09/08/23

Good morning! It’s Friday, September 8th.

Actors’ Day!

Not quite sure why, but this is a great time to remind you that the actors and writers are still on strike. This could all be over in an instant if the studios, who will lose less than a percent of the annual net worth, would just get over themselves and come to the table with real negotiations. Instead they’re prolonging a strike that is costing millions of dollars and endangering the careers of not just the writers and actors, but everyone else who depends on this silly, fun, and enriching industry to be able to pay their bills.

Anyway, this show is pro-actor. Pro-union. And pro-union solidarity all day every day baybee.

And now, the news.

Hurricane Lee

-via CNN

Let’s start with Hurricane Lee, the now Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130mph. It is expected to strengthen overnight, meaning by the time you hear this, it could be up to a Category 5 as it approaches the eastern Caribbean.

It’s too early to tell if it will directly impact the US mainland – we’re still about a week out from knowing whether it’ll get close to the East Coast.

Trapped American Explorer

-via AP News

Mark Dickey, an American explorer, is currently stuck in a Turkish cave almost 3,000 feet below the entrance, with a stomach illness of some sort. A Turkish doctor was able to get down to him and treat his stomach, though they say he is not healed.

While rescuers are on the way, they say it still could be days or weeks before he’s able to get out of the save since a stretcher won’t fit in some of the narrow spaces.

So, this’ll be in the news for a while. Here’s hoping he stays on the mend in the meantime.

Masterson Guilty

-via AP News

Danny Masterson, the one-time actor and full-time creep, has been sentenced with thirty years to life in prison after being found guilty of raping two women. He was charged with raping three women, including a long-time girlfriend but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on that third count.

His sentence is the maximum allowed, which means he will not be up for parole until he’s served 25 ½ years. And then, if justice continues, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

May he live long and miserably.

Trump v E. Jean Carroll

-via CNN

On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that Trump is, once again, liable in the second E. Jean Carroll defamation case. The defamation case was then allowed to be amended as to include the comments Trump made at CNN town hall that happened right after he was found liable of sexual assault and defamation. He continued to defame Carroll at the town hall.

A January trial will determine how much he owes.

Trump Crime Update Time

-via NBC News and NY Times (Jim Jordan), NPR (Georgia Jurors), AP News (Pete Navarro)

And finally…

Trump Crime Update Time

(That gang’s all here!, edition)

Lots of news about various crimes Trump and the people he surrounds himself with that tell themselves they’re friends with Trump, which is course isn’t possible because he’s not capable of friendship. But still, for some reason people chose to spend time around Trump (will never understand that vibe), and then made the decision to commit crimes in service of this dude. All because he lost the election and then had big feelings about it and decided he didn’t want to move back to Florida.

That’s right, this one’s all about the various Election Stealing Crimes Case – both nationally and in Georgia.

Let’s start with the January 6th Election Stealing Crimes Case.

Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro was found guilty of contempt of Congress on Thursday, after he refused to comply with a House January 6th Committee subpoena. He is the second advisor to face these charges. The first was Steve Bannon, who was sentenced to four months in prison (but is currently free pending appeal).

Navarro promoted the absolutely did not happen lie of fraud by voters and obviously intends to appeal.

Now let’s move on to the Georgia Stealing Crimes Case, where Fulton County prosecutors want a judge to restrict defendants, the media and anyone else from publicizing the identities of future jurors. The motion was filed on Wednesday, with DA Fani Willis writing that while it is typical for Georgia jurors to have their names made public, this special case calls for privacy so no one is doxed. So we’ll see what happens there.

And staying in Georgia… Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, announced last month, after the Georgia RICO charges were announced, that he’d be investigating whether this was politically motivated.

On Thursday, DA Willis accused Jimmy Jords of obstruction of prosecution in a letter she sent to Jords. It’s a pretty sick letter, which includes encouraging him read a book about RICO charges saying, “As a non-member of the bar, you can purchase a copy for two hundred forty-nine dollars.”

Sick burn.

Most telling though is this line: “Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution. The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.”

Then bouncing off that… despite their attempts to burn democracy to the ground after Trump factually lost the election, he did eventually have to leave. And when he left, he stole some of our nation’s most top secrets documents with him.

So let’s move on to the Illegal Dibs Calling Crimes Case, but stay with Jimmy Jords, who, in addition to wasting his time, and your money, investigating Willis, is also demanding documents from the Department of Justice after Stanley Woodward, the lawyer representing Walt Nauta, who was charged with Trump in the Dibs Calling, alleged that a key prosecutor of Jack Smith’ tried to pressure him inappropriately by trying to convince Woodward that Nauta lied.

As a reminder, Jim Jordan was a college wrestling coach who ignored his athletes who came to him and told him they were being sexually assaulted by the team doctor. As I’ve said before – that’s not a part of this story but should be a part of every story covering Jim Jordan.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

That Trump Crime Update Time was a real ride huh? Lots of crimes to cover!

I’m proud of… actors! NOT Danny Masterson. He’s a trash human who doesn’t count. But the actors out there on the picket lines with the writers, all of which are just trying to get a fair wage and ensure our industry has a future. It’s hot and scary and it’s been a long summer, but they’re not giving in. And I’m proud of them.

But more than ampersands, because it’s also national ampersands day… because you’re also fancy – I’m proud of you.