Source: USA Today

Trump candidate loses Nebraska GOP primary after allegations of sexual misconduct

David Jackson
USA TODAY

11:29 p.m. ET May 10, 2022

WASHINGTON – Charles Herbster, a Donald Trump-endorsed businessman who has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct, lost his bid to be the GOP's nominee for Nebraska governor in the state's Republican primary on Tuesday.

University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen was the winner of the gubernatorial primary, according to the Associated Press, just ahead of Herbster and state senator Brett Lindstrom.

Herbster could not overcome the many misconduct allegations lodged against him, despite his denials.

Eight women, including a state senator, told the Nebraska Examiner during the campaign that Herbster had groped, forcibly kissed or improperly touched them at public events over the past six years.



Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/05/10/nebraska-primary-results/9710268002/

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Poor thing.

Source: Bloomberg


Radio Silence on Russia Debt Payments Keeps Default Risk in Play

Thursday marks the start of 30-day grace period for settlement
Russia warns without access to dollars, it’ll pay in rubles

By

Maria Elena Vizcaino, Irene Garcia Perez, and Giulia Morpurgo

March 16, 2022, 5:40 AM CDT

Updated on March 16, 2022, 5:38 PM CDT

As the deadline for coupon payments on Russia’s dollar bonds drew to a close Wednesday, there were no signs that holders of the debt had received their cash.

Bondholders in Europe and one in the U.S. said they hadn’t received cash in dollars at the close of business in their respective countries, and weren’t aware if payments were made in either the greenback or rubles into accounts in Russia. They declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The $117 million interest on the two bonds was expected to be settled before the end of the day in New York.

Starting Thursday, the nation has a grace period of 30 days to pay off the coupons in dollars before creditors can determine a default has occurred. If that happens, it will be the nation’s first on foreign-currency bonds since the Bolsheviks refused to service or recognize the czar’s debts over a century ago. In 1998, Russia defaulted on local-currency debt and declared a moratorium on payments for its foreign-currency bonds.

How the nation handles the coupon payments is a critical indicator of the way it intends to manage its relationship with global investors in the future. Not only has it seen its ties with business and political partners disintegrate in the weeks since its invasion of Ukraine, it has also lost its investment-grade ratings and become the world’s most-sanctioned nation.



Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/russia-s-watershed-moment-for-bonds-is-a-117-million-payment

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I wonder how this fits with CNN reporting that Russia said they had "ordered" the payments to be "sent".

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216492622


The check is in the mail?

Source: NBC News

Two GOP senators share photos of Zelenskyy during call after being asked not to by Ukraine

Senators and House members on a call with the Ukrainian president were asked to not tweet or post pictures of the call while it was in progress, multiple aides told NBC News.

March 5, 2022, 1:20 PM CST
By Haley Talbot, Julie Tsirkin and Nicole Acevedo

Two Republican senators are facing criticism after tweeting photos of a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even though participating lawmakers were told to not share pictures on social media while it was in progress.

Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Steve Daines of Montana posted pictures of Zelenskyy on their Twitter accounts during the Zoom meeting Saturday morning, writing that they were on a call with him.

Democratic Reps. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Jason Crow of Colorado criticized the senators on Twitter.

Phillips noted that the "Ukrainian ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the Zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy."




Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rubio-daines-share-photos-zelenskyy-call-asked-not-ukraine-rcna18841

Safe in my garden,
An ancient flower blooms.
And the scent from its nature
Slowly squares my room;
And its perfume being such
that it's causing me to swoon.
Could it be we were hot-wired
(Safe in my garden, an ancient flower blooms...)
Late one night while very tired?
They stole our minds and thought we'd never know it.
(And the scent from its nature slowly squares my room...)
With a bottle in each hand; too late to try to understand.
We don't care where it lands - we just throw it.

Somebody take us away...
Somebody take us away...

Safe in my garden,
(Could it be we were hot-wired late one night while very tired...)
An ancient flower blooms.
(They stole our minds and thought we'd never know it...)
And the scent from its nature
(With a bottle in each hand; too late to try to understand...)
Slowly squares my room.
(We don't care where it lands - we just throw it...)

(Somebody take us away...)
And it's perfume being such
That it's causing me to swoon.

When you go out in the street, (Safe in our garden...)
So many hassles with the heat;
No one there can fill your desire. (And the scent...)
Cops out with the megaphones,
Telling people stay inside their home.
Man, can't they see the world's on fire?

Somebody take us away...take us away...

Safe in our garden,
An ancient flower blooms.
And the scent from its nature...
(Cops out with the megaphones;
Tellin' people stay inside their homes.)
Man, the world's on fire.)
Slowly squares my room.

Take us away...take us away...

Source: NPR




The New York Times buys Wordle

January 31, 20225:50 PM ET

Rina Torchinsky

The New York Times has acquired Wordle, a simple word guessing game, for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures, the newspaper announced Monday.

The game, created by Josh Wardle, will initially continue to be free to play.

Wordle, which was released in October 2021, is a daily word puzzle that has soared in popularity, amassing millions of daily players within months.

To play the game, players have six tries to guess a five-letter word. Many users choose to share their results — a grid of green, yellow and black boxes — on social media.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/31/1077089945/the-new-york-times-buys-wordle

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Play it while it's in the wild.

Source: CNN

Exclusive: Trump advisers drafted more than one executive order to seize voting machines, sources tell CNN

By Zachary Cohen and Paula Reid, CNN

Updated 8:22 PM ET, Mon January 31, 2022

Reporter calls Trump WH draft executive order 'fictional thriller'

(CNN) Former President Donald Trump's advisers drafted two versions of an executive order to seize voting machines -- one directing the Department of Defense to do so and another the Department of Homeland Security -- as part of a broader effort to undermine the 2020 election results, multiple sources tell CNN.
The idea of using the federal government to access voting machines in states that Trump lost was the brainchild of retired Col. Phil Waldron and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, the sources said. Both Army veterans spread misinformation about the election being stolen from Trump.
While advisers publicly floated the idea at the time, revelations that two draft executive orders were actually drawn up for different agencies to carry out the job underscores the extent to which the former President's allies wanted to weaponize the powers of his lame-duck administration to overturn the election.

Any operation for the military or federal agents to seize voting equipment for political purposes would have been unprecedented in US history.





Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/politics/trump-executive-orders-seize-voting-machines/index.html

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1487299164983726080

southpaw @nycsouthpaw

Seems like the Durham investigation filed an admission of a major fuckup around midnight on a Friday during a snowstorm.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1487295147343810563/QzbEOhpB?format=jpg&name=900x900