"The Bennan Center for Justice" has released a report about gerrymandering.

...This report focuses (click here for "Extreme Maps") on one of the most egregious of these abuses: the manipulation of district lines to give the party drawing the map a share of seats grossly at odds with statewide election results, thus ensuring that one party is over represented and the other underrepresented in a delegation....

The degree these maps are skewed, they are ignitable. The recent Supreme Court Decision should back up such extreme maps.

May 15, 2017
By Vann R. Newkirk II

North Carolina (click here) voters probably won’t have to worry about a return of strict voter-ID tests any time soon. Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it would not hear arguments in North Carolina, et al. v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, et al. That case was petitioned by Republican state officials, including then-Governor Pat McCrory, after the Fourth Circuit court found last year that a package of 2013 voting reforms, including the establishment of a strict voter-ID requirement and restrictions on early voting and same-day registration, “were enacted with racially discriminatory intent.”...

There are other states I am fairly confident the Trump campaign is also examining for his re-election. These are the states that went for him only through their electoral college vote AND where tens of thousands of people were rejected or disheartened in their resolve to vote. Wisconsin was one of those states.

May 14, 2017
By Christina A. Cassidy and Ivan Moren

Milwaukee — State Sen. Mary Lazich (click here) was adamant: The bill Republicans were about to push through the Wisconsin state Senate, requiring that voters present identification at the polls, would do no harm.

“Not a single voter in this state will be disenfranchised by the ID law,” Lazich promised.

Five years later, in the first presidential election held under the new law, Gladys Harris proved her wrong.

By one estimate, 300,000 eligible voters in the state lacked valid photo IDs heading into the election; it is unknown how many people did not vote because they didn’t have proper identification. But it is not hard to find the Navy veteran whose out-of-state driver’s license did not suffice, or the dying woman whose license had expired, or the recent graduate whose student ID was deficient — or Harris, who at 66 made her way to her polling place despite chronic lung disease and a torn ligament in her knee.

She had lost her driver’s license just before Election Day. Aware of the new law, she brought her Social Security and Medicare cards as well as a county-issued bus pass that displayed her photo....

He's back.

May 19, 2017
By Neal Katyal   

Appointing special counsel Robert Mueller (click here) to probe Russian meddling in the 2016 election and any possible ties to President Trump’s campaign was not a perfect solution. It won’t end the possibility of political interference in the investigation. The rules provide only so much protection: Congress, Trump and the Justice Department still have the power to stymie (or even terminate) Mueller’s inquiry.

Still, this was the best possible option to deal with the conflicts and potential conflicts of interest these matters posed. In fact, the special-counsel regulations under which Mueller was appointed were written precisely to address a situation like this one.

I would know; I wrote them, in 1999....

I have had no particular affection for the former Director of the FBI. I thought some of his arrests of "so-called" terrorists was more entrapment than a person of actual danger, but, that is up to the courts. His philosophy regarding terrorists is to choose the lesser of two evils and be abundantly safe regarding the country.

"Independent Counsels, Special Prosecutors, Special Counsels and the Role of Congress" (click here for PDF)

I think Robert Mueller is the absolute best choice for the responsibility before him. There is no doubt about his character and his devoted service during some of the roughest years for the USA, both domestically and abroad.

I think Americans will have confidence in his findings.
          

I have sincere doubts about the former Senator Joe Lieberman for FBI Director.

Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (click here) gives a 'thumbs-up' as he leaves the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. The White House says President Donald Trump will be interviewing four potential candidates to lead the FBI.

This is not about retribution for causing the Affordable Care Act problems that would have been resolved with a Public Option, but, more about his political activity within the global spectrum.

To begin there is his involvement with Israel. He doesn't weigh in on the country in the same way as someone more distant and Israel has a very productive relationship with Russia.

November 25, 2015
By Ralph Ahren

...“I think (click here) we’re entering a period now where the relations between the United States and Israel are going to be very positive and productive — and that includes a maintenance of the qualitative military edge,” Lieberman told The Times of Israel during an interview in Jerusalem....

The USA under President Obama saw some of the most extensive support for Israel to date and it occurred before Joe Lieberman made this statement. It was his idea that Democrats would bend over backwards to please Israel after the Iran sanctions were lifted.

The sanctions being lifted have been good for our allies actually, ie: New Zealand had a twenty year prohibition of selling anything to Iran. Today, New Zealand farmers are preparing for what seems like a new customer for 2 decades. Our allies have been loyal to the USA and UN sanctions. So, the idea the sanctions being lifted are meaningless to The West is completely wrong. It is these renewed relationships most countries believe will return Iran to a far less angry character internationally. The sanctions have been hard on the people of Iran and these returned trade relations will bring about a different dynamic within the country.

But as to Lieberman. Vote No!

Israel is always seeking good relations with other countries as their diaspora is extensive. No could or should ask Israel to change their international relationships. The relationships that need to change with Israel are all close border issues, ie: Palestine. 

Joe Lieberman had a plan for Palestine and Israel in 2004. which included a sovereign Palestine. However, it was different in that it was based on the population density of Arabs vs Jews in areas where both resided. The Lieberman Plan would leave Israel and Palestine proper alone and seek only to set up distinctions in towns that would yield a stable land mass for both countries with people of both ethnic designations living on them. Ultimately, it would be the people that would seek to stay or move depending on their preference to residential country designations. The plan was not well accepted. 2004 was a time when Joe Lieberman was running with John Kerry for the Vice Presidency.

That idea, however, has survived within Israel to some degree.

February 11, 2017

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (click here) said he would like to see all of Israel’s “Palestinian” citizens relocate to the Palestinian territories and become citizens there, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at his meeting on Wednesday with Donald Trump, should coordinate with the new US president on expanding Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank....

The cost to this 'idea' is that Palestine would give up more land in the West Bank. In my opinion, that is simply more aggression by Israel and out of the question. It is these issues that could really taint the former US Senator's work for the FBI. There would always be questions and it could lead to more tensions between Israel and Palestine.

March 25, 2017
By Seth J. Frantzman

In June 7, (click here) Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the iconic Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. “Russia and Israel can take pride in our high level of partnership, fruitful cooperation and far-reaching business contacts,” Putin said in an address before the ballet.

Since then, that partnership has continued to grow, but the looming crisis in Syria threatens to upset this dance....

I think the speculation about Russia and Israel growing apart is an error. Israel has deployed strikes against Hezbollah when there were obvious dangerous munitions rolling across Lebanon or Syria. The idea Russia will carry out hostility to any Russian Jews or Israel is not accurate and the diplomatic distance will not increase between the two countries. Let's just say, "They understand each other."

March 31, 2017

Former Senator Joe Liebermann, (click here) who also headed up the Senate Homeland Security Committee, tells Larry why he's calling for an independent commission to look into the alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

For those that simply love "Larry King" and his particular style of journalism know they can find him on "RT" (click here) which is the English version of Russian television.

Larry King has had his influence in USA politics even today. He is a strong proponent of the Third Party candidates. It is a platform for them and they have been able to get their message out because of Larry's focus on democracy and freedom of speech.

I know there is an independent council that former Director Muller has accepted so the idea Lieberman would be involved in the investigation is not a concern. What is a concern is his larger role with involvement internationally and the power the FBI would give him and any focus that leans political.

Director is responsible for ensuring that cases and operations are handled correctly. The Director also is in charge of staffing the leadership in any one of the FBI field offices with qualified agents.

Former US Senator Joe Lieberman was never an agent. Can we kindly keep a focus on Bureau competency rather than politics.

Sorry to hear such sad news. Who knew?

My first thoughts are for Huma Mahmood Abedin and her children. I hope they are well, safe and finding comfort during a very difficult time.

This has to be quite a shock to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was close to the family and there probably was nothing more reassuring than having a US House Representative in her circle of friends with her husband. Politics is a rough game and no one knows that better than Secretary Clinton, but, this type of insult can be a personal shock. I am sure her friendship with Huma will help both find solace at this time.

May 19, 2017
By Victoria Bekempis and Adam Edleman

Anthony Weiner will finally be cut off. (click here) 

The pervy ex-pol whose years-long self-destructive sexting run sabotaged his own blossoming political career and marriage and helped torpedo Hillary Clinton’s shot at the White House will plead guilty Friday to a charge of transferring obscene material to a minor, possibly sending him to prison.

Weiner was taken into FBI custody Friday morning, a source told the Daily News, and he will enter the plea in a federal courtroom in Manhattan at 11:00 a.m.

The 52-year-old disgraced former congressman had been under federal investigation for having allegedly exchanged sexually explicit messages and images with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina in 2016....                             

The Foster Care System doesn't work. It benefits lawyers, judges and social workers and destroys families. 

There is more money dumped into Foster Care than the US military annually and the families are suffering under it including and especially the children. As adults they become involved in crime and either are jailed or in prison. It doesn't work and the monies are best spent on a better program that improves the lives of the parents and lifts them out of poverty. 

You won't find rich kids in a Foster Home. Group homes should be demolished and family members or friends of the family found.

The best outcomes of these children are when they are placed with family or friends of the family. 

Now, as to the racism.

The African - American citizen is the focus and has been the focus of politicians like Newt Gingrich for decades and the ridicule has brought them fame, power and wealth. Nothing rings louder in the baseline Republican montra than putting children to work cleaning toilets. Enough. It is all a political lie. All of it. 

The backbone of the African American community since the end of slavery has been the local preacher and minister. This community is among America's finest citizens that lose control of their young people because of abuses of government, bigotry and racism. Let me not forget the biggest offender to the African American citizen; POVERTY.

The African American infant is born with a predestined life of poverty that is mitigated by a drug economy that will either cost them their life or put them on a path of being a career criminal. That drug economy is violent and brings with it corruption of women into prostitution.

The child placed in the Foster Care System loses all sense OF BELONGING. In order to mitigate that the government, in all of its wisdom, has created incentives to adopt these children. That mitigation is  called "adoption subsidies" and are nothing more than glorified welfare payments.

These payments vary state to state and increase with the age of the child. The adoption subsidies are at least $500.00 per month and last until the child is 18 years old. There is no indication these adoptions are due to love of a child. As a result there is no way of knowing the success of this particilar form of welfare.

The monies used for the Foster Care System needs to be used as subsidies to the natural parents. They  have a love for the child and when a family is lifted out of poverty anything is possible. The Foster Care Program currently returns ONLY ONE PERCENT of children to there natural parents. The system exists to replicate the need for it to exist. There is no statistic of any government program at ONE PERCENT that is considered successful.

The current Workfare program is only for five years and has created the "Working Poor" and does nothing to enhance parenting and is currently a source of Foster Care Children.

The Workfare system is not entirely bad, however, it discourages effective parenting by putting  parents at long distances from their children creating again an impossible situation to mitigate for the parent either financially or in his or her ability to effectively parent.

The Foster Care system needs to be DEFUNDED while Workfare is reformed to realistically reflect successful FAMILIES that include a marriage certificate and two parents. When the current Adoption Subsidies are handed out there is no requirement a parent has to be single. A single parent can adopt and receive subsidies, but, there is no requirement for a single parent family as does Workfare.

The Foster Care system has to be DEFUNDED, as the funding for Workfare increases and stronger families take shape and move out of poverty. The problem with Workfare is the permanent under class that results in institutional poverty. That form of poverty can only be addressed by a strong minimum wage that removes all forms of government subsidies from any family.

This must be done to promote belonging and citizenship.

The cuts to public education is about 15 percent to any states budget. There can be alternate cuts that need to begin and that is to the Foster Parent program. It is racist and destroys African American families. The program is backwards. The Adoption Subsidies should go to the natural family to provide for a better future keeping families intact.

I will write about this later, but, Foster Parents needs desperately to be reformed.

I don't care what any transcript says, Russian or otherwise. It always could have been tampered with and there is no reliability or trust left in this matter.

THE MEETING TOOK PLACE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT OF FBI DIRECTOR COMEY.

That is all anyone needs to know.

I do believe Former Director Comey was a political operative. His last minute announcement about Secretary Clinton immediately before and while people were voting is DEFINATELY a political move. It completely changed the face to the final outcome, even down ballot. That is fact.

Is Former Director Comey a political operative now? The department doesn't seem to think so. The FBI was investigating the issues with an foreign country tampering with USA domestic elections. If the department states the investigation can and should go forward then it is unfair to state Former Director Comey was a political operative. He was not.

There is a line between outrageous behavior to taint an election and subverting the sovereignty of the USA. There is a huge difference. The former director seemed compelled to bring unnecessary and meaningless information before the electorate. It was completely obvious it was to taint the existing trend. The only purpose to that announcement WAS TO DESTABILIZE voters in their resolve.

The former director would never subvert the sovereignty of the country. It would be a bridge too far. He wouldn't do that.

The only way accusing the former director of treason is to tie him to a Russian affiliate. He was careful. He wasn't going to compromise himself in that way or his country.

May 17, 2017
By Jane C. Timm

...Following an explosive report (click here) that the president pressured former FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating a former aide, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence sent letters calling for former FBI director James Comey to testify.

They also penned a letter to Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe requesting that they preserve any materials prepared by the former Director regarding communications he had with senior White House and Department of Justice officials related to investigations into Russia's efforts.

The Senate Judiciary Committee requested similar materials Wednesday from both the FBI and the White House "including any audio recordings," according to the a press release.

These requests join similar requests from the House Oversight Committee, who demanded that the FBI turn over all documents that it has about communications between the president and Comey on Tuesday night. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah told NBC News that he'd subpoena it if necessary....

This was suppose to be a meeting whereby strategic military movements against a common enemy. Where are the military people? Why the enormous amount to propaganda that benefits Putin?

Here are America's finest. Bigots. "Why don't you get a job?"

Where is Steve Bannon? He should be holding the largest candle. Oh, forgot, they aren't candles so it isn't exactly a candle vigil now is it?

Poor Robert E. Lee is being permanently put to rest and he can't even get a candle vigil. Torches. That is what the KKK is most fond of.

This is not what Lincoln died for!

You lost the war you frigging nut cases!

May 14, 2017
By Jonah Engel Bromwich

Carrying torches and chanting angrily, (click here) demonstrators marched Saturday in a Virginia city against a vote to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, leading the city’s mayor to compare the rally to a gathering of the Ku Klux Klan.

The gathering of several dozen protesters in Charlottesville, Va., was led by Richard B. Spencer, a prominent white supremacist, who posted pictures and video from the gathering to social media that showed a phalanx of demonstrators holding Confederate battle flags and a banner proclaiming, “We will not be replaced.” Their chants, some of which were captured on video, included “Russia is our friend” and the Nazi-era slogan “blood and soil.”...

Nurse gets a fright when a drone causes over $1000 worth of damage to his car, embedding its camera in his radiator.

This is not just Australia or New South Wales; it happens in the USA, too.

May 16, 2017
By Andrew Taylor

Every child (click here) in NSW has a legal right to access and participate in education, regardless of disability or special needs.

But Carly Landa said there were "definitely negative consequences" to sending her son to school.

Louie, now 11, went to school for three years before his parents decided to home-school him.

"For Louie, it just didn't work," she said of her son, who is on the autism spectrum. "The ideal is every student's needs are met and that every student is supported as a learner.

"But the reality just doesn't actually translate. The numbers in the classroom, the lack of support."...

Parents of disabled students in many places, not just New South Wales, have an additional burden, they must home school their children FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY.

It is an unspoken truth that effects the child and the parents and their potential to acquire income that leads to poor choices for the families future. When a parent sees a child, a disabled child, suffer day after day from bullying there is no choice left, but, to homeschool. The school systems fail these children and families are left with poor choices.

One parent has to decide or perhaps is the only one qualified to homeschool a child or children. That means their ability to work outside the home is diminished and quite possibly a loss of income is felt all to profoundly by the couple.

Teachers' assistants assigned to classrooms can also be a help on the playground, buses and walks to school. They can be the eyes and ears to bring vigilance to worried parents and scared children. It is not that costly to employ more people to be those important intermediaries to protect the emotional health of children as they learn lessons important to their future rather than harsh lessons about life.

Unless the culture of a society provides the basis for bullying, as is the case in the USA, there should be no mistake; the bullies should be homeschooled and not the children deserving of a good education facing a challenging future. What is learned by children when their parents decide their sacrifice is important to protect their child? I am afraid of the actual lessons learned when retreat by a disabled child is the only solution.

Where are unions when you need them?

When people of impoverishment are faced with death for attempting to better their quality of life as in Bangladesh (click here) they realize there is no one to care about them except themselves. I would think such a reality could be taught and propagated into empowerment that saves lives and improves health.

Unions are desperately needed throughout the world. It won't be easy, but, it never has been easy. It is time for unions to expand in every country where there are workers. That is the only requirement. Workers.

Oppression of any kind is not a pretty picture. Leaders should be aware of their role in allowing this level of abuse of their citizens. The leaders should be out front demanding better conditions for it's people. In the past, as with the petroleum industry, the leaders of a country were well paid while the people suffered and died. We still see the remaining suffering in countries such as Nigeria and Ecuador.

Unions need to move to end suffering and bring about dignity to all people and all countries.

May 16, 2017
By Molly Harris Olson

We might think slavery (click here) is something relegated to the annals of history, but it is a huge modern-day problem. And a global one.

The Global Slavery Index estimates that 45.8 million people in 167 countries are in some form of modern slavery. And the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that 21 million people were in forced labour in 2012, generating a profit of nearly $200 billion.

Slavery in the 21st century is a complex issue, and stretches far beyond the bounds of human trafficking. The ILO recognises a continuum of human exploitation from forced labour and debt bondage through to exploitative work places and withholding of wages.

Modern slavery may not always mean physical shackles, but financial ones that make it impossible for people to ever work their way out of debt, or to gain the education required to move beyond manual labour.

Most instances of modern slavery are found in Asia, notably India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Central Asia. It is no coincidence that Asia is where forced labour yields its highest profits globally – an estimated $68 million a year....

Well said, thank you.

May 16, 2017

By David Brooks

At certain times Donald Trump (click here) has seemed like a budding authoritarian, a corrupt Nixon, a rabble-rousing populist or a big-business corporatist.

But as Trump has settled into his White House role, he has given a series of long interviews, and when you study the transcripts it becomes clear that fundamentally he is none of these things.

At base, Trump is an infantalist. There are three tasks that most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25. Trump has mastered none of them. Immaturity is becoming the dominant note of his presidency, lack of self-control his leitmotif.

First, most adults have learned to sit still. But mentally, Trump is still a seven-year-old boy who is bouncing around the classroom. Trump's answers in these interviews are not very long – 200 words at the high end – but he will typically flit through four or five topics before ending up with how unfair the press is to him....

...By Trump's own account, he knows more about aircraft carrier technology than the Navy. According to his interview with The Economist, he invented the phrase "priming the pump" (even though it was famous by 1933). Trump is not only trying to deceive others. His falsehoods are attempts to build a world in which he can feel good for an instant and comfortably deceive himself....

...He is thus the all-time record-holder of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the phenomenon in which the incompetent person is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence. Trump thought he'd be celebrated for firing James Comey. He thought his press coverage would grow wildly positive once he won the nomination. He is perpetually surprised because reality does not comport with his fantasies....

...Which brings us to the reports that Trump betrayed an intelligence source and leaked secrets to his Russian visitors. From all we know so far, Trump didn't do it because he is a Russian agent, or for any malevolent intent. He did it because he is sloppy, because he lacks all impulse control, and above all because he is a nine-year-old boy desperate for the approval of those he admires....

...But Trump's statements don't necessarily come from anywhere, lead anywhere or have a permanent reality beyond his wish to be liked at any given instant.

We've got this perverse situation in which the vast analytic powers of the entire world are being spent trying to understand a guy whose thoughts are often just six fireflies beeping randomly in a jar.

I think Mr. Brooks has it exactly right.

"We badly want to understand Trump, to grasp him," David Roberts writes in Vox. "It might give us some sense of control, or at least an ability to predict what he will do next. But what if there's nothing to understand? What if there is no there there?"

And out of that void comes a carelessness that quite possibly betrayed an intelligence source, and endangered a country.                  

 Mitch McConnell is a traitor to the people of the USA. He facilitated the exploitation of power through obstructionism. We need to see more drama from him on Russia.

The Republican state governors and their Republican legislators are balancing their.budgets on the backs of the impoverished elderly by cutting the cost share of Medicare Part B by $500.00 to $1000.00 of monthly income. As example; if a person has a monthly income of $1400.00 per month and had their Part B paid for will no longer. That means their monthly check will go to $1250.00 with the new cost of Part B increase. There is also a good chance if they fell of the cost share program they are now paying the new increased cost of Part B rather than the cost of $104.00 per month. The higher amount to these people is illegal. The deception is the they enrolled at the new rate. In fact even receiving cost share they never paid $104.00, but, this is Trump World where cheating the vulnerable is encouraged.

The Democrats need to pay attention the elderly, especially the impoverished, are easy prey.

It is good to see Ukraine stepping deeper into Western trade. Nice.

It will bring a new energy to Ukraine and the debt will finally pass into history. 

15.05.17

Ukraine and Israel (click here) want to extend bilateral economic cooperation and are working on signing the Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement by the end of this year, Ukrainian and Israeli prime ministers, Volodymyr Groysman and Benjamin Netanyahu, said.

"I am glad that the general trade in commodities has been growing over the past few months, we are working together to create a free trade area between the countries," the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine quoted Groysman as saying after a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

Groysman said he hoped the relevant negotiations will finish by the end of 2017....

Andrii Artemenko is going to need a house next to Viktor (click here). They can be fast friends.

Russia's investment was suppose to pay off better than this. Like, when it Trump going to dismantle NATO and remove any alliance for the former Russian states? The Republicans are too scared to impeach Trump and the blatant rejection of Comey with the Russian Foreign Minister openly exchanging good will with Trump says it all. The USA is sold to Russia the highest bidder.

See this is the real picture. Hillary Clinton would never, ever, ever capitulate to Russia and Russia has stated if Clinton was elected their would be nuclear war. This is the game folks and it is on. 

Who trusts Russia raise your hands? 

Yep, me neither.

15.05.17
In a CNN interview, (click here) Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Artemenko said he discussed his left-field proposal for Ukraine in January with US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who offered to deliver the plan to the Trump administration.

Ukrainian lawmakers on Monday introduced a document proposing to deprive Andrii Artemenko, the lawmaker who proposed a plan to lift anti-Russia sanctions and normalize Moscow-Kiev ties, of his seat in the parliament.

Kiev (Sputnik) — Earlier this month, (click here) the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that Artemenko had lost his citizenship as decreed by the country's President Petro Poroshenko. This took place took place due to Artemenko obtaining s Canadian passport, as Ukrainian laws prohibit dual citizenship....

You want a good laugh? 

Yes?

Russia blamed Ukraine White Supremists for the loss of control of Ukraine. Those that died in Ukraine at the Maidan were said to be White Supremists. Russia has been stating it's propaganda against Europe is that White Supremists rule in Europe and they must be destroyed. What sits in the White House? Who wins?

Putin has Trumps surrender. Trump goes belly up to the great prowess of Russia. The optics for Russia is perfect.

What do the Russian people say? "Russia is great again." I heard the Russian internet is closed to outside traffic.

The duality of Trump's insanity. He is sleeping with Putin and pretending to be prosecuting Assad.

May 15, 2017

By Colin Dwyer

The U.S. State Department (click here) laid out a new case against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime on Monday: Not only has the Syrian government committed mass atrocities at its military prison complex outside Damascus, but for years, it has also added to the structure in order to burn and secretly dispose of thousands of its victims' remains.

"Beginning in 2013, the Syrian regime modified a building within the Saydnaya complex to support what we believe is a crematorium," Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary for Near East affairs, told reporters at a special media briefing, circulating satellite photographs that he says depict that crematorium.

"Although the regime's many atrocities are well-documented," Jones continued, "we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison."...

May 15, 2017
By Andy Szal

ExxonMobil last week (click here) announced plans to add one of the world's top aromatics facilities to its chemical operations in Singapore later this year.

The Singapore affiliate of ExxonMobil Chemical Company reached an agreement to purchase the plant from Jurong Aromatics Corp. Terms were not disclosed, but reports placed the purchase price at about $1.7 billion.

The Jurong facility has an annual production capacity of 1.4 million metric tons, which ExxonMobil said makes it one of the largest aromatics plants in the world.

Singapore is home to ExxonMobil’s largest integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, and officials said that the deal would increase the company's annual aromatics production capacity in the country to more than 3.5 million metric tons — 1.8 million of which would be paraxylene.

The company said that the deal would bolster its offerings in key markets in Asia. Officials said that the Asia Pacific region — with its increasing wealth and burgeoning middle class — would account for an estimated 75 percent of the growth in global chemical product demand over the next decade....

Trump has become the communists best intelligence agent.

It doesn't cost China or Russia a dime. As a matter of fact, it comes with promises for a Trump play land in both countries.

Best I can tell Trump is a communist. He and his family think nothing of spreading some of the most best kept western secrets.

Trump is taking is cues from Cheney and Plame. If Dickie can do it and Halliburton is bailed out with an illegal war, so can I.

Look, Cheney's lackey took the fall and Rove kept revisiting his 'mistakes' in front of a grand jury. 

We all know Trump has no use for Europe and NATO. Turkey is playing footsie with Russia and Assad has been waiting for some of the best intelligence on Earth.

THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS DO. They have absolutely no diplomatic demeanor, rather drop bombs and laugh at those that are less powerful; as if the F-35 is actually something to write home about.

NOTHING was done about "W" when he went ballistic over Iraq and now nothing will be done about Trump. Why? Because the Republicans are afraid of him. So, this is the USA now. It is bought and sold and the wealthy get to make the world their playground on THEIR terms.

"Citizens' United" was the greatest decision of all time making the USA a former democracy and the Republicans think it is great. Now, the Republicans new best friend is Vladimir Putin, right Senator McCain?

The allies of the USA need to reassess their ability to defend themselves in spite of a Plutocratic regime in Washington, DC.

RUSSIA GOT WHAT IT PAID FOR.

May 15, 2017
By Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe

President Trump (click here) revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.

The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.

The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision to do so endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. After Trump’s meeting, senior White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and the National Security Agency....

I have never seen Jim Clapper so disillusioned in under any administration. Maybe 911 is over Jim. Osama bin Laden is dead. But, the institutions of the USA are dissolving. It is the crowing glory of the extreme right. But, the really laughable thing is Trump believes his bragging is solidly conducted behind very secure doors. Not national security, but, military security. Russia and China are moving on dismantling the USA's national security platform while dreams of Trumpland dance in the family's heads.

May 15, 2017
By Eli Watkins

Washington (CNN) - Former Director (click here) of National Intelligence James Clapper said Sunday that he thinks US institutions are under assault from President Donald Trump.

"I think in many ways our institutions are under assault both externally -- and that's the big news here is the Russian interference in our election system -- and I think as well our institutions are under assault internally," Clapper told anchor Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union."

Pressed if he meant US institutions were under assault internally from the President, Clapper responded, "Exactly."...

The death of a democracy in 17 short years. It would have been over sooner, but, President Obama the black president got in the way. McConnell did his best though. And now the death of the filibuster.

I don't want to hear how Republicans, including McConnell are nice guys, they aren't. They are blood thirsty hijackers of a once great democracy.

Why are cops and legislated prison sentences important? Because it is the extreme right and there is no social contract to improve the lives of the victims of capitalism run amok. The USA was groomed to be a police state under Bush because the terrorists were coming and we needed to hide from biological weapons with duct tape. Now, the idiots are back and their only way of measuring security for themselves is CONTR0L, NOT REFORM.

The United States of American has become the most disgustingly immoral country on Earth.

Governor Jerry Brown has had to expand the California Attorney General's office and put on more staff for the lawsuits the state is carrying because it is a state for the people.

The USA has lost it's moral compass and it can't even protect itself from idiots that wear their egos on their twitter accounts.

The monuments need to be pulverized and used as stone in driveways at a reduced rate of cost.

It is completely outrageous to think any city is selling these statues intact to the highest bidder. The stone they are carved with is the only quality aspect to any of them. So, grind them into pebbles and sell it for use in driveways. It will make a great driveway and an interesting color at that.

May 15, 2017

Richmond, Va. — The United States (click here) is beginning to realize that it suffers from deferred maintenance of its own history. Here in Virginia, the city of Charlottesville is preparing to remove and sell its statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. New Orleans is already removing its Confederate statues and “monuments” honoring post-Civil War white supremacists.

Perhaps the most emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy is here in Richmond, its former capital. In the decades following “the night they drove old Dixie down” the city’s business and housing was rebuilt step by step.

The early 20th century saw a broad row of grand patrician homes going up on Monument Avenue. The avenue is punctuated by equestrian statues of Confederate heroes — Lee, Jeb Stuart, Stonewall Jackson — and a semicircular shrine with an outsize column glorifying the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, the seceding states and the deceptive doctrine of “sovereign states” deployed to defend slavery. They were erected 35 to 50 years after the war. Records show that they were meant to legitimize and dignify the white supremacist regime that had taken hold in Virginia....

They have no significance to USA history. They are emblematic of dehumanizing values, unspeakable wealth and anti-religious values. They are immoral and deserve no place in USA sovereignty. End of discussion.

Absolutely not! I must have been born yesterday.

If this was such a viable option in the "World of Greed" it would already be sought by the banks. This is nothing they want to have anything to do with, small businesses are not an interest and haven't been since 2008's global collapse. Mortgage backed securities are because it is REAL ESTATE, tangible, repossessible and small business is none of that or the smallest part of the business is a mortgage which already qualifies for Wall Street Greed.

After the banks were recovered in 2008, the small local lending banks continued to go bankrupt. It is those local banks that need focus and it is best done by the SBA (Small Business Administration) and not the conglomerate of wealth in the big banks.

If the New York Times wants to be revolutionary, it is time to look at the small businesses in the USA with a record low unemployment rate since President Obama was in office during his SECOND TERM. They need lending banks that are solvent and knows the local economy. Those type of banks would have at hand the ability to measure market share in a local economy and decide if there was enough room in that economy to support such an economic venture.

The US Small Business Administration (click here) has loans at the ready. They even have SPECIALIZED loans for Black Owned Business. Do the conglomerate wealth banks have that? No.

The only aspect of financing small businesses is to have local banks that know the terrain and the realistic estimate as to the viability of a small business venture. That type of specialty bank does not exist. It requires REAL management of a bank and REAL connections to local people. A banker that lives and works in the local economy that knows the pulse of potential for GROWTH.

The infrastructure set up for the Big Banks with big ideas of ruling every dollar on the face of Earth will never be able to customize a bank for a local economy and lend with enough confidence to people sincerely interested in providing more growth to a healthy local economy and/or revitalize the neighborhoods the obscenely conglomerate wealthy banks laid to waste in 2008!  

May 15, 2017
By Hal S. Scott

Somewhere in the United States right now, (click here) an entrepreneur is having trouble getting a small-business loan for expansion. The reason? The bank is committed to keeping a large portion of its money in government debt instead.

After the financial crisis, the government, in the form of the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, imposed liquidity requirements that force American banks with assets over $50 billion to hold huge amounts of government debt as liquid assets.

Those assets represent $4.3 trillion in government debt, or about one-quarter of all American banking assets. They include $1.75 trillion in bank deposits (called excess reserves) held at the Fed, $1.5 trillion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (called government-sponsored-enterprise debt) and $560 billion in United States Treasuries.

American banks are truly awash in government debt at five times pre-crisis levels. If President Trump wants to follow through on his promise to increase lending to small businesses, he should start by scaling back these requirements....