There's a bright golden haze on the meadow in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

For the first official day of summer, it is uncharacteristically dark outside. Dark and rainy. More like a spring day. But then… that works, doesn’t it? As we fuck up the world, the world finds ways to fuck us back?

I’m tired and it is… partly my own fault. I woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. Went to the basement to play Mortal Kombat 11 until I was sleepy. Wound up playing MK11 and masturbating. The first two hours of video gaming (and the first orgasm) I was still wide awake. The last hour, though, where I was trying to get A.I. Fight Achievements (so a more passive game experience) and that second orgasm actually DID make me feel super sleepy. So of course that all happened about 15 minutes before my alarm went off. SOooo… yeah. At least as far as that is concerned, I’m tired now.

Got into the office and… my schedule is mostly empty. But the song that greeted me as I walked up the stairs to my office was a steady loud bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang”. Awesome. As soon as they stopped apparently (needlessly) attacking metal pipes they decided to have a loud conversation about their weekend plans, their summer vacations, and their work schedules basically in my doorway**. So… thanks, guys. Even if I wasn’t doing any work at all today… kind of rude.

All things being equal, though, I probably won’t do much with this space today. Some Video Game Notes to myself for fun and future and The Usual.

But first: Interesting thing....
Even if I never have kids… I worry about the raising kids thing. Mostly because… I want my child (if I should ever have one) to be compassionate, kind, intelligent, well-bred, educated… to respect the finer things while not disrespecting people that could be considered “beneath their station.” So like all theoretical parents… I want my child to be a better version of me. lol.
Often, however, I do Facebook Research on the victims and witnesses and defendants involved in my cases. And I’m… left concerned.

White Girl with a Future, 19 years old, well spoken when we talk and go over her victim statement, seems okay.
Do facebook research? Girl is a thug-wanna-be. She weighs maybe 100 pounds dripping wet but is going on at her facebook about “No man has a good job, a good dick, and good manners. It’s like pick one and hold on!” “Be with someone who is desperately afraid to lose you!” “Fuck Dads that don’t support they kids.” “Nobody gonna hold ME back, I’m too good for that shit.” “My daughter and I deserve a real man. HMU if you interested.”
Stuff like that.

And then I realize what her case is. Drugged out cute-but-violent man was dating her while he was living with his girlfriend and got victim pregnant. Live-in Girlfriend (who was getting beaten up the whole time) cries to her mom about the cheating; and Mom hunts down our victim to psycho-level-scream-and-shriek at this girl for being with “such a bad guy when you know he’s seeing my daughter!” Which… okay, that’s a lot to unpack. You know he’s a bad guy. You know he’s a druggie and hitting your daughter. You know he’s cheating on your daughter and got his other girlfriend pregnant. So you go to the other girlfriend to scream at her and threaten her? I REALLY DON’T GET THAT IN ANY WAY.

And it brings me back around to where I was when I started this thought process. Here’s a girl that didn’t have to be a thug. But she is getting romanced by a cute, violent dude with a criminal history so of course she goes out with him. Whether she does so because (1) bad boys are so hot; or (2) I can fix him, I can help him.... intent doesn’t matter. She goes out with him… becomes a full fledged thug… gets wrapped up in his thuggish ruggish bullshit… and get roped into his criminal goings on. How do you protect your child from becoming a thug? Is it… education? Attention? Discipline? Like… this is a big fear for me about possibly one day maybe potentially but not likely raising a child. I just really don’t want them to be a thug… but it seems that, especially in small towns, it is really hard to prevent.

Sorry, wanted to pop in on a political item too because… holy FUCK did any of you see the Hope Hicks debacle??

For. Fuck. Sake. This is one of those times where my father and cousin would look at me and say, “Fucking attorneys think they know better.” But it is in these exact moments… where the LAW and PROCEDURE are the focus that yes, we do know better! Seriously, fuckers… if I’m in a hospital and the Thoracic Surgeon is advising me about my options for treatment… I’m not going to stop him and ask to speak to a Reality TV Star or a Businessman first. I’m going to think, maybe the dude that went to school for this exact thing knows a little bit more than someone who has never spent a day around it in their entire lives. SO TO WITH THE LAW, FOLKS!

First epic moment of bullshit: The White House claimed that Hope Hicks had “absolute immunity” from speaking to Congress on any point.
Except… that isn’t a thing. At all. Ever. ESPECIALLY here. Don’t just believe the talking heads on TV… every constitutional lawyer and law professor this week have said the same thing. It isn’t a proper legal term, it doesn’t exist, there is no such thing.
The closest that can be said to exist is Executive Privilege and/or Privilege of some other variety that directly protects statements that may be made by the witness. THAT is a real legal thing.
Unsurprisingly, when Nixon was being investigated and almost impeached… we already danced this dance. He tried to say that anything and everything that he discussed was protected by Executive Privilege since HE was the Executive!! Supreme Court overruled him with (what we call) a Common Sense Hypothetical. Supreme Court asked for clarification from Nixon’s attorney. THE FOLLOWING IS NOT DIRECT QUOTES AS IT IS BEING WRITTEN BY MEMORY FROM THE CASE WE STUDIED IN DEPTH
“You’re saying that everything the President says is protected by Federal Law?”
“Yes, your honors, that is the government’s position.”
“Do you have reason for this position?”
“Executive Privilege is required to allow the president to discuss sensitive matters that should not become public knowledge.”
“So, the government is stating a National Security basis?”
“That is one basis by which we would make that claim, but not the only one.”
“So if the President were discussing, planning, or implementing criminal activity; the government’s position is that he is not allowed to be investigated?”
“If that is the decision of this court. The government’s position is simply that no witnesses can be called to testify against the President if those witnesses worked for the White House in an official capacity.”

Supreme Court said, “You have a point, but not a complete one. There are systems in place that can vet the testimony without violating privilege. If the President is committing a crime, he cannot hide behind the trappings of his office to protect himself from justice.” SO RIGHT THERE… only those things which are reasonably deemed to be a threat to National Security are protected by executive privilege. But then there was another case (because Nixon was also trying to avoid accountability… but I will say this for Nixon, he was smarter and more diplomatic and more nuanced than our current toddler in chief). Hope Hicks was the Communications Director. In her job, she may have been privy to viewing things that are protected by Executive Privilege but her job, the very nature of her job, is to be PUBLIC. It is her job to coordinate the Communication between the White House and the press in various forms. It is literally her job to appropriately funnel information to the public. SO… she is required to GIVE INFORMATION (at least a little).

All of this is meaningless ANYWAY, however, because whatever immunity she may or may not have ever had was waived when she became a witness cited over 100 times in the Muller Report (or so some would argue).

So… when called to testify before the committee on Wednesday, how’d that go?

White House Attorneys appeared again citing an “absolute immunity” which does not exist and is not a legal reality.
White House Attorneys objected to questions whether they were innocuous or not in an effort to assert “absolute immunity” which is again not a real thing.
Now, keep in mind… this is an inquiry about OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE investigating whether Trump or the Trump White House intentionally committed a criminal act of obfuscating or interfering with a Federal Investigation.

So keep that in mind. This is a FEDERAL INVESTIGATION looking into obstruction of a Federal Investigation by the Trump White House.
At one point, after establishing that Hope Hicks worked in the White House, the Committee asked, “Where in the White House was your office?” The White House Attorneys objected to the question and refused to allow Ms. Hicks to respond. That’s… you can’t do that. Did these assholes even GO to law school?!?! Unless her response was “Area 51 in a confidential facility where we store the alien corpses” that answer is not protected information. FUCK, if a terrorist REALLY WANTED TO, they could take the White House Tour and be shown where it is along the way! And yet… objection, she may not answer that question. When Hicks tried to answer a question about getting former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation, the White House Attorneys interrupted the witness to claim that she may not answer that question due to absolute immunity which again remember.... does not exist.

Ted Lieu was absolutely correct when he called it “obstruction of justice in action.”
Why does any of this matter? Hicks appeared on more than 180 pages of the Mueller Report. She may have been one of the closest people to Trump for many of his most uncensored rants. The White House fears what she may know, what she may talk about, and how she may characterize it. AND HERE’S THE BIG THING that actually should make them worry. Trump has been demanding that people NOT SHOW UP to these hearings. Intentionally telling people to ignore subpoenas (which is a crime and obstruction in itself). But… if someone ignores a subpoena… you have to do more hearings and then take it to court and do all this other stuff. By Hope Hicks showing up and essentially forcing White House Attorneys to invent privileges that don’t exist and on-the-record stating that the witness may not answer that question, Ms. Hicks gave the Committee on the record elements that they could take directly to court. Hicks’ appearance gave Democrats, with no time to waste, a promising case to take to court to challenge the White House’s definition of immunity.

It won’t end the drama. And we all live in the real world… Hope Hicks could have come out and stated (with evidence) that Trump specifically attempted to shut down the Muller Investigation illegally and even talked to Putin about doing so personally… and the GOP would decry her as fake news… the Donald would lament that it is a shame she feels she needs to make up something like that… Nancy Pelosi would give a press conference saying that Trump is a bad guy, but it isn’t the right time to impeach… Trump Supporters would say, “He can do whatever he wants, who cares?!”.... Republican Voters would say, “He’s the worst person ever, but he’s still better than a Democrat.” That’s the sobering, hateful, toxic reality of things. It doesn’t matter what reality is here. UNTIL one side changes their rhetoric… until GOP Politicians start saying, “Trump is dangerous in a bad way” or Pelosi says, “We have to begin impeachment proceedings” or GOP Voters say, “He’s too dangerous to allow to continue leading the country”… until something changes… nothing will.

I actually still say Nathan Fillion should have played Hal Jordan. Ryan could do a decent Kyle Rayner; but Jordan needs less humor and more… dark wit. He does, after all, become a super villain at one point in his career.

Skull Kebab: In order to procure a severed head for this achievement, you will need to perform a fatality against the same character 50 times. This doesn’t need to be in a single sitting or even in a single tower. Imagine this as simply killing the same person throughout your career/history/trek through time in every multiverse until you finally obtain their severed head. After obtaining the severed head; return to the Krypt and go to the Statues of Champions (as seen in Mortal Kombat 1 and Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks). Across from the statues are a row of plinths with blades sticking up. Find the plinth that now no longer says “locked” and stick your recently acquired severed head onto the plinth. Achievement unlocked. If you want to be crazy about it; you could continue this process with each enemy character until all the plinths are occupied.

Have We Met?: Per some videos on YouTube, Shang Tsung’s Throne Room and Shang Tsung’s Treasure Cache should have chests that contain Victories and Introductions. CONVENIENT since to enter these areas, you must get 10 severed heads onto the plinths mentioned above! That being said, that is 500 fatalities (50 x 10). So another way that you may wish to do this is to find a repeatable Tower of Time that contains only one enemy to fight. Fight, win, fatality, repeat fifty times. At the very least, not only will you be gaining severed heads, you’ll also be gaining Kurrency for other Krypt unlockables.

If this scared you, look again closely. What is it really?




Please tell me that you folks know why their math is wrong. If you need help figuring it out, PM me in the comments and I won’t be condescending but… PLEASE tell me you figured out why their math is wrong!





MINE DID TOO