Trump New York Trial Diary: Day 1

Wherein jury selection begins and I go to Austin, Texas

Good Afternoon:

My neighborhood in Spring. The middle picture is the French ambassadorial residence, which is not quite in my neighborhood.

You read it in #DogShirtDaily the other day:

Don’t look now, but there’s actually been some positive movement in the polling over the last few weeks. Since November, former President Trump has been running ahead of President Biden by anywhere from about one percent in the national polling average to a bit more than three percent. Over the last few weeks, that lead has all but disappeared. The change, as you see from the chart below is largely a function of Biden moving up in the polls, not Trump falling—though there’s been a little bit of that too.

And as night follows day, the New York Times follows #DogShirtDaily a few days later:

President Biden has nearly erased Donald J. Trump’s early polling advantage, amid signs that the Democratic base has begun to coalesce behind the president despite lingering doubts about the direction of the country, the economy and his age, according to a new survey by The New York Times and Siena College.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump are now virtually tied, with Mr. Trump holding a 46 percent to 45 percent edge. That is an improvement for Mr. Biden from late February, when Mr. Trump had a sturdier 48 percent to 43 percent lead just before he became the presumptive Republican nominee.

Mr. Biden’s tick upward appears to stem largely from his improved standing among traditional Democratic voters — he is winning a greater share of voters who supported him in 2020 than he did a month ago.

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My friend Mariia Hlyten, whose Atlantic piece I linked to the other day, has an exhibition displaying at the United States Institute of Peace on April 25. If you live in the DC area, you should go and see it. Here’s how she and team that put it together describes it:

Unissued Diplomas is an international project aimed at commemorating the lost lives of students whose lives were taken by the russian invasion. Those students, who were supposed to get these diplomas but were killed by russia and never became graduates. 

They sacrificed their education, life goals, dreams and aspirations for the sake of their country. We are creating this exhibition to remind the world about the ongoing war and the price we, as a nation, are paying daily.

Through the unissued diplomas, the exhibition uncovers the stories of 40 Ukrainian students killed in the full-scale russian invasion. Our first wave of exhibitions in 2023 was held in 110+ locations worldwide.

Here are some pics:

Unissued Diplomas

The Unissued Diplomas exhibition will be in the main atrium at USIP (2301 Constitution Avenue NW) all day on the 25th.

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I am still formulating my thoughts on the Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, and I have a lot of them.

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So what was the mystery item I was planning to create with the stamps I can now confirm I custom ordered? They were for this silver- and copper-smithing:

These are just test pieces, and I gave them all away at Sunday evening’s #SpecialMilitary Operation. But making them has become a fun little hobby that grew out of projection and the idea that I might be able to make by own projection slides (called gobos) out of metal clay. That idea failed, but I became fascinated by glass fusion and metal smithing, which I have been experimenting with ever since.

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This every enthusiastic and bouncy hornbill is today’s #BeastOfTheDay:

bearizona

A post shared by @bearizona

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Trump Trial Diary, April 16, 2024

I plan to be present for the entirety of the Trump trial in New York. Lawfare has rented an apartment in which the team and I will reside and build a studio and bureau for the duration of the trial. I will be also try to write diary entries nearly daily as the trial progresses—though I don’t promise that daily will mean daily.