Self immolation is a form of protest. The timing was alarming.

A man from Florida makes the drive to 100 Center St.

The moment the jury was finalized in the hush money case, Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Agustine, Florida, walked into the park set aside for protests and set himself ablaze.

The police presence in the area was heavy for the trial and ran to his assistance. The man was doused and taken to Cornell Burn Unit where he’s in critical condition.

Prior to the act, Azzarello took pamphlets out from his backpack and tossed them in the air, then applying an alcohol based accelerant. Police tells they are “conspiracy theory pamphlets, about local education institutions are mob fronts”. His social media is being scrubbed. Bomb squad combed the are and found nothing.

In remarks by NYPD, the man had left Florida a week ago with no notice. His family had been notified of the event.

There was footage that showed the man in a seated position, engulfed in flames. Lisa Rubin, an MSNBC reporter who was on the scene told of the horrid scene and the smell which is unmistakable.

The timing of his act of self immolation was the moment the jury had been finalized in the hush money trial. Here is more on recent acts. I was surprised as my mind goes to the many acts of protests by priests many years ago in Viet Nam and Cambodia.

In texts describing self-immolation in buddhism, I found the entirety interesting, here is some on the act with it’s evolution.

In the Sad- dharmapun::darīka-sūtra, Bodhisattva Bhai:sajyarāja’s autocremation by ingesting copious amounts of flammable substances and then setting fire to his body as an offering to the Buddha is portrayed as a virtuous act. Setting one’s entire body ablaze or parts of it, such as an arm or a finger, has been highly praised in Chinese Buddhist texts during the 5th–10th centuries. The practice continues even today symbolically in Chinese and Korean Buddhist monastic ordination ceremonies.3 In modern times, self- immolation has been transformed into a tool of political protest (Fredricks, 2012, p. 196). Since 1998, Tibetan monks and common people have engaged in self- immolation, setting their bodies on fire in protest against China’s rule of their homeland (Sobolai, 2015, p. 146).

Who Mr. Azzarello is and why his passion was for display we will know reasonably soon. Will his act be related to Trump more than the conspiracy theories in pamphlets and will it be related to other similar acts as an act of religious fervor. Time will tell.

It’s New York and the action in the square having been handled, eyes are back inside the courtroom.

Day 4. Sorry about the neck vag. Comes with the territory. Spared you the mug. Calling this magenta and white stripes.

As noted, the jury is now selected and sworn. Opening remarks on Monday. The rest of the day is a hearing a Sandoval hearing, tells Defendant Don what he’d be asked if he were to be on the stand, which is a discussion of “What should the jury hear about Trump”. Where do they draw the line. How much of Trumps crumby character through previous law suits will they be allowed to know as fact. Interesting question. I think all but, including that he hasn’t ever had a pet, but they will tell us what they decide.

On the Hill, there are many cars, trains, balloons and other conveyances quickly changing gears, many grinding, to go go go on money for Ukraine, money for Israel, Taiwan, as the Putin caucus has lost their bite or teeth or raison d’etre. Johnson and McConnell are doing it. Change of heart, or smelling the bank account whatever it takes. We have screamed ourselves hoarse on these subjects and it matters. Good job, we will inch our way out from the circus tent. There’s serious work to be done.

It may have been the impeachments or just Comer, all by himself, that even Fox is saying enough. Fox has also had enough of MTG. Polls are bad for the entire party. Losing ones grip first on reality but now the machine of lies as it was, stuck on Russia talking points for soooo long. It became a tell.

Thanks to Democrats in the House, the hearing were perfect moments where r’s exposed themselves, repeatedly. They were simply found out. Looks like we win after six grinding months of foolery.

In p p p parting thoughts, “farting” is trending on Twitter, related to the area surrounding the defendant, particularly as he begins to doze. Just when you can use some woke it’s been banned. He doesn’t even have to be awake to be a problem.

Thanks for being here. I wouldn’t be here without you.

❤️