Live Blog: State Budget Forecast

Ok guys, congratulations on making it to the end of the the First Week Of The Donald Trump Election Interference Criminal Trial. David Pecker finally wrapped up his testimony, we had a quick visit by Rhona Graff (Trump's former assistant of 34 years) and testimony from the banker who helped Michael Cohen secure the loan that was used to pay Stormy Daniels $130k in hush money. First to the fun stuff.

We got numbers to back it up: Americans hate the GOP-lead House: The Monmouth University Poll also asked about the public’s impressions of legislative productivity in the House of Representatives. Taking into account that they may not agree with everything each party stands for, 53% of Americans say Democrats have been generally successful at being able to get bills passed when they control the House, while 39% say they have been unsuccessful. There’s Vulgarmort’s basement/ceiling again.

During an interview with Newsmax's Greg Kelly, Trump demanded we terminate early voting and move to all paper ballots while continuing to push the notion that both mean the Democrats are "cheating." Trump has been a huge flaming hypocrite on this issue for ages, claiming that mail-in voting is corrupt, except of course, if he does it. It continues to astound me that Trump, like his enablers over on the Fox propaganda network, continue to give the voting machine companies more ammo for lawsuits. Here's Trump with Kelly this Thursday, complaining that Biden misread something off of a teleprompter during a speech while pretending that everything in the United States and abroad would be going perfectly now if we were unfortunate enough to still have him occupying the Oval Office, and continuing to spread the Big Lie about early voting so he can pretend he was cheated when Biden hopefully kicks his ass in November. TRUMP: You know, six months is very, a little more than six months now, which is sounds good, but that's a long time in the life of this country with this leadership because they don't know what they're doing.

For years, researchers have been working on vaccines that aim to prevent viral infections by strengthening immune defenses at viruses’ doorway to the body: the nose. A small study recently published in PNAS presents a similar, if lower-tech, idea. Coating the inside of the nose with the over-the-counter antibiotic ointment Neosporin seems to trigger an immune response that may help the body repel respiratory viruses like those that cause COVID-19 and the flu, the study suggests. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The research raises the idea that Neosporin could serve as an “extra layer” of protection against respiratory illnesses, on top of existing tools like vaccines and masks, says study co-author Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiologist at the Yale School of Medicine and one of the U.

)MINNEAPOLIS) — The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay a $150,000 settlement to an eyewitness who tried to intervene to prevent George Floyd’s murder and who says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result. Donald Williams, a mixed martial arts fighter who testified against former Officer Derek Chauvin in his 2021 murder trial, sued the city last spring, alleging he was assaulted by police while trying to prevent Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The council unanimously approved the settlement without discussion Thursday, the Star Tribune reported. The lawsuit alleged that Chauvin looked directly at Williams, grabbed a canister of chemical spray and began shaking it toward him and other bystanders expressing concern for Floyd’s welfare.

There’s no denying that 2024 has already been booked and busy for Zendaya. Since the year started, the Euphoria star has dominated the box office with her blockbuster sequel Dune: Part Two, nabbed not one, but two Vogue covers (the American and British editions), and been tapped to co-chair the annual (and very exclusive) Met Gala.