“The parties have agreed to hold in abeyance the issue of whether this Court can or should review documents in camera. The issue can be raised by either party in the future. The Court also will not address the issue of the sufficiency of the privilege log at this time since this ruling will eliminate most if not all of the entries claiming legislative privilege. AO may again raise this issue depending upon Senate Defendants’ compliance with this ruling. This ruling significantly narrows the universe of documents and communications that are permissively privileged.”

“The legislative privilege does not apply with the exception of documents withheld on grounds of confidentiality , privacy or the best interests of the State if those interests outweigh the public’s interest in access to those records. This is narrow indeed and must be specifically outlined in the privilege log. The audit was not an integral part of a deliberative process, the withheld information is not tethered to proposed legislation, and there is no showing that disclosure of the records sought would impair legislative deliberations. There is no deliberative process underway. AO’s interest, on behalf of the public at large, significantly outweighs the Senate Defendants’ interest in non-disclosure. The audit challenges whether there was an election free of fraud, corruption or incompetence. The stakes could not be higher and transparency, which is at the heart of the PRL, substantially outweighs any concern regarding chilling future legislative deliberations. Arizona public records law creates a presumption requiring the disclosure of public documents. Senate Defendants clearly waived any claim to immunity or privilege. The Motion to Compel is granted with the qualifications outlined in this Docket” says the decision in the watchdog American Oversight’s case to compel disclosure of the Arizona State Senate’s records related to the Maricopa “audit”.

Countering economists expectations that there would be a pullback, American consumer spending increased in September despite concerns about the spreading coronavirus delta variant and supply chain problems, the Washington Post reports.

Month-over-month retail sales increased 0.07% to $625.4 billion according to the US Census Bureau, amounting to a 14% increase over September 2020.  Perhaps in a sign of new-found freedom thanks to the wide distribution of vaccines, sales were up 3.7 percent in hobby, music and sports stores. Spending at gas stations was up more than 38 percent compared to the same period in 2020, and spending at bars and restaurants was up nearly 30 percent compared to last year.

“As the economy continues to recover from covid-related restrictions, the rising vaccination rates may spur the confidence consumers need to celebrate the approaching holidays at in-person gatherings,” Marwan Forzley, chief executive of Veem, a payments platform that works with thousands of U.S. retailers, said Friday in comments emailed to The Post. “Consumer appetite looks promising as more and more individuals feel comfortable with retail shopping and dining at restaurants and bars, and we can expect this to continue into the winter months.”

You want the nunchucks.

You got the nunchucks. pic.twitter.com/fu4MlJEUN1

— Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) October 15, 2021

NBC News:  “British lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death Friday while holding regular meetings with constituents, his office and fellow lawmakers said.  Amess, 69, was attacked at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, a coastal town east of London, according to his office.

“Essex Police said they have arrested a man and recovered a knife.  The incident carried echoes of 2016 when Britain was rocked by the murder of Labour lawmaker Jo Cox by a far-right extremist. She was shot and stabbed in the street in Birstall, a village in north England, where she had been due to hold meetings with constituents.

“Photographs from the scene Friday showed police holding automatic rifles and wearing body armor guarding the door of the church, which was behind police tape. At least two police cars and two ambulances were at the scene.”

Mary Trump op-ed in the New Republic: “Donald released a statement in which he essentially threatened to keep Republican voters from participating in the 2022 and 2024 elections if ‘we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020.’ He then falsely claimed that this fraud has been ‘thoroughly and conclusively documented.’ In other words, if his party is unable – by any illicit and illegal means necessary – to turn his humiliating loss to Joe Biden in 2016 into a ‘win,’ he will take his toys and go home, Republican electoral prospects (including his own!) be damned. One could be forgiven for thinking that Donald’s rationale for having state legislatures conduct fraudulent audits was to undermine voters’ faith in elections so the results – at least if a Democrat wins – would always be suspect and therefore more easily challenged by Republican-controlled legislatures. That, however, would be to underestimate his desperate need not to have lost the 2020 election. Remember the lengths he went to try to convince people that he actually won the popular vote in 2016 despite a resounding three-million-vote deficit?”

“His most recent threat, delivered via that Wednesday statement, is just another temper tantrum designed to coerce the Republican Party not simply to conduct ‘audits’ in all states but to protect his terribly fragile ego. His compulsion to punish those who fail or refuse to support his delusions overwhelms his ability to think strategically. In order to get Donald to stop holding voters hostage in the next two elections, his party is going to have to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. At this point, it’s a sucker’s bet to assume they won’t at least try in order to assuage him. But trying won’t be enough for their perpetually enabled leader. They’ll have to succeed. How ironic would it be if, by convincing a significant number of Republican voters not to engage in the democratic process, it’s Donald who ends up saving American democracy?”

Aussie TikToker Abra Kebabra Reviews posted a video of his receipt after a visit to the first and so far only down under location of the fairly overrated American chain Five Guys Burgers and Fries, apoplectic over his order of (what appears to be) 5 cheeseburgers, 1 bacon cheeseburger, 3 large fries, and four milkshakes came out to $215 Australian dollars ($159.39 USD).

For comparison’s sake, we examined the video as closely as possible to reconstruct the order at a Downtown Brooklyn, New York Five Guys location’s web page, finding the same order would cost $107.43 here – in a very expensive commercial urban real estate market – fully $52.04 less than it does in the Aussie town of Penrith, a suburb approximately 35 miles west of Sydney. So to further underscore how much this guy got screwed, we checked a Five Guys in the town of Roxbury in North Jersey, 35 miles west of Manhattan, and the same order costs $97.21, nearly 61% less.

What the hell is going on there? The Australian state of New South Wales charges a 10% value added sales tax on all goods and services, but that’s not appreciably higher than the 8.895% that New York City and State nick at the Downtown Brooklyn Five Guys and the roughly 6.21% added to the bill at the Roxbury, New Jersey Five Guys. That’s too many dollarydoos for mediocre food.

“Ronnie Floyd, the highest-ranking official of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee announced his resignation Thursday evening, following weeks of contentious committee meetings about a sexual abuse inquiry. ‘Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal, and fiduciary entity of the SBC,’ Floyd wrote in a letter sent to the executive committee members Thursday night. The executive committee, which handles convention business when the full SBC isn’t in session during its two-day annual meeting, met in recent weeks to vote on waiving attorney-client privilege for an investigation into the committee’s handling of sexual abuse claims. Floyd sided with legal counsel who advised the executive committee against waiving privilege, though the committee ultimately voted to do so at an Oct. 5 meeting.”

“Floyd said his resignation is a direct result of that. The decision to waive privilege, ‘now place our missionary enterprise as Southern Baptists into uncertain, unknown, unprecedented and uncharted waters,’ Floyd said in his resignation letter. ‘In the midst of deep disappointment and discouragement, we have to make this decision by our own choice and do so willingly, because there is no other decision for me to make.’ As chief of the executive committee staff, who work for the executive committee representatives, or members, Floyd’s resignation is the latest and most significant of others that followed the committee’s vote to waive privilege. The law firm that served for 56 years as legal counsel for the executive committee and the entire SBC resigned Monday. Ten executive committee members also resigned last week” – The Tennessean.

Washington Examiner: “Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’s vow to challenge the reelection of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is boosting his lead in the GOP race to replace outgoing Sen. Roy Blunt, the latest sign of a voter backlash against the long-serving Kentucky lawmaker. New Fabrizio, Lee & Associates polling shows Greitens leading his Republican challengers in the 2022 race by double digits. He currently has 36% support in the race, which could attract several challengers, and leads his nearest foe, Missouri AG Eric Schmitt, by 19 points.”

“His lead grows when voters are told of his promise to fight against McConnell, who is under attack from former President Donald Trump. Fabrizio, Lee is Trump’s pollster. Support for Greitens, who has declared himself the ‘MAGA candidate’ in the race, grows to 44%, 30 points ahead of Schmitt, when voters are told of his ‘vote to remove’ McConnell if elected to the Senate.”

The man widely rumored to be the “real” QAnon – as in he’s suspected by media researchers to be the person who wrote all the “QAnon drops” – 8chan/8kun admin Ron Watkins, officially announced his campaign for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District late Thursday. “President Trump had his election stolen, not just in Arizona but in other states too! We must now take this fight to Washington DC and vote out all the dirty Democrats who have stolen our republic! We must fix elections from inside the machine!” Watkins says while holding his own phone to record his own face, a totally normal way to announce a campaign. Not clear at this point is whether Watkins is running as a Republican or an independent candidate, but it doesn’t really matter.

The Washington Post reports that Trump’s behavior, specifically his threat on Wednesday to have his fanbase sit out the 2022 and 2024 elections “drew winces among GOP operatives and U.S. senators gathered for a donor retreat for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in Palm Beach, Fla., this week. Many still blame Trump for the loss of two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia in runoff elections early this year, saying his false claims of fraudulent ballots kept people from coming to the polls. ‘It gives everyone cold sweats over the Georgia situation and the prospect he could have some impact again,’ said one top party strategist, who like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.”

“In Trump’s address, one of the final events of the retreat, the former president focused on re-litigating grievances he has retained since leaving office. He called Pelosi and Schumer ‘maniacs’ and described his presidency as a fight for survival. ‘It was all phony shit, okay. All phony stuff,’ he said of the Democratic impeachment efforts and the investigation of his ties to Russia. Unprompted, he brought up an unsubstantiated claim he had interactions with prostitutes in Moscow before he ran for president. ‘I’m not into golden showers,’ he told the crowd. ‘You know the great thing, our great first lady – ‘That one,’ she said, ‘I don’t believe that one.’” Read more.

“U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock raised more than $9.5 million during the latest fundraising quarter, an enormous sum that highlights the extensive fundraising infrastructure the Democrat has built for a re-election bid that will help decide control of the Senate. Warnock ended the quarter with more than $17.2 million in cash on hand, more than any Georgia U.S. Senate campaign has reported at this stage in the election cycle. He collected contributions from more than 145,000 donors during the reporting period, which spans from July to September, said campaign manager Quentin Fulks. Warnock, the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, has expanded the sprawling donor list he amassed during last year’s campaign to fill the remaining two years of retired Republican Johnny Isakson’s term. He’s emerged as a fundraising juggernaut who can attract small-dollar donors – his average contribution was $37 – along with checks from the deep-pocketed elite” – AJC.

Politico: “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists threw the party into chaos. Now the turmoil is spreading across the battleground state, consuming the GOP in a bonfire of lawsuits, counterclaims and resignations. The meltdown – the latest iteration of the hostilities that have wracked the party nationally in the post-Trump era – could prove especially damaging if the fissures linger into next year. Trump lost to Joe Biden in Nevada by just more than 2 percentage points, and Republicans have a chance of knocking off Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Gov. Steve Sisolak in 2022. National GOP groups are pouring money into those races – but the dysfunction within the state’s Republican Party is threatening to undermine those efforts.”

“In recent days, Republicans tied to a pre-existing leadership group in Las Vegas’ Clark County filed a lawsuit seeking to bar the state party from electing officers at its fall meeting on Saturday in Northern Nevada. On Thursday, a judge in Nevada denied their request, dismissing the case. And that same day, the state party chair, Michael McDonald, pledged in an interview to counter-sue. Meanwhile, several GOP officials in Washoe County – the state’s second-most populous county and a traditional bellwether – resigned from their posts earlier this week amid an uprising from pro-Trump activists within their ranks. In Carson City, former state Controller Ron Knecht resigned from his leadership position in his local Republican club and from the state party’s central committee, which he torched as ‘dysfunctional’ on his way out. ‘Oh my God,’ said Amy Tarkanian, a former chair of the state Republican Party. ‘It’s really, really embarrassing, just as a whole.'”

“Major Chinese energy companies are in advanced talks with U.S. exporters to secure long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, as soaring gas prices and domestic power shortages heighten concerns about the country’s fuel security, several sources said. At least five Chinese firms, including state major Sinopec Corp and China National Offshore Oil Company and local government-backed energy distributors like Zhejiang Energy, are in discussions with U.S. exporters, mainly Cheniere Energy and Venture Global, the sources told Reuters.”

“The discussions could lead to deals worth tens of billions of dollars that would mark a surge in China’s LNG imports from the United States. At the height of Sino-U.S. trade war in 2019, gas trade briefly came to a standstill. Talks with U.S. suppliers began early this year but speeded up in recent months amid one of the biggest power-generating, heating fuel crunch in decades. Natural gas prices in Asia have jumped more than fivefold this year, sparking fears of power shortages in the winter. ‘Companies faced a supply gap (for winter) and surging prices. Talks really picked up since August when spot prices touched $15/mmbtu’, said a Beijing-based senior industry source briefed on the talks. Another Beijing-based source said: ‘After experiencing the recent massive market volatility, some buyers were regretting that they didn’t sign enough long-term supplies'” – Reuters.

The Navy issued a directive to all personnel that they must be fully vaccinated by November 28th or face immediate discharge out of the service, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s online news service.

To meet the requirement, sailors will have to have their second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single Johnson & Johnson version.  People are not considered to be fully vaccinated until fourteen days after they receive the final dose.  Sailors may also apply for a medical or religious exemption, but must have either been granted the exemption or started the formal request by November 14th.

“Sailors must be prepared to execute their mission at all times, in places throughout the world, including where vaccination rates are low and disease transmission is high,” according to the Navy news release issued today. “Immunizations are of paramount importance to protecting the health of the force and the warfighting readiness of the Fleet.”

NBC News:  “Cher filed a potentially million-dollar lawsuit Wednesday accusing Mary Bono, the widow of her ex-husband Sonny Bono, of wrongly withholding royalties for songs like ‘I Got You Babe’ and ‘The Beat Goes On.’

“Cher and Sonny Bono, who made up the 1960s and ’70s pop duo Sonny & Cher, were married from 1967 to 1975 before they divorced and agreed to ‘an equal division of their community property,’ which included an even split of music royalties, according to Cher’s federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.  The 50-50 split carried on after Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on Jan. 5, 1998, Cher said.

“Last month, Mary Bono, through the Bono Collection Trust, told Cher that she would be cut off from royalties for Sonny & Cher hits like ‘I Got You Babe,’ ‘The Beat Goes On,’ ‘Baby Don’t Go,’ ‘Little Man’ and ‘Bang Bang.’  The ‘notice of termination’ stunned Cher, as she ‘has been the unchallenged owner of her fifty percent of all musical composition and record royalties,’ her lawsuit said.”

CNN:  “McDonald’s is ready to test it out in the United States.  The McPlant, featuring a plant-based patty created in partnership with Beyond Meat, will be available at eight restaurants for a limited time starting November 3, McDonald’s said Thursday. The restaurants are in cities including El Segundo and Manhattan Beach in California; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Irving and Carrollton, Texas; and Jennings and Lake Charles, Louisiana, McDonald’s said.

“Over the past few years, fast food companies have been experimenting with plant-based offerings to court flexitarian consumers, who want to eat less meat or add vegetables to their diet for health or environmental reasons.

“McDonald’s is late to the plant-based party in the United States. Burger King added the Impossible Whopper, made with a plant-based patty from Beyond’s rival Impossible Foods, in 2019. It recently announced a test of Impossible nuggets. And Wendy’s started testing a new ‘Spicy Black Bean Burger’ in three US cities in June.

“McDonald’s first said that it would launch a McPlant line, which could eventually include plant-based chicken and breakfast sandwiches, during an investor update in November 2020. Over the past year, it has tested out the McPlant burger in certain European markets, including Sweden, Denmark, the UK and elsewhere.”

Why does the media not hold @PressSec accountable for potential Hatch Act violations? She has twice advocated for political candidates from the podium.

There is no problem in engaging in First Amendment political activity, but it must be done separate and apart from the podium. https://t.co/ICLldHRCgs

— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) October 15, 2021

Wall Street Journal:  “A federal appeals court on Thursday said Texas’s restrictive abortion law can remain in effect during ongoing litigation with the Justice Department, extending a previous temporary order that kept the law in place.”

Clinton spokesman Angel Urena:  “On Tuesday evening, President Clinton was admitted to [University of California Irvine Medical Center] to receive treatment for a non-Covid-related infection.  He is on the mend, in good spirits, and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses, and staff providing him with excellent care.”

A statement from his doctors:

“It looks like Ron Watkins, a prominent figure in the QAnon movement who many believe is Q himself, filed paperwork indicating he might run for Congress from Arizona on Thursday. If he goes through with it, Watkins would be by far the most prominent QAnon figure to run for office in the U.S., further evidence of how much the conspiracy theory-based movement has become intertwined with the modern Republican Party” Vice reports.

“Watkins appears to have filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office a ‘statement of interest’ in running for Arizona’s first congressional district against Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran on Thursday. That’s not a formal declaration of candidacy, but is a necessary first step so he can begin acquiring petition signatures to appear on the ballot. Watkins didn’t respond to requests for comment either from the email address associated with the paperwork or another one which VICE News has previously used to communicate with him.”

“But he is almost definitely the person who filed the paperwork. Someone with access to an email account that Watkins has previously used filed the statement of interest. A staffer at the Arizona Secretary of State’s office told VICE News that people “must have access to the email address used” and verify it in order to be able to submit a statement of intent, meaning Watkins or someone he gave access to the email address must have been the one to submit the paperwork.”