INTERNATIONAL GOOF-OFF DAY UPDATES

Given The Day, You're Lucky I Even Got To This!

-NY Attorney General Tish James - or more specifically the administrator hired to oversee The Trump Organization, Barbara Jones, and Judge Arthur Engoron - have begun moving to collect the half-billion dollar (or so) fine Ex-President Trump (R-apist) LXXXVIII owes the state (and the additional escrow amount if Trump wants to try to appeal). A high-rise in New York City and a golf club in upstate New York are the first properties that, by the Monday deadline, may be taken by the state to begin to attempt to collect the fines. Given the belief that Trump has spent his entire career building a network of loans using his properties and (likely) other loans to back those loans, the question of whether all of Trump's properties - potentially also including Mar-a-Lago - can cover the fines may soon be known.

-Further, reports of a $3.5 billion deal by ... someone ... to "purchase" Trump-owned social media garbage scow Truth Social as a potential golden-showered parachute (what, too soon?) might be looked at with a little bit of suspicion. For starters, any deal that was enjoined could not be closed for six months, meaning the only way Trump could use that cash to pay the NY judgment would be if Trump ... wait for it ... got loans with the sale price signed away as collateral! Given Trump has found nobody willing to foot or front him for the fine at this point makes that possibility very iffy. Add to that Engoron's ruling that he will want details on any kind of financial agreement before the court would accept money from that arrangement, reports that other Truth Social investors are already heading to court to stop Trump from grabbing all sales money for himself, and the little question of whether the story is ... well ... REAL (though in BREAKING NEWS, the New York Times claims a 'shell corporation' has 'bought' Truth Social) ... and this may not be the rabbit that Trump needs to pull out of a hat somewhere.

-Trump, as you can imagine, is not handling the whole situation well - going so far as to post that, contrary to what every attorney talking for him has been saying, that "I CURRENTLY HAVE ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WHICH I INTENDED TO USE IN MY CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT." Of course, he also claimed earlier in that same sentence that he 'got' that money "THROUGH HARD WORK, TALENT, AND LUCK," so ...

-And about that money for his campaign thing ... while the newly TrumpMAGAted Republican National Committee continues its purge of campaign professionals for MAGAts and a new notice sent to state Republican parties (many of which are already severely cash-strapped) is letting people know that the Trump legal fund will take precedent over funding any 2024 election activities (confirmed by NBC), multiple reports claim that the Trump campaign cancelled one of Trump's beloved campaign rallies in Arizona because of a lack of funds. There are even reports that the suspended campaign of Nikki Haley has more cash on hand than the Republican National Committee - and small- and large-funders are not opening their wallets or finding their transfer buttons for the MAGANC or Trump himself.

-Womp ... Womp ... WAAAAAAAAMMMP!

-Meanwhile, down in FL where Trump BFF Judge Aileen Cannon continues to work to (at least according to most progressive/leftist legal observers) stack and delay and possibly fix Trump's document trial to make it go away, new reporting is raising several questions about Cannon's office. A blog report, later corroborated by The New Republic and Salon, among others, confirmed two of Cannon's clerks suddenly resigned, raising a number of red flags given both the importance of clerkships for attorneys starting their legal careers, their importance in aiding judges in doing research for their bosses, and the simple suddenness of walking away from their one-year terms before finishing. Whether the resignations were coincidental or are indicative of a serious problem in Cannon's chambers remain to be seen, presuming anyone wishes to go on the record with such things (and reporters are looking) ...

-Trump will, however, take solace in new CNN polling (if you believe such things) that has him up by a whopping 8% over President Biden in MI and deadlocked in PA. However, Biden is continuing to open offices nationally and creating focused advertising that uses the time honored question "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" and turning it on its head, as Trump and a number of his sycophants have asked the question in the astonishing hope that people will forget about the COVID lockdown, scramble for paper products for bathrooms, cancelled school years, and stellar leadership by Trump that patted himself on the back as hundreds of thousands of citizens died in isolation while telling people that bleach and horse tranquilizers and infrared lights up orifices could cure a virus that he himself would catch and very nearly die from himself. Good times?

-A White House-sponsored United Nations resolution asking for a cease-fire in Gaza was vetoed by China and Russia - a vivid illustration of the lay of the international political land. As the Biden Administration has become more and more critical of Benjamin Netanyahu's tactics in response to the October 7 HAMAS terrorist attacks, Netanyahu himself becomes increasingly committed to a brutal counteroffensive with little regard for what relief agencies are calling a humanitarian starvation crisis. It also illustrates one of the issues those demanding Biden cut all aid off from Israel has: the distinct possibility that, should the White House do that, Netanyahu will pivot and get aid from Russia and China instead. Indeed, Netanyahu is currently negotiating with Putin allies in the U.S. House to speak to Republicans in defiance of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish political leader in the US, who has openly called for new elections and new leadership in the country.

-Speaking of the House, a comprehensive but last-minute budget deal that needs to be passed this weekend to avoid a government shutdown was released last night. Naturally the pro-shutdown Freedom Caucus is demanding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Jay-EE-Zuz!, LA) let the gubmint shut down, but that is not likely to happen, so the MAGAts will have to settle for Johnson yet again tabling any motion to bring aid to Ukraine to the floor, where it would likely pass and pass quickly, and also giving Johnson and his masters Putin and Trump the magic delays they live for.

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers are now on edge after what was supposed to be an expansion of MLB's brand with two regular-season games in South Korea turned into a scandal that many fear could touch the newest face of MLB, $700M OF/P Shohei Ohtani. While in Seoul, Ohtani's long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizhura, was fired by the Dodgers after ESPN reported Mizhura had paid over $4.5 million to a bookie in California - and did so through "massive theft" of Ohtani. The Associated Press further reported that Ohtani's representatives asked the IRS to investigate Mizhura, who earlier in the week claimed Ohtani was helping him pay the debts. Mizhura quickly reversed that story - but in so doing raised the specter of just how much Ohtani may have known about his friend's gambling situation. Further, betting experts claim that there would be no way Mizhura could run up a gambling debt ten times what his annual salary is unless they knew Mizhura had a financial backer. Needless to say, if that is truen and that backer was Ohtani, Ohtani's future may become very tenuous indeed. Stay tuned ...

-Let's finish with Good Music News! Folks who follow me on other social medias know I am a fan of rock music, and that an inordinate number of newer artists I've been listening to in the last few years happen to be women. One of my absolute favorites, Waxahatchee - the band led by singer/songwriter Katie Crutchfield - has released her newest album, and it is wonderful! Waxahatchee plays in an indie/country vein - think HARVEST-era Neil Young or a slightly less-driving Lucinda Williams - and the new LP, called TIGERS BLOOD, is locking into my Best of 2024 list already. The first single, "Get Right To It," is a gentle but real-life-tough love song, featuring harmonies and a sweet guitar solo by MJ Lenderman, who I now get to explore thanks to Katie and Waxahatchee. All in all, it's a glowing recommendation from Yours Truly!

-On this date in 1765, the Stamp Act - one of the inciting acts of taxation without representation that sparked the American Revolution - was passed. On this date in 1894, a hockey team in Montreal won the first Stanley Cup. On this date in 1933, a new tax on beer and wine effectively ended Prohibition. On this date in 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (it has not yet received enough state support to become part of the Constitution, and there is some belief that because of that is has not technically been defeated).

-Notable debuts on this date: The Masters Tournament (1934), The Arab League (1945), PLEASE PLEASE ME (1963), the Hummer (1983), The Mueller Report (2019).

-Happy Birthday to Chico Marx, Ruth Page, Louis D L'Amour, Karl Malden, Wilfrid Brambell, Lew Wasserman, Ross Martin, Werner Klemperer, Marcel Marceau, Derek Bok, Stephen Sondheim, William Shatner, M. Emmet Walsh, Roger Whitaker, Haing S. Ngor, Billy Collins, Bruno Ganz, George Benson, Don Chaney, James Patterson, Wolf Blitzer, Bob Costas, Lena Olin, Stephanie Mills, Carlton Cuse, Matthew Modine, Shawn Bradley, Reese Witherspoon, Juan Uribe, Constance Wu, J.J. Watt, and James T. Kirk.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mike Todd, Steve Olin, Dan Hartman, Walter Lantz, William Hanna, Rob Ford, Dallas Green, Wayne Huizenga, and Elgin Baylor.

-Feed the Worms: Pat Robertson, Orrin Hatch and Joey Porter entered Earth on this date.

-USA TODAY publisher Al Neuharth and Andrew Lloyd Weber were born on this date. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.