Princess Turandot
Princess Turandot's JournalPandas at the National Zoo: A Merry Moment With Bao Li and Qing Bao
While the new giant pandas are scheduled to meet the public later this month (both in person and on the Panda cam), the Zoo occasionally posts videos of them. This one was posted for Christmas. (Paws crossed that they capture/share a video of them in the snow).
Their habitats, both indoors and out, have undergone extensive renovations, to add more 'playground' diversions for them, as well as larger water pools. As is the case with adult or near adult pandas, they do not share the same space. However, there are some mesh-covered windows in the wall between them, so they can have look/sniff at one another, if they wish.
Number 41!
With a 5-2 victory tonight in a 10 inning game over the Cleveland Guardians, the New York Yankees have won their 41st American League Pennant.
They will meet the winner of the National League Pennant next weekend, in search of their 28th World Series championship. The Dodgers lead the NL series over the New York Mets by 3 games to 2, with the action returning to LA tomorrow for Game 6.
Way overdue, but good news. It sounds like MLB used $$ to push him into 'retirement'...
... Various articles note something like this:
Hernández and the league have reportedly been negotiating terms of his retirement over the past two weeks. (From Yahoo Sports)
I assume that umpires normally retire under the terms of existing contractual pension arrangements and don't require any negotiations.
He sued the league for discrimination awhile back claiming he was not chosen to work the World Series due to his Cuban ethnicity. The case was thrown out, and subsequent appeals failed as well. He last worked the WS in 2005.
When the KC Chiefs visited the White House last spring, after winning Superbowl LVII...
Travis Kelce described the visit to his older brother Jason on one of their podcasts. Jason plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles, the team that the Chiefs played/defeated in that game. (Dr Jill was rooting for them, I believe.) There's a bit of silliness early on, but he was clearly delighted to be there. (He had yet to meet Ms Swift at this point.)
Two players, Kelce and quarterback Pat Mahomes, along with coach Andy Reid and the team president Mark Donovan, met with President Biden in the Oval Office. The ceremony with the entire team took place in the usual area facing the South Lawn. (Joe has already invited them to visit again this year.)
It might be in their dna by now!
There's an excellent documentary on them and that performance that's about an hour long:
The one shame is that there isn't a better quality video of the performance in circulation, unsurprising given when it took place, but still a shame.
Wikipedia has a good article on this case...
It goes back to 2018, when several individuals sued Trump/Trump Org and the Trump-spawn, for recommending a product without disclosing that the product company was paying him several million dollars to do so. (ACN, the company, isn't being sued.)
Since it was filed, Trump has made numerous attempts in various jurisdictions to have the case referred for arbitration, rather than trial. Each court ruled against him. They finally took depositions from the lot of them in 2022; the plaintiffs dropped the spawn from the suit in 2023 to focus on Trump alone.
The trial is scheduled for January 29, 2024 in the SDNY.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_et_al._v._Trump_Corp._et_al
He'll have to post an 'appeal bond' in order for the appeal to be processed..
The appeal bond is equal to the amount due and may also include interest. It will need to be fully collateralized.
This is from the website of Surety Bond Professionals, a company that does this for a living.
The defendant will be unable to complete the process of filing an appeal until the necessary New York appeal bond has been purchased and submitted to the Clerk of the Court in which the case was originally decided. The bond must be fully collateralized, typically in the form of a cashier’s check or irrevocable letter of credit. (There is a bit more at the link.)
While it didn't seem to get a lot of publicity, Trump was required to put up the 5 million simoleons that he owes to Jean Carroll before his appeal of that case could be processed. (I think Tacopina turned in a certified check to the court.) That was in federal court, not NYS state court, but the concept is similar.
FYI Trump will appeal this to the Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court. That is an intermediate appeals court. Appeals from that court go to the NYS Court of Appeals. So it's possible that there will be another appeal following any 'middle' court ruling. (Most states do not have an intermediate step.)
The NYS law in question. § 5519 (a)(2) applies.
FindLaw.com - New York Consolidated Laws, Civil Practice Law and Rules - CVP § 5519. Stay of enforcement - last updated January 01, 2021 | https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/civil-practice-law-and-rules/cvp-sect-5519/
The discussion they had related to the punishment on the *case itself* not the gag order fine...
He can't send him to jail, because this is a civil case, not a criminal case. (The criminal case in NY is the one being brought by the DA of NY County, Alvin Bragg, related to the hush money payments.)
The judge ruled weeks ago that the Trump Organization et al had committed financial fraud. The purpose of this hearing has been to determine how much $$ they'll have to forfeit for their actions. The NYAG is asking for a $250,000,000 fine (or thereabouts) aka 'Disgorgement', as well as doing away with the ability of the Trump Organization to do business in NYS. (That's referred to as the corporate death penalty.)
BTW, it was reported that Kise, the main attorney on the case, received a $3 million deposit before he would take the case. Trump also had to pony up the $5,000,000 award in the Jean Carroll case before he could even file his appeal of the judgement, under an option available to a federal court judge. (It's in a trust, not in Carroll's hands yet.) So, when his neck is on the block, he finds the cash.
Thomas devoted 6 pages of his 58 page concurrence to attacking Jackson's dissent..
It has a near mocking tone to it, especially the way he keeps referring to her by name. He effectively accuses her of discriminating against Asians, and seems to suggest in one of his hypotheticals that she would discriminate against - wait for it - a grandchild of Holocaust survivors.
Then there's this:
Make no mistake: Her dissent is not a vanguard of the innocent and helpless. It is instead a call to empower privileged elites, who will “tell us [what] is required to level the playing field” among castes and classifications that they alone can divine.
Thomas, Toga-boy in good standing of the Bohemian Grove, is of course quite familiar with privileged elites.
If interested, his Jackson 'critique' begins on pdf page 97, as section B. (The pdf includes everyone's 'contribution'.)
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
This week, New Jersey's Seton Hall U. gave out baccalaureate diplomas to 1,386 humans - and one dog.
When graduating senior Grace Mariani rolled up in her wheelchair to receive her diploma, she was escorted by her service dog Justin, who had regularly accompanied her to her classes. Dr Joseph E. Nyre, the University's President, had a surprise for them: After handing Grace her leather bound diploma, he presented Justin with one of his own (the rolled-up version).
There was a moment of uncertainty when Justin, with Joseph Cardinal Tobin, Archbishop of Newark and University Board Chairman, looking on, cautiously sniffed the diploma. Satisfied, he then graciously accepted it, to the delight of all (especially Dr Nyre).
From ABC News:
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1661556943524167682
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