MID WEEK POTPOURRI

 To paraphrase Groucho Marx, we would never join a club that would have us. 

Sponsorship - Bench and Bar 2023 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

 

If there was a Blogger Level for $19.95, we would contribute, Just sayin... 

 AND....If you're a Federalist/ DeSantis drone and do not know who this is- please stop reading out blog. 

GAG ME WITH AN ORDER: 

In other news, Judge Chutkan in DC re-imposed her gag order on the defendant/former president of the United States, pending appeal. In response, the defendant remarked on his own social media platform "Dumb Schumcks Who Do Not Believe in Science, Truth, Reason, or Law" commonly called DSWDNBISTROL,  that "No one has ever seen what this judge has done." 

Maybe no one has ever seen a gag order on a candidate, because no candidate is as crazy and dangerous with their public statements as this defendant/candidate/lunatic is. 

Do you notice that for the last several years the defendant often criticizes people using the phrase "no one has ever seen..." as in "no one has ever seen a secretary of State as bad as Rex Tillerson"...
 "No one has ever seen a secretary of defense as bad as Jim Mattis"... "No one has ever seen an Attorney General as bad as Bill Barr"...."No one has ever seen an Attorney General as bad as Jeff Sessions"... you get the point. 

Where is he getting the data for the "no one has ever seen? comment? Is he polling? Talking to caddies on the golf course?  

And why does everyone he hires turn out to be so bad? Every Secretary of Defense, his first Secretary of State, all of the Attorney Generals, not to mention FBI and CIA directors turned out to be so bad that he had to fire them and remarked that no one had seen someone as bad as them. 

Querry: Does/did the defendant ever hire anyone who was good? Or even decent? It doesn't appear that he ever did. Maybe he is a poor evaluator of talent, which makes sense considering how his businesses fail and do so bad that he has to grossly over value their worth which has him in hot water in NYC. 

TIDY UP 2

 Still needs to be said:

 "After every war someone has to tidy up."

The End and the Beginning by Wisława Szymborska | Poetry Foundation

And we do not think this is just about sweeping streets. It's the damage to the survivors, including the IDF soldiers who will be involved in actions that tragically will kill innocent civilians. These men and women do not want that and yet they will have to live with it for the rest of their lives. 

"War can't give life, it can only take it away."

War, by Edwin Starr

NFL WEEK 8 2023

 Rumpole had a day- don't ask. 

We are going to knock your socks off and pick the Bears for our survivor pool- getting the pick in right at the kick off of the 8pm game. 

We will get the rest of the survivor up shortly. 

Survivor- we picked the Bears because "Those who dare win"; We are sad to De La Over leave the survivor pool this week as KC dropped the ball literally against the Broncos. Tough loss for Hizzoner who is always a crafty survivor (and he doesn't get reversed much either). 

Aaa2023 Regjb Survivor Pool Week 8 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

TIDY UP

 "After every war someone has to tidy up."

The End and the Beginning by Wisława Szymborska | Poetry Foundation

A SAD STORY

 We have a sad story about a troubled individual to share with you dear readers, who have not shunned us for speaking up for the innocent Palestinian citizens two weeks before the rest of the world did. 

This is about a man who is delusional- he believes the former president won the last election and he bought into the fake stories that your favoritie lawyers like Sydney Powell and Jenna Eastman (now both convicted of crimes) peddled. 

The man also doesn't believe that women should have reproductive rights- he frequently quotes scripture much like those sad people you see outside of the courthouse screaming at you to repent (which if you are a DeSantis Drone isn't a bad idea). He works to outlaw the rights of trans-people in general and trans-teens and trans-children in particular, believing such people are living against "God's will". In short, he is the type of person you would not want to share a cup of coffee with, or trust with any of your personal affairs. 

And today- October 26, 2023, he is the new speaker of the House of Representatives. 

We told you this was a sad story. 

And the date makes it doubly sad and ironic because on October 26, 1951, another very different man- a man of inestimable greatness- Winston Spencer Churchill- became Prime Minister of England for a second time. 

But that was Great Britian then, and this is the United States now. 

A sad story indeed. 

CLE IN THE REGJB

It's not "R OC K in the U S A" but still...

CLE ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25, 2023. Starting at 4pm. Topic: SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States for you DS Drones) Year in Review. 

Courtroom 4-1 REGIB 

If you cannot make it, we will give you all you need to know: 

SCOTUS 2022 Opinions: Appeals by Defendant: Per Curiam Affirmed; Appeals by the Government: Per Curiam Reversed; with a double secret Affirmed for all death penalty appeals. 

SCOTUS MOTTO: Jus callin balls and strikes and upholding precedents (unless it involves abortion or the exclusionary rule). 

Special Guest Appearance by a recent MAGA/DeSantis Drone speaking on "Why I don't clear all my rulings with the Federalist Society" and "Don't count out appealing those not guilty verdicts" 

FACDL EMAIL:  

Hi everyone,

 

Tomorrow’s CLE, Supreme Court Year in Review 2022-2023, with Judge Milton Hirsch, will be in Courtroom 4-1. We’re starting at 4pm.

 

If you haven’t signed up already, you can register here: Sign up for SCOTUS Year in Review with Judge Hirsch 

EDLDERLY AND IN PRISON

 When the Covid19 pandemic broke and we all became experts on federal compassionate release motions, Rumpole for one was surprised to learn that there is no equivalent motion in Florida. In other words, Florida truly locks you up and throws away the key and wants its prisoners to rot in jail and makes sure no  pinko-commie-liberal-before DeSantis Drone Judges- can do something humane like allowing a person to die with dignity surrounded by their family.  (And yes we know you will all scream that the prisoner didn't let a person die with their loved ones, and we respond an eye-for-an-eye leaves everyone blind).  But no worry for DeSantis Drones, they won't even get the chance to show their Federalist Chops by denying compassionate release to some 80 year old man who went to prison as a 20 year old for robbing twenty bucks from a 7-11 back in the day when the stores really opened from 7 am to 11pm. 

Anyway, here's a good NY Times Article on the subject. 

Some snippets: 

Research shows that most people age out of criminal conduct. Moreover, the Department of Justice asserts that the risk of elderly people reoffending after release is minimal. Yet decades of tough-on-crime sentencing and increasingly rigid release policies have left many to grow old in a system that was not designed to accommodate them. The cost is high, for both the residents and the public at large.

Cleveland Lindley, 53, has served 28 years. He was sentenced to 105 years at age 25 for robbing a McDonald’s, his third strike under California's infamous three strike law. 

NFL WEEK 7 2023

 Emergency travel just leaves us enough time to pick Seahawks over Arizona for FF. We debated Lions over Ravens.  (Update- but thankfully we did not pick this game, although betting wise we like the under). 

And take the Fins tonight at Philly. No points just the money line. And if you have a sports betting app like we do, the Parlay with Moster scoring a TD and Tua over 275 passing yards and Miami to win is a sweet way to pay for that next bottle of Opus One. We will get the survivor pool up when we have more time later today. 

SURVIVOR

The Survivor pool today saw two losers when the Bills went down to the cheaters in an exciting last second comeback-upset. The pool also saw some players (finally) smartening up and using their bye. It never ceases to amaze us when people lose without using their bye during a tough week like this one. 

One caveat- Dustin Tischler may switch to a bye- he is running the numbers and checking the simulations and if he wants a change he has until kickoff around 8:05 pm to email us. 

Aaa2023 Regjb Survivor Pool Week Seven by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

SATURDAY ART AND NEW DEPO ROOM

 Breaking news, on a par with the Republicans unable to decide on the toppings for their pizza after their Sunday morning prayer group and caucus (and the tiny weeny barely significant problem of their inability to choose a speaker of the House and get Congress running) THERE IS A NEW DEPO ROOM AT THE REGJB [party time 💥👯]: 

Effective November 1, 2023 The Deposition Room will be relocating.

7th floor Conference Room 7115  (whoopie!). Next to courtroom 7-4.               

As you exit the elevator on the 7th floor make a left (Rumpole says, when in doubt go left) and pass the Double Doors, [and the cafe that makes the best grits and corned beef hash in Miami, truly...)  It will be on the right-hand side before courtroom 7-4. (But don't wander into the Judge's courtroom or experience the wrath of a disturbed judge: "Hi, ummmm, I was uh, just uh, like looking for the depo room, and umm...like where is is?"  The response will not be pretty nor fit for publication on a family blog...) 

If you would like to schedule the room, please call. The Court Administrators Office Circuit Criminal Division  (Motto: "Yes We Exist!") 305-548-5632. 

Next up some Saturday Art to soothe your confused soul over the changes to the Depo room and whether the Republican Caucus should choose ham and pineapple on their post prayer pizza, and who should be speaker. There is no comment to the rumor that Miladys Garcia, of late of the cleaning crew for the Hialeah branch court is considering the job. Apparently most of the Republican caucus has no opinion of Ms. Garcia, which makes her a frontrunner. You read it here first. 

Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas 

Langston Hughes & Upton Sinclair- quite a gem of an edition 

 

SANDI IS GETTING IN THE WAY OF OTHER RELATIONSHIPS

There's this annoying person in and around the court house...Sandi LNU (my forays with her are too brief to learn of anything beyond her first name).

If I try to find out how to communicate with Andrea, this "Sandi" constantly interrupts. Sandi is not just fixated upon one person since she also acts as a blockade to my desired immediate communications with others such as Teresa, Ellen, Tonya, Carmen...and some men as well. These are individuals that can be quite imperative in my day to day life. Sandi is hardly just focusing on me since every person that I ever try to delegate to, or do my dirty work, there's Sandi being her usual gadfly.  When  I need vital information like phone numbers, email addresses, zoom links and being familiarized with daily routines, there is Sandi acting as a frustrating interference to my desired  quick gratifications. It is especially bad with hand held devices since her presence is felt way too fast.

Can’t Sandi go away? Who invited her to the party? She’s everywhere and anywhere!  

Listen, if I wasn't involved with others, I do dig the wild hair and, of course, the pearl necklace.   

Has this character with the sardonic expression affected anybody else?  

POWELL PLEADS!

 Sydney Powell, indicted in Georgia, lawyer for former POTUS 45, plead guilty in Georgia to several misdemeanor counts including conspiracy to tell lies, conspiracy to tell stupid lies, conspiracy to tell stupid election lies while a lawyer, and aggravated sycophancy. 

Terms of her plea deal include (cue Jaws music) cooperation against co-defendants. (Cue Dragnet Music) Dum da dum dum. Dumb da dumb dumb dumb. 

The Story you about to read is true. The names were not changed because everyone knows who they are. 

This is the City, Washington DC. It was built and swamp and some say it is still is a swamp. You can come and visit the institutions built on the foundations of freedom. Congress. The Supreme Court. The Senate. There are memorials to great Americans like Lincoln, Washington, and Roosevelt. It is a city built on the principle of laws and elections and the peaceful transfer of power. Sometimes people don't want the peaceful transfer of power when they lose elections. Sometimes they tell lies about voting machine hacked by dead Venezuelan dictators. When that happens, I  go to work. I carry a badge. 

It was a Tuesday in January 2020. It was cold in DC, and the chill just wasn't in the air. Freedom was being chilled as well. I am working the day shift in Election Fraud. The Boss is Attorney General Bill Barr. My name is Friday. 

Reports were all over the Internet that Hugo Chavez, who had been dead for years, had organized the hacking of voting machines in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia. A lawyer named Sydney Powell was claiming on Fox TV that she had incontrovertible evidence of the hacking while her partner held news conferences outside of lawncare companies in Philadelphia while hair dye ran down his face. The media was in full meltdown mode and it was time to stop the stop the steal movement. ....

For those of you DeSantis Drones born in the late 1980s/early 1990s with no idea of the cultural references we are making, here is one of the classic original Dragnet openings. It was a different era, when the federalist society didn't exist, and judges granted motions to suppress for constitutional violations, as shocking as that may seem these days. 

¡Cállate

“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other.” - U.S. Grant, 1875 

This is the guy who would know. 

Meanwhile on Monday Judge Chutkin in DC told the former president to watch his mouth. ¡Cállate nino rico. 

She issued an order that he cannot disparage prosecutors, witnesses, or court personnel. The former president promptly called all the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in DC morons for being stupid enough to die for their country. He also said that in general jurors who got picked for cases were stupid for working for free. He then disparaged the Red Cross, Mother Teresa, Moses, and ER doctors and pre-school teachers before promising that the Yankees would have been in the post season if Biden hadn't stolen the election from him, and that the Giants would have beaten Buffalo on Sunday night if he was calling the plays. 

So just the same old same old. 

How would you like to be Judge Chutkin parsing the language of the defendant in the run up to the trial? Does calling the DOJ a bunch of chuckleheads violate the judge's order? Does mentioning all the cases DOJ prosecutors hid discovery in the past violate the judge's order? 

Does criticizing the Federal sophisticated means enhancement because it was enacted in a time when computers were rarities and supporting the judge who wrote that applying the enhancement these days is akin to fining someone for speeding and then increasing the fine for using a car to speed, violate the judge's order? OK, we reached on that one, but you get the point. 

And what if he calls the lead prosecutor (whom we have named our winning fantasy football team after) "not worth a warm bucket of spit" which is what Vice President John Nance Garner once called he vice presidency when asked. What should Judge Chutkin do if the defendant blatantly crosses the line? Revoke his bond? Would any Desantis drone have the cojones to do that?  (Lots of Spanish in today's post because, spending fall in New England, we miss it just un poco. 

These are the things we ponder between collecting our money when the Raiders sacked Cheater QB Matt Jones in the endzone for a safety on Sunday as time ran out, giving the Raiders- who were winning by 2- two more points, allowing them to cover the three-point spread and Rumpole to collect on a sizeable bet. Sometimes you get good wins and not just bad beats in gambling and life. 

MONDAY'S HOT TAKE

UPDATE 2:  As of Monday afternoon all is well. The building (but not necessarily the DeSantis drones therein) are all cooling off and your bond hearing schedule for Tuesday is returning to normal- or what constitutes for normal in a courthouse where one Judge today achieved notoriety for spending a majority of his time not adjudicating cases, but doing what DeSantis drones do, and focusing on nonsense - in this case upbraiding lawyers for not wearing ties on zoom. 

Here’s the thing- Judges who are confident in themselves and the job they do care not one whit how someone is dressed. They get respect by earning it through their rulings and demeanor. DeSantis Drones who have no self confidence get respect not through their rulings but by their picayune application of nonsense just so they can bloviate and hear themselves speak and order lawyers and clients around. We are sure you agree with us Judge____ , right? 

UPDATE: (and this may be a record for the quickest update to a post)

As per Judge Wolfson- an excerpt from an email "We have every reason to believe that operations at the REG will be normal today..." 

Rumpole responds: By normal we assume you mean chickens running through the hallways, protestors outside, jurors mistakenly chatting up defendants in the elevators, broken escalators, judges starting 9 am calendars at 10:15, internecine squabbles amongst the Criminal County Court Bench over petty perceived jealousies, and other such quotidian activities that comprise life in our building. 

We also assume that as to the AC a crack team of repair experts descended on the building over the weekend, replaced a few air filters, plugged in a plug that had been pulled out, and otherwise did all the things similar to the crack team that keeps the escalators running so well. 

It may again be cool to be in court today. We shall see. 

BUT THERE STILL WILL NOT BE JURORS IN THE BUILDING TODAY- which means no NGs for yours truly. 😡pp

Here's the memo floating around about where to go and how to handle your HOT Monday

Remember, no AC is no excuse for not wearing a Jacket and Tie in court for gentlemen lawyers. Tradition is tradition no matter how ridiculous it is and how much you sweat. 

RE: ALTERNATE LOCATION FOR RICHARD E. GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BOND HEARINGS FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 16

Due to repairs underway in response to an emergency maintenance issue at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, first appearance hearings and jail arraignments will continue to be held at the Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse on Monday, October 16.

Please see below for additional details:


Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse, 155 NW 3rd Street

Felony first appearance hearings Monday Oct. 16th: Courtroom 12-1 – https://zoom.us/j/93208306120 (https://zoom.us/j/93208306120)

Jail Arraignments and Misdemeanor first appearance hearings Monday Oct. 16th: Courtroom 12-4 – https://zoom.us/j/93571408057 (https://zoom.us/j/93571408057)

NFL WEEK SIX

 If you have not canceled Rumpole yet for being an unrepentant antisemite for daring to speak up for the innocent children and people of Gaza being used as human shields while being bombed, then here is your REGJB Survivor Pool. 

Picks seem inappropriate due to the sadness in this world and an impending ground war in Gaza. 

No update on REGJB AC, but remember court is OPEN but there will be no jury trials on Monday. The CJ will update us on Monday for Tuesday and trials. 

Aaa2023 Regjb Survivor Pool Week Six by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

 

 #Givepeaceachance

A HOT TIME IN THE REGJB

 Ok, all together now…and a one and a two and a three and ”We’re having a heat wave…a tropical heat wave ♭”

Heard around the building:

“How was court?”

“Rough. The Judge was hot.”

And 

“You see that lawyer? S’he’s hot…”

And

“There was a hot time in the old courthouse today.”

We are speaking of course of the REGJB air conditioner failure Friday  which caused a cascading effect of issues including the literal meltdown of the REGJB computer network because the hamsters that spin the wheels that power the sophisticated REGJB computers overheated and the all the equipment including the hi-tech Compuserve dial up modems literally had a meltdown.

Judges over heated with each other trying to get calendars covered. County Court is in total meltdown with personalities overheating. More on that at another time. 

What we know: There is no AC. 

What this means: NO jurors on Monday but court will be open and gentlemen lawyers are expected to wear jacket and ties because this is Miami and common sense is arroz con mango.  However, courtrooms 3-1 and 5-2 will be turned into coed saunas…bring towels and flip flops. $30/hour.

Yes dear readers, the Old Gray Lady is having some hot flashes. Try and sympathize- she’s getting older. 

A HERO

 War brings out the worst in people and the best. We are hearing about a lot of "worsts". Here is an amazing story that was tweeted,  which we re-print. 

If you don't live in Israel or consume Israeli media, you don't know who Yair Golan is. He is a 61-year-old retired Major General in the Israel army and a former parliament MP. Spend a minute to read this story. Yesterday, when IDF and the police were in complete chaos, Golan put on his old uniform, took his weapon, and drove into the war zone multiple times to rescue civilians under fire. He rescued two young adults hiding under a bush after 260 of their friends were murdered at an outdoor party. He answered a call from a journalist that his son was hiding under fire and simply said, "Give me his location, and I will bring him back home." An hour later, the son called his father from Golan's car. Golan collected a small crew and went in and out of the war zone, rescuing dozens of people while exchanging fire with Hamas terrorists. He is 61, he could have stayed home, but he chose to risk his life for people he does not know. Golan is one of the strongest voices from the Israeli left and was constantly attacked by the right wing in Israel. But when the time came, he was first fighting the barbaric attack. The same brain wiring that supports peace, is often the same wiring that drives people to do the right thing. A true hero.

(IN)HUMANITY

UPDATE: If you follow us on X @justicebuilding we have re-tweeted the reporting of a very competent and independent journalist who was with Israeli troops entering towns attacked by Hamas. While he saw uncontroverted evidence of war atrocities, there was no evidence of babies being be-headed. That DOES NOT lessen the outrage over the war crimes and atrocities, including a Holocaust survivor being pulled from a wheelchair and kidnapped, and whole families simply and senselessly and horrifically slaughtered by Hamas terrorists. 

But we have sparked outrage of a formerly unknown depth of anger for committing the blogging atrocity of criticizing Israel for its response. Lincoln was criticized for the conduct of the Civil War; Roosevelt for the conduct of WWII; Johnson forced from office for the US conduct in Vietnam and Bush criticized for the conduct of the war in Iraq after the 9/11 attacks, and all of those critics suffered less condemnation than anyone who dares speak up for those who currently have no voice- the nearly one million Palestinian children trapped in Gaza. So be it. OUR VOICE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. We will never stop speaking out against wrongs and standing up for the oppressed until the last breath has left our body. That means talking about the atrocities of Hamas AND the aftereffects of Israeli missiles and bombs.  Deal with it. 

From the NY Times Thomas Friedman today:  This is well said and the entire OP ED is an intelligent analysis of what is occurring- but since Friedman has had the temerity to point out flaws in what Israel is doing, can calls for his being canceled be far behind? Cancel Rumpole/ Cancel Friedman. No criticism of a country killing children will be allowed!!

I believe one reason Hamas not only launched this assault now — but also seemingly ordered it to be as murderous as possible — was to trigger an Israeli overreaction, like an invasion of the Gaza Strip, that would lead to massive Palestinian civilian casualties and in that way force Saudi Arabia to back away from the U.S.-brokered deal now in discussion to promote normalization between Riyadh and the Jewish state. As well as to force the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which were part of the Abraham Accords produced by the Trump administration, to take a step back from Israel.

As details emerge of the horrors of the attacks by Hamas on innocent men, women, and most vile- children, Israelis are understandably filled with a bloodlust to seek both revenge on the killers who wrought such nearly unimaginable crimes upon them, and the need to ensure that - once again- Jews around the world say "Never Again". 

But what happens when the inhumanity of the criminals strips the humanity from the victims? When the victims respond and indifferently kill innocent men, women, and children who live among the criminals- is the ultimate crime the victims ceding their humanity in the desire for revenge? 

When the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister repeatedly state that those who live in Gaza- a strip of land about the size of Washington DC with twice as many inhabitants- should leave now- knowing full well both Israel and Egypt have closed the borders, trapping over two million people- we cannot help but be reminded of the sign that hung above the Auschwitz concentration camp: Arbeit Macht Frei: Work Sets You Free. 

The sign was the ultimate inhumanity, A sick, inside joke among the SS and Third Reich killing ,machine, mocking the victims, and giving them false hope as they were stripped and marched off to gas chambers. 

Is there not an equivalent inhumanity when the leaders of Israel's armed forces tell innocent people to leave a place they cannot leave, just before being bombed? Hamas has turned the leaders of Israel's blood cold- and revenge- not just safety- is being sought. It is the Allies fire-bombing of the German city of Dresden at the end of World War II all over again.  The indiscriminate killing of civilians because your army killed our people. 

There are two haunting videos we have seen of fathers, carrying their infant daughters as they must have done hundreds of times- the child's head nestled on their shoulder- seemingly asleep- but in fact dead from Israeli missile strikes. The fathers are screaming in agony; their child dead. Does it matter if the father is a Jew or an Arab? To us, having not lost our humanity- he is a father holding his dead infant daughter, and it matters not which deity he worships. He is a human being suffering the ultimate loss. There is a video of one of these scenes at the end of this post. 

In the face of the inhumanity of the attacks on Israelis- and make no mistake- these were attacks on people for being Jewish- Israel is losing (or has lost) its humanity, when it responds in kind. Cannot Israel see that when it destroys a home and kills an innocent baby girl that the criminal has turned them -baited them more appropriately- into committing criminal acts as well?  

It seems insignificant to note that in Florida and the United States, the law requires acts of self defense to be proportional to the danger faced.  The fire bombing of Dresden was not a proportional response; the missile strikes and bombing of Gaza is not a proportional response knowing full well most of the population had nothing to do with Hamas's attack and are trapped by Israel and Egypt. They cannot flee- the words of Israel's Prime Minister and Defense Minister are meant to mock their helplessness and suffering-just as the sign over Auschwitz did.  

Violence Begets Violence- and there is no end in sight.  But the light of humanity in Israel is flickering weakly. It is about to be snuffed out. And then what? 

WARNING The Video is very disturbing. Please proceed cautiously. 

'

VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE

 "Violence begets violence; hate begets hate; and toughness begets a greater toughness. It is all a descending spiral, and the end is destruction — for everybody. Along the way of life, someone must have enough sense and morality to cut off the chain of hate." 

-Martin Luther King Jr.

This is going to get bad fast. 

Israel has cut off all food, water, and electricity to Gaza and just bombed a refugee center. 

In response, Hamas threatened to televise live executions of the hostages. 

This is spiraling out of control. 

NFL WEEK 5 2023 WAR EDITION

 War has broken out (again) in the Middle East (again) between Israel and Hamas in Gaza (again) and it doesn't feel right to engage in much football talk. Jax +5 over Bill and San Fran -4.5 over Cowpokes. And the survivor pool picks are up, with one loss over an improvident pick of the Commanders Thursday night. 

You're not going to like what we are going to say about the current war, so just close your browser and never come back. It's your choice. 

When you dominate and subjugate a people for over fifty years, you breed hate that is generational. We subscribe to the notion that people are generally good, and no particular group of people are -by their genetics- murderous thugs that kill women and children for sport. So when Hamas terrorists invade Israel and kidnap and kill innocent civilians, slaughter elderly people and drag a holocaust survivor in a wheelchair over the boarder, there are reasons behind the horrific criminal acts beyond just calling Hamas criminals and terrorists -which they are. 

So Israel will invade Gaza and kills Hamas fighters, and along the way kill innocent civilians-including children- which they have been doing for decades- and that will breed a new generation of terrorists- children now- whose anger will grow over seeing their brothers and sisters and parents needlessly killed. 

And ardent defenders of Israel will scream in response that all Israel wants is peace, and Hamas started it. And Hamas will scream in response that all Palestinians want is their own homeland and to exist without living under the thumb of Israel. And Israel will respond that Hamas is a terrorist organization and Palestinians could choose to be represented by a government that is not a sponsor of terrorism. And Hamas will respond that Israel was founded by terrorists fighting the British (including former Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin) and that terrorism has been a valid way of an impoverished people fighting foreign imperialism ever since a band of people in Massachusetts threw tea into the Boston harbor. And Israel will say Hamas started it and they want peace. And Hamas will show pictures of dead Palestinian children killed in Israeli air raids and ask for the world to condemn Israel. And Israel will respond with videos of teenagers being dragged from a music festival at a Kibbutz and taken hostage in the last two days. And Hamas has its own horrible videos. And Israel will say it is surrounded by terrorists and Hezbollah to the North (and the Hezbollah terrorists do not like the Hamas because of the whole Sunni/Shite split) and that behind both Hezbollah and Hamas is Iran and they are correct. So is the solution to nuke Iran? Because to stop Iran funding terrorism you're going to either have to wipe out Iran or make peace with the terrorists - so which poison do you choose? 

And we say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So when Israel invades Gaza, all it is doing is creating the groundwork for another attack circa 2038- when the five-year-old Palestinian children are teenagers and young men and women. Because it is a truism of history that old men send young men to fight their wars. 

Israel will retaliate. How has that worked out for you in the past, considering where we are today? And Hamas will rebuild and get more rockets from Iran and plan another Intifada and we ask how has that worked out for you in the past 25 years? 

So either we repeat the cycle of violence, or we put aside all the past injustices with an eye to the future children of Palestine and Israel and ask what can we do to allow them to grow up safely and live their lives in peace? 

So all Israeli supporters who want to flood our emails with nasty blasts and trash us in the  comments section because we are not condemning the criminal acts of a terrorist group killing innocent people (but we did, read above)- have at it.  Wrap yourself blindly in the indignation of being attacked and choose to blind yourself to the cause of the attack. It's like taking Tylenol for cancer. It won't solve your problems- unless you as Jews want to wipe a people off the face of the earth- and we need not remind you why of all people, you cannot engage in genocide. 

And all Palestinian supporters can email us pictures of the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes and the video of a 12-year-old girl being beaten by Israeli police last year in Jerusalem (we've seen the video dozens of times on X) and scream for justice. 

And you can both go on killing each other and burying your dead children and soldiers for the next fifty years.

Or you can try something different.  Erase all blame and prior criminal acts and move forward from this day forward with a plan to live together in peace and recognize the right of Palestine and Israel to exist independent and dependent on each other.  Each side will never run out of victims to parade before the other until each side renounces violence as a means to an end. Violence has not worked and it will not work. And once again, supporters of Israel can save the emails to us, based on this last paragraph, screaming that they want to renounce violence and live in peace- and ignore the hopelessness that Palestinian children are born into.  Like it or not, this was caused by the conditions in Gaza, and yes we know the conditions in Gaza are because of the prior missile attacks, and yes we know the prior missile attacks are because of how Israel treats the citizens of Gaza. 

And on and on the blame goes until two people- one Israeli and one Palestinian decide to sit down and say "enough!".  But we doubt that is going to happen today or anytime soon. 

Survivor: 

Aaa2023 Regjb Survivor Pool Week Five by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

GRAND SLAM

To start your weekend- a moment every Miami Marlins fan is talking about (all ten of you) - how the Philly fans went ballistic over the grand slam homerun that sealed the Marlin's fate for 2023. Note the unusual filled stadium of fans for a non-7th game playoff- something Miami fans are not accustomed to seeing: "wait- they sold out the stadium and it wasn't game seven? coño those gringos up north are strange. Arroz con mango." 

You knew the Marlins were in the playoffs, right? 

You know Miami has a baseball team don't you? 

Or are you just consumed with getting a good table at The Surf Club and making sure you are seen by all the right people?

We hate this town and most of those who reside in it. 

Enjoy your weekend not going to the Dolphins game- its not the super bowl, right? 

ANNE FRANK

 This is the best Constitutional Calendar Judge Hirsch has ever written. It is one the best things he has ever written. It is one of most poignant epistles we have recently read. 

Everyone with a spark of humanity should read it and think of Anne Frank every now and then. Because we need to never forget the humanity of a young girl becoming a young woman who was murdered because she was Jewish. 

As the forces of the Third Reich overran Holland, two Jewish families, the Franks and the Van Daans, were secreted by courageous Dutch friends in a cramped attic apartment in Amsterdam.  Their living quarters offered little by way of comfort. But they offered hope, and they offered life.
The youngest of the Frank family was Anne, just entering her teenage years.  Bereft of schoolmates, friends, children her own age, she resolved to keep a diary, and to confide in it her most intimate thoughts. The Franks would end the war in concentration camps, where Anne would die. But her father survived, recovered the diary, and was persuaded to permit it to be published. To date, over 30 million copies of The Diary of Anne Frank have been sold.  A theater version of the diary was first produced in New York City on October 5, 1955, and won the Tony Award, the Critics’ Circle Award, and other commendations. A film was then made from the play.

There have been, and continue to be, efforts to bowdlerize or ban The Diary of Anne Frank. Although many of Anne’s reflection are on the war around her, and the world around her, some of them are about the physical changes that she feels herself undergoing as she confronts puberty. She confided these thoughts to her diary because she had no one in whom to confide them.  She never imagined, and would have been horrified to imagine, that these most personal of diary entries would be read by millions.

In 1983, four members of the Alabama Textbook Committee called for removal of The Diary of Anne Frank from school curricula because it is, “a real downer,” and because of the references to the changes brought about by the onset of puberty.  In 1998 the book was temporarily removed from the Baker Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas, after parents complained that it was pornographic. In January of 2010 officials of the Culpeper County Public Schools in Virginia stopped assigning the book after a parent complained that it included sexually explicit material and intimations of homosexuality.

But there may be reasons more profound than the squeamishness of the occasional school-board member or parent for the repeated attempts to ban or discredit the book.  The hatred and bigotry that enabled Nazi-occupied Europe to incarcerate and slaughter Jews, Roma, gays, the “physically defective,” socialists, and labor unionists, did not die in Hitler’s bunker.  The Swedish right-wing fringe magazine Fria Ord (“free words”) published allegations in 1957 that Anne Frank never existed, that the diary was written by one Meyer Levin, and that it was all a plot to engender sympathy, and profit, for the Jews.  The following year the famous Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal was attending a performance in Vienna of the play based on the diary when he was confronted by a group of protesters who demanded that he find the man who arrested Anne Frank, their position being that there was no Anne Frank and therefore no one who arrested her.

In 1963 Wiesenthal and his organization located Karl Silberbauer, who readily admitted that he led the arrest of the Franks and the Van Daans in Amsterdam. Silberbauer identified Anne from a photo, and recalled a stack of papers that may have been Anne’s diary. His version corroborated that of Otto Frank.

It seems a series of miracles that The Diary of Anne Frank ever survived to be published, then to be read by millions, then to become part of school curricula throughout the western world. It seems a series of tragedies that in our own time, with censorship recrudescent, the diary continues to be victimized by Comstockery and bigotry.  But even in the face of such a series of tragedies, Anne herself would have had an answer. In what is perhaps the most-quoted line of the diary – the penultimate line of the play – she insists, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

I don't know Anne... I just do not know. 

Rumpole. 

EMERGENCY ALERT

The US will test the emergency alert system at 2:20 PM today. Your phone will get a shrill alarm at that time. If you are in court trying a case before a Federalist Drone, best to turn the phone off elsewise you be held in contempt for interrupting her concentration on calling balls and strikes. 

The purpose of the alert is twofold- 1) the law required the Emergency Alert system to be tested every three years, and by sending an alert to everyone's cell phones, and 

2) the government can obtain data on any information you may be hiding on Hunter Biden's laptop, as well as track you for the coming mandatory Covid19 boosters and instillation of the Microsoft tracking chip. 

Meanwhile. speaking of batSh&t crazy conspiracy theories, the former president's trial over the valuation of his properties is being presided over by the same Judge who hid the files showing that Obama was born in the Ukraine.

FIRST MONDAY IN OCTOBER

 For Supreme Court nerds, including those who work above garages across from the courthouse, there is no greater day in the year than the FIRST MONDAY IN OCTOBER. 

The Supreme Court begins its new term.

Justice Thomas flew in from the Maldives Islands on a Gulfstream VI just to make it on time (paid for by the Sultan of some middle eastern country via some right wing political organization that would be shocked to learn people would think such a benefit would influence the Judge's independence). 

Ahh the new term of the Supreme Court. Holmes. Douglas. Brandeis. Scalia. All pondering the great legal issues of the day. And Kavanaugh scouring the COSTCO circular looking for cases of Bud Light on sale.

 Thomas looking at flyers of resorts in the Philippines and AirBNBs on the Champs D' Elysee; and Coney making revisions on her speech to the Federalist Society- "The End Of The Exclusionary Rule In Our Time", while Roberts studies You Tube Videos of Baseball Umpire Doug Harvey. 

The First Monday of October. 

NFL WEEK FOUR 2023 GSTK LONDON EDITION

 Good morning and welcome to week four for the 2023 NFL season. As we write this, we are watching the national anthems of England and the USA being sung as the Falcons play the Jags in our London.  We like GSTK over the SSB by a solid four points. Shorter and gets right to the point.  Brillant. 

Not a great play, but if you must, we kinda like the Jags to get things back on track. The Jags have been disappointing but it is time for them to return to the mean and win some games. JAX -3.5. 

We start this Sunday talking of course of the surprising Miami team who is on a playoff run. The team everyone in Miami is talking about. Your MIAMI MARLINS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS! 🐟

Miamians everywhere are saying "Wait! We still have a baseball team?"  

Yes we do, and this being Miami we recognize it is waayyyyy too early for Miami fans to jump on the bandwagon and actually go to a game because, after all, it's not the world series and it's not game 7 of the world series so there's plenty of time to start pretending that you love the Marlins with all your heart and soul and go to every game. But for the five thousand or so real Marlins fans in Miami, the Marlins are in the playoffs (with a win last night over the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates whose fans actually do fill the stadium every game) and Rumpole will be attending playoff baseball in Miami in October (if we decide to leave our New England abode where it has been raining a whole lot these last few days). 

There are two great NFL games today and we will get right to them. 

Two years ago we rode the futility of the Miami Dolphins to a substantial downpayment on yet another summer abroad. And we even managed to pick the game the Fins won breaking their losing streak. The heart has no place in placing bets. 

We are now riding the winning streak of your Miami Dolphins who are our favourite to represent the AFC in Las Vegas in 2024.  Miami is in Buffalo and if you can believe it, the team which hung a 70 on Denver last week is GETTING 2.5 points in Buffalo today. Now that is a half a point less than the standard home team advantage of three points, but we are eschewing the points because Miami is the better team. Take the money line +120 (bet a hundred and win 120). Your Miami Dolphins over the Buffalo Bills. Last week we told you to mortgage the house and put it all on Miami. This week, we are telling you to take 25% of that windfall and stick in on the Fins-  +120 no points ,  a bet on arguably the best team in the NFL after the first month of the season. 

The other great game is The Denver Broncos at the Chicago Bears. A powerhouse matchup for the ages. And we say that with the same straight face we tell every Federalist Drone Judge that we are confident we will get a fair hearing on our motion to suppress. 

Da Bears are getting 3.5 at home. The Bears are a mess. The Broncos have the better QB- Russell Wilson. Hold your nose and lay the 3.5 for Denver to bounce back. 

There are not a lot of other games we like this week. Last week we told you the smart Vegas professional money was flooding ala NYC rains on the Cardinals over the Cowpokes and of course we were correct. 

Today, just for fun take a flyer on the Panthers- the Cats 😼being a home Dog 🐶 +4.5 over the struggling Vikes.  

Mostly we are advising you to take all that Fins money from last week and buy Money Market funds paying 5.5% and let it sit for a week or so or buy some Apple 🍎 at 170- you won't go wrong there. There will be another mismatch to pounce on- just not this week. 

Survivor coming soon and the play today is the safe Bye.  If anyone has Dan Tibbett's cell phone, text him to make a pick.

Aaa2023 Regjb Survivor Pool Week Four by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd