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Kim Phuong Taylor convicted on more than 50 counts for trying to help her husband get elected​

John Bowden
Washington DC

The wife of a Republican politician in Iowa has been convicted of dozens of criminal charges related to a 2020 voter fraud scheme aimed at getting her husband into office.

Department of Justice officials announced the verdict against Kim Phuong Taylor in a statement released on Tuesday, explaining that she had submitted absentee ballots on behalf of voters who had not given her permission to do so.

She was convicted of 52 counts in total, including 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, 23 counts of voter fraud, and three counts of fraudulently registering to vote. She could face up to five years in prison for each charge.

According to the DoJ, Ms Taylor “perpetrated a scheme to fraudulently generate votes for her husband in the primary election for Iowa’s 4th US Congressional District in June 2020”. She’s then accused of doing the same thing after his defeat when he would go on to launch a campaign for Woodbury County supervisor. Mr Taylor won that second race.

Her husband Jeremy, an unindicted co-conspirator in the case whose campaigns were the intended beneficiary of her fraudulent actions, said in a statement to a local news affiliate, KCAU, that he and his wife had hoped for a verdict of not guilty but added that they respected the verdict.

“We are thankful many aspects of the background of this case were brought to light. While this was certainly not the outcome we were hoping for, we respect our court system that allowed the jury to hear my wife’s side of the story. We are thankful for our friends, family, and community who know us best and have stood by our side,” said Mr Taylor.

“While I plan to continue making decisions that are best for our county’s families, my first priority right now is to deal with today’s results as a private matter in order to be there for my own family, my wife and our children,” he continued.

US attorney Timothy Duax, one of the prosecutors, commented on the verdict to KCAU as well.

“The right to vote is one of our most important constitutional rights. Ms. Taylor deprived citizens of their right to vote in order to benefit her husband’s campaign,” Duax said. “The guilty verdict is an example of how the justice system works to protect the voting rights of citizens and ensure fair and honest elections.”

Republicans led by Donald Trump continue to falsely allege that voter fraud was widespread during the 2020 election and cost Mr Trump his victory in the race. Though his own administration’s experts denied this before the end of his presidency, Mr Trump has continued to insist that he should be reinstated as president — even as he and his campaign failed to provide any concrete evidence of fraud on a scale the likes of which they have alleged. In 2016, he made similar false accusations after losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, his supporters including those who have latched on to his voter fraud explanations have faced charges in multiple states related to their own efforts to defraud US election systems.

In Wisconsin, one of Mr Trump’s supporters was indicted in February of 2022 and demanded that authorities look into Mr Trump’s claims when she herself came under investigation, according to the Associated Press

Even Mainstream Media See the Issues with the Smith Indictment​

And yet, if you read any of the mainstream-media coverage from news institutions that are about as far from knee-jerk defenders of Trump as you can get, you see sharp-eyed veteran journalists making the exact same points.

Let’s review below 👇

With Mideast crisis, Russia and China hope to turn tables on US​

Tue, October 24, 2023 at 6:37 PM PDT



Journalists watch a large screen showing the US diploamt Beth Jones addressing a summit in Cairo on the Middle East crisis (Khaled DESOUKI)


Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States has sought to isolate Moscow and pressure China to keep its distance. With war in the Middle East, Russia and China are seeking to turn the tables.

The United States has cast Russia as the disruptor of the international order at the Security Council, with President Joe Biden promising the world body that Washington would use its veto only sparingly.

But the United States went ahead and vetoed a draft resolution last week it deemed insufficiently supportive of its ally.

In comments likely aimed at consumption in the Islamic world, Russia has accused the United States of escalating the conflict through military reinforcements, while China has lashed out at the US veto and Israel's actions.

The Chinese and Russian reprimands ring hollow for US officials, who doubt the rival powers will engage in painstaking diplomacy along the lines of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to the region.

But the United States has historically stood out as a lonely voice in its close embrace of Israel, even if for now European allies are largely joining Biden in backing Israel.

Biden on taking office had aimed to shift from the complexities of the Middle East, seeing China as the greatest long-term challenge to the United States.

"This is not a region where the US has wanted to have a heavy footprint and be actively engaged. At the same time, this president in particular is deeply committed to Israel," said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the US and Americas program at Chatham House.

China "is quite willing to see the US pulled sideways in its strategic focus into a region that it hasn't wanted to be absorbed by, but now is willingly," she said.

The Minnesota commit will visit USC after his new offer:

Desman Stephens, the 2024 LB from Michigan who visited USC last weekend, is expected to announce his school choice tomorrow. I don’t know what time yet.

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U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg recently ruled that a lawsuit against Georgia’s use of electronic voting machines must go to a non-jury trial in January.​

According to 11 Alive News, critics of Georgia’s electronic voting machines have alleged a security breach in Georgia’s Coffee County that was recorded on a surveillance video that showed unauthorized individuals scanning and copying secure voting software and distributing some of the information online.

Totenberg wrote that the “2021 Coffee County election equipment breach … presents a substantial risk that … votes will not be counted as cast.”

Critics have argued that incidents such as the one documented in Georgia’s Coffee County can result in invalid markings on electronic voting machines. In Totenberg’s ruling requiring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office to take part in January’s civil trial, Totenberg wrote that the “defendants fail to identify a single cybersecurity expert who endorses the current configuration of Georgia’s (ballot marking device) system.”

Trillion Dollar Bailout: What Xi Really Wants From Biden​

During his visit to San Francisco, Xi, seemingly desperate, requested a substantial $900-billion bailout for the Chinese economy from President Biden.

Communist Party of China (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping is now starkly aware that he is facing the end of his rule, and has turned to US Pres. Joe Biden to save him.

Specific reports are emerging as to the driving forces which made Xi act, in seeming desperation, to kowtow to US Pres. Joe Biden at the summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in San Francisco between November 13 and 17,2023.

Xi’s Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) had, for at least two weeks before the summit, started a charm offensive aimed at the US. Until that time, Beijing had claimed to have been hesitant about whether the summit would take place, but the start of the charm offensive was a significant pointer to the depth of General Secretary Xi’s desperation and his increasingly mercurial behavior.

Despite the fact that the mainland China economic crisis had become significant and intense from at least 2015, Xi had taken virtually no steps to contain or correct it. Then, almost simultaneously with the charm offensive toward the US, the Xi Administration began some timid steps toward reversing its anti-private sector policies and promised unspecified support for private business in mainland China. This followed a xenophobically maoist policy, over the past decade, of containing private enterprise and attempting to push the economy under the domination of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The sudden volte-face by Xi, typical of his behavior since the October 2022 Party Congress at which he disposed of almost all of his visible opponents, highlighted more than ever his instability and, now, his increasing desperation as it has become clear that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was patently unready and unprepared to execute Xi’s proposed military takeover of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. Related: Russia Will Fight to Protect Its Key Weapon in the Global Energy Race

Trillion Dollar Bailout: What Xi Really Wants From Biden | OilPrice.com

Emerging reports shed light on the factors that led Xi to seek aid, displaying signs of desperation during the summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in San Francisco

oilprice.com

Many probably have already seen:

I listened to a You tube presentation today I thought was interesting and had never seen the dude before.
He spoke of past championship winning teams. He would look at where the Offense ended up in ranking and compare it to defense ranking to get a delta sore (difference between the two). Generally a delta of 12 or better is where the championship teams end up.
SC this year: #12 total offense, #117 on total defense which equals # 105! Championship teams have averaged a delta of 12. We have A LOT of improving to do (obvious). Pete Carroll had a year where their delta was (don’t quote me) 0. Offense ended up like 3, Defense ended up 3.

The Startling Evidence on Learning Loss Is In​

Nov. 18, 2023

The evidence is now in, and it is startling. The school closures that took 50 million children out of classrooms at the start of the pandemic may prove to be the most damaging disruption in the history of American education. It also set student progress in math and reading back by two decades and widened the achievement gap that separates poor and wealthy children.

My notes on SC’s 81-70 win over Brown

This was the first ever match-up between USC and Brown. Founded in 1764, Brown University is the 7th-oldest college in the U.S. and one of 8 Ivy League schools. Originally, the College of Rhode Island (in Warren, RI), it moved to Providence in 1770, was renamed in 1804, in recognition of a $5K gift from Nicholas Brown, Class of 1786. The campus spans 140-acres, home to 9731 students (6670 undergrads). Brown’s sports teams are the Brown Bears, the mascot is Bruno the Bear. It’s also Coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s alma mater.

Brown basketball in 119 seasons (1900-2022), has a record of 1088-1573, .409 and has played in just 2 NCAA tournaments - the inaugural tournament in 1939 and as Ivy League champs in 1986. Head coach Mike Martin (10th year) is 136-156 (.466). He was the Ivy League COY in 2019.

They came into the game 1-3 with losses to Colgate, Loyola (not Sister Jean’s school in Chicago, the one in MD), New Hampshire, and a win over Rhode Island, not the Atlantic 10’s Rhode Island University Rams, the Rhode Island College Anchormen (wonder if Will Ferrell played there? – haha).

1.5 hrs before tip-off and only a single student is in line (the ever-present Crash with yellow caution tape headband), a big departure from the long line of students that stretched around to the back of Galen Center for the first home game.

Entering the Founder’s Room, the crowd was not big, many apparently still suffering hangovers from the rivalry game loss. Assistant Jay Morris was guest speaker and immediately shut off any questions on player injury status. I thought “what is this, Lincoln Riley?” Entering the arena I note the usual DJ Malski, the basketball band, the Song Girls and a large Trojan Dance Force, including a new male dancer, who was pretty good and would’ve blended in, except for not having the same color outfit as the rest of the group. They should fix that. The press tables were almost full. I recognized several beat writers from local newspapers and websites. No NBA scouts for this one.

The Bears average 75.3 ppg (scoring margin +4.8) and shoot 40.4 FGs, 31.7%, 3FGs, 60.8% FTs. They get 44.5 rebounds/g, (+7.0 margin), 13.8 assists/g, 9.5 steals/g, 6.3 blks/g, 12.8 TOs/g (margin +2.2).
They are led in scoring by do-it-all Nana Owusu-Anane 18.5 ppg (49.1 FG, 36.4% 3FG, 69.2% FT), Kino Lilly Jr 16.0 ppg, (37.5% FG, 32.1% 3FG 50% FT) and Kalu Anya 10.3 ppg, (38.2% FG, 28.6% 3FG, 59.1 FT). Owusu-Anane also leads in rebounds at 9.8 rpg, (Anya next at 6.0 rpg. Lilly leads with 2.7 assists/g with Anya at 2.3, Owusu-Anane leads with steals 1.5 stpg and blocks 1.8 bpg.

SC averages 75.7 ppg, +9.7 margin (44.8% FG, 27.4% 3FGs, 80.6% FT) and 39.3 Rebounds/g (margin +2.3), 14.0 apg, 15.3 TO/g, (margin -1.6), 7.7 steals, 5.3 blocks/g
Super frosh, Isaiah Collier leads the team in scoring 20.0 ppg (50% FG, 28.6% 3FG, 87% FT), Boogie 17.5 ppg (44% FG, 30.8% 3FG, 81.8% FT), Kobe 16.0 ppg, 46.2% FG, 25% 3FG, 100% FT.
Kobe leads with 8.0 rebounds/g, Morgan 5.7 rpg, Boogie 4.5 rpg. Collier and Boogie are tied at 4.0 assists/g, with Kobe leading in steals at 4.0/g and Boogie at 3.0. Josh leads in blocked shots at 2.3 bpg, Hornery blocks 1.7/g.

Boogie and Kobe are back from injury and will start alongside Collier, Morgan and Hornery (coming off a career high 17-pts against UCI). DJ Rodman is not available due to a left foot injury.

Despite coming in a 17.5 pt underdog, Brown stayed competitive with SC and went from 15 pts down, 33-18, to down only 3 at the half, 35-32. SC made only 2 of its final 12 shots before the half to finish at 36.7% FGs, while Brown shot 32.4% FGs. 24 of SC’s points came from 8 made 3-ptrs (4 by Boogie, 3 by Collier and 1 by Kobe). If you thought, like I did that Collier’s biggest weakness was outside shooting and FTs, you have got to be impressed with how he has started out with 51.9% FG, 41.7% 3FG and 80.6% FTs – nothing short of amazing! But those teams-high 21 turnovers are a big concern and need to be corrected. Isaiah is aware and says those are freshman mistakes, indeed they are.

The second half saw more back and forth action, as Kino Lilly Jr’s three 3-ptrs (part of a team-high 24 pts), got the Bears to within 1 point at 69-68 with 3:30 remaining. SC would make clutch FTs (9 of 10) down the stretch and one Boogie 3-ptr to seal the win at 81-70.

The Trojans are converting 75.8% of their FTs this season. The Big 3 of Boogie, Kobe and Isaiah have lived up to their billing and are carrying the team averaging 21.0, 21.0 and 15.0 ppg, respectively. No other players are in double figures.

When Kobe and Boogie missed the UCI game due to injury, SC was an upset victim. SC relies on their guard trio for production. They need to get more out of their wings and bigs, both in scoring and rebounding. Bench scoring has been an issue and may continue to be so until Bronny returns.

Vince is rusty after his back surgery in the off-season and sitting out until fall camp. He will hopefully round into form by the conference season. Josh is shooting a high FGs% and averaging 8.3 ppg, but could really be a threat with better hands. He is simply not reliable receiving the ball in the paint. This lack of good hands issue extends to Kijani and Vince, all need to work on grip strength. I expect that Arrinten Page will get more time in future games as he has the most upside and best outside shooting of any of the bigs, not named Harrison Hornery. Hornery is much leaner, quicker and displays improved athleticism and confidence this year. He will be a key component in keeping defenses honest with his outside shooting.

Keeping defenses honest by making threes was supposed to be the role of Oziyah Sellers and DJ Rodman. They each had one good game, but also a disaster of a game against UCI (combined 1-18 FGs) that led to SC being upset.

Rebounding and keeping opponents from getting second chance points continues to be an issue. The bigs need to be better at this and the guards need to help out as well.
For the game, Brown shot 41% FGs (51.9% in the 2nd half), 27.3% 3FG (9-33) and 61.1% FTs.

SC shot 42.9% FG, 50% 3 FGs (12-24) and 65.6% FT (76.2% in the 2nd half).

Despite a pronounced height advantage, SC only outrebounded Brown 43-40 and had fewer points in the paint.

Notable

Isaiah Collier scored a season-best 24 points tonight and has 84 points in his first four games. It is the most points through the first four games by a Trojan freshman since O.J. Mayo totaled 97 during the 2007-08 season.

Kobe Johnson is still hobbled but came back from a 2-game absence to help his team, like the captain that he is, finishing with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, but no steals, although he had several deflections.

In an oddity, this was the first time that I can remember SC finishing a game with only 1 steal and that was by Arrinten Page. Strange.

Boogie after missing a game scored a season-high 28 points, matching a career high 6 three-pointers (5th time). He is so important to this team and deserving of the preseason accolades he has received. We need him healthy for us to go as far as we want to this season.

While it was disappointing that Hornery couldn’t follow up his career high game (only 1 pt), in his 2nd career start he set his career-high with 9 rebounds.

Vincent scored 7 pts and matched a career high 7 rebounds (had 7 at Oregon State last season).

Joshua Morgan scored 2 pts, had a block and 9 rebounds. He has 19 rebounds in USC’s last 2 games.

Despite being the most athletic player on the team Brandon Gardner can’t get on the court. I would like to see what he can provide with rebounds and rim protection, we may need him down the line

USC has now scored 80+ points in 3 of the first 4 games.

USC is ranked No. 23 in AP poll (down 7 for UCI loss), No. 34 in KenPom and No. 55 in NET (down 5)

USC’s next game will be on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23 vs. Seton Hall in the first round of the Rady Children’s Hospital Invitational held at the LionTree arena on the UCSD campus. Catch it on FS1 beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Cool!

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Some really great shots in here, as always -- especially of Caleb.

just make everything a lot easier! We aren’t winning anything anytime soon!! Hopefully the basketball team can at least entertain us a little!

Great stuff here:

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Wow, I guess he wants to top Bennett's...

Maybe there's a little flicker of hope Caleb comes back... 🤣 🤣 🤣

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Y’all are not gonna be happy with the postgame presser …

Uploading now. Still waiting on players.

Thoughts?

Adam Gorney weighs in ...

Hi guys, Ben Parker from Stanford Rivals here. I'm also doing some transfer portal coverage for the Pac-12 this cycle. So, you'll see me around a bit over the next month or so.

Anyways, USC defensive lineman Jamar Sekona has entered the transfer portal. He wasn't a member of the team this past season as you guys already know, but I still felt like it was worth sharing the article in here anyways. You can read that here.

My friend Todd Overton Sanders saying it’s done deal…