• If Donald Trump paid one dollar each second, it would take him roughly 14 years, four months and 24 days to pay off the current amount of the New York civil decision.
• Alabama’s Supreme Court decision demonstrates how shallow GOP policies are.  They do not consider the consequences of their culture war crazes.  The real-world pain that is already occurring for IVF patients in the state is unimaginable, and the opportunity for these aspiring parents may be lost because of assholes in robes.
• How fun would it be if George Soros put up the money to fund Trump’s (certain to fail) appeal?  Think the RNC would make a move when their frontrunner is in the pocket of the man they’ve demonized for more than a decade? Or would he suddenly be A-OK after Don calls him “a good friend, real good guy.”
• Republicans cannot condemn the obviously erroneous Alabama “supreme” court decision on embryos because of their cult programming:  they can never condemn any act, even the most heinous or erroneous, because they are incapable of saying a Party position is wrong. Think not?  See also Trump and Santos, and listen to the resounding silence decrying Carlson’s interview of Putin.
  Read More ▶ “Random thoughts Friday, Volume CLXI”

“Unlike racist Joe Biden, I’ve spent my entire life working hand-in-hand with Black Americans to create jobs, build buildings, invest in our community, and expand opportunities and freedom for citizens of every race, religion culture and creed, and we have, I built a lot of buildings, and I wanna tell you, a Black worker is a great worker, you’ve done an incredible job, they’ve done an incredible job,” the man who cares about his audience less than shingles, Donald Trump, tells a group of Black conservatives in South Carolina on the eve of the primary.  In fact, Donald Trump lost more than 2.5 million jobs as president, and as a real estate developer, was fined for racist renting practices.

Duplicating a program started in California last year, Maryland lawmakers proposed an 11% excise tax on guns and ammunition sold in the state to be directed to the state’s emergency care trauma centers in hospitals around the state, the units that primarily deal with gunshot wound victims, the Baltimore Banner reports.

Maryland has eleven trauma centers around the state, including the top-level Maryland Shock Trauma operated at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore.  This year’s budget for the trauma units projected a $30 million shortfall; the proposed new tax would raise more than $22 million.

The excise tax would be added on top of all other costs, and retailers would pass it along to consumers.  The plan to fund Maryland trauma units through firearm sales replicates the Maryland Trauma Physician Services Fund, which puts a $5 fee on all vehicle licenses that is then sent to the budget for the trauma centers.

A cargo ship, abandoned by its crew after being hit by a Houthi missiles on Monday, continues to stay afloat in the Red Sea, leaving in its wake an 18-mile-long oil slick as it slowly takes on water and sinks, CNN reports.

A Belize-flagged, UK-registered, Lebanese-owned bulk carrier, the M/V Rubymar was loaded with 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was hit by two missiles fired from Yemen.  Anchored in place and slowly sinking, it’s believed to be the first major vessel that had to be abandoned due to damage from a Houthi attack.

You’re not safe in Joe Biden’s America. https://t.co/2UzoHTAQJt

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) February 24, 2024

Make no bones about it:  this is disgusting.  The Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee plummet into the depths of racism and fear-mongering by exploiting the tragic death of a Georgia student to paint as broad a brush as they can to denigrate migrants.  This is today’s GOP:  No policies, all fear.

Making the expected claims that he expects the decision to be overturned (it won’t be), and the amount of the damages are excessive (they’re not for a multiple-time offender), court-designated rapist Donald Trump wants his now $83.3 million damage award payment to writer E. Jean Carroll to be delayed until the outcome of his appeals, instead of having to put up a bond.  Y’know, because Don’s totally good for the money and it’s just going to be returned to him by a higher court anyway, right?  So, c’mon, judge, let him keep the millions… to use in his other legal issues.

In the filing by (somehow still) Trump attorney Alina Habba, Trump makes the first ploy to delay payment, asking that the 30-day clock to give payment be delayed from the February 8th date of the judgment to “no later than March 7, 2024,” when they believe their appeals process will ultimately lower the judgment to just $22 million.

A New York jury on Friday found the NRA’s CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre illegally diverted millions of dollars from the non-profit to his own personal use and enrichment, NBC News reports.

In a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2020, prosecutors showed LaPierre, corporate secretary and general counsel  John Frazer, and the group’s former treasurer and CFO Wilson “Woody” Phillips used the NRA accounts as their personal slush fund, paying for things like foreign travel, clothes for LaPierre and his wife, and private jet flights.  The jury also found that the NRA itself was negligent for failing to properly oversee its corporate functions.

The jury ordered LaPierre to repay $4.4 million, finding that he had already returned $1 million of the amount he illegally obtained.  Phillips will have to repay $2 million.  Frazer was not found financially responsible and was permitted to keep his position within the organization.

Even Neil Cavuto couldn’t take it.  Or maybe it was Fox’s legal department intervening.  For whatever cause, Cavuto interrupts Donald Trump’s campaign speech in South Carolina to declare, “Even though the former president is entitled to his opinion, he is not entitled to his own set of facts:  The market has indeed been going up, having nothing to do with him and everything to do with this aggressive cut in interest rates–or this hiking in interest rates that stabilized inflation and of course the whole artificial intelligence phenomenon that benefitted a host of companies that are making money hand over fist.”  Cavuto then dismantles a number of Trump’s talking points about the economy.  We assume this is the minimum amount of journalism $787.5 million merits.

🚨 BALLOON ALERT! 🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL! 🚨 CBS News reports ANOTHER BALLOON has been spotted floating at a high altitude over Colorado! HOLY SHIT! This comes just over a year after millions of Americans were killed threatened by the invasion of a Chinese Communist SPY BALLOON! FUCK! This never would’ve happened if Trump were president even though it did and WHAT IF THIS BALLOON is from WUHAN?!?! Biden won’t protect Americans from this horrible inva-

That’s the total amount due from Donald Trump in the civil lawsuit brought against him, his sons, his company and others for the financial fraud perpetrated by them, according to court filings from the clerk of New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.  The amount includes the principal and interest due for fudging the books on numerous loans and other documentation, and it represents the ill-gotten gains of the Trump clan.

Trump now has 30 days to file an appeal, which would require him to put up 120% of that amount to ensure he will pay if/when he loses the appeal.

Spandex-wearing grapple-freak Jim Jordan, ever the one comfortable around male-on-male sexual abusers, told CPAC chief Matt Schlapp on Friday that maybe their “Biden bribery witness” Alex Smirnov did lie but something something double standard whatever. In related news, Smirnov is almost certainly not getting out of jail before trial as on Friday the Nevada federal magistrate who had originally let him out after his arrest last week ruled he no longer has jurisdiction over the case, ceding it to the California federal judge who ordered Smirnov back into custody.

“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America. Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby. Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama”

“The Republican Party should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life – and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies. IVF is an important part of that, and our Great Republican Party will always be with you, in your quest, for the ULTIMATE JOY IN LIFE!” writes fat former President Trump on Truth Social, plainly starting to panic over the heat brought by the Biden Administration.

Of course the twice-impeached loser did not address his regime-in-waiting’s plans to outlaw IVF, surrogacy, birth control, and of course abortion too, so this is just a political patch job.

Ukrainian military leaders on Friday announced they had taken down a Russian A-50 worth about $300 million to $500 million over the Azov, killing 15 personnel on board and leaving Putin’s Regime with only eight of the flying command centers left in its arsenal, the Kyiv Independent reports.

Russian state media sort of confirmed it, with RIA Novosti reporting “an unidentified aircraft crashed in the Kanevskoy District in Krasnodar Krai,” referring to a district on the Russian side of Azov.

🚨FLASHBACK FRIDAY – 1985🚨

I’ve dedicated my life to fighting crime and serving others. Whether it was the Mafia, Wall Street cheats, corrupt public officials, or street criminals, I've always stood up for truth and justice. #FlashbackFriday 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aRQ4bGVDqI

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) February 23, 2024

“A recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court is fodder for Democrats hoping to manipulate the abortion issue for electoral gain. There are zero Republican Senate candidates who support efforts to restrict access to fertility treatments. NRSC encourages Republican Senate candidates to clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF. This memo outlines key data points from a nationwide survey conducted recently by Kellyanne Conway: Key Survey Findings on IVF and Fertility Treatments: A staggering 85% of all respondents, including 86% of women, support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services,” says a memo by NRSC executive douchebag Jason Thielman spinning up a “rapid response” for all GOP Senators and candidates.

“IVF procedures receive overwhelming support, with 86% of all participants and women advocating for increased access to these treatments… Express Support for IVF: Clearly state your support for IVF and fertility-related services as blessings for those seeking to have children. Highlight the importance of these treatments in fulfilling the dreams of countless families to conceive. Oppose Restrictions on IVF: Publicly oppose any efforts to restrict access to IVF and other fertility treatments, framing such opposition as a defense of family values and individual freedom.”

“When responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, it is imperative that our candidates align with the public’s overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments. By advocating for increased access to these services, opposing restrictions, and emphasizing the importance of supporting families in their journey to conceive, our candidates can demonstrate compassion, respect for family values, and a commitment to individual freedom. This approach aligns with the views of our electorate and positions Republicans as champions for accessible healthcare and family support.”

The Wisconsin State Ethics Commission has recommended that fat former President Trump’s Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, Republican state Representative Janel Brandtjen, and Adam Steen, the failed 2022 MAGA primary challenger to state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, face felony charges for a scheme to evade campaign finance limits in putting $40,000 BEHIND Steen’s bid against Vos, WisPolitics.com reports citing documents that haven’t been made public yet.

“The records also show the commission looked into a $4,000 donation MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell gave one of the county parties. But it decided there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove he actually intended the donation to benefit Steen’s campaign,” they add in a paragraph we just had to copy.

Just to underscore how fucking stupid this is: Two years AFTER Trump lost the sate, two Wisconsin politicians are potentially facing prison time for a scam to take down Vos, a mini-Mitch McConnell in terms of right wing effectiveness, simply because they were mad that Vos had not allowed a vote on a bill to “decertify” Wisconsin’s electoral college votes for Biden. And they failed.

Two turncoats in the endless Biden-Trump war are now shit-talking each other publicly through their lawyers in the latest accusation over subterfuge from before and beyond the 2020 election and holy hell this report from ABC News is exhausting and difficult to summarize but here we go.

On November 1st, 2020, then-Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was in a parking area behind the stage at a MAGA rally in Rome, Georgia when she saw her then-boss, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talking to a man she believed to be former Hunter Biden pal Tony Bobulinski, the square-headed douchebag credibly suspected of being a Russian asset, during which she saw Meadows hand an envelope or something to Bobulinski. Hutchinson included an account of this in her book Enough and a photo she took of the encounter in a letter her lawyer William Jordan sent to House Oversight Ranking Member Congressman Jamie Raskin about Bobulinki’s shit-talk.

The letter, sent in response to Bobulinski testifying to committee investigators that Hutchinson was a “liar and a fraud” and that Meadows “didn’t hand me a single thing” while not denying they actually met, warned that Bobulinski’s testimony was “defamatory.” In response, Bobulinki’s lawyer Jesse Binnall – who just so happens to be a longtime Trump attorney – said “We will see to it that Ms Hutchinson soon gets her day in court to tell her story in front of a jury and the truth will prevail.”

Bobulinski’s other lawyer Stefan Passantino, the former Trump White House “ethics” lawyer now under a misconduct investigation by the DC Bar, who lol, used to represent Cassidy Hutchinson before she fired him for coaching her testimony, said he’s “shocked and disgusted that [Raskin] or anyone else would question [Bobulinki’s] motives, patriotism or sincerity when you dishonestly assert that Mr Bobulinski ‘did not offer any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden’ or ‘provide any evidence that President Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings.'”

People in and around the Republican National Committee tell NOTUS they’re starting to freak out over likely incoming co-chair Lara Trump’s plans to remake the party into a legal slush fund – oh wait, even more of a legal slush fund – for her indicted father-in-law, given they only have $9 million on hand which is like a month of his lawyers’ bills before he’s even faced a criminal trial.

“There is a lot of concern – from donors, state parties and campaigns that important funding could be sucked away by Trump’s mounting legal bills and that there’s nothing they can do about it,” says former RNC Communications Director Doug Heye. “He’s trying to hijack the RNC before he’s even the nominee. And it’s because he’s broke,” former South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson said.

“He has already spent millions worth of PAC money and he’s running out. So he needs another place to go raise money to pay his personal legal bills,” said Georgia GOP treasurer Laurie McClain, adding “we’d love to have a little extra help dealing with our own legal issues that result from the 2020 election,” referring to the millions they shelled out to defend now-former Peach State GOP chair David Shafer and others who were indicted or came close to it in the Fulton County RICO case.

Dawson claims not all resistance is futile. “The hijacking is not going to be as easy as everyone’s saying. People have to vote them in, and I promise you, I’ve been on that committee and those votes aren’t that easy to wrangle.” Always the famous last words with this crowd.

A Northern Alberta town on Thursday voted 663 to 639 to pass a measure banning rainbow crosswalks and the display of any non-Canadian flags on public property – which means the town’s one existing rainbow crosswalk outside of town hall will be painted over, the CBC reports.

Stephanie Bakker, the activist who gathered the petition signatures to put the plebiscite on the ballot after the Westlock, Alberta town council had voted to approve the crosswalk last June, told the CBC ahead of the vote that the council members had said “that they’re doing it out of compassion and caring and wanting to make the town inclusive, but… people are feeling a bit bullied.” Bakker said she was annoyed that the council members had campaigned against the ban/removal measure, which is “not really something you want to see from your elected representatives. Everything they’re doing is legal, I just really doubt if it’s ethical.”