Tag archive: Nemesis

trump FBI waving

And So It Begins: DJT & the FBI

On Monday, 8 August 2022, FBI agents executed a legal search warrant of former US president Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, looking for classified documents still in his possession.  When leaving the White House in January 2021, Trump absconded with reams of classified material, in violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, and the National Archives has been trying to get them back ever since.  In February, 15 boxes of such papers were returned, but investigators had cause to believe this was not the extent of the purloined trove, and a legal pas-de-deux had been danced between the Justice Department and Trump lawyers for months since, with negotiations and subpoenas having little effect.

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Fore! The Sad Final Resting Place of Ivana Trump

She was once the toast of Manhattan society, but the recently deceased Ivana Trump, ex-wife of the former president, now rests in her gold-tone casket at a barely marked plot overlooking the first hole at her former husband’s Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Why?  The tax break, of course!  The Donald (a nickname given to Trump by his erstwhile wife, and which stuck) never saw a write-off he didn’t like, or fail to grasp a grift.  In burying Ivana at Bedminster, the property now qualifies as a cemetery, bringing tax relief galore.  New Jersey’s tax code exempts all cemetery land from all taxes, rates, and assessments, and includes no minimum on occupancy, so one human remain would suffice (though allegedly plans are in the works to dump the entire family there in due “course”).  For now, Ivana’s grave is graced with a simple plaque bearing just her name, and the dates of her birth and death.

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Into the Heavens & Under the Sea: The Dual Passing of Nichelle Nichols and Pat Carroll

On Saturday, 30 July 2022, two actresses whose work is embedded in American nostalgia took leave of this life:  Nichelle Nichols, 89, who played Lieutenant Uhura on the 1960’s sci-fi series “Star Trek”, reprising the role in several feature films; and Pat Carroll, 95, a staple of television for decades with supporting and guest roles on sitcoms and game shows, most likely known to more modern audiences as the voice of Ursula in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”

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Kentucky Rain Keeps Pouring Down

Torrential rains drenching eastern Kentucky in late July led to massive flooding on July 28, 2022, particularly of isolated rural communities in the poorest areas of Appalachia, where rivers and creeks swelled to overflow their banks by as much as 20 feet, filling the hollows and washing away some homes and businesses, inundating others in feet of standing water.  Hardest-hit areas received 8-10 inches of rainfall within 48 hours.  As of this writing (July 31) 26 are dead and dozens more still missing, while continued rain forecasts imperil search efforts and threaten to exacerbate an already tragic situation.  Among the dead are four young siblings from Montgomery, Kentucky:  Maddison, Riley, Nevaeh and Chance Noble, aged 2 to 8, torn from their parent’s arms by the current’s grip as the family’s mobile home was swept away.

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The Independence Day Parade Shooting

Highland Park is an Illinois North Shore suburb which, though just 25 miles from downtown Chicago, has always retained a small-town feel, with an ethnically mixed, middle-class population of about 30,000.  The annual Independence Day parade has been a feature of the civic calendar for decades, drawing crowds of families to watch the typical summer parade staples of high school marching bands, gleaming red firetrucks, floats and local dignitaries, complete with candy and prizes for the kiddies.

But on July 4, 2022, this peaceful bit of nostalgic Americana was invaded by a 21st Century reality check, as a lone gunman fired multiple rounds into the unsuspecting crowds from a rooftop perch along the parade route.  Pandemonium ensued, with panicked people scattering in all directions, leaving behind lawn chairs, strollers, picnic lunches and bikes.

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Have Gunn, Will Gavel

Proving it has its finger firmly on the pulse of the corpse of America, the US Supreme Court on June 23 ruled that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, effectively upping the ante on concealed carry legislation that is sweeping the nation.  This in the wake of recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, with more than two-thirds of Americans polled supporting tougher gun regulation.  For more than a century, New York has had a gun safety law that bars the concealed carry of a firearm without a permit and requires good cause to obtain the permit; the conservative supermajority on the SCOTUS struck it down 6-3, ruling for the plaintiff in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.  The case was the first the SCOTUS had weighed in on Second Amendment issues since 2010.

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