My Morning Ride.

ForgetItJake
It'sSoccerTownVille


The image above was taken at 25th and Oak in Central Lotusland this morning, Sept 10, 2024.

And you thought we were done with him and his?

Ha!

BC United says it will run a select number of candidates in the Oct. 19 election after suspending its province-wide campaign to support the B.C. Conservative Party.

The number of candidates and their names or ridings have not yet been announced.

The move is intended to ensure BC United remains a registered political party with Elections B.C., executive director Lindsay Cote said in a letter to members on Friday.

On Aug. 28, BC United Leader Kevin Falcon suspended the ­party’s campaign and released his candidates; many of them learned about the decision from the media.

The “gut-wrenching” decision was made to defeat the NDP and secure “a free-enterprise ­victory” in the provincial ­election, said Cote, adding the move did not “fold our party or erase our organization.”

By running some candidates, BC United will later be able to have a thorough discussion with its membership about the future of the party, she said. “If there is a desire within our membership to rebuild the party, and a plausible path to do so, we want to be in a position to act on this,” said Cote...

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The pull quote, above, is the lede from a story by Cindy Harnett, who has been doing good work following the twists and turns of the Soccer Party's recent machinations, in last Saturday's Times-Colonist.

Of course, Marky Mark thinks this is all a conspiracy to keep the true and good liberals of British Columbia (i.e. those who willingly got into bed with the Campbelleros and jumped at the chance to be a  part of Clarklandia for fifteen years straight) down ...Or some such thing.

Earworm in the sub-header?...This.

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Founders v. Stooges?

Where'sMo

Ville

By now you may have heard about the story of the Russians from the no-longer-so-venerable Kremlin propaganda pusher called 'RT' that used an American 'media' front....errrr....'outlet' to funnel millions of dollars to YouTube influencers with pre-existing anti-Ukranian views who are now claiming that they were innocent stooges in the enterprise.

But what of the founders who set up and ran Tenet Media, the outlet/front that allegedly funnelled the millions into the open gullets of the innocent stooges?

Well, here's a bit of their story, courtesy of Jonathan Montpetit and Aloysious Wong of the CBC:

...The media outlet was unnamed in the indictment (from the US DoJ), but it was clear from details within that the charges referred to Tenet Media, founded in 2023 by the Canadian influencer known as Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan...

{snip}

...Neither Chen, Donovan nor (Canadian influencer Lauren) Southern are the subject of criminal charges, and none are named in the indictment.

But the allegations have jeopardized their standing within right-wing circles.

Chen has already been fired from another conservative website, Glenn Beck's The Blaze. Her YouTube channel, which had more than 572,000 subscribers, was terminated on Thursday. And her bio page on the website for Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump campus activist group, has been deleted.

YouTube also removed Tenet Media's channel on Thursday, saying "it violated our community guidelines."...

So. 

Did the Founders, Ms. Chen and/or Mr Donovan, know that they were acting as an RT front for the funnelling of Kremlin-Kash to the Stooges?

Well...

Emptywheel thinks that, despite the claims to the contrary that are (very likely) sure to come, there is evidence, based on past, pre-Ukranian invasion performance, that this just may be the case:

... As the indictment describes, before the invasion of Ukraine, Chen got paid directly from RT...And Donovan got paid by RT and Ruptly until later than that: May 2022...

{snip}

...So Chen and Donovan used to work directly for RT, and then just about the time of the Ukrainian invasion, set up shop in the US (by starting Tenet media), allegedly participating in a ruse by which they hid the Russian source of their funding...

{snippety}

...Chen set up this business such that she’d be subject to the laws of and some tax burdens in both Canada and the US. She did that at precisely the moment where the impending invasion of Ukraine made such issues more sensitive. And since then, she has done things that provide some evidence that she’s in on the ruse: that she knows she’s evading some laws or regimes by using corporate and financial cut-outs.

Those things likely provide enough to make her US accounts subject to probable cause warrants...

This could get really interesting if the warrants start to fly and the stooges start flipping.

Assuming they haven't already.

Started flipping I mean.


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A Reminder Of What This Holiday Is All About.

WorkingForThe

UnionVille

I honestly can't remember how I stumbled across Ellen Bloom's blog many years ago.

Especially because it is decidedly apolitical. Essentially, Ellen roam's Los Angeles and takes pictures. When she's not doing that she digs up historical pictures and vignettes. Or she tells stories about her family and its history.

None of those individual topics really give me a charge on their own, but I get such a kick out of Ellen's enthusiasm, photographic skills, and charm that I always look forward to her next post.

Today's post, honouring Labour Day, is just a wee bit different. I was particularly struck by this bit:

...I spent over 45 years in the work force. Some of that time was spent as a union member, working at various movie studios throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am reaping the benefits of full-time, corporate employment thanks to the labor movement's accomplishments over the years for equal rights, better working conditions and equal pay. Thank you...

Well said, no?

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I just remembered the 'how'....Ukulele Uber Alles!

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Carnac....errrr...Falcon The Magnificent?

AllHisVistas'R

TheirsVille

Perhaps a better title, regardless whether or not it was bestowed by the ghost of Ed McMahon, would actually be 'Falcon the Omniscient'.

At least according to the good Mr. Falcon himself.

The following is from Cindy Harnett's piece in today's Times-Colonist that we mentioned in an update to yesterday's post:

...Falcon said he has apologized to caucus and staff, saying he would have loved to have had talked beforehand, and ­acknowledged he understood “the anger, the disappointment, sense of betrayal, whatever the emotion is, I totally understand.”

“But what they have to understand from me is that I have a different vista than they all do,” said Falcon. “I see and know way more things than they do.”...

The all seeing and all knowing, indeed.

Interestingly, and perhaps a bit surprisingly, neither Mr. Falcon nor any of his 'aides' has made any mention whatsoever of sealed envelopes in a mayonnaise jar sitting on Funk and Wagnall's porch since noon on Wednesday.


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Will Mr. Rustad Whack His Whackaloons?

BackroomFever
SchemesVille

________

Sunday morning update at the bottom of the post.

________

Well, well well, whadd'ya know...

According to Rob Shaw at least, writing in the now glacierified Orca media outlet, the Con/Soccer Party deal began when a couple of surrogates got together in a backwaterish-type room:

...It started Sunday, when Caroline Elliott, the United candidate for West Vancouver-Capilano, former party vice president and Falcon’s sister-in-law, reached out by text to Angelo Isidorou, the Conservative party’s executive director. Would he be willing to meet and talk about where things are at, she asked...

{snip)

...Elliott and Isidorou sat down at Browns Socialhouse in North Vancouver’s Lonsdale area for an informal chat Sunday evening — two trusted interlocutors from either side feeling out, over a Guinness, whether there was enough common ground for a formal meeting...

Now, leaving aside the fact that the two bosses lacked to the intestinal fortitude to start the 'talks' themselves for the moment, here's what, again according to the esteemed Mr. Shaw, happened next:

...Tuesday, at 2 p.m., Elliott and United executive director Lindsay Coté gathered in a boardroom in Vancouver with Isidorou and Conservative president Aisha Estey.

The Conservative staffers took the meeting with low expectations. Some of the same people had tried unsuccessfully to broker a deal in May. The failure to do so, had led to three BC United MLAs defecting to the Conservatives...

More lackeys!

Quelle surprise.

But then, if the extremely insightful and plugged-in(able) Mr. Shaw is correct about all tis, things got downright interesting, and just a wee bit Machiavellian:

"...United then offered up its large package of opposition research on controversial views held by Conservative candidates (the party had been planning to release information on a Conservative candidate who believes in the chemtrails conspiracy on Wednesday, but did not) and divulged which Conservative candidates it believes have documented problematic views."...

And, so, did Mr. Rustad take the bait?

According to the exalted Mr. Shaw, who appears to have reached the highest of high points on this story that no other Ledgie Boy has even begun to scale so far, the answer is yes.

...Rustad had for months refused to consider any deal with United where it would require him to dismiss candidates he’d previously recruited and were loyal to his party — even if they ended up being revealed to have extreme views on social policies, science and COVID-19 vaccines.

The question he faced now was, would it be worth compromising on that position, and replace a few candidates with United members, if it meant removing the United party off the board entirely for the Oct. 19 election?

Ultimately, he agreed...

So, no matter how hard super fine folks like, say, Marky Mark, who used to have backroom clout, try to deny that it could happen, it is entirely possible that Mr. Rustad will soon try to jettison the flotsam as he starts to tack back towards the center.

The only problem with such a strategy, which would, of course, welcome any and all deflector media spike spin from very fine 'columnists' who work for previously not-so-secret right-sided prop organs, is that it will be pretty hard for Mr. Rustad to jettison himself.

If you get my (way, way,  rightward) drift.


______

Sunday morning update: Cindy Harnett has a story up at the Times Colonist that confirms the broad strokes of Mr. Shaw's story including the players, the rooms and the handing over of the oppo research...What it does not have is Mr. Rustad taking the bait/agreeing. Instead, Harnett quotes Falcon saying that he got a 'commitment' from Rustad to work in 'good faith' taking Falcon's 'advice' which he could 'choose to ignore'...Oh, ya, and Falcon also conceded that his actions in the days prior to Wednesday's announcement of the big deal may have been viewed 'as perhaps' duplicitous...You think?

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Did The Kevinator Do The Deal To Prevent a Klout Klub Takeover?

MakingMachiavelli
BlushVille


Earlier this afternoon we wondered if the Kevinator acted alone when he made the deal with the Whackaloons to blow-up the Soccer Party.

Now, reader Lew E. has brought the following to our attention:

Gosh.

Is it possible that the Klout Klub tried to hijack the whole thing?

Well...

I dunno for sure, but it is clear that Marky Mark is spoiling for a Klout Klub Kat Fight:

Imagine that!

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Update: Re: The rumoured KK hijacking...Why, exactly, would Marky Mark question/care whether or not the Kevinator has the authority to make like John Candy and blow things up real good on his own?

These super fine folks do know that we're watching what they do and say, right?

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Is The Kevinator Acting Alone?

AManOfDubious

ConvictionVille

I'm writing this early Thursday afternoon as the news of the BC Liberal party 'folding' is just starting to hit the Wurlitzer.

So, things will likely be a little clearer later in the day after we have heard from both Mr. Falcon and Mr. Rustad, the leader of the far, far right Whackaloon party that appears to have stomped on the corpse of whatever teensy, tiny bit of 'centre' still remained in the now defunct Campbell/Clark-Off Soccer Party.

But here is something interesting that might be worth returning to in the aftermath, from the Canadian Press:

Mike Bernier, who represents Peace River South, said he's been unable to reach BC United Leader Kevin Falcon amid reports the party is folding, while the rival BC Conservative Party says Leader John Rustad will be making a "major statement" about the election at 2:40 p.m.

Bernier said he called the meeting because there's "obviously something going on" but he was unable to say exactly what, and his phone has been "blowing up" with calls from concerned staff and other MLAs....

Hmmm...Does this mean that Mr. Falcon has done the deed/taken the deal from the Whackaloons on his own?

That must be some deal if the early reports are correct that Mr. Falcon has been telling anyone who listen that he will not run in the upcoming election.

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The First Rule of Klout Club.

BurrardIsNotAComms

StrategyVille

First, there was this, a couple of months ago, floated in the Star and the Globe:

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to be replaced and suggested MPs begin having private conversations with the Liberal Leader about the party’s electoral prospects if he stays on.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail Thursday, Ms. Clark said Monday’s by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s is a sign for the Prime Minister that the Liberal Party needs a change.

“I think the Leader needs to be replaced,” she said. “I think it’s time for him to move on to other, fairer pastures.”...

Then, last week, there was the following from the local Lotuslandian Global politics guy:

So.

What's going on and why does it appear that the Klout Klub is working so hard to get the CorpMedia to pay attention to Ms. Clark's meandering musings?

Well...

I must admit that I was initially flummoxed.

And then, while riding through the rain last night, I suddenly realized that smart 'n savvy media minder-binder types like Klout Klub man-about-inlet-town Marky Mark just might be trying to convince any and all Big Fed-Red Machine mavens who will listen that Ms. Clark could be the super-duper leadership switcheroo game changer they've been looking for.

Just like, say, Kamala Harris.

Imagine that!


____
The first rule of Klout Klub?....Always be pushing...Thing is, while that may have worked back in ancient times (i.e. see DION, Stephane), it doesn't appear to have worked out so well more recently for super fine political folks like Hector Bremmer, Michael Lee or, even, the good Mr. Marissen himself...

As for those French lessons alluded to in Mr. Zussman's word salad?...One can only wonder if, perhaps, the former premier took them at the Sorbonne?



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The Latest In 'Objective' Journalism - False Equivalent Fact Checking.

WhenNothingIsTrue
WeAllLoseVille


If you've been paying attention to CorpMedia coverage of the rapidly evolving US'ian presidential election campaign you may have noticed a sudden orgy of fact checking of the trivial.

One of the best examples is the powers that be taking the bait of the Nouveau Richie Rich Ratsf*ckers to wurlitzer and amplify the slightest of quibbles regarding Tim Walz' past statements.

Kevin Drum, by way of Digby, had that story on the weekend:

Let us investigate the vast history of 'lying' by Gov. Tim Walz as alleged by the Trump campaign:

Retired from the National Guard as a command sergeant major...He did rise to the rank of command sergeant major, but upon retirement his rank reverted to master sergeant.

Had children via IVF...Walz almost always refers only to “fertility treatments,” but a couple of times has used the term IVF. In fact he and his wife underwent IUI, commonly referred to as IVF but actually a different, more affordable fertility treatment.

Won an award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce (2006)...It was the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

Taught in China for a year through a program at Harvard University (2006)...It was a program affiliated with Harvard.

Earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year (1989)...He did indeed earn this award, but so did 51 other people. I’m not sure how this counts even under the strictest definition, but I’m including it for completeness.

Referred one time to “weapons of war, that I carried in war” (2018)...Has admitted this was a misstatement.

Denied he had been drinking when he was pulled over in 1995 for speeding (2006)...Possibly the only serious falsehood, from 18 years ago. However, he corrected the record himself six years ago when he ran for governor.

****

But now, it turns out that there is something even more insidious going down, which is the use of the CorpMedia fact check machine to bury significant historical events.

Mike, our friendly and knowledgeable, fellow biologist is tracking this phenomenon:



Here’s what Trump uttered April 23, 2020:

"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it’d be interesting to check that."

Mike calls this 'fact checking as gaslighting', which is a good name for a very bad thing.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that this type of thing is likely a water-headed response, at least in part, to the hard slogging of Daniel Dale and its potential to adversely affect the bottom line of places like the venerable New York Times.

Gosh.

What's next, a daily eyeball/click grabbing version of the 'Fact Check Game, Wordleized Edition'?


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Not One Penny.

MakeAmericaChildhoodDiseased

AgainVille

"I will not give one penny (of federal funds) to any school that has a vaccine mandate..." 

Donald Trump, May 15, 2024.

“There’s been no commitments. But, you know, I met with President Trump, with family, with his closest advisers, and we just made a general commitment that we are going to work together."

Robert F Kennedy Jr, August 25, 2024.

****

Now.

Setting aside the poor grammar and the bizarre double-minty-fresh-in-the-same-breath speak that would cause a super fine fellow like Mr. Kennedy to state that a 'general' commitment is actually 'no' commitment for the moment...

Does this mean that Josh Marshall is right to conclude that Mr. Trump and his MACDA acolytes are  running on the Pro-Polio/Tetanus ticket?

My only additional comment is that Mr. Marshall appears to have forgotten to mention the whooping cough - loving wing of the party.

Meanwhile, over in Horsey-McHorse-Face Race Land, ABC News asks:

"How much momentum will RFK Jr.'s endorsement give Trump?"

Good grief.

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An Expert In A Field Not Quite Dead.

FootlooseAndFancy

FreeVille


Saturdays, the Whackadoodle-II and I usually head out early to find a body of water for her to frolic in somewhere.

But this morning I used the crummy (but good for wildfire prevention!) weather here in Lotusland as an excuse for sleeping in a little.

And then I had a bit of trouble getting going.

Luckily, Ben Sinclair's Tour Diary popped up on the left sidebar and I spent a little time reading about 'The Beths'  recent day spent in Boise Idaho that included the backing of their big blue bus and its trailer around multiple tight corners, the soldering of Craig's list-acquired mic cables, park exploring, the post-show cross loading of gear into a Subaru station wagon, burritos, and all manner of being young New Zealanders run amok in America (for example, sometimes they play cricket with a home made bat while on the actual bus).

Next I went full metal para-social and watched the gang wake-up and frolic the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle a few days ago. This was followed by a spate of Tubian queue making in advance of listening to the latest from the band's road show:



The tune above is, as Sonny Bono and Townes once said, a medley of The Beth's hit, singular, called 'Expert in a Dying Field'. This particular video version is from a show yesterday in, of all places, Ogden Utah.

Okay...

Now that I'm all revved up, I've got to put the fun stuff away because the time has come to re-learn a little histology, which is, essentially, the microscopic study of tissues using old fashioned blue and pink stains that underpins much of classical pathology. Pathology is a field that is rapidly changing, what with all the high throughput, multiplex imaging and spatial genomics that is blossoming at the moment.

Nonetheless, histology is not quite dead because, before you do all the fancy stuff that helps to improve the precision of pathologic diagnosis and prognosis (i.e. naming the problem and making an educated guess at the likely outcome), you need to know what the tissue concerned looks like prior to getting messed up.

Long story short, back when I was a gradual student I became a pretty good histologist who could pick out a single antibody producing plasma cell swimming in a sea of dermal collagen based on its blue clock face nucleus or Paneth cells filled to bursting with little pink antimicrobial granules located deep within an intestinal crypt.

Unfortunately, those skills have waned significantly in the intervening decades. However, all that degradation must now be reversed because this fall I've agreed to help out passing along such skills to a passel of budding young health professionals.

Which means that, given that I'm not writing a grant at the moment,  I've got to buckle down and hit the books on the shelf over my left shoulder and/or the online atlases to make sure that I can tell the difference between cardiac and skeletal muscle cells before Labour Day. 

What fun!


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Image at the top of the post?...The W-II dipping her toes into Englishmen's River last Saturday morning over on the People's Republic of VanIsle...I'll take her to beach tomorrow morning...Promise!

And, for the record...I have no idea what the most colourful, and somewhat disturbing,  Cleveland Dam Ghost Walkers are all about over at NVG's place...

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The Soccer Party's Concern Troll Conductor-In-Chief.

AllOurNineHundredNinetyYearLeases

'RHimAndHisVille


From Kevin Falcon's fingertips straight to Elon Musk's bot-infested pixel factory:

But, as the CorpMedia story that Mr. Falcon himself links to above makes clear, this is/was more than a 'strike'.

It is/was, at least in part, a lockout:

An end to a countrywide rail stoppage may be in sight, but riders of British Columbia's West Coast Express are facing at least one more day without the service.

The federal government on Thursday asked for binding arbitration in the dispute involving the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union, Canadian National Railway Co., and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.

CN said soon after that it had ended its lockout of workers and CPKC said it was preparing to resume operations after the two railways' first-ever simultaneous stoppage...

Which means that, in the case of CN Rail, it was the employer who drove the stoppage on, presumably, former BC Rail rails using, again presumably, former BC Rail rolling stock.

And as for that long ago BC Rail sale/not sale deal to CN Rail... 

The following is from a December 2004 report by the intrepid Mr. (now Professor) Sean Holman quizzing the then pre-Soccer Party Attorney General (and future 'there was no prior inducement' proponent), Geoff Plant, about what the charging of then pre-Soccer Party aide Mr. David Basi was really all about:

Attorney General Plant: I don't know a whole lot really about what's happened today other than the information that I received a copy of an hour or so ago..... And the question of how this relates to various aspects of B.C. Rail and the CN Rail partnership is a question that is more appropriately directed to (Transportation Minister) Kevin Falcon.

Media: Will Kevin Falcon be made available today?

Attorney General Plant: I'm not responsible for Kevin's whereabouts.

Imagine that!


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Tip O' The Toque to Bob Fedderly for bringing this to our attention on the bot-infested pixel factory.

And, yes, as I seem to be saying more and more often these days...I do have archives...And I'm going use them!


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Vaccines For The Fall.

ThisIsAPublicService
AnnouncementVille


This is a snark-free/serious/no-fooling post to follow-up on today's earlier snarkoleptic bit on how bad it would be if RFK Jr were to become the US'ian Director of Health and Human Services

****

Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist who does a great job of explaining all things public health so that there rest of of us can understand what is really going on.

She's got a great explainer up right now regarding the vaccines that will be available this fall for the Flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

It's a really great, informative post that summarizes the pros and cons on the various vaccines and provides informed suggestions on when to get them.

Here, for Bigger E who has been asking a non-epidemiologist about this (i.e. her Dad), is a quick summary on when to get the latest batch of COVID 19 shots:

If you were recently infected, wait 4-6 months. It doesn’t hurt if you get it earlier, but some research shows that waiting allows our antibody factories to update more effectively.

If you were not recently infected, the timing is a tough call. Either get it now—we are in the middle of a huge infection wave—or wait to increase protection against the winter wave (which may be closer to November). I will be getting mine when it becomes available.

I'm pretty sure that most of us olds here in Lotusland have been timed to get the next C-19 shot in the early fall (estimated by counting back six months to those spring shots most of us were offered). 

The upshot, as per Dr. Jetelina, is the following:

...There are some nuances for those looking for ultimate protection, but in the end, the best vaccine is the one you get!...

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Earworm in the sub-header?....This!

Image at the top of the post...Taken directly from Dr. Jetelina's post who is happy to have her work disseminated far and wide.



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Make America Childhood Diseased Again.

BeetsBearsAndBattlestarCraptaculars

SnarkVille


Well, well, well, whadd'ya know...

According to ABC News at least, it looks like America's favourite failson is getting ready to drop out of his run in the Horsey McHorseface race that was originally financed by the billionare class so that he would suck votes away from then Dem candidate Super-Old Guy. This, it is alleged by the very same ABC News, will allow the good Mr. Kennedy to endorse the only remaining horse in the race who is also against the use of vaccines to improve the collective public health:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to drop out of the presidential race by the end of this week, sources familiar with the decision tell ABC News.

Sources tell ABC News that Kennedy plans to endorse Donald Trump -- but when asked directly by ABC News if he will be endorsing the former president, Kennedy said, "I will not confirm or deny that."...

Rumour has it that Mr. Kennedy has been angling for the Director of Health and Human Services job in a second Trump administration as part of the 'deal'.

We are pretty sure that poliovirus particles hidden under the seat cushions (and in wading pools) everywhere are rejoicing.

_____
As an aside...Don't you just love it when 'major' media outlets use unnamed sources as the basis for both of the first two paragraphs in a their 'blockbuster' ledes...As US'ian flyover country's top liberal blogger/podcaster, Driftglass, wrote recently...."Critiquing the media these days is like fishing at a fish farm. With dynamite." 

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My Morning Ride.

Chlorophyll
GoneVille

Jeez.

Didn't summer just start, like, yesterday?

The image above, with all those leaves on the ground under darkened skies, was from my ride in this morning, early, because...

Today was my first lecture of the 'fall'.

Sure hope those budding young health professionals who were forced to listen to my gibberish for an hour or so understood what a big deal it is for me to get respectable by changing out of (long/baggy) bike shorts into pants....In August!



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