DOA: A Minneapolis paramedic called to treat George Floyd testified that when he arrived Floyd was already dead with then Off. Derek Chauvin’s knee still on his neck. 

  Derek Smith said in a Minneapolis court that he couldn’t find a pulse on Floyd and his pupils were dilated. “In lay terms, I thought he was dead,” Smith said. He had to tell Chauvin to get off Floyd so he could be moved to a gurney.

  Chauvin’s former supervisor, now a retired sergeant, said the officer should have taken his knee off Floyd’s neck after he stopped resisting.

  Earlier, Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, testified that she and Floyd had both struggled with drug abuse and she believed Floyd had relapsed. She said, “When you know someone who suffers from any type of addiction, you can start to kind of see changes when they’re using again.”

  That’s important to the defense, which is trying to plant the belief that Floyd died of drugs and heart disease, not asphyxiation with Chauvin’s knee on his neck. 

   Ross said Floyd was devastated by his mother’s death and called her by the same name, “Mama,” raising speculation that in his dying moments, Floyd might have been calling out to his girlfriend rather than his mother.

Train Wreck: At least 48 died and 66 were injured when an express train in Taiwan carrying almost 500 people derailed today going into a tunnel. Twisted wreckage inside the tunnel made it difficult for rescuers to get in there. The train from the capital to the southeastern city of Taitung had hit a truck that slid off a road from a nearby construction site.

Naked Came the Manatee: The brewing scandal surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz reads like a Carl Hiassen novel about the underworld of grifters and losers who populate the Sunshine State.

 CNN now reports that when Gaetz entered Congress he bragged about his exploits with women and showed colleagues nude photos and videos of his conquests.  If that information came from Republican sources, and it probably did, what it means is that they are trying to dump Gaetz either through an ethics investigation or forced resignation.

  That might be his most immediate problem, but Gaetz also is reported to be under investigation for child sex trafficking. The NY Times reports that the Justice Department is zeroing in on Gaetz’s involvement with an indicted Florida politician and possible involvement with online recruitment of women to be paid for sex. The paper cites “people close to the investigation and text messages and payment receipts reviewed by The New York Times.”

  Gaetz claims that what’s really happening is an FBI investigation of an attempt to extort his  father, a former Florida legislator.

  The younger Gaetz claims that his father, Don Gaetz, was approached by men asking for $25 million to find Robert Levinson, the longest-held American hostage in Iran who may not even be alive. According to Gaetz, the men told his father that his help would reflect well on Matt Gaetz in the child sex investigation.

  The elder Gaetz was suspicious and went to the FBI, his son claims. Don Gaetz is reported to have worn a wire to record and expose the two extortionists. None of that has been verified, but Carl Hiassen couldn’t do better.  

Pay for Play: The Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether the NCAA, which makes billions of dollars a year on college sports, violates federal anti-trust law by denying compensation to the athletes. The athletes can’t negotiate for more.

  The current NCAA limit to give athletes is a total value of $5,980 per athlete for rings, trophies, and cash. The NCAA and the colleges it represents are fighting having to outright pay their elite athletes, what’s derided as “pay for play.” The problem is the universities get paid and the athletes don’t. Many never graduate.

  Justice Samuel Alito said, “They are recruited, they’re used up, and then they’re cast aside without even a college degree. So they say, how can this be defended in the name of amateurism?”

  Justice Brett Kavanaugh said, “It does seem that the schools are conspiring with competitors … to pay no salaries to the workers who are making the schools billions of dollars.” 

  But the justices were equally tough on the lawyers representing the athletes. The buzzer on this game doesn’t sound until the Court makes a decision.

The Spin Rack: The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that monuments to Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson that were the focus of protests and violence in Charlottesville are not protected by state law and can be removed. — Following New York, New Mexico is set to legalize recreational marijuana, making it the 16^th state to do so. — Rain delayed the open of the baseball season in Boston. The Detroit Tigers opened their season in driving snow. Tiger first baseman Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer to right field but slid into second because he couldn’t see the ball going over the fence.

Video Wars: The Pentagon has signed a deal with Microsoft to sell the Army “augmented reality” devices that are designed to help soldiers, “fight, rehearse and train using a single platform.” 

  The Army said the devices will give soldiers in the Close Combat Force with “improved situational awareness, target engagement, and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries.” We assume that “overmatch” means “killing.”

  The contract is worth 21.9 billion over 10 years, which is an augmented  reality of a different kind.

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