Engorgeous George

This is an historic trial and will be a precedent setting trial. As such I would prefer it be free of extraneous issues. The judge could very easily have eliminated two extraneous matters by simply recusing himself and by granting a change of venue to a nearby county where the demographics on voter registration were more evenly distributed.

I think the Court might want to think about clarifying its order before acting upon it. I definitely do not think Trump should be held to a different standard than any other citizen. I do think sitting Presidents should have their criminal and civil matters held in abeyance until they are out of office to the maximum allowable tolerance. Obviously we could not tolerate some heinous crimes going unredressed until they are out of office, but those would be few and far betweenIi would think. As for your first point I don't think justice is served if one has to spend their fortune and their remaining days of a dwindling number allotted to them overturning wrongful or unjust convictions. In the present instance I have real doubts Trump is getting a fair trial with this jury and this judge. It would have been simple enough to move the trail to a county where the voting demographics are less skewed so the jury pool could have been more balanced and assigning it to a judge without the questions this one has. We all recognize that bias effects jusgment, but in this particualr instance you want to ignore what you know as you think the ends will justify any means. i think once the means are corrupted, they are forever corrupted and we all better watch out.

Implants for the mistresses. Antibiotics for the mistresses. NDA's, for the mistresses. Hitmen, for the mistresses.

They can make or break your career so show some respect and appreciation if you have a good one and do so daily, not just today..

Well its not a direct pecuniary interst to the judge himself, but most ethical codes include the appearance of impropriety from direct pecuniary interests to first tier family members

The judge's daughter is not simply involved in liberal causes, funding them is her business, it is her livelihood. Also the judge himself has written of his distaste for the defendant. You would not like to go to trial under those circumstances. You justify it bercasue in your mind, here, with Trump, an odious cahracter, you can, but you are abandoning fairness. You are estgablishing a precendent none of us would want to live with were it applied to us. As for moving the trial it is undoubtedly true that Trump's celebrity is broad and there is no place in the U.S. where the facts of the matter would be wholly unknown. Still, drawing from a jury pool where 9 out of 10 folks voted against him seems a skewed jury pool as an objective standard. Taking then the given that we as a country are extremely polarized and set in our opinions of candidates and politicians it it axiomatic that Trump did not have an impartial pool from which to proceed picking the jury.

So "insist" was a poor choice of words? Fair enough.

The issues were heard on an interlocutory appeal. At that stage the appeals court can and did decide there were opportunities for the trial court to ameliorate any prejudice to the defendant and so the matter could procede with the hope that would happen and the concerns would be moot. Whether the trial court properly did so and the defendant got a fair trial remains an appealable issue after the trial when the facts, the impacts, can be fully, and finally appreciated. Courts like to not take up issues before they are fully ripe in the hope that they can be avoided afterall. I have concluded the jury pool was so skewed as to unfairly prejudice the defendant, the Court of Appeals has not fully evaluated that issue, as of yet. They may well rule as you believe they will, or should, but they have not fully considered the matter yet. As for the judge the classic reason for recusal is direct pecuniary involvement in the issues before the court, that is not the case here though some case can be made for indirect involvement of family. Still, most jurisdictions do have catch all provisions for recusal and the investment by the judge and his family, his daughter, in the political issues of the day is so substantial that the verdict can be questioned which should be avoided, when possible. I would not want to be tried by a jury picked from my enemies or adversaries and neither would you. I would not want to be tried by a judge who financially supported my adversaries and was vocal about it and neither would you. Given that there were reasonable and easily achievable alternatives I have a problem with what has happened. My disgust for Trump aside I try to look at the matter objectively and as it might apply to any other person including for intance you or i. In these hyperpartisan times that is difficult, but I believe fundamental fairness, fundamental due process has taken a bit of a beating here. Others may agree or disagree. The thing is I see many not looking at the fairness, rather they look at rulings by the court likely to achieve the political outcomes they desire. If the outcome is as they desire they seem not to care about the process for arriving at that conclusion. I do care about the process as justice is all about process.

What gives you, or anyone, the right to insist how I behave?

I predict this will evaporate like morning due before a hot rising sun as the calendar turns to may and finals arrive and then plans for the summer arrive right after. We have seen this phenomenon many times.

That comports more or less with my memory of the events as they transpired. Tough to have an accurate memory of something that was episodic over a decade, but I seem to remember the main parts of the storyline.

From the brother, his friend or Angie?

I suspect that is true. I have a hazy, nonspecific memory of hearing from one of them on the subject.

If the charges are B.S. and Trump is acquited against charges which should never have been brought how does he get back his time, his money spent on defense, the opportunities lost while in court and for most people his good name (I say for most people as I am not sure trump can be said to have a good name). Allowing him to defend against that which should not have been brought is not justice. (I am not concluding the charges should not have been brought as the evidence is not in. I have concluded a change of venue should have been granted and that the judge should have recused himself. I do have concern over the novelty of the charges.)

Colorado just finished three days of rain and snow up in the Mountains. The runoffs have started and are running high. I will be running the Yampa river today. Water temperatures are less than 33 degrees. That will definitely shrivel your balls if you end up swimming. Even if not with the splash we will be wet for better than half the run. Should be fun. Last year at this time we saw Moose, Elk, Big Horn Sheep, a Black Bear and many Eagles. I will not be fishing but my brother will. Time to get moving, the sun is coming up and i have a bit of a drive.

Gots to wear your PFD's when the water is this cold. Later in the year you can just have them handy, but right now, wear them, don't just have them in your boat.

Yesterday I was back to my weekday paddling routine. I arrived at my local reservoir to find emergency personnel pullling a body from the reservoir. Somehow a guy managed to capsize his boat on a relatively calm day and to drown in the still cold waters. I was asked to delay my put in while they finished up. I did though it seemed to me I would have been well out of their way, but then what did I really know about whadt was going on and the extent of their search area. The walleye are just beginnning to spawn and some turtles weere out sunning themselves. I trolled two rapalas as I crossed the open water covering about a mile and a half as I got to the bay I like to fish. Not a single hit from the trout I was hoping to target. The walleye I got were undersized and still with eggs so back they went. I decided to work some cover for bass but only got two perch. I quit the fishing and just enjoyed padding around. I saw a herd of antelope on shore.

I've got to hand it to you, that was funny.

I understand the university finds Kraft's decision quite deflating.

Well that seems unneccessarily harsh.

They are smallish morels, orange in color and tastier than any other mushroom, everybody says so. They come packaged in boxes known as hors and the varieties are the premature nubbin and the tiny bent morsel.

I understand Bobby Fy made them the ingredient his challengers on Beat Bobby Flay had to make the star of their dishes. When the judges sampled the dishes each became violently ill and then had their throats close down on them. Had paramedics not been standing by things could have taken a really tradgic turn.

Not when the medical treatment of the stab was limited to liberal application of Visine and then discharge of the hysteric so the doctors could see patients in actaul need of treatment..

Unfortunately there are no psychedelic effects. They are most definitely not a product one will find sold at Shakedown Street as Dead and Co. do their residency in Vegas at the Sphere. Any magic they contain is in nostalgia for Trump's slightly younger days. They are the "memberberries" of fungi, they take one back.