Trump & the US Legal System

 .

This last few years stateside has seen (for those interested) a remarkable cacophony of legal cases featuring The Donald. 

I daresay these cases have really dominated the media world . 

And that means that the media have had the job of reporting on, and explaining legal stuff to their audiences.

Interestingly these cases are not the regular kind. They are complex. They are relatively novel. And for sure they are of high stakes.

The reporting is exposing large segments of the  public, both literate and illiterate, to the intricacies and delicacies and the US legal system.

Most in the audience are eager to earn The (final) Verdicts.
There is little comfort in saying The Matter is still before the Courts.

Allegations are one thing. Investigations another. Indictments yet another. Trial decisions will result but are not necessarily final. The appeal process itself is notoriously complex and varied by jurisdiction and other factors.

And one thing we are all learning in this circus, is that working through the legal system can take quite a long time. We are also being reminded that it takes a whole whack of cash to play the legal games (with lawyers, courts, judges, juries, and clerks/functionaires).   [Recently reported that for the period 2020 till the end of 2023, Donald had burned through $50,000,000.00 on lawyers - the funds coming from campaign raised funds]

And as observers of the situation and the system it is sensible to ask: How's the system functioning? Is it effective and efficient? Is it fair and just? 

Some say, me included, that the system is not effective, nor efficient. and partly for those reasons it is not as fair and just as it should be.
Mostly because the processes take too long and cost too much, which in turn compromises fairness and justice.

The legal systems have long had these characteristics. Trumps cases are serving to illuminate the problems.
Which is a good thing for the general public, so that they might have better insight into the systems that ultimately decide the issues.

I hope one outcome of the circus is that the public, and its leaders, take steps to reform the system.
And for me, the focus really ought to be on reducing the time to get to a sensible outcome.

Coincidentally, the Immigration chaos stateside may be related to the time the system there takes to deal with claims of refugee status. Its not uncommon for such cases to take 5 years or more to get to a hearing on the merits (a court hearing where both sides present their case). Some of Trump's cases have been on the go for 4 years, and with no conclusion imminent !

 The catch is that the public, and its leaders, will have to make some really difficult choices - that strive to find the right balance between the interests of the various litigants, and also the public.
Insisting that cases move more quickly invariably leads to cries of unfairness from one or more of the parties/litigants, or the Courts.

The balance point has to change. We need less perfect, and more now.

Happily there was just a news report that a US Federal Appeals Court tightened up good on a Trump appeal - dealing with question: Is Trump immune from prosecution by reason of holding the office of President?  They kept appeal opportunity open - but gave T just 7 days to get reply from US Supreme Court to take up case, elsewise it would move forward. Very clever. Very helpful. Maybe a sign of things to come.

 

 

 

 

An Adventuure to the Ft. L Home Show & also Meds

 Day 25 (about) in Florida in a modest unit complete with electricity and WiFi. And the smallest goddamn shower I've ever been in.

I just snorted a line. Quite out of the ordinary till about 2 weeks ago. Have probably done 8 lines in that time with 2 or 3 more left in the pouch. That's cuz I couldn't score any regular pot (delta9THC kind). Though I have gone through a fair bit of what I might call faux pot since being stateside.  I note that it was quite coincidental/random that I came across the opportunity to buy some powder - after a few disappointments trying to get delta9. A separate story. (tags - NYC Maarge, Kim's Alley Bar, Irish whiskey shots, urinal encounter)

Have actually been playing around / experimenting / exploring different consciousness altering shit this last couple of weeks.

It's to be noted that this is in the context of having a meaningfully long, statistically-relevant long, run with delta9THC. Arguably (and perhaps not convincingly) that would be a 50 year run. And easily the median frequency would have been at least once daily during that time.

'Manipulating consciousness' it might be called. I don't know how else to pin it down to a phrase.
I've long been fascinated by our (human's) ability to tweak, or disrupt normal consciousness.

Think cocktail hour - for my parents time.
For toddlers it's twirling around in a tight circle till you are dizzy and falling.
All self induced - messing with your own head. Which happens at a crazy nano, molecular level.

 And for me this last 3 weeks I've been learning about, and trying, gummies and dried flower touting / declaring delta8THC, and THCa and a coulple of other variations as key psychotropic molecules.
These hold some promise, but are definitely lighter in their impact - as in one gets less fucked up.

I find it tough to believe the current state of affairs with pot. So much has changed recently. The legislation represents one basket of changes, pharmacology advances is another bucket, as is the cultural/societal situation.
Florida has its own regime. Yes to medicinal - with a doc's OK. No to recreational.
But the business folk have latched on to the THC variations as a pretty-close-workaround. Mostly, but not totally legal - plenty of room for 'interpretation'. Now all sorts of 'Vape Shops" have appeared, hustling this faux stuff, and getting quite a bit of traction.

Today I went to the Home Show at the main Convention Center in the region.
A little frustrating to get there, even though I had done my (some?) homework, on bus routes and bus stops.
The County has a decent passenger app - but regrettably I did not have access to it away from WiFi - as in anywhere outdoors. Next time I come here, I really should consider cell service, with data. Critical for Uber, bus apps, weather, maps, and other mobile (walk around) needs.

I was over 2 hours and 20 minutes to travel there. !!!
A 22 minute walk to the bus stop. Turns out it was the wrong stop by 75 meters. Cost me 45 minutes plus.

It was an hour 37 minutes waiting for the bus.
Then a 22 minute bus ride. ($1 - senior)

Then about a 20 minute walk to find the freaking place. No signs. Not pedestrian friendly. Indeed pedestrian hostile.

Then a little less than an hour and a half wandering about the show. Saw some neat stuff.
Live edge wood applications. Japanese screens - vertical operation. Quartzite slabs with light sources behind - to observe translucence. Every kind of recliner. Sparkling outdoor kitchens ($15k - $20k range). Rubberized, troweled on flooring ($16/sqft). Beach sand rugs. Pinball machine ($8k).
15 minutes to get an Uber., followed by an 18 minute ride.

Not a bad way to spend some time, seeing the business folk and their wares, and catching up on developments.
But this show was, frankly, underwhelming. I think I'd prefer a show with international aspirations and suppliers.

Then back to the nest.
All told, till then, 7,000 steps - a good day.

Nuff for this recording.
I might say, I have this clear sense that the snorted line gave me a little extra juice to advance this recording, without which there may have been little recorded.