#House Select Committee

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Griffing at Mediaite:

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) sounded the alarm yet again on former President Donald Trump’s fitness to return to the White House after he shared a call for her to be tried for treason. Trump shared a Truth Social post on Sunday that called for Cheney to be tried for treason in televised military tribunals. “ELIZABETH LYNNE CHENEY IS GUILTY OF TREASON, RETRUTH IF YOU WANT TELEVISED MILITARY TRIBUNALS,” read the post that the presumptive Republican nominee “retruthed.” Cheney shared a screenshot of Trump’s post and commented, “Donald – This is the type of thing that demonstrates yet again that you are not a stable adult—and are not fit for office.”

On Sunday, Trump also called for top Democrats and some Republicans including his former Vice President Mike Pence to be jailed. Trump shared a post that read, “THEY SHOULD BE GOING TO JAIL ON MONDAY NOT STEVE BANNON! WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE!” The post then included a large image of various House Jan. 6th Committee members as well as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Pence, President Joe Biden, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump has long called to jail Cheney, including in March when he posted, “SHE SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY! SHE ILLEGALLY DESTROYED THE EVIDENCE. UNREAL!!!”

The claim that Cheney and the January 6th Committee withheld evidence stems from a March 8th “exclusive” and roundly debunked article from The Federalist’s editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway titled, “Liz Cheney, January 6 Committee Suppressed Exonerating Evidence Of Trump’s Push For National Guard.”

Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney sounds the alarm after Fascist Convicted Felon Donald Trump retruthed a post on Truth Social calling for her to face a “televised military tribunal”.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Steve Brodner

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 18, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 19, 2024

I will not spend the rest of 2024 focusing on Trump and the chaos in the Republican Party, but today it has been impossible to look away.

In Trump’s election interference trial in Manhattan, Judge Juan Merchan this morning dismissed one of the selected jurors after she expressed concern for her anonymity and thus for her safety. All of the reporters in the courtroom have shared so much information about the jurors that they seemed at risk of being identified, but Fox News Channel host Jesse Watters not only ran a video segment about a juror, he suggested she was “concerning.” Trump shared the video on social media.

The juror told the judge that so much information about her had become public that her friends and family had begun to ask her if she was one of the jurors. Legal analyst Joyce White Vance noted jurors’ fear for their safety was a concern normally seen only “in a case involving violent organized crime.”

Nonetheless, by the end of the day, twelve people had been chosen to serve as jurors. Tomorrow the process will continue in order to find six alternate jurors. 

It is a courtesy for the two sides at a trial to share with each other the names of their next witnesses so the other team can prepare for them. Today the prosecution declined to provide the names of their first three witnesses to the defense lawyers out of concern that Trump would broadcast them on social media. “Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses. We’re not telling them who the witnesses are,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said. 

Merchan said he “can’t blame them.” Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche offered to "commit to the court and the [prosecution] that President Trump will not [post] about any witness" on social media. "I don't think you can make that representation," Merchan said, in a recognition that Trump cannot be trusted, even by his own lawyers.

An article in the New York Times today confirmed that the trial will give Trump plenty of publicity, but not the kind that he prefers. Lawyer Norman L. Eisen walked through questions about what a prison sentence for Trump could look like.

Trump’s popular image is taking a hit in other ways, as well. Zac Anderson and Erin Mansfield of USA Today reported that Trump is funneling money from his campaign fundraising directly into his businesses. According to a new report filed with the Federal Election Commission, in February and March the campaign wrote checks totaling $411,287 to Mar-a-Lago and in March a check for $62,337 to Trump National Doral Miami.

Experts say it is legal for candidates to pay their own businesses for services used by the campaign so long as they pay fair market value. At the same time, they note that since Trump appears to be desperate for money, “it looks bad.”

Astonishingly, Trump’s trial was not the biggest domestic story today. Republicans in Congress were in chaos as members of the extremist Freedom Caucus worked to derail the national security supplemental bills that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has introduced in place of the Senate bill, although they track that bill closely. 

The House Rules Committee spent the day debating the foreign aid package, which appropriates aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan separately. The Israel bill also contains $9.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other countries. A fourth bill focuses on forcing the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell the company, as well as on imposing sanctions on Russia and Iran. 

At stake in the House Rules Committee was Johnson’s plan to allow the House to debate and vote on each measure separately, and then recombine them all into a single measure if they all pass. This would allow extremist Republicans to vote against aid to Ukraine, while still tying the pieces all together to send to the Senate. As Robert Jimison outlined in the New York Times, this complicated plan meant that the Rules Committee vote to allow such a maneuver was crucial to the bill’s passage.

The extremist House Republicans were adamantly opposed to the plan because of their staunch opposition to aid for Ukraine. They wrote in a memo on Wednesday: “This tactic allows Johnson to pass priorities favored by President Biden, the swamp and the Ukraine war machine with a supermajority of House members, leaving conservatives out to dry.”

Extremists Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) vowed to throw House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) out of the speakership, but Democrats Tom Suozzi of New York and Jared Moskowitz of Florida have said they would vote to keep him in his seat, thereby defanging the attack on his leadership.

So the extremists instead tried to load the measures up with amendments prohibiting funds from being used for abortion, removing humanitarian aid for Gaza, opposing a two-state solution to the Hamas-Israel war, calling for a wall at the southern border of the U.S., defunding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and so on.

Greene was especially active in opposition to aid to Ukraine. She tried to amend the bill to direct the president to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and demanded that any members of Congress voting for aid to Ukraine be conscripted into the Ukraine army as well as have their salaries taken to offset funding. She wanted to stop funding until Ukraine “turns over all information related to Hunter Biden and Burisma,” and to require Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to resign. More curiously, she suggested amending the Ukraine bill so that funding would require “restrictions on ethnic minorities’, including Hungarians in Transcarpathia, right to use their native languages in schools are lifted.” This language echoes a very specific piece of Russian propaganda.

Finally, Moskowitz proposed “that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene…should be appointed as Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress.” 

Many congress members have left Washington, D.C., since Friday was to be the first day of a planned recess. This meant the partisan majority on the floor fluctuated. Olivia Beavers of Politico reported that that instability made Freedom Caucus members nervous enough to put together a Floor Action Response Team (FART—I am not making this up) to make sure other Republicans didn’t limit the power of the extremists when they were off the floor.

The name of their response team seems likely to be their way to signal their disrespect for the entire Congress. Their fellow Republicans are returning the heat. Today Mike Turner (R-OH) referred to the extremists as the Bully Caucus on MSNBC and said, “We need to get back to professionalism, we need to get back to governing, we need to get back to legislating.” Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) told Juliegrace Brufke of Axios:  "The vast majority of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives...are sick and tired of having people who...constantly blackmail the speaker of the House.”

Another Republican representative, Jake LaTurner of Kansas, announced today he will not run for reelection. He joins more than 20 other Republican representatives heading for the exits.

After all the drama, the House Rules Committee voted 6–3 tonight to advance the foreign aid package to the House floor. Three Republicans voted nay. While it is customary for the opposition party to vote against advancing bills out of the committee, the Democrats broke with tradition and voted in favor.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[tomorrowusa]

Cassidy Hutchinson spoke with Rachel Maddow in her first live interview since her testimony before the House January 6th Committee. In case you missed her testimony on 22 June 2022, it is still available here.

She was an assistant to Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who has since been indicted for election fraud in Georgia.

Ms. Hutchinson spoke about the current mindset of the GOP and also described the less than professional behavior of other Trump White House staffers as well as some GOP members of Congress including Matt Gaetz.

One phrase she used in the interview was: "Mr Trump's attempt to overthrow the government to stay in power"

Her book "Enough" has just been published.

[omegaversereloaded]

Coca-Cola is now on the official BDS boycott list!

From the website:

November 2024

1) Why?

Because Coca-Cola is implicated in Israeli war crimes.

According to research by WhoProfits, the Central Beverage Company, known as Coca-Cola Israel, which is the exclusive franchisee of the Coca-Cola Company in Israel, “operates a regional distribution center and cooling houses in the [Israeli] Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone.” Furthermore, its subsidiary, Tabor Winery, “produces wines from grapes sourced from vineyards located on occupied land in settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan.” 

The International Court of Justice affirmed in July 2024 that Israel’s entire occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal, as are all Israeli settlements built on occupied land. As Israeli settlements – on occupied Palestinian and Syrian land – are considered war crimes under international law, Coke is complicit in a war crime. 

Corporations that are implicated in the commission of international crimes connected to Israel’s unlawful occupation, racial segregation and apartheid regime - within or beyond the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 - are all complicit and must be held accountable. Direct complicity includes military, logistical, intelligence, financial and infrastructure support. The corporations, as well as their boards of directors and executives, may face criminal liability for this complicity.

Local alternatives are popping up worldwide to substitute Coca-Cola, an unnecessary and replaceable beverage

Local alternatives to Coca-Cola have been gaining market share across the world, including in Palestine, China, Bangladesh, Sweden, Egypt, India, South Africa, Turkey, Lebanon and elsewhere.

2) Why NOW?

The BDS movement has always considered Coca-Cola boycottable but has not prioritized it as a target based on its careful and strategic target-selection criteria, so why endorse the Coke boycott now? 

Human rights and health activists, among many others, have been campaigning against Coca-Cola and similarly complicit corporations for decades, including grassroots drives targeting the company for its complicity in Israel’s gross violations of Palestinian human rights. 

During Israel’s ongoing, livestreamed genocide, Israeli soldiers have often been pictured with Coke cans, donated to them by various genocide-enabling groups. This has provoked even more anger against the company, particularly given that Israel is starving 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, severely limiting their access to clean water and, as a result, inducing the mass spread of contagious diseases. 

Given this context, Palestinian activists in Gaza and many BDS activists in the Arab world, in many Muslim-majority countries, and in some European countries as well, have called on the BDS movement to add Coke to its priority targets.

The BDS movement had previously targeted General Mills for its manufacturing of Pillsbury products in the illegal Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone - the same Zone where the Coke facility operates. Thanks to effective BDS campaigning, we won the demand for General Mills to end its business in Atarot. We know a campaign against Coke is winnable too. 

Based on all the above, and given Coke’s large contribution (through business-as-usual and taxes) to Israel’s war chest during the genocide, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest Palestinian coalition leading the global BDS movement, has endorsed the grassroots, organic #BoycottCoke campaigns to pressure the company to end its complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide. 

UPDATED VERSION!!!!

[readingrecap]

🗓️ This Week in Meetings 7/8- 7/12

Here is the list of all the meetings with agendas currently scheduled for this week in Reading. As always, this list is only up to date as of Monday morning and new meetings or modifications can be added/revised at any time. For PDF’s of the agendas, please click on the meeting name. Please check out https://www.readingma.gov for any changes. Monday Housing Authority – July 8, 2024, 3:00…

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Sir William Molesworth, chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Transportation, Tom Ullathorne seriously:

Are unnatural crimes common in country districts amongst the convicts?

—I believe that where they do exist on farms, it is where a number of them are brought together on the large farms.

That they are not common amongst the shepherds, who are separated?

—I do not think they are so common amongst the shepherds as they are amongst a much more dissolute set, the stock-men.

Are they common amongst these stock-men?

—I believe that there is a great deal of that kind of crime amongst the stock-men.

Is it supposed that they have introduced those crimes amongst the natives?

—Yes.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[rjmbaboonbooks]

Daily Comic Journal: February 11, 2022: "Hopefully This Will Lead To Justice Prevailing."

It’s hard to believe that the attack on the Capital happened over a year ago, yet we’re just now seeing some sort of justice action taking place. Yes, there have been many arrests and many people who stormed, broke into, brutalized police, trashed, vandalized and threatened lives have gone to jail. But those who put all of it in motion, who lied to set off the attack, are far from paying for…

[richdadpoor]

Website for Donald Trump's Legal Defense Fund Is Hacked

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek/Patriot Legal Defense Fund The website for former President Donald Trump’s legal defense fund appears to have been hacked and defaced over the weekend. As of the writing of this blog, the defacement is still live on the site and has not been taken down. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund is a fundraising effort launched approximately a week ago by high-level members of the…

[garyrevel]

Gary Revel interview 411 with Sharon Kay - Gary is interviewed about his work as a Special Investigator, investigating the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

[sayruq]

The UK government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but has refused to make the advice public, a prominent British lawmaker has stated. The Guardian reported on 30 March that Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, “The Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law, but the government has not announced it.” She added that as a result, the UK must end arms sales to Israel without delay.

[athena5898]

🔻NEW OFFICIAL BOYCOTT TARGET🔻

Palestinian BDS National Committee:

Coca-Cola: Quenching “Israel’s” genocidal soldiers’ thirst

1) Why?

Because Coca-Cola is implicated in “Israeli” war crimes.

According to research by WhoProfits (https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4081?the-central-bottling-company-cbc-coca-cola-israel), (https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4081?the-central-bottling-company-cbc-coca-cola-israel) the Central Beverage Company, known as Coca-Cola “Israel”, which is the exclusive franchisee of the Coca-Cola Company in “Israel”, “operates a regional distribution center and cooling houses in the [Israeli] Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone.” Furthermore, its subsidiary, Tabor Winery, “produces wines from grapes sourced from vineyards located on occupied land in settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan.” 

The International Court of Justice affirmed in July 2024 that “Israel’s” entire occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal, as are all “Israeli” settlements built on occupied land. As “Israeli” settlements – on occupied Palestinian and Syrian land – are considered war crimes under international law, Coke is complicit in a war crime. 

Corporations that are implicated in the commission of international crimes connected to “Israel’s” unlawful occupation, racial segregation and apartheid regime—within or beyond the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967–are all complicit and must be held accountable. Direct complicity includes military, logistical, intelligence, financial and infrastructure support. The corporations, as well as their boards of directors and executives, may face criminal liability (https://www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Obligations-of-Third-States-and-Corporations-to-Prevent-and-Punish-Genocide-in-Gaza-3.pdf) for this complicity.

Local alternatives are popping up worldwide to substitute Coca-Cola, an unnecessary and replaceable beverage.

Local alternatives to Coca-Cola have been gaining market share across the world, including in Palestine, China, Bangladesh, Sweden, Egypt, India, South Africa, Turkey, Lebanon and elsewhere.

2) Why NOW?

The BDS movement has always considered Coca-Cola boycottable but has not prioritized it as a target based on its careful and strategic target-selection criteria (https://www.instagram.com/bdsnationalcommittee/p/C7RY0Y4C-xu/), (https://www.instagram.com/bdsnationalcommittee/p/C7RY0Y4C-xu/) so why endorse the Coke boycott now? 

Human rights and health activists, among many others, have been campaigning against Coca-Cola and similarly complicit corporations for decades, including grassroots drives targeting the company for its complicity in “Israel’s” gross violations of Palestinian human rights. 

During “Israel’s” ongoing, livestreamed genocide, “Israeli” soldiers have often been pictured with Coke cans, donated (https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-100000-soldiers-to-receive-bamba-and-coke-thursday/) to them by various genocide-enabling groups. This has provoked even more anger against the company, particularly given that “Israel” is starving 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, severely limiting their access to clean water and, as a result, inducing the mass spread of contagious diseases. 

Given this context, Palestinian activists in Gaza (https://x.com/QudsNen/status/1827696428795482136) and many BDS activists in the Arab world, in many Muslim-majority countries, and in some European countries as well, have called on the BDS movement to add Coke to its priority targets.

The BDS movement had previously targeted General Mills for its manufacturing of Pillsbury products in the illegal Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone - the same Zone where the Coke facility operates. Thanks to effective BDS campaigning, we won the demand (https://bdsmovement.net/news/victory-general-mills-divest-from-apartheid-israel) for General Mills to end its business in Atarot. We know a campaign against Coke is winnable too. 

Based on all the above, and given Coke’s large contribution (through business-as-usual and taxes) to “Israel’s” war chest during the genocide, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest Palestinian coalition leading the global BDS movement, has endorsed the grassroots, organic #BoycottCoke campaigns to pressure the company to end its complicity in “Israel’s” illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide. 

BoycottCoke

[justinspoliticalcorner]

John Bowden at The Independent:

Donald Trump told NBC in a wide-ranging interview that he believes all members of the January 6 committee should be thrown in jail – though he stopped short of outright threatening to use the Justice Department to do so. “Honestly, they should go to jail,” he told Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker in an interview about his “day one” plans, airing Sunday. When asked about Liz Cheney – who was a GOP lawmaker, served as vice chair of the committee and who campaigned with Kamala Harris in the 2024 race – Trump said “everybody” on the panel should be jailed “for what they did.” Despite this, Trump insisted he would not direct his FBI director pick Kash Patel or attorney general pick Pam Bondi to pursue the committee members or any other political enemies of his. “I want her to do what she wants to do. I’m not going to instruct her to do it,” he said of Bondi. “I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he added, when asked if he would seek to prosecution Biden family members, including President Joe Biden. “I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”

[...] And while he did not follow through with his explicit threat to jail Hillary Clinton following his 2016 election victory, his new focus on installing loyalists at top agencies including the FBI and Justice Department have led many to wonder if the threats are real this time. Despite losing his 2020 reelection bid to Joe Biden, Trump maintained (and still maintains) that he was the rightful winner. His fact-free claims of widespread fraud were weaponized to instigate a mob attack against the US Capitol on January 6 2021, as throngs of his supporters attempted to stop Congress from certifying the transfer of power. Trump went on to be prosecuted for those actions in a now-defunct investigation ended by the Justice Department after his 2024 election victory, as well as by Congress in the form of the bipartisan committee to investigate January 6. Members of the committee compiled countless hours of video evidence and testimony which painted a horrifying scene of the violence that played out during the attack as well as the depth of knowledge Trump and his team had to predict that the attack would occur.

Speaking to Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday, un-American traitor Donald Trump called for the arrests and jailings of all members of the House Select Committee on the Capitol Insurrection.

From the 12.08.2024 edition of NBC's Meet The Press:

[odinsblog]

Democrats are not in the majority of the House, Republicans are. Democrats did not file a petition to vacate the Chair, Republicans did.

1) Please tell me how Democrats are responsible for what Republicans did to McCarthy?

2) Please tell me, when have Republicans ever voted to help keep a Democratic Speaker of the House?

3) Why is mainstream media always pushing the narrative (which favors conservatives) that no matter how racist, nasty and disruptive Republicans are, Democrats should always turn the other cheek and “save” them?

In the words of AOC, “Contrary to how McCarthy's defenders are behaving, men failing up is not a Constitutionally protected right. The man made risky decisions and faced the natural consequences of them. I am not his mom, and my job is not to put pool noodles around hard corners for Republicans.”

To keep his Speakership, McCarthy was cutting deals to appoint Trump loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene to select House committees.

So, no, whoever replaces him won’t be “worse,” because being the weak Speaker he was, Kevin McCarthy was already on pace to giving everything away to Trumpers.

[yuurei20]

Twisted Wonderland 2nd Novel translations (pt2)

(first post has run out of space 💦)

Cafeteria Meeting "Cater is seated next to Riddle. Deuce sits beside him and asks, 'Clover-senpai isn’t with you?'"

Meeting Jamil and Kalim (pt1) "‘Why Jamil, Kalim. I did not expect to see you in the cafeteria.’"

Meeting Jamil and Kalim (pt2) "‘Information gets around quickly.’ ‘We just so happened to hear about it. May we bother you for the details?’ In response to Riddle’s inquiry, Jamil narrows his eyes."

Meeting Jamil and Kalim (pt3) "Jamil waits in silence for the conversation to pause, and then continues once more."

Riddle and Unique Magics "‘It's not something that just anyone can do. But the foundation for unique magic often lies in common, basic spells. A mage takes those spells and combines or improves upon them as needed.'"

Grim's Realization (pt1) "‘Magic that can control other people's movements? Man, if I had a unique magic as convenient as that, I'd be controlling the teachers to make every day a self-study day.’"

Grim's Realization (pt2) "‘…Cay-kun thinks Grim might be on to something here.’"

Ruggie Escape (pt1) "Though Yuuya had been hoping that their last class of the afternoon would somehow never end, today it concluded exactly on time."

Ruggie Escape (pt2) "With everyone situated Cater begins with, ‘Let’s get straight to it. Ruggie-kun, do you know anything about this?’"

Ruggie Escape (pt3) "As Riddle does not know the nature of Ruggie’s unique magic, he will need to make the first move."

Ruggie Escape (pt4) "Ace and Deuce immediately look down at their own breast pockets—their magical pens are gone."

Ruggie Escape (pt5) "They are attracting onlookers, now, who further trip up Grim and the others."

About Riddle (pt1) "‘I kinda envy you though, being able to respect your housewarden like that.’"

About Riddle (pt2) "‘Ah!’ Deuce suddenly exclaims aloud, looking to Yuuya for support."

Riddle and Jack (pt1) "‘You have deduced Ruggie Bucchi’s unique magic?’"

Riddle and Jack (pt2) "The look on Deuce’s face seems to say, 'Now you bring this up, after all of that?’"

Riddle and Jack (pt3) "‘It’s just like Yuu says. You haven’t gotten anywhere, and you’re just going to keep repeating what you've been doing like some kind of moron?’"

Riddle and Jack (pt4) "‘I will keep it brief,’ Riddle continues without the slightest shift in his expression."

Savanaclaw Dorm (pt1) "Ruggie had only intended to pass through the lounge, but he is stopped by Leona calling out to him."

Savanaclaw Dorm (pt2) "Ruggie has always suspected that the sharp contrasts between Leona’s reactions are one of the ways in which he manipulates others."

Savanaclaw Dorm (pt3) "‘Heh. Celebrating already, when you’ve barely got claws in your prey.’"

Morning Jack "‘Hey. I said wake up.’"

The Day of the Tournament (pt1) "'All right! Is everyone here?'"

The Day of the Tournament (pt2) "The march itself was suggested by the chair of the spelldrive tournament management committee, the housewarden of Octavinelle."

The Day of the Tournament (pt3) "Instantly, the auditorium erupts into sound."

The Day of the Tournament (pt4) "’He’s saying that, but both Ace and I have already accepted it.’"

The Day of the Tournament (pt5) "‘Saying he should stop causing so much trouble for his vice-house warden, that kind of stuff.’"

The Day of the Tournament (pt6) "‘I heard that it’s because the housewarden tutors people who are at risk of failing their classes."

To the Festival (pt1) "They descend the long staircase, turn onto Main Street, and suddenly everything is different from what they are used to seeing."

To the Festival (pt2) "Shops line sides of the street, offering colorful foods and goods packed together under white canvas awnings."

Jack and Yuuya "First-year student, Jack, has been selected to play for Savanaclaw."

Meeting Azul (pt1) “'Oh my, is that Jack Howl of Savanaclaw?’"

Meeting Azul (pt2) "‘My name is Azul Ashengrotto, and I am honored to be the housewarden of Octavinelle. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’"

The Potion (pt1) “‘Attention all visitors of the Night Raven College Interdorm Spelldrive Tournament."

The Potion (pt2) "Ruggie sees nothing wrong with this."

The Confrontation (pt1) "Shutting down his unique magic, Ruggie runs towards the tower at the edge of the sports field."

The Confrontation (pt2) "‘Well, well.’ Leona greets Riddle with an exaggerated bow."

The Confrontation (pt3) "‘Points for enthusiasm, but what’s left for you to do?"

The Confrontation (pt4) "‘How. You should have all been caught in that stampede.’"

The Confrontation (pt5) "He straightens his posture even more and raises his voice once again."

The Confrontation (pt6) "‘There is no chance. At all,’ Leona asserts in a clear voice."

Leona Collared "Leona fights to remove the collar by force, his hair whipping about his face in his violent struggle."

Facing down an overblotting Leona, Riddle has a confession to make "Riddle confronts the glowering Leona with determination. ‘I am not mocking you. Leona-senpai. I respected you.’"

Leona and Lilia "Riddle is already looking ahead. He has his regrets and his turmoil, but he still continues on the path of becoming a good housewarden."

Leona's Unique Magic (pt1) "From somewhere comes a low voice. At first Yuuya cannot tell who it is, but looking around him he notices Ruggie, his eyes dark and shimmering."

Leona's Unique Magic (pt2) "Yuuya looks up at the sky in a daze, and then feels something tickle at his ankle. Gently moving sand is pricking at his skin."

Leona and Ruggie, to overblot (pt1) "‘Leona-san, what are you thinking!?’ Ruggie steps in front of Leona. ‘Why would you use your unique magic like this…if you keep going—‘ ‘Why?’ Leona interrupts. 'Obviously, it’s to shut you all up.’"

Leona and Ruggie, to overblot (pt2) "‘Right, Ruggie? I really can't stand people who don't listen. I thought you would've figured that out by now. You're skilled at reading people's moods and selling them flattery, after all.’"

The Transformation "‘It is you who should be silent!’ Lilia shouts."

Cater and Yuuya "'Ruggie is lying nearby. Yuuya wraps one of Ruggie’s arms around his shoulders and Grim attempts to take a share of Ruggie’s weight by grabbing onto his thin waist, but the limp body weighs them down."

Ruggie Wakes Up "Jack's agile wolf body slides across the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirtying his fur. Leona gives him a cold, piercing glance."

The Overblot Battle "Columns of sand rise up and advance towards Ruggie and the others, engulfing everything in their path."

Leona and Falena "From the moment I was born, there’s been a boulder on top of me that’s too heavy to move."

Post-Overblot Leona (the flashback monologue) "I grew tired of thinking, so I decided to enroll at Night Raven College, though I had no interest in it. I knew I was just running away from the pain, but my heart felt lighter, nonetheless."

Jack and Leona (pt4) "‘All this messing around. We don’t have time for this!’ Released from Ruggie’s unique magic, Leona rubs against his reddened cheeks and raises his eyes."

Trusting Riddle "In the very front row, Riddle puts a hand to his mouth as he shouts, ‘What are you getting despondent over? Defeat Leona-senpai, beat the crap out of him!’ The normally refined Riddle swings his fist around."

The Exhibition Match (pt1) "The disc passes to Deuce as he races down the side of the field. Deuce is not as skilled as Ace, but he has stamina, and he is fast on his feet. He effortlessly overtakes the grouped players of Yuuya and the others, steadily advancing towards the goal."

The Exhibition Match (pt2) "With a glance for the ghosts who come for him, Leona sharply calls out, ‘Jack!’"

The Exhibition Match (pt3) "Ruggie and Jack rush to Leona, who has fallen to his knees, his hands flat on the ground."

Yuuya Knocked Out Grim is called over, the ghosts are gathered, and Yuuya huddles with Ace and Deuce to set the strategy for their next move.

Cheka (pt1) "‘Unca, I finally found you!’ Something bounces like a ball into the infirmary."

Cheka (pt2) "Cheka looks to Jack with his large, round eyes, only to turn abruptly about and go to hug Leona again."

Cheka (pt3) "'Perhaps realizing that he is being laughed at, Cheka looks around the room with a curious look."

[beardedmrbean]

Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo committed “medical malpractice” and publicly undercounted the total number of COVID-related nursing home deaths in New York during the worst period of the killer pandemic, a damning final investigative report released by a key House panel found.

The report from the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, released Monday, also concluded that Cuomo “likely gave false statements” about his role in pandemic decision-making.

That includes him actually being “directly involved” in the infamous March 2020 edict directing nursing homes to admit recovering COVID-19 patients — and downplaying pandemic-related deaths of residents in a July 2020 report, the House panel found.

In another finding, the report concluded that Cuomo “acted in a manner consistent with an attempt to inappropriately influence the testimony of a witness and obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation,” referring to his contacts with former adviser James Malatras.

The House had previously released documents laying out the allegations about Cuomo and his administration’s actions — but the more-than 500-page final report paints a devastating picture of the three-term Democratic governor’s decisions that the subcommittee claims undermined public health.

Cuomo — who is weighing a political comeback run for mayor after resigning as governor in 2021 amid sexual misconduct accusations he denied — ripped the report as a partisan GOP witch hunt.

“This is the same weak gruel the MAGA Republicans on this committee have been peddling for months if not years,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.

But Rep. Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican who chaired the panel, said in the opening letter of the report that there was bipartisan consensus on numerous topics including “that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo participated in medical malpractice and publicly covered up the total number of nursing home fatalities in New York.”

A more than 40-page section of the report focuses solely on Cuomo and the state government’s response to the pandemic. Cuomo’s name appears in the report 203 times.

Among the findings alleged in the report are that:

The Cuomo administration’s March 25, 2020 directive to admit or readmit recovering COVID-19 patients into nursing homes was “medical malpractice,” “antithetical to known science” and inconsistent with federal guidance — and the Executive Chamber “attempted to cover it up.”

Contrary to his denials during House testimony, Cuomo and his top aides and advisers were “directly Involved” in and approved the infamous directive, which was later rescinded following public outcry.

Cuomo administration officials testified that the governor ordered the controversial July 6, 2020 state Department of Health report — which was criticized for lowballing nursing home resident deaths from COVID — to combat criticism of the March 25 edict.

Cuomo was directly involved in editing the July report and directing people outside the government — such as Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling and Greater NY Hospital CEO Kenneth Raske to review it. In a memo shortly before the report’s release and obtained by the House panel, Dowling offered to help “rewrite” it.

Cuomo’s executive chamber decided to remove “out-of-facility” fatalities — such as nursing home residents who died from COVID after falling ill and being transferred to hospitals — from the July report, thus dramatically reducing the total death toll.

The panel also concluded that “Mr. Andrew Cuomo Likely Gave False Statements to the Select Subcommittee in Violation of 18 U.S.C” — a federal crime that if proven could result in a sentence of five years in prison.

The committee in October said it had referred Cuomo’s “criminally false statements” to the US Department of Justice for potential prosecution.

Cuomo’s rep, Azzopardi, claimed the House was out to get “perceived political enemies.”

“From the very beginning this has been an abuse of power and a waste of taxpayer money aimed at punishing perceived political enemies – like Dr. [Anthony] Fauci [then Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases], Governor Cuomo and ‘the deep state’ – that does nothing to make us more prepared for the next pandemic,” he said.

He claimed federal data showed that New York ranked 39th in terms of per capita nursing home deaths in 2020.

“The DOJ -three times – the Manhattan DA and others looked at the nursing home issue and found no wrongdoing, while the meritless civil lawsuit launched by the very same people who have been working arm and arm with this committee was tossed out of court,” Azzopardi added.

Families of loved ones who were nursing home residents and died from COVID said Cuomo was finally being held to account.

“Cuomo has been lying about following the Trump CDC guidelines for years,” said Peter Arbeeny, whose father, Norman, died from the virus after being released from a Brooklyn nursing home.

“If the Cuomo administration would have followed the Trump [administration] CDC guidelines and also used the the USS Comfort ship and Javits Center [for more patients], thousands of lives would have been saved.”

[readingrecap]

🗓️ This Week in Meetings 6/3 - 6/7

Here is the list of all the meetings with agendas currently scheduled for this week in Reading. As always, this list is only up to date as of Monday morning and new meetings or modifications can be added/revised at any time. For PDF’s of the agendas, please click on the meeting name. Please check out https://www.readingma.gov for any changes. Monday Volunteer Appointment Committee –…