Soooo some time ago I stumbled across a really beautiful comic, both art and story and I cannot manage to remember the title to save my life!
Some of this may be off, it's been ageees since I read it, I'd let it go until some updates came along.
FL ends up in a book, she knows the original character was pretty much hated/ignored/misunderstood by everyone including all the MLs and is pretty convinced the brother is trying to kill her. She is able to communicate on occasion with the original character who at one point asks why she's so afraid of (or maybe convinced?) that the brother is trying to kill her.
Her time is limited, some fatal uncurable disease that is apparently pretty awful and painful. I remember at one point one (or more) of the MLs asked her why she wasn't taking their pain medication because it wasn't decreasing, because apparently our FL doesn't actually feel the pain of the disease and will be fine after it runs it's course.
Naturally our FL just wants to admire/befriend them all because she adores them (and they're all hot!)
She had tried to request permission from the king to leave to enjoy the "rest of her days" but the scumbag suddenly wants to keep her around even though he's ignored her. Crown prince is her brother.
I remember one of the MLs is the leader of an assassin's group or mercenary group, though I lean toward the former. I think he had short blonde hair. His best pal is actually not human, and knows the original protag was supposed to be the cause of his blonde friend's death. Pretty sure the nonhuman ML had red eyes or hair maybe? Don't hold me to that.
I think the first ML she comes across had short silver hair and was a guard or knight of her family's house. If I remember right he overhears her diagnosis from the Dr and starts to think that she's been the way she was because she knew and was suffering alone.
I don't think any of the MLs had a good ending in the original book before our funny lil FL got thrown into the story 🤷‍♀️

I (42F) am in a fantasy football league with my siblings, father, cousins and close friends. We have a large and very competitive league. It's been going on for over a decade. We have our annual owner's meeting every year the 3rd Sunday of June, but have had it earlier only when no one would be available that weekend. The meeting is for rule changes and draft order. We also celebrate my brother, and our 4 other close friends who are in the leagues birthdays as they are all that week and fathers day. Kids and spouses are always included. I've been married for a decade and have a 7 year old. The league and the owners meeting has never been an issue.
My in laws (parent in laws and my 2 brother in laws and their families) are not present in our lives on a regular basis. His brothers and their families don't come to our daughters bdays or see us on holidays and mail checks instead. My parent in laws decided to move to FL permanently after our daughter was born. Then they decided to summer north where we all were and then last year decided they would no longer do that.
My parent in laws were last up in Nov 22. They saw my daughter once, and spent the wkend with my husband and I for a wedding. They were supposed to see my daughter the day before they left after she got out of school. The day off my MIL said she wanted my husband to take her and FIL to their hotel from his brothers so she could relax and she would see our kid another time. Thus breaking my daughters heart when she got out of school when she found out that daddy wasn't taking her to see them. Hubby was pissed.
I had a miscarriage in Oct 22 and other than my MIL, the rest of them acted like I was never pregnant and questioned why I wasn't at my niece's (husband's brothers daughter) bridal shower after just recovering days before from complications.
My MIL text me a passive aggressive paragraph telling me they will be here from the 14 till the 24th and want to see us more than once. First off FU lady. We always make time for them, but it's them who always have plans. It's them who for some reason prefer to have each kid visit them separately. I responded to the text that we are wide open after our kid is out of school/I'm done with work, and that the only day that I'm not available is the 17th of June but my husband and daughter would be free. Apparently that was wrong because she contacted my husband right away and he wont tell me what she said.
He gave me crap about how not seeing them for work is one thing...but I retorted that I've had these plans set in stone, that we already had to move the date cause it was the only one thst worked and I'm not barring him on that date from seeing them. I also stated that I'm not canceling all of my plans for their entire stay in case they want to see us.
This was 2 weeks ago.
So onto how I may be the AH Tonight he told me his brother said they were having a father's day party and bday party for his dad that weekend but didn't know which date. I reiterated that I have plans that day but he and our daughter would obviously be going to his brothers house. He said but it's his dad's bday. He isnt happy and hasn't spoken to me since.
All he wants is his family's attention and they never give it to him or our family unless it suits them or for Facebook picts.
But I feel like I am the AH for not putting what he wants first. But to be honest if this was a death in the family it would be one thing or a serious family emergency, it would be different. I have a hard time prioritizing his family in any way when they make no effort with us at all. But maybe I can't see that I'm wrong.

TLDR: traditional “do firsts” are done (IRA/retirement, emergency fund, high interest debt etc). Want to keep a decent amount of return with the balance of some liquidity.
Hey all! We just sold our house with a profit of 44k ish. Active military moving to FL.
Currently have an emergency fund of 12k
Currently max both TSP (military 401k) and a Vanguard ROTH IRA via our current budgeted income
Only debt currently is our new house (290k @5.6%)
I don’t have a current time horizon for this money so I want it to start working for me with the option of snagging some as we need it ( down payment in 3-4 years from now , fence , etc) or just not touch it for 10+ years.
Not really sure how to proceed from this point with the market the way it is. Any help is appreciated!

Below I shall briefly prove that Skanda/Murugan came from non-Vedic, i.e. Dravidian practices:

Skanda

The origin of Skanda or Murugan, as he is known in the south, is similar to that of Ganesha. In this section, the Northern version of Skanda and his Southern counterpart Murugan will be dealt with separately. For simplicity, Skanda will refer to the Sanskritic god of the North and Murugan will be used to refer to the Dravidian version of the south.
As briefly touched upon before, Skanda originated amongst the class of spirits called Grahas.
These Grahas are not to be confused with the nine planets. Graha comes from the Sanskrit root “grh” meaning to “seize”. These beings cause sickness by possessing or “seizing” a person.
The Rig Veda 1.161.1 refers to a female Graha called a Grahi.
“muñcāmi tvā haviṣā jīvanāya kam ajñātayakṣmād uta rājayakṣmāt grāhir jagrāha yadi vaitad enaṃ tasyā indrāgnī pra mumuktam enam ”
“By means of the oblation I set you free to live safe from undeveloped consumption and from royal sumption; and if the seizer has already seized him, then to you, Indra , and Agni , set him free”
However as much as the Graha is found early as the Rig Veda, they are not of Indo European origin.
One of the earliest nuanced mentions of the Grahas, including Skanda, are found in the Sushruta Samhita.
“Attentively hear me describe, Sushruta, the origin, cause and medical treatment of the diseases of infancy which are due to the influences of malignant stars (Graha) or demons as well as the characteristic symptoms by which each can be accurately diagonosed. The diseases number nine in all and are called Skanda-Graha, Skandapasmara, Shakuni, Revati, Putana, Andha-Putana, Shita-Putana, Mukha-mandika and Naigamesha or Pitri-Graha. 2–3” (S.S Uttara Tantra 2.25.2-3).// Translate this by kyself later.
These Grahas are said to cause grave sickness amongst infants. The Skanda Graha for example is described as follows in the same chapter:
“Swelling of the eyes and distorted features of the face and an aversion to the breast-milk are the indications of an attack by the Skanda-graha. The body of the child emits a bloody smell and one of the eyelids becomes fixed or motionless. The child looks frightened, closes his fists (as in a fit of convulsion) and moans a little. The eyes become highly rolling and the stool becomes hard and constipated. Alternate fits of fainting and consciousness, convulsive jerks of legs and hands like those in dancing, foaming (at the mouth), yawning and the passing of stool and urine with the passage of wind are the characteristic features of an attack by the Skanda-pasmara-graha. 5–6.”
Such beliefs of malignant spirits attacking children are prevalent even today amongst the rural folk of south India. However, disease demons are universal, so the non Vedic-ness of the Grahas, must be sought out. The origin of the belief in the Grahas is inferred from the rituals prescribed to appease them. Amongst the rituals there is this interesting paragraph:
“The physician (or any other person acting on his behalf) should bathe in the night and worship the god Skanda for three successive nights in the inner quadrangle of the house of the child or at the crossing of roads with various offerings, viz., garlands of red flowers, red flags, red perfumes such as Kumkuma, edibles of various kinds and newly harvested barley grains, Shali rice. A cock should be sacrificed on the occasion (to appease his wrath) and bells should be rung (for his propitiation). The water to be used for bath (in course of worship), should be consecrated by reciting the Gayatri Mantra and the sacrificial fire should be duly lit with (three, seven or ten) libations (of clarified butter). 6.”(S.S. Uttara Tantra 2.28.6).
The first motif is the use of red coloured items. We find parallels to this in early Tamil traditions of Murugan. Indeed Murugan in modern Hindu iconography is associated with the red color. We shall get into this later.
The other aspect of the ritual is the sacrifice of the cock. This is also accompanied later by the offering of meat and blood:
“The physician (or the votary officiating for him) should worship the presiding deity of the disease in a ditch (dug out for the purpose) with the offerings of both cooked and uncooked meat, fresh blood (of a goat), milk, and edibles prepared with the Masha pulse for the ghosts, and the possessed child should be bathed at the crossing of roads by physician observing the necessary fast, etc. with the recital of the following Mantra….”(S.S. Uttara Tantra 2.29).
Returning the the offering of the cock, it is curious that this animal is mentioned. The cock is featured in the Vedic ritual of Ashvamedha, but as an animal to be released alive. Moreover, the Manusmriti prohibits the consumption of the fowl.
“The mushroom, the village-pig, garlic, the village-cock, onions and leeks,—the twice-born man eating these intentionally would become an ou tcast.—(19)”(MS 5.19).
On the positive, we have the sacrifice of the chicken in Dravidian and tribal rituals.
In the Nellore District, the goddess of diseases Kateri is popritiated for safe child delivery. At the same time, she has a great thirst for blood. As Elmore recorded, the woman“, offers a fowl to Kateri , cooks the fowl and eats it . She then puts on the koka which has been offered to Kateri, and makes various offerings, especially the blood of more fowls” (Elmore pg 50).
Similarly, Kanaka Durgamma is popritiated when there is cattle disease, and each step of her worship involves the slaughter of a fowl. It is recorded by Elmore that in the ritual a woman is possessed by the goddess and starts asking for the blood of chickens, goats, sheep, or buffalo. When a person dies, the Gulgulias, a group of people in Eastern India, pour liquor down the copse. They then kill a chicken, burn it, and through the ashes into an irrigation tank to ensure the spirit is satisfied. Most of the offerings to these goddesses and spirits, however, tend to beof goats or sheep.
The Gonds appease wrathful spirits by offering usually a goat, pig, or a chicken depending on the god they are woshiping. For Bara Deo, a spotted he-goat; for Takkur Deva, 5 chicken and a pig. When a person dies, the third day after the funeral is called Tisra. On Tisra the chief mourner kills a chicken near a stream and cooks it with rice.
The Irulas also offer a cock to appease evil spirits.
Thus the use of chicken meat in the ritual to appease the Grahas are not of Vedic origin, and likey stem from Dravidian or Austro Asiatic sources. Interestingly, modern iconography of Skanda features him with the rooster as an emblematic animal. Puranic legend states that when Skanda killed Surapadma who hid himself as a tree, the two fragments of the tree became a peacock and a rooster. Perhaps the offering of the cock to Skanda led to him having the bird as one of his emblematic animals.

The Distancing

As some scholars point out, as the cult of Skanda grew and the as spirit started becoming a full fledged deity, people weren’t happy with the relationship with the Grahas. Coming back to the Sushruta Samhita, the 32nd chapter of the 2nd Canto of the Uttara Tantra has this to say on the subject:
“It is impossible that the god springing from Rudra and Agni, with his exalted parentage would find pleasure in such a dangerous disease even out of childish frolic-someness and it has also been asserted by eminent authorities on the physical science that some unintelligent persons have been misled into holding, through a mistake due to the identity of the names, that the author of the disease under discussion (Skanda) is no other than the invincible Skanda”.
However, while trying to deny Skanda’s nature as a Graha, it fails to dissolve any trace of his malignant origin. Previously in the chapter, it is recorded that
“ Skandapasmara, the presiding deity of the disease named after him, was created by Agni, the fire-god (Vulcan). He is as bright as fire itself and is a constant companion of the god Skanda and is also known by the name of Vishakha”
The name of Graha having Skanda in it, as well as his association with Skanda, ironically end up echoing the deities' past. Ironically, in later texts, Vishakha is an epithet of Skanda. The chapter continues saying
“On the effulgent god Skanda’s being elevated to the leadership of the armies of Heaven, the presiding deities of those diseases waited upon him and with folded palms asked him about the means of their subsistence. The god Skanda in his turn, referred them to His Holiness the god Shiva for the answer, whereupon they went to the latter in a body and made the same query”
This narrative is found in the Mahabharata Aranyaka Parva Chapter 219. After Indra struck Skanda with the vajra, a part of his body split off and became Vishakha. Also from Skanda’s fiery body, came the Grahas which are made to torment women and children. The likely explanation for this distancing is that the cultured people didn’t like how their god could be malevolent, thus they tried to make him benevolent while not completely disregarding his origins. Narratives like those in the Mahabharata were an excellent way for the brahmanas of the Mauryan and Guptan era to accomplish that goal.
​

Origin of Murugan

Murugan is the Tamil name for Skanda. The name literally means “Youthful”, the same way “Kumara” does. Murugan has an similar origin as his northern version, as a wrathful spirit.
According to Iravatam Mahadevan, a scholar in Indus Valley and Dravidian studies, Muruku (i.e. Murugan) in early Tamil times was a departed soul or spirit that would possess a priest (Velan) or a maiden who then would dance frantically. Murugan was thus a wrathful formless spirit. However, he is said to be red and carry a spear. Evidently, the Velan wore red clothes and carried a spear. Bloody sacrifices also were offered for Skanda. The dance that the Velan would do to appease the spirit Murugan is called Veriyattal. The Velan was summoned to solve problems or even tell how wars would unfold. In the Veddah people of Sri Lanka believe in a spirit called Kande Yakkha. And in one recollection of their myth on Valli’s origin, Kande Yakkha was the substitute for Murugan. This may be from early contact between Tamilians and the Veddahas and thus establishes the spirit origin of Murugan.
According to Mahadevan, “Muru” is a PDr root meaning “to break” but is homiphonous with “mur” meaning “Young”. Confusion may have made Murugan youth. This may have influenced the iconography of Skanda in the North. But more likely is that Skanda got his youth from Agni and this tradition influenced his southern counter part.
I depart from the traditional view that Velan derives from Tamil “Vel” meaning spear. If we are to assert a Proto Dravidian, or even Proto South Dravidian origin, for Muruguab, it must be noted that Tamil “Vel” meaning spear has only a cognate in Malayalam. That is also because Malayalam is descended from Tamil. Thus Tamil “Vel” is not an original Proto Dravidian world. However the Tamil root “vel” meaning “sacrifice” is of Proto Dravidian origin, with cognates being in Telugu as well (Tel “Velpu” = “god”; “Velvi” = “Sacrifice”). Thus the Velan could mean “sacrificer”. Then from homophones, Velan got reinterpreted to mean “Spear man”, thus prompting Murugan to carry a spear. This spear then may have made him a war god. Of course this is speculation , and further Dravidian research is needed.

The Influences

Most scholars agree that it is the Northern Skanda that influenced the Southern Murugan. The priority for the North is evident from the fact that Tamil traditions say that Skanda is said to have been born in the North but decided to settle in the South.
The reason Skanda and Murugan would be conflated is plain obvious. The deities are both wrathful spirits needing appeasement. In fact, both Skanda and Murugan may derive their similar attributes because they originated from the same tradition, making both traditions of Skanda and Murugan figuratively siblings. Iravatam Mahadevan taxes the origin of Skanda worship to the Indus Valley. One of the Harappan script signs he identifies is a curled up skeleton. The Proto Dravidian root he assigned the sign to was “Mur” meaning “twisted” or “shriveled up”. This is homophonous to the roots meaning “break” and “youth”, and the connection to the dead makes this sign a great candidate for evidence of Murugan or general spirit appeasement during the Indus Valley period. What may have then happened was the Dravidians bought the Murugan worship to the South while the people who stayed in the North introduced their beliefs to the Vedic people. Indeed the Tamil literature attributes Skanda to the Kurunji landscape, which is the mountainous regions of Ancient Tamilikam. Indeed amongst the Niligiri tribes, like the Irula, is spirit worship the norm.
The Sangam literature knew of the Vedic practices, suggesting that Northern traditions have been established in the south. This is is possible that the developments of Skanda in the North have been introduced during the Sangam period and influenced the conception of Murugan, at least in part.
​
​
References:
DRAVIDIAN GODS IN MODERN HINDUISM A STUDY OF THE LOCAL AND VILLAGE DEITIES O F SOUTHERN INDIA by Wilber Theodore Elmore.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40450839?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents - gonds offer to spirits several animals, but mostly goats and chickens.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40453635?read-now=1#page_scan_tab_contents - shaministic stuff about Austroasiatic tribes. Includes chicken use. //
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141129?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents Skanda and Vishaka alluded as Mahabharata reference.
Skanda:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43483765...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049041...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20297310...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062666?...
https://rmrl.in/wp-content/uploads/20...
“Worship of Ancient Tamils Gleaned from the Tamil Literature” by Dr.P.Ganesan https://starlingdb.org/cgi-bin/respon...
\data\drav\dravet&first=161&off=&text_proto=vel&method_proto=sound_substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_sdr=&method_sdr=substring&ic_sdr=on&text_tel=&method_tel=substring&ic_tel=on&text_koga=&method_koga=substring&ic_koga=on&text_gnd=&method_gnd=substring&ic_gnd=on&text_ndr=&method_ndr=substring&ic_ndr=on&text_bra=&method_bra=substring&ic_bra=on&text_notes=&method_notes=substring&ic_notes=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on https://webcache.googleusercontent.co...
https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/ha...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3024...
https://www.academia.edu/12681396/BEL...
The Rise of Mahāsena: The Transformation of Skanda-Karttikeya in North India from the Kuṣāṇa to Gupta Empires Book by Richard Dewey Mann https://www.academia.edu/33546233/Ori...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20486646...
Early Cult of SKanda in North India: From Demon to Divine Son http://www.shanlaxjournals.in/pdf/ASH...
http://murugan.org/research/zvelebil.htm
http://kataragama.org/valli.htm
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24652468...
https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03228.htm Mahabharata, Skanda as Agni who is Rudra
https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m09/m09044.htm Shalya Parva origin of Skanda
https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29066/1/10731161.pdf
https://tulsidas-ram-books.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/7/4/21746472/devi_puran.pdf
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39183392.pdf
https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=mother
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/135436/1/Asher-Greve_Westenholz_2013_Goddesses_in_Context.pdf

Relocating from Jersey City, NJ to Essex County NJ in two months, and looking for a new CrossFit gym to call home.
Lots of gyms close to where I’ll be living, so curious if anyone can provide insight on their experience at any of these gyms.
CrossFit Roseland
Guerilla Fitness Montclair
Golden Phoenix CrossFit
CrossFit Veracity Athletics
CrossFit Millburn
CrossFit 908 Central
CrossFit TreeHouse
TYIA!

Relocating from JC to Essex County in two months, and looking for a new CrossFit gym to call home.
Lots of gyms close to where I’ll be living, so curious if anyone can provide insight on their experience at any of these gyms.
CrossFit Roseland
Guerilla Fitness Montclair
Golden Phoenix CrossFit
CrossFit Veracity Athletics
CrossFit Millburn
CrossFit 908 Central
CrossFit TreeHouse
TYIA!

This is not as easy a question as it sounds. I did an internet search, of course, with the results all being tax preparers. I then called a CPA who didn't know, which is when I found out there's not a lot of CPAs that actually specialize in real estate. Do I just need to speak to an agent, because the sole agent I spoke to said I would need to talk to a tax professional. Here's my situation:

• I inherited a home in Illinois a little over two years ago, but it has been my principle residence for over 10 years.
  
• I want to move to Orlando, FL from Illinois. I plan on renting an apartment for one year in Orlando (or the surrounding area) while I look for a house.
  
• It is my understanding there's some kind of "step up" tax, where I would only have to pay capital gains on the difference between the value of the house when I took ownership and the value of the house when I sold it.
  
• The house is in disrepair and would need, maybe, $15k of fixing up.
  
• I have a guy who wants to buy it at a reasonable price "as is".
  
• I will be a first-time homebuyer.
  

QUESTION: Exactly what type of professional do I speak to about how to sell one house and buy another, paying the least amount of tax. Also, who do I talk to to take advantage of being a first-time homebuyer?
TL;DR: I'm a noob at real estate. I'm looking for a the type of professional to speak to about selling one house, buying another, being a first time homebuyer, etc. There's a lot to learn.

Tuesday, May 30 - Monday, June 05

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10	3 comments	[1991] The La's - Feelin'	[Sp] [Dzr] [SC]
7	2 comments	[1990] The Lemonheads - Different Drum	[Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
6	2 comments	[1994] Elliott Smith - Roman Candle	[Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
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4	2 comments	[1996] Ednaswap - Therapy ['96]	[SC]

 

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3	2 comments	[1990] Sweet Sweet Satan - Didjits	[Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
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2	1 comments	Your weekly /90sAlternative roundup for the week of May 23 - May 29
3	1 comments	[1994] Green Day - She (live, 1994)	[Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
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Hello,
​
I live in Pasco County, FL, and I have a neighbor who works with a law enforcement agency nearby that allows them to bring their trucks home. This neighbor has a box truck from that agency. They have positioned the box truck on the curb, directly across from my driveway.
​
The vehicle being there makes it incredibly dangerous for me to back out of my driveway, causes vusal obstructions for the neighbors on the other side, and my HOA has a no street parking rule.
​
The HOA said that since it is a "law enforcement" vehicle, it can park anywhere it wants. Given the fac that it is parked, at a house, and not actively on the road, is there any kind of recourse I can take? Seems to be an accident waiting to happen.

Hello all,
I am coming here in hopes of getting as much information as possible to assist my mother who is Stage 4 COPD and entering palliative care. I will try to keep this as short as possible in hopes that it entices more assistance. My mother spoke to me about 2 weeks ago, and told me that she wanted me to be the person in charge of all of her decision making for palliative care, but she lives near Atlanta, GA and I am in Tampa, FL. She is also legally married (in the state of Georgia) even though her and her "husband" have not been together in well over 20 years (they talk every once in a while but not romantically involved.)
- Is there any way to obtain any sort of documentation that would override her "husband" as next of kin in the event that she becomes incapacitated and someone else has to make decisions on her behalf?
- She has 11% lung capacity and is on permanent oxygen, so getting her out of the house to create an advanced directive or power of attorney is almost impossible. She only has access to the internet via a tablet, so no printer, fax machine, etc.
- I am really just looking for assistance in everything I need to be made aware of, keep track of, and complete prior to her passing.
​
I am sorry this is sort of jumbled, I am just lost and have never been placed in this position before.

"I've looked around, I've looked everywhere, I haven't seen one white supremacist." - Former GOP Congressman and current Fox News shill Sean Duffy employing a classic

Obstruct By Lightning

Are we on indictment watch? Let’s get ahead of ourselves this fine Monday.

• As the Justice Department’s Special Counsel Jack Smith wraps up his investigation of disgraced former president Donald Trump’s (DFPDT’s) “mishandling” of classified White House documents, it looks like a new evidence bomb just dropped. According to a source close to DFPDT, a Mar-a-Lago employee drained the resort’s swimming pool last October and consequently flooded a room where computer servers containing surveillance-video logs were kept.
  
• It’s unclear if the room was flooded intentionally or accidentally, but we have an educated guess! And we’re not the only ones. This incident occurred as part of a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious. At least one witness there has been questioned by federal investigators about the flooded server room, which came roughly two months after the FBI retrieved hundreds of classified documents from Trump’s Florida residence.
  
• Federal prosecutors have been looking into efforts by Trump and his employees to obstruct the DOJ’s investigation after Trump received a subpoena to hand over any classified documents in his possession in May 2022, which he mostly did not, as we found out after the August FBI raid of Mar-A-Lago. At least 20 people—members of Trump’s inner circle as well as Mar-a-Lago staff—have been subpoenaed to testify in front of the federal grand jury.
  

Each new detail in the evidence pile points to overt corruption and obstruction of justice by Trump and his lackeys, and his legal team can sense that the walls are (maybe this time for real?) closing in.

• In April, Trump’s legal team protested that the classified-documents theft should be investigated as an administrative, rather than a criminal, matter. In late May, two of Trump’s lawyers sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for a personal meeting to discuss what they characterized as “unfair treatment” of their client (lol) by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Lawyers asking for a meeting with DOJ officials in a federal case on behalf of their client is not unusual. Asking for a private audience with the attorney general is. On Monday, Trump’s cadre of lawyers made asked DOJ officials if the department would, pretty please, not charge Trump for stealing classified documents from the White House after leaving office.
  
• All of this is to say nothing of the myriad other investigations of Trump’s contemporaneous crimes. In the past week, the Fulton County, GA, district attorney has been zeroing-in on two firms hired by the Trump campaign to “study” the question of electoral fraud in the 2020 election. The DA’s office has asked the firms for both data and information about Georgia, but also for communications with Trump officials and a detailed accounting of the campaign’s activities in other states, as prosecutors aim to build a broader racketeering case. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors obtained evidence from one of the firms, Berkeley Research Group, that Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had berated its employees for not giving him sufficient evidence to overturn the election results and “encouraged” them to find fraud that didn’t exist.
  

Big legal consequences for Trump’s shameless crime streak could finally be on the horizon. Be there, will be wild!

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Pride is about fighting the freaks, but also acknowledging the fact that being gay and trans and even bi is a great time. Since this is America, we're celebrating that by making stupid memes and buying stuff.
All Pride month long, you can shop from some of our favorite queer-owned businesses and authors at Crooked’s Little Gay Pop-Up Shop in the Crooked Store. Support the LGBTQ community while you browse a Crooked-curated selection of cool shit, like spices from Diaspora & Co, kids books Ron DeSantis has probably already banned, and much more.
Head to https://crooked.com/store to check out the whole Pride collection.

Under The Radar

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in federal court on Monday listing 13 charges against cryptocurrency-exchange company Binance and its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao. The SEC alleges that Zhao operated a “web of deception” and that Binance artificially inflated its trading numbers, diverted customer funds, failed to restrict U.S. customers from its platform, and lied to investors about its market-surveillance capabilities. Further, the claims allege that Binance and Zhao secretly controlled customer assets and allowed them to commingle and divert investor funds, which, in legal terms, is a big no-no. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and this lawsuit marks the second time this year that federal authorities have accused the company of evading laws designed to protect investors in the United States.

What Else?

Saudi Arabia announced it would make significant cuts to its oil output in July, compounding a broader OPEC deal to limit supply in order to inflate oil prices. Cool! Love those guys!
The IRS is readying its free online tax-filing pilot program for rollout as early as next year, so the major tax-prep corporations are arming themselves with a deep bench of lobbyists. Cool! Love those guys!
Someone bought a shitload of shares in Equitrans Midstream Corp—the company heavily involved in the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline—days before the debt ceiling (which greenlit the pipeline) was announced, suggesting that the special someone in question did insider trading.
An investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta found that the state of Florida transported asylum-seeking migrants from the Texas border by private jet to California’s capital city of Sacramento on Monday as yet another inhumane stunt performed on the Florida taxpayers’ dime, the second in four days. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) did not mince words in excoriating Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), calling him a “small, pathetic man,” (get his ass, Gavin) and raising the prospect of kidnapping charges.
A Utah school district has banned the Bible in elementary and middle schools for “vulgarity and violence.” Sorry kids, no Song of Songs for you, it’s too horny.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) claimed she intentionally skipped the debt-limit vote as a “silent protest” but a new video shows her running up the steps on her way to vote in a panic, then learning she had missed it.
A private plane flying over Washington, DC, crashed in Northern Virginia on Sunday, killing all four passengers. F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept the plane while it was still in the air, causing a sonic boom heard across the region, but were unsuccessful.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has officially filed paperwork to launch his 2024 presidential campaign. Someone tell Mother!
Waning voter turnout in the blue stronghold of Philadelphia has the Democratic Party worrying about 2024.

Be Smarter

The Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian army thwarted a major Ukranian attack in Donetsk, releasing a video showing military vehicles under heavy fire. Moscow claims their forces killed 300 troops and destroyed 16 tanks, but that has yet to be independently verified. Ukraine’s military spokesperson, however, said on Monday that the country had no information about a major attack on the key region. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in an interview on Monday that the country’s long-awaited counteroffensive is “taking place in several directions,” furthering speculation that the campaign to recapture land held by Russian forces is already underway. The counteroffensive has lofty stakes: Kyiv needs to show its people and its Western allies that it can push back advances Russia has made over the winter and early spring.

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Light At The End Of The Email

A breakthrough pill for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer reduced the risk of patient death by a staggering 51 percent.
The California State Assembly is considering a bill that would prevent landlords from charging more than one month’s rent as a security deposit.
On Friday, the Biden administration blocked new oil and gas leasing on federal land around one of the oldest and most significant Native American cultural sites, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

Enjoy

Jen St. Jude ☄️ on Twitter: "This year June really feels like Pride AND Prejudice amirite"

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