July 26, 2018

Brock Turner's sexual assault appeal: He intended 'outercourse,' not intercourse

Source: Washington Post

An attorney for Brock Turner, the former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2016, launched a bid to overturn his client’s convictions before a panel of skeptical appellate judges Tuesday, arguing that Turner never intended to have sexual intercourse with the woman. He just wanted “outercourse,” attorney Eric S. Multhaup told the court in a brief and in oral arguments.

The distinction is central to Multhaup’s argument that Turner should not have been convicted of assault with intent to commit rape because, he claims, Turner’s clothes were on when two bicyclists saw him thrusting on top of the half-naked, unconscious woman. He argued that Turner was engaged only in “outercourse,” a “version of safe sex” with no “penile contact,” Multhaup explained, the Palo Alto Weekly reported.

The long-shot legal argument had three California 6th District Court of Appeal justices scratching their heads, according to multiple accounts of the hearing.

“I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about,” Justice Franklin D. Elia told Multhaup, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/26/brock-turners-sexual-assault-appeal-he-intended-outercourse-not-intercourse/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ccee12533494

July 21, 2018

Stormy Daniels cancels Sunday performances at Brookhaven's Pink Pony

Source: AJC

Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film star who has alleged she had an extramarital affair with Donald Trump before he became president, has canceled her scheduled performances for this Sunday at the Pink Pony strip club in Brookaven.

Her attorney said Daniels — her real name is Stephanie Clifford — cancelled because of a “family issue,” though he declined to elaborate, calling it a personal matter.

“She is dealing with a family issue that is requiring her to cancel, unfortunately,” Michael Avenatti told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “She feels very bad about it, but she looks forward to rescheduling and coming to Atlanta.”

...

Dennis Williams, the Pink Pony’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said he learned from Daniels’ representatives late Friday that she had cancelled all of her public appearances for the next two months. Avenatti said it is “completely false” that Daniels is canceling her appearances for the next two months. Further, Williams called the short notice of her cancellation at his club Friday “extremely unprofessional.”

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/stormy-daniels-cancels-sunday-performances-brookhaven-pink-pony/i8YpSsCV3whl4DkizgpU2K/

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1. I cannot believe I read this article about a porn actress.
2. Fucking Trump, getting me to read inane articles about porn actresses.

July 14, 2018

Red-state Dem tells Schumer to 'kiss my you know what' on Supreme Court vote

Source: The Hil

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) had strong words for Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) efforts to unify the party against President Trump’s Supreme Court pick.

Manchin suggested to Politico that Schumer does not have any influence over whether or not he supports Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.

“I’ll be 71 years old in August, you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” Manchin told Politico, referring to whipping votes among the party caucus.

Schumer has spoken out harshly against Kavanaugh and vowed to oppose him “with everything I’ve got.” Democrats will need at least two GOP votes, in addition to all Democrats, to block the nomination.

But Democrats up for reelection in Trump states are not guaranteed votes against the confirmation, and many have signaled that Schumer’s efforts may not be enough to convince them to vote against the nominee.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397020-red-state-dem-tells-schumer-to-kiss-my-you-know-what-on-supreme-court-vote

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Wow.

July 11, 2018

Playmate Who Had Affair With Major GOP Fundraiser Has Never Met Trump, Sources Say

Source: Huffington Post

Shera Bechard, the Playboy Playmate who had an affair with a former Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman, Elliott Broidy, and later entered into a hush-money agreement with him, has never met or spoken to President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter tell HuffPost. This news comes after weeks of speculation that Bechard had in fact had an affair with Trump and that Broidy had acted as a middleman to settle Bechard’s claim.

The sources, who are unaffiliated with the president, asked not to be named in order to speak frankly about sensitive information. When asked by HuffPost about the speculation that Broidy acted as a conduit, both sources denied the rumors and said there had been no affair — or even any contact — between Bechard and Trump.

The speculation that Broidy, a major GOP donor, might have covered up for Trump’s affair escalated in April after Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels, suggested in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Bechard could have had the affair with someone else (many assumed he meant Trump) and that Broidy was the fall guy.

“I think at some point we are going to find out if, in fact, the client in connection with the ($1.6 million) settlement was, in fact, Mr. Broidy. I’m going to leave it at that,” Avenatti said on the morning show.

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shera-bechard-playmate-donald-trump-elliott-broidy_us_5b45635fe4b048036ea39bfd

July 6, 2018

The New Space Age: A conversation with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

So I saw this Politico interview with Jim Bridenstine, and I was intrigued. This is perhaps the first video I've seen of a Trump cabinet employee that didn't immediately repulse me.

https://www.politico.com/live-events/2018/06/27/the-new-space-age-a-conversation-with-nasa-administrator-jim-bridenstine-640331