. He means goddamn business, and he's gonna get what he wants.
Donald Trump better be prepared-and get some new lawyers as well. He's going into a fight with a rubber sword when the opposing side has a ready and loaded artillery gun pointed at him.
I was so lucky to have worked with some of the brightest attorneys on the planet for a long time and Jack Smith "feels" like those guys. He also has a face that would fit well on Mt. Rushmore. No good attorney ever puts all his cards on the table in the beginning. There's a time for that. And we know Trump is having multiple meltdowns and bad moments now in every single day. There is still a lot going on out there in legal land connected to Trump and his crimes. I'd feel a lot better if there was a different judge on the case but if she pulls a save Trump on this, there's comfort knowing Georgia and Smith/DOJ have a lot of cross investigation going on and we'll just see what there is to see soon. If Trump thinks this is all, and I don't think he's quite that stupid, he's going to be very unpleasantly surprised. I'll like that a lot.