The corrupt Robert's Court is ruining the Rule of Law.

Under Trump this will only get worse.

October 21, 2024

By Adam Liptak

Eight years ago, (click here) before revelations about luxury travel and gifts accepted by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., the Supreme Court considered the case of a politician who had been prosecuted for public corruption after receiving similar benefits. The court threw out his conviction. In the years since, the court has overturned four other convictions in public corruption cases.

In all five of the decisions, the court’s message has been that “federal law must be interpreted so as not to cover behavior that looks, to any reasonable observer, sketchy as hell,” Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Georgetown, wrote in a new article, “Corruption and the Supreme Court,” which will be published next year in The Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities....

The court is already lining up revenge politics as a legitimate venue. Trump has ruined lives. He has nearly allowed an entire country to be sucked up by Russia. His ideas of what is best is based in corruption and a personal agenda that improves his wealth. 

Put an end to this America!

October 21, 2024

By Jordan Rubin

The Supreme Court (click here) has refused to take up Michael Cohen’s appeal seeking civil damages for alleged government retaliation during Donald Trump’s administration.

The high court’s denial, which comes as Trump has vowed a revenge-filled second term, is unsurprising for reasons having nothing to do with Cohen and the former president. That’s because the court has long restricted the sort of claim that Cohen sought to bring.


In a 1971 case called Bivens, the high court allowed a damages claim against federal officials for alleged Fourth Amendment violations. But the court has taken a stingy view since then, routinely rejecting so-called Bivens claims. In a 2022 decision, Justice Clarence Thomas’ majority opinion cited Bivens while noting: “Over the past 42 years, however, we have declined 11 times to imply a similar cause of action for other alleged constitutional violations.” Thomas wrote that the court will deny claims “in all but the most unusual circumstances.”

Cohen argued that his case met those circumstances, but not enough justices agreed. It takes four justices to grant review. The court denied the petition without comment from any of the justices....

You have to trust somebody.

30 days to increase aid to northern Gaza or there will be consequences. Within 2 days after the announcement more aid started flowing into Gaza. The fact Israel is stating the aid agencies aren't doing their job because they are afraid to carry out distributions is NOT AN EXCUSE. The Israeli military should not be carrying out airstrikes at the same time aid workers are providing food and comfort. 

The IDF should be on the ground with the aid agencies protecting them while they distribute food, water, and medicine. This is outrageous. COGAT criticizes the aid agencies while the IDF continues to bomb northern Gaza. Who is running this war over there anyway?

October 14, 2024
By Emma Platoff and Hilary Burns

Four years ago, (click here) Violet Barron was a proud Democrat, campaigning for President Biden at phone banks and with text blasts, and even working the polls on Election Day. This fall, the student activist and leading organizer of Harvard’s pro-Palestinian encampment plans to vote for a third-party candidate for president, convinced that the Democrats she once revered are enabling human rights abuses in the Middle East.

Joe Fahn, another Harvard student who once aligned with the Democratic Party, is unsure who he will support. Fahn said he is concerned that top Democrats, including Harris, have failed to condemn pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which troubles him because he feels they sometimes veer into antisemitism.

“What I’m looking for. . . is to feel like they’re understanding what Jewish students are going through,” Fahn said. He’s not convinced Harris does....

October 16, 2024

By Matthew Mpoke Bigg

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, (click here) left, meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv in August.

A day after the United States (click here)  said it had told Israel that a failure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza could prompt a cutoff of military supplies, one of the starkest U.S. warnings since the war began, there was no official response from the Israeli government.

COGAT, the Israeli government agency that oversees policy in Gaza and the West Bank, insists that it is not limiting aid to Gaza and has blamed humanitarian agencies for failing to distribute the supplies it admits into the enclave after screening. On Wednesday, it said that it had inspected and permitted 50 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza from Jordan — carrying food, water, medical and other supplies — “in accordance with international law.”

That is a small fraction of what aid agencies say is needed to offset a severe hunger crisis in Gaza, especially in the north, where Israel “has tightened a siege” this month, the United Nations has said, as it steps up military operations against Hamas.

“People have run out of ways to cope, food systems have collapsed and the risk of famine is real,” the U.N. World Food Program said this week, referring to northern Gaza....

Exactly. Trump's cries to end the war in Gaza are all political.

President Netanyahu has stated even after the death of Sinwar the war will continue.

October 21, 2024

By Fred Kaplan

Donald Trump (click here) told a crowd of supporters that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, mainly about the Middle East wars. According to Trump, the Israeli leader said he disregarded President Joe Biden’s warning to keep troops out of Rafah in southern Gaza, a decision that resulted in the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a shootout in the area. Trump also said Netanyahu asked him for advice on how to respond to Iran’s missile attack on Israel—to which Trump said he responded, “Do what you have to do.”

This is an extraordinary tale. If it’s accurate (and Israeli officials have since confirmed Trump made the call), the former-and-possibly-future American president admitted that he committed not only an act of diplomatic recklessness but also, quite possibly, a federal crime....

This is what America is giving up when they accept Trump as their dictator.

She has been a preeminent authority on communists. We are losing these people because of Trump's corruption. They are replaced by people leveraging Trump for power and wealth. Fiona Hill represents excellence in governance and don't think for one minute people like her can be replaced. They can't. Trump is inept, turns lose his corrupt network of thugs to carry out whatever leverage they like and signs off on it.

We need Fiona Hill and people like her back. Trump is the last person in the world this country needs. 

October 20, 2024

By Greg Jaffe

Fiona Hill (click here)

The young CIA analyst (click here) waited anxiously for Fiona Hill to pick up her phone. He had dialed her, he recalled, because he wanted to hear a familiar voice and make sure he wasn’t doing something “colossally stupid.”

Five years later Hill’s memories of the call are still vivid: the CIA analyst’s voice, which sounded uncharacteristically emotional; the annoying clatter of the Frappuccino machine inside the Starbucks where she was waiting for her morning coffee.

Hill stepped into the parking lot. She was on vacation in Hawaii, having just resigned a week earlier from her job in Donald Trump’s White House overseeing Russia, Ukraine and dozens of other European and Eurasian countries. She and the analyst had spoken often as part of their official duties.

Because they were talking on an unclassified phone line, the analyst had to be vague. In the weeks before Hill left government, she had become concerned that figures close to the president, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were trying to pressure Ukrainian officials for personal and political favors.

“Something else happened on that thing you were worried about,” the analyst told her. The time had come, he said, for him to do something “extreme.”

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Hill recalled muttering.

The CIA analyst would soon submit a meticulously sourced nine-page memo to the U.S. intelligence community inspector general that would spark Trump’s first impeachment. In Washington and around the world, the analyst would be known as “the whistleblower,” a moniker that he didn’t choose and has come to see as a burden....

Why are Americans blind to the danger of Trump and his hideous life of government dependency.

Trump is not an engineer. He is not an architect. There are engineers and architects that make money by doing work for Trump, but, it is probably only them that actually get paid. 

Trump was and always has been and still is a slum lord. The buildings are fancier now, but, they are all in financial failure.

There were two financial institutions involved with Trump's defaulted hotel. Deutsche Bank and Fortress Investment Group. Deutsche Bank wanted to be a good partner to the USA and while I do not believe they were babes in the woods, the idea they had the business of a famous American in Trump was part of their focus in hopes of a larger player in the USA.

Deutsche Bank was involved in money laundering to keep it's head above water. There were all these nefarious characters that came to rescue the bank from bad Trump loans. There is just no ending to this mess. As Trump became more and more of a problem for those that actually trusted his promises it becomes clear that Trump has no guiderails or stops. 

As far as I am concerned the "forgiven" debt is due to Russian influence. Russia holds power over Trump. There is no doubt in that. Trump panders to these boys. As soon as Trump was in office last time, the Kushners became involved corruptly with China (click here). Jarad Kushner walked away with fists full of cash from Saudi Arabia (click here). Is there any reason Jarad and MBS were fast friends? I can only come to the conclusion Trump's love letters to Kim Jong Un (click here) was to begin another international leader that could be tapped for money.

But, the relationship with  Deutsche Bank resulted in hardship for the bank. It ultimately exposed the corruption being conducted. But, the real beauty comes when one realizes Trump's promises to Fortress Investment Group. Fortress NEVER provided discharge of any of the debt owed by Trump. Fortress was forced to accept their loss. No surprise there. Trump has a huge reputation of financial failure. But, he doesn't care so to maintain his lifestyle he allows people to attach others to him that will ultimately bring power to them. The Saudis today own the golf industry. Just stop thinking Trump is an honest dealer in the world. He is not. OTHERS LEVERAGE HIM FOR POWER.

The travels (click here) of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

...On November 30, (click here) President-elect Donald Trump announced his pick for Secretary of Treasury: Goldman Sachs alum Steven Mnuchin, who was identified in a statement from Trump's team as chairman and co-CEO of “one of the country’s premier investment firms." What the announcement failed to mention is that the firm, Dune Capital Management, a hedge fund that had $2.5 billion in assets in 2006, filed papers with the U.S. securities regulator to shut down in 2013. It's difficult, if not impossible, to be a premier investment firm today if, as the filing indicates, Dune Capital Management returned funds to investors three years ago....

Trump owed Mnuchin $300 million of anticipated returns on the money lent to him. Mnuchin became his Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin's signature is all over our USA currency. It is corrupt as hell!

Why are Americans this gullible again? This is nothing but pure corruption. Trump is not capable of governance. He has so many people looking to leverage him he has to be a dictator to get it all done. This is delusional. Trump is dangerous to our country's stability and reputation.

...Mr. Trump (click here) also went to Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund and private equity company, for $130 million. This was a so-called mezzanine loan, which meant that it would be repaid only after the Deutsche Bank debt had been satisfied. Because of the greater risk, the Fortress loan came with a double-digit interest rate. The agreement with Fortress also required Mr. Trump’s 401 Mezz Venture to pay a $49 million “exit fee” when it repaid the loan....

...Before Mr. Trump defaulted, Fortress had expected to receive more than $300 million from his company: the $130 million in principal and roughly $185 million in anticipated interest and fees.

But Fortress and its partners — including Mr. Mnuchin’s Dune Capital, as well as Cerberus Capital Management, whose co-chief executive, Stephen A. Feinberg, would become a major Trump fund-raiser and go on to lead a White House advisory panel — quickly realized they wouldn’t ever collect that full amount.

Ultimately, Fortress settled for $48 million, which Mr. Trump wired to the firm in March 2012, according to people familiar with the deal.

The forgiven debts showed up in Mr. Trump’s tax returns. For 2010, Mr. Trump’s 401 Mezz Venture reported about $181 million in canceled debts. Two years later, DJT Holdings, an umbrella company that the Chicago project had been folded into, reported that another $105 million of debt had been forgiven. Most of that appears to reflect the unpaid Fortress sum....

...In many ways, it repeated a pattern that had played out more than a decade earlier at Mr. Trump’s Atlantic City casinos: a cycle of defaulting on debts and then persuading already-burned lenders to cut him a break....

...At that time, the Chicago loans were only one element of the relationship between Deutsche Bank and Mr. Trump. Ms. Vrablic’s team also lent Mr. Trump’s company $125 million for work on his Doral golf resort in Florida and up to $170 million to transform the Old Post Office building in Washington into a luxury hotel. Mr. Trump personally guaranteed those loans, too...

...The problems intensified in 2020, as the coronavirus forced restaurants, including Mr. Trump’s in Chicago, to close. The Trump family sought financial relief from Deutsche Bank among others.

The bank offered to let Mr. Trump’s companies pause interest payments on their loans. The Trump Organization decided the bank’s proposal was insufficiently generous and turned it down.

The loans come due in 2023 and 2024.

So very typical of the Free World economists and governments.

They see opportunity and welcome with open arms any and all players that want to do business. Putin and Russia were no different. After the Soviet Union collapsed the leaders of the Post Soviet States were admired and welcomed to the extent they were interested in being a part of our Free World without a second thought. Never in anyone's wildest imagination in the early days did they expect a complete disregard for the friendship and economic interactions to benefit the return to an autocratic communism. Never. It was over. Peace was desired by every authority in the world and it would be a forever and lasting peace. Or. So they thought.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was stunning.

But, no one rushed in to destroy any existing authority. The Post Soviet States developed their own paths forward, including Russia. They all embraced their new futures with optimism and sought relationships with other counties, within their own group and region and then turned to the rest of the world for acceptance.

This blog has been in existence since 2004. I began it to reach anyone interested in understanding the plight we all face on planet Earth and an ever increasing climate crisis. There is definitely an anthropogenic element to the climate crisis so I also recorded human activity including that of governments and their shift in directions that were beneficial vs. harmful. Also industry abuses such as the petroleum industry.

I began this blog about a week before the Christmas Tsunami (click here) on December 26, 2004, which killed so many in the Indonesian region. I started to receive incredible photos immediately after the earthquake and tsunami. People trust Americans. I learned quickly how much they trust a single American to bring their story and strife to the world. The pictures at that time are exclusive, real, and riveting. I have never sought to profit in any way from this blog and have always been grateful to Google for this platform.

It will be 20 years that have I sat this post in the world and it has been a purpose in my life. During that twenty years I have witnessed and documented Putin's influence in Russia and it's turn away from freedom and democracy, to become the dictatorship of a man driven by insecurity and fear. Alexei Navalny was the epitome of Putin's deepest fear. I sincerely miss Alexei Navalny and blame Putin for his death.

One cannot trust those that embrace such a horrible human being and strive to be like him while seeking the office of president in the USA. It is unconscionable and immensely UnAmerican.

16 December 2019
By Steve Rosenberg

..."A lot of KGB agents, (click here) like Putin, had left the organisation, realising it was discredited. The fact that he was ex-KGB meant nothing. Putin had shown himself to be a liberal and a democrat, who wanted to continue market reforms..."

...On New Year's Eve 1999, Boris Yeltsin recorded his final TV address in the Kremlin....

...Vladimir Putin became acting president. Three months later, he won the election....

..."Putin's entourage doesn't exert influence like this," explains political scientist Valery Solovei.

"There are two categories of people Putin leans towards: childhood friends, like the Rotenberg brothers and those who served in the Soviet KGB.

"But he doesn't overestimate their loyalty. Yeltsin trusted members of his family. Putin trusts no-one."...

...Mr Putin has remained in power, as president or prime minister, for 20 years. In that time, he has built a system of power that revolves around him. Under his watch, Russia has become an increasingly authoritarian state, with fewer democratic rights and freedoms.

"Yeltsin believed he had a mission, and so does Putin," Mr Solovei says. "Yeltsin saw himself as Moses: he wanted to lead his country out of its communist slavery.

"Putin's mission is to return to the past. He wants to avenge what he calls 'the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th Century', the fall of the USSR. He and his entourage, former KGB officers, believe the destruction of the Soviet Union was the work of Western intelligence services."...

What is in this film is the honest record of our USA Navy Aviators in 1992.

It is a really NICE video about the USA Navy Blue Angels. The most incredible part of these aviators is the record of their first foreign engagements, including eastern block counties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. These Navy aviators were the first Americans to ever fly military aircraft over Moscow. What is in this film is precious and a real expression of the desire of the Russia people pursuing democracy.

Yes. Democracy. The President of Russia at the time was Boris Yeltsin. The Soviet Union had fallen in 1990. Something Putin probably considered a personal failure. But Yeltsin was the first President of Russia as a political independent.

There is a single paragraph in the narrative by the "Boss" pilot about visiting the home of his Russia counterpart. He stated the home was very nice but sparsely furnished. Boss stated, "Democracy isn't easy, but, takes time and work." 

The interaction between the USA Navy and the Russia counterparts that were precious flyers is absolutely breathtaking to witness in this film.

Unfortunately, today, that is over and the tensions of the cold war have never been worse.

Basically, at the time of Yeltsin's presidency, peace was breaking out all over the world.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels and host Dennis Quaid take you around the world at the speed of sound as the 1992 squadron with Boss Capt. Greg Wooldridge are highlighted.

Who cares if the Veep worked anywhere except taking care of us?

That is an appropriate picture of Donald. He will need kitchen skills where he is going.