Comments on: The Split-Screen That Wasn't http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/ Reality-based political commentary Wed, 13 May 2026 04:47:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Kick http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209322 Kick Sat, 11 May 2024 00:21:52 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209322 <i>So even following the trial at home is a once-removed experience: following along with the New York Times liveblog (who seems to have the most comprehensive coverage of all the newsfeeds I have sampled) as they document each development in the case, whether monumental or simply mundane. </i> Anyone who wants to follow the trial and really get down in the weeds, below is a link to the court reporters' transcripts, the evidence (piles of evidence including PDF files, audio and video files), and the Court's documents. <blockquote> <b>People v Donald J. Trump (Criminal)</b>: * Transcripts * Evidence * Decisions, Orders & Media Access https://ww2.nycourts.gov/press/index.shtml </blockquote> So even following the trial at home is a once-removed experience: following along with the New York Times liveblog (who seems to have the most comprehensive coverage of all the newsfeeds I have sampled) as they document each development in the case, whether monumental or simply mundane.

Anyone who wants to follow the trial and really get down in the weeds, below is a link to the court reporters' transcripts, the evidence (piles of evidence including PDF files, audio and video files), and the Court's documents.

People v Donald J. Trump (Criminal):

* Transcripts

* Evidence

* Decisions, Orders & Media Access

https://ww2.nycourts.gov/press/index.shtml

]]> By: dsws http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209321 dsws Fri, 10 May 2024 23:59:18 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209321 Thank you. Meanwhile in Gaza, the news mentions Israel allowing 200,000 liters of fuel in. I have in mind that there are about 2,000,000 people in Gaza: if so, that would be a tenth of a liter per person, not enough to do much. Israel and Hamas get to blame each other, so they're both happy with the situation. Thank you.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the news mentions Israel allowing 200,000 liters of fuel in. I have in mind that there are about 2,000,000 people in Gaza: if so, that would be a tenth of a liter per person, not enough to do much. Israel and Hamas get to blame each other, so they're both happy with the situation.

]]> By: MtnCaddy http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209315 MtnCaddy Fri, 10 May 2024 18:15:22 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209315 I agree with CRS this is an excellent, well reasoned post. I agree with CRS this is an excellent, well reasoned post.

]]> By: C. R. Stucki http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209313 C. R. Stucki Fri, 10 May 2024 16:48:50 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209313 dsws [2] Hearty congratulations on that, your analysis of the bogus "foreign aid money stays in the U.S." argument exhibits a level of comprehension/understanding of principles of economics totally unprecedented on this blog, and pretty much anyplace else in this country, for that matter!! dsws [2]

Hearty congratulations on that, your analysis of the bogus "foreign aid money stays in the U.S." argument exhibits a level of comprehension/understanding of principles of economics totally unprecedented on this blog, and pretty much anyplace else in this country, for that matter!!

]]> By: MtnCaddy http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209311 MtnCaddy Fri, 10 May 2024 15:52:54 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209311 Yes we should greatly dramatically increase aid to Ukraine . But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. When it comes to foreign policy countries don’t have either morals nor friends — they have interests. And it’s been in the West’s interest to keep Russia tied down in Ukraine — neither winning nor losing — and Russia cannot do military mischief elsewhere. Yeah, it’s sucks but that’s how things work on our planet. Yes we should greatly dramatically increase aid to Ukraine . But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

When it comes to foreign policy countries don’t have either morals nor friends — they have interests. And it’s been in the West’s interest to keep Russia tied down in Ukraine — neither winning nor losing — and Russia cannot do military mischief elsewhere. Yeah, it’s sucks but that’s how things work on our planet.

]]> By: dsws http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209309 dsws Fri, 10 May 2024 11:50:18 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209309 I just read news coverage of another statement by some politician that when we spend money on supporting Ukraine, most of the money stays in the US. Who cares. Most of the money is represented in physical reality only data in the computers of banks. The banks' computer hardware could be anywhere, and certainly includes backups in multiple locations. The money itself doesn't even have a location. We're spending real factors of production -- people's time, that could be spent on something else, capital that could be used for something else, natural resources that could be made into something else. We're paying for them with taxes (probably taxes that will be collected next century, and bond issues in the meantime, but taxes eventually) that keep people from spending their money on something else. In the case of Ukraine specifically, a lot of the spending is basically fictional: we send military hardware to Ukraine that we would otherwise have had to pay to dispose of when it got too old to use, but we count the replacement cost as though we would otherwise have used it for something else. But "a lot" isn't most. Most of the spending is actual spending. By spending money, we're spending real stuff. The question isn't what country the bits in a bank's computers are located in. It's whether the benefit to the US outweighs the cost. And in the case of supporting Ukraine, that's not even a question. It does. If we were really acting in our own national interest, we would be supporting Ukraine at least ten times as much as we are. I just read news coverage of another statement by some politician that when we spend money on supporting Ukraine, most of the money stays in the US. Who cares. Most of the money is represented in physical reality only data in the computers of banks. The banks' computer hardware could be anywhere, and certainly includes backups in multiple locations. The money itself doesn't even have a location. We're spending real factors of production -- people's time, that could be spent on something else, capital that could be used for something else, natural resources that could be made into something else. We're paying for them with taxes (probably taxes that will be collected next century, and bond issues in the meantime, but taxes eventually) that keep people from spending their money on something else.

In the case of Ukraine specifically, a lot of the spending is basically fictional: we send military hardware to Ukraine that we would otherwise have had to pay to dispose of when it got too old to use, but we count the replacement cost as though we would otherwise have used it for something else. But "a lot" isn't most. Most of the spending is actual spending. By spending money, we're spending real stuff.

The question isn't what country the bits in a bank's computers are located in. It's whether the benefit to the US outweighs the cost. And in the case of supporting Ukraine, that's not even a question. It does. If we were really acting in our own national interest, we would be supporting Ukraine at least ten times as much as we are.

]]> By: Elizabeth Miller http://www.chrisweigant.com/2024/05/09/the-split-screen-that-wasnt/#comment-209304 Elizabeth Miller Fri, 10 May 2024 02:56:32 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=25019#comment-209304 Chris, <i>Whether Trump asked to be spanked with a rolled-up magazine while he had sex with Stormy is going to be immaterial to the jury's decision (even though it was the most titillating bit of testimony she gave)</i> THAT was titillating? Good God. Now, watching Willem Defoe and Madonna in Body of Evidence? That WAS titillating! :-) Chris,

Whether Trump asked to be spanked with a rolled-up magazine while he had sex with Stormy is going to be immaterial to the jury's decision (even though it was the most titillating bit of testimony she gave)

THAT was titillating?

Good God.

Now, watching Willem Defoe and Madonna in Body of Evidence? That WAS titillating! :-)

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