Thursday, April 19, 2018

Thursday's Themes

Most of them can be classified under the Next Day Update category:

Cosby accuser discussed framing a celebrity, witness says

On cross examination, prosecutors produced records of Jackson’s travel to other away games but not to the one at the University of Rhode Island, where she said the chat happened.

At least he didn't offer her a beer.

Looks to me like the Puerto Ricans have a legitimate claim of racism.

Senate votes to kill a policy warning auto lenders about discrimination against minority borrowers

At least the circumstances have improved for Tesla.

"The lawyer for a 71-year-old Marine Corps veteran charged with pulling a gun during a road rage confrontation in Massachusetts says the man only showed a weapon because he felt threatened. The Lowell Sun reports that an attorney for Roger Buonanno said his client felt threatened when he approached three men in a driveway in Billerica, one of whom was also armed. Prosecutors say Buonanno, of Tewksbury, had followed the men when he was cut off by their vehicle Saturday. Officers arrested Buonanno at the scene on charges including operating under the influence and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was held on $5,000 bail. The defense lawyer says Buananno didn't point his gun at anyone and disputes that Buonanno was drunk. Both men were licensed to carry."

That's why everyone should Uber.

‘White Lives Matter’ graffiti sparks outrage in Dudley Square

In all honestly, it looks like another in a long line of staged, self-serving, self-inflicted (at little cost), agenda-pushing events (especially when covered by my pre$$); however, if true the implication in the article is white lives matter not a lick.

Of course, blue lives matter most. That's the bridge you need to cross. Even the Globe would agree.

"Two former teachers at a prestigious Connecticut private school sexually abused at least eight students during their tenures, the school's current headmaster said. Adam Rohdie, headmaster of Greenwich Country Day School, sent an email Friday informing families and faculty of the findings of an outside law firm hired to investigate allegations first reported in September, The Greenwich Time reported. "We know that no action that we take today will erase the deep pain caused, but we do hope that our commitment, now and in the future, to confront all such behavior, may bring some healing," Rohdie said. The alleged inappropriate sexual contact occurred from the late 1960s through the 1990s. Neither teacher still works at the school. Jim Arden, who worked at the school from 1970 until 2001, abused at least three students, according to the investigation. Arden, who died in 2016, founded the Jim Arden Foundation to help children in Tanzania. Peter French, who worked at the school from 1961 until 1999, engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with at least five students, the investigation found. Police and child welfare officials have been informed of the investigation's findings, Rohdie said. Greenwich Country Day, founded in 1926, is a coeducational school with 900 students in preschool through ninth grade. Former President George H.W. Bush and actress Bryce Dallas Howard are among its alumni....."

That leads us into yesterday's other post:

Thornton Law Firm didn’t break state campaign finance laws, prosecutor says

Message: Campaign contributions and political corruption that favors Democrats is okay!

In-flight explosion creates pressure for engine inspections

Pilot who landed damaged Southwest plane Is Navy veteran with ‘nerves of steel’

Court blocks law that diverts money from Planned Parenthood

It's either that or hire a nanny later on.

‘Poop Train’ full of NYC sewage raises stink in Alabama town

Don't take it personally; they sh*t on everybody.

New York attorney general seeks power to bypass presidential pardons

"The move would serve notice that the legal troubles of the president and his aides may continue without Mueller," and isn't he a little out of his jurisdiction?

Prosecutors: Cohen raid materials to be shared by May 11

Why isn't the NY AG looking into that violation of the Constitution and federal overreach by a Gestapo-like government?

Beyond that, it is just more mud being thrown at this president.

"Barbara Bush: Devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and CEO" by Joan Vennochi Globe Columnist  April 18, 2018

Don’t be fooled by those humble descriptions of Barbara Bush as wife, mother, and grandmother.

She also ran a major corporation. It was called Bush Inc.

Also known as Murder Inc.

Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday at age 92, was devoted to family, and that devotion made her an invaluable political asset. Her white hair and wrinkles made her “normal” and relatable. Her candor was also a plus, especially since it stood out during the more restrained political times that framed the presidencies of her husband, George H.W. Bush, and her son, George W. Bush.

See: Barbara Bush In 2003: "Why should we hear about body bags and death? I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

It was the death of her dog that upset here, and never mind her husband endlessly repeating the Hill-Knowlton lie about Kuwait babies being thrown out of incubators onto the cold hard floor, etc, etc, in 1990-91.

But like all successful CEOs, Barbara Bush was also devoted to building a brand and doing what it took to market it. Promoting the Bush brand meant pushing important social causes, like literacy. It also meant playing along, when necessary, with some rough political hardball.

The elite fawning and rewriting of history is sickening! 

Btw, she couldn't have marketed it to well because the name is now sh*t (thanks to W, right?)

In 1984, when then-Vice President George H.W. Bush was Ronald Reagan’s running mate against Democrat Walter Mondale, Barbara Bush famously did what a male candidate couldn’t. She took a shot at Mondale’s running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, describing her as something that “rhymes with rich.” In the uproar that followed, Bush sort of apologized, saying she didn’t mean to insult Ferraro by calling her “a witch.”

Another moment of candor for everyone's beloved grandmother.

Civil rights were said to be a Barbara Bush passion. The New York Times writes that during a trip from Texas to Kennebunkport, Maine, she refused to stay at a hotel that would not accommodate two black family employees who were traveling with her.

OMG! She was civil rights warrior now because she stuck up for her black servants!! Forget the charges against both the son and the husband that their administrations were racist. Accused of being to WASPish, remember? All down the memory hole!

Also, when she became first lady, she insisted that her press secretary be black, a first for that position. None of that personal commitment led her to denounce, at least publicly, the nasty race-baiting campaign that George H.W. Bush ran against Democrat Michael S. Dukakis in 1988. As directed by Lee Atwater, an operative famous for the politics of attack, Dukakis was the target of a campaign advertisement about Willie Horton, a black convicted murderer who escaped from a Massachusetts prison during a weekend furlough and raped a white woman and stabbed her husband. That ad did to Dukakis what Atwater promised — to “make Willie Horton his running mate.” When Atwater died in 1991 of a brain tumor, then-President Bush said, “Barbara and I are heartsick about it.” He said he found Atwater’s near-death apology to Dukakis “interesting.”

In 2000, Bush history repeated itself. When George W. Bush was running for the Republican presidential nomination, robo-calls to South Carolina voters asked how they would feel about John McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child with a black woman. Those calls, inspired by the appearance of McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh on the campaign trail, helped Barbara Bush’s son win.

Do you remember who they hired to do that?

Of course, W had changed by the time Katrina hit, right? Wasn't he accused of not caring about black people because of the negligent preparation and response?

Such political decisions are owned by the candidate, not by his wife or mother.

But if she was the CEO..... (sigh)????

But Barbara Bush remained publicly loyal to whatever it took to win. That makes her no different from any other spouse or parent who puts love ahead of principle. That’s reality.

Like other political wives, she also remained loyal to her husband, despite rumors of infidelity, which he denied. 

She stood by her man, huh?

She was a strong woman with strong opinions, who kept some of them to herself, if they could be used by political opponents. For example, after her husband left office, she said she supported legal abortion.

Like a good wife should, she seems to be saying.

The commencement speech she gave in 1990 at Wellesley College highlighted the conflict that still reigns to some degree over Barbara Bush’s role in life and politics. Students protested her selection as speaker, since she had dropped out of Smith College to marry Bush. A signed petition complained that to honor her “is to honor a woman who has gained recognition through the achievements of her husband.” But the speech she gave wowed the crowd.....

--more--"

Related:

When Barbara Bush wowed Wellesley College

Kennebunkport recalls Barbara Bush as a generous, friendly neighbor

Thankfully, their time has passed.

So when is the cremation?

Also see:

13 Democrats want to replace Niki Tsongas

City Councilor Michelle Wu has her supporters, and State Senator Stan Rosenberg has withdrawn from the race.

Secret Pompeo mission to North Korea shows Trump’s trust in spies over diplomats

Bolton was in on it, too.

Gunmen Shot at U.N. Team Near Site of Reported Chemical Attack, Official Says

It's the U.S. proxy terrorists that are keeping them from getting so they can claim the non-existent evidence evaporated before they got there and then blame the Iranians for it.

Germany’s Merkel condemns attack on 2 Jewish men in Berlin

You read the account of the alleged victim and it's the same old story.

Raúl Castro Prepares to Resign as Cuba’s President, Closing a Dynasty

The new guy is a blank slate, or so I am told.

Saudi Arabia to show ‘Black Panther’ to mark cinema opening

You can also see the film in the United Arab Emirates, as the butcher of Yemen is going to make the country fun and entertain the masses with sports!

Erdogan calls for early elections in Turkey 

He's "probably preoccupied by signs of a worsening economy and the country’s ongoing military operations against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq, but....."

Here is the bigger picture:

"French rail workers, airline employees, and students staged another string of strikes and sit-ins Wednesday despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that protests won’t prevent him from trying to overhaul the economy. Rail workers resumed a strike set to disrupt traffic off-and-on through June. National railway company SNCF said one out of three high-speed trains is running. International train traffic to Britain, Germany, Italy, and Spain was also disrupted, with the exception of the Thalys train to Belgium and the Netherlands, which was running normally. The striking workers, whose number was down slightly from previous protests, are demonstrating against plans to revoke a special status that allows them to retain jobs and other benefits for life. On Tuesday night, France’s Assembly approved the bill, meant to prepare French rail for competition. The text will now be debated by the Senate."

That is the peril lurking within!!!

I don't mean to strand you, but I've got to get running:

"At Downtown Crossing Roche Bros., skipping the longer line can cost you" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff April 18, 2018

The Roche Bros. Market in Downtown Crossing is so inviting with its wide selection of groceries and prepared foods that customers frequently wait in long lines to check out, but Ken Leeser and others have discovered they can often save time by taking the escalator upstairs and paying there, in the part of the store devoted to take-out food.

The trouble is that by doing so they pay a 7 percent tax on items that, under the law, are simply not taxable. It creates a windfall for the state, which, not surprisingly, is responsible for perpetuating it.

“This is a problem for people like me who want to grab a few items after work and get home without spending a long time waiting in line,” said Leeser, who works on nearby Franklin Street and lives in the Seaport District. 

In recent years, the Seaport has transformed into an enclave for high-end living, dining, and entertainment. That's why I call it the Bo$ton Globe now.

Almost everywhere we shop the checkout systems are coded to distinguish what we buy and add on the appropriate taxes. It’s not an issue at a Stop & Shop in Quincy or Wegmans in Natick or Roche Bros. Market in West Roxbury.

RelatedWegmans opens in Natick this month

Nor is it an issue at the 22 registers in the downstairs portion of Roche Bros. in Downtown Crossing, in space once occupied by the fabled Filene’s Basement, but upstairs, in a much smaller, street-level space, the seven registers charge a 7 percent meals tax on everything. That’s the part of the store crammed with a soup and salad bar, plus sandwiches, cut fruit, cookies, and drinks. There are a few places to sit and eat, inside or outside.

Dena Kowaloff, the head of marketing for Roche Bros., a locally owned family business, told me the company would rather code all of its registers to recognize the taxable and the nontaxable, but the state is standing in the way. The state has deemed the upstairs portion of the store to be a restaurant and mandates that the registers there treat all sales as taxable, she said.

As it is, Roche Bros. tries to discourages customers from taking their groceries upstairs because it doesn’t want them paying more in taxes than they owe. But it’s hardly practical to do so when the store is swarming with customers, especially after work. (Frankly, if they had more cashiers downstairs this wouldn’t be as big an issue.)

At this point, I just want to get out of here, too. 

Between the Bush slop and this, I'm full up.

The solution is for the state to allow all of the registers to distinguish a hot cup of bean soup (taxable) from a cold can of beans (nontaxable). The Department of Revenue can probably do this simply by dropping its designation of the upstairs portion as a restaurant.

Kowaloff said those like Leeser who feel put out by the current arrangement are encouraged to “contact their state senator or representative to lobby for a change.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue declined to comment.....

Did you see in whose pockets that money will be going?

How do you defend that?

--more--"

He then goes on to read the fine print of his AT&T Wireless bill while checking his RealID.

Was going to go play a round of golf but "the prolonged winter weather is giving golf a chill."

Yes, "the end is near," readers.