Time for a new open thread, here it is, all topics welcome.

Archie Williams served 37 years for a rape and stabbing he didn't commit. Thanks to the persistence and hard work of Innocence Project Litigation Director Vanessa Plotkin, the Louisiana Innocence Project, and Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck , Archie was freed from prison in 2019 when fingerprint evidence in an FBI database proved him innocent and identified the real perpetrator -- a serial rapist, now long deceased. What took so long? For years, Louisiana's state laws provided barriers to inmates' requests to access untested evidence for innocence claims, and many other procedural hurdles. The I.P. began working on Archie's case in 1996.

In the video above, watch Archie fulfill his dream of singing on the big stage, during a recent episode of "America's Got Talent". The audience response and response of the judges, including Simon Cowell, is wonderful to watch.

After learning about Archie and the Innocence Project, Barry confirmed that Simon has signed on to be an Ambassador for the project. [More...]

This is a day to honor those who served in the military and made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.

In light of the 97,000 plus Americans who have lost their lives to COVID-19 in the last 90 days, I don't see any reason it can't also be a day to remember them. The New York Times clearly feels the same way -- here is the front page of their Sunday edition.

I also agree with the New York Times that it's an appropriate time to say "thank you" to the more than 144 million Americans who followed their state's stay at home orders for weeks on end, donned (and are still wearing) masks and who are still practicing "social distancing".

This is love of country at its best, generous and communal. And it’s all the more important to keep that spirit alive as we enter the warmer months and are tempted to forget all that we have learned in this dark and deadly spring. .

Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli will plead guilty today in federal court in Boston via video-conference to conspiracy charges in the college cheating scandal "Varsity Blues" case.

Loughlin will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, while Giannulli will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.

As part of the plea, Loughlin has agreed to serve a two month sentence of incarceration and Giannulli has agreed to a five month sentence.

Loughlin's plea agreement is here and Giannulli's is here. [More...]

Donald Trump said today he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure to ward off COVID-19.

First question: Is he telling the truth? If not, he's putting people in danger by encouraging use of a drug that has not been proven to be effective in treating COVID-19, let alone preventing it. And Second question: If he is telling the truth, why would he take this drug given his advanced age and it's unproven benefit to coronavirus patients.

Trump is 72, and has elevated cholesterol for which he takes rosuvastatin(Crestor). It is risky to take both of them because irreversible nerve damage can occur. [More...]

If there is anyone that is viewed globally as a dumba** as much as Donald Trump, it can only be his adult children.

If you are interested in what his under-accommplished sons Donald Jr. and Eric said this week that has put them in the news, here it is.

Let the eye-rolling begin.

My half-written posts yesterday are about (1) [former Zambada-Garcia sicario] "El Chino Antrax" going missing while on supervised release in San Diego, (2) Paul Manafort's release, Michael Cohen's non-release (as of now), and the complex procedure and arbitrary decisions of BOP on medically challenged inmates' request for compassionate release and reduction of sentence to a term of home detention, and the disagreement among the federal district courts when reviewing BOP denials, on everything from jurisdiction and exhaustion of remedies to interpreting the statute and AG Memoranda and (3) the 50 BOP press releases each announcing the death of the an inmate who died of complications from COVID-19 while serving their sentence. All had prior medical conditions which put them at greater risk of serious injury or death from COVID-19.

I could have written three briefs in the time I've spent on these three posts, but they aren't finished. So in the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm tired of repeating what Donald Trump says. It's so pointless. I don't think he believes any of it, it's all for effect, just a re-election campaign ploy and a futile attempt to change how the history books characterize his abysmal reign of terror in the White House. His modus operandi is so transparent by now. Every lie he tells is carefully planned to distract us from the critical issues facing the country, in a desperate attempt to hide his personal failure as a leader and a human being. While he doesn't believe his own lies, he does harbor the futile belief that we won't find out till long after he's gone that he was the most inept person ever to occupy a desk in the oval office.

Latest case in point: His attempt to blame his administration's failures on Barack Obama. Anyone with a television set knows that 80,0000 Americans have now died from Covid-19. Yesterday alone, 985 deaths were recorded. So today Trump pretends the subject of the day is Barack Obama. And the senseless mediaactually reports on this.

One word in the dictionary (and its antonyms) is all you need to tell Donald Trump from Barack Obama and realize there is absolutely no reason to even discuss, let alone debate Trump's claim: Inanity [More...]

Everybody knows the boat is leaking
Everybody knows the captain lied
Everybody's got this broken feeling
like their father or their dog just died

I'm sorry for my absence last week. I just got tired of thinking about coronavirus. It seems pretty clear it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Also, I am not interested in the allegations against Joe Biden. Until there are investigations into the multiple allegations involving force or unwanted touching against Donald Trump, it's not right to investigate Joe Biden. His denial should be worth as much as Donald Trump's denial. If a denial is all it took for Trump to continue with his election campaign in 2016, it should be good enough for Biden now. He denied it, let's move on.
[More...]

The White House and author of this modeling report showing an expected increase in covid-19 cases and deaths by June 1 are doing their best to convice the media this report was not finished and isn't meanat to be relied on.

The daily death toll will reach about 3,000 on June 1, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times, nearly double the current number of about 1,750.

...The projections, based on government modeling pulled together in chart form by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month, up from about 25,000 cases a day currently.

The report is here. [More...]

Donald Trump has not reacted well to the massive mocking he has been subjected to by mainstream and social media as a result of his idiotic comments about investigating whether injecting bleach into humans might be the cure for the coronavirus.

First, he said he was being sarcastic. The Guardian explains how ridiculous that defense is. Here is the clip of the original comments. Here is the clip of his "sarcastic" defense.

Meanwhile, his press secretary contadicts him, claiming in a press release that the brouhaha is the result of the media taking his comments out of context. [More....]

The Global Citizen concert yesterday honoring first responders and healthcare workers was excellent. Of course my favorite was the Rolling Stones. You can see all the excellent performances on You Tube (or at yesterday you could).

A big thanks to Lady Gaga who made it happen.

I am captivated by her microphone. Anyone know what kind it is?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.