friend-cum-partner
- By Tenacious E
- Off Topic
- 17 Replies
Perhaps the oddest term I have come across in a yahoo news article: "Daryaganj says a late member of its founding family, Kundan Lal Jaggi, created the disputed dish when he helmed the kitchen at the relocated Delhi eatery, where Gujral, his friend-cum-partner from Peshawar only handled marketing." I was not sure whether to tag @NoleATL or @GOHOX69 for an explanation so I tagged you both...
www.yahoo.com
India's butter chicken battle heats up with new court evidence
With new photographic and video evidence, an Indian court battle over the origins of the world famous butter chicken is set to get spicier. Two Indian restaurant chains have been sparring since January at the Delhi High Court, both claiming credit for inventing the dish in a lawsuit that has...
Judge orders release of body camera video and 911 call from Paul Pelosi attack.
Judge orders release of body camera video and 911 call from Paul Pelosi attack
The San Francisco County judge said all evidence in the case will be made public Thursday.
www.nbcnews.com
Opinion Now playing off-Broadway: Trump’s synchronized sycophants
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 0 Replies
Sen. Tommy Tuberville knows a great deal about the judiciary. The Alabama Republican is on record asserting that the three branches of government are “the House, the Senate and the executive.”
And so this week, the former college football coach took his expertise in jurisprudence to Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, watched for a few minutes and came out to offer reporters his legal analysis.
Sign up for the Prompt 2024 newsletter for opinions on the biggest questions in politics
“How can you be convinced by somebody that is a serial liar?” Tuberville wanted to know. “I mean, there should be no reason that anybody should listen to this guy.”
One hundred percent, Coach! Tuberville was talking about the witness, Michael Cohen, but he didn’t have the self-awareness to realize he was also describing the defendant, perhaps the most famous liar in American history.
The Manhattan Criminal Courthouse was overflowing with lying liars this week. Inside the courtroom, Cohen testified about all the lies he told for Trump: lying to Congress, lying to the public, lying about Trump’s involvement with Russia, lying about Trump’s alleged trysts and how Trump bought the silence of his accusers. Trump’s lawyers, in their cross-examination, sought to convince the jury that the former Trump fixer is so prolific a liar that he is still lying, as are Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and anybody who accuses Trump of anything, ever. Trump himself, in statements to the cameras in the hallway outside the courtroom, lies about the terms of the gag order, the “corrupt” judge, the view of “everybody” with legal experience that he committed “no crime” — and whatever else comes to his lips.
In the park across the street from the courthouse on Tuesday stood the speaker of the House, the man second in line to the presidency, lying like a rug. Without a shred of evidence, Mike Johnson alleged that “the judge’s own daughter is making millions of dollars” off of the trial. He claimed a prosecutor in the case had “recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee.” He alleged that, in Trump’s classified documents case, prosecutors “manipulated documents” and “might have tampered with the evidence” — conduct “so egregious” that it caused that trial to be “indefinitely postponed.” All false or, at best, deeply distorted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...tid=mc_magnet-oppodcasts_inline_collection_20
It was demeaning to the office of the speaker, and to Congress, for Johnson to be trashing the criminal justice system as “corrupt,” and nakedly campaigning for Trump at the former president’s trial. He was one of a parade of MAGA legislators making a pilgrimage to the courthouse this week. On Monday came Sens. Tuberville and J.D. Vance (Ohio) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.). On Tuesday came Johnson and a quartet of Republicans all dressed as Trump mini-mes in blue-gray suits, white shirts and red ties: Reps. Cory Mills (Fla.) and Byron Donalds (Fla.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. On Thursday came so many House MAGA Republicans — including Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Eli Crane (Ariz.), and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), and at least five others — that the House Oversight Committee had to postpone its planned vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
The speaker owes his job to Trump, who earlier this month opposed Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to oust him. In a sense, all of the lawmakers flocking to New York owe their jobs to Trump: One cross word from him, and they’re out faster than you can say “primary challenge.” And so they performed for Trump outside the courthouse as a troupe of synchronized sycophants.
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“This is a sham trial!” said Trump, inside the courthouse.
“Sham of a trial,” parroted Johnson, outside the courthouse.
“Sham trial,” repeated Vance, Malliotakis and Biggs.
“A crooked sham trial,” said Good.
“This is a sham,” echoed Mills.
“A politicized sham,” offered Ramaswamy.
“There’s no crime!” said Trump, inside the courthouse.
“There’s no crime here,” repeated Johnson, outside the courthouse.
“There is no crime,” said Donalds.
“What is the crime?” asked Ramaswamy and Boebert.
“It’s election interference!” proclaimed Trump.
“It is election interference,” chorused Johnson.
“It’s election interference,” said Burgum.
“Election interference,” said Gaetz and Good.
“Election interference at its finest!” said Mills.
President Biden is “weaponizing the Department of Justice,” announced Trump.
“Weaponized DOJ,” chorused Boebert.
“Weaponized against President Trump,” Johnson echoed.
“Weaponization against our president,” repeated Mills.
The Greek chorus dutifully echoed Trump’s claim that the case is a “scam” and a “witch hunt.” They repeated his bogus assertion that the “Federal Election Commission said there’s not a problem, there’s no case.” (In reality, a deadlocked FEC dropped the case after Republican commissioners said it was redundant because Cohen had already been convicted of an election law violation.) They endorsed his nonsense accusation that “Biden’s office is running this trial” in New York state courts. And they seconded his constant complaint about the “unconstitutional” gag order. (An appeals court this week upheld the order, saying Trump’s statements “posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony.”)
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That gag order primarily prohibits Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements” about witnesses and family members of participants in the proceedings. Yet that’s exactly what seemed to be happening outside the courthouse this week, with the closely choreographed statements attacking prosecutors, jurors and, particularly, the judge’s daughter.
“The judge inside, his daughter is making millions of dollars running against Donald Trump,” said Vance, using the same phrase — “making millions” — that Johnson did on Tuesday and that Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) did on Thursday. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) claimed “we have a judge whose family is enriching themselves on what’s happening today.” Ramaswamy claimed “you have a judge whose kids are collecting money from Democratic operatives by fundraising off the very trial that that judge is presiding over.”
They offered not a shred of evidence that the judge’s daughter, who works at a political consultancy, has made a dime off the trial. Even if she had, the judge had solicited an advisory opinion from New York’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which concluded that “the judge’s impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned based on the judge’s relative’s business and/or political activities.”
Was Trump “directing” this attack on the judge’s daughter? The chorus had a rehearsed rebuttal to this, too. “President Trump is a friend, and I wanted to be here to support him,” said Johnson.
“I wanted to be here to show some support for my friend,” said Vance.
“I’m here, and all of us who are here, as friends of Donald Trump, supporting him” was Ramaswamy’s version.
“We’re here voluntarily supporting our friend, President Trump,” said Gaetz.
On social media, Gaetz posted a photo of him standing behind Trump in court with the message “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President” — referring to Trump’s 2020 debate instructions to the Proud Boys, whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
That’s what friends are for. “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully,” said Trump.
And so this week, the former college football coach took his expertise in jurisprudence to Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, watched for a few minutes and came out to offer reporters his legal analysis.
Sign up for the Prompt 2024 newsletter for opinions on the biggest questions in politics“How can you be convinced by somebody that is a serial liar?” Tuberville wanted to know. “I mean, there should be no reason that anybody should listen to this guy.”
One hundred percent, Coach! Tuberville was talking about the witness, Michael Cohen, but he didn’t have the self-awareness to realize he was also describing the defendant, perhaps the most famous liar in American history.
The Manhattan Criminal Courthouse was overflowing with lying liars this week. Inside the courtroom, Cohen testified about all the lies he told for Trump: lying to Congress, lying to the public, lying about Trump’s involvement with Russia, lying about Trump’s alleged trysts and how Trump bought the silence of his accusers. Trump’s lawyers, in their cross-examination, sought to convince the jury that the former Trump fixer is so prolific a liar that he is still lying, as are Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and anybody who accuses Trump of anything, ever. Trump himself, in statements to the cameras in the hallway outside the courtroom, lies about the terms of the gag order, the “corrupt” judge, the view of “everybody” with legal experience that he committed “no crime” — and whatever else comes to his lips.
In the park across the street from the courthouse on Tuesday stood the speaker of the House, the man second in line to the presidency, lying like a rug. Without a shred of evidence, Mike Johnson alleged that “the judge’s own daughter is making millions of dollars” off of the trial. He claimed a prosecutor in the case had “recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee.” He alleged that, in Trump’s classified documents case, prosecutors “manipulated documents” and “might have tampered with the evidence” — conduct “so egregious” that it caused that trial to be “indefinitely postponed.” All false or, at best, deeply distorted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...tid=mc_magnet-oppodcasts_inline_collection_20
It was demeaning to the office of the speaker, and to Congress, for Johnson to be trashing the criminal justice system as “corrupt,” and nakedly campaigning for Trump at the former president’s trial. He was one of a parade of MAGA legislators making a pilgrimage to the courthouse this week. On Monday came Sens. Tuberville and J.D. Vance (Ohio) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.). On Tuesday came Johnson and a quartet of Republicans all dressed as Trump mini-mes in blue-gray suits, white shirts and red ties: Reps. Cory Mills (Fla.) and Byron Donalds (Fla.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. On Thursday came so many House MAGA Republicans — including Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Eli Crane (Ariz.), and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), and at least five others — that the House Oversight Committee had to postpone its planned vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
The speaker owes his job to Trump, who earlier this month opposed Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to oust him. In a sense, all of the lawmakers flocking to New York owe their jobs to Trump: One cross word from him, and they’re out faster than you can say “primary challenge.” And so they performed for Trump outside the courthouse as a troupe of synchronized sycophants.
Advertisement
“This is a sham trial!” said Trump, inside the courthouse.
“Sham of a trial,” parroted Johnson, outside the courthouse.
“Sham trial,” repeated Vance, Malliotakis and Biggs.
“A crooked sham trial,” said Good.
“This is a sham,” echoed Mills.
“A politicized sham,” offered Ramaswamy.
“There’s no crime!” said Trump, inside the courthouse.
“There’s no crime here,” repeated Johnson, outside the courthouse.
“There is no crime,” said Donalds.
“What is the crime?” asked Ramaswamy and Boebert.
“It’s election interference!” proclaimed Trump.
“It is election interference,” chorused Johnson.
“It’s election interference,” said Burgum.
“Election interference,” said Gaetz and Good.
“Election interference at its finest!” said Mills.
President Biden is “weaponizing the Department of Justice,” announced Trump.
“Weaponized DOJ,” chorused Boebert.
“Weaponized against President Trump,” Johnson echoed.
“Weaponization against our president,” repeated Mills.
The Greek chorus dutifully echoed Trump’s claim that the case is a “scam” and a “witch hunt.” They repeated his bogus assertion that the “Federal Election Commission said there’s not a problem, there’s no case.” (In reality, a deadlocked FEC dropped the case after Republican commissioners said it was redundant because Cohen had already been convicted of an election law violation.) They endorsed his nonsense accusation that “Biden’s office is running this trial” in New York state courts. And they seconded his constant complaint about the “unconstitutional” gag order. (An appeals court this week upheld the order, saying Trump’s statements “posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony.”)
Advertisement
That gag order primarily prohibits Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements” about witnesses and family members of participants in the proceedings. Yet that’s exactly what seemed to be happening outside the courthouse this week, with the closely choreographed statements attacking prosecutors, jurors and, particularly, the judge’s daughter.
“The judge inside, his daughter is making millions of dollars running against Donald Trump,” said Vance, using the same phrase — “making millions” — that Johnson did on Tuesday and that Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) did on Thursday. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) claimed “we have a judge whose family is enriching themselves on what’s happening today.” Ramaswamy claimed “you have a judge whose kids are collecting money from Democratic operatives by fundraising off the very trial that that judge is presiding over.”
They offered not a shred of evidence that the judge’s daughter, who works at a political consultancy, has made a dime off the trial. Even if she had, the judge had solicited an advisory opinion from New York’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which concluded that “the judge’s impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned based on the judge’s relative’s business and/or political activities.”
Was Trump “directing” this attack on the judge’s daughter? The chorus had a rehearsed rebuttal to this, too. “President Trump is a friend, and I wanted to be here to support him,” said Johnson.
“I wanted to be here to show some support for my friend,” said Vance.
“I’m here, and all of us who are here, as friends of Donald Trump, supporting him” was Ramaswamy’s version.
“We’re here voluntarily supporting our friend, President Trump,” said Gaetz.
On social media, Gaetz posted a photo of him standing behind Trump in court with the message “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President” — referring to Trump’s 2020 debate instructions to the Proud Boys, whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
That’s what friends are for. “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully,” said Trump.
Somebody stole a merc with a baby inside:
- Off Topic
- 10 Replies
Des Moines police looking for stolen vehicle with baby inside
Des Moines police, the Iowa State Patrol and other departments are looking for the black 2015 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class GL 350 with Iowa State University license plates CYSRD. They say a 9-month-old child is inside.
www.kcci.com
2 people in ICE custody after attempting to breach Marine base in Virginia
- Off Topic
- 27 Replies
WASHINGTON — Two people were placed in the custody of U.S. immigration officials after they tried to drive a delivery truck past security guards and onto a Marine Corps base in Virginia, service officials said Wednesday.
The incident occurred May 3 when two people drove up to the Fuller Road Gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico in a box truck and were stopped by military sentries, according to Capt. Michael Curtis, the base spokesman.
“When asked, the operator of the truck informed the military police officers they worked for a company subcontracted by Amazon and were making a delivery to the U.S. post office located in the town of Quantico,” Curtis said.
Because the two had no affiliation with the Marine base and no credentials to enter, military police officers directed them to go to a holding area for standard vetting procedures, according to Curtis. At this time, one of the officers noticed the driver ignored the instructions and attempted to drive onto the base.
Officers were able to deploy the vehicle denial barriers and detain the individuals before turning them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
No one was injured, and no weapons were reported to be found, Curtis said.
“When any vehicle and its occupants fail to comply with the clear direction of the on-duty police officers, specific steps are taken by those officers to restrict any further access,” he said. “Those actions by our on-duty police officers helped maintain the safety and security of all who live and work on Marine Corps Base Quantico.”
Marine Corps Base Quantico is in northern Virginia, 36 miles from Washington. To enter the town, where the two individuals claimed they wanted to go, vehicles must drive through the installation. The base is home to the Marine Corps’ Combat Development Command, which develops strategies for the service’s combat, and the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The FBI Academy and the principal training facility for the Drug Enforcement Administration are also located on the base.
In March, a Chinese national forced his way through a gate at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
www.stripes.com
The incident occurred May 3 when two people drove up to the Fuller Road Gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico in a box truck and were stopped by military sentries, according to Capt. Michael Curtis, the base spokesman.
“When asked, the operator of the truck informed the military police officers they worked for a company subcontracted by Amazon and were making a delivery to the U.S. post office located in the town of Quantico,” Curtis said.
Because the two had no affiliation with the Marine base and no credentials to enter, military police officers directed them to go to a holding area for standard vetting procedures, according to Curtis. At this time, one of the officers noticed the driver ignored the instructions and attempted to drive onto the base.
Officers were able to deploy the vehicle denial barriers and detain the individuals before turning them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
No one was injured, and no weapons were reported to be found, Curtis said.
“When any vehicle and its occupants fail to comply with the clear direction of the on-duty police officers, specific steps are taken by those officers to restrict any further access,” he said. “Those actions by our on-duty police officers helped maintain the safety and security of all who live and work on Marine Corps Base Quantico.”
Marine Corps Base Quantico is in northern Virginia, 36 miles from Washington. To enter the town, where the two individuals claimed they wanted to go, vehicles must drive through the installation. The base is home to the Marine Corps’ Combat Development Command, which develops strategies for the service’s combat, and the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The FBI Academy and the principal training facility for the Drug Enforcement Administration are also located on the base.
In March, a Chinese national forced his way through a gate at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
2 people in ICE custody after attempting to breach Marine base in Virginia
Two people were placed in the custody of U.S. immigration officials after they tried to drive a delivery truck past security guards and onto Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
Florida Condo Owners Dump Units Over Six-Figure Special Assessments
- By seminole97
- Off Topic
- 16 Replies
Have a Florida condo? Can you afford a $100,000 or higher special assessment for new safety standards?
After the collapse of a Surfside Building on June 24, 2021that killed 98 people, the state passed a structural safety law that is now biting owners.
Not only are insurance rates soaring, but owners are hit with huge special assessments topping $100,000.
The Wall Street Journal reports New Florida Law Roils Its Condo Market
Condo inventory for sale in South Florida has more than doubled since the first quarter of last year, to more than 18,000 units. While the sharp rise in Florida home insurance costs is driving some to sell, most of the units on the market are in buildings 30 years or older. Under the new law, buildings must pass milestone structural inspections no later than 30 years after they are built.
In Miami, about 38% of the housing stock is condos, the highest of any major metropolitan area in the U.S., according to Zillow. Of those buildings, nearly three-quarters are at least 30 years old. For those that have large repairs looming, many owners are scrambling to sell before Jan. 1 when building reserves must be fully funded to be in compliance with the law.
“I think this is just the beginning,” said Greg Main-Baillie, an executive managing director at real-estate firm Colliers, who oversees 40 condo renovation projects across the state.
Owners are struggling to find all-cash buyers because mortgage lenders are increasingly unwilling to take on the risk associated with these units. “It’s not the buyers that aren’t qualifying,” said Craig Studnicky, chief executive at ISG World. “It’s the buildings that aren’t qualifying.”
State law previously allowed condos to waive reserve funding year after year, leading many buildings, including the nearly 50-year-old Cricket Club, to keep next to nothing in their coffers. Now, about 40 units in the building of 220 are listed for sale but are seeing little interest.
“These units are practically being given away,” said Sari Papir, a retired real-estate agent who has lived in the Cricket Club with her partner Shaul Szlaifer since 2018. “Even if we found a buyer, what could we buy with the pennies we’d receive for our unit?”
Some are worried developers may already be purchasing condos in the building for a potential takeover, where a developer tries to gain control of a building to knock it down and build a newer, more luxurious one. These condo terminations are happening up and down the state’s coastline. While the rules can vary by building, if enough people vote to sell their units, the others have to follow along.
No Way to Escape the Assessment
Those who cannot sell and don’t have the special assessment, will be evicted and their units seized for whatever the Associations can get for them.
South Florida listings have doubled in the past year to over 18,000. Few of those units will sell, and those that do sell will be at a huge haircut.
The Journal noted the plight of Ivan Rodriguez who liquidated his 401K to buy a condo for $190,000. He then faced a $134,000 special assessment. Eventually he sold the unit for $110,000.
After the collapse of a Surfside Building on June 24, 2021that killed 98 people, the state passed a structural safety law that is now biting owners.
Not only are insurance rates soaring, but owners are hit with huge special assessments topping $100,000.
The Wall Street Journal reports New Florida Law Roils Its Condo Market
Condo inventory for sale in South Florida has more than doubled since the first quarter of last year, to more than 18,000 units. While the sharp rise in Florida home insurance costs is driving some to sell, most of the units on the market are in buildings 30 years or older. Under the new law, buildings must pass milestone structural inspections no later than 30 years after they are built.
In Miami, about 38% of the housing stock is condos, the highest of any major metropolitan area in the U.S., according to Zillow. Of those buildings, nearly three-quarters are at least 30 years old. For those that have large repairs looming, many owners are scrambling to sell before Jan. 1 when building reserves must be fully funded to be in compliance with the law.
“I think this is just the beginning,” said Greg Main-Baillie, an executive managing director at real-estate firm Colliers, who oversees 40 condo renovation projects across the state.
Owners are struggling to find all-cash buyers because mortgage lenders are increasingly unwilling to take on the risk associated with these units. “It’s not the buyers that aren’t qualifying,” said Craig Studnicky, chief executive at ISG World. “It’s the buildings that aren’t qualifying.”
State law previously allowed condos to waive reserve funding year after year, leading many buildings, including the nearly 50-year-old Cricket Club, to keep next to nothing in their coffers. Now, about 40 units in the building of 220 are listed for sale but are seeing little interest.
“These units are practically being given away,” said Sari Papir, a retired real-estate agent who has lived in the Cricket Club with her partner Shaul Szlaifer since 2018. “Even if we found a buyer, what could we buy with the pennies we’d receive for our unit?”
Some are worried developers may already be purchasing condos in the building for a potential takeover, where a developer tries to gain control of a building to knock it down and build a newer, more luxurious one. These condo terminations are happening up and down the state’s coastline. While the rules can vary by building, if enough people vote to sell their units, the others have to follow along.
No Way to Escape the Assessment
Those who cannot sell and don’t have the special assessment, will be evicted and their units seized for whatever the Associations can get for them.
South Florida listings have doubled in the past year to over 18,000. Few of those units will sell, and those that do sell will be at a huge haircut.
The Journal noted the plight of Ivan Rodriguez who liquidated his 401K to buy a condo for $190,000. He then faced a $134,000 special assessment. Eventually he sold the unit for $110,000.