Happy Friday! [DOT 16/6/23]

16/6/23 MegMegMcGee 19

I have the day off today (and Monday)! So that is fun for me. It looks like it’s going to be a nice weekend around here, so hopefully I can hang out at the pool.

Got any good weekend plans?

Will Walt Nauta flip? Trump keeps valet close as question hovers over the case.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/14/trump-documents-walt-nauta/

Exclusive: US government agencies hit in global cyberattack
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/politics/us-government-hit-cybeattack/index.html

Yikes 🙁

Greece shipwreck: up to 100 children were below deck, survivors say
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/15/greece-refugee-shipwreck-rescuers-scour-sea-for-survivors

Worth the click

I love her.

Have a super day!

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19 Comments

    • Right? I used to work with city and county governments and we had a lot of tradeshows and user groups. They would get up to sketchy shit (especially cops), but they were all acutely aware of the need for discretion and the fact that people had cellphones. And that’s been 10-12 years ago now.

    • After I read a bunch of linked stories, it sounds like one guy, David Patten in particular, was the problem, and he sounds like he has weird political connections which made him feel untouchable. The other guy, Thorsen, had clearly decided to just let him do his usual thing on the trip and then raise the issue when they got back.

      Patten’s obvious mistake was trying to pull this kind of stunt out of state, where people don’t have the same reasons to knuckle under. And it also sounds like the RI state AG has a problem with the Governor, and wasn’t going to cover it up for him.

      Rhode Island has a long history of this kind of thing — Curt Schilling had that weird multimillion dollar subsidy for his failed gaming business. Weird place.

      • The smaller the place, the bigger the opportunity for grifters, honestly. To me, the biggest shame of the media contraction era is how many tiny places are no longer going to have anyone keeping an eye on the lunatics in local government, cause they can really get up to some shit if they’re not watched carefully.

        • Exactly. They also tend to be patronage pits. Do you remember that sister-wife who refused to certify gay marriages in her town or county? I think this was Kentucky? And her mother had the job before her, and I think one of her own kids worked there too?

    • Patten is currently on paid administrative leave. Thorsen had submitted a letter of resignation before the trip and now works at the U.S. Treasury Department.

       

      Plot twist!

       

  3. I am shocked that this went 7-2 in favor of reality and doing what’s right.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-upholds-key-part-native-american-adoption-law-rcna67865

    They left a piece of the case open for relitigation, but considering that the firms who brought the suit argued it pro-bono–and now lost millions in the process–it’s going to be a harder lift to get another firm to take the case again.

    • For unknown reasons that are seemingly at odds with literally everything else he believes in, Gorusch is somehow a steadfast champion of Native rights? It’s bizarre. But, also, nice to see, wish he did that for everyone else, etc. etc. so forth.

      • I expected Gorsuch to vote the way he did and I think Roberts is so concerned about his legacy that he’s starting to vote against his inclinations more often. But I really didn’t expect Barrett and Kavanaugh to join in.
        It would be nice if Barrett remembers all she wrote about the importance of precedent the next time she decides to strike down a constitutional right, but I doubt it.

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