SpankyMcFarland

The decision by the Deputy AG, and Trump’s former personal lawyer, to meet Maxwell is ‘most unusual’ as they say. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/to-former-prosecutors-everything-about-the-justice-dept-interview-with-ghislaine-maxwell-looked-unorthodox/ It looks terrible.

Yes, Democrats see this as an opportunity but your bigger problem is that many of the people who have been following this story for years with all its weird allegations and are deeply committed to finding out more are Trump voters.

I’m not accusing Trump of any criminal acts. What I’m saying is that his known long association with Epstein is already damaging and can only get worse as more details naturally emerge. We may never know exactly what he knew but saying he was just in the ‘friends and family’ category lets him off lightly. Trump wasn’t a golf-playing acquaintance of Epstein’s or an aunt either. They partied together for more than a decade and, as videos already demonstrate, they shared a keen interest in young women when middle-aged themselves. They were two very big fish in the same little pond.

On the other hand, I don’t see too many people actively defending Clinton. This is a bipartisan scandal - Trump was a Democrat at the time. How serious it is remains to be seen but I think any association with Epstein is poison for a reputation these days. At the very least, it’s hard to dismiss the suspicion that his buddies knew what he was doing to some extent and turned a blind eye.

Looks like we’ll find out if there’s a birthday book and what’s in it.

It’s not the lefties that are Trump’s problem. Many of the true believers are getting confused and restive this week. He promised too much on the Epstein case and is suffering the consequences.

Same old, same old. Trump is saying he hasn’t even thought about pardoning Maxwell, oh, no…but he has that power. Ring any bells? https://www.rawstory.com/trump-pardons-2673761222/

Forget about whether you agree with the platforms. Here is the difference. Poilievre was the frontrunner, ahead on everything including money and he managed to lose. Mamdani was nowhere when he started and was subjected to a massive multimillion dollar hate campaign by Cuomo’s backers. And he won. It wasn’t close. If you know Mira Nair’s work you won’t be surprised by that. Political comparisons of this sort are never fully fair but the contrast in outcomes is stark.

I’m a wheat beer fan and there are currently only two Canadian wheat beers worthy of the name available in my liquor store: 1. Blanche de Chambly from Quebec. Excellent beer, of course. https://www.unibroue.com/en-ca/beers/classics/blanche-de-chambly 2. Happy Valley from Labrador City which is surprisingly good. Any aficianados of Hefeweizen beer (brewed in the traditional Bavarian way) should certainly try it. https://nlliquor.com/product/iron-rock-brewing-co-happy-valley-hefeweizen-473ml/ If Canadian free trade would bring me more beers as good as these then I’m all for it.

To answer the question, I think the American civil war saved Canada from conquest and the threat stayed dormant for a long time thereafter. The consensus until recently was that the productivity of individual workers was of far greater significance to a nation’s prosperity than simply more territory. Whether Trumpism will endure and put Canada, Greenland and Lord knows what else on the menu will be for the future to know.

In most sectors, Trump is finding out that, surprise, surprise, tariff taxes will rapidly bite him in the backside by feeding inflation. The bigger the tariff, the bigger the bite. Hence the constant back and forth on tariffs. On dairy products, and agricultural products generally, where we are a net importer, Republicans should be forced to acknowledge their hypocrisy by journalists, ranting about undocumented workers but dependent on their work. Whether it’s the first, second or third thing is utterly irrelevant. It has to be in the mix and I mostly don’t see it there.

Here is the interview with Epstein victims’ lawyer Bradley Edwards where the claim about the book is made: It’s not the lefties you have to worry about here. The MAGA base has been fixated on this story for years and is getting very interested in it.

I have never heard Trump talk about the vast numbers of undocumented workers on US dairy farms. They depress the price of milk by breaking US law. Any discussion of a free and fair milk market between the two countries has to start there.

Countries serve the interests of their inhabitants for a while. If you take a longer view you can see they all fail eventually.

Countries are artificial constructs. Even the oldest city states on earth are only a few thousand years old. America is just as arbitrary as the Roman Empire or Czechoslovakia and like them will disappear in due course.

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Kingdoms, countries, empires all come and go. No territory expands indefinitely and the moment when decline starts is rarely seen at the time. In due course that which was once deemed impossible comes to pass, the great state falls and new ones grow in its wake.

We are still a net importer of dairy products from them, the second largest. We are also their largest customer for agricultural products - they exported $28.2 billion to us in 2023 although you wouldn’t know it from all the whining they do about supply management. In addition, they subsidize the dairy industry and have thousands of undocumented workers milking their cows for tiny wages. Maybe they need to look at their own uncompetitive and illegal practices before complaining about us.

The government has done it and will do it. They’re by no means perfect but way better than the banks who will end up ruining themselves and us if allowed to do so. Without firm supervision, there will always be the temptation for bankers to bend the rules and take more risk than the next guy for a little more profit. Again, Europe and the US were severely jolted by the 08 crisis which we largely avoided through prudent management of our banks.

In related news, there has been a dramatic improvement in the functionality of cardiac implants. These are wholly artificial devices used to bide time for patients waiting for a donor cardiac transplant. A patient in Australia had an implant in for 105 days until it was replaced by a donor heart. https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/australias-first-durable-total-artificial-heart-implant-announced-as-a-success BiVACOR, Inc. – Replacing Hearts. Restoring Lives. Replacing Hearts. Restoring Lives. HEART FAILURE Heart failure is a global epidemic affecting at least 26 million people worldwide, 6.2 million adults in the U.S., and is increasing in prevalence. Heart transplantations are reserved for those with severe heart failure and bivacor.com

Here’s the guy who embodies the Ukrainian spirit. His opponents are invariably younger, taller and heavier but that doesn’t stop him: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/20/essence-oleksandr-usyk-daniel-dubois-boxing-heavyweight-unification-title-fight-wembley Glory to Ukraine.

The survival of pig kidney transplants continues to improve. A new record has just been set of 130 days although this reporter seemed to take a glass half empty approach to the story: The recipient sounded more hopeful: https://www.science.org/content/article/longest-human-transplant-pig-kidney-fails

That was well known enough for me to hear about it. Somehow these constant violations of societal norms, from bad manners to crimes, were ignored by the party that has been lecturing us about our moral failings since time immemorial.

I find it very difficult to imagine that Trump would testify during discovery and expose himself, so to speak, to possible questions about his long relationship with Epstein and indeed his entire sexual history. I’m presuming he still has enough insight to fear the many pitfalls there.

Dems found out otherwise. I can’t think of anyone less constrained by speechwriters. And not to defend this reprehensible weirdo too much, but just because he usually plays a character worthy of pro wrestling doesn't mean that’s all there is to him. People are often surprised by the private man. His background is deeply elite.

No, I wouldn’t because it’s not a major matter either way. I wouldn’t regard myself as a harsh critic of PP. He’s a capable guy.