Hopefully this is a darkest before the dawn situation and this results in the whole political gravy train system toppling, but probably not.
Democrats (and privately Republicans, too) just upset he's doing blatantly what they do discretely, putting their"democracy" at risk.
I did read the end of that first sentence I quoted, but I don't see anything in this story that even remotely points to this type of corruption trending anywhere but up. 'Hopefully' is doing ALL (not even most) of the work in your sentence.
... and as for the second sentence... I never understood that line. So loud-and-proud corruption is somehow better because they're not trying to hide it? That makes zero sense by itself, and even less when you see how it seems to be normalizing the corruption as the population loses sensitivity to it.
We've reached the inevitable part in our interactions where your only defense is rolling on the floor. Enjoy the carpet burns. ...or are you more a pads and tile guy?
Anyways, I've got better things to do. It's been fun, but not that fun. Kind of annoying actually.
Tennessee Man Jailed Over Charlie Kirk Post Wins $835,000 Settlement
“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Larry Bushart said in a statement announcing the settlement Wednesday.
Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
While many people across the U.S. lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk’s death, Larry Bushart’s case stood out as a rare instance in which such online speech led to criminal prosecution. The 61-year-old retired police officer spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October.
During his time in jail, Bushart lost his postretirement job and missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter, according to a federal lawsuit Bushart filed in December against Perry County, its sheriff and the investigator who obtained the arrest warrant.
“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Bushart said in a statement announcing the settlement Wednesday. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”
Bushart was arrested in September after he refused to take down Facebook memes that joked about Kirk’s killing, which had prompted an outpouring of grief among conservatives, including in Perry County, which is near Bushart’s home and which held a candlelight vigil.
The meme Bushart posted that prompted his arrest read: “This seems relevant today...” and featured President Donald Trump and the words, “We have to get over it.” That quote, the meme explained, was said by Trump in 2024 after a school shooting at Iowa’s Perry High School.
Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems told news outlets that most of Bushart’s “hate memes” were lawful free speech, but residents were alarmed by the school shooting post, fearing Bushart was threatening a local school, also called Perry County High School, even though Weems said he knew the meme referred to a school in Iowa.
“Investigators believe Bushart was fully aware of the fear his post would cause and intentionally sought to create hysteria within the community,” Weems said in a statement to The Tennessean last year.
Bushart’s bail was set at $2 million before he was released as the case drew national attention.
“It’s in times of turmoil and heightened tensions that our national commitment to free speech is tested the most,” said Cary Davis, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which helped represent Bushart. “When government officials fail that test, the Constitution exists to hold them accountable. Our hope is that Larry’s settlement sends a message to law enforcement across the country: Respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow.”
A parish priest was being honored at a dinner on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his arrival in that parish.
A leading local politician, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner, but he was delayed in traffic, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.
“You will understand,” he said, “the seal of the confessional can never be broken. However, I got my first impressions of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here twenty-five years ago, I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set, and when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had embezzled money from his place of business and…
Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk.
“I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived in this parish,” said the politician. “In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession.”
Your timing couldn't have been better after the Mosque shooting in San Diego yesterday. Of course in Trumplandia what people think and feel seems more important than what people do.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office filed charges against an ICE agent in connection with the January shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, in Minneapolis.
Christian J. Castro, 52, is facing four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis
The backstory:
The ICE-involved shooting took place near the 600 block of 24th Avenue North just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 14.
Initial reporting detailed federal agents were pursuing a man in a vehicle who had crashed into a snowbank. The man then ran to a nearby home, where a pursuing agent caught up with him and attempted to make an arrest.
An "altercation" between the agent and suspect then ensued, which led to two other people arriving from a nearby apartment, and all three attacking the officer – one armed with a broomstick, according to DHS.
"Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life," DHS initially claimed.
Julio Sosa-Celis, 24, a Venezuelan national, was taken to the hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, while Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, 26, was also arrested in its aftermath.
Both men were charged with assaulting a federal agent in the aftermath of the altercation, but the DOJ later requested the charges be dismissed with prejudice, writing in a motion that, "newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations in the complaint affidavit."
Big picture view:
The shooting occurred one week after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE officers and ten days before the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal officers. ICE agents under federal investigation
Dig deeper:
The U.S. Attorney’s Office later opened a criminal investigation into two ICE officers after video evidence allegedly showed the agents’ sworn testimony included "untruthful statements."
Court filings filed after the shooting showed the ICE officers’ accounts of the moments leading up to the shooting differed significantly from testimony provided by the two defendants and multiple eyewitnesses.
SoS is based on the previous year's results (which itself takes into account it's own SoS), but each team has turned over as much as 25-35% of its roster and 30% of all teams have new head coaches, staffs, and systems.
So, it sounds good, but there really isn't much you can reliably take away from it. It's predicting this year's corn crop based on last year's tomatoes.
According to most on draft day, this guy was massively overdrafted, and supposedly not on any team's radar.
I think this just reinforces that most draftniks & sites just really don't know and that reality is disguised by the ability to pick a lot of low-hanging "no-brainer" fruit in drafts. That said, the same applies to all front offices as well, given how many misses there are each year.
They're making a guess on future performance in one system against higher quality talent based on past performances in other systems against decidedly lower talent.... sometimes you'll hit, sometimes you won't.
I'm just a couple years shy of 55. At that point, I will have one in college and one not far off from it. So I would need to be able to pay for that. (about $200K total for the both) And with only my income supporting us all (and trust me, my income is below poverty levels) we do/will get financial aid.
My house is paid off, but needs many repairs, so I need about $50K just for that. Plus property taxes and home owners insurance are needed. My car is about $18K from being paid off (most of which I currently have in savings, but am keeping my savings for emergencies). I'd like to be able to take my children on trips to new places each year - and evenutally include grandchildren ($7-$10K per year). I'd also like to keep the kick butt health insurance I've currently got (seriously lucky with it, it's why I keep my low paying job - well, that, and I love what I do). I also need to have another $5k for my youngest son to get a car when he turns 16 to be the same budget as what I gave big brother.
To retire at 55 I'd need a few million. It also includes a cushion for medical issues as well. I'm thinking about $7 million. Much of it would be invested until I need it and I'd try to live off of interest/retirement/SS as much as possible.
Trump Says Iran Ceasefire ‘On Life Support’ After Bragging He Has ‘The Best Plan Ever’
President Donald Trump said Monday that the ceasefire with Iran is not in a great place at the moment because he believes Iran’s proposals to end the war have been “unacceptable.”
“It’s unbelievably weak,” Trump said of the ceasefire. “It’s on life support.”
"Life support is not a good thing," he continued. "I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support where the doctor walks in and says, 'Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.’”
Speaking before reporters and allies gathered in the Oval Office moments earlier, he boasted about his "plan" to end the war.
“You know, a lot of people said, ‘Well, does he have a plan?' Yeah, of course I do have a plan. I have the best plan ever," Trump said. “I have a plan. It’s a very simple plan.”
Trump then laid out his plan, which is no plan at all: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Maybe you can tell me what crimes they have been convicted of and how many felony counts they were found guilty of? I can show you 34 felony counts trump was convicted on. Let me guess. The fact trump was convicted on 34 felony counts is the fault of the democrats, right? Tell me how it was those evil dems who convicted him and not a jury. Or how it wasn't a jury who found he was libel for sexually assaulting a woman? Let me guess, you have a list of excuses for that one too? Tell me how every election trump or republicans win isn't rigged but every time a democrat wins an election you people claim it was rigged?
Or maybe you can explain this one though I know you will ignore it and just post more BS.... After Trump ordered the bombing on Iran's nuclear facilities in June of 2025 he proclaimed that they, "obliterated Iran's nuclear program setting it back several years if not decades." Then just eight months later he claimed that Iran was less than a month away from having a nuclear weapon. So which of those two times was he lying?
And let's not forget this one. On April 18th, 2026, President Trump claimed Iran "agreed to everything" in negotiations, including removing enriched uranium, ceasing proxy support, and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
Once again you prove that every accusation you make is just a confession. Do you call the fact I pointed out that trump has been convicted on 34 felony counts "hate"? Do you call me pointing out that trump made two opposite claims about Iran's nuclear program one of which has to be a lie hate? Because that's usually what you call it when we presented with the facts.
You have TDS. Trump devotion syndrome. No matter what he does, no matter what he says, no matter how many times he lies to you, you remain devoted to him.
I do know some of the very things and false statements they were making made it to the right wing media and were heavily repeated on social media. And it wouldn't surprise me if some of them didn't make their way the board by those that seem to think randos on X is legitimate news. But honestly I think most of that is nothing more than trolling the board. Surely such posters aren't stupid enough to believe that BS.
History dictates those percentages, not me. I just posted the numbers. I would recommend that if you try gambling based on your "feelings" or claim that proven statistics make no difference when you wager, you may not wish to gamble. But hey, it's your money.
Do you really believe that when Tom Brady and Brock Purdy were drafted that the teams who drafted them thought the odds of them becoming the players they became were high? If so, why did they wait so long while leaving them on the board to draft them? They took long shot fliers on them.
I on the other hand actually believe there is a role for Green right away. Not a starter right away if ever, but certainly a way to be a major contributor to the offense. Even me saying that is ignoring the odds but it's far more realistic than him ever being the Browns starter unless it's forced due to injuries.
Come on man. Can it happen? Yes it can. But claiming decades of data doesn't matter is not a thing. Well I guess it is to some who wish to ignore it.
