Mark @[email protected]

Another resource - Whitehouse pool reports
https://kinja.com/poolreports
There seems to be a regular cycle of reports here. Late evening the day before there is a schedule for the next day. Then a series of either official announcements, a report of "what happened" in a briefing or event. Repeat cycle. I looked for an RSS feed and could not find one - maybe you have to sign in.

The "fine people" hoax and how to combat it
https://blog.dilbert.com/2019/04/30/the-fine-people-hoax-funnel/
Scott Adams has had several discussions about this hoax and has found the rebuttals following a specific order. Here's that order and what you can say at each step. It includes links to relevant information as well.

Urban camping encouraged
https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/free-campground-city-park
in Denver ... well, 100 years ago it was encouraged.

Over a hundred spots for cars & tents in City Park with modern facilities and playgrounds.

The city of Denver was encouraging urban camping to help keep tourists in town. How times have changed.

Bob Cringley isn't dead...
https://www.cringely.com/2020/01/23/not-dead-yet-what-bob-cringely-has-been-up-to/
Blind, lost his home and business to a fire in CA, is working on some wild ideas. He's still trying to get MindServer (Mindcraft servers) off the ground while working with a few people to make a 12KG satellite launch system.

There's a picture of the launch aircraft - launching at Mach 2.2 to give the rocket a moving start.

Text of the Senate Impeachment rules now posted. (see prior post for link)

Cookies in space
https://apnews.com/Business%20Wire/cac1efe90d95454d8a50ef88da81a0a4
Apparently cooked a couple weeks ago, its "news" now that cookies take much longer to cook in space than on earth. Quite a native ad for Hilton and the Doubletree brand.

Excessive fees unlawful
https://coloradosun.com/2020/01/14/dami-hospitality-colorado-supreme-court-ruling/
In this case, the state of Colorado appealed to the Supreme Court - that appeal was rejected, leaving a CO court ruling intact.

A small business (roughly $50K annual payroll) failed to have workers compensation insurance and was fined about $425K. Hmm. That looks excessive to me and violates the 8th amendment.

Sport cars in snow...
https://coloradosun.com/2020/01/22/maserati-winter-driving-course-crested-butte/
Several high end sport car companies are using areas in Colorado to offer "winter driving school" - or racing around snow and ice covered tracks.

Well above my pay grade.

Updated Senate Impeachment Rules
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/483/text
The Library of Congress doesn't have the approved text yet but it should appear here in a day or so.

Other tabs have the 11 amendments (all tabled) and other information.

Trump impeachment defense paper
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Trial-Memorandum-of-President-Donald-J.-Trump.pdf
Over 100 pages of legal reasoning by the counsel to Trump and White House. I don't see names as authors that I recognize - for example, Dershowitz only shows up in footnotes. A dozen pages in the executive summary - four major points (both articles not impeachable, flawed process, lack of evidence, articles are structurally deficient).

NY Public Library most checked out books
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795873639/the-new-york-public-library-has-calculated-its-most-checked-out-books-of-all-tim
I wonder why both 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 made the list. Perhaps school assignments? If those two, why not Brave New World or other similar titles?

Snow storm in Canada...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/newfoundland-blizzard-1.5432023
The local news in Denver reported 12' of snow in one day; not quite true. There are 12' to 15' drifts in places but official reports are between 1' and 3', varying by location.

Yes, the airport and most roads are closed. Some doorways are completely covered (especially "basement" homes). Power is out to many customers.

Trump's answer to the US Senate
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Answer-of-President-Donald-J.-Trump.pdf
Sigh. This copy is an image - will see if I can find it converted to text.

The conclusion is essentially...
o The articles of impeachment violate the constitution
o They are defective in their entirety
o They are the result of invalid proceedings, depriving the President due process rights
and so on.

Hi tech parking "barnacle"
https://barnacleparking.com/how-it-works
Because I guess the "boot" isn't good enough. Block the driver's view and held down by a humongous suction cup. GPS, anti-tamper alarm, keypad (to unlock?) and so on.

I found this because UH decided to use these on students & was charging almost $1K to remove it!

High fees for cell phone use
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/12/mobile-phone-air-sea-charges-satellite-roaming
In this case, a person failed to set their phone settings properly when boarding an airline (or ferry) and gets hit with HUGE fees for a days use.

FYI - Senate impeachment rules
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-99sdoc33/html/CDOC-99sdoc33.htm
VERY long document (about 100 pages) that describe the process used by the US Senate for the Clinton impeachment trial.

If I find an update for the Trump trial, I'll post it.

US Supreme Court to take up case of "faithless electors"
https://apnews.com/6f415b0b39decbd05f58ec5a08195e79
In 2016 there were several electors that did NOT vote for the popular vote winner (a requirement in 30 states). The appeals court in Denver ruled, long after the election, that they could vote as they wished.

We will see what the SC decides.

Senators must follow rules or may be imprisoned...
https://social.quodverum.com/@Cdubois/103500177588625592
In brief, no cell phones in chambers, limited access to staff, be quiet, and stay in your seat.

Presumably to avoid grandstanding etc.

I should dig back into my old toots to find the Senate rules used during the Clinton impeachment. We may need to read them again.

... impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws....
https://apnews.com/a90f39af2704daeb6d65a587a113b605
The oath taken by all senators present (99 of 100) - Sen Inhofe was taking care of a family medical issue. He gets the oath next week.

This is a pretty balanced description of what happened with some quotes from Pelosi, Schumer, Trump, and so on.