Steve is making sure I am doing alright and taking care of myself. He’s a good boy like that.
I just wanted to again thank you all. Also, I have no idea where the hell the rest of the front pagers all went.
by John Cole| 77 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Steve is making sure I am doing alright and taking care of myself. He’s a good boy like that.
I just wanted to again thank you all. Also, I have no idea where the hell the rest of the front pagers all went.
This post is in: Clown Shoes
Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a combative former prosecutor and longtime ally of President Trump, told The Washington Post on Thursday that he has joined the president’s legal team dealing with the ongoing special counsel probe.
“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview.
Trump counsel Jay Sekulow said Thursday in a statement that Giuliani is joining the team along with two former federal prosecutors, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, a couple who jointly run a Florida-based law firm.
What’s the opposite of the dream team? At least this will be entertaining.
This post is in: Open Threads
Had a nap, and was sitting there feeling better but still sorry for myself, and Steve came in and started bitching up a storm for dinner, and it’s a good reminder that life is still going to go on. I’m going to inhale a gut bomb pizza (I haven’t really eaten the last couple of days) and watch some tube and maybe break it to Thurston how much pressure he is now under to become a good dog.
This always cheers me up:
And yes, Thurston and Rosie are getting all the pizza crusts.
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Lily
Sorry about the bluntness of the headline, but I didn’t want to beat around the bush with what is ultimately just horrible and heartbreaking news. I just went up and visited Lily and spent a half hour in a consult with the Doctor (again, I can not say enough wonderful things about the doctors at the PVSEC– they’re really professionals), and she is just not doing very well at all and it does not look like there are any good options.
I’ve been crying for three hours and I had to stop four times on the ride home to pull over, so I will try to be as thorough as I can to explain what is going on. Yesterday afternoon after I left, she was given a blood transusion because her platelet count was virtually non-existent and rbc count was around 13. She is not being sedated, and this morning her RBC had rebounded to about 25, but her platelet count has not increased at all (and would not for some time were she to recover- it takes weeks for that). She had an ultrasound this morning, and none of the news is good.
Her liver is enlargened to twice to three times the size of a normal liver and is extending past her rib cage, and the surface looks abnormal. Her stomach and GI are thickened and also abnormal. She also has fluid in her chest/stomach cavity.
The doctor believes that she has cancer, but she can not actually make an absolute determination, because Lily’s platelet count is so low that if they so much as test the liver, she could bleed out. Even if they could make the determination that it is cancer, she is so weak that treatment is not really practical or feasible. The only real thing we could do is to try to extract some of the fluid and see if we could make a determination from that sample.
Unfortunately, the fluid is blood. Basically, there isn’t much that can be done for her, and the only real option is euthanasia. There are other options- we could have a CT scan, but then all that would show up is a non-operable tumor, because since her platelet counts are so low she would bleed out. Likewise, they could do a surgical procedure to investigate and determine the cause, but that might kill her, and even if they found the cause, they could not do much to help her.
It’s just shit all the way around. I asked the doctor what she would do were it her dog, and she said that surgery is out of the question, and she would be hard pressed to do the CT scan because if she found anything, she probably would not wake the dog up from the anesthesia because there is nothing that can be done.
Basically, I know what has to happen, the doctor knows what needs to happen, I was just not emotionally prepared to make the call today. Bringing her home and enjoying a few more days really is not an option either, because her platelet count is so low she is already at great risk of decompensate rather quickly, which is basically a sanitized way of stating she could just suddenly hemorrhage and exsanguinate, which is something I am not willing to risk nor something I would ever put her through.
When I went to visit her, she was not sedated, and barely even registered that I was there. She feels as if she has lost weight since yesterday, and barely has the strength to hold her head up. I held her for fifteen minutes and told her I loved her and cried, and then left before I decompensated in front of everyone.
I spoke with the doctor on the ride home, and they are going to keep her overnight because I can not risk taking her home tonight and having something happen to her leading to a painful and awful demise, and barring a miraculous recovery, I am going to pick her up tomorrow, spend a few hours with her and then go to my friend and vet Harry’s and put her to sleep. I’m devastated and sick to my stomach, but I know it is the right thing to do. I’m so sorry for all of you who love her like your own, but it just doesn’t look like there is anything that can be done.
I’m just crushed. She was doing the play boy and prancing around just last week, and this is all so sudden (which the doctor said happens all the time).
I doubt I will never love anything as much as I love Lily and I just don’t have words to describe how broken I am right now.
This post is in: Dolt 45, Open Threads, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel
Very interesting development: Cohen has dropped the libel lawsuits he filed against BuzzFeed & Fusion GPS over the dossier. Now won’t have to answer related questions in litigation. Comes days after McClatchy reported Mueller has evidence he was in Prague. https://t.co/mo8MBdcZAo
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 19, 2018
A necessary, sensible move, which makes me think he will undermine it somehow within 72 hours.https://t.co/QVOhNy6d39
— IPleadTheFifthHat (@Popehat) April 19, 2018
Politico:
Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS over publication of the so-called dossier detailing alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
Cohen abandoned the suits late Wednesday as he continues to fight to recover documents and electronic files seized from his home, office and hotel room last week by federal authorities as part of what appears to be a broad criminal investigation into his conduct.
“The decision to voluntarily discontinue these cases was a difficult one,” Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz said. “We believe the defendants defamed my client, and vindicating Mr. Cohen’s rights was — and still remains — important. But given the events that have unfolded, and the time, attention, and resources needed to prosecute these matters, we have dismissed the matters, despite their merits.”…
“If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on today, it’s that the dossier was an important part of the government’s investigation into potential collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia,” BuzzFeed News said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Fusion GPS said: “With his decision, it appears that Mr. Cohen can now focus on his many other legal travails.”
Dropping the suits could help Cohen avoid being questioned by lawyers from Fusion GPS or having to turn over evidence related to the case — both steps that could undercut his defense in the criminal probe.
The move could also bolster Cohen’s effort to delay a suit brought in Los Angeles by porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump about a decade ago. It could have been difficult for Cohen to convince that judge to put Daniels’ case on hold while Cohen continued to press civil suits in other federal courts…
Yeah, all that stuff going on a public record under oath, that he'd either have to answer fully or lose the suit, gee, I just don't know what to think.
— soonergrunt ?? (@soonergrunt) April 19, 2018
The guilty flee where no Mueller pursueth. https://t.co/DfFOlwe8YB
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) April 19, 2018
Amazed to learn that this guy, who denied on television the existence of an attorney-client relationship btw Cohen and Trump in the Stormy Daniels matter, remains involved in any way. https://t.co/r1PavrP8yE pic.twitter.com/UcU2notuNr
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 19, 2018
News breaks that the allegations against Cohen in the dossier are true.
A week later, the empty suit puts down his saber and runs away.
Cohen and Trump are idiot peas from the same pod. Capable of nothing more than empty threats made by weak men. https://t.co/MbF1RZx1id
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 19, 2018
Russiagate Open Thread: Michael Cohen Decides Against Inviting DiscoveryPost + Comments (80)
by Adam L Silverman| 88 Comments
This post is in: America, Military, Open Threads
Sorry to big foot TaMara’s post, but I wanted to get this up as quickly as I could.
URGENT: A 96-year-old vet in a NY hospice wishes to connect with a fellow veteran from the Battle of Guadalcanal. Help us spread the word to link this hero up with someone who can swap stories about their experience: https://t.co/96IKkfQbRt #bandofbrothers pic.twitter.com/r4UQSkgQ3E
— American Legion NY (@NY_Legion) April 19, 2018
I’m working my Marine Corps connections, as well as my contacts in the chaplaincy to see if they can do anything, but the farther and wider we can spread this, the more likely it is to get a hit.
Open thread!
by TaMara| 82 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I may have to vote today, so Maile’s outfit is prepped. I made sure she has a jacket so she doesn’t violate the Senate floor dress code (which requires blazers). I’m not sure what the policy is on duckling onesies, but I think we’re ready pic.twitter.com/SsNHEuSVnY
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) April 19, 2018
I heartily approve. Senator Duckworth is an inspiration every day.
Open thread.
Afternoon Open Thread: The Duckies Are AlrightPost + Comments (82)