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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Beer Blogging / Friday Morning Open Thread: Let’s Just Do It, And Be Legends!

Friday Morning Open Thread: Let’s Just Do It, And Be Legends!

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Were it not for the whole aspiring-agoraphobe thing, I would *totally* show up for this, and I don’t even drink. (But I do love quilt shows, although technically I don’t much quilt, either. ) The Washington Post reports:

Jay Milton, one of the organizers of the inaugural “Run for the Rest of Us race” in Boerne, Tex., wants to make sure of one thing: the air quotes.

Everything about this “race” screams air quotes, in the best ways possible. This event, an affectionate parody of road races everywhere, begins at 11 a.m. Central time Saturday in the town of about 10,000 outside San Antonio and is billed as a 0.5K. Like those air quotes, that decimal is awfully important. This an un-race, a nonevent, a thing for people who like to have a good time and don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s a “race” that will cover 546 yards, running from brewpub to brewpub and, because it’s important to have a sustenance station, there will be a spot to grab coffee, eat a doughnut and maybe smoke a cigarette.

Did we mention free beer? Like, good craft beer and not swill?

The course begins with a free pint at the Dodging Duck Brewhaus at one end of a linear city park in Boerne (pronounced “Bernie”) and ends with another free pint at Cibolo Creek Brewery at the other end. There, organizers write on Facebook, participants can “relive the experience, brag to our friends, compare times, and take selfies to post on social media “I DID IT!!! I AM A FINISHER!!!”…

The idea took off like a bolt, probably unlike most of the participants in this “race,” and the 225 spots, available for a $25 entry fee, quickly were snapped up. Because the event has gotten a lot of national attention, Milton said they could have had at least 500 entrants “if not 1,000.” That would have stressed the brewpubs, though. Milton and his friends focused on finding a charity that worked locally and settled on Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that supplies weekend meals to children who might otherwise go hungry.

There will also be a VIP entry level. For an extra $25, folks can choose not to run, riding instead in one organizer’s restored 1963 VW bus. That organizer also happens to play the bagpipes and will help kick things off Saturday with a rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Another organizer, who is a keyboardist, will play the “Chariots of Fire” theme.

And of course there will be participation awards, medals — or “woods,” as Milton says — that are crafted by another organizer. “This is 2018,” Milton said. “Of course, everyone gets a participation trophy because what would their parents think?”…

Other goodies (we had you at free beer, we know) besides the “wood,” include a T-shirt and a deeply ironic 0.5K oval sticker to proudly affix to your vehicle. The race is being held on Cinco de Mayo, a date that was chosen “as an accident” because it was a good spot on the city’s busy calendar, and “you don’t want to have a race in Texas in the summer,” Milton said. That goes for a “race,” too. There also happens to be a quilting festival that day…

Upgrade for next year: Maybe if enough people pay for a special “eardrums” package, the bagpiper will not perform? At least not until after the beers have been consumed?

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  9. 9.

    Murmeltier

    Good morning.
    That is my kind of race. I don’t care about the beer either.

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Upgrade for next year: Maybe if enough people pay for a special “eardrums” package, the bagpiper will not perform?

    Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person in the world who likes bagpipes.

    Sigh.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    Morning everyone!

    Taking the day off for all sorts of appointments (car, me, home, etc) and errands. Trying to decide whether or not a midday nap should be on the agenda…

  17. 17.

    Quinerly

    @rikyrah: Tail wags and waves from Pine Knoll Shores, NC. Poco is taking me on a campaign beach walk in 5. Have a great day!

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    Interesting read: What A Legal War Between Mueller and Trumpov Will Look Like

    Trump may be able to escape some of the political fallout due to his and his allies’ unrelenting smear campaign against Mueller and the Justice Department. But legal experts and former White House attorneys were skeptical that such a move will come entirely without consequence.

    “As robust as the efforts have been to delegitimize normal Department of Justice operations, the seismic activity on the political Richter scale of the president of the United States asserting the Fifth Amendment in a criminal case — I can’t even imagine it,” said Andy Wright, who served as counsel for President Obama and for Vice President Al Gore.

    Before he gets to that point, Trump may see if he can get the courts to help him avoiding sitting down with Mueller.

    The President could assert a range of executive privileges to try to thwart Mueller – and delay invoking the Fifth Amendment. To this point, under the direction of Ty Cobb, the White House’s legal strategy has been to cooperate with Mueller. The President’s dissatisfaction with that strategy is reportedly one of the reasons Cobb is out and Flood is in. A series of confrontations over executive privilege could wind up in the courts initially. But the ultimate confrontation seems likely to be over whether the President must abide by a grand jury subpoena.

    Nickel bet that even this SCOTUS says he does have to abide by it. And TPM (in this article, at least) has not taken into consideration the drip-drip-drip of more continuing to come out all the while…

  21. 21.

    HinTN

    @raven:

    I’ll go find the link in a minute. They let us walk toward it until the ground was hot in ’87. We could see the steam where it hit the ocean.

    That picture of your stuck truck … is that a ’63 GMC? Beautiful, whatever it is.

  23. 23.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    JGabriel – I love bagpipes. My dad had a bunch of old 33 1/3 records he used to play when I was a baby. It may have warped me for life.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A four-year search of the depths of the Indian Ocean has failed to locate Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. But the sonar seabed hunt for the missing airliner might be close to solving two 19th-century mysteries the locations of two sailing ships that vanished with cargos of coal.

    Maritime historians on Thursday published a short list of possible identities of two shipwrecks found in the course of the initial 710,000 sq km (274,000 sq mile), three-year search for the Boeing 777 that was lost in 2014 with 238 people aboard.

    The wrecks were found in 2015, seven months and 36 km apart, 2,300 km south-west of Australia in debris fields scattered with coal more than 3.7 km below the ocean’s surface.

  28. 28.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Jeffro: A midday nap is always on the agenda.

    Also, I’m going to vote with the bagpipe lovers here. And hearing a piper playing a slow Amazing Grace at a funeral always gets me.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    More allegations against Charlie Rose. I guess this is a prelude to his new show interview the men of #metoo.

  33. 33.

    HeartlandLiberal

    I have to quibble with you on the bagpipes. I LOVE bagpipes. That would be a highlight. And I am not even Scottish. At least I don’t think so, although there is much English blood in my veins, my forefathers came over from England about 1649, we have it traced back that far, but are uncertain about which of two candidates is the Richard that came to Maryland. Maybe I have some genes somewhere that respond to bagpipes.

  35. 35.

    Sab

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: My BIL funeral had a piper playing “Coming home” from New World Symphony. How American is that? American piper playing song by Czech composer referencing African American gospel music on Scottish instrument.

    I cried at the time, and I get teary eyed every time I remember it.

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JGabriel:

    Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person in the world who likes bagpipes.

    I love bagpipes. You are not alone.

  37. 37.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JGabriel: bagpipes played well are great. Bagpipes played anything less than well are…well, I don’t want to use that kind of language this early in the morning

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: He should have left it alone – what sane person would do something cavalier like floating the idea of that show? It’s just asking for more people to come forward.

  47. 47.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I have a friend in Safety Bay near Perth. He and his brother built a replica the USS Lanikai. Thirty years ago his brother went to sea in the catgut and was never heard from again.

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jeffro:
    I didn’t get out of the boat, but that excerpt seems fishy to me because it suggests the Trump ‘strategy’ is, was, or will be rational and consistent. For example, isn’t it Trump’s legal team trying to hold Trump back from testifying? As you may have noticed from his recent Fox appearance, he’s an arrogant dimwit who craves the chance to rant and believes he can talk his way out of anything.

  53. 53.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven: that’s rather depressing. Unless he had recently purchased a large life insurance policy and was faking his death to get away from a nagging wife, loan sharks, and a pack of angry dingos.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yup. That and the fact that he continues to vent his spleen on Twitter a dozen times a day.

    I can’t wait for the obstruction report to drop. I hope it drops with tens or even hundreds of other indictments against Don Jr., Jared, Stone, etc. “THIS is obstruction, and THESE are just hundreds of the charges we have already prepared, so DON’T EVEN try to say ‘it’s not obstruction if there’s no underlying crime, asshole’ “

  57. 57.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?!

    The stupid dogs woke me up at 3:30, kept me up to 4:30, and even though my coffee was brewing, when they got settled I went back to bed too. Now I’m up and having my reheated coffee while the miscreants lounge in the sunlight.

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning jackals.

    Friday, but every day is news dump day now, is it not?

  61. 61.

    GideonAB

    Is anyone here following the Dean Heller campaign closely? Is he active in Nevada?

  63. 63.

    opiejeanne

    @satby: I got your shampoo bars yesterday. Tried it out last night and my hair is squeaky clean. Smells nice, too. I’m giving each of my daughters a bar.

    Is a shampoo bar a new thing? Or have I just led a sheltered life?

  64. 64.

    scuffletuffle

    @JGabriel: you are not alone, I got a bagpiper for my mother’s funeral and hope someone will do the same for me someday…

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    @opiejeanne:

    @satby: I got your shampoo bars yesterday. Tried it out last night and my hair is squeaky clean. Smells nice, too. I’m giving each of my daughters a bar.

    satby:

    Tried out the shampoo bar on Peanut’s hair. Peanut’s hair really took to it. I have an argon oil based conditioner that I use in conjunction with your bar.

    Is a shampoo bar a new thing? Or have I just led a sheltered life?

    First time I heard of it was on youtube a couple of years ago. I think I’ve been sheltered like you :)

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    @raven: I watched the doggie video several times and kept laughing each time. That pup is a riot. It took me more than one view to figure out what I was supposed to be looking for, but once I did…hilarious.

  70. 70.

    Yarrow

    @raven: I wish they’d used the zoom feature on the video so we could see the dog better. After a few times you pretty much knew what the pup would do. I would have love to see the dog’s face. I bet she was having the best time.

  73. 73.

    rikyrah

    Kay,

    did you miss yesterday where I posted that Kucinich was doing phucking interviews with RT!!

    RT!!

    Phuck outta here!

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    @Baud:

    Couldn’t send me out to talk to them, because I have no sympathy and would only tell them that they are responsible for what we’re going through now.

    I told you…NO FORGIVENESS for those who made our current situation possible.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    @rikyrah: If you’re a Dem candidate in those areas, you have to talk to them. And if those districts want to elect Dems in 2018 and 2020, I’m happy to work with those Reps to put the country back on track.

  76. 76.

    satby

    @opiejeanne: sorry, I walked away for moar coffee and to let the beasts out.
    Lush made shampoo bars popular, but soapmakers have made them for a long time. They weren’t well known and didn’t sell before Lush made them a thing. Same with bath bombs.

  77. 77.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Don’t be fooled, Zuckerberg is a bog standard Republican:

    Facebook Wants To Let The Heritage Foundation Decide What’s News

    at Wonkette

  79. 79.

    Jerzy Russian

    @JGabriel:

    Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person in the world who likes bagpipes.

    It depends on how you cook them.

  81. 81.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Catching up on the news this morning I missed working two 14 hr shifts in the ICU and OMG what the fuck is Giuliani’s evil plan here? Or is he fucking senile? He’s talking exactly like a dirty fourth-tier mob attorney and he’s representing the President of the United States. Jesus H. Christ he was a USA in SDNY for fucking sake-these were supposedly the crimes he was prosecuting there.

    Switched the TV to FOX to see what The Folks Back Home in Pennsylvania ® were being told about this situation and was reassured to see they were hearing NOTHING to upset their happy little Trump as Persecuted Hero worlds. No discussion about the possibility that they have been lied to over and over by Mr. Drain the Swamp, no sir. Just victimhood on ‘roids.

    In case y’all missed it, apparently the Deep State is working hard to sink all his good works by taking down his high quality hires. Oh, and the FBI watchdog is going to issue a report completely DESTROYING THE LIES OF JAMES COMEY AND ANDREW MCCABE AND DON’T FORGET THOSE TWO LOVERS WHO SECRETLY MOCKED DONALD J. TRUMP IN CELL PHONE TEXTS THEY’RE ALL OUT TO GET HIM

    Actual facts and news about shit going down in the real world is never, ever going to get in to these people’s orbits. Which is why it’s gonna be a huge fight to take these bitches down.

    And even if some of those bitches are my in-laws, it’s gonna be awesome.

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    1,100 economists warn that Trump is repeating one of the biggest mistakes of the Great Depression
    Bob Bryan

    Over 1,100 leading economists sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the president to reverse course on recent trade tactics — lest the US repeat one of the biggest mistakes of the Great Depression.

    The letter, organized by the conservative-leaning National Taxpayers Union, warned that recent tariffs and trade protectionism were harmful to the US economy. The economists cited a 1930 letter that warned Congress against passing the Smoot-Hawley Act, a large package of tariffs that many studies cite as a major reason for the depth of the Great Depression.

    “Congress did not take economists’ advice in 1930, and Americans across the country paid the price,” the letter says. “The undersigned economists and teachers of economics strongly urge you not to repeat that mistake. Much has changed since 1930 — for example, trade is now significantly more important to our economy — but the fundamental economic principles as explained at the time have not.”

  89. 89.

    Yarrow

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Catching up on the news this morning I missed working two 14 hr shifts in the ICU and OMG what the fuck is Giuliani’s evil plan here? Or is he fucking senile? He’s talking exactly like a dirty fourth-tier mob attorney and he’s representing the President of the United States. Jesus H. Christ he was a USA in SDNY for fucking sake-these were supposedly the crimes he was prosecuting there.

    Giuliani has been corrupt for a long time. He’s got ties to the corrupt NY FBI field office, which has long been tied to the Russian mob. He’s acting exactly how I’d expect someone like that to act. As you said, dirty fourth-tier mob attorney. Yep.

  91. 91.

    LAO

    @rikyrah: It seems to me that Giuliani (and Trump) are relying on the argument that Trump has the power to fire anyone and is entitled to fire Comey for any reason, including an arguably wrong reason.

  92. 92.

    KithKanan

    @rikyrah: I was hoping we were targeting them for drone strikes, or at least massive public shaming and re-education camps. Sadly, I think the others are right that we actually do need their votes, but I sure as fuck don’t have to LIKE it.

  93. 93.

    LAO

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    what the fuck is Giuliani’s evil plan here?

    That made me laugh, just yesterday my law partner was bemoaning the fact that Rudy really seemed to have lost the plot and said the following: “you know, Rudy was always in the service of evil, but he used to be so good at it. What the hell has happened to him?”

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    Pritzker, Mendoza demand Rauner, Senger apologize to Duckworth for vets email
    Tina Sfondeles @TinaSfon |
    05/03/2018, 06:20pm

    Democrats J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza on Thursday demanded that Gov. Bruce Rauner and his policy chief issue an apology to Sen. Tammy Duckworth for an email that suggested blaming the decorated war hero and former veterans’ affairs manager for a deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak in downstate Quincy.

    Despite the political pressure, Republican comptroller candidate Darlene Senger — Rauner’s policy chief — isn’t backing down on the blame game.

    Mendoza faces Senger in her re-election bid come November. And while the problems at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy where 13 have died have been campaign fodder for months, an email obtained by WBEZ this week revealed Senger suggested blaming Duckworth, who ran the state agency under former Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich.

    “We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth,” Senger wrote in a Dec. 13 email.

    Senger’s campaign on Thursday said the “point” of her email was to show that there’s a need to understand how problems in the home started in order to find solutions.

    “If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veteran’s programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment,” her campaign said.

    Pritzker was joined by Mendoza and two state representatives who also are veterans — Linda Chapa La Via, D-Aurora, and Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego — at the Plumbers Hall in the West Loop. He said they were outraged that Duckworth would be blamed for the deaths.

    Duckworth, an Iraq war vet, lost her legs and shattered her right arm when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq on Nov. 12, 2004.

    Mendoza implored Senger to apologize to the families of those affected by the Legionnaires’ outbreak and to Duckworth. She also blamed the administration for trying to hide the outbreak.

    And she denied politicizing the issue; that, she said, is Senger’s doing.

    “Darlene Senger is the person who chose to try to pin the deaths of 13 war heroes on an actual wounded war hero. It’s not me,” Mendoza said. “Darlene Senger disqualified herself as a person that could be trusted by this state the minute she decided to put the governor and his reputation ahead the personal safety of those veterans and the grieving families that were impacted by the deaths.”

    Mendoza said she’s doing a “public service” in highlighting the issue “so that the people of Illinois don’t get conned for a second time” — referring to Rauner’s re-election bid.

    And Pritzker focused his efforts on trying to pin the blame on Rauner.

    “Shockingly the person that they tried to blame is U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, an advocate for veterans rights who embodies the spirit and courage of this nation,” Pritzker said. “Gov. Rauner, Sen. Duckworth deserves an apology. She doesn’t deserve the blame that your administration is placing upon her, but instead thanks for her sacrifice and her service.”

  95. 95.

    LAO

    @Yarrow: Come on. I may fucking hate him, but he’s a sitting president. Did you actual expect the RNC to work to fielding a candidate to challenge a sitting Republican president?

  96. 96.

    Baud

    @LAO: Trump’s person on Chris Hayes said that explicitly. I can see it working as a legal matter. Still impeachable, and hopefully politically disadvantageous for them.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    @debit:
    As long as they’re the best people–not rapists, murderers, drug dealers and such.

    Here’s hoping they demand pay in advance.

  101. 101.

    schrodingers_cat

    In the photo that Adam put on the FP, the orange one seems to be expanding like a gas giant. Will he go super nova or will he become a white dwarf?

  102. 102.

    D58826

    Maybe I missed something important here but the news yesterday was wall to wall Stormy and hush money. Now I realize there might be a campaign law violation in all of this and it shows again that Trump is a scumbag but seems unlikely to be prosecuted for any of this.

    In the meantime:
    1. Trump is about to blow up the Iran deal
    2. Bibi is chomping at the bit to get the US to attack Iran
    3. Kim is probably playing Trump like a bad fiddle
    4. Pruitt is ripping the tax payers off for his personal pleasure, not to mention destroying the environment
    5. Ben Carson wants to fund his office furniture by tripling public housing rent
    6. Zinkie wants to turn public land/parks/etc over to developers
    7. and I’m sure there are a few more.

    The WH must be happy as a pig in S**** at the misdirection play

  103. 103.

    D58826

    @Baud: she is the other half of the joe degenova team. I remember her from the Clinton era. At the time if Bill ordered extra fries with his Big Mac it was an impeachable offense if not a crime against humanity

  106. 106.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @D58826: Yes, they’re oh so clever. Meanwhile we are paying attention to all of it, and filing away receipts.

  107. 107.

    rp

    @LAO: They’re conflating the issue of whether Trump had the authority to fire Comey from a bureaucratic standpoint, and whether firing him constituted obstruction of justice because of the impact of the firing on an ongoing investigation. Those are two very different issues. If Trump took office and immediately fired Comey because he didn’t like Comey’s haircut, that would be fine.

    Whether they’re conflating these issues deliberately or because they’re stupid is an open question.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @D58826: I’m sure she a hypocrite and a scumbag, but that legal argument has a chance in court under the current state of the law.

  109. 109.

    LAO

    @rp: I understand. IMO, it’s deliberate and not a terrible defense in the court of public opinion. It just won’t fly in a real court.

  110. 110.

    rp

    This is kinda similar to a retaliatory firing. As a general matter, the US is an employment at will system, so employers can fire employees for any reason or no reason. But federal law prohibits an employer from firing an employee who has reported the employer’s potentially illegal activity and/or is participating in an investigation.

  112. 112.

    rikyrah

    Did Giuliani admit Trump obstructed justice in firing Comey?

    When Donald Trump’s new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Fox News that Donald Trump fired James Comey over the Russia investigation, did he essentially admit that Trump obstructed justice? Danny Cevallos, defense attorney, James McGovern, former federal prosecutor, and Mimi Rocah, former assistant U.S. attorney help Rachel Maddow understand in a new edition of TRMS Law School.

  113. 113.

    Yarrow

    @LAO: I think that given how things are going with Trump that they might want to or need to change that decision. The 2020 election still over two years away and we haven’t even had the 2018 election. In normal times I’d understand it, but now? Seems premature at best. They are definitely sending a message that they are all in for Trump.

  114. 114.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @LAO:
    Hate makes you stupid. You get addicted to the rush of venting irrational emotions, and train yourself to stop thinking critically. We’re seeing extreme cases, but then, a black man WAS elected president.

  115. 115.

    germy

    @D58826:

    7. and I’m sure there are a few more.

    McTurtle is loving seeing a bunch of young RW judges appointed.

  117. 117.

    JPL

    @JPL: This is another article questions the prosecutor about intent of the trial.

    A federal judge in Virginia on Friday grilled lawyers from the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about the motivations for bringing a bank and tax fraud case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
    “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” Judge T.S. Ellis III said during a morning hearing. “You really care about getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/manafort-to-appear-in-virginia-court-in-bid-to-have-fraud-charges-dismissed/2018/05/03/c3b0acb0-4ca2-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html?utm_term=.a4368889aafd

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Hate makes you stupid. You get addicted to the rush of venting irrational emotions, and train yourself to stop thinking at all.

    Fixed that for you. Obama’s election evoked blind, unthinking rage, in a core of voters. But very fair point.

    ETA: Originally tried to do a “strikethrough” effect, but somehow got it wrong.

  119. 119.

    Immanentize

    @JPL: I saw that — how weird. It’s none of the judiciary’s business why the government brings a case. He is acting like Mueller is a special counsel (like in the Whitewater investigation) outside the DOJ with a particular remit, not a lawyer appointed to act within the DOJ. But he is a 77 year old Senior status judge appointed by Reagan….

  120. 120.

    LAO

    @JPL: @Immanentize: We’ll just have to see what happens. I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked out of a court room feeling like a winner, only to get crushed with an adverse written order.

  122. 122.

    JPL

    @Immanentize: It’s seem so crazy, and thanks to you and LAO for commenting.
    “We don’t want anyone in this country with unfettered power. It’s unlikely you’re going to persuade me the special prosecutor has power to do anything he or she wants.”

  123. 123.

    KithKanan

    @LAO: Honest question, would this argument have a chance in hell of being taken seriously if the charges in question weren’t “white collar crimes”?

    Is “you don’t really care about this low level dealer, you just want him to flip on the kingpin” a defense that actually works and gets low level dealers out of charges?

  124. 124.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @schrodingers_cat: I thought about him going supernova, blowing off most of his mass and leaving a cold core behind.

    And that made me think, because my mind is weird, of the mutant character Jocko in Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein update. From the Wikipedia entry:

    Originating as a tumor growing from within and later bursting out of Harker, the physically hideous troll has metamorphosed into a form free from Helios’s control. It supposedly hides in sewers, and eventually shows itself to Erika during book three, who later forms a mother & son relationship.

  125. 125.

    Aleta

    Granted the photos chosen by the press are selective, but in recent ones of Manafort, his sheen of confident arrogance is missing. Small comfort given that he is fighting hard, results unknown, but still something I like.

  127. 127.

    LAO

    @KithKanan: No, it would not be taken seriously. The difference here, and without really knowing the facts, is that Mueller is a “special prosecutor.” I can kinda, sorta see a Judge saying, pass the prosecution off to the proper district and let them prosecute the charges that are unrelated to your investigation. But as I said, we shall see.

  128. 128.

    JPL

    @LAO: I want what ever you are taking, because after reading some of the judge’s statements, I’m anything but calm.

  129. 129.

    LAO

    @JPL: Relax. Breathe deeply. We shall see what happens.

    ETA: I’m not trying to be snarky — I am sincerely telling you not to freak out yet.

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    @raven:

    Mt Kīlauea is erupting.

    Yep. Exciting times. National Guard called out, mandatory evacuation of the eruption zone.

  131. 131.

    Aleta

    @JPL: In case you’re still around:
    From the WaPo article you linked, do you think there was some balance to the judge’s questions to prosecutors when he said

    (Ellis) said even without such a connection the special counsel, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, may well still have the authority to bring the charges.

    “I’m not saying it’s illegitimate,” Ellis said.

    There’s also this (quotes below). Hope you’ll excuse me if the following doesn’t apply to your concerns; my understanding is shallow lately, from being overwhelmed by it all:

    Manafort has filed similar motions in D.C. federal court, where he faces charges of money laundering, making false statements, failing to follow lobbying disclosure laws and working as an unregistered foreign agent.
    Lawyers working for Mueller have, in response, revealed some details of the secretive probe, including portions of a memorandum authorizing Mueller to investigate whether Manafort illegally coordinated with Russia in 2016.

    And related to that memorandum:

    Mueller’s team revealed the existence of the Aug. 2, 2017, memo in filings that seek to counter arguments by Manafort’s attorneys that the special counsel investigation has exceeded its legal authority.

    In a detailed, 53-page defense, Mueller’s team countered late Monday that an investigation of possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia would “naturally cover ties” between the campaign’s chairman and “Russian associated political operatives, Russian-backed politicians and Russian oligarchs.”
    …
    Prosecutors argued that their investigation would only “naturally follow the money trail from Manafort’s Ukrainian consulting activities,” work that resulted in the criminal charges. What’s more, they said that although Rosenstein’s public order appointing Mueller did not name individual subjects, Rosenstein specifically authorized the Manafort probe in the follow-up August memo. They also noted that Rosenstein has said publicly that he is supervising the investigation closely and that he does not think Mueller has exceeded his authority.

    Prosecutors did not explain the timing of the August memo. It came not long after the FBI raided Manafort’s condominium in Alexandria, Va., and served him a search warrant in late July. The memo was written a few days after the July 27 arrest of George Papadopoulos, who had served as a foreign policy adviser to the campaign.

  132. 132.

    J R in WV

    @satby:

    Bagpipes have been part of many cultures other than Celtic. I’m not gonna try to list them all, because… but the Google can help anyone who wants a list.

    I like bagpipes, but I’m full of both Celtic and Scandinavian genes.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    @JPL:

    “uh oh The judge seems upset with Mueller ”

    Don’t you mean “uh oh The Reagan appointed RWNJ judge seems upset with Mueller” ??

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