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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Hunter Biden's ‘sugar brother' Kevin Morris told associates he's ‘completely tapped out' as trials approach: report
2024-05-16
[NY Post] Parasites will do that
Hunter Biden’s so-called "sugar brother" Kevin Morris has told associates that he can’t afford to cover the mounting legal bills incurred by the first son, who’s set to face two trials starting next month.

"The reason Kevin got involved financially in the first place was that he could see that no one was going to help Hunter," a person close to the Hollywood entertainment lawyer told Politico.

"Now, four and a half years later, there’s still no help — and now Kevin is completely tapped out," the person added. "So just when Hunter is facing two criminal trials starting in a few weeks, he has no resources. It’s pretty dire."

Morris, who earned a fortune representing the creators of the television series "South Park," has loaned the president’s 54-year-old son more than $6.5 million since meeting him at a political fundraiser in late 2019.

The 60-year-old lawyer was interviewed by the House Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Jan. 18 as part of the impeachment inquiry into the president and acknowledged paying "various attorneys" on behalf of Hunter Biden.

Morris, citing attorney-client privileges, refused to tell lawmakers exactly how much he’s spent fronting the first son’s legal fees.

Biden is facing three felony charges in a federal gun case out of Delaware, where he is slated to stand trial on June 3.

The embattled first son also has a June 20 trial date set in California, where he faces nine counts related to tax fraud.

Morris’ financial constraints pose "a huge problem" for Hunter’s defense, the source told Politico, citing concerns about how expert witnesses will be paid.

On Tuesday, Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell told the judge presiding over the Delaware gun case that the trial start should be pushed back because he and his team were struggling to lock down expert witnesses to testify on a variety of issues in the case, according to Politico.

Lowell explained that three experts have "tentatively agreed" to participate but the details were still being worked out.

He also claimed that defense "resources" have been strained by having to prepare for back-to-back trials on two different coasts.

The embattled first son also has a June 20 trial date set in California, where he faces nine counts related to tax fraud.

The judge refused to move the Delaware trial start date.

Hunter has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases.
Related:
Kevin Morris 03/25/2024 Federalist update: House Republicans Probe CIA Interference In Hunter Biden Investigation
Kevin Morris 03/22/2024 CIA blocked feds from interviewing Hunter Biden's ‘sugar brother' Kevin Morris during five-year tax probe
Kevin Morris 03/04/2024 Hunter Biden's Chinese legal 'client' threatens to sue unless first son pays back $1 million

Link


Home Front: Politix
Why our institutions keep going woke and going broke
2024-03-26
The puppy-blender himself have spoken!
[NYPost] "Can’t anybody here play this game?"

Those were the words manager Casey Stengel addressed to the bumbling 1962 New York Mets.

But nowadays, it might just as reasonably be addressed to the people who run our biggest and most important institutions.

"Get woke, go broke" has been a catchphrase for several years.

Yet the people at the top of major corporations and government agencies keep, well, getting woke and going broke.

Harvard, roiled by antisemitism scandals in which woke politics kept administrators from protecting Jewish students, has lost enough in donations that it’s shutting down a library and looking to borrow money to meet expenses.

(It won’t actually go broke with its gigantic endowment, but most of that money is tied up, and it relies on donors to cover year-to-year costs.)

Early-admissions applications took a hit after the fall’s scandals.

Disney, marked by subsidiary Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy’s "Put a chick in it, and make her gay" — as "South Park" famously formulated — is losing money hand over fist, as one beloved franchise after another is turned into politicized dreck that alienates fans.

Sports Illustrated, which had a surefire moneymaker in its venerable swimsuit issue, went out of its way to alienate its once-loyal audience by featuring trans, obese and old models on the cover and is laying off its entire staff.

Planet Fitness has decided to embrace men who identify as women shaving in the women’s locker room, and its stock is plummeting. (It’s even terminated the memberships of women who complained.)

Target, with a similar restroom policy, has also taken a hit.

Read the rest at the link.
Link


Government Corruption
Hunter's 'Sugar Bro' Evasive Testimony Gets Him Into a Different Kind of Trouble
2024-01-24
[PJ] Hunter Biden's "Sugar Bro," who financially bailed out the president's son from shortly after the moment they met appears to have changed their bromance origin story in a crucial way in testimony before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees this week. But it's a switch that may get him into more trouble than he is now.

A transcript of Kevin Morris's testimony before a joint closed-door meeting of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees reveals that he claims to be Hunter Biden's "global" attorney in all things and may even be his wife's attorney. He'll check his records and get back to the committees about that.

Indeed, Morris, a well-respected Hollywood fixer who represents the South Park franchise and its Book of Mormon productions, was asked by multiple questioners, including attorneys and lawmakers, about his financial arrangements with Biden. I outlined these arrangements recently which include an eye-popping payout of $5 million of Hunter's bills, back taxes, and $875,000 in original Hunter Biden art pieces.

Morris is married to Gaby Morgerman, the agent for Miley Cyrus and other Hollywood A-listers. Besides being a legal fixer for the South Park and Funny Or Die properties, Morris's clients include actor Mathew McConaughey, according to The Report on the Biden Laptop. And now he claims Hunter Biden as a client.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said in a statement that Morris's financial support to Hunter Biden "raises ethical and campaign finance concerns for President Joe Biden" because that's the issue. Morris bailed out Hunter from his non-payment of taxes during his dad's presidential run. For obvious reasons, e.g. hookers, blow, crack, more hookers, crack, using human trafficking organizations to get girls, moving women over state lines for sex — a federal offense — were all reasons to avoid federal scrutiny of his taxes.

In true Biden fashion, Morris called all of his aid and comfort to Hunter a "loan." Morris testified that he memorialized the loan six months to a year later, which he couldn't remember, in a series of promissory notes.

Comer said, "These ’loans’ don’t have to be repaid until after the next presidential election, and the ’loans’ may ultimately be forgiven." In other words, this could be yet another tax evasion tactic for the Bidens — again. Comer went on, "Since Kevin Morris has kept President Biden’s son financially afloat, he’s had access to the Biden White House and has spoken to President Biden."

Morris also received a share of Hunter's company, which is affiliated with the Chinese government, from which it's believed he paid the younger Biden's bills, but in testimony before the committees, he couldn't answer what kind of company.

He also couldn't remember the amount of money he "loaned" to Hunter even though he was told to prepare for that question.

Q In the letter we discussed that we're going to talk about loans. I sent your counsel a letter saying one of the topics that we're going to discuss today is going to be the loans. You're the attorney for Hunter Biden who has represented him since day one. And I just want to be clear, sitting here, you did not prepare as his attorney to know the total amount of loans that you've given Hunter Biden when that was going to be the subject of this interview?

A No, not to the number.

He was asked about his agreement with Hunter.

Q So within approximately 6 weeks, 2 months of meeting Hunter Biden, through Lanette Phillips, you start giving loans out to Hunter Biden. Is that right?

A I started lending Hunter Biden money. That was almost always direct 2 payments to third-party vendors. And, yeah, it was within -- it was within a month.

Q These loans at this point, did you have an agreement in writing as to how the 4 loans would be repaid as of January of 2020?

A As of that date, no. We documented the -- we documented the retainer 6 agreement, whatever you're saying. But I was acting as a lawyer, sure.

Q Okay. That's not my question. There's different agreements in place. You have a retainer agreement, which I'm not asking about. You have a loan agreement which you said in your opening statement that was agreed upon between your attorney, a separate attorney, and Hunter Biden's 11 separate counsel. That's what you said in your opening statement. So I'm asking 12 about now the loan agreement.

A Okay.

The potential problem for Hunter's Sugar Bro is that in acting as his official attorney, he's not allowed to keep a client financially afloat. It is the subject of a bar complaint that the America First Legal group filed in recent days.

The bottom line of the testimony is that Oversight and Judiciary want to know how much money flowed in from the Sugar Bro to the Big Guy who sits in the Oval Office.
Related:
Kevin Morris: 2024-01-23 Kevin Morris invoked attorney privilege at least 17 times to avoid questions about Hunter Biden
Kevin Morris: 2024-01-11 Hunter Biden Knew 70% of ‘Anonymous' Art Buyer Identities, Contradicting White House
Kevin Morris: 2023-12-08 Hunter Biden indicted on 9 new charges in California related to allegedly failing to pay taxes
Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Texas shooting over stolen car leaves suspected thief dead, accomplice injured and robbery victim in the hospital
2023-07-28
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A man whose car had been stolen tracked down his vehicle to a Texas shopping center lot - before shooting dead one of the alleged thieves and wounding the other.

Gunfire erupted in the parking lot outside South Park Mall, San Antonio, just before 1pm Thursday after the man figured out where his stolen car was located.

The owner of the stolen car had ordered the driver and his female companion out of the vehicle - and sat them down by the tire at gunpoint while they waited for police.

But the stolen car victim was hit with a bullet when one of the suspected thieves, a male, took a gun out from his waistband and opened fire.

The owner then returned fire - which killed the suspected robber.
Link


Government Corruption
Hunter Biden's 'sugar brother' lawyer Kevin Morris rips bong as first son visits him at LA home
2023-07-23
[NYPOST] Hunter Biden’s so-called "sugar brother" lawyer Kevin Morris was spotted smoking from a bong outside his Los Angeles home Thursday as the first son — a recovering drug addict — paid him a visit.
Hunter Biden is a recovering addict? When did that happen?
Morris, a successful Hollywood-based lawyer and major Democratic Party
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
supporter, had no shame as he stood on the balcony of his posh Pacific Palisades digs to expertly inhale from the glass water pipe, according to photos obtained by The Post.

Donning a purple patterned short-sleeved shirt, Morris carried out the smoke session in full view of the public street outside his house.

It’s unclear what the bong may have been packed with. Marijuana has been legal for recreational use in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, since 2018 and can be used on privately-owned property.

The 60-year-old attorney has reportedly taken on the responsibility of being Hunter’s fixer, allegedly loaning President Biden’s son $2 million last year to help pay off his delinquent federal taxes.

Morris, whose A-list clients include actor Matthew McConaughey and "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, has also allowed Hunter access to his luxury private jet, which the first son used in May to fly from Washington, DC, to Arkansas for a child support hearing.
Related:
Kevin Morris: 2023-07-02 A 19-Point Time Line of Joe Biden's Infamous Links to the Family Business
Kevin Morris: 2022-12-25 Hunter Biden Hires Bill Clinton's Impeachment Attorney to Combat GOP House Probes
Kevin Morris: 2022-12-25 Legal Experts Estimate Hunter Biden's Legal Defense Costs $100K a Month
Link


-Great Cultural Revolution
BuzzFeed News is being shut down
2023-04-21
By Jay Peters

[VERGE] BuzzFeed News, the Pulitzer Prize-winning news arm of BuzzFeed.com, is being shut down, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced to staff on Thursday. The shutdown is happening as part of a new wave of layoffs at the company that will reduce the company’s workforce by about 15 percent.

“While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” Peretti wrote in a memo to staff the company shared with The Verge. Peretti said they would focus on HuffPost, which it acquired in 2020, as the company’s news brand because the publication is “profitable with a loyal direct front page audience.” Both HuffPost and BuzzFeed plan to open “a number of select roles” for BuzzFeed News staffers.
Read the rest at the link
Related:
BuzzFeed News: 2023-01-09 Alabama woman who joined ISIS hopes to return from Syria camp
BuzzFeed News: 2023-01-04 Twitter Files Part 11 shows how 'PR crisis' following 2016 election allowed company to embrace intel community
BuzzFeed News: 2022-09-29 First Openly Transgender Army Officer Indicted for Trying to Give Soldiers' Medical Info to Russia
Related:
HuffPost: 2023-02-01 Rep. George Santos, has stepped down from the House committees he was on
HuffPost: 2022-02-20 National Geographic has become too woke to be taken seriously
HuffPost: 2022-01-29 Watch Classical Musicians Try Singing Foul-Mouthed 'South Park' Lyrics With Straight Faces
Link


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Meghan 'has been upset and overwhelmed by her depiction on South Park for DAYS'
2023-02-21
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Insiders claim Princess Meghan Markle
...unlikable American former starlet married to the formerly likable Prince Harry. Chock full of lefty political opinions and not many brains, Markle's most important characteristic is that she is Black, even though she doesn't look it. Her mother, y'see, is half black and her father is white, which would make her a quarter Black. Once married, she was too classy for the Royals and she and Harry decamped to Beverly Hills, kind of like the Clampetts did, because she was so much classier than the Winsdors....
has been left 'upset and overwhelmed' for the past few days at how she and Prince Harry
...That guy who married Meghan Markle. You know. The ones that didn't get invited to Michelle Obama's party?...
are depicted in an episode of South Park.

The episode, titled 'World Privacy Tour' pokes fun at the couple's grievances, while Meghan is introduced cuttingly as a 'sorority girl, actress, influencer, victim,' by another character.

The satirical series ridiculed the couple's demands for privacy while on a publicity blitz for the prince's autobiography 'Waaaah' - a dig at Harry's recent memoir Spare - in last week's brutal episode.

According to a source in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Meghan spent the last few days ’upset and overwhelmed’ over how she was portrayed. The source told The Spectator that the Duchess of Sussex 'is annoyed by South Park but refuses to watch it all.'

Earlier today, a royal commentator said Harry and Meghan's lawyers are 'casting an eye' over South Park.
Link


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Megyn Kelly: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle 'won't recover' from 'South Park' dig
2023-02-20
[NYPOST] Megyn Kelly says Prince Harry
...That guy who married Meghan Markle. You know. The ones that didn't get invited to Michelle Obama's party?...
and Princess Meghan Markle
...unlikable American former starlet married to the formerly likable Prince Harry. Chock full of lefty political opinions and not many brains, Markle's most important characteristic is that she is Black, even though she doesn't look it. Her mother, y'see, is half black and her father is white, which would make her a quarter Black. Once married, she was too classy for the Royals and she and Harry decamped to Beverly Hills, kind of like the Clampetts did, because she was so much classier than the Winsdors....
simply "won’t recover" from a recent "South Park" episode that mocked the exiled royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to move across the pond in a desperate bid for privacy was mercilessly ridiculed in the show’s latest episode, titled "The Worldwide Privacy Tour."

"I feel this is a pronouncement that they have jumped the shark, they are not beloved and her hopes of running for president, reported hopes, are all but dashed," Kelly, 52, said
President Meghan Muckle? You gotta be kidding.
on "The Megyn Kelly Show" released Friday.

"That’s not happening. When ’South Park’ turns on you, there’s no recovering."

Kelly was referring to the widespread speculation that the Duchess of Sussex is eyeing a career in politics, adding fuel to the fire of unconfirmed reports that she got her sights set on the White House.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
---Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8
Link


Good Morning
2023-02-19

Megyn Kelly Says Prince Harry, Meghan
Markle May Never Recover From 'South Park' Beating
Sunday February 19th, 2023

Christine Keeler 4
Two Iranian-Backed Militants Killed In Syria's Deir Ez-Zor
Syria: Kurds Reject UN Report
Alleging Abuse Of ISIS Family Members
Unknown Gunmen Injure Two in Eastern Deir ez-Zor
18 migrants found dead in truck in Bulgaria
Duhok bishop faces legal
complaint over Facebook post on Islam
Somalia soldiers kill more Al-Shabaab fighters

Link


-Great Cultural Revolution
Megyn Kelly Says Prince Harry, Meghan Markle May Never Recover From ‘South Park' Beating
2023-02-19
[OutKick] When you wind up in South Park’s crosshairs, they rarely miss. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are well aware of this after the show took them to task in its latest episode.

It was such a brutal — and accurate — comedic undressing, that Megyn Kelly doesn’t think the attention-seeking duo will ever recover from it.



This week’s episode of the long-running animated series — titled "The Worldwide Privacy Tour" — made fun of the ex-Royals for their frequent complaints about a lack of privacy, despite near-constant attempts to remain in the public eye.
Link


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
The 'king of tides' is coming: US west coast braces for intense flooding this weekend - and waters could increase to more than 10 FEET in some areas
2023-01-21
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • A 'king of tides' is expected to hit the US west coast on Saturday

  • This is predicted to increase water levels by more than seven feet in California

  • Oregon could see tides increase by more than 10 feet on Saturday before noon

While these events are typical in the winter, this one follows recent rain storms that battered the west and is happening when a new moon hangs in the sky - and it will be the closest to Earth than it has in more than 1,000.

Meteorologist Kelley Bayern shared a stark warning on Twitter Friday: 'King tides arrive on the Oregon coast today and this weekend. Expect significantly higher tide levels [and] sneaker waves. Please use extra caution on the sand.'

Sneaker waves often happen in Northern California and Oregon. They are significantly larger than the previous waves and can happen without warning signs.

King tides, however, are predictable before they bring a flow of water from the marina to surrounding towns.

Matt Zaffino, chief meteorologist at KGW TV in Portland, Oregon, shared in a tweet: 'Extreme high and low tides this weekend courtesy of the new moon. Luckily, the sea state off the Oregon and Washington coasts will not be extreme.’

King tide is not a scientific name, but a catchy term from Australia to describe the year's highest high tides.

The National Weather Service issued a Flood Advisory for the Peninsula coast on Thursday due to the expected high tides. The advisory is in effect through Monday afternoon.

King tides already ravaged Seattle in December, which saw dozens of families forced to evacuate their homes in a South Park neighborhood. Homeowners reported seeing up to four feet of water flowing through their backyards after the event disappeared.

Along with the high tides, the king tides also bring low tides that uncover beaches and other locations that are usually submerged.

California is feeling the brunt of Mother Nature with devastating storms in recent weeks that brought 200 to 600 percent more rain than usual. The series of atmospheric rivers that hit the state has done an estimated $1 billion in damage, dumping an estimated 24 trillion gallons of water on the state since December and leaving 19 people dead.
Link


-Great Cultural Revolution
Watch Classical Musicians Try Singing Foul-Mouthed 'South Park' Lyrics With Straight Faces
2022-01-29
[HuffPost] When a 30-piece orchestra attempts to perform songs from “South Park,” the results are bound to be, well, classic.

The venerable animated series debuts its 25th season Feb. 2 on Comedy Central. In honor of the golden anniversary, someone thought it was a golden opportunity to put a new spin on some of the show’s songs.

So, a full Broadway orchestra was enlisted to sweeten up what can be some very salty lyrics. For instance, there is now no secret what Kenny is singing in the show’s theme song. (Hint: It’s very NSFW.)
See the videos at the link
Link



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