Good luck with that, pal

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this dog won’t hunt

Hunter Biden hires Alex Murdaugh's lawyer in latest court case

Hunter Biden has hired a heavyweight South Carolina attorney — with a similar high profile to his last lawyer — to go after a right-wing business executive for defamation.

Former state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, a self-described "Joe Biden guy" who recently represented Low Country prosecutor turned convicted killer Alex Murdaugh, is the younger Biden’s new lawyer as he pursues ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in court.

Biden, who was pardoned by his father for those allegations, is primed to go to Los Angeles court in July against Byrne.

The suit claims Byrne wrongfully accused Biden of being in touch with Iranian officials in 2021, seeking a bribe in exchange for unfreezing $8 billion in funds at the behest of his father.

…. Biden is reportedly claiming defamatory statements from the Iran allegation that led him to lose "economic opportunities," including memoir and art sales and speaking engagements estimated to be collectively worth about $500,000. 

Problems I see include:

  • Hunter’s a public figure, so the burden of proof is much, much higher than if he were a private individual

  • As a convicted criminal and a fully-exposed (so to speak) history of coke-fueled sex trysts and illegal gun possession, he has no character left to damage.

  • “Lost” artwork sales of his scribbles are imaginary; the few paintings that did sell were purchased by buyers seeking access to his father’s influence, and evaporated once that influence faded.

    I suppose a sympathetic jury (is the trial being held in D.C.?) might award the man $1 in nominal damges, but I hope not.

No more cops in NoPo — not at these prices

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No more lawyers, either. 24 Riverside Lane, one of the original “temporary” houses put up for returning WWII veterans in 1948 is new on the MLS today at $1.195 million. One feature that was lacking back then has been corrected: it now has window air conditioners, and they’re included in the price.

Just as an aside, while the expense of staging a house in this price bracket might dissuade an owner or agent from going through the trouble, de-cluttering costs nothing, and never hurts.

W Lyon Farm sale price reported

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January contract, March closing, 414 W Lyon Farm has sold for $1.5 million. That’s a tad lower than some other recent sales of renovated units here, but that’s possibly due to its debuting last June at $1.995 million and being a bit laggard in suiting price to market.

Buyers came from Scarsdale, and why not? As my Uncle Gary, native of that town (8 Heathcote, originally) said when packing his bags and moving to Vermont, “50 years in Scarsdale is enough for any man”.

The street lady doubles down; alas, the Internet is forever

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“Y’all callin’ me a liar?”

Well, yes. Yes we are.

Yesterday, the rising star of the Democrat Party, Jazzman Crockit, came under fire for mocking Governor Abbot*, who has been confined to a wheelchair since being paralyzed when he was 26. Rather than apologize and MoveOn™, she dug deeper. Moron.

Crockett clarified [sic] her comments in a post on X, claiming she "wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition."

"I was thinking about the planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable. Literally, the next line I said was that he was a "Hot A** Mess," referencing his terrible policies. At no point did I mention or allude to his condition," she wrote in part.

*

Night and day

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Thank you, sir — we’re on it

There's a New NIH Sheriff in Town!

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who was personally targeted and censored by the Biden administration (including NIH) and Big Tech, has been confirmed as National Institutes of Health (NIH) director.

Bhattacharya, an outspoken critic of the government’s disastrous COVID-19 policies, was finally confirmed by the Senate on March 25. Sen. Jim Banks celebrated, “When others were afraid to stand up against group think & COVID hysteria, Dr. Bhattacharya was a common sense leader. His confirmation is a huge win for American health.”

Bhattacharya was one of the primary formulators of the Great Barrington Declaration, which brought together hundreds of thousands of medical and scientific experts to condemn harmful COVID-19 policies such as lockdowns and masking. Ironically, disgraced former NIH head Francis Collins frenziedly tried to discredit and suppress the Declaration. Now Bhattacharya will replace Collins. Seldom do we see such a major reversal on a national level. 

“23% of Americans have not much or no confidence at all … in scientists to act in the public’s best interests.”

I’m astonished that it’s only 23%.

Yup

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…. Crockett’s increasingly inflammatory rhetoric seems like an act to me. Although she uses plenty of slang in her speech, she went to good schools, came from a solid family, and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center. There are videos of her talking quite a bit differently and without such a pronounced accent and the slang. 

Bill Maher is no more impressed by her shtick than Strom or Hoge:

Of course, there is precedent for Crockett’s act:

Because the Irish LIKE bowing to authoritarians and being told what to do and what to say

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500 days imprisonment was not enough; in fact, it was just the beginning.

Orwellian: Irish Court Seizes Cash of Teacher Denying Trans Ideology

About a century ago, the Irish suffered under the oppressive, dictatorial, and arbitrary rule of Britain. Today, they are suffering under the oppressive, dictatorial, and arbitrary rule of their own globalist oligarchs.

Teacher Enoch Burke respectfully refused to use invented pronouns for a student who claimed to be transgender. Since he was teaching at a Christian school, the young Irishman believed that his Christian belief that there are only two sexes would be respected. He was wrong. 

….

Burke’s X account shared details. In one video, Burke explained that on payday, he received no salary and his bank account was raided. As he makes €750 weekly, and has to put aside a little at a time, the loss of his life savings — €40,000 — is indeed a significant blow. “I want to say this is all unprecedented,” Burke stated, citing legal authority backing up his statement. 

There are “murderers and thieves walking so freely on our streets, but all of the stops can be pulled out for me,” Burke said, explaining that a receiver has been appointed to take his salary. “I’m not a criminal,” Burke stated; he simply refused in 2022 to refer to a student as “they” when his principal demanded it. The Church of Ireland has apparently gone as woke as its counterpart, the Church of England. Simply for refusing to violate his conscience and submit to transgender ideology, Burke said he subsequently spent 500 days in jail. “I refused to be compelled into promoting an anti-Christian belief in the [Christian] school where I was employed,” the young teacher said.

And now there's the seizure of his money. It is worth noting that the European Union, of which Ireland is a member, is currently planning to expedite its digital euro, which would make it even easier for the government to seize an individual’s money, even potentially without any trial. In Communist China, the government can immediately shut off digital funds for dissidents. 

…

In a separate post announcing the seizure of his €40,000 bank account and his teaching salary, along with authorization to seize any other of Burke’s assets, Burke emphasized the rigged court system:

Senior Counsel Brian Kennedy SC for the Attorney General was granted as much time as he wished to make his submissions in Court on this unprecedented matter and was not questioned in any way by the bench. By contrast, when Enoch Burke rose to speak, he was cut off after only 5 minutes by Mr Justice David Nolan, who repeatedly interrupted him. The Judge then delivered his pre-prepared ruling immediately.

Enoch Burke sought to draw attention to the fact that the root cause of this case, the principal's direction to all staff to address a male student by a new name and the "they" pronoun, has never been assessed for its constitutionality or lawfulness by any Court, despite these proceedings being now ongoing for more than 2.5 years. When Enoch Burke read out Article 44 of the Irish Constitution, which binds the State to "respect and honour religion", he was immediately shut down by Judge David Nolan.