COVID hospitalizations just keep rising: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-hospitalizations-increase-7th-consecutive-week-new-boosters/story?id=102959508 .
WSJ: Health insurance costs take big jump: https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/health-insurance-cost-increase-5b35ead7 . Again, inflation, once started, is very hard to tamp down.
DOJ report hammers New Jersey veterans’ homes COVID performance: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-jersey-veterans-nursing-homes-gave-subpar-care-violated-rights-during-covid-outbreak-7c410c03 .
WSJ: Another FTX domino falls: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/former-ftx-executive-ryan-salame-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-crypto-exchanges-collapse-61cb71bb . Note to Orange Julius: This is how flipping works.
Ukraine war: Washington Post analysis of the current stalemate: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-russia-learned-from-mistakes-to-slow-ukraine-s-counteroffensive/ar-AA1gpG8Q?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=73fa667e1f504b18bfbb1a7549fe9156&ei=15#image=1 . Ukraine continues to push for a full breakthrough somewhere along the front, which would allow them to pour in resources behind Russian lines.
WSJ: Ukraine loses UK-supplied tank to a mine and drone: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukraine-loses-u-k-supplied-tank-in-push-for-counteroffensive-breakthrough-13e1737b .
Ukraine drone attacks hit their marks in Russia: https://knewz.com/putins-southern-war-command-hq-state-of-emergency-kamikaze-drones-attack/ . The Ukraine drone capability continues to improve rapidly.
Kroger’s/Albertson’s propose sale of 400 stores: https://www.aol.com/kroger-albertsons-plan-sell-over-122517505.html .
Brett Kavanaugh says justices are working on ethical issues: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/supreme-court-ethics-kavanaugh-speech/index.html . This is utterly ridiculous. The new term starts in a month, and specifics should have come out well before the start of the term. The clock continues to tick. The court fiddles while its reputation burns. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/justice-kavanaugh-sees-concrete-steps-ahead-to-address-supreme-court-ethics-ce82b657 . The Journal handles this in a rather inflammatory manner. The public does not believe Justices Thomas and Alito are behaving appropriately in accepting luxury trips. In other words, we have more respect for ethical standards than they do. Brett needs to take a nice warm cup of shut the hell up.
Fifth Circuit pauses removal of Rio Grande floating barriers: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rio-grande-floating-barriers-removal-paused-by-appeals-court-texas-migrants/ . Why? We have not yet heard any compelling basis for Texas’ position.
Peter Navarro convicted of contempt of Congress: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peter-navarro-verdict-trump-contempt-of-congress-january-6/ . This verdict was a foregone conclusion. WSJ: What happened here?: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/peter-navarro-contempt-congress-jan-6-d09524c8 . Navarro has no basis for appeal. The ruling found no basis in fact for the claim that OJ tried to grant executive privilege to Navarro. That ends the matter.
Orange Julius’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day: https://www.meidastouch.com/news/a-prosecutors-thoughts-on-trumps-wipeout-wednesday . This is something like watching a rotisserie chicken over the spit, isn’t it? However, I feel somewhat badly for the chicken so it’s not the same.
WSJ: The OJ disqualification kerfuffle: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trumps-2024-eligibility-ignites-debateand-litigation-29749d30 . This issue has been promoted by conservative legal scholars, certainly an oxymoron. The problem here is that so far OJ hasn’t been convicted of anything. Judges avoid deciding cases when they can, and they have a perfect out here.
Outside lawyers urge Chesebro to flip: https://www.alternet.org/a-damoclean-situation-lawyer-cooperate/ . Opting for an early trial appears to be a serious blunder that will land Chesebro in prison. Fani Willis has been working on the indictment for over 2 years. Chesebro and his lawyers have just seen it. It’s pretty obvious who will be mire prepared to go to trial next month.
Fulton County special grand jury report to be released: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rio-grande-floating-barriers-removal-paused-by-appeals-court-texas-migrants/ . Because the prosecutor directs the grand jury, one would expect this report to closely follow the indictments. However, the perjury recommendations should be interesting.
OJ plans to attend Iowa – Iowa State football games. Social media response is brutal: https://nextimpulsesports.com/2023/09/07/donald-trump-college-football-iowa-state-hawkeyes-cyclones/ .
Freshman GOP House member proposes age limits: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republican-age-limits-on-members-of-congress-president . James failed to mention Orange Julius because he didn’t think of it, and it would immediately end GOP support. Age limits exclude the most experienced and are age discrimination. James assumes that because you’re old, you’re feeble.
The term limit concept deserves more discussion, as a term limit already applies to the presidency. The 18 year limit would exclude most of the Congressional leadership. Kevin McCarthy was first elected to the House in 2007, so he’d be out after 2025. Since Senate terms are 6 years, the other options are 24 or 30 years – after that, the terms limits have very limited effects.
Nancy Pelosi was first elected in 1987 and is currently 83; she’d be out under either term limit. As Pelosi is widely regarded as the most effective Speaker in modern history, the only argument for excluding her is that the GOP has been trained to hate her. That’s not good enough to make the change James suggests. Also, the two-term limit on the presidency was not good enough to exclude a dilettante like Orange Julius. We can conclude that James’ ideas do not currently have a future.
Meteorite fragment is the age of Earth: https://www.aol.com/meteorite-4-6-billion-years-153058951.html . Scientists believe the fragment is a piece of a larger spinach pizza with cheese. The pictures are strong evidence. As the crust is burnt black, scientists believe the pie was part of a very late Papa John’s delivery.
Is Tiger Woods about to upstage the PGA?: https://www.sportworldnews.org/mlb/news/14083/tiger-woods-makes-remarkable-comeback-with-175-billion-victory/ . This is certainly a puff piece. However, with the massive dissatisfaction surrounding the PGA-LIV merger, we may not be finished with golf restructuring.
Robin Williams on the Scots inventing golf: Golf Digest just republished this classic bit: https://twitter.com/ATRightMovies/status/1699467499933184031 . However, here’s the profanity-laced version, which is in many ways superior: https://www.facebook.com/BunkeredOnline/videos/robin-williams-on-golf-hilarious/859296554724247/ . Don’t miss Robin’s commentary on Tiger Woods. (Be sure to fullscreen both versions.)