Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Innocent people do not delay justice.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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On The Road – frosty – 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge – Oregon – Birds of the Oregon Coast

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frosty

When we were at Cannon Beach I woke up early, and having checked the tide tables at Haystack Rock the night before I knew that low tide was around 7:00 AM. Low tide means you can walk to the foot of the rock so I headed out with my camera to see what I could see. I was hoping for a Tufted Puffin because they’re only found on the Pacific Northwest Coast, and only in the Spring when they nest onshore. The rest of the year they live on the ocean.

I saw four people with scopes, binoculars, and cameras so I asked if I could join them. They pointed out a puffin hiding far up the Rock. As the morning went on, a few others came out for a fly-by, and I got a couple of pictures so it was a success! Almost as exciting as the condor – here’s a bird that only lives in one place, at one particular time, and I may never come by here again.

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On The Road - frosty - 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge - Oregon - Birds of the Oregon Coast 6
Cannon Beach, Oregon

First sight of a Puffin!

Late Night Moderate Justice Open Thread: Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years

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Yeah, I too would’ve been happy to see him thrown under the jail, but twenty-something years is not nothing. By the time SBF is a free man, whole new realms of grift — I mean, exciting alternative financial ventures — will have been developed, and hopefully he will never again be able to cheat so many people with such impunity.

Just like the jury deliberations, Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing was brief. Commencing at 9:30, the sentence was delivered before noon.

The judge began the sentencing hearing by ruling on a few points of contention from the sentencing memorandums, after which he established Bankman-Fried’s numeric offense level.

The most substantial disagreement was on the topic of the loss amount. The government contended that the total loss to FTX’s customers and investors and to Alameda’s lenders was $10 billion, on the low end. The defense argued that the loss was zero. Many pages in each side’s sentencing memorandums were devoted to arguing over this.

The judge was quick to rule: “I reject entirely the defendant’s argument that there was no actual loss.” The claims that customers and creditors will be repaid is at this point purely speculative, as the bankruptcy proceedings are still underway. He added that while the success of some of Alameda’s investments, and the recent rise in cryptocurrency prices, is fortuitous for creditors, it does not make Bankman-Fried’s crimes any less severe…

When discussing the government’s proposed sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice, Kaplan first referenced Bankman-Fried’s attempt at witness tampering in January 2023. Although that alone was enough to justify the enhancement, Kaplan also described three specific instances in which he determined Bankman-Fried had committed perjury while testifying:

1) Claiming that he did not know Alameda Research had spent FTX customer deposits until fall 2022
2) Claiming that he first learned of Alameda’s $8 billion liability to FTX in October 2022
3) Claiming that he did not know repaying Alameda’s loans in mid June 2022 would require Alameda to borrow from FTX…

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War for Ukraine Day 764: Air Raid Alerts Are Up Over Most of Ukraine!

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Air Raid Alert map for Ukraine at 9;40 PM EDT on 28 MAR 2024. It is a map of Ukraine with each oblast/region indicated on the map. There are air raid alerts over all of eastern, southern and western Ukraine.

(Air Raid Alert Map of Ukraine at 9;40 PM EDT on 28 MAR 2024)

It’s almost 4 AM in Ukraine and the air raid alert map above shows that Russia is once again threatening Ukraine in the small hours.

From almost two hours ago:

https://twitter.com/rynkrynk/status/1773501846558044444

In addition to destroying civilian infrastructure, especially energy generation, transmission, and agricultural production and storage, one of the other intended effects of these strikes in the middle of the night is to terrorize the Ukrainians. Specifically, to stress them out, fray their nerves, and, as a result, destroy Ukrainian civilian morale and socio-cultural resiliency.

This was the alert fifteen hours ago:

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1773293175257317676

https://twitter.com/Mariana_Betsa/status/1773291311136739618

Just a reminder that the GOP majority US House of Representatives is on vacation for another ten days or so, which has emboldened Russia to increase its operational tempo.

More on this after the jump.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump. (emphasis mine)

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Schadenfreude Open Thread: Pastor Johnson, Not A Happy Speaker

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And it could not happen to a more deserving little weasel!


Paul Kane, at the Washington Post — “Speaker Johnson’s only path to legislative salvation: House Democrats”:[gift link]

… That’s because his own Republicans have waged a war against the normal proceedings in the House, with a reactionary right-wing faction torpedoing the parliamentary process to govern debate and allow legislation to pass with a simple majority.

In their pursuit of ideological purity, these conservatives have repeatedly forced Johnson’s hand to make deals with Democrats. For must-pass legislation, Johnson uses a legislative calendar that brings bills to the floor that cannot be amended, get very little debate and need a two-thirds majority — which usually requires anywhere from 180 to 200 Democrats and another 80 to 100 Republicans.

Thus, these far-right Republicans have assured an anti-conservative outcome, over and over, leading to bills approved by the Senate’s Democratic majority and a dozen to two dozen mainstream Republicans.

All of which has left Johnson with very little negotiating room as he heads toward next month’s consideration of the security package, with the Senate having approved, with 70 votes, a $95 billion bloc of funds that makes none of the border and immigration changes the House GOP has been demanding for a year.

House Democrats are fully aware of the unusually powerful hand they have despite their minority status.

“Democrats have repeatedly made clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, to take care of the business of the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters March 21 at a news conference.

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Who Wants to Zoom with Einstein? (sort of)

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While he was in Arizona, John Cole put me in touch with a work connection of his, Benyamin Cohen.  Benyamin is Einstein on social media, and he also wrote this book.  Benymin is interested in coming to talk with BJ peeps on a zoom (for sure) and is also up for doing an Ask Me Anything post (if there’s interest).

For now, let’s plan the zoom.

If you think you might be interested in joining the zoom, let me know if April 17 at 7:30 would work for you.  We’re thinking a 45-minute presentation and then questions.

This will be a fun, light-hearted, not particularly science-y talk about Einstein.

The Einstein Effect

Einstein

Benyamin gave me a .pdf copy of the book, and I enlisted kalakal to take a look at it, too, and help choose the topics we would like Ben to cover.  kalakal was kind enough to supply a casual summary of some of the three areas we’ve asked Ben if he will share with us in his presentation.

War and Peace… and Einstein.
Covers Einsteins humanitarian work and legacy, how his experiences in, and as a refugee from, Nazi Germany led him to be deeply committed to humanitarian aid work throughout the rest of his life beginning with helping fellow Jews from the Nazis the organization he founded, the International Rescue Committee, still exists, helping millions suffering from conflict and crise. Also his support for the civil rights movement.  **Special bonus Mandy Patinkin story!

Einstein and pop culture. Einstein 70 years after his death is the world’s most famous dead celebrity, he has a bigger social media following than, say, Tom Hanks. He’s the universal embodiment for science in popular culture, like say Beethoven for classical music or Sherlock Holmes for detectives. How did this come about and why, some entertaining & informative examples eg Yoda’s face and hair was based on him.

Einstein in the age of Fake News.
Einstein himself was a major target of fake news, both from the Nazis and later in the US. Both he and his work were attacked and lied about and he was under surveillance by the FBI up to his death. Discusses the phenomenon and poisonous effects of fake news generally and compares Einstein’s experiences with those of Lenny Pozner, father of one of the children murdered at Sandy Hook. How both men fought back, Einstein taught physics at black colleges to counteract the lower IQ myth, Pozner sued and won against Alex Jones.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

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