It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. It always is, because everything I do in this space takes me longer than normal. Tomorrow I may have no more than an Open Thread. If so I will send no links messages on Care2. It’s a WWWendy day, and we have lots of chores, after she de-stinks the putrid TomCat. It’s also a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, the Day of Stars. My meditation will favor the AFC.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:22 (average 5:28). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): President Trump Caves On Shutdown As Robert Mueller Indicts Roger Stone
I disagree with one point. Nancy Pelosi did not defeat Trump and the Republican Reich. All the Democrats who stayed unified, all the workers that shared their hardship, all the marchers, all the people who signed petitions and called their legislators, you and I, AND Nancy Pelosi defeated Trump and the Republican Reich. Putin’s Piddle Puppet gets only the walls of his cave (See below). RESIST!!
From ACLU: Eric Patrick Brandt and Mark Iannicelli were handing out pamphlets outside a Denver courthouse in July 2015. They wanted to inform the public about jury nullification — that is, the power of jurors to vote against convicting criminal defendants under laws that the jurors believe are unjust.
Brandt and Iannicelli were trying to participate in a centuries-old and still-thriving discussion. The pamphlets they were handing out included statements such as:
- “Juror nullification is your right to refuse to enforce bad laws and bad prosecutions.”
- “Once you know your rights and powers, you can veto bad laws and hang the jury.”
- “So, when it’s your turn to serve, be aware: 1. You may, and should, vote your conscience; 2. You cannot be forced to obey a ‘juror’s oath’; 3. You have the right to ‘hang’ the jury with your vote if you cannot agree with other jurors.”
But the two activists’ attempts to educate the public led to their arrest. Brandt and Iannicelli were each charged with seven counts of criminal jury tampering under a Colorado law that bars any person from communicating with a juror with the intent to influence the juror’s vote in a case.
On Tuesday, we filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that the application of the jury tampering law to Brandt and Iannicelli’s pamphleting is an unconstitutional restraint of speech.
Click through and read the rest. The charges are absurd. The activists were not demonstrating about any specific case, so they could not be trying to influence any jurors’ votes. Their speech was entirely educational. Such cases are the reasons I’m an ACLU member. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: A furious Donald Trump told reporters on Friday morning that it was “a total disgrace” that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had apparently not been affected by the government shutdown.
Trump, who appeared agitated and was gripping his television remote as he spoke on the White House lawn, said that he had been under the impression that F.B.I. agents had been furloughed and were not going to work.
“You have people across the country, in national parks and places like that, who are not at work, and somehow the F.B.I. is working around the clock?” Trump said. “I think it’s a total disgrace. It’s a sick situation.”
Dang Andy! I think you’re right. After all, as soon as his main trickster was arrested, he figured his shutdown could not prevent the bust and caved. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
11 Responses to “Open Thread – 1/26/2019”
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4:48 Maybe Squatch or Lona can save them from becoming dog fricassée.
Kitten Bowl VI will air on February 3, 2019 (Hallmark Channel) 2pm/1c. Viewing parties are now being formed … or, you can watch the Cat Bowl Feb 2, 10pm/9c, same Cat Channel. Or you can just meet some of the cat-letes participating.
Oh Goody /s. KKK rally planned in Atlanta for Feb 2. Shades of the sixties.
MSNBC – It’s true everyone played a part. But I don’t mind a bit giving Speaker Pelosi the credit. She was a big part of keeping us unified, and she stared him down on his own ground. Also, she is completely aware how much she owes to the caucus and the voters – she said so. I think what is driving the “Pelosi beat him” message is that everyone knows how humiliating it is for him to think he was beaten by a WOMAN.
ACLU – Yes, the ACLU has been a shining light in the darkness for as long as I can remember. And the charges are indeed ridiculous. But the law under which the charges were brought is poorly written too. So, once again, real reform, even if it doesn’t begin with, must include electing legislators who will write good laws.
One of the funniest facts in history is this: Furloughed FBI agents VOLUNTEERED to arrest Roger Stone. (In fact, I’ll bet the line went around a couple of city blocks.)
Cartoon – AMEN !!!
MSNBC: dt didn’t get his way, he looked deflated/defeated in the Rose Garden. Thank God for Ninja Nancy, she set the course straight.
ACLU: Good grief. I didn’t know about this. We all suffer when folks go out to let us know about our rights, and then they get arrested re: free speech. wth??
NYer: Good job, FBI !! Another one bites the dust!! Yea, dt probably didn’t know, lol.
Catoon: Keep him there.
Hi, WWWendy. Hope that you have a good evening, take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
*This just in: ” ‘MAGA’ = Many are getting arrested.” ~ Gloria S. ~
MSNBC: Ain’t nothing like a bully being called on his game! Yes, on hid turf, no less…and by one of them! Poor, little, penny-weeny!
The ACLU rocks!
New Yorker: I’m sure the FBI folk were proud to do their “real” country a service!
‘Toon: Sink hole might be better than cave.
It wasn’t just Pelosi – it was all the real Democrats who stood up to the Orange Ogre and his infantile hissy fit, all the activists who raised hell, and the Republicans who refused to walk in lock-step with Tangerine Trog. Yep, you said it, P. Bowen – Many Are Getting Arrested. The sooner the tRump regime comes to an end, the better!
Too bad the Triple Kappa Society and other mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers are going to infest Atlanta on Super Bowl weekend. Quick, Henry, the Flit!
I’m so proud of Pelosi for standing her ground against the bully and for the democrats standing behind Pelosi.
Thank you TomCat. Have a restful evening and weekend.
Aren’t the FBI working without pay, like many other departments are… yet to frump it’s a disgrace, seems there’s more to the shutdown than just the wall!!! ?
3:47 No, they went to the dogs.
MSNBC: That panel was clearly overjoyed and so should all non-Drumpfians be. But this is only a three-week respite, and though Mitch won’t support a second shutdown, things could get really ugly again. Perhaps not for Americans, though who is going to FULLY compensate federal workers for what they’ve suffered through is unknown, but if Iran keeps quiet in the coming weeks and North Korea won’t start negotiations soon, Drumpf may start a new war closer to home in Venezuela. Just to show his base who is the strong man here and make them forget the wall for a while.
ACLU: Kudos to Eric Patrick Brandt and Mark Iannicelli for holding their speech and doing what is right, especially when more laws are becoming political and are no longer morally/legally “right”. Their indictment is the perfect example of that. I hope the ACLU wins their case for them.
TNY: You may be onto something there, Andy: the real, but mistaken reason why Drumpf and the GOP held on to that closedown for so long. In his next budget proposal Drumpf will have the GOP slash the FBI budget completely.
Cartoon: That hole can’t be deep enough for me.
MSNBC: He knew his butt was kicked, but love all the flipping words he used to go around it without admitting it. Was happy when I heard the idiot that he couldn’t do his address.Bravo to us all who kept signing petitions, protesting, and calling….keep up the excellent work..we all are in and for this together.
ACLU: I too was unaware of this. I support the ACLU and give them lots of credit for all that they do.
TNY: What an idiot tRump is. What part of working without pay doesn’t he understand??? They were doing their jobs without their pay too. How he tends to talk backwards, I’ll never understand.
Cartoon: He looks like he lost…maybe clueless. and confused?? Drifting far far away…I hope.
Thanks and Hugs to all. Hi from WWWendy!
Hi back to Wonder Woman Wendy With Wings. And of course hugs back to you.
TYVM!