34 thoughts on “Now, Voyager”

  1. and finally critterville is working again for once:

    Senate passes $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel – The Washington Post

    The Senate overwhelmingly passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill on Tuesday, delivering billions of dollars in weapons and support to key U.S. allies Ukraine and Israel despite some opposition from both parties’ bases. The legislation, which passed by a 79-18 vote, had seemed all but dead for several months due to opposition in the GOP-led House.
    President Biden said in a statement he would sign the bill into law as soon as it crosses his desk on Wednesday, and send aid to Ukraine this week. The funds help him deliver on his promise to the nation’s NATO allies to continue to aid Ukraine as it enters its third year fending off Russia’s invasion.
    Passage of the legislation marks the first significant new tranche of aid passed by the U.S. Congress to the beleaguered nation in more than a year, as some Republicans aligned more with former president Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy waged a fierce battle against it. …
    […]
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who traveled to the U.S. Capitol in December to ask for more support, thanked Congress for its actions ahead of the Senate vote. “We are glad that the United States remains with Ukraine, that it remains our main powerful ally,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
    As the Senate considered the aid package Tuesday, Ukrainian lawmakers hoisted the American flag in Ukraine’s parliament.
    “This critical legislation will make our nation and world more secure as we support our friends who are defending themselves against terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin,” Biden said in a statement.

  2. kimmel on the trials of “Al Ca-porn”

    Donald Trump is losing steam and has been encouraging his supporters to rally outside the courthouse in NYC, the day began with fireworks after several heated exchanges between Trump’s lawyers and the judge, Trump violated his gag order during a hearing about whether he violated the gag order, the one and only witness today was Trump’s old pal and former publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker, the bootlickers at Fox News cannot believe the “injustice” against Trump, Mitt Romney weighed in on the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, Jimmy noticed a small fake Oscar in Donny’s office, it’s the four year anniversary of Donald Trump suggesting we all inject bleach to kill COVID-19, we celebrate World Book Day by honoring The Yellow Pages, and real-life librarians give their thoughts on recent red state bills that threaten up to six years in prison for the crime of lending books that aren’t government approved.

  4. I started working for the man on a full time basis 1 year before Voyager 1. Like V1 I cruised for a few years before getting down to work, finished the first phase, diddled a while in the middle of the voyage, changed direction halfway through, got upgraded and have continued working in a different direction since, and with timing very similar to V1. Now I’m just continuing on, waiting for my batteries to finally run down. I didn’t realize she’s my celestial soulmate until just now.

  7. The “gibberish” Voyager sent in that toon was Taylor Swift lyrics, and it’s not gibberish at all.  Clearly, those words refer to Matty Healy.  

    Hey, if you’re going to go down a rabbit hole, better T’Swift than Q or whatever mTg is into. 

    What will be the most complex life form on Earth in 40,000?

  8. David Pecker’s testimony yesterday about how part of his conspiracy with Trump was to trash rivals in 2016, they can sue for defamation. He and Trump lied about Ben Carson (left a sponge in baby’s brain during surgery), Cruz (father killed JFK), Rubio (illegitimate child), Hillary (in a Satanic Cult). In fact some of the stories were suggested to Pecker by the Trump campaign itself. And Pecker testified Trump knew about it, thought it was all very funny.

    Statute of limitations isn’t a problem, because it starts to run when the act is discovered — which was yesterday.

  12. Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissman have an article in today’s NYT addressing how SCOTUS, regardless of its ultimate ruling, by accepting the Dumbass immunity claim, is undermining the judicial system and its role in keeping would-be criminal officials in check.  It is well worth the read.  Weissman is a regular legal commentator on MSNBC and is smart as hell. A snippet:

    The Supreme Court’s decision to hear oral arguments in Donald Trump’s immunity-appeal case on Thursday may appear to advance the rule of law. After all, few, if anyone, thinks that a majority of the court will conclude that a former president is completely immune from federal criminal liability.
    But the court’s decision to review the immunity case actually undermines core democratic values.
    The Supreme Court often has an institutional interest in cases of presidential power. But the court’s insistence on putting its own stamp on this case — despite the widespread assumption that it will not change the application of immunity to this case and the sluggish pace chosen to hear it — means that it will have needlessly delayed legal accountability for no justifiable reason. Even if the Supreme Court eventually does affirm that no person, not even a president, is above the law and immune from criminal liability, its actions will not amount to a victory for the rule of law and may be corrosive to the democratic values for which the United States should be known.
    That is because the court’s delay may have stripped citizens of the criminal justice system’s most effective mechanism for determining disputed facts: a trial before a judge and a jury, where the law and the facts can be weighed and resolved.
    It is this forum — and the resolution it provides — that Mr. Trump seeks, at all costs, to avoid. It is not surprising that he loudly proclaims his innocence in the court of public opinion. What is surprising is that the nation’s highest court has interjected itself in a way that facilitates his efforts to avoid a legal reckoning.
    Looking at the experience of other countries is instructive. In Brazil, the former president Jair Bolsonaro, after baselessly claiming fraud before an election, was successfully prosecuted in a court and barred from running for office for years. In France, the former president Jacques Chirac was successfully prosecuted for illegal diversion of public funds during his time as mayor of Paris. Likewise, Argentina, Italy, Japan and South Korea have relied on the courts to hold corrupt leaders to account for their misconduct.
    Because the courts have been such crucial scaffolding for democracy, leaders with authoritarian impulses often seek to undermine judicial authority and defang the courts to advance their interests. As the national-security and governance writer Rachel Kleinfeld has pointed out: “democracies have been falling all over the world in recent years. The decline has largely occurred at the hands of elected leaders who use their popularity to ride roughshod over their countries’ institutions, destroying oversight by a thousand cuts.”
    Consider India, Bolivia, Hungary and Venezuela, where the erosion of judicial independence of the courts has been accompanied by a rise in all-consuming power for an individual leader.
    Within our constitutional system, the U.S. Supreme Court can still act effectively and quickly to preserve the judiciary’s role in a constitutional democracy. If the court is truly concerned about the rule of law and ensuring that these disputed facts are resolved in a trial, it could issue a ruling quickly after the oral argument.
    It would then fall to the special counsel Jack Smith and Judge Chutkan to ensure that this case gets to a jury. Obviously, fidelity to due process and careful attention to the rights of the accused are critical. To get to a trial and avoid any further potential delay, Mr. Smith may decide to limit the government’s case to its bare essentials — what is often called the “slim to win” strategy. And Judge Chutkan has already warned Mr. Trump that his pretrial unruly statements with respect to witnesses and others may result in her moving up the start of the trial to protect the judicial process.

    […]

    You get the idea.

  13. Have to wonder how’s this going to play for Mike at home in November?

    Democrats are increasingly open to the idea of voting to protect Speaker Mike Johnson against an ouster attempt, putting him in a stronger than expected position even with a razor-thin majority.
    More than two dozen Democrats told POLITICO they expect a swath of the party to step in and save the Republican speaker following his decision to buck conservative members of his party and support military aid to Ukraine.
    “I don’t think we should penalize a speaker for doing the right thing,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a former majority leader.

     
    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/24/democrats-mike-johnson-ouster-vote-00153802

  14. If we have to be stuck with 6-week forced pregnancy mandates, shouldn’t that mean dead beat dads must pony up the payments at conception? 

  17. SCOTUS, regardless of its ultimate ruling, by accepting the Dumbass immunity claim, is undermining

    they are and have been actively attempting to collapse government so they can replace it with one that “legally” marginalizes gays, blacks, latinx, and muslims, i.e. anyone not “white” (whatever the hell that means) and “Christian” (the American capitalist bastardization)

  19. Although women are included in all of those groups Bink mentioned, we are also a group on our own.  We will show up in November. Hell hath no fury like a woman told what she can and can’t do.  

  20. Former Japanese PM. Former.  Just like Orange Adolf is the former President.  Trying to get the old axis of evil back together, again?  Pathetic.  Absolutely pathetic.  

  21. They’re fine with women as long as they’re white and have no rights

    Ok, none of that was hyperbole, these are the stakes

    vote blue, have a great day 🌞

  22. This is danger roost.  It’s beginning to sink in that the only way they win anything is to flat out steal it. Desperate days for the putinistas.   Desperate days call for desperate measures, and for them, the ends are the only things which matter.   
    Buckle the old chin straps as Bob was wont to say.   Hell is coming for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  

  23. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/takeaways-supreme-court-abortion-idaho/index.html
     
    “Sotomayor jumped in with even more visceral examples of women suffering sepsis and hemorrhaging due to pregnancy complications not yet threatening their lives. She also asked about a patient experiencing complications who was denied an abortion earlier in her pregnancy, and by then she was able to deliver the fetus, the baby died and she in the meantime was forced to get a hysterectomy.
    Turner said that whether Idaho’s ban applied to those situations was a case-by-case assessment, an answer that Barrett said “shocked” her.
    “I thought your own expert had said [during lower court proceedings] that these kinds of cases were covered,” she said. “And you’re now saying they’re not?”
     

    A ruling is likely to land sometime in late June, potentially around the same time that the court will decide another key abortion matter pending on its docket: Whether the US Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority by expanding access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

    Together, the decisions would put abortion back on the front burner of American politics just weeks before the GOP nominating convention in Wisconsin.“

  24. Well, that’s rather insulting that Coney-Barrett is pretending that she didn’t realize the ruling she voted for (the opinion to which she ascribed herself) would lead to negative healthcare outcomes for other women
     
    Resign

  25. Buckle the old chin straps as Bob was wont to say

     
    chin straps, boot straps, bra straps, whatever kinds you got, gonna need to tighten them all. 

  27. Closer to our day’s celestial theme…
     

    So what should I expect from the first, second, and third Saturn Returns that can happen in a lifetime?
    Your late 20s are a time when massive, life-changing transformation occurs. We’re breaking up, making up, swapping careers, changing cities, and — perhaps most importantly — blossoming into our true selves. During your first Saturn Return, you begin to break away from societal pressure, trading expectations for honest experiences.
    Your second Saturn Return, however, which occurs in your late 50s, is more likely to manifest as the stereotypical “midlife crisis.” After establishing routines and structure, your second Saturn Return may force you to reconsider these realities as you question whether you’re actuallyliving up to your highest potential.
    Finally, your third Saturn Return — which occurs in your late 80s — is a time for powerful reflection. During this season, you’ll look back at your life and contemplate your successes, failures, blessings, and regrets. This can also be an extremely spiritual moment, as you consider the legacy you’d like to leave behind and your hopes for the other side. You know, casual stuff.

    https://www.thecut.com/article/saturn-return-what-it-is-what-to-expect.html#/

  28. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/24/ut-austin-israel-hamas-war-palestine-student-arrests/
    “About 500 students demanded that UT-Austin divest from manufacturers supplying Israel weapons in its strikes on Gaza.”
    “Officers at the scene donned riot gear and in some cases wielded mace or mounted horses while trying to drive back the protesters. Some officers could be seen pushing protesters with their batons. Several students were pushed to the ground and handcuffed with white plastic ties. Students acting as legal observers frantically shouted to get their names.”
    “The demonstration showed no signs of violence before authorities intervened, though police did order the attendees to disperse and warned many that they would be arrested for trespassing.”
    “A freelance journalist was arrested. A Dallas Morning News reporter at the scene said a cameraman with Austin news channel Fox 7 was also detained. Another reporter with The New York Times was injured during the protest.”
     
    “I see police attacking students who are standing peacefully and shouting. All that does is anger the students more,” said Suri, who identified as Jewish. “The appropriate response would be to ask them to be contained in an area, let them stay on the grass and let them shout until they have no voices left.”
     
    “Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support for the arrests, which come amid tensions on college campuses across the country over the Israel-Hamas war.”
     
    “Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also chimed in and criticized organizers, who said they’d establish “THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA” in an Instagram post Tuesday announcing plans for the Wednesday protest.”
     
    This is some Russia-level sh/* going down. 
    Back in my day, there was an anti-apartheid protest on campus to get my U to divest from gold krugerrands.  No police. Now hassle.
    These militarized police forces are what we will face if we ever have another Republican prez and speak out against anything.  
     
     

  29. i put the bulb end of the horseradish root in the ground after i made Mr. C’s Horsey-Sauce (delicious, ty for recipe) and it’s sprouted!  Lifetime supply of horseradish 😎

  30. @RonFilipkowski
    BREAKING: Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Jenna Ellis, Christina Bobb and Boris Epshytn have all been indicted in Arizona

  31. We used to grind the horseradish with a vice grip-grinder attached to a kitchen chair.  It will clear out your sinuses if you don’t grind it outside.  
    I hope I’m not around for a third Saturn return. I would like to see another total, solar eclipse, though. 

  32. I guess I’ll google why it’s called horseradish.  

    Well, that was worth doing if just to read someone saying it’s because it resembles a horse’s genitalia.

  33. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/arizona-criminal-charges-2020-election-subversion/index.html

    “A grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign.”
    Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani are among those who have been indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.”
     
     Boris Epshteyn, born in Moscow in the 1980s; family moved to the US in the 1990s.
    Why does he remain one of tRUMPsky’s “closest advisors”?

    From wiki: “He was managing director of business and legal affairs for investment banking firm TGP Securities from 2013 to 2017.[14] In October 2013, Epshteyn moderated a panel at the investment conference “Invest in Moscow!”. The panel was composed mainly of Moscow city government officials, including Sergey Cheremin, a city minister who heads Moscow’s foreign economic and international relations department.”

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