On June 13, the Hubble Space Telescope's payload computer stopped working, bringing the great instrument's operations to a halt. Several attempts have been made to restart – so far without success – and astronomers are bracing themselves for the possibility this is the end for the telescope that changed our view of the universe.
If they can't get Hubble to go back on line, it's not as though we have the capability to fly up there and fix it.
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The Disgraced Asshole of Orange wanted to use the Feds to stop comedians from making fun of him.
“It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side,’” Trump tweeted, long before he was banned from Twitter for inspiring a violent mob. “Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows. Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this?”
It was, on its face, a ridiculous question and threat, as SNL is obviously satire, and therefore a form of protected speech in America that pissed-off commanders-in-chief have no authority to directly subvert. However, then-President Trump went further than simply tweeting his displeasure with the late-night comedians and SNL writers’ room. The internal discussions that followed, between the former leader of the free world and some of his political and legal advisers, once again underscored just how much Trump wanted to use the full weight and power of the U.S. government to punish his personal enemies.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Trump asked advisers and lawyers in early 2019 about what the Federal Communications Commission, the court system, and—most confusingly to some Trump lieutenants—the Department of Justice could do to probe or mitigate SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, and other late-night comedy mischief-makers.
Autocrats, and wannabee autocrats, are notoriously thin-skinned. They know that their weapon of fear doesn't work very well if people are laughing at them. That applied, in spaces, to The Mangolorian.
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Republicans are still pushing Jim Crow 2.0 voting laws and the party members in the Senate are going to do everything possible to ensure that those people have a harder time voting.
Every objective study of the 2020 election has found it to be a free and fair election, including, most recently, in Michigan:
State Senate Republicans who investigated Michigan’s 2020 presidential election for months concluded there was no widespread or systemic fraud and urged the state attorney general to consider probing people who have made baseless allegations about the results in Antrim County to raise money or publicity “for their own ends.”
None of that will tamp down the Big Lie of the Scrfer of Hamberders or those who are too afraid to do anything other than parrot his lies (which includes every Republican senator). They know that they can't win in a battle of ideas, that a majority of Americans doen't buy their schtick. So their sole road to power is to tilt the playing field, to keep as many of those who won't vote for them from voting.
It really is a modern version of Jim Crow.
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Speaking of the purveyors of The Big Lie:
An appeals court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race.
An attorney disciplinary committee said in its motion to suspend Giuliani’s license that there was “uncontroverted evidence” that Giuliani had made false statements to the courts, the public and lawmakers as he pushed theories that the election was stolen through fraud.
You can read the 33-page motion to suspend Rudy's law license here.
There are four appellate courts in New York State, called "Departments". Each Department administers the discipline for the attorneys who practice within that Department.
Lying to judges is one of those things that can get arttorneys in real trouble. (Snacking on the client's own money is a big no-no.) Attorney discipline is sort of a universally-reciprocal thing, in that if an attorney is admitted in more than one state, or to Federal courts, being suspended or disbarred in one state is effective in all of them.
I don't think Rudy's likely to be standing on the side of the road with a cardboard sign anytime soon. But Rudy now is feeling the full force of working for Individual-1: He got stiffed on his fees and his reputation is in tatters. Melania's Future Ex-Husband throws people to the side like used Kleenexes, and that's what's happening to Rudy.
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Welcome to the 1970s:
The U.S. Navy has swapped more than 1,600 parts among its new Virginia-class submarines since 2013 to ease maintenance bottlenecks as components that are supposed to last 33 years wear out decades sooner.
Parts are being shuttled regularly among the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines so that vessels in the $166 billion class built by General Dynamics Corp. and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. can return to operations, according to data from the Naval Sea Systems Command and the Congressional Budget Office.
This isn't quite as bad in the 1970s, when the primary task of shipboard security watches was to stop the theft of parts and equipment by the sailors of other ships.[1] But the under-funding of spare parts and maintenance is a perennial problem. Building ships, tanks and airplanes is sexy. Congresscritters like that, because it's splashy and the jobs created can be pointed at. But buying repair parts isn't as sexy, so it gets underfunded.
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[1] I'm not saying that I once told a lieutenant from another ship that if he didn't get off my quarterdeck, that I was going to shoot him. But I'm not saying that I didn't say that, either.
11 comments:
Once again, another Republican led investigation has come up with.... nothing. No evidence of widespread fraud, corruption, or manipulation of the 2020 election. Proving the Big Lie to be just another lie perpetuated by those that lost an fair election and cannot abide by the results.
We don't like you, we really don't like you!
Dale
Yeah, 'cause ensuring the integrity of our elections is just so racist.
You gotta have an ID for everything else these days, even to get a Covid shot or to enter most federal buildings....
But not to vote.
So terribly racist.
Yes, B, we vote without ID because it’s a fundamental right, unlike proving you’re old enough to buy alcohol, or qualifying for a driver’s license. Nothing like that phantom army of illegal voters, drawn from the ranks of the poor and undocumented.
That Bozo Bezos can't fly his 'lectric roadster out there and fix it ... ?
🎶 Scientists say there's life on Mars but my space buggy don't go that far!
🎶 Don't go that far!
I'm not surprised it* wanted to go after SNL. Surprised the horse is still alive.
It would be my pleasure to take a standardized civics test before voting. *?
Comeuppance. Assholes like Rudy. Reminds me of an saying attributed to an even older Chinese guy but that's where I heard it: before setting out for revenge, dig two graves. Don't be in such a hurry, assholes like Rudy always get their comeuppance.
If you had any idea what we did to some of those Hueys.
* "It" of course The Russian Stooge. It isn't human ...
There has been no proof of election fraud, other than by Republicans, in the last election.
Tightening up voter laws without a single iota of proof that there has been a need for those restrictions leaves the Confederacy Party's reasons for the restrictions to what are obvious: Voter suppression and racism.
The RNC said
I believe it
Despite the lack of evidence.
Ensuring the integrity of our elections is expected.
Making it racist is the currently the republican way.
However the big lie is the elections were hacked..
All cases reported so far of proven fraud were
republicans... care to explain that, facts and
proof required.
Or you can go full Giuliani and just lie about it.
That has the rick of censure and loss of license.
Eck!
And yet, oddly, one needs an Id for a bank account or to cash a check....and even to get the COvid shot.
Why is that not racist? Especially the covid jab, as it is a matter of public health.
I don't see any complaining about those requirements.
Also, why is more election integrity a bad Thing? It can't hurt, and it will only help. Unless you are trying to keep fraud possible.
Can you come up with another reason?
Nothing happens in the abstract, B. All of these restrictions and "election security" measures are being enacted in Republican-controlled states after the Republicans lost the presidency.
Can you tell me, with a straight face, that if Trump had won, that these laws would still be enacted?
I submit that they cannot.
Motivation matters. The GOP's motivation here is pernicious and, yes, racist.
And yet, oddly, one needs an Id for a bank account or to cash a check....and even to get the COvid shot.
Why is that not racist?
There are restrictions on those processes to make sure that people don’t defraud banks, or qualify for a shot. There is no evidence of any organized voter fraud, aside from the recent machinations of the Republican Party to convince people that this was so in 2020.
Election integrity IS a good thing. The problem is, the rules and legislation that the Republicans are pushing forward does NOT ensure integrity. It puts limits and restrictions on items that do nothing except to harass voters and make it more difficult to exercise their civic duty. Lying to people to get these regulations enacted is the underhanded way of restricting votes.
But the simple fact that I have to explain it to you shows that you either choose to ignore the facts or are too simple to understand.
Dale
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