Update no.1139

 Update from the Sunland

No.1139

6.11.23 – 12.11.23

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- [The person who shall no longer be named] testified under oath on Monday in the business fraud case against him and his organization—New York v. Trump, et al [NYSCEF Index No. 452564/2022] [1080]. Of course, as is his character, he cannot keep his mouth shut despite Judge Engoron’s sanctions on him. Outside the court room, he stated, “This is a scam.” No, Donald, you are the scam. You have scammed your business partners, the taxman, banks, insurance companies, and now the American people. You are a grifter of the first order. You defrauded a lot of people over many years. You now stand before the bench, and you will pay the price for your crimes. He went on to claim, “I am the victim here. This is happening to me. This can happen to you.” Correct! If anyone violated the law as you have done, we would be prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison. You put yourself in this position; no one else did so. You are NOT special. You are a common citizen like all the rest of us and subject to exactly the same laws.

Daughter Ivanka testified the next day and gave outstanding testimony of predominantly “I don’t recall” responses. While she was removed from the defendants list before trial reportedly because her involvement with the organization was beyond the statute of limitations, and from what was recounted in the Press, she was not the state’s witness we had hoped she would be. How the judge took her testimony will eventually come to light.

The rest of this phase of the trial is expected to take another month or so. The defense will soon present their case for their clients.

 

Representative Rashida Harbi Tlaib, née Harbi, of Michigan, a natural born American citizen and three-term U.S. representative, was censured by the House of Representatives—H.Res.845 - Censuring Representative Rashida Tlaib “for promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” The vote was 234-188-4-6[3], with 4 Republicans and 22 Democrats crossing the aisle. I am enormously troubled by this action for a host of reasons, not least of which is the absurd relentless hypocrisy of it all. I do not agree with or support what Tlaib claimed in her statements, but frankly, they paled comparison to the outrageous verging on insane statements of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boepbert, Matt Gaetz, George Santos, et al. Freedom of speech is too important. We do not censure people for speaking their mind. This House action was wrong . . . flat wrong, I say. Shame on those who voted in favor of this nonsense.

 

Tuesday’s off-year election offered a number of notable results that do not bode well for the fBICP and MAGA bunch. Here in Fountain Hills, Arizona, our ballot only presented a US$50M school bond issue and approval for school real property sale or swap authority. The electorate rejected the bond issue but approved the real property sale/swap authority.

The big one was Ohio Issue 1 (2023) that passed by substantial margin. At the last report I have with 85% of the voted counted, approval had 56% of the vote. Issue 1 was general referendum and constitutional amendment protecting a women’s right to decide what is best for her physical and mental health. The language of the amendment specifies fetal viability outside a woman’s uterus as the threshold for allowing abortion as a medical procedure. It does not use to fixed number. {Historical note: fetal viability was exactly the criterion threshold the U.S. Supreme Court established in Roe v. Wade [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] [319] and struck down in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization [597 U. S. ____ (2022)] [1067, 1068]}. It is refreshing to see more progressive minds voting to approve this important issue.

In Kentucky, they re-elected Governor Andrew Graham ‘Andy’ Beshear, a Democrat, in a very red, fBICP state with a 52.5% of the vote. Not bad!

In Virginia, the results were even more foreboding for the fBICP. Governor Glenn Allen Youngkin campaigned, even though he was not standing for re-election, on a slogan, chant, mantra of “Hold the House, Flip the Senate.” Well, the fBICP did neither. They lost control of the Legislature—both chambers.

 

Wednesday, 8.November.2023, the third Republican presidential primary debate was held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Florida. Only five candidates (actually six, because the other guy was off huffing and puffing) qualified for the third debate. Of course, the other guy was intentionally missing as if to say such debates were beneath him. His believers apparently do not care. I thought Nikki Haley came out on top with Chris Christie not far behind. I certainly laud Christie for taking on the missing [person who shall no longer be named] head-on, and of course, I do believe he is spot on correct on that particular topic. Senator Tim Scott is coming across as a Bible-thumper, and we simply cannot have that. His religion is his private choice and not a matter for the public domain, and thus, for elections and public office. Ramaswamy is a crackpot of the first order and not worthy to be standing for any public office from dogcatcher on up. The sooner he is removed from the mix the better from my perspective. Last, but certainly not least, Governor DeSantis whom I have never been impressed with and cannot find much if anything of his position with which to agree, expanded his performance to disappoint. At the bottom line, as long as these folks persist in their moral projection politics, they will never again gain my vote, and I shall speak out against them as strongly as I am able.

On Sunday evening, Senator Scott announced he was suspending his candidacy for the presidential nomination. To Senator Scott, I like your style but not your political position. Good luck. Another one bites the dust.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1138:

“Politicians! What should we replace them with?”

My reply:

My simple answer to your query: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“Junior and Eric testify predictably. Tiny will shoot off his mouth. Ivanka is sharper than all of them put together, but I can’t guess what she’ll say, if anything.

“The Rs control the House by an unusually narrow margin, so they can’t afford to let go of anyone, even embarrassments like George Santos or Lauren Boebert.

“The Israeli government and the militants among the Palestinians each have a sole goal of exterminating the other nation. It was ever thus. I don’t see noncombatants as ‘collateral damage’ but as real people killed and injured. The Israelis have been ‘avenged seven-fold’ and much more.

“We have no reliable source for information on many things, including Putin’s health. Never did, never will.

“I have been aware of people’s mistreatment of other people since childhood. We didn’t call it ‘woke’ then; it was just social studies. Current trends in some States oppose teaching social studies.”

My response to the Blog:

You are in fact correct. [The person who shall no longer be named] did indeed shoot his mouth off during his day of testimony in his business fraud case. He verbally assaulted Judge Engoron, the very person who will singularly decide the penalty for his fraudulent conduct. The judge allowed him to mouth off, presumably to permit him to seal his fate. I cannot imagine anyone else doing what Tiny did. Tomorrow, the vaunted Ivanka is scheduled to testify. I do not think the judge’s decision will take long.

Oh so true, so they hold onto a soon-to-be-convicted criminal. Such is the nature of desperation. His conviction and incarceration will terminate his membership in Congress whether the fBICP likes or not.

Hamas still exists and is still threatening Israel and the Israeli people. What would you have Israelis do?

The Intelligence Community knows more than we do about Putin’s health. Eventually, we will know the truth.

I have not seen into our public education system since our children attended. They are now in their 40s, so it has been a while. There are signs that you are correct. If so, that must change. Future generations need history, government, and other social studies courses. Knowledge over ignorance.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Ivanka’s the most interesting member of the entire criminal organization to me. I wonder if she’ll use charm, claim she was minding her own company, or do something else. I’m still concerned that Tiny will die and avoid punishment.

“I have no answer to the strife in the Eastern Mediterranean. Clearly, the 1948 UN plan has failed dramatically and repeatedly. Israel has gone far beyond self-defense.

“The spy community has resources we don’t have but nonetheless has been deceived over and over.

“One of the obvious issues with schools is the censoring of teaching in Florida, Texas, and other red states, primarily in social studies subjects. Another is the rise of for-profit ‘voucher’ schools, often exempt from teaching standards.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

I highly doubt that she will be confrontational as Papa was, or as lame Sergeant-Schultz-ish as her brothers. We shall soon see. There is that risk for folks his age. We may never see him enter prison as a common convicted criminal, but I fully expect that he will gain the label convicted felon before his end of days.

One of my biggest criticisms of the Israeli government and especially Netanyahu is their de facto colonization of portions of the West Bank. The Israelis agreed to a two-state solution decades ago [1993]. Unfortunately, Israel did not respect the sovereignty of Palestine. Israel’s abuses of Palestine do not justify the use of terrorism by Hamas. Frankly, I believe the World community (UN) should enforce the sovereignty of Palestine, i.e., revert the West Bank enclaves to Palestinian control. Give the inhabitants 30 days to abandon their enclaves, move back to Israel, or become Palestinian citizens. The Israelis are in Gaza now, so the burden is on them; they broke it, they fix it.

Yes, the Intelligence Community is not perfect; never has been, never will be. They still give us more than we would have otherwise.

Exactly correct. Spot on. What is going on in public school education in Florida, Texas, and other fBICP states is literally Ignorance over knowledge. We can only hope they eventually recover knowledge. The laissez-faire approach to charter schools that seems to be in place in many states is wrong in every way, but that does not make charter schools wrong.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)