David Rasmussen, aka Rasamoto @Bertrecords@qoto.org

I've been busy doing cool stuff so I didn't see the #NPR thing until now. NPR should just stay off of all social media and all other news agencies should do the same. They should all build a good system of RSS feeds. Then social media platforms should build a system that allows users to easily get those feeds into their timelines. Or we should all go back to RSS.

“Hate, in the long run, is about as nourishing as cyanide.”

Wisdom on life from Vonnegut, who died on this day in 2007 https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/05/12/kurt-vonnegut-if-this-isnt-nice-fredonia/

Every 5-4 SC decision in which Thomas has been in the majority needs to be seen as a bought-and-paid for act of corruption. I doubt there was ever anything as crude as an explicit yacht-ride-for-ruling quid pro quo, but Thomas opened himself up to improper influence and every one of his decisions is correspondingly tainted.

I’m guessing he’s not the only one so compromised, but that’s for a different day.

There’s a lot to unpack legally around the Trump indictment. Today, I zoom out to discuss three big themes that emerge, in my ongoing quest to help make sense of it all. It does get a bit complicated legally, but that’s where I think I can help explain! https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/breaking-down-the-indictment?sd=pf

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) has introduced a bill that would end corporate personhood with the goal of reversing #citizensunited

Thank you,
thank you, thank you @RepJayapal
We should keep pushing this until it is impossible to ignore.

https://truthout.org/articles/corporations-are-not-people-jayapal-files-bill-to-reverse-citizens-united/

@jcrabapple @JamesGleick
I'm not a lawyer, but the citation that @JamesGleick gave in the original post is an amendment to Title 18 of the US Code, section 3056. Full text here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3056

Relevant part seems to be:
"...the United States Secret Service is authorized to protect the following persons... Former Presidents and their spouses for their lifetimes..."

First thing I notice is that the Secret Service is "authorized" not "required".

Second thing is that it says "protect". It doesn't say "allocate personnel to always be in physical proximity", it simply says "protect".

So, to this non-lawyer, it seems like, as the laws are today, the Secret Service could choose to:
- Simply decline to protect Trump while he is in prison.
- Lobby to have Trump serve his sentence in isolation, for his own protection.
- Coordinate with prison staff on a plan to reduce the chances that he gets shanked in the shower.
etc.

(not sure if there are other rules/laws in play, though)

43 years ago
Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett backstage at the Whisky a Go Go, April 1980.

Photo by Donna Santisi

#punk #punks #punkrock #womenofpunk #chrissiehynde #joanjett #history #punkrockhistory

For those who like primary source docs:

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Jr’s statement on #indictment of #Trump
https://www.manhattanda.org/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump/

Indictment of Trump on 34 felony counts PDF
https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf

Statement of Facts (PDF)
https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-SOF.pdf

I don’t need white Mastodon users or any other Mastodon users be they “liberal”, “conservative” or otherwise to TONE POLICE or try to trivialize the point or the criticism I have of ANY politician or First Lady, regardless of political affiliation. If that does not sit well with anyone reading this—please unfollow me now. Thanks.

Whenever a Black person has a criticism of something a white Democratic politician does there is always pushback from white Democratic voters or supporters.