CERRADO

 

The scene at El Chapo Cafe This Week 😞

12th st/ave REGJB Blog irregulars sent many iterations of the picture we have posted. Is this the end of El Chapo Cafe? (Dozens of DeSantis drones are asking ChatGPT about our irregulars reference.  ChatGPT: The famously cranky and misanthropic blogger was most likely making reference to the Sherlock Holmes series where Holmes frequently employs Baker Street ruffians- street boys who have their pulse on the neighborhood and can run unseemly tasks for Holmes, follow suspects by blending in, and reporting on the goings on in London. They were called Baker Street Irregulars.") 

Anyway where were we? Oh yeah. The First-floor cafe appears to be closed, a victim of changing courthouse norms where more people are appearing by zoom (despite the efforts of a few dyspeptic county court judges who will not be ignored!). We always liked the 7th floor snack bar better. Less chance of being disturbed by hoi poli, and their grits, Cafecito,  and Cuban toast is a decent earlyu morning repast. 

Gone are the mornings where a dozen or more judges and lawyers met for breakfast and Cafecito  on the first floor as hale-fellows-well-met. War stories were exchanged, and deals on cases were made, and being a young lawyer invited over was akin to Carson inviting a young comedian to the couch after his/her set. (Those same drones are asking AI about who Rumpole is referring to and why being invited over to Carson's couch could make a comedian's career take off.) 

Speaking of Cerrado, the days of this blog breaking news and being the cutting edge of reporting not only on the REGJB, but the Miami Legal community (sorry DOM) are fast dwindling down to a precious few. June 30 is our target date and so far we have not found a suitable replacement (no surprise there). We are considering continuing blogging on subjects more interesting to us. Finance. History. Epistemology. Politics. Sports and sports wagering. We would rely on an expanding group of 12st/12 ave irregulars to keep is in the loop about the comings and goings at the REGJB. Robed Readers will always be a source of easy amusement. But when we are gone we are gone and you can expect essays on the changing of the seasons, the barn owl we have befriended, and the characters we intend to meet in our local pub who we can talk with since they will be speaking a language we understand, unlike our forays into drinking establishments after another difficult day in Hialeah branch court where the best we can muster is a passable mas cerveza por favor. 

So for everything there is a season, and as we enter spring for most, it is the winter of our (dis)content. 

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR NEXT 2 CIRCUIT COURT & COUNTY COURT JUDGES:

The next additions to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit bench will come from the lists below.

Last week, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) interviewed applicants for two newly created Circuit Court seats and two newly created County Court seats.

Following those interviews, the JNC submitted 12 nominees for each court to Governor Ron DeSantis. The Governor now has 60 days to select the four judges.

CIRCUIT COURT NOMINEES:

Notably, 10 of the 12 nominees are currently serving as County Court judges. The two nominees who are not sitting judges are marked with an asterisk.

Rita Cuervo 
Miesha Darrough
Christian Dunham* 
Elisabeth Espinosa
Alicia Garcia Priovolos 
Christopher Green
Chiaka Ihekwaba 
Andrew McGinley*
Jorge Perez Santiago 
Stephanie Silver
Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 
Michelle Urbistondo

COUNTY COURT NOMINEES:

Shawn Abuhoff (Assistant State Attorney)
Destiny Goede Alvarez** (private practice)
Yaneth Baez (Assistant State Attorney)
Natalia Costea (Office of Gen Counsel 11th Jud. Circ., former AAG)
Christian Dunham* 
Kimberly Hillery (Department of Homeland Security)
Yvette Lavelle (private practice)
Andrew McGinley*
Michelle Roth (private practice, former ASA)
Jeffrey Pierce (Assistant United States Attorney)
Patricia Salman (CABA Pro Bono Legal Services)
Alexander Shear (Assistant Public Defender)

*DUAL NOMINATIONS

Two nominees managed to get themselves nominated for both Circuit Court and County Court — no small feat.

Christian Dunham currently serves as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. He began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in state court, where he spent six years. Dunham has been a member of the Bar for 27 years, handling both state and federal criminal defense matters.

Andrew McGinley has been a member of The Florida Bar for seven years and currently serves as General Counsel for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Prior to relocating to Florida, he began his legal career in Missouri nine years ago, practicing family law before serving as an Assistant Attorney General in Illinois and later holding several additional legal positions.

BACKGROUND ON Destiny Goede Alvarez:

We previously reported on Destiny Goede Alvarez, who has been a member of The Florida Bar for just over five years, the minimum required to qualify for judicial appointment.

Alvarez earned two degrees from the University of Florida, where she served as President of Florida Blue Key and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Federalist Society.

Her professional experience includes:

Serving as a judicial intern for U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone

Working for one year in the DeSantis Administration at the Florida Department of Transportation

Practicing for two years as an associate at GrayRobinson

Currently serving as a partner at Goede, DeBoest & Cross (the Goede is John Goede)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:

Governor DeSantis now has 60 days to select two Circuit Court judges and two County Court judges from the nominees submitted by the JNC.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

POTPOURRI

 Good Monday Morning! There's a lot going on in the world. Let's catch up!

In the REGIB the prosecutors are still notifying the Court that ....steady now..."The victim wants max." ***Yawn***

The market looks to open strong. But in this environment all that means is an afternoon sell-off. If you swing trade (something we do not recommend for anyone other than very experienced investors) you should be selling in the morning and buying in the afternoon. 

The President asked for assistance from the allies to send naval ships to the Gulf to escort oil tankers through the straits of Hormuz. That was met with a big ***yawn***. Germany, and give them credit for being the most honest, said "Nein! It's your war. We didn't start it. You did." Britian demurred, but did agree to send some aircraft for aerial mine-sweeping. Speaking of which, our sources tell us that USS Tulsa and Santa Barbara, which are Independence Class Littoral Combat Ships that have been reconfigured for mine sweeping left the Gulf and reappeared in the Pacific at the port of Penang. What is that all about? 

Did you know? That there is a fascinating trial taking place in our own Federal Court involving people in Miami orchestrating the assassination of Joveniel Moise in July, 2021. It is worth stopping in to watch; Judge Becerra presiding. Imagine that.  A leader of a country is assassinated in cold blood and of all the gin joints and cities in all the world, it is Miamians who are alleged to be involved. Pretty soon people will be saying Miami had a role in the Bay of Pigs and the Kennedy assassination. Oh, wait....

Actually there are two fascinating trials taking place at the ol Wilkie Ferguson federal courthouse. Miami's own David O Markus is starting a trial today representing a political consultant, who along with a former MAGA congressman, are accused of not registering as foreign agents in representing a Venezuelan oil company for a simple 50 mill consulting contract for like 5 or 6 months of work. Nice gig if you can get it. Mr. Markus, and co-counsel- the legendary Ed Shohat, have none other than your Secretary of State lil Marco Rubio on the witness list. Marco and Mr. Shohat's client- David Rivera- go waaaayyyy back. Very interesting trial, especially since our current government recently removed the President of Venezuela by force, something that the consultants may have been advising on. And how will a Miami jury view two local Hispanic defendants who were working against a communist government? There's a lot to unpack here, and if anyone can do it, it's Mssrs. Markus and Shohat. 

Last Cold Front of the year is heading our way as a new storm batters the midplains and northeast. Temps will drop tonight. Brrr.

And finally, last week we ventured over 395 to Miami Beach and enjoyed a repast at Joes Stone Crabs. What is your go to order at Joes? 

We start with the grilled tomatoes and the coleslaw. No one has coleslaw like Joes. Then we add the potatoes lyonnaise which is the only potatoes dish to get there; and make sure you get an order to go because they go so well with eggs the next morning.  For our out-of-town guests we order the Selects for the stone crabs. The Jumbos are too big and tough (and expensive) and everything else is too small. The Selects are sweet and the right size. But here is the big Joes secret that only local long-time patrons know. There is one dish that blows away all the others, and maybe the best incarnation of this dish in all of Miami. And to top it off, it is ridiculously cheap. Ready? 

The fried chicken for $8.95! You get a half a bird for that price. Really.  No one makes better fried chicken than Joes. It's crispy and juicy and the coating is perfection. And a half a bird for $8.95? Get outta here! That's crazy inexpensive for the best dish on the menu. 

We know we didn't do our weekend post on the Five Days in May series. Sometimes clients get arrested on the weekends. The post is coming. 

CHECKING IN

 Let's do a roundup of the news and check in on some old issues. 

The three Alexander brothers went down in the SDNY- a total loss for the defense and total win for the government. Guilty 😢 on all counts. There was a solid Miami contingent involved in the defense. The old "she wanted it and now is greedy and lying" defense did not work. That kinda went out in the late 70's/early 80's. They are all sadly facing life in prison. And while we are on the subject, without in anyway demeaning what the victims suffered, let's consider what a twenty-year sentence would look like. They would be released in the mid 2040's in their 50's. Do you think that would be sufficient punishment with ten years of supervised release? This is not about diminishing a victim's pain. This is about challenging the philosophy of defaulting to life ending sentences for crimes other than murder.  We just don't buy into the lockem up and throw away the key philosophy. We have seen many people mature and change in prison. Life should always have hope. A respectful chat is requested. 

Sharia Law: Remember when this was all the rage, and conservative politicians were ranting against liberal judges desires to apply Sharia law and introducing all sorts of legislation to outlaw the application of such law? We would like our readers to update us. Have you recently had a judge make any reference to Sharia law? Have you ever had a judge made a reference to Shaira law? 

The Border Wall: If anyone can direct us to the appropriate website or US Treasury link where we can make an accurate calculation of how much Mexico has paid for the wall, we would appreciate it. We are working on a project to show how many political promises the current president has made that have been kept showing the amazing benefits to our country. Sadly, at the moment, the data is a bit sparse. But hope springs eternal in Rumpole, ever the optimist. 

The Markets: The markets are mixed at the opening Tuesday. On Monday we saw the market whipsaw from negative to positive territory at the end of the trading day when oil prices fell in response to the president's comments that the war was close to ending. What we don't like is seeing equities yo-yo on cryptic comments which affect oil prices. For the most part a price of a stock that moves on this news is not related to how the company is doing (energy stocks excepted). So what we do in a situation like this is just sit tight and buy some of our favourtie stocks at favourable prices- like anytime Nvidia falls below 180, or Costco below 990. And keep your eye on Amazon. It has recently been beaten down, but it has 30% growth and is currently selling way below recent prices. 

5 DAYS IN MAY PROLOGUE PART 2

 Before we can begin our in depth discussion and analysis of Five Days in May 1940, beginning with May 24, 1940, we must examine one remarkable day in May 1940, perhaps the most significant day in European history of the 20th century. 

May 10, 1940. 

Two remarkable things occurred on May 10, 1940. First, Winston Spencer Churchill was asked to form a government by King George VI. Second, as Churchill was assuming power in England, Hitler ordered German armies to begin the invasion of Belgium and France. Two men, who had circled each other warily for several years now entered direct conflict. 

But this was not something that had been foreseen a mere two years before. In 1938 Churchill, who repeatedly and mostly by himself spoke out against Chamberlin's agreement with Hittler during their meeting in Munich, was shunned, ridiculed, and not trusted for his actions as First Lord of the Admiralty, which many considered rash, in what is known as the Dardanelles Campaign, which in fact was a brilliant move and came within a breadth of succeeding in 1915-16 before becoming a humiliating British loss. As Churchill continually and loudly railed against Hitler and the German threat, he was isolated by both his own party and the opposition. No one in England had the stomach for another war with Germany. 

Both Hitler and Churchill shared several habits/traits. Both preferred to work late and sleep late. Both believed and personally prospered in the power of the spoken word. Both of them were semi-talented painters.  Hitler was a vegetarian and did not drink or smoke and started most days in a simple military uniform.  Churchill ate three hearty meals a day, spent most of the morning in silk pajamas, a multi-colored dressing grown, and slippers. He smoked several cigars a day and drank many bottles of champagne along with many (weak) scotch and sodas. For the next 80 days these two men would engage in a titanic struggle of wills with nothing less than the fate of the world at stake. 

In the early morning hours of May 10, 1940, Hitler traveled by train to an outpost at small German town near the Belgium border. Hitler and his entourage would remain there for 23 days while Western Europe fell. "Gentleman, the offensive against the Western powers has begun" Hitler told his staff in the early morning hours. In less than 40 days he would be the master of Europe. He and his staff had come up with a unique plan- Sichelschnitt"- sickle cut. Germany would invade Belgium and lure the French and English armies north. Then German Panzers would strike moving from the west to the east- a sickle encircling movement, pushing the French and the British to the coast.  By the time he went to bed on May 10 word had reached Hitler that Churchill had been named Prime Minister. His immediate reaction was neither witnessed nor recorded. 

Across the Channell as the German invasion roared through Europe, the phone rang in Churchill's bedroom at the Admiralty House in the early morning hours with the news that the Germans were invading Belgium and Holland and bombing airfields in France. Churchill quickly arose and dressed for the day that would change his life and history.

 By May 10 Parliament had had enough of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin. A large contingent of members of Chamberlin's own Conservative party had abandoned him and the minority Liberal Party refused to back Chamberlin. That he had lost Parliament was apparent to him at least a few days before, and he began to plan for his successor. The first choice of King Goerge VI and Chamberlin was Lord Halifax. But Halifax repeatedly declined the invitation. First, as a member of the House of Lords, Halifax could not appear in Parliament, hampering his ability to lead, especially in a time of war. Second, Halifax saw himself as the power behind the throne. Churchill would become Prime Minister, but Halifax would engineer the peace with Germany.  Or so Halifax had thought. 

There was a hitch on May 10. Chamberlin had indicated the day before that he would resign, meeting privately with Churchill and Halifax. Churchill believed this was his moment. But when Hitler struck, Chamberlin changed his mind and told his war cabinet that he felt he should stay until the German threat was resolved. Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty was in Chamberlin's war cabinet. He remained silent as Chamberlin sought support to remain in power. But it was not to be; his party would not support him, and the Liberals were demanding a national government with Churchill at the head. 

With nowhere else to turn, The Conservative party reluctantly formed behind Churchill, and he was invited to the Palace to meet the King, where he was asked to form a government. 

 And so on May 10, 1940, as Hitler struck boldly and quickly across Europe. a British Bulldog assumed power across the channel and began to steel his country for a long and bitter struggle. "Nations who went down fighting rose again, but those that surrendered tamely were gone forever" Churchill began to repeatedly say. In the coming fourteen days Churchill would struggle to remain in power, fending off Halifax's maneuvering and machinations behind the scenes to first force Churchill to negotiate a peace with Hitler, and then to have Churchill removed when he refused to seek peace. 

And who was the politician that would step up and support Churchill during his darkest hours, realizing that Churchill had been right about Hitler all along and that the only way to deal with him was to fight him and defeat him and that there could be no negotiations for peace? 

None other than Neville Chamberlin. Chamberlin had brought Churchill into his war cabinet. Churchill, while criticizing Chamberlin's actions at Munich, was personally very kind to Chamberlin. When he became PM, Churchill allowed Chamberlin to remain at 10 Downing Street for several weeks. He brought Chamberlin into his war cabinet as Chamberlin had done with him and sought out his advice often. And as Halifax tried to wrest the government away from Churchill, Chamberlin remained non-committal before whole heartedly backing Churchill and giving him the political security to focus all of his attention on Germany and saving the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from annihilation as it was surrounded on three sides in France and being beaten into the sea. 

Understanding that on May 10, 1940 Churchill finally assumed power on the day Hitler launched his successful invasion of Europe- a day unlike any other in European history- we can now begin our in-depth examination of the five days in May that saved Western Civilization from Nazism and Hitler. 

FRIDAY MARCH 6 THOUGHTS

 Head over to DOM's blog and read about yet another Miami legal legend -Frank Rubino- passing   away. When we talk about the Miami defense bar being fearless and the most trial active in the nation, Frank was one of the reasons why. He led the way for many of us and he will be greatly missed. Frank was lead counsel in the government's case against Noriega. We know the new generation of DeSantis Drones and Starbucks swilling ASAs under 30 are saying "who's that?"  And that's ok, but if you plan on making Miami law a career, at some point you should become familiar with the major cases of the past decades that helped shaped this town. Norigea; Lozano; Overtown Riots; The Great Corruptor; Joyce Cohen; Country Walk.  Read up and learn. 

Financials: The VIX. known as a the fear index, is the highest it has been in two years over 27. For context, it was in the mid-teens before the war started. And stocks opened down sharply for reasons other than financial. So for example, when Costco reported yesterday after the bell and had a dynamite quarter with beats across the board, and opens down 20 points, we are a buyer. In other words, when non-financial matters affect the market negatively, we buy quality companies. It's not as a successful investment strategy like betting on home-dogs in the NFL, but it's up there.  Our strategy today is to let the fear based sellers clear out. Around 2PM we will start buying bargains. 

Felony Murder. We can, should, and someday before we leave- will, write extensively on the felony murder rule- perhaps the worst part of criminal law that is responsible for the most injustices in the system. For now, the NY Times covers Alabama's scheduled execution of Sonny Burton- an elderly 75 year old inmate who didn't kill anyone. The murderer who pulled the trigger when Burton was long gone got life in prison. So naturally Alabama wants to put a mask on Burton and give him nitrogen until he suffocates. They won't need to strap this old man who uses a wheelchair to get around to the table. He's pretty helpless and immobile.

Go BAMA! Show the world that North Korea and China and Russia aren't the only places where they execute people who do not deserve it and without due process.  

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE

 THURSDAY FINANCIAL UPDATE: 

This is what we wrote on Monday morning:  

AVGO (Broadcom, which reports this week) below 350 (it's around 320 now. Because it reports this week, this will be our first buy, either late today or tomorrow),

Well Dear Readers, AVGO reported Wednesday night and blew the doors off its quarter and forecasted 100 billion (with a B) in income from AI in 2027. AVGO is up over 20 dollars in pre-market trading. This is a long term (18 month plus) play that is going to double in price. AVGO also reported a 10 billion (with a B) share buyback. Economics 101- less supply, same demand, prices rise. FYI.

The more they remain the same. 

UPDATE: Speaking of changes, ACE Bar attorney Brian Tannebaum has issued this update:

On December 5, 2025 the Florida Bar Rule allowing for an interim suspension upon arrest for a felony went into effect. On that same date, the bar filed dozens of petitions.

 The first order was issued and it’s some good news. The Supreme Court declined to enter an interim suspension against a lawyer in PTI. It was denied without prejudice for the bar to refile if the lawyer fails to complete PTI.

 ...

As this is a new Rule, and was opposed by the Board of Governors and many bar counsels don’t like it either, there is a possibility that this type of ruling provides guidance for the bar and defendant-lawyers in PTI can avoid these petitions.

And finally this:  The market is rallying today after an up and down day Tuesday. Caution. Danger Will Robinson. This is a possible dead cat bounce. We like AVGO ahead of earnings. And will nibble at some others. But move slowly. This war business has a ling way to go until it is settled and there will be more ups and downs. 

MONDAY MARCH 2 2026 THOUGHTS

 Good Monday morning. We start a new week in the REGJB, with trials set, and the State announcing "victim wants max." 

However international events are intruding on everyone's thoughts. So let's dive in. 

Oil. There is plenty of oil in the world that has been delivered or is being delivered and is out of the Mid East. Oil companies however use any excuse to raise prices. Today we will see prices rise to the mid 70's a barrel, and we could see 100 a barrel in the future. But most of that will be a non-supply/demand response, with news driving the price. 

Iran. Iran has suffered under a religious theocracy for nearly fifty years. Women are beaten, degraded, and imprisoned for not following rules designed to make them second class citizens;  intellectuals are  scorned and prosecuted (and this doesn't just occur in Muslim religious theocracies, as the battle in Texas and Alabama to force the display of biblical quotes in public places continues unabated), and minorities like the LGBTQ community are persecuted and murdered. In recent months the Ayatollahs have ordered the wholesale murder of people protesting their regimes. The Iranian people, who have a long history of a brilliant and vibrant culture have suffered too long. The religious/criminal leaders need to go. While they led chants of death to America and death to Israel, they are facing their own elimination, and rightfully so. 

Financial Markets. We went to 60% cash last week, buying short ETFs QID and SQQQ which are up nicely this morning. But the horse is out of the barn on those, so do not buy them today. As you consider your portfolio remember Warren Buffet's first rule of investing- when people panic, be greedy, and when people are greedy, panic.  

If you have assets to deploy, here are our thoughts. Historically, markets have fallen about 1.1% on the first trading day of an international event similar to this one, and 4.4% over the two weeks following the event, and risen well over 10% in the two months following the end of the incident. We can expect those trends to continue. So today is not the day to buy, nor panic sell. There are issues unique to this event, as each event has unique possibilities. Here, the closing of the Straits of Hormuz for a longer period of time could inflict short term damage to world economies.  China is the wildcard here as they purchase about 80% of Iranian energy products that Iran exports. China's response is at this time not discernable. It would be extremely unlikely for China to provide military support to Iran. Rather, we expect them to watch the situation closely and quickly re-establish ties with whomever ends up leading Iran in the coming months. 

Any short-term Iranian military success will also cause a sharp drop in US equities. By that we mean the damage or sinking of a US naval vessel, or a more successful missile strike against US forces in the region than we have seen up to now.  More likely is that Iran will continue to target soft civilian targets of their neighbors, like they have recently done in attacking Dubai's airport (our all-time favourite airport). 

Many stocks will be attractive in the coming days, including the ETFs XLK, VOO and VOOG. 

We, of course love NVDA below 180, META below 650, APPL below 270, AVGO (Broadcom, which reports this week) below 350 (it's around 320 now. Because it reports this week, this will be our first buy, either late today or tomorrow), and TESLA below 400. 

TESLA is the most intriguing company. If you have been listening to Elon carefully, as we have, TESLA is transitioning from a car company to a robotics company where the market to sell or lease a personal robot is literally in the billions.  If you're a 30ish ASA/PD/Young lawyer, we would advise to start picking up a few shares every month, as well as buying an ETF with a large exposure to TESLA. If you're older, there is still a near-term horizon which could pay off nicely, as many analysts view 2028-2030 as the time frame when robotic sales will begin to show up in the company's financial reports. TESLA at 400 could be akin to NVDA at 50, or AMZN at 20. 

While it takes a significant amount of time, attention, and financial sophistication (like the ability to quicky read and comprehend a company's annual report or the 10K) to safely pick individual stocks (eliminating most of our robed readers) picking a good ETF with a great track record is a safer and easier way to make a smart investment. XLK, a tech ETF, has been our best performing ETF since 2020. Always keep an eye on the expense ratio. A price below .5 is a must. A good ratio is < .25% for a stock ETF and < .10% for a bond ETF.

Final thoughts. Regime change is hard. See, Iraq, 2000-2015. But sometimes it is needed. See Germany and Japan, 1930-1945. The leaders of Iran need to go. The Iranian people have waited too long for the world to step up to the plight. 

5 DAYS IN MAY- PROLOGUE

 May 24-28, 1940, London, were arguably the five most important days for Western Civilization. The decisions made by England's new Prime Minister- Winston Spencer Churchill -saved democracy and freedom from Nazi oppression. It is our intention to examine those days, at times hour by hour, drawing on a detailed history from multiple sources that we have spent a good deal of our life reading and studying. England from 1930-1945 is our passion, and the hours we have spent learning about the lives of those who lived in those times, and the decisions they made, has been our joy. So now that football is over, you can expect these posts on the weekends to come. Let's dive in. 

May 24, 1940. Winston Churchill has been Prime Minister for exactly fourteen days. On this Friday things never looked bleaker for England. The decisions Churchill and his war cabinet would make would not win World War II, but they would prevent Hitler from winning the war, as Germany was never closer to winning the war than on Friday, May 24. 

There are three prime characters we must study, and a fourth outside their orbit. You can think of this as a triangle of men, with one other hoovering outside the three interconnecting lines. Those men were Churchill, former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and Lord Edward Fredrick Lindley Wood Halifax, often referred to as the "Reverend Holy Fox" by Churchill behind Halifax's back. 

What we first must understand is that Halifax was the King's choice to replace Chamberlain when he resigned. But Halifax was not a member of Parliament. He was a member of the House of Lords, and as such, he could not appear in Parliament and lead Parliament as a Prime Minister.  When asked, Halifax deferred to Churchill being chosen, believing that he could be the power behind the throne. He was wrong. Churchill was always a step ahead of him. Or, as we will see, almost always. 

The fourth member of this triangle plus one was...surprisingly, Benito Mussolini. It was not, as you might expect, Hitler, although his actions, and inactions were crucial to Churchill's and England's success. 

The stage in Europe was bleak. France was nearly defeated. The Germans were marching on Paris. The British Expeditionary Force, over three hundred thousand men, were trapped and retreating to the French coast. England was facing the near total loss of her army. And there was more. 

King Leopold III, the monarch of Belgium, was about to surrender his army and country to the Germans. When France and Belgium fell, England would truly be standing alone. Europe would be lost under the grip of the "odious Nazi' regime", and without her army, only the RAF and the navy would be left to protect England from invasion. The United States was eighteen months away from entering the war. President Roosevelt did not trust Churchill, and was hesitant to extend himself, especially while facing re-election for an unprecedented third term. Churchill and Roosevelt would not form their close friendship and trust for more than two years hence, and in the interim, Roosevelt plotted to take England's navy and many of her overseas bases because he and his advisors did not think England would survive. 

Halifax moved steadily and stealthily, with the support of the King and a large contingent of the Conservative party, for a peace agreement with Hitler to be brokered by Mussolini, who had not yet brought Italy into the war. Some members of the Conservative Party (of whom Churchill was also a member) did not agree with seeking peace, nor did most of the Liberal Party, whose strong support was the only reason why Churchill was chosen as Prime Minister- making him a shaky, compromise PM. 

For reasons we will discuss later, regarding some disastrous decisions Churchill made in the First World War, Churchill was not trusted. He was thought to be impetuous, stubborn to a fault; an unstable alcoholic who was not fit to lead England at this dark hour. 

So we begin our study of these five days with Churchill being undermined by his own war cabinet, with shaky support at best from Parliament, facing the loss of France, Belgium, and England's army. 

As we will see, Hitler was never closer to winning World War II than on Friday May 24, 1940. What Churchill and England did and did not do, and what Hitler did not do, shaped future events and sealed Germany's fate in a way that could not been seen nor understood during that fateful weekend. Had England fallen, the world would have been a much different place for the rest of the 20th century. And facing the loss of her army, England was about to fall. 

But one man would not let that happen, and we will be examining in the days and weeks ahead on this blog his responses to the rapidly unfolding events during those five days in May, 1940, that would test him like no other leader has ever been tested. 

The man was about to meet the moment.  

SHAWN ABUHOFF & 31 OTHERS APPLY TO JNC .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM FOR OUR ADDENDUM REGARDING THE 3RD DCA.

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT JUDGE .....

The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida is entering a busy stretch following the expansion of the bench in Miami-Dade County.

In 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 2508 into law, creating four additional County Court seats and three additional Circuit Court seats. Last year, the Governor filled two of the County Court seats and one Circuit Court seat. The JNC is now tasked with interviewing applicants for the remaining two County Court and two Circuit Court vacancies.

THE APPLICANT POOL .....

The JNC received 32 applications, divided as follows:

10 applicants for County Court only

11 applicants for both County and Circuit Court

11 applicants for Circuit Court only

The Commission will conduct interviews on March 13 and may nominate up to 12 candidates for County Court and 12 for Circuit Court.

A NOTABLE APPLICANT: ASA Shawn Abuhoff .....

One name that immediately stands out is Assistant State Attorney Shawn Abuhoff (and not because he is listed first). Abuhoff has applied for a seat on the County Court.

Many in the legal community will recall the high-profile disputes in 2024 and 2025 between the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and members of the criminal defense bar. Abuhoff was at the center of one such controversy in the case of State v. Pratt.

In that case, the defendant was charged with second-degree murder and represented by Assistant Public Defenders Natalie Ender and Lauren Dawson. During the proceedings, the Public Defender’s Office filed a motion seeking Abuhoff’s removal, alleging that he attempted to intimidate a key witness. Specifically, Ender claimed that Abuhoff and a police officer appeared near the home of witness Bridet Lampley and banged on the window of a car in which she was seated.

The presiding judge, Judge Wolfson, denied the motion.

Shortly thereafter, Abuhoff filed a motion seeking to disqualify Ender and Dawson, Abuhoff wrote in his complaint as to Ender and Dawson that “Their actions of tampering with a witness have made them witnesses themselves and created conflicts that this court can not ignore,” His office also publicly announced that both attorneys were under criminal investigation and that it was “in the process” of determining whether charges would be filed.*

Judge Wolfson denied that motion as well.

*No charges were ever filed against either Ender or Dawson.

FACDL-MIAMI ENTERS THE FRAY .....

The dispute drew the attention of the local chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL-Miami), which alleged a broader pattern of prosecutorial misconduct.

FACDL cited several incidents, including the removal of ASA Michael Von Zamft from the case of State v. Corey Smith by Judge Wolfson. The organization also publicly commented on actions taken by the State Attorney’s Office in the murder prosecution of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney and the related charges against her parents.

Regarding the Ender and Dawson matter, FACDL’s Board of Directors issued a statement asserting that the State Attorney’s Office “continues to engage in a pattern of unethical misconduct” in cases where defense attorneys have “done nothing more than uphold their constitutional obligation and duty to defend their client.” The Board further criticized what it described as the unjustified public accusation of criminal conduct against defense counsel and their investigator.

The Miami Herald covered it in July of 2024 in two stories you can read here and here.

Here is a list of the 32 applicants:

COUNTY COURT ONLY

Shawn Abuhoff 
Yaneth Baez  
Johanna Benedi  
Madelin D’Arce** 
Kimberly Hillery 
Yvette Lavelle  
Gustavo Losa 
Marlin Muller  
Jeffrey Pierce  
Patricia Salman 

COUNTY & CIRCUIT COURT

Natalia Costea 
Yenly Dominguez  
Christian Dunham 
Aaron Feuer 
Scott Janowitz  
Jose Martinez 
Andrew McGinley 
Michelle Roth 
Monica Segura  
Alexander Shear 
Annette Strauch 

CIRCUIT COURT ONLY

(All are County Court Judges except for Mrs. Alvarez)

Destiny Goede Alvarez**
Rita Cuervo 
Miesha Darrough  
Elisabeth Espinosa  
Christopher Green  
Chiaka Ihekwaba  
Alicia Garcia Priovolos  
Jorge Perez Santiago 
Stephanie Silver 
Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 
Michelle Urbistondo  

**Destiny Goede Alvarez has been a member of The Florida Bar for five years (the minimum necessary to qualify to be a judge). She has two degrees from the University of Florida, she was President of Florida Blue Key, and she was inducted into their Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Federalist Society.

She was an Intern for Federal Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone; spent a year working in the DeSantis Administration for the Department of Transportation; was an Associate at Gray Robinson for two years (is there any law firm more connected to the DeSantis Administration?!); and she is currently is a Partner at Goede, DeBoest, & Cross (the Goede is John Goede - her father we surmise)

Another interesting note: Attorney Madelin D’Arce, who applied for County Court, is also a Partner at Goede, DeBoest, & Cross. 

THIRD DCA JNC

The 3rd DCA JNC has announced that they will be conducting interviews of seven applicants to replace Judge Kevin Emas, who is retiring from the bench on March 31. The applicants are:

Jeffrey DeSousa

Judge Javier Enriquez

Judge Spencer Multack***

Judge Joseph Perkins

Judge Thomas Rebull

Thomas Ward

Judge Robert Watson

Interviews will take place on March 17, and the JNC will nominate up to six of the seven applicants to the Governor's office.

***Judge Multack could have an uphill battle to get the call from Gov. DeSantis. Multack sits in Family Court and, until last week, sat over a paternity case between Arlene Delgado and Jason Miller. The case has already gone through nine judges, and, at one point in the litigation, Delgado moved to recuse Multack from the case, arguing that he was biased for Miller. But recently, Miller decided he didn't like Multack either. 

Miller, according to a post from Above The Law, was all set to be the White House communications director for the first Trump administration when news circulated that he’d had an affair with fellow campaign staffer, Arlene “AJ” Delgado. Delgado has a 7-year-old son that she contends belongs to Miller. 

Last week, Miller went onto X (formerly Twitter) and tweeted (is that still a word), 

"I am actively opposing Florida Judge Spencer Multack's application to get a promotion to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, and I will be activating EVERYONE I know and EVERY resource I have to stop his bid". 

Multack recused himself four hours later. You can read the story from Above The Law here. Florida Bulldog covered it here.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

SNOWDAY

 Good morning. Monday is a rare snow day for NYC public schools as nor'easter blizzard slams the eastern seaboard. 

Here in South Florida the nation holds its collective breath as we struggle with temps that are dipping into the low 60s-high 50's. But we are resilient. 

People who don't know a blue line from a blue moon are celebrating the USA Hockey Team's overtime gold medal win over Canada. If you were watching the game Sunday morning, that group of fans arriving late in the third period with American flags draped over them was the Miami contingent. 

Stocks are mostly flat in pre-morning activity as the world digests the new tantrum-tariffs and China announced the awarding of their nation's highest medal (The People's Hunter-Biden Laptop Medal) to Justices Roberts, Gorsuch and Coney-Barrett for service to the People above and beyond the call of duty.  

Next up on the High Court's docket- the decision on whether the President can lawfully order the deportation of  Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to South Sudan; whether the president can rename the Washington Monument, the Library Of Congress, Central Park and the Grand Canyon after himself; and whether the president can force Greenland to reimburse the tariffs the US illegally collected? 

Miami Practice Tip Reminder: Include those certifications about whether you've used AI or not in your pleadings. Query: does this apply to the SAO's discovery responses? And if they don't include the certification can you move to strike their witness list? 

OT

 The Canada -USA gold medal hockey match just went into overtime at 1-1 as we write this. Sorta pulling for Canada as our wonderful neighbors to the North have endured so much BS from us, they deserve this win as a feel-good experience for a great nation that is North America's new bastion of Democracy and liberty. Plus their Jersey's are much cooler. Sign us up for one. 

Knicks had a great come from behind win at the Garden last night over the Rockets. Getting ready for playoff basketball. '

Speaking of New York. Bundle up and settle down with a hot soup and good book. A 24 hour nor-easter is set to hit today- a massive blizzard with up to two feet of snow and 50+ MPH winds that will create 5 and 6 foot snow drifts. 

Here is Washington Square Park after the great 47 blizzard.

And here is Wall Street after the 1888 Blizzard. 

Back then there was much less available on Netflix and Hulu. Times have changed.

Our prescription for a blizzard day: 1 whole chicken; a whole diced onion; whole diced apple; 4-5 carrots thickly chopped; whole plum tomato diced; place all in a slow cooker for four hours; add Italian spice mix or Goya Sazon. When done, roughly shred chicken with two forks, keeping in bones for flavor. Cook your fav noodles in a sperate pot adding a 1/4 cup of broth for flavour. 

Pick an old favourite book to re-read. Something like 11/22/63 by Stephen King.   Or The Alieniest by Caleb Carr.; or The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders. 

Mr. Sanders has passed away, but his First Deadly Sin is the classic NYC serial killer novel. We first read it when it was serialized in the NY Daily News in 1977 because it had been published just before the Son of Sam murders and there was some thought the killer had read the novel. Although he was already an established author, The First Deadly Sin propelled Sanders to superstar-best-seller status, and this novel is worth all the hype. His characters are great- and Edward X. Delaney, the NY Captain who hunts down the killer outside the NYPD bureaucracy which was beset by local politics, is a great hero. Well written, accurate as to NYC and NYPD, and totally suspenseful. We just talked ourselves into re-reading it today. 

Enjoy your Sunday. AND LITERALLY AS WE WROTE THIS- The USA scored and the USA wins the Gold!

Jack Hughes of the NJ Devils scored 1:42 into OT. Outshot 42-28 by Canada, the 2026 USA team joins the 1960 Squaw Valley and 1980 Miracle On Ice teams as the only US team to win Olympic Gold.  

THE GREATEST

 There are many things that are given the apparition The Greatest. This, readers, as spring training games begin in baseball for the 2026 season, is simply the greatest home run of all time. 

It's the bottom of the 9th- game seven, 1960 world series. It is tied 9-9 as the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates come to bat. It is October 13, and the clock in Forbes Field has just ticked to 3:36 PM. The greatest game in baseball history is about to experience the greatest ending. 

Ralph Terry is on the mound for the Yankees. Second baseman Bill Mazeroski comes to bat. He is an exceptional fielder. Nobody turned the double play better. He is not a power hitter. He will end his career with 138 home runs and a .260 batting average. 

The Yankees were baseball's powerhouse. The Pirates had great pitching, great fielding, a few power hitters and a budding superstar with a gun for an arm in right field named Roberto Walker Clemente. 

By game seven the Pirates had won three games with the scores of 6-4; 3-2; and 5-2. The Yankees had blown out the Pirates in their three wins 16-3; 10-0; and 12-0. Game seven was a classic see-saw battle with strange things occurring like a pebble from a ground ball from Bill Virdon hitting Yankee shortstop Tony Kubeck in the throat allowing the Pirates, who were behind 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning to avoid a double play and go on to take the lead 9-7. The Yankees tied the game in the top of the ninth, and thus Maz walked to the plate in the bottom of the ninth about to make history. 

 

Bill Mazeroski, Hall of Famer, and who hit the greatest home run in baseball history, died yesterday. He once said he thought about the home run every day of his life. Rest In Peace. 

V-M=-C

UPDATE The Chinese-Venezuelan-Hunter Biden Laptop-Clinton Supreme Court (not our name, but the nomenclature used by Maga drones) has STRUCK DOWN most of the president's authority to impose tariff's based on countries that did not support his nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Justice Roberts, along with Gorsuch and Coney were in the majority. Roberts wrote the opinion. Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas in dissent which we will summarize: "Today we strike down an act of the President, something we promised not to do at our last federalist society meeting. If the court cannot keep it's word, the public will lose confidence in our ability to roll over when the president holds out a biscuit and orders us to do so."  

Local effects; 1) A local lawyer "no pago esa tarriffs" has announced the first lawsuit to recover tariffs paid by consumers.  Check your local bus bench. 133 billion is at stake to be returned and law firms everywhere have their calculators out "hmmmm 1/3 of a billion is....and multiply that by 133 is ...$$$$). 

2) The eleventh judicial circuit (Miami-Dade) has issued an order to all Miami judges to NOT apply the decision of the Supreme Court as the court did not comply with the requirement to include the certification that no part of this decision was written by AI. The effects on the Homestead Branch Court (all tariff litigation all the time) is unknown but worrisome. 

Markets have digested the decision without much movement downward. Upcoming: The President State of the Union is scheduled- the White House is busy UNINVITING six Supreme Court Justices. 

 We have some Friday math coming. But at the moment at 9:50 am we are monitoring the Supreme Court to see if the Tariffs opinion will be released.  It is going to be a temporary market mover any way the decision goes. 

SUSPENDED LICENSE?

 If you managed to habla ingles at the DMV and get a Florida DL, and later get a ticket from Officer Friendly and toss it in the pile of detritus on the floor of your Carolla, joining the empty Taco Bell bags and MAGA rally flyers- then as sure as the sun rises in the east and as sure as you can get arroz con pollo on any street corner in Hialeah, your license will be SUSPENDED. 

Then, the next time Officer Friendly stops you as you're speeding away from a Pro-ICE rally blasting Twisted Sister's anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It", now you got a problem- driving on a suspended license. Maybe you get taken to TGK, maybe not. But you have a criminal case and need a criminal defense attorney. You call Mr. Markus but decide not to hire a lawyer who works on top of a garage, and so you end up with the guy on the bus bench telling you to not pay that ticket " No Pagues esa  ticket" 

For years Miami has, as surprising as this may seem, been most reasonable on suspended license cases. Show up with a valid DL and the case gets dismissed. Such a deal. Judges throughout Florida scorn our liberal judges who don't sentence these criminals to at least 60 days on a first offense.  

Are changes afoot in Miami? Not really, but there are some adjustments being made to the process. 

The Komissar Of Kounty Court ( (c) Justice Building Blog 2026 all rights reserved) has instituted a new procedure if you get a DWLS or NVDL and are eligible to get a valid license. 

1. File a waiver of speedy trial. 

2. Have the case set for report, not trial. 

3. Show up with a good DL. 

The reasoning, which is actually understandable, is the State doesn't want to have to issue subpoenas, and pay officers to show up in court for trial when the officers could be out writing tickets. 

So follow the rules and get your case dismissed. 

And now coming at you, you're angry, you're upset, so are we all....Twisted Sister and We're Not Gonna Take It on 66 WNBC...

GOVERNOR DESANTIS: REMOVE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL UTHMEIER .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

In 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis stated:

“If a prosecutor wants to ‘reform’ the criminal justice system, then the appropriate thing to do is resign from office and run for the Legislature on such a platform.’’ 

Today, those words demand consistency.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE CALLS ON GOVERNOR DESANTIS TO REMOVE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES UTHMEIER .....

On May 23, 2024, Jaylen Eubanks was arrested in Broward County and charged with Carrying a Concealed Firearm and Improper Exhibition of a Dangerous Weapon (Case No. 24-5748-CF-10-A). At the time of his arrest, Eubanks was 18 years old.

His counsel, Assistant Public Defender Thomas Cottone, filed a Motion to Dismiss the concealed firearm charge, arguing that Florida Statute 790.01(3) is unconstitutional. While Florida law permits concealed carry without a permit for individuals 21 and older as of July 1, 2023, it continues to prohibit concealed carry by those under 21.

Broward Circuit Court Judge Lorena Mastrarrigo denied the motion. Eubanks subsequently entered a no-contest plea, expressly reserving his right to appeal.

The case is now pending before the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Case No. 4D2025-1698). The Public Defender’s Office filed its Initial Brief. On February 6, 2026, under the direction of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey DeSousa filed the State’s Answer Brief.

In that filing, the State concedes that the conviction for carrying a concealed firearm should be reversed.

Attorney General Uthmeier has maintained that the State should not prosecute firearm cases involving 18-to-20-year-olds because, in his view, the statute is unconstitutional. In effect, the chief legal officer of Florida has chosen not to defend a duly enacted law of this State.

HAROLD PRYOR V. JAMES UTHMEIER: STEEL CAGE MATCH .....

In a highly unusual move, just three days later, the Broward State Attorney’s Office—led by Harold F. Pryor—filed a Motion for Leave to File an Amicus Brief.

State Attorney Pryor argues that prosecutors are constitutionally obligated to enforce the laws as written unless and until those laws are declared unconstitutional by the courts. To selectively decline enforcement based on personal constitutional interpretation, he contends, places an official above the law and neglects the duty of office.

In his Motion, Pryor emphasized:

     “Statutes are presumed to be constitutional and must be construed whenever possible to effect a constitutional outcome." 

The Motion went on to state that “the concession by the Solicitor General on this point deprives this Court from conducting the review  of the finding of the trial court, contrary to the wishes of the people of the State of Florida."

On February 17, the 4th DCA GRANTED Pryor’s Motion to file an Amicus Brief.

DESANTIS’ HISTORY OF REMOVING ELECTED OFFICIALS FOR NEGLECT OF DUTY.....

The Florida Constitution authorizes the governor to suspend local government officials for:

   “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform the member’s official duties, or commission of a felony."

In 2022, DeSantis removed Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for "Neglect of Duty", after Warren pledged not to prosecute abortion-related cases. When the governor removed Warren from office, he accused Warren of "putting himself publicly above the law" by pledging not to enforce laws that criminalize abortion and prohibit gender-affirming care for minors.”

At the time, DeSantis stated: “If a prosecutor wants to ‘reform’ the criminal justice system, then the appropriate thing to do is resign from office and run for the Legislature on such a platform.’’

In 2023, DeSantis removed Ninth Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell for Neglect of Duty, citing a pattern of policies that allegedly failed to hold criminals accountable. At the time of her removal, DeSantis stated: "Worrell’s practices and policies have too often allowed violent criminals to escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct."

A QUESTION OF CONSISTENCY

The issue now is straightforward:

If a state attorney’s refusal to enforce a law constitutes “neglect of duty,” what is the standard for the Attorney General of Florida?

If the Attorney General believes a statute is unconstitutional, the appropriate course is to seek legislative reform or await judicial invalidation — not to decline defense of the law based on personal constitutional interpretation.

Governor DeSantis has set the standard.

The question is whether he will apply it uniformly.

What was “putting oneself above the law” in 2022 cannot become “principled discretion” in 2026.

If the Governor intends to remain consistent with his stated principles, then the same measure he applied to others must now be considered here.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

GRRR

 Here are the things bothering us today. 

Having to use Authenticator for logging on to CMECF. Thank You Putin. 

The never ending same commercials on all of our Sirius Radio channels including that very annoying guy who get's you out of your time share. If you were stupid enough to buy a time share suffer the consequences, especially since now we all have to listen to this annoying guy over and over and over again. 

Speaking of which, the sob stories by two people- one lost her husband, the second his father, and both them are urging us to buy life insurance. Sorry for your loss, but we are so done with hearing about your tragedies that, trust us, if we needed to buy more life insurance, we would not use that company that you are both shilling for hundreds of times a day. STOP IT. 

Valentines Day.

And St Patrick's day. And Easter. And mother's day. And father's day. And grandparent's day.  These holidays have all been coopted by the card companies to get you to buy cards, flowers, chocolate and beer (well, the beer is okay, but not the rest). 

Curling. These people are not athletes. They are regular Joes and Janes with skates and a broom. Jesse Owens they are not.  Stop calling it a sport. No one says "hey what are you doing today? Want to play golf?" "No, I'm curling." That never happens. Ever. 

Tenting our laptop when entering federal court. What does that prove? Nothing. NOTH>>>ING. Stop. Just run it through the machine. 

Have we mentioned how much we despise that guy who gets you out of your time share? Oh yeah. Well, it bears repeating. 

SIX DEGREES

It's time to play Six Degrees of Jeffrey Epstein!!! 

(Announcer) Jack Lang! Come on down and play six degrees of Jeffrey Epstein! 

Emcee: You were France's cultural minister when your family had financial dealings with JE.  Johnny, tell our contestant what he has won.

Announcer: You will be resigning from your current position as head of the Arab World Institute which you have headed since 2013. (Who knew the Arab World had an institute?). And you will be CANCELED and are currently facing at 86 a criminal investigation. 

Our next contestant, Mona Juul, come on down and play six degrees of Jeffrey Epstein! 

Emcee: You were Norway's ambassador to Jordan and Iraq when it was revealed that your husband had financial dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. Johnny, tell our contestant what she has won.

Announcer: You are being forced to resign and quit any participation in Norway politics. You and your husband are now being investigated for criminal wrongdoings. 

Moroslav Lajcak come on down and play six degrees of Jeffrey Epstein! 

Emcee: You were the national security advisor to Slovakia's prime minister when you exchanged emails with Jeffrey Epstein about young girls. Johnny, tell our contestant what he has won.

Announcer: You have been forced to resign and are being ostracized in your home country. 

Peter Mandelson come on down come on down and play six degrees of Jeffrey Epstein! 

Emcee: Peter you were a long-time fixture in British politics and were ending your stellar career with an appointment by current PM Keir Starmer as His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States where weekly parties and high-end dinners and socializing with the top politcos in DC was in your future. Johnny, tell our contestant what he has won. 

Announcer: You have been forced to resign and end your career in shame. 

And finally, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor come on down and play six degrees of Jeffrey Epstein! 

Emcee: Andrew MW, your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has cost you all your English Titles, a Lordship, several peerages, your home, all of your honorary military titles, and you are now an ostracized figure upon whom scorn is heaped by your fellow countrymen. You have been exiled to a rundown farmhouse where most of the servants that are employed as caretakers have refused to work there if you are living there. 

And that is today's edition of Six Degrees of Separation with Jeffrey Epstein. Don't miss our special upcoming editions where former President Clinton and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be testifying before congress about their encounters with Jeffrey Epstein including the former president's trip to Africa on Air-Epstein. 

OLA!

 We are old enough to remember the   English Only crusade that tore into the Magic City in the early 1980's. Indeed, there is now a play about it-  called English Only by Nicholas Griffin, author of the definitive account of the drug wars and Mariel Boat lift- The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980. 

We thought those days were behind us. We learned enough Spanish to order meals, ask for more beer and the check, and accepted Miami as the international city it had become. 

And now comes this: 

So, here we go again???

Cue Jaws theme: Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the DMV... 

But wait! There's more!! 

While the Florida DMV is English Only, the Super Bowl halftime show was Spanish only courtesy of the Bad Bunny.  That must have gotten the attention of the DEI hatein' maga drones in Tallahassee and DC. 

We nailed the coin toss, Seattle -4.5 and the under 45.5 (barely) and overall had a very good $uper Bowl. See ya in 2027 (maybe). 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY PART DOS

Update: We once again correctly predicted the coin toss. Heads. We were a bit concerned about Joe Montana's shoulder, as we intimated in the prior post. But when we saw him grip it and rip it, and we saw the rotation on the coin and the height, we knew we had it locked in on heads. 

Now if only our other picks can pay off, we can open an Opus One in the fourth quarter with out chili. 

Defense wins championships. Full stop. Steelers. Bears. Ravens. Giants. Very good to great defenses win championships. Seattle has a very very good and complete defense. Seattle will win the game. They are an exceptionally well balanced and well coached team. What worries us is the -4.5. We Seattle up 31-21 going into the last two minutes of the game and now you can get a Patriots back-door cover with a TD and the final score 31-28 or 29 and you lose having given -4.5. So be careful. Check out our chart below. Seattle is 7-3 vs Patriots in the last ten games. But what jumps out even more is that 7 games were decided by 4 points or less. Youch, 

Even though we predicted the score above, we are leaning towards the under 45.5. Everyone loves the over. It's more fun to root for an exciting game full of scores. But the stat of the day: Drake Maye has been sacked 15 times in the post season. 15. Count em. Seattle can go up 24-10 and run the rock and hold the Patriots off. If over hits, it will be late in the fourth quarter, which makes the line fun to bet either way. 

What can go wrong? 

Darnold can melt down. Unlikely, but always possible.  It is more likely that Maye gets rattled with a strip sack and a few INTs. 

Don't count out NE's D. It is nearly as good as Seattle's. So that brings the game back to QBs, who makes a mistake, and whether Jaxson Smith-Njigba goes off. And if the Patriots manage to do something nearly no other team has done and shuts down JSN, then Cooper Kupp, the aging WR vet will step up. If you have some extra money, throwing some on Kupp to catch a TD (+260) and over 36.5 yards in receptions (-115) is not a bad bet to keep you interested between the buffalo cauliflower dip and the chicken wings. 

     SEAHAWKS V, PATRIOTS (LAST TEN MEETINGS) 

Date	Winner	Score	Venue
Sep 15, 2024	Seattle	23–20 (OT)	Gillette Stadium
Sep 20, 2020	Seattle	35–30	Lumen Field
Nov 13, 2016	Seattle	31–24	Gillette Stadium
Feb 1, 2015	New England	28–24    Super Bowl XLIX	Phoenix
Oct 14, 2012	Seattle	24–23	CenturyLink Field
Dec 7, 2008	New England	24–21	Qwest Field
Oct 17, 2004	New England	30–20	Gillette Stadium
Oct 24, 1993	Seattle	10–9	Kingdome
Sep 19, 1993	Seattle	17–14	Foxboro Stadium
Sep 20, 1992	Seattle	10–6	Foxboro Stadium