|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:21:13 GMT -8
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
So Much Losing
Trump brought a frivolous defamation case against the New York Times. He was warned, yet he persisted.
Now, Trump has to pay almost $400,000 due to a New York anti-SLAPP statute that financially penalized litigants of frivolous lawsuits.
He sought $100 Million.
And oh yeah—Alina Habba was his lawyer in this case. One wonders if she is gonna do another victory lap at the next Mega MAGA event?
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:35:35 GMT -8
This Did Not Happen This Week
CLAIM: A secret underground tunnel found connected to the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, a historic synagogue in Brooklyn that serves as the center of an influential Hasidic Jewish movement, was used for child sex trafficking or other illicit activities.
THE FACTS: The claims are unfounded, hinting at long-standing antisemitic tropes and more recent baseless conspiracy theories about child trafficking rings run by elite public figures, including government officials. News of a brawl between police and worshippers that broke out over the tunnel on Monday at Chabad's headquarters led to such baseless allegations spreading quickly on social media. The exact purpose and provenance of the tunnel remains the subject of some debate, but there is no credible evidence it was used for the nefarious purposes social media users are falsely connecting it to.
___
CLAIM: A video clip shows liberals dressing up as supporters of former President Donald Trump before taking part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, proving the riot was an inside job.
THE FACTS: The clip was filmed by comedian Walter Masterson and content creator Peter Scattini, who posed as Trump-friendly reporters on Jan. 6, 2021, to interview people at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Capitol attack. Both men posted videos showing extensive footage from the day’s events, which include the shot of them donning Trump paraphernalia and patriotic garb in an effort to blend in with the crowds. They explain in the videos that they went to the rally to make comedic content and express disbelief about what happened.
___
CLAIM: A 44-year-old migrant named Sahil Omar was identified as the suspect of an explosion at a historic hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday.
THE FACTS: No suspect is being sought in relation to the massive explosion at the Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, a police spokesperson told The Associated Press. Authorities say the blast “has the characteristics of a natural gas explosion,” but that the cause is still under investigation. The same name and description was used to make a similar erroneous claim about a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, last month. Following the blast, social media users began falsely pinning it on a 44-year-old migrant.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:37:50 GMT -8
This is the Right Approach. Remind People How Bad a Presidnnt Previous Guy Was.
Democratic group plans $140 million voter testimonial onslaught against Donald Trump
The effort will focus on appealing to working class women in the northern swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin
“The hardest part about using the most powerful messengers in politics, which are real people from these communities, is finding them,” said Bradley Beychok, co-founder of American Bridge.
The planned ad campaign will expand upon a smaller effort American Bridge launched in 2020 to turn working-class voters in the same states against Trump. This time, with the tacit support of the White House and President Biden’s team, the focus will narrow somewhat to working-class female voters in those states, with the possibility of expanding into North Carolina later, Beychok said.
Don't Go to North Carolina. Focus on the States that Matter.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:38:33 GMT -8
Believe It!
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:39:45 GMT -8
Watch the Independent Voters
Political pundits are ignoring the poll numbers on independent voters.
The media narrative with respect to the Trump lawsuits will be what it has been, except on steroids: Trump’s legal woes only help him. That’s true with respect to Republican voters. But there are a lot of reasons to think that that piece of conventional wisdom will be dead wrong when it comes to other voters.
First of all, New Hampshire may well prove this point. Independents can vote in New Hampshire primaries and have a history of being cranky and unpredictable. Now let’s assume that Trump doesn’t win the Granite State handily—he wins it narrowly or maybe even loses. If that happens, Haley will be succeeding on the strength of those independent voters. And that will constitute a big and important switch that’s worth paying attention to.
In 2016, independents made up 42 percent of the electorate in the state’s GOP primary, and Trump cleaned up among them: He got 36 percent of the independent vote, while his closest competitor, John Kasich, got 18 percent.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:41:55 GMT -8
In the Mood for a Little Deflation?
U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in December amid declining costs for goods such as diesel fuel and food, suggesting inflation would continue to subside and allow the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year.
The report from the Labor Department on Friday also showed prices for services were unchanged for the third straight month, another boost in the U.S. central bank's fight against inflation. With supply chains mostly normalized after severe disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, services are now at the core of the inflation battle. Services inflation, partly driven by a tight labor market, is less responsive to rate hikes.
"The inflation pipeline is clearing and consumer prices will gradually get to the Fed's 2% target," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:47:02 GMT -8
When Boeing was Run By Engineers, It Was a Great Company. Then the Accountants Took Over.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced it will take the significant step of increasing its oversight over Boeing and begin an immediate audit of Boeing's production and manufacturing in the wake of the door plug blowing out of an Alaska Airlines flight last week.
The audit will "evaluate Boeing's compliance with its approved quality procedures," the agency said Friday.
The FAA said it will also assess the safety risks around delegated authority and quality oversight -- specifically the Organization Designation Authorization program. Under ODA, certain aircraft certification process is delegated to manufacturers like Boeing.
MORE: FAA launches probe of Boeing following door plug incident
The door plug for the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off a few minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport on Jan. 5, depressurizing the cabin and exposing passengers to open air thousands of feet above ground. No one was seriously injured and the plane landed safely.
FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said the agency is "exploring" the use of an independent third party to oversee Boeing's inspections and quality system.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jan 13, 2024 9:49:58 GMT -8
More Losing! Everyone Allied With Previous Guy Eventually Loses.
MyPillow chief executive and prominent election denier Mike Lindell said Friday that Fox News has stopped running his company's commercials, disputing the network's assertion that it is simply because he hasn't paid his bills.
Lindell went public by tweeting that Fox, which had been one of MyPillow's biggest advertising outlets, had canceled him. He said in his tweet that he didn't know why but that he suspected that the network was trying to silence him. Fox denied that.
Losing Fox was just the latest in a series of financial and legal setbacks for Minnesota-based MyPillow and Lindell, who continues to propagate former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part by rigged voting machine systems. Several big-box retailers, including Walmart, have discontinued his products, and lawyers who were defending him against defamation lawsuits by voting machine companies quit.
“As soon as their account is paid, we would be happy to accept their advertising,” Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti said.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Lindell acknowledged that MyPillow owes money to Fox. He put the figure at $7.8 million, but he insisted that the sum is within his credit line with the network. He said MyPillow has long spent an average of $1 million a week to run its ads on Fox. And he said the network had long allowed him 12 weeks of credit until it recently cut that to eight weeks.
|
|
