WTF-Beta

It is absolutely brilliant.

A ray of hope for the future of journalism...

A federal judge signaled Friday she may reopen a legal case between President Trump and his own government that led the Justice Department to create a controversial $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund," ordering the president's lawyers to respond to allegations of "deception" and "fraud."

U.S. Judge Kathleen Williams issued the four-page order after dozens of retired federal judges asked her to reopen the president's lawsuit, arguing the government and Mr. Trump may have "deceived" Williams into dismissing the case.

Williams wrote that the former judges raised "grievous allegations" that Mr. Trump sought to dismiss the case "solely to avoid judicial scrutiny of a lawsuit that 'was collusive from the start' and was only filed to provide the imprimatur of legality for an unlawful settlement."

She directed the president to file a response by June 12, laying out their responses to the former judges' allegations of "collusion" and "deception," and "the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the 'victim of a fraud.'"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-orders-trump-answer-questions-anti-weaponization-fund-fraud/

A federal judge has blocked President Trump from adding his name to the Kennedy Center, saying that the Washington, D.C. arts complex was named for the late president John F. Kennedy. In a ruling on Friday, the judge also temporarily blocked the administration from closing the Kennedy Center for a planned two-year renovation that was slated to begin in July.

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper wrote in his ruling that: "The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/29/nx-s1-5839349/president-trump-kennedy-center-name-judge-order

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home from day rehav; Mr wtg's first trip to a grocery store since late February. We decided to celebrate...

Jeni's was on sale for $4.99 a pint. We got the Gooey Butter Cake (not bad but wouldn't buy again) and the Lemon and Blueberry Parfait (am going back to buy three more).

Also got Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin. It was OK, but a bit grainy. Ice crystals.

wtg said:

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into writer E Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has reported.

The investigation is looking into whether Carroll committed perjury in connection with civil cases she brought against Trump, the news outlet quotes sources as saying.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation, and successfully sued him in two cases. Both judgements were upheld on appeal, but Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to overturn the first of them.

He has denied the accusations. The BBC has contacted the DOJ and Carroll's lawyer for comment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyp77jd407o

The Beeb updates the story, in a pretty significant way.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyp77jd407o

h/t bachophile

A book about a piano tuner.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-mason/the-piano-tuner-2/

I have three rose bushes that are of the own root variety, no grafting. All three of them took a big hit this past winter. Two started sending out new shoots pretty early in spring but the third looked like it was toast; I almost dug it up. Lo and behold, probably three weeks later, I saw what appeared to be tiny buds. It hasn't caught up to the others but it is definitely still alive!

You have to read the story and watch the video.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kathleen-thomas-texting-while-driving-right-hand-police-bodycam/

@Steve-Miller said:

Common thrift. I need more of these. They bloom all summer and appear to be indestructible.

Yes! I've seen them in commercial plantings, like at shopping malls. They are very cool. I think they prefer a lot of sun, so I'm not sure if they would survive in my yard.

@Mik said:

All ills have a genesis. They are seldom as clear as this one.

Yea, Bill Clinton was sure subjected to his fair share of lawfare. Whitewater, Lewinsky, Marc Rich. I don't even remember most of the stuff they pummeled him with. And who was that guy who committed suicide? (edit: Vince Foster. I had to look it up).

Nixon. Watergate. The enemies list.

There isn't a genesis. It's a continuum.

Or as the story goes, it's turtles all the way down....

@Daniel said:

Well, Trump had a 1st term and he campaigned on imprisoning his political opponents. "Lock her (Hillary Clinton) up" was one of his campaign slogans. So I don't think he got the idea from Biden.

I think where @mik is coming from (and know he'll correct me if I'm wrong) is the notion that the Dems went after Trump on all manner of legal fronts that weren't justified. Lawfare. There is truth in that.

But that doesn't make Trump some kind of martyr who is justified in fighting back because he didn't get treated well. He didn't need an excuse; this kind of retribution is an essential part of his persona and he's been doing it for years, suing everyone in sight when he feels slighted in any way.

As President he's taken lawfare to a whole new level, using the DOJ to go after his personal enemies, in this case Carroll. I don't know how anyone can't find that horrifying.

It's a bit early for rudbeckia to be blooming.

There are no birds I know that will eat unopened flower buds like that. They might go after the seeds after the plant is done blooming.

I'm almost certain it's rabbits, even if you aren't seeing droppings right there. Once they find a bunch of plants and get going, they will keep after that patch and potentially eat everything to the ground. I have a bunch in a raised bed that's a foot tall and once they found it they climbed into the bed and started chowing down.

You really are down to a choice between an ugly fence or no flowers.

I hate whataboutism. Why not just admit that the current administration is doing some really bad stuff without trying to blunt it with "well the other guys did it "?

It is so sad that we have given up expecting that our politicians and government could do better than the previous lot.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into writer E Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has reported.

The investigation is looking into whether Carroll committed perjury in connection with civil cases she brought against Trump, the news outlet quotes sources as saying.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation, and successfully sued him in two cases. Both judgements were upheld on appeal, but Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to overturn the first of them.

He has denied the accusations. The BBC has contacted the DOJ and Carroll's lawyer for comment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyp77jd407o

Yea, this is a statin that I had never heard of, pitavastatin. And this is the generic, not a brand name. Not sure why it costs more than other statins. Mr wtg tried several of the others (simvastatin, atorvastatin) many years ago and couldn't deal with the side effects. The cardiologist said this one seems to have fewer side effects and he thought it was worth a try.

Placed our first order today. Cardiologist would like to try Mr wtg on a statin.

Costco price for 30 day supply: $63.
Mark Cuban price for 90 day supply (including shipping): $59

Rabbits leave little piles of raisins.

Milestone birthday for Big Al today. He's probably out celebrating like mad!!

Oh boy. That ice cream looks fabulous. Clotted Cream? Coffee Latte? Rum & Raisin?

I had to stop; I was already at three scoops.....

The Remarkable Proliferation of Cancer Immunotherapies

On a Path to Interception—Prevention Vaccines

.... now we’re seeing an exponential rise in new ways, clinical trial results, and a rich pipeline to prevail over cancer via immunotherapies. It includes an extensive gobbledygook of acronyms like ADCs, BiTES, CAR-T, CAR-NK, TCEs, and TRiTES that needs to be broken down. The purpose of this edition of Ground Truths is to take stock of the progress that is being made and where we are headed. In short, we’ve come a long way!

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-remarkable-proliferation-of-cancer?r=1v8sh2