FBI agents manipulated Flynn file, as Clapper allegedly urged ‘kill shot’: court filing

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

2 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

The story on Contreras is that he was forced to recuse himself rather than he doing it out of some altruistic notion.  I don’t know, the whole thing seems fishy.

Well, there can be any number of theories but the reason for his recusal is probably filed in the "Known Known" and "Known Unknown" drawers. He will not and does not need to explain. Federal judges at this level generally comport themselves quite well. It isn't out of altruism -- it's out of saving his own behind. Even the hint of a conflict can put his further efforts in this case at risk, and subject to reversal. Judges don't like being reversed, especially for their own conduct. There needn't be a conflict for the appearance of one to warrant a recusal.

 

Sometimes, as Gertrude Stein told us, a rose is a rose is a rose. This one smells like a pretty normal rose.

[laylalex 7,245]

2 hours ago, elmcitymaven said:

Fun here is I was evacuated from work due to the Getty Center fire, so you gots me all afternoon, NB.

Be safe! My best friend lives in Santa Monica and she said the air there this morning was bad, and she's not even super near the evacuation area. My family is up in the Valley (parents in Burbank, sister in Studio City) and they say the worst of the Saddle Ridge and Tick fires are out now. My sister works close enough to the Sepulveda Pass to have smelled the fire today. She's more concerned about whether the smell will get stuck in her car.  

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,315]

2 hours ago, elmcitymaven said:

Well, I am a feminist buzzkill.

 

Fun here is I was evacuated from work due to the Getty Center fire, so you gots me all afternoon, NB.

Went to see Jo Koy in Atlanta.  His motoo is from the ghetto to the Getty. 

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Just now, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Went to see Jo Koy in Atlanta.  His motoo is from the ghetto to the Getty. 

Is this English? 

 

Asking for a friend. 

[TBoneTX 43,038]

"Show me the man and I will show you the tortfeasor*."

 

*had to find an excuse to use this coolest of words

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

13 hours ago, elmcitymaven said:

Well, I am a feminist buzzkill.

 

Fun here is I was evacuated from work due to the Getty Center fire, so you gots me all afternoon, NB.

Stay safe my friend. I hear that the winds will start back up tonight. 

[Dashinka 23,229]

11 hours ago, elmcitymaven said:

Well, there can be any number of theories but the reason for his recusal is probably filed in the "Known Known" and "Known Unknown" drawers. He will not and does not need to explain. Federal judges at this level generally comport themselves quite well. It isn't out of altruism -- it's out of saving his own behind. Even the hint of a conflict can put his further efforts in this case at risk, and subject to reversal. Judges don't like being reversed, especially for their own conduct. There needn't be a conflict for the appearance of one to warrant a recusal.

 

Sometimes, as Gertrude Stein told us, a rose is a rose is a rose. This one smells like a pretty normal rose.

You are the resident legal expert here and I certainly respect that, but don't words matter when viewed by the law.  In this case, Contreras "was recused" which to me means it was not at all voluntary.  That smacks of political factors. 

 

"The use of the term “was recused” is noteworthy as the court spokesperson purposely did not use the terminology “recused himself” with regard to Contreras removal from the case. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable and the “was recused” phrasing suggests that Contreras was told to recuse himself rather than the judge voluntarily stepping away from the case based on his own concern for a conflict of interest."

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/31/why-was-judge-recused-muellerflynn-case/

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,315]

13 hours ago, elmcitymaven said:

Is this English? 

 

Asking for a friend. 

come on. I only flubbed 1 werd

[laylalex 7,245]

4 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Stay safe my friend. I hear that the winds will start back up tonight. 

I heard from my friend in Santa Monica that the fire was only 5% contained last night. Very scary. There have been some unkind things said apparently about the rich deserving this. No one deserves this.

[Dashinka 23,229]

34 minutes ago, laylalex said:

I heard from my friend in Santa Monica that the fire was only 5% contained last night. Very scary. There have been some unkind things said apparently about the rich deserving this. No one deserves this.

I agree, no one deserves this.  That being said, the state government needs to figure out why these are so out-of-control now days.  Something has changed regarding land management and not for the better.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,315]

34 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I agree, no one deserves this.  That being said, the state government needs to figure out why these are so out-of-control now days.  Something has changed regarding land management and not for the better.

Because the MDL tree huggers and the liberalnistas in Cali have stopped active forest management 

[laylalex 7,245]

This is a pretty good rundown of what's behind the fires. It's not just one thing, it's a whole constellation of things, some of which you touch on. It's quite long but it is worth reading and coming back to again. 

 

https://laist.com/2019/10/28/california-fires-explained-why-they-are-getting-worse.php

[90DayFinancier 910]

35 minutes ago, laylalex said:

This is a pretty good rundown of what's behind the fires. It's not just one thing, it's a whole constellation of things, some of which you touch on. It's quite long but it is worth reading and coming back to again. 

 

https://laist.com/2019/10/28/california-fires-explained-why-they-are-getting-worse.php

Depressing

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

7 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Stay safe my friend. I hear that the winds will start back up tonight. 

We're all good here. I left the office at lunchtime when the smoke got too bad; there's only a slight tang hanging in the air now. We had a pretty calm night on the Westside wind-wise. I live near Culver City and it was completely clear when I headed out to work in the morning, but by the time I hit Olympic and Bundy it was like staring down a valley with a grey wall at the end of it. Today, not so bad.

7 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

You are the resident legal expert here and I certainly respect that, but don't words matter when viewed by the law.  In this case, Contreras "was recused" which to me means it was not at all voluntary.  That smacks of political factors. 

 

"The use of the term “was recused” is noteworthy as the court spokesperson purposely did not use the terminology “recused himself” with regard to Contreras removal from the case. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable and the “was recused” phrasing suggests that Contreras was told to recuse himself rather than the judge voluntarily stepping away from the case based on his own concern for a conflict of interest."

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/31/why-was-judge-recused-muellerflynn-case/

It's a distinction without a difference. Really. "Not necessarily interchangeable" is some weasel-wording, and Larry O'Connor -- a radio host without a law degree -- does not state the grounds on which he premises that they are "not necessarily interchangeable" in the first place. It is important to ask who is telling you things, and the basis for their propositions. If it's Posner or Volokh or one of the guys at Lawfare, fine. A radio host without a law degree with a background in theatre management? Maybe not, without sourcing. His sole sort-of source is Joe diGenova, who isn't exactly the most reliable source. He's a conspiracy theorist with a law degree, and he himself appears (from that Washington Times piece) to be basing his own allegations on the old "someone told me" line. Who? Who told you, Joe? Again, look to the messenger. What are their bona fides?

 

And we will probably never know what the basis for recusal is, as I mentioned, because Contreras doesn't have to say, and custom is not to say.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

3 minutes ago, elmcitymaven said:

We're all good here. I left the office at lunchtime when the smoke got too bad; there's only a slight tang hanging in the air now. We had a pretty calm night on the Westside wind-wise. I live near Culver City and it was completely clear when I headed out to work in the morning, but by the time I hit Olympic and Bundy it was like staring down a valley with a grey wall at the end of it. Today, not so bad.

I was listening to John and Ken yesterday and he was going on an on about the fire yesterday. I guess him being so close really affected him. 

 

I like Culver City overall because they seemed like they had their act together in regards to managing the city. I have a friend and a former coworker who bought a house there in the 80's and now gets cash offers for 1.2-1.3 million even though she hadn't renovated it since then.