This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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This is Pavel Sheremet. December 7, 2017 In Kiev (click here) on Wednesday, July 20, a famous journalist, a former Russian television employee Pavel Sheremet, died. According to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, in the center of the capital of Ukraine, the car in which the journalist was located exploded. According to the press, Pavel Sheremet was in the car, which belongs to his common-law wife - co-founder, owner and head of the Ukrainian Pravda online publication Alena Pritule. At the time of the explosion, she was not in the car.... One of the witnesses to the explosion told Ekho Moskvy radio station that Pavel Sheremet was still alive when an ambulance arrived. According to preliminary data, the bomb was under the driver's seat. A funnel with a diameter of 50 cm formed at the site of the explosion. The fire that broke out after the explosion was quickly put out by the units of the State Emergency Situations at 7:57, reports UNN . At the scene, the leadership of the metropolitan police and investigative-operational groups of the Main and District Police Directorates work. The head of the National Police of Ukraine Khatia Dekanoidze arrived at the scene of the explosion almost immediately. She said that law enforcement officers will collect and study all the recordings of CCTV cameras that could capture the explosion. Police, meanwhile, unveiled photos of the blown up car.... This is a very clear indication from Ukraine that murder, even murder based on ideology (Russian style murder) will not be tolerated. December 12, 2019 By Olga Rudenko Police have arrested five suspects (click here) in the 2016 murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, authorities announced at a briefing on Dec. 12. The arrests come as a major breakthrough in an investigation that has languished for more than three years. All of the arrested suspects are either veterans of Ukraine’s military resistance against Russian aggression or volunteers who have been helping the Ukrainian army. They are: Vladyslav Hryshchenko, a war veteran; Inna Hryshchenko, his wife and a war veteran; Yulia Kuzmenko, a children’s surgeon who has been helping the army; Andriy Antonenko, a military officer and musician; and Yana Dugar, a servicewoman. Both the motive of the murder and its organizers remain unknown. I believe this is a very hopeful sign that a violent society in Ukraine is not the answer to democracy. The best news is that Ukraine will carry out the rule of law and provide a fair trial to prove guilt or innocence. The new Prosecutor General is making a difference.
September 12, 2019 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka attend the meeting of the National Council for Anti-Corruption Policy on July 18, 2019, in Kyiv
Prosecutor General (click here) of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka has predicted that it will take around two years for the key aspect of the prosecution reform – the recertification of prosecutors, and it will result in the reduction of the number of prosecutors. “In general, the process will be very lengthy, since the country is still rather big and there are 11,000 prosecutors who are working today. After that there should be the recruiting of additional staff. We open up an opportunity for people who did not have the experience of being a prosecutor to work in prosecution bodies. I think this reform will last for no more than two years,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. According to the prosecutor general, the number of prosecutors will be reduced as part of the reform.... Chairman Nadler needs to call for a vote. The Republicans are being hideous and don't care about the health of committee members. It is time to end this charade by the Republicans and conduct an impeachment vote. continued...
Nice party, had a great time. 4:07 pm I love the expression on Chairman Nadler's face while Gohmert was talking. Donald John Trump broke the law and sought to intimidate a head of state which CAUSED a delay in military assistance to Ukraine. Donald John Trump caused hardship in Ukraine. What is there to know beyond that? Obtuse, there is a news article I posted here that unemployment claims were filed at an all time high in the past two years. Republicans do not know what they are doing but they talk about it like they do. It doesn't matter if President Zelenskyy or any other leader of Ukraine states "There is no pressure," because they have been compromised by Donald John Trump in power in the Oval Office of the USA. That is an amazing realization. A president of the USA compromised a world leader and in doing so, if there was no Whistleblower, would have handed Russia a victory over the people of Ukraine. The Trump administration has been deregulating anything they could get their hands on and it is nothing but corruption. Trump has yet to end corruption in his own administration. SHAPIRO: So you've talked to experts who work on fighting corruption. (click here) What do they have to say about the Trump administration's anti-corruption efforts RASCOE: So they point to two decisions made early on after Trump took office that they say really set the tone. The Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a rule that would've required oil and gas companies to disclose any payments they made to governments around the world. The rule was really aimed at preventing bribery, which is an issue for oil and gas companies who may be working in countries where oversight isn't that tight. But big oil companies were not a fan of this regulation, and Trump signed a law rescinding the rule. He argued that these rules were burdensome and might hurt businesses. I spoke with Alexandra Wrage, who is president of TRACE, an anti-bribery business organization, and she said that decision was highly symbolic. ALEXANDRA WRAGE: It's consistent with his pro-business, anti-regulation position, but it is incredibly unfortunate because the U.S. had been perceived as a leader in this field. And now when I travel, people comment on how quickly we've ceded that leadership role.... Hello? Trump's anti-corruption record is abysmal. December 12, 2019 By Yusuf Kahn
Saudi Aramco stock surged on the second day of trading (click here) after its record IPO. The company's market cap hit the $2 trillion mark. At 12:00 p.m. in Riyadh (4:00 a.m. ET), Aramco's stock rose 8.2%, afterpushing up 10% on its first day of trading on Wednesday. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had been seeking a valuation of $2 trillion prior to the state-owned company's IPO in order to fuel hisVision 2030plans to try and diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.... And what and with whom is Saudi Arabia spending their money? It is a darn shame the Trump Moscow Tower wasn't built.
5 October 2017 By Oliver Carroll The Saudi King met with Russia’s President in the Kremlin (This isn't Saudi Junior, either.) A faulty golden aircraft escalator (click here) and anger from Moscow’s elite about a 200-strong Saudi retinue taking over all the city’s 5-star hotels failed to dampen the fanfare accompanying King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on his first state visit to Russia. Met with an honour guard of dignitaries and the Preobrazhensky military orchestra, the Saudi king was sped along on a highway specially lined with billboards advertising the visit and a week-long festival of Saudi culture. This was a big deal for Russia – with multi-billion energy and defence contracts in the balance – and it wanted King Salman to know. Ahead of the visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the event as “an historical moment”. At the summit in the Kremlin on Thursday, Vladimir Putin agreed: This was a “landmark event” that would provide a “boost” to relations. And King Salman returned the compliments. Russia was “a friendly country,” he said. According to the Kommersant newspaper, agreement has already been reached on a $3bn (£2.2bn) deal to supply the Saudis with Russia’s most advanced air defence missile system, the S400 Triumph. According to the publication, the deal will be signed off at a WTO meeting at the end of October. There may be other deals forthcoming on aircraft and helicopters – that depending on the success of talks.... The Republicans are completely wrong about Trump's anti-corruption policies on a global basis. The sale of Javelins were already canceled when the phone call was made to the president of Ukraine to demand an investigation on other Americans. Don't try to say Trump is the anti-corruption angel to lead the world out of it's hell. Trump is lighting hell's fire in leading corruption in his policies and pen. ...RASCOE: After that rule was rescinded, the Trump administration followed that up by pulling the U.S. out of this international effort to set a global standard for transparency in oil and gas resource management. This is known as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. But somewhat ironically, Ukraine is actually still a part of this initiative, even though the U.S. is not. SHAPIRO: So in both of those instances, the Trump administration countered efforts to boost transparency. And presumably, transparency helps eliminate corruption. So has the administration taken any proactive steps to fight international corruption?... The Javelins were already canceled by Trump when he made that phone call to President Zelenskyy and when the sale of those Javelins was raised by President Zelenskyy TRUMP NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT THE WITHHOLDING OF THE JAVELINS OR HOW UKRAINE COULD REDEEM ITSELF. TRUMP WAS WAITING FOR THE SALE TO EXPIRE. NOT A SINGLE WORD WAS MADE BY TRUMP TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SALE OF THE JAVELINS. NOT A WORD WAS SPOKEN BY TRUMP WHO WAS WAITING FOR THE EXPIRATION OF THE ABILITY OF UKRAINE TO PURCHASE THEM. NOT A WORD! Trump was not fighting corruption, he was handing Russia an advantage at the very least. Trump was selling the USA's national security down the drain to satisfy Russia. That cannot be contested. Trump is more than impeachable and quite frankly, the current Articles of Impeachment should go further! December 12, 2019 By Dominique Mosbergen Former Attorney General Eric Holder (click here) was unequivocal in his criticism of William Barr, the current attorney general of the United States, in a searing op-ed published in The Washington Post on Wednesday. Holder, who served as the country’s top law enforcement officer from 2009 to 2015 and as deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2001, accused Barr of shameless partisanship and of having behaved in a way that’s “fundamentally inconsistent with his duty to the Constitution.” Barr is “incapable” of serving effectively as attorney general, Holder said. “As a former U.S. attorney general, I am reluctant to publicly criticize my successors. I respect the office and understand just how tough the job can be,” Holder began his op-ed. “But recently, Attorney General William P. Barr has made a series of public statements and taken actions that are so plainly ideological, so nakedly partisan and so deeply inappropriate for America’s chief law enforcement official that they demand a response from someone who held the same office.”... The day before Trump was pressuring Ukraine for an investigation of other Americans, Russia was breaking a ceasefire. 25.07.2019 (July 25, 2019) On Wednesday, July 24, (click here) the armed formations of the Russian Federation adhered to the so-called “harvest ceasefire” in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine. Today, the invaders launched one attack on Ukrainian positions. “On July 24, the armed formations of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries adhered to the sustained ceasefire regime,” the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters reports. No casualties among Ukrainian troops were reported over the past day. Today, the Armed Forces of Ukraine adhere to the sustainable ceasefire, while the armed formations of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries have already violated ceasefire once. In the zone of action of tactical force “North”, Russian-led troops launched one attack from hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher and heavy machine gun on Ukrainian positions near Prychepylivka (50km north-west of Luhansk). As a result of shelling, one Ukrainian serviceman was wounded. Got that? Hand held anti tank grenade launcher is used against Ukraine soldiers. What did President Zelenskyy ask Trump about which he received no answer? From the July 25th phone call: President is Trump.
...From the start, (click here) Merkel has played an impressive role in responding to the Ukraine crisis. In fact, her actions have allowed Germany to assume geopolitical leadership of Europe for the first time since 1945. Dropping her customary style of leading from behind, Merkel immediately declared Russia’s armed takeover of Crimea to be unacceptable in Europe’s hard-won “peace order” of the past 70 years. Like U.S. President Barack Obama, she sensibly rejected putting Western boots on the ground in a theater where Russia enjoys overwhelming military dominance. She also agreed with Obama that in order to counter Russian aggression, the West had to gamble on pitting its long-term financial might against Russia’s short-term military muscle. ...
Regardless of the truth by the EU in leveraging sanctions and renewing those sanctions, this is what President Zelenskyy stated. There is every indication that President Zelenskyy already felt compromised and praised him and honored him in order to have the last statement in this paragraph addressed.
The two last statements are:
"I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins fro the United States for defense purposes." There is normally considerable preparation by the staff and president before these calls occur. Did Trump immediately know the status of the Javelins? Yes, he did. He knew he canceled the delivery. And, does Trump answer President Zelenskyy's statement about purchasing the canceled Javalins? No. This is what he said. "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike..."
Trump goes on to say: "As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important you do it fi that's possible." Why would Trump bring up the very competent Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III and paint him as an incompetent? This was brought up the day after the Special Counsel made testimony to the US House. Trump was thinking about Mueller in his conversation with Zelenskyy. Why? How does that tie into Javelin missiles? Trump was intimidating Zelenskyy and was illustrating even the powerful US Congress could not help him. The US House Republicans and Senators who have spoken out so far without a trial being conducted are grabbing at extraneous facts to the corruption of the Trump White House. Every time Trump has withheld monies from countries acting in support of the USA national interests, such as the Northern Triad, it has turned into a nightmare. Donald John Trump is incompetent and needs to be removed from office. He is only interested in his own priorities and not that of the American people. Off topic: The US Federal Communications Commission (click here), or FCC, just officially proposed a new 3-digit, toll-free "988" code for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The hotline's current number is 1-800-273-8255. Can we please expedite this? Rep. Jordan has changed his statements in changing the "idea" President Zelenskyy had no pressure during this conversation with Trump on July 25, 2019. Before this hour, 1917, Jordan and his colleagues stated clearly there was no pressure on President Zelenskyy when the phone call was made because the Ukraine president knew nothing of the cancelation of the Javelin's missiles. Now, Jordan states President Zelenskyy knew about the cancelation of the Javelin's before the July 25, 2019 telephone call. I wish Mr. Jordan would make up his mind about which lie he wants to continue, the one that President Zelenskyy had no pressure during the phone call because no one knew about the cancelation of the Javelins or the lie that President Zelenskyy did feel pressure at the time of the phone call because he did know the Javelins were canceled. Lies. The obtuse Republicans only have lies to make amendments and rants about the activity of Donald John Trump. How did Radcliffe get a soliloquy? He is more of a Bubba than Collins. No one is calling the President of Ukraine a pathological liar. Radcliffe is not capable of doing anything coherent for more than 5 minutes and without a script. The Republicans are showing their fatigue at this long hour and it is time for them to go to bed. Speaking of judges: This is the caliber of the people being placed in judgeships. December 11, 2019 By Mark Joseph Stein The Senate confirmed Lawrence VanDyke (click here) to a lifetime appointment on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday by a vote of 51–44. Every Republican present except Sen. Susan Collins voted for the nomination; every Democrat present opposed it. Like Sarah Pitlyk, a judicial nominee confirmed just last week, VanDyke received a rare “Not Qualified” rating from the American Bar Association. After conducting 60 interviews, the ABA found that VanDyke has a reputation as “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules.” Video of VanDyke lecturing, scolding, and interrupting judges during oral argument while serving as Nevada solicitor general lends credence to that assessment.... continued in next entry
Mr. Collins is violating the truth of the American people by providing a personal opinion of the detailed statement regarding the "Minority Day" provision of the US House rules. It is completely obvious Chairman Nadler took the demand for the "Minority Day" rule (click here) seriously by researched it extensively before ruling on the request. Mr. Collins did not pay attention to the detailed statement of the Chairman in regard to his request and decided to disregard every word stated honoring his request for the "Minority Day" rule and continued to insult the process beyond what is reasonable. That is a violation of the public trust. Mr. Collins continues to abuse his power as a Minority Leader with insults that are out of order and personal. The impeachment is valid and the crimes obvious. Denial of the facts is a violation of the trust of the American people. Mr. Collins' hollow insults and screaming are itself rubber stamping tactics to delay the procedure of impeachment of the president of his party. Thank you, Congressman Deutch. He is correct. The president himself has refused the opportunity to call witnesses and be heard, there really is no other discussion that falls in line with "good practices" of policy. Mr. Jordan is a prime example of obtuse practices of Republicans. They are obtuse by the choice of their time spent on actually reading documents and legislating vs phone calls to fundraising. Their foul attitude and yelling may be a result of their inability to be on the phone for money. But, to continue with the identity of obtuse, the Republican practices are not interested in legislating so much as empty measures of time (What did the Republicans accomplish to carry out the business of the American people?). Their obtuse condition of their occupation of the seats of power of the USA federal government is "filled in" by populous votes rather than votes based in fact, procedure and policy. The Republican Party is wrongly named, it is a populous party with very poor legislative practices surrendered to the power of money rather than the business of the country. I find with every statement of these Republican committee members evidence of a sincere lack of interest in the sovereign state of the USA and protections of the USA Constitution. I believe that was Congressman Cicilline who stated the facts leading to the impeachment were clear and overwhelming. Congresswoman Lesko is cherry-picking which "committee" hearing she is paying attention to, again obtuse. There are enormous amounts of documentation and hearings conducted by the US House Intelligence Committee passed along to other members of the US House in understanding every member of the US House would have to vote. Deciding she is unable to understand those facts because the US Judiciary Committee needed to hold their own hearings is a poor use of time with a president violating the powers of the presidency and his overt disdain for the US House of Representatives in disclosing witnesses to carry out a full and robust set of hearings. There is no further reason to continue with the hearings. If be known I am disappointed there weren't more facts coming from the US House Finance Committee, but, they are held up in court. Congresswoman Lofgren basically seconded the statements of Congressman Cicilline in stating there were evidence presented to the US Congress in a secure room. Sensenbrenner is nothing but hot air. He is making empty statements not based in fact because Impeachment is not a legal process, it is a Constitutional process that defends the very document that allows the proceedings today. This is not a Kenneth Starr proceedings, the laws have changed. Again, Sensenbrenner is insulting the processes of the US House by insulting the testimony of the Special Counsel as a "fizzle." He is not interested in the country or the US Constitution, he is interested in being obnoxious and time consuming. Title 28: Judicial Administration (click here) The electric power to my home went down a few minutes ago. The weather is not that bad and the bill is paid. I have to resort to my phone. Amazing. That's better. Gohmert is again obtuse. The laws governing Ken Starr is completely different than exists today. Jordon needs to go home and provide dignity and validity to those victimized under his responsibility as an assistant coach. Congressman Jefferies is once again stating the facts known as investigations previous held to a great deal of time and trouble by the US House on Intelligence Committee. Abuse of Power is codified:
25 CFR § 11.448 - Abuse of office.
Abuse of power, (click here) in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official misconduct," is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a for cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. The facts are plain regardless of the hissy fit by Mr. Gaetz. The STATEMENTS BY OTHERS AFTER the fact are invalid. The people involved after the fact are compromised. "Compromise" is a real term in real use in investigation and decisions. 18 U.S. Code§ 1505. (click here) Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees Republicans are obtuse to the facts and the law. Once again, Congresswoman Jayapal reiterates the facts and points of law in answer to the obtuse statements and responses by Republicans. Congresswoman Escobar is again emphasizing the law by displacing it in another context to illustrate what would happen to other Americans if they committed the crimes Donald John Trump is accused of these impeachment hearings. Congressman Jayapal states, "Is it ever okay to condition official action on personal gain?" "That was the whole deal to them." Testimony is evidence. The statements after the fact are irrelevant. They are obtuse and there is no rational response to their disinformation. After the fact is not relevant, but, Jordan is going to yell about it all the more. Even though the monies were released and there was no announcement by the president of Ukraine is irrelevant, the CRIMES WERE ALREADY COMMITTED. "I would like you to do us a favor though" followed THE FACT the aid was canceled. When the Former Vice President Biden stated he would withhold support to Ukraine it was stated directly to the public. Trump was acting covertly even to the president of Ukraine. At no time did the Ukraine leadership, even in the military, understand why the military aid was not forthcoming. TRUMP ACTED COVERTLY. The Republicans, including Mr. Johnson, refuses to recognize the testimony of those closest to the confusion of the lack of forthcoming military aid. There is significant testimony to the holding of military aid and impending deadlines to the loss of that aid. The US House is moving to impeachment because of the overwhelming delay by Trump to subpoenas. There is plenty of evidence now. There is no reason to postpone the obvious. The Republican Amendments are fraudulent in missing facts to act on. The majority of the Committee is doing a great job. I am sure they are capable of discerning fact from fiction in Republican amendments. Off topic: A troubling report regarding a jump in unemployment claims. The number of Americans (click here) applying for unemployment benefits jumped by the most in two years last week, but the sharp increase likely reflected seasonal volatility. The Labor DepartmentsaidThursday that initial jobless claims rose 49,000 to a seasonally adjusted 252,000 in the week that ended December 7. That was the highest level since September 2017 and compared with forecasts for 212,000 claims. The rise was likely driven by the Thanksgiving holiday, which could have interfered with government estimates. In the previous week, jobless claims dropped to a seven-month low. The less volatile four-week moving average rose by 6,250 to 224,000 in early December. I find that odd. Holiday hiring doesn't usually end or reverse until after Christmas and even into January with returns and sales. Was the Thanksgiving holiday not provide what was expected hence resulting in layoffs to counterbalance the loss in anticipated income.
I wish the US House Judiciary Committee success in passing the Articles of Impeachment. I think the Republican Party is a loss as a partner to the USA Constitution. The extremists are evident on this committee and provide no reassurance of security. I am going to attend a holiday party with dear friends, including those that are Republicans and Libertarians that are disillusioned by the glib approach by the Republicans on this committee. Until later.
