#failure to recuse

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

When Kentucky Attorney General turned Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron discovered that an elected state Judge had accepted a campaign contribution of $250 from an attorney in a case before him last month, Cameron cited the donation as a reason that the judge had to recuse.

“These facts, individually and together, could cause a reasonable observer to question the impartiality or bias of the presiding Judge,” Cameron said.

But previously unreported public records information obtained by The Daily Beast shows that Cameron was in the same position at the same time—he just never acknowledged it.

In March and April, Cameron accepted $6,900 from officials at an addiction recovery center tied to an ongoing state investigation. Despite the donations, Cameron did not recuse himself from that investigation before he attacked the Judge. Instead, he waited until an open records request threatened to reveal the existence of that investigation, personally withdrawing from the case two days after the request came in.

The full timeline of events raises questions about Cameron’s conflict of interest, what he knew, and when. It will also almost certainly add fuel to bipartisan accusations that the outspoken, politically polarizing, Trump-supporting Republican has abused the power of his office during his tenure.

The company in question is Edgewater Recovery Center, a Kentucky-based addiction resource provider. According to the open records correspondence obtained by The Daily Beast, Edgewater is currently party to an investigation run by Kentucky’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, a division of the Office of Attorney General. The Cameron donors include Edgewater’s owner, its general counsel, and directors for the recovery center’s medical, human resources, and clinical practices.

No Edgewater employee has given to Cameron previously, Kentucky campaign finance records show. And the donations appear to have come in the late stages of the investigation, which was opened sometime in 2022, according to a public records response obtained by The Daily Beast.

The donations all came in March and April, per state campaign finance records. But Cameron only recused himself from the investigation on May 19—those two days after his office received a May 17 request for a list of his recusals, and one week after his conflict-of-interest broadside against the Judge. It then took another week for Cameron’s office to answer the request, which included a copy of Cameron’s notice of recusal, dated May 19. To explain the recusal, Cameron’s office cited “an abundance of caution.”

But the recusal came three days after Cameron won the GOP primary, which the donations were designated to support, according to state campaign finance filings. (The Judge he’d attacked earlier that month was eventually removed, but not for the political donation—he had also “liked” a political post on Facebook in support of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.)

Additionally, records reviewed by The Daily Beast show that while Cameron recused himself from other cases in the time after receiving the Edgewater donations, he didn’t recuse from that case until the public records inquiry.

The campaign eventually returned the money from Edgewater donors on June 14, campaign finance filings show—nearly a full month after winning the primary election that the donations helped fund. But those refunds came five days after Cameron’s office received a follow-up request for more details about the probe. The OAG didn’t reply to that June 9 request until June 16—two days after the Cameron campaign issued the refunds.

According to the public records information, the Edgewater donations appear to have come late in the probe, after the OAG had already completed extensive investigative work and was contemplating punitive action.

In its response to the records request, the office claimed that the case file was exempt from public disclosure because the release might “harm an ongoing criminal investigation.” The reply also cited “information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action or administrative adjudication” and “documents prepared for or in anticipation of [criminal] litigation or a trial.”

The OAG noted that the withheld information includes witness interviews, subpoenas, correspondence with Medicare Managed Entities, financial information, and documents still under court seal.

The case number indicates that Cameron’s office opened the probe sometime in 2022. It is not immediately clear whether any Edgewater officials are targets. Edgewater did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment. Neither Cameron’s office nor his campaign replied either.

This wouldn’t be the first ethical quandary Cameron has faced while running Kentucky’s law enforcement operations. Cameron first drew national attention—and condemnation—after he defended the “no-knock” police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in 2020, calling the killing “justified.”

But the Edgewater investigation wouldn’t even be the first ethics dilemma tied to Cameron's campaign contributions this year.

In April, Cameron’s campaign and office defended a combined $100,000 in political donations from a gaming company that is currently suing the state, with Cameron named as one defendant.

The money came from gaming company Pace-O-Matic and two of its executives, and it went to a PAC backing Cameron’s campaign, called “Bluegrass Freedom Action,” the Louisville Courier-Journal reported at the time. Pace-O-Matic had just spent months throwing cash at lobbyists, seemingly in a failed attempt to ply the Kentucky legislature to block a bill that would have restricted its gambling activity in the state.

When the bill passed, Pace-O-Matic sued the state. The $100,000 gift to the pro-Cameron PAC came in the weeks after the bill was blocked and before the company filed the lawsuit. Additionally, Pace-O-Matic executives and their family members—16 people in all—also gave nearly $30,000 directly to Cameron’s campaign, according to the Courier-Journal. All 16 contributions came on March 27—the day before the company filed its lawsuit.

The donations prompted a lawyer and donor to Cameron’s primary opponent, Kelly Craft, to file an ethics complaint. But Pace-O-Matic, the Attorney General’s office, and Cameron all rejected suggestions of impropriety.

“In this specific instance, the Attorney General’s office has already been defending the legislation passed by the General Assembly. No matter who asks, he does the same thing, which is that he will stand up for what’s right and defend the laws of Kentucky,” Cameron's gubernatorial campaign manager Gus Herbert said in a statement at the time.

Last year, Kentucky Democrats alleged that Cameron violated state ethics rules when he announced his gubernatorial campaign while his office investigated sitting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears. An ethics complaint at the time cited rulings that prohibit the Attorney General from investigating a sitting Governor. (In January, Cameron’s office ruled that Beshears had violated open records laws by withholding information related to school closures during the COVID pandemic.)

But Cameron, who denied wrongdoing in that matter, has also cried foul when it comes to investigations against Republicans. This month, he attacked the federal indictment against ally Donald Trump, saying that “Kentuckians continue to be concerned about the political weaponization of government power.”

Other ethics concerns linger among Democrats. This Thursday, the Cameron campaign lashed out at a political ad attacking him for his connections to efforts to score controversial pardons from former GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, who in his final months in office issued pardons to people convicted of grisly crimes, including murder and rape.

While Cameron initially vowed to investigate the pardon scandal, he handed it off to the FBI. He later hired two top officials who advocated for controversial pardons while working in Bevin’s office.

Cameron also has donor ties to another major player in Kentucky GOP politics who pushed Bevin to pardon a friend of his. That megadonor—Kentucky financial and nursing home magnate Terry Forcht, a longtime ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—contributed to Bevin while advocating for the pardon of the son of a Forcht family friend.

But the Forcht family also donated to Cameron himself—in 2019, according to state filings.

Earlier this month, Cameron was photographed meeting personally with the Republican financier at Forcht’s office.

[irregularbillcipher]

having a normal one about brad and birdie again

[starfilledsea]

thinking about “to know how it ends but still begin to sing it again” and “it’s a story about someone who tries” and “we raise our cups to orpheus not because he succeeds but because he tries. we understand implicitly that there’s value in his trying and even in his failure.” and “it’s a sad song but we keep singing even so.” even when you fail there is value in the fact that you tried and that you believed enough in your goal to try despite knowing you might fail. it is worthwhile to try, because you never know. maybe it will turn out this time! perseverance despite the odds is worth celebrating even if it ends in failure. success is not the only thing that matters. and you never know that the ripple effect of your actions might be. orpheus does not recuse eurydice but he succeeds in helping spring to come again and potentially in preventing other people from losing their loved ones as he did, and that is a good outcome. we do not see the effect he had on the other workers in hadestown. yes, orpheus failed, but maybe if they sing it again someone else will succeed. someone has to keep telling the story.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Law-Related Vocabulary

for your poem/story (pt. 1/4)

Acquiescence - acceptance, compliance, or submitting tacitly or passively

Act of God - an extraordinary natural event (as a flood or earthquake) that cannot be reasonably foreseen or prevented

Amicus curiae - friend of the court

Bad faith - intentional deception, dishonesty, or failure to meet an obligation or duty

Bill of pains and penalties - a legislative act formerly permitted that imposed a punishment less severe than death without benefit of a judicial trial

Blackacre - a fictitious piece of real property

Causa mortis - made or done in contemplation of one's impending death

Cool state of blood - an emotional condition in which a person's anger or passion is not great enough to overcome his or her faculties or ability to reason—often used in statutory definitions of murder

Depraved-heart murder - a murder that is the result of an act which is dangerous to others and shows that the perpetrator has a depraved mind and no regard for human life

Dereliction - an intentional abandonment

Executrix - a woman who is an executor

Expunge - to cancel out or destroy completely

Extraordinary remedy - a procedure for obtaining judicial relief allowed when no other method is available, appropriate, or useful

Ferae naturae - wild by nature; not usually tamed

Fighting words - words which by their very utterance are likely to inflict harm on or provoke a breach of the peace by the average person to whom they are directed

Fifth degree - the grade sometimes given to the least serious form of a crime

Fruit of the poisonous tree - evidence that is inadmissible under an evidentiary exclusionary rule because it was derived from or gathered during an illegal action

Gift causa mortis - a gift of especially personal property made in contemplation of impending death that is delivered with the intent that the gift take effect only in the event of the donor's death and that it be revoked in the event of survival

Hot blood - heat of passion; an agitated state of mind (as anger or terror) prompted by provocation sufficient to overcome the ability of a reasonable person to reflect on and control his or her actions

Inveigle - to lure by false representations or other deceit

Lucri causa - intent to obtain a gain

Mystic will - in the civil law of Louisiana; a will signed, sealed, witnessed, and notarized according to statutory procedure; called also mystic testament, secret testament

Naked promise - gratuitous promise

Obligor - one who is bound by an obligation to another

Penumbra - an area within which distinction or resolution is difficult or uncertain

Quaere - question—usually used to introduce a question

Recusant - refusing to submit to authority

Solatium - compensation for grief or wounded feelings (as from the wrongful death of a relative)

Third degree - the grade given to the third most serious forms of crimes

Uberrimae fidei - of the utmost or perfect good faith

Vitiate - to make ineffective

Word of art - a word having a particular meaning in a field; also called "term of art"

X - a mark used in place of a signature when the maker is incapable of signing his or her name (as because of illiteracy or a physical ailment)

Year-and-a-day rule - a common-law rule that relieves a defendant of responsibility for homicide if the victim lives for more than one year and one day after being injured (Note: This rule dates from at least 1278, and is frequently criticized as anachronistic since modern medicine makes pinpointing cause of death easier than it was formerly. However, the rule still exists or is reflected in the law of some jurisdictions.)

Zone of danger - the area within which one is in actual physical peril from the negligent conduct of another person

If any of these words make their way into your next poem/story, please tag me, or leave a link in the replies. I would love to read them!

More: Law-Related Words ⚜ Word Lists

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan McCarter at Daily Kos:

The U.S. Supreme Court heard Donald Trump’s immunity claim in his federal criminal trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election Thursday, and the conservative majority is likely going to give Donald Trump what he wants: a delay of the trial until after the election. If Trump wins again, the conservatives have essentially signaled that they would be open to blanket immunity for him against any future criminal charges.   The fact that Supreme Court justices are suggesting that the president is above the law proves why the court must be reformed. Four of the justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch—even went so far as to suggest that special counsel Jack Smith’s entire prosecution is unconstitutional, and they reinforced Trump’s argument that the president is immune. Kavanaugh even told Michael Dreeben, a lawyer from Smith’s office, that it’s a “serious constitutional question whether a criminal statute can apply to the president’s criminal acts.”

That would be the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card for the chief executive, rubber stamped by the highest court of the land. It’s worth remembering that Thomas refused to recuse himself from this—and most of the Trump election interference cases—despite the fact that his wife, Ginni Thomas, was deeply involved in Trump’s coup attempt. When she testified to the Jan. 6 special congressional committee, she maintained that the election was stolen.  His failure to recuse himself comes after a new ethics code has supposedly been enforced, saying that “a Justice should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the Justice’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, that is, where an unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant circumstances would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.” So much for that suggestion from Chief Justice John Roberts. His code has no teeth, which is yet another reason why ethics reform—and indeed court reform and expansion—is essential. 

Joan McCarter writes in Daily Kos that the Trump v. United States "immunity" case is a good reason to reform and expand SCOTUS.

[enniewritesathing]

memory management (time of death 2)

⏮️Previous || (📚Previous Stories) || Beginning ▶️

⚠️ The following update contains the following triggers: death, blood, gore, strangulation, needles, gun, violence.⚠️

(An air of frustration, failure, and disappointment fills the lab.)

(Everyone is silent; Jordan puts their hands together in prayer.)

(Bernard stares up at the ceiling, massaging his forearms. Shit, if he thought he was do CPR for damn near two hours straight, he would've taken arm day more seriously.)

After a sigh, he breaks the silence. "So, what now, Char? What do you think went sideways?"

(Charles taps the side of his temples. He already knows the answer and he feels Daniel's steel blue eyes boring a hole into him.)

Daniel: "Charles."

"Answer the question."

Charles: (with slight irritation) "If you insist, Daniel."

"We pushed him too hard. Fact of the matter is we went into this trial too soon. It was discovered hours before that Johnathan's heart had accumulated damage over time from previous endeavors; his HF was becoming inefficient at fixing said damage. You can put two and two together."

"With him fighting us, his HF was overloaded. When it failed, his heart failed. Simple as that."

(Bernard scoffs.) "Of course. Of course. Of course he was going to fight us to the very end; look where it got him."

Daniel: "You're missing the point--"

Bernard: "Give me a fuckin' break, Dan!"

(Bernard reaches for John's arm to take off the bracelet, but first he needs to tell this righteous asshole off.)

"Let's have a moment of hypotheticals. Suppose we did manage to get wolf-man back? But wait a minute -- his heart stopped six times and for way too long periods of time. Werewolf or not, ten minutes is all we got. Even if he came back, his brain would be done."

"Am I right, Charles? Or do we have notes on if and when his HF will fix that?"

Charles: "I placed too much faith in Johnathan. He is... was young and stubborn. Obviously, I took advantage of that fact; it was a grave miscalculation."

Bernard: "Hmph. You succeeded in getting rid of the werewolf. We all did."

(Daniel continues to stare at Charles, largely ignoring Bernard's words.) "What are you going to tell his loved ones?"

"What lies are you going to tell his mother that she's lost another son to this affliction? Only this time, it was you."

"You made the decision to go ahead with the trial, despite my warning not to."

Jordan: "Is that true?"

Daniel: "Yeah, it is."

Charles: "And yet, here you are. Now, I've given you plenty of chances to excuse and recuse yourself, my dear Daniel. You didn't in either case; in staying, you agreed.

"Even with Johnathan's death, we have gathered valuable data and that's all I can hope for. We did get results; it wasn't the type that we wanted. Does that make you feel better?"

(Jordan appears at Daniel's side, placing a hand on his arm.)

"Dan. We did everything we could. You... you have to let this go. Please."

"We can deal with this later. I'm tired. Okay?"

Daniel closes his eyes and heaves a great sigh as Jordan rubs a small circle on his back. They're right. "Fine."

Bernard: (sighs) "I know I've gave you shit, Dan. For what it's worth, I do feel a tiny bit what you feel. Same sea, different boat though."

Charles: "Are we all in agreement that the trial is over?"

(Everyone else utters a tired "yes".)

"Good." (He sighs.) "I'll go break the news to his mother."

(Jordan walks back to the table. They straighten out John's head to take off the mask; his eyes unfocused, staring at nothing, shifting with the motion.)

(What a shame.)

(Jordan offers another prayer before closing John's eyes.)

"Good night, John."

// Next ⏭️

[izzythehutt]

if you were to tie faith into 'black mask', where do you think each character would regard their own faith? I'm asking for the sirius, regulus and the parents, maybe Colette too or someone else if you've thought about it? also, a chapter from the new testament you've reread the most? wishing you a good lenten season!

This has been lurking for a bit but since I got into a whole "religion in the Harry Potter universe" conversation I figured I'd answer it.

So, in my universe as opposed to the canon Harry Potter universe, I'm drawing on my own family—the Blacks are recusant English Catholic landed gentry. I think it honestly fits the whole "there are only 28 acceptable families" inbred pureblood vibe since that's basically the upper class English Catholic families, everybody is related. I feel like in canon HP universe if they are in an actual denomination they'd be Anglican, since they're so "establishment", but then again the Norfolks irl are Catholic so who knows?

As much as I have been accused of Black family apologism, even I cannot in good conscience describe anyone in this family having a healthy relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but were they religious this is sort of how it would shake down:

Orion is a classic trad with all the attendant dysfunction therein. Extremely legalistic, he's very comforted by a the sense of order, regulations, hierarchical structure and tradition that the Church provides. Probably reads Thomistic theology in his room for fun and would never miss a Holy Day of Obligation. Does not have a good grasp on how to love, show mercy to his children for their failings or give a good example of the relational aspect of their faith. When the shit inevitably hits the fan he's left wondering why following the rules didn't make everything turn out right. I kind of feel like I did give him a moral arc in BM in the sense that he really had to grapple with his own failure and let go of the idea that he can control everything.

Walburga I see as having a pretty childish and shallow understanding of God/religious faith. Faith is more tied to family tradition than personal piety and is practiced out of habit/duty more than out of genuine interest. She is not an imaginative person, she's the kind of person who thinks if they follow the letter of the law and pray they should get exactly what they want. Zero understanding of theology of suffering as a form of sanctification.

Sirius is projecting his daddy issues onto God and struggles to see his own lovability outside of the conditions set by his parents. Will do the opposite of his family just to rebel—I could see him getting into the cozy provincial Anglicanism of the Potters when he moves into them. He's the kind who would start going to church all the time if his parents were secular atheists just to piss them off. His arc is about seeing that God loves him in a perfect way and that helping him forgive his parents for their extremely damaged and wounded way of showing they love him.

Regulus is classic Elder Brother in the Prodigal Son. Has some resentment about doing things right and not getting anything in return. I kind of feel like he's the only one who actually has a prayer life or thinks very deeply about metaphysical questions, but that he also has massive cognitive dissonance with all the religious hypocrisy in the family which makes him question the whole thing.

Bonus: Colette actually has sincere piety and an imaginative soul and would maybe get Sirius rebelling from his family and not really practicing back into going to mass, etc.

[beardedmrbean]

A judge has ruled an extremely tight election between Republicans and Democrats for a Louisiana parish sheriff is void because of voter fraud.

The race to become Caddo Parish sheriff was closely fought between Democrat Henry Whitehorn and Republican John Nickelson. In November, a recount was ordered after Whitehorn won by just one vote in an election that saw over 43,000 ballots cast. The recount found three additional votes for each candidate and Whitehorn was declared the winner.

Both Nickelson and Whitehorn have been approached for comment by Newsweek.

Nickelson filed a lawsuit and retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice E. Joseph Bleich declared the result void on Tuesday. Nickelson's suit said the count was done too quickly and could not be accurate, while ballots cast by people twice through mail-in and in-person ballots were discovered, NBC affiliate KTAL reported. Bleich was assigned to the case after four judges recused themselves due to their friendships with Nickelson.

In all, Bleich said that two people voted twice, five mail-in ballots should not have been counted for failure to comply with the law, and there were a further four invalid votes by interdicted persons who were unqualified voters. Bleich wrote: "This runoff election involved a one-vote margin. It was proven beyond any doubt that there were at least 11 illegal votes cast and counted. It is legally impossible to know what the true vote should have been."

A new runoff has now been called, causing Whitehorn to comment that, "The judiciary should not decide elections." His team has appealed Bleich's decision to the second circuit court of appeal and says it will take it to the state Supreme Court if necessary.

In a statement, Whitehorn said: "Of course I am disappointed about the court's decision to overturn the will of the people of Caddo Parish. I was always taught that the person with the most votes wins, even if that's by a thousand votes or by one vote."

Whitehorn questioned the ruling, saying, "The rules of the game are different depending on who the players are." He continued: "I won the sheriff's race, not once, but twice. My opponent conveniently chose to question the integrity of the election only after he lost, not once, but twice. In elections, you should not be given a redo simply because you are unhappy with the results."

Nickelson said the decision was a "victory for election integrity" and that he was looking forward to the runoff scheduled for March.

Correction, 12/6/23, 8:30 a.m. ET: The headline on this article was updated to remove the word "widespread" when describing the voter fraud.

Didn't see this one coming

[luchadorbard]

Serenity (A Swtor Oc Fic)

(I found some old fic's I wrote of my SWTOR characters many years ago. Here's hoping there not too spicy for Tumblr! Set after Knights of the Eternal Thrones and around the time of Onslaught, so spoilers abound!)

Keshani finished her stretching and took her quarterstaff in hand. There is no emotion, there is peace. The first line echoed and rang out through her mind like a cord of an instrument. All seemed to fade away as she begin basic lightsaber movements, allowing her to let the complexities and confusion of the galaxy wash away.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. She focused on all her past successes that came, not through a lightsaber, but through learning of the past and expanding one’s mind. All the while practicing her strikes and Ataru movements, the difference contrasting her memories starkly.

Finding and using the cure to stop Terrak Morrhage’s plague, being named Barsen’thor of the Jedi order, helping maintain the Rift Alliance, dismantling the Children of the Emperor. Uncovering the Revanite plot. Building her own Holocron. Learning the true origins of the Sith Emperor and his many masks. Her greatest achievements, far greater than any single battle or duel.

There is no passion, there is serenity. The thoughts continued to flow almost like music, and her battle practice akin to a dance. She thought of her own failures when it came to passions. Lashing out after learning her own Master Yuon Paar had an affair with another Jedi Master, the devastating truth of who the First Son of the Emperor was; almost crushing her resolve. The despair of awakening 5 years after being in a carbonite tomb to see the galaxy under Zakuul’s thumb. Her one-night tryst with Theran Cedrax. She frowned as she took another deep breath and attempted to refocus. 

There is no passion, there is serenity. Keshani lingered on that line in her mind. Her acrobatics movements getting faster as Lana Beniko come to her thoughts. Her friend and companion. Her dark advisor. Her beloved. Her life partner.

Her breath quickened as she attempted to refocus, feeling the Force flow within her to channel her rapid acrobatics movements, feeling the flow of the Force in all the living things in the Alliance base on Odessa.

There is no passion, there is serenity. She repeated the line attempting to center herself like the eye of a hurricane. Her beloved returned to her thoughts unbidden. When she first met her during the Revanite plot. Tracking the revived Sith Emperor from Yavin 4. Lana recusing her from the Empire of Zakuul and escaping Arcann’s wrath.

There is no passion, there is serenity. She repeated, but no comfort or clarity came as she leapt between the walls, moving even faster now. She saw Lana when they shared there first kiss together.

Keshani’s heart started to pound in her chest, as her thoughts lost the code, she was focusing on the memories now, her practice being almost second nature to her now. The memories of their first night together, the comfort and warmth they shared with each other. The memory of her burying her face between Lana’s inner thighs to worship her. The chaos of the galaxy fading away as they made loved to each other; the peace Keshani felt as they explored every inch of each other.

She lingered in her memories as she remembered there subsequent nights together. Almost after every major battle they’d reunite together in a private place. Her chambers or sometimes Lana’s. It didn’t matter where, so long as they were together. She remembered how good it felt when Lana was rough with her. Forcibly slamming her downwards on the bed face first, pinning her against the walls as her hands roughly grabbed her breasts and curves with all her Sith might.

The memory of their passionate night came crashing down as Keshani awoke from her trance, as she slipped off a critical ledge and fell flat on to her back on the floor!

She slowly got to her feet and drank some water as her hands trembled. All my achievements. All that I’ve done for the Jedi and the Republic and it still feels as if I’ve betrayed them. No matter how much she reminded herself of all the good she’s done for the galaxy; guilt wracked her thoughts when it came to her beloved. The Barsen’thor was praised for her mercy, her wisdom, her compassion. All the things Jedi should be. And yet I lay with Sith.

No, not just lay. She -loved- her. Loved Lana. Loved her with every ounce of strength she could muster. Loved her more than she thought she could love anyone or anything.

At first, she justified it to herself that her friendship with Lana was proof of coexistence. Proof that the Jedi and Sith were not doomed to be forever enemies. That diplomacy could bring about a new understanding beyond the endless cycle of war. Overlooking the renewed conflict between The Republic and the Sith Empire after the fall of Zakuul, that excuse quickly lost potency after they shared there first kiss and was all but abandoned when they shared that first passionate night together. I knew those feelings were against the code and yet I persisted.

When she proposed marriage to Lana after the events on Nathema she justified that by telling herself that Jedi marriages did exist but not even that lie could fool herself. Marriages among Jedi is one thing. But to a Sith? No Jedi Council would ever accept that.

The dangers of emotional attachment were well known to the Jedi. It was drilled into them from your earliest arrival. It is one of the most critical lessons all Jedi must learn. She couldn’t claim it was merely for physical release; a defense that could at least warrant -some- debate. She cared for Lana. Deeply. What would Master Satele Shan say? What would the rest of the council say? She sighed as she finished her current cup of water before she looked to her own holo-map of the known galaxy. Not much of anything I’d wager. The Jedi are still scattered and rebuilding. Our only major congregation is on a world Exar Kuun made a sun blasted wasteland lead by a historian currently in a medical induced coma. She quickly stowed away such bitter thoughts.

Master Gnost Duural is an amazing Jedi and a fantastic teacher. His work is invaluable to both the Jedi Order and the Republic at large however he is no Battle Master. We need the council. We need a Grand-master. Her mind raced about the defenses she’d offer if she were ever summoned before a new Jedi council to explain herself. That she still conducted herself as a Jedi should? That Lana didn’t exert any undue influence over her? Lies any Master could sense easily.

When Valkorian offered part of his dark power to protect Lana from an ambush in the Endless Swamps she accepted without a second thought. She crossed that terrible line and still felt the guilt to this day that she was manipulated so easily by the Dark Lord of Many Faces. Even after his death, the shame didn’t abate.

It's true she still acted with compassion, wisdom and nobility and yet whenever her dark advisor put forward her suggestions the Barsen’thor considered them. Debated them in her mind, as if they were viable options rather than the twisted and cynical world view of the Sith. I’m sure to many master’s that alone is failure.

The door to her quarters opened after a quick electronic chirp. She turned and saw the source of her sorrow and joy. Of her guilt and satisfaction. Of her conflict.

“Commander, are you alright?” Lana spoke in that crisp and formal Imperial accent, but her features showed a deeper concern as she stepped into the room. Her eyes a beautiful sulfur yellow; proof of her corruption. Proof that she was Sith. Proof she was opposite to everything she stood for. And yet every time she gazed into them, she felt her heart flutter.

“I sensed your distress, I just wanted to make sure that…” Lana’s words were interrupted by Keshani quickly striding over and delivering a kiss. It was the only thing that settled her restless heart, her frayed nerves and her mind. The Sith’s momentary surprise quickly faded as she embraced the kiss, the door shutting behind them. Her gloved hands reaching around to hug and cradle the woman she loved as the pair lingering in the kiss before Keshani finally withdrew and looked over her beloved’s face.

Keshani felt her heart still and her mind clear as she tenderly held her beloved’s hands. She felt at peace.

“I feel a lot better, now that you’re here.” She said as the Twi’lek nuzzled her head into Lana’s.

Lana’s voice lowered to a whisper. “We…We should get back to work. I think Bey’wan has some reports for us.” Her reply was in that charmingly flustered way, whenever distractions around work arose, that Keshani adored so much.

“Later.” Keshani whispered back to her as she quickly stole another quick kiss as her hands left Lana’s to gently stroke her face. “I need a moment to collect myself...”

Lana quickly returned another kiss as she cradled her face. “Then spend that moment with me.” She whispered back.

Keshani paused only for a moment as all her doubts were banished and she wrapped her arms around her partner, with Lana following suit. Even after their wedding they still fumbled and clumsily rushed to remove their armor and robes as if it was there first night together.

Lana’s enhanced strength made it easier for her to discard the Jedi robes before her while Keshani required a moment with the buckles and straps of her beloved Sith. Pushed to the edge of the bed Lana removed what remained of her lovers’ lower robes, spreading her legs apart and burying herself into the Jedi’s thighs.

The Barsen’thor moaned as she rolled her head back, her long blue skinned legs wrapping around the head of her dutiful lover. It didn’t take long for the rest of the armor to be discarded on to the floor.

Time was lost to the pair of them as they shared another passionate night together. Worshiping each other as if it was to be there last night together in this galaxy; their sweaty forms writhing in lustful embrace, to each other’s loving touch.

Even after they were done, they simply laid there together; their bodies intertwined, hugging each other as they lay under the covers.

“I could sense your uncertainty.” Lana spoke as she pressed her back into Keshani’s chest. “I sensed your guilt before I arrived. Was it about us?” The Sith’s tone was polite, curious almost.

The Twi’lek took a moment to gather her thoughts as she kept her hands around her lover’s waist. There was no point in trying to lie.

“Was.” Keshani replied. “Every time I see you, I know what matters to me. I know what I feel. And I know who I am. You complete me.” The Barsen’thor sighed happily as Lana turned around to meet her face, the pair exchanging another series of kisses as the Jedi’s thoughts became much clearer. They were the same thoughts she always had after she shared nights like this with her beloved.

I am the Barsen’thor, I am a Jedi who is in love with a Sith, I have given into temptation. I have strayed from the Jedi code. I have given into attachment. She brushes a stray lock of messy bright blonde hair out of Lana’s face to properly see her; so that she might get lost within her brilliant yellow eyes. And I don’t care.

(A visual aid for my Jedi Consular)

[nadziejastar]

"Along with Lea, sneaks into the sage's castle and makes friends with a girl being used as a test subject (Isa)"

When our parenthetical expression was supposed to clarify that Saïx was Isa but we did an oopsie

LOL, I like that error. Isa is girly enough. It still drives me nuts how heavily it was implied that Isa was a test subject and then KH3 just said "haha NOPE!" It was actually some girl from Union X that was never mentioned until now. Like, wow. Way to throw away literally everything interesting about Saix.

Xehanort was conducting experiments to create human puppets. In DDD Xemnas said, "Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind". All the subjects besides Subject X suffered mental collapse. Saix has a big ass scar of death directly over his "mind's eye" which is the psychic eye that lets you see into other realities. He was the ONLY Organization member who could not see Xion as Kairi. And this had NOTHING to do with him being experimented on?

The fact that Saix was so nasty to Xion was one of the most interesting things about him. Yes, he was jealous of how close Axel was getting to his new friends. But Roxas was arguably even closer to Axel than Xion was. Yet, he only singled Xion out for his worst abuse. Xion is described as a mirror that reflects the memories of the person looking at her. She didn't look like anything but a puppet to him. But to Saix, that was no different than looking in the mirror.

Saix was a human puppet. In a figurative sense, he had no choice but to act subservient to Xemnas, who was the one pulling his strings. But he was also a puppet in a literal sense. He had the gold eyes and pointy ears, the same physical characteristics of his puppet master. Not to mention the gigantic scar across his face. Apparently, he could not even stand to look in the mirror long enough to style his hair.

The only person that saw any value in him was Lea. But as far as Saix knew, Axel didn't have a heart and didn't have the capacity to feel anything for him anymore.

Isa was branded with the sigil of a "recusant", a person who refuses to submit to an authority. Of course, to Xemnas, failing is the same as disobedience. So, Saix's scar was probably meant to be the mark of a failure. He was a twisted lunatic. His eyes glow yellow like a Heartless when he's berserk. Literally everything about him was designed with the backstory of being a test subject. One who was considered a "broken, defective failure" that would not wake up and that was disposed of in the Chamber of Repose. What does he even have left if you take that away from him?

[lazyveran]

also, i think the lord rykard questline is super interesting because in reality, Tanith and the volcano manor are losing.

if you look at the encroachment of leyndell forces, they're pretty damn close to the manor. the only reason it's not been taken is seemingly a factor of time, and the fact that they're just. hiding in there. tucked away where no one figures them to be. the fighting is still happening, the soldiers are still trying to march on the manor.

i think it's interesting because Tanith is acting on borrowed time, really. it's clear the tarnished can defeat her lord. there's soldiers on her doorstep. rykard's original forces have all abandoned the cause or died - what's left are a few machines, strange beast-men and a handful of recusants. their goal to succeed is stabbing each other in the back. she never even leaves the place personally unless rykard is dead, perpetually in hiding. if the next elden lord rises, they'll all be slain for certain. what's an upstart lord to a god?

i think in the end, her quest is destined to failure no matter what. Tanith herself might be quite mad for even believing in the cause any longer, clouded with her obsessive love for rykard as she is. it's like Bernahl says, your bound to end up with a miserable death.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The Obama-appointed Judge who was overseeing Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recused himself on Thursday over a relative’s ownership of 30 shares of Disney stock.

The case was transferred to Judge Allen C. Winsor, an appointee of President Trump who previously upheld the state’s Parental Rights in Education law. That law, known to its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, is at the center of the Disney-DeSantis controversy.

Disney sued DeSantis in April, alleging that the state had engaged in a campaign of retaliation against the company over its opposition to the bill. The state rescinded Disney’s special governing district in Orlando, and then reconstituted it under the control of five DeSantis appointees.

Disney has argued that the state has sought to punish the company for protected speech, and is seeking to overturn the state’s actions.

The lawsuit was initially assigned to Judge Mark E. Walker, whom President Obama appointed to the bench in 2012.

DeSantis’ lawyers sought to have Walker removed on the grounds that his previous comments in other cases show he might be biased against the Governor. In one case, the judge noted that Disney might lose its special status because, “arguably,” it “ran afoul of state policy.”

Disney’s lawyers, led by Daniel Petrocelli, argued that was not nearly enough to merit disqualification.

Walker agreed with Disney and denied the DeSantis motion on Thursday, saying it was “wholly without merit.”

“In fact, I find the motion is nothing more than rank judge-shopping,” he wrote. “Sadly, this practice has become all too common in this district.”

However, Walker also noted that his relative owns Disney stock, and that he therefore has an ethical duty to step aside.

The case will instead go to Winsor, who previously served as Florida’s solicitor general. In that role, he defended the state’s law outlawing same-sex marriage in 2014.

In February, Winsor dismissed a lawsuit from students and parents who alleged that the Parental Rights in Education law had caused schools to remove books with LGBTQ themes from libraries and to remove LGBTQ lyrics from school musicals.

That lawsuit was brought by Roberta Kaplan, who won a landmark gay rights case at the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. v. Windsor, in 2013. In the Florida case, she argued that the law violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause, as well as Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education.

Winsor dismissed the suit twice, ruling both times that the plaintiffs had not shown that they suffered enough harm to warrant standing in federal court.

“Plaintiffs have shown a strident disagreement with the new law, and they have alleged facts to show its very existence causes them deep hurt and disappointment,” Winsor wrote. “But to invoke a federal court’s jurisdiction, they must allege more. Their failure to do so requires dismissal.”

Walker, the Obama-appointed Judge, had previously ruled against DeSantis in high-profile cases. In November, he blocked a law against “woke” ideology from taking effect at state universities.

Walker also struck down state voting restrictions last year, finding that the state had a “horrendous history of racial discrimination in voting.” DeSantis called the ruling “performative partisanship” and appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed Walker’s ruling earlier this year.

[havendance]

Put a lot of thought into the trial portions of World Gone MAD and I want to talk about it, so here I am with my super secret bonus author commentary! Spoilers for World Gone MAD below the cut.

So the canon makeup of the Justice League at this point in the timeline was Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman (recently kicked out and reinstated), Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Flash, and Plastic Man. I knew right away that I didn’t want to just use the core lineup for the trial committee because about half the league were people I felt like I either didn’t have a good idea on which way they would vote, or I just didn’t care about them (sorry Plastic Man). Plus, I wanted I really wanted to use Huntress and she was technically out of her Justice League era by this point. And then the more I thought about what I wanted the functionality of the League to be in this fic, and like the reasons that Dick turned himself into them in the first, it just made sense to expand so that it felt like a major organization and not eight people who get together and beat up aliens on the weekends.

So, the committee makeup:

Huntress — I knew Huntress had to be on the committee because there was just a lot of interesting potential in her relationship with Nightwing and Robin and their differing opinions on justice and the like.

The Flash — Flash was the most obvious guy to be on the committee to vote for Nightwing’s innocence. They’re best friends. I needed some simple motivations on Nightwing’s side.

Green Lantern — Green Lantern, on the other hand is there to be obviously on the side that Nightwing did it as a core Justice League member who hasn’t known Dick since he was eight or whatever.

Wonder Woman — It was important that Wonder Woman be on the committee because she’s got the lasso of truth, and it was important to me that the lasso be there as an absence. Wonder Woman is there. She is leading the interrogation. At any point, they could find out the truth if they so chose and they do not. That was important on a thematic level. For that reason, she also had to vote that Nightwing was innocent. I wasn’t sure at first, which way she’d fall, and I still feel that I can’t really rule on her philosophy of justice, and how she values truth, and how does that tie in? Does she know Dick and have a relationship with him like Clark does? I’m not sure, but she votes the way she did, because she had to.

Hawkman is on there because I needed more people to vote that Nightwing was guilty and I wanted a non-core Justice League member.

Red Tornado was chosen because I was scrolling through a wikipedia article listing all the members of the Justice League and saw that he’d been on some incarnation of the team and I thought that he added some interesting dynamics. He adds the contrast of being someone who knows Robin better than Nightwing.

Superman — Superman had to be on this committee because he’s Superman and Dick calls him Uncle Clark. His was the hardest vote for me to figure out because it could go either way. I could see him making the tough right choice, especially coming off of the Tower of Babel storyline where he does vote to remove Bruce, his friend, from the league. But at the same time it’s Dick. I finally realized that he needed to be the tie-breaking vote, and he needed to vote that Dick was innocent as a way to be emblematic of the whole trial. It reinforces the central them of failures of Justice. Dick fails when he kills the Joker. Superman fails when he votes that Dick didn’t. And it’s all rooted in the fact that they love and care deeply.

And, as bonus, people who were not on the committee:

Batman — Batman almost certainly had to recuse himself due to conflict of interest

Green Arrow — recently came back from the dead. Has bigger problems to worry about than Justice League Jury duty.

Black Canary — I originally had Black Canary on the committee instead of Hawkman, but I couldn’t figure out which way she’d fall. There’s her friendship with Barbara and she does have a relationship with Dick, but is it enough to sway her? In the end, I just find a answer that satisfied me and I also realized I needed more people voting that Dick did it, so she got kicked off.

I also considered Power Girl and Hawkgirl as replacements for Black Canary. Power Girl I decided against because I all I knew about her was the two issues of Birds of Prey she showed up in. Hawkgirl, I was closer to settling on, but then I had a realization that basically boiled down to the fact that there are way more guys in the Justice League and having three women on the committee was dangerously close to having all of the League’s women on the committee and I kind of wanted it to be kind of proportional.

[kinghijinx22]

Best couple Peacock and Marie reunion got me in tears. Episode 17 of the new Skullgirls comic is the most impactful yet

Peacock saving her girlfriend Marie got me in tears. It was so good to get some more interactions between those two and everything in general about this episode was incredible, easily one of the best so far. Definitely one of the most impactful as well.

So we get a team up with Parsoul's team of Black Egrets and Big Band and Peacock from Lab 8 as they all fight against the Skullgirl Marie, with even Adam of all people getting a good hit in thanks to Panzerfaust. But before Peacock's gang can get the jump on her, Peacock realises who it is and pushed her out of the way. Peacock and Marie clearly have a deep relationship and history together and seeing Peacock still love Marie so much and wanting to protect her was heartwarming.

Parasoul hesitates and doesn't know how to react, but Filia and her family being in danger from the flames pushes her to turn her attention to recusing them instead. What I especially love about this moment is how they bring back her argument with Cerebella as a flashback, and the Black Egrets failure to save her family. An important part of Parasoul's story is her wanting to be a better leader then her parents and this is her taking steps to do that.

Peacock and Marie's reunion is tragically cut short as while Peacock is happy to see Marie again, Marie pushes her away and uses this moment to escape. I imagine this is from her not wanting to hurt Peacock because of her connection with the Skull Heart. Not wanting to loose control, and not wanting to put the person she cares the most about into the line of fire. I love Peacock and Marie's relationship, and while they don't outright say it I think we can all agree that their romantic feelings for each other are pretty obvious. Either way, they have a special relationship and it was really nice to get more interactions between them.

We also see Cerebella and Eliza catch up to Ms Fortune and the rest of the Fishbone gang to get Lorenzo's stuff back including the life gem which Ms Fortune accidently swallows. Somehow. I'll be honest I don't really know how that happened but it did and it leads to some very unfortune outcomes. What's interesting about this scene is Cerabella stopping Eliza from killing the fish person, which shows that she used to have a little more empathy than she did in the game where she just kills Ms Fortune. This was definitely a scene that was needed for Cerabella considering how unsympathetic she was from how incredibly ruthless and oblivious she was in the game.

Ms Fortune and the rest of the gang split and get away during the argument, the fish person going with Ms Fortune. It's here that she reveals to them that she had accidently swallowed the life gem and so they aren't able to just ditch it. This is where we get one of the most impactful scenes that I've ever seen from Skullgirls where Ms Fortune's fish friend who was like family to her gets viciously stabbed from behind by Black Dahlia, right in front of her with the blood splattering all over her. Skullgirls has always made references to really dark stuff, but I don't think it's ever shown anything this viscerally gory before. It ends on a shot of Black Dahlia ominously cornering Ms Fortune, a really shocking and dark ending for this episode.

Between the reunion of best couple Marie and Peacock, them splitting up again and what's happened to the Fishbone gang, all around this was a really solid and very emotionally powerful episode. The comic has done a really good job at expanding these characters and their backstories and I'm excited for more.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

This afternoon, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced articles of impeachment against two corrupt far-right judicial activists sitting on the Supreme Court: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The articles of impeachment against SCOTUS Justices Thomas and Alito have no chance of passage in the GOP-controlled House.

Summary of the impeachment charges against Alito and Thomas, via Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s Congressional website:

The first impeachment resolution includes the following impeachment articles against Justice Thomas:

Failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions, among other information.

Refusal to recuse from matters concerning his spouse’s legal interest in cases before the court.

Refusal to recuse from matters involving his spouse’s financial interest in cases before the court.

The second impeachment resolution includes the following impeachment articles against Justice Alito:

Refusal to recuse from cases in which he had a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party in cases before the court.

Failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions, among other information.

This afternoon, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced articles of impeachment against corrupt and unethical far-right judicial activists Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas that currently sit on the nation's highest court.

AOC is correct: these two corrupt far-right judicial activists deserve to be impeached and removed from the court for their unethical conduct on the bench.

Read the full story at Daily Kos.