said in An administrative error: Wonder if Garcia will get a fair trial. He's pleading not guilty to human trafficking. Much of the government's testimony in support of pre-trial detention came from Homeland Security special agent Pete Joseph, who testified about his investigation into the 2022 traffic stop where Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they had been working construction in Missouri. The Tennessee Highway Patrol officers ultimately issued no speeding ticket and allowed Abrego Garcia to drive on with just a warning about an expired driver's license. As ABC News previously reported, the criminal investigation that led to the charges was launched in April as federal authorities began to scrutinize the traffic stop. Joseph testified that law enforcement officers who pulled over the vehicle asked those in the car to write down their name, date of birth and where they were traveling to -- what was described in court as a "roster" of who was traveling in the car. One person on the roster was a 15-year-old minor, according to the list provided to law enforcement -- a piece of evidence that the government alleges proves that Abrego Garcia also transported minors. The judge grappled with how much weight to give that information, given that the Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper wasn't in court to testify specifically about the list. "I'm not saying to you that I'm completely discounting it," said Judge Holmes, who added that she wasn't sure she was willing to accept that because the person was a minor meant that he was a minor victim. https://abcnews.go.com/US/kilmar-abrego-garcia-scheduled-arraigned-charges-human-smuggling/story?id=122791176

That took place in a federal building that requires identification to enter.

Perfect example what I want. https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/4T1BE32K62U100024?utm_source=rtbh&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=rtg&partner=DUL_L&rtbhc=pYKSSJaepQDvBDXSAFsPPiFOKd4v-82selB1JzTfFk8.4T1BE32K62U100024.1749837941099.0.oAr7MTzRbxCxbqxeWJDS.&no_ul=1

I'd never heard of her, very interesting

... and one wonders ... Do most of the people in those towns "believe" that climate change is a hoax? Probably. Do they damn well want the government to continue bailing them out of every flood? Sure. Do they think California's urban fire victims deserve the same? Probably not. Gotta wean CA off of that government welfare. One wonders if this society will be able to handle when whole cities start to go

I think I’m in the piano market again. My 9 foot vintage Mason & Hamlin needs a new action, but more than that, if I suddenly died, my wife would be tasked with trying to get rid of it…not easy for a concert grand. I’m looking for a smaller M&H or Steinway, preferably golden-age and well rebuilt. I’ve found there are all kinds of resellers out there, particularly in Westchester and environs. I’ve already missed out on some nice ones…those from $15K-$25K sell fast.

Birds are quite good fun really, certainly in comparison to the rest of nature; entertaining to watch flying, perched or walking, they come readily to food, come in lots of different sizes shapes & colours, and are very fragile short lived animals with a very small brain as I am reminded everytime one sadly flies into our windows. And a perfect reason to invest in quality binoculars, one of our greatest inventions.

Glad to hear it's going well. I had cataract surgery several years ago. I knew it was coming as I became fearful of driving at night, particularly in rainy weather. When I was first examined, they discovered I also had Fuchs dystrophy, a thinning of the corneas. As a result, I had corneal transplants prior to the cataract surgery. That was actually a bigger deal. They inject some air into the eyeball and it's necessary to lie on one's back almost continuously after the surgery. The air acts like the bubble in a level to press the transplant against the interior of the eye. Not real fun. When I had my actual cataract surgery, they aimed for normal distant vision and pretty well hit their target. It was a revelation seeing without glasses after about 60 years of corrective lenses. It's a treat not to have foggy glasses to contend with. I use a very mild set of readers for fine print or poor text, but otherwise I'm fine. The sedation for the catarct surgery was very light. When one eye was being operated on, I could hear the surgeon talking with a nurse about Thankgiving plans. I added a comment or two. I hope everything goes as well for you as it went for me. Big Al

The Brit walked away from the crash, bit dazed & bruised, but amazing survival when you've seen the fully fuelled plane blow up.

It all makes some sense if you set the "MAGA" time machine to the Guilded age or Antebellum America. The monied elete are all that matters, everyone else is considered disposable. We got a hint with senator Ernst's "We are all going to die" quote. It could be the Republican answer to almost any issue. Losing heath insurance? . Gun control? Workplace/public safety? Food, drug and water safety? Disaster relief? ...and the list goes on and on...

Westchester.

Jesus.

Hoping much of the pretend policing types doing the illegal kidnapping also find themselves behind bars...

I've read of other people seeking out heirloom varieties of apples. One gentleman in West Virginia has located nearly one hundred by exploring old, abandoned farmstead in the state. I was glad to read that they have successfully grafted specimens of that apple. Given the gnarly appearance of that tree, it would be uncertain if it would survive for much more time. The article did seem to suggest that the variety is not extinct in France. We had an apple tree on the family farm that sprouted as a volunteer from a place we piled vegetable scrapes. It was a yellow apple and made some of the best-tasting applesauce. My father tried to propagate it by grafting, but with now success. Eventually, that tree died so its apples are lost, except in memory. Big Al

@pique said in The loneliest color of paint: Anything but black, gray, or white. … (They are not color. They are the absence of color.) Well, spectrographically, black, gray, and white are the equal absence and degrees of equal presence of all colors.

I’m the 60s/70s The Beach Boys music I heard playing on the radio seemed kind of bubbly and fun but ignorable. I listened to a couple of tracks from Pet Sounds today, and yes, there’s interesting stuff in there, especially the vocal harmonies.