ON BEHALF of the LOCALS

Before I go any further, could someone out in the burgeoning ETHOS, confirm for the old Lobsterman if there’s any truth to the stories that are ‘making the rounds’ regarding Boy Orange in East Palestine, Ohio this week.

It’s being alleged, Trump brought bottled water labelled with his name to hand out to the locals. Thoughtful of him huh??!

I guess if you forgot who you voted for in ’20…you’ve got a reminder heading into ’24 to know whom to vote for by looking at one of the orange bottles.

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cellular metamorphosis…

With that out of the way, allow me to go on; in the three weeks since a freight train derailment, within the above community, released more than 100,000 gallons of toxic chemicals, SUV caravans of lawyers have descended and poured into the little town, signing up clients, gathering evidence, and ALREADY filing more than a dozen lawsuits in federal court on behalf of local residents.

On top of ALL this news, the distrust [easily understandable!] has been deepened by a sense that politicians are NOT being diligent enough in their response to the disaster.

Just yesterday, Biden said he had NO plans to visit the community, though he pointed out that federal officials had arrived there within hours of the crash [NOT little Peter Buttigieg!!!] and was “keeping very close tabs on” the situation.

Crass and dumb, Joey!

But…

As we ALL know, the smell of money, and big settlements – the corporate greed that ultimately is at the bottom of the well of this train disaster – is also infecting the lawyers, like yellow jackets to a pile of hamburger.

FRESH DATA of WORRYING CONCERNS?

We ALL saw the reports, or at the very least heard about them.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – climbed 5.4% in January from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

That was an unexpected re-acceleration from December’s 5.3% pace after six months of relatively consistent cooling.

Even after stripping out food and fuel prices, BOTH of which jump around a lot, the price index climbed 4.7% over the year through last month – also a pickup, and more than expected in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Those readings are well above the Fed’s goal of 2% annual inflation. 

Has Chair Powell gotten out of bad yet??!

The figures released yesterday are just the latest evidence that NEITHER price increases nor the broader economy is cooling as much as expected as 2023 begins.

Employers added half a million jobs in January, wages continue to rise, and figures released yesterday showed that Americans continue to spend freely on goods and, especially, on services like vacation travel and restaurant meals.

Please join in…

No more sleepless nights all alone
No more walking the floor ’til dawn
Hugs and kisses from now on
Happy times are here again

h/t: Jack Yellen, circa 1929.

A SICKENING OPPORTUNIST

JD Vance, the first-time senator from Ohio, is squarely in the spotlight.

And, he’s joined at the hips with Boy Orange, his political sugar daddy.

Vance’s response to the horrific train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, is just another example of a time-tested method:

• Create problems;
• Then blame your opponent for them.

Forgetting Re’Trump’lican deregulation led to this accident and spill!!!

JD Vance’s air of grievance decrying lack of regulation in the transportation industry is rich chowder coming from a Re’Trump’lican.

Almost as rich as his railing against “elites” while enjoying the largesse of Peter Thiel [spend some time researching this individual] and his scholarship to Yale.

It’s dismaying to hear people say, “I feel like he really understands us,” when they really ought to be saying, “I feel like he really knows how to manipulate us.”

Vance is an open fraud, a charlatan, and a person who would abuse his intellectual gifts to prey upon the less gifted.

NEVER forget Elaine Chou – Trump’s ineffective Secretary of Transportation – sat by quietly as Trump, at the behest of the railroads, rolled back current-era train safety regulations.

Did Elaine ever show up at any transportation disaster and or port/harbor supply disruptions??!!!?.

A NINJA TURTLE ICE POP

Late Wednesday, yet another cadre of lawyers for “the former guy” divulged that details revealed this week by the forewoman of a special grand jury – in Fulton County – investigating election interference by Donald John Trump and his sickening sycophants had “poisoned” the Georgia inquiry.

In the course of revelations, this past Tuesday, Emily Kohrs, the foreperson of the aforementioned special grand jury, went on a media “circus tour” of sorts, giving interviews to NBC News, New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other news outlets, and Kohrs seemed to enjoy every millisecond in the limelight.

To say her appearance was bizarre does NOT begin to do justice to this individual, savoring her moment in the spotlight.

Kohrs revealed the names of some witnesses who testified: Rudy Giuliani left her “star-struck“; Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was “personable”; former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows “shared very little.” She mentioned that some witnesses were immunized; confirmed that the jurors had listened to a recording of Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and had discussed the slate of alternate electors.

Although she did NOT reveal the names of any of the people the grand jury recommended indictments for, when she was asked whether Trump was one of them, she replied: “You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science.” 

Holy Clarence Darrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She said that the 23-person special grand jury, which can only make recommendations on whether prosecutors should indict, had made such recommendations for more than a dozen people in the case.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, who is handling the case, will ultimately make charging decisions and bring them to a regular grand jury.

Best of Luck, Fani…

Yes, the rules in Georgia, as we are ALL finding out, over the last 48 hours, as regards Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure says they “must not disclose a matter occurring before a grand jury.” That language includes NOT only the decisions of the grand jury but also the identities of the witnesses who appear, the cases under consideration, the documents and other items produced as exhibits, the subjects of subpoenas and anything that occurs in the grand jury room. 

However, the rule(s) in Georgia appear to be somewhat more lax.

It requires only that grand jurors protect the secrecy of “deliberations.”

What’s more, the judge overseeing the investigation did NOT – I repeat…did NOT – prohibit members of the special grand jury from talking to the media so long as they did NOT reveal their deliberations.

Kohrs may have believed that as long as she did NOT name names she was in compliance.

But…

To the old Lobsterman acknowledging that the grand jury had recommended indictments against more than a dozen people sounds awfully close to revealing deliberations.

For me, the moment that knocked me off the sofa was when Kohrs, in talking about her experience, mentioned she swore in one witness while holding a Ninja Turtle Ice Pop she had received at the district attorney’s office ice cream party.

What the f..k??!

I’ll leave you with this simple thought: Why the hell would grand jurors be socializing with the prosecutors??! A grand jury is an independent body, and prosecutors are trained to maintain a professional distance and avoid engaging in interactions that could be perceived as influencing their decisions.

h/t: Brennan Center for Justice.

PRIDE COMETH BEFORE THE FALL

First, allow the old Lobsterman to dispense with the concept of the brave constitutionally inspired Pastor Mike Pence – our former VP – who stood up to “the former guy” and won one for freedom.

The only person’s freedom that Pence was protecting on 1/6 was Mike Pence’s freedom.

The Pastor worked for the Orange Despot for four long and depraved years and if Pence learned anything about Trump, it was that he, Trump, constantly was looking for someone to do his dirty work.

Anytime Trump thought what was needed in the moment was someone to commit an illegal act, he would find a minion to commit the crime and go to jail in Trump’s stead.

1/6 was NO different, and Pence knew he was being slated to go down for Trump if the coup failed.

Secondly, we can NOT be assured that the Supreme Court will do the right thing. We have six justices that do NOT think the rule of law is at stake here, six Republicans who believe party comes before the law.

I say ALL of the above in light of the latest news surrounding The Pastor…

Recently, Pence announced he would challenge Special Counsel Jack Smith’s subpoena for him to appear before a grand jury in Washington as part of the investigation into Boy Orange’s efforts to overturn the ’20 presidential election and the related 1/6 Insurrection on the Capitol.

Pence has claimed that subpoena was “unconstitutional” and “unprecedented.” He added, “For me, this is a moment where you have to decide where you stand, and I stand on the Constitution of the United States.” The Pastor vowed to take his fight ALL the way to the Supreme Court.

A noodle-kneed politician should be careful what he wishes for – NO more so than when he’s a possible presidential candidate who would have the Supreme Court decide a constitutional case that could undermine his viability in an upcoming campaign.

The truly embarrassing thing about Pence is that he stands NO chance of getting the GOP nomination, but he’s blind to that fact, and his efforts to avoid the subpoena show us who he really is, a man desperate to win favor!!! with the MAGA crowd.

His moment of humility [I truly hope it’s heavy!] will come after he announces his bid for the presidency, and then pulls out of the race a few months later because of his abysmal showing.

For the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one. ~ Rudyard Kipling.

WHERE ARE WE…truthfully??!

It’s the first-year anniversary.

Seems impossible…

In Ukraine, an end to the war seems a long way off.

For Russia, victory would most likely entail securing the Ukrainian territory it claims as its own.

For Ukraine, NOTHING less than driving Russian troops out of the country – including Crimea – will do.

At this juncture, NEITHER side seems interested in negotiations, and it’s hard to see!!! how a peace settlement would come about.

From my distance vantage point, I think it’s correct in saying that while Biden shares Zelensky’s goal of driving out Russian invaders, he, Biden, worries about provoking Vlad “The Bad” into escalating the war!!! beyond Ukraine’s borders or into a nuclear conflict.

Biden’s reluctance to provide the most advanced weaponry bothers Zelensky, but the Ukrainian has learned, it appears, how to slowly wear down resistance to eventually get much of what he wants.

Today is the first anniversary of this brutal war against humanity, with a preventable Russian invasion by resolving border disputes with bilateral diplomacy [a distant thought and hope] and dialogue instead of red lines, threats, thousands of lost lives, and cross border bombardment.

Yup, I know most completely disagreed with my last sentiment.

But…

The root cause of the escalating war is now like a cancer that should, and must, be stopped!!! from metastasizing into WWIII .

THE JOURNEY…wind chills

The local temps got into the mid-high ’60s on Wednesday of this week.

Forecasts had given the metroplex fair warnings that that as going to diametrically changed – literally – overnight.

Wham, bam…yup, that’s exactly what happened.

This week has been one of those heavily scheduled treatment occasions, from Monday through yesterday: blood panels; hydration, CHEMO on Wednesday; and, my Fulphia [for my white counts and infection prevention] shot yesterday.

Yesterday’s outside temp was at 12 degrees, with a wind chill of -7.

You can do the above math!!!

When I got to the Cancer Center, the old Lobsterman was expecting cancellations, delays, and a multitude of staff late arrivals, etc., etc., etc.

NOT so-o-o…

ALL hands were at their posts, with smiling faces, with expressed laughter at seeing yours truly ‘on-time’ as well.

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

START PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION

Yes, it’s another projection…but, it’s one that should garner everyone’s attention.

This one came to us today from the Bipartisan Policy Center and is the latest estimate of when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills.

The nation, which borrows huge sums to help pay for everything from military salaries to Social Security benefits, hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing cap on January, 19th.

Since then, the Treasury Department has been employing what are known as “extraordinary measures” to ensure that the government has enough to pay what it owes, including payments to bondholders.

Well, we got the following comment this morning, “We anticipate that those emergency measures, as well as the cash that Treasury has on hand, will most likely be exhausted at some point during the summer or early fall,” Shai Akabas, the center’s director of economic policy, said during a briefing.

And that came on the heels of last week’s projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office saying that the department’s ability to prevent the US from defaulting on its debt could be exhausted between July and September.

That estimate was slightly more favorable than what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested when she told Congress last month that her department’s ability to keep financing the country’s obligations could be exhausted in June.

Message to “SQUATTER” McCarthy and his 15th round circus clowns:

The Constitution you profess to so dearly love very clearly states that the ‘power of the purse’ is in the House. Your party controls the House. Therefore, you need to come up with the spending plan. As you are elected officials doing public work, your plan should be public.

Biden has insisted that he will NOT negotiate spending cuts as part of any debt limit legislation, saying that the cap has to be raised to fund obligations that Congress – including Republicans – have ALREADY approved.

At this stage of the circus, it may well prove beneficial to keep the words of Cicero in mind, by ALL concerned: Avoid any specific discussion of public policy at public meetings.

VLAD, WANG and JOEY

Putin warmly welcomed China‘s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow today, local time, reinforcing his ties with a powerful ally before a massive city pro-war rally to remain united in what he, Putin, an existential struggle with the West.

Biden, in the meantime, met in Warsaw with leaders from NATO’s eastern flank in another display of trans-Atlantic unity against Russia.

Two days from the one-year anniversary of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, Wang reassured!!! Putin that relations between their two countries remained solid while declaring that Beijing wanted to help find a political escape from the war…aka negotiations.

Biden spoke briefly at the start of a meeting with the leaders of nine NATO countries on the alliance’s eastern flank. He vowed to come to their defense!!! if they are invaded, saying: “You’re on the front line for our collective defense. And you know better than anyone what’s at stake in this conflict, not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe and around the world.”

In addition, Biden and his top officials vowed this week to introduce additional sanctions aimed at impeding Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine; the administration’s focus is increasingly shifting to the role that China has played in supplying Russia with goods that have BOTH civilian and military uses.

As one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of products like electronics, drones and vehicle parts, China has proved to be a particularly crucial economic partner for Russia.

Nasty business…

BRIEF, BUT HISTORIC

NEVER in the 46th president’s lifetime has the chief inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ventured into a war zone that was NOT under the control of American forces, much less on a relatively slow-moving locomotive that would take almost ten hours to reach its destination.

During that period of time, he was potentially exposed to circumstances beyond the control of the hypervigilant security cocoon that normally seeks to shield a commander-in-chief from every conceivable physical danger and minimize his time outside a hardened shelter.

Yes, I’m just stating the obvious!

It’s also a confirmation that our presidents are very sophisticated performance artists who do insane things solely for the purpose of making a statement.

Admittedly, I’m still working through the Russians being told in advance. Presumably, while Biden was on the train they were given a couple of hours’ notice via what was described as a “back channel.”

NO inadvertent calamity is about the best reasoning I’ve come up with, at this juncture.

I spent a portion of last night rereading sections of Barbara Tuchman‘s classic The Guns of August. A single shot in Sarajevo set the world aflame; events quickly spiraled out of control like a runaway train that even the participants in the vortex were powerless to hold back.

We are at this moment again in history, except the stakes are far, far greater.

Whether it is Putin or decades of NATO expansion to blame, can be left for future historians to debate. Imperative now, avoid stumbling over that rapidly approaching precipice.

WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones. ~ Albert Einstein.