Sure Donald Trump was all for the change in pipes with federal funding. But, not unconditionally.
Does anyone actually believe the government of Flint, Michigan would do anything less that seek a way to replace the water pipes? Really?
July 14, 2017
By Ron Fonger
Flint, MI -- The city has replaced more than 7 percent (click here) of the estimated number of lead and galvanized water service lines in the city, meeting a federal mandate to do so by June 30, the coordinator of the effort says.
Retired Brig. Gen. Michael McDaniel, coordinator of the Flint Action and Sustainability Team, told the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in a letter Monday, July 10, that the city's replacement of 2,150 service lines as of June 30 exceeds the requirement in the federal Lead and Copper Rule.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an administrative order to the city in January 2016 after the agency determined Flint's water constituted an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public because of elevated levels of lead.
"The city thus had until (June 30) to replace ... the 2,037 service lines," McDaniel wrote in a July 10 letter to the director of the DEQ's Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Division. "I am very pleased to advise, formally, on behalf of the city (the replacement of) 2,150 service lines, exceeding the LCR requirement."...
Was there a doubt about the level of contamination in the Flint water system? Was there ever a doubt to the extent these pipes had to be replaced? The federal funding should have started immediately. THERE WAS NOTHING TO PROVE to the federal government as to the extent of the damage to the Flint Water System.
Lead and Cooper Rule (click here)
Must replace at least 7% of LSLs annually; (click here) State can require accelerated schedule
If only portion of LSL is replaced, PWS must:
- Notify customers at least 45 days prior to replacement about potential for increased Pb levels.
- Collect samples within 72 hours of replacement and provide results within 3 days of receipt.
The seven percent rule is to prevent the federal government from getting involved with every pipeline issue in the country. The seven percent rule was for water systems that surprisingly has more than seven percent replacement year after year.
The federal government thought every municipality should be fiscally sound enough to handle 7% of pipe replacement before needing federal funding. HONESTLY, this is not the Flint reality.
May 11, 2017
By Margie Kelly
Residents of Flint, Michigan (click here) will finally get their lead pipes replaced as the result of a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge today. The settlement will require the State of Michigan and City of Flint to replace Flint’s lead pipes within three years, and will be enforceable by the court. The lawsuit was filed in response to the Flint water crisis, the result of failed government decisions that caused lead to leach out from aging pipes into thousands of homes in Flint.
“This hard-fought victory means safer water for Flint. For the first time, there will be an enforceable commitment to get the lead pipes out of the ground. The people of Flint are owed at least this much,” said Dimple Chaudhary, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and lead counsel in the case Concerned Pastors for Social Action v. Khouri....
Making Flint, Michigan responsible for PROVING there was a real need for new water pipes is ludicrous. That decision is nothing but pure hatred of people. There was no reason for it. I am sure there would not be a run on the national treasury simply because Flint, Michigan had an emergency to replace the majority of the pipes, if not all of them.
I don't know how the mayor keeps her cool. I'd be furious as the hideous nature of this requirement.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Lake levels (click here) on all of the Great Lakes remain above their long term July averages and last year’s levels. Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, and St. Clair have continued their seasonal rise in the past month, having risen 4, 5, and 4 inches, respectively. Lake Erie is about 1 inch lower than it was a month ago, and Lake Ontario is 4 inches below its level at this time last month. Lake Ontario is 2 inches above its highest monthly average record for July set back in 1947. In the next 30 days, there is expected to be little change on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron. Lake St.Clair, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario are expected to drop 3, 4, and 8 inches, respectively.
See our Daily Levels web page for more water level information. Click the link above and find "Daily level web page."
The lake levels are higher despite the fluctuating daily changes.
See our Daily Levels web page for more water level information. Click the link above and find "Daily level web page."
The lake levels are higher despite the fluctuating daily changes.
Ignorance is a ticket to the dark side.
What if the flooding occurs because of sea level rise?
To the right is a map of the Fox River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Kindly note it links with the Illinois River.
July 13, 2017
Racine County, Wisconsin - The Fox River in Burlington (click here) crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago.
The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet....
...Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester.
Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.
Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.
One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home....
This is completely counter intuitive. Ready?
The map to the right is the Illinois River in Illinois. It is long and crosses the state, where does the Illinois River connect to?
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.
The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce....
What happens to water with gravity? Water is always level right? If there is a flood as during Katrina the force of the winds created a devastating reality, but, the river eventually receded and went back "into it's banks."
What if that water never settled into it's banks on an old 'baseline,' but, a new baseline caused by sea level rise? What if the water in the delta of the Mississippi River is higher today without accounting for sea level rise?
To the right is a map of the Fox River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Kindly note it links with the Illinois River.
July 13, 2017
Racine County, Wisconsin - The Fox River in Burlington (click here) crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago.
The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet....
...Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester.
Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.
Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.
One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home....
The map to the right is the Illinois River in Illinois. It is long and crosses the state, where does the Illinois River connect to?
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.
The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce....
What happens to water with gravity? Water is always level right? If there is a flood as during Katrina the force of the winds created a devastating reality, but, the river eventually receded and went back "into it's banks."
What if that water never settled into it's banks on an old 'baseline,' but, a new baseline caused by sea level rise? What if the water in the delta of the Mississippi River is higher today without accounting for sea level rise?
No one actually believes sea level rise ends at the USA shoreline, right?
This is pure speculation and an institute like Wood Hole Oceanographic Institute would have to validate it, but, there was an enormous iceberg that was once the Larsen C Iceshelf a land based ice mass.
The launch of that iceberg is only a spectator sport, right? I mean everyone sheds a silent tear because some ice is gone from Antarctica. But, no one actually believes it is all that benign, right?
See, I don't think it was the rain alone that flooded the Fox River. I think there is a missing element to that equation and nearly invisible to most government agencies BECAUSE, in the case of Florida, scientists can't even SAY THE WORDS Global Warming, etc.
I strongly believe as the land based ice structures melt and calve into the oceans the oceans do rise. Mass is constant. I do not believe there is a magical force field protecting ANY RIVER, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD from increasing it's depths/height because of a rising ocean.
We are seeing more and more damage from rivers, streams, creeks that normally were benign and simply took on the rain and overland flow (water runoff over land), swelled and flowed downstream while increasing water heights down stream.
What if all the water didn't reach the delta of a river? What if an increment stayed behind, what would happen during the next rainstorm? Would the creek, stream or river handle the same size rainstorm the same way or would the water level be a little higher? Because, as example, we know the delta of the Mississippi is being met with sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, if the ocean water of the Gulf is higher, the delta is going to be higher and the Mississippi will be higher, then the Illinois River would be higher and the Fox River would be higher BEFORE THE STORM EVEN STARTED.
In the news are often the words, "I've never seen the river like that and I've lived here all my life." That statement is highly correct, not just from the rain, but, from the increased height of a benign and friendly stream. When the rain starts, the flowing water is no longer a friend that soaks up such a large rainstorm, but, a raging torrent all because no one said, "What is going to happen INLAND when the oceans rise due to sea level rise?"
One question. Just one question. One question oppressed by politics and it kills people, damages property and destroys the plans and hopes of generations. Dredging is not going to do it. Dredging assumes there is too much silt in the bottom of the river. If digging a hole makes a city or county government feel better, then they have just wasted a ton of money because the new hole will soak up water from the oceans to EQUAL the water level all over the world.
If sea level rise is worrying coastal areas, it better be worrying the management of inland water ways as well. This FACT effects emergency management, not dredging. It effects FEMA and newly realized flood plains the the possibility of rebuilding. It means cities and towns can be lost as sea level rise effects the coast as well as the lands along the Mississippi, St. Lawrence Seaway and the Florida Everglades.
I don't believe the lock systems of the rivers like the St. Lawrence and Mississippi-Illinois River are completely benign to sea level rise. Water is water and it has weight and force and it will provide a rising level all along the way, eventually.
Oh, by the way, what do the property tax income look like now?
President Obama and the Democratic Congress treated every American with complete fairness and equality.
Even the health care insurance companies don't want "McConnell Care" or "Mitch Care."
July 13, 2017
By Paul Krugman
...The effects of this change would be disastrous. (click here) Don’t take my word for it: It’s what the insurers themselves say. In a special memo, AHIP, the insurance industry trade group, warned against adopting the Cruz proposal, which would “fracture and segment insurance markets into separate risk pools,” leading to “unstable health insurance markets” in which people with pre-existing conditions would lose coverage or have plans that were “far more expensive” than under Obamacare.
Or to put it another way, this bill would send insurance markets into a classic death spiral. Republicans have been predicting such a spiral for years, but keep being wrong: All indications are that Obamacare, despite having some real problems, is stabilizing, and doing pretty well in states that support it. But this bill would effectively sabotage all that progress.
And let’s be clear: Many of the victims of this sabotage would be members of the white working class, people who voted for Donald Trump in the belief that he really meant it when he promised that there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that everyone would get better, cheaper insurance. So why are Republican leaders pushing this? Why is there even a chance that it might become law?...
By Paul Krugman
...The effects of this change would be disastrous. (click here) Don’t take my word for it: It’s what the insurers themselves say. In a special memo, AHIP, the insurance industry trade group, warned against adopting the Cruz proposal, which would “fracture and segment insurance markets into separate risk pools,” leading to “unstable health insurance markets” in which people with pre-existing conditions would lose coverage or have plans that were “far more expensive” than under Obamacare.
Or to put it another way, this bill would send insurance markets into a classic death spiral. Republicans have been predicting such a spiral for years, but keep being wrong: All indications are that Obamacare, despite having some real problems, is stabilizing, and doing pretty well in states that support it. But this bill would effectively sabotage all that progress.
And let’s be clear: Many of the victims of this sabotage would be members of the white working class, people who voted for Donald Trump in the belief that he really meant it when he promised that there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that everyone would get better, cheaper insurance. So why are Republican leaders pushing this? Why is there even a chance that it might become law?...
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate died at the age of 61. He died in a Chinese prison for non-violent speech. He was an artist as well as a visionary.
By Malcolm Moore
Born in 1955 (click here) to intellectual parents in Changchun, the capital of the northern province of Jilin, Liu spent his teenage years in Inner Mongolia.
His father had been sent there, as part of Chairman Mao's "Down to the Countryside" campaign, to correct his bourgeois tendencies and learn from the farmers and villagers. Liu spent his late teens and early 20s working as an unskilled labourer.
After Mao's death, in 1976, Liu returned to Jilin and enrolled at university to study Chinese literature. He went on to teach at Beijing Normal University in 1984, completing his PhD four years later.
As a poet and writer, Liu met his wife, Liu Xia, also a poet. They married in 1996. However, he was married once before and has a son, Liu Tao.
"Neither his son or his first wife has appeared in public for many years," said Liao Tienchi, a fellow writer.
At the beginning of his academic career, Liu caused a sensation with his withering assessments of Chinese writers and intellectuals, whose work he decried as mediocre. He said there was "nothing good" to say about mainland Chinese authors not "because they were not allowed to write, but because they cannot write".
"He could be overbearing, and at times unbearable. But his critical lance was accompanied by genuine courage and political conviction," wrote Jianying Zha, one of his friends and a fellow writer, in the New Yorker magazine....
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
July 12, 2017
A one trillion tonne iceberg (click here) – one of the biggest ever recorded - has calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The calving occurred sometime between Monday 10th July and Wednesday 12th July 2017, when a 5,800 square km section of Larsen C finally broke away. The iceberg, which is likely to be named A68, weighs more than a trillion tonnes. Its volume is twice that of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes....
...The iceberg weighs more than a trillion tonnes (1,000,000,000,000 metric tonnes), but it was already floating before it calved away so has no immediate impact on sea level. The calving of this iceberg leaves the Larsen C Ice Shelf reduced in area by more than 12%, and the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula changed forever....
1 metric tonne of water = 264.17 US gallons of water. That is a lot of water volume to the oceans as well as additional weight. Water is heavy. Water weighs about 8.4 pounds per gallon.
By Chris Morris
While scientists (click here) examine the environmental impacts of the massive iceberg that has broken off of Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf, the shipping world is keeping its eye on the potential financial impact.
Should the 1 trillion ton iceberg, which is larger than Delaware and more than twice the size of Rhode Island, begin to migrate, it could be a substantial disruption to transportation. The Drake Passage, a gap between Cape Horn at the bottom of South America and Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands, is one of the world's busiest international shipping lanes.
And scientists say they're not sure what the iceberg will do, now that it has calved (science-speak for separation).
"The iceberg is one of the largest recorded and its future progress is difficult to predict," said Professor Adrian Luckman of Swansea University, lead investigator of the MIDAS project. "It may remain in one piece but is more likely to break into fragments. Some of the ice may remain in the area for decades, while parts of the iceberg may drift north into warmer waters."...
Guilty. Quid Pro Quo. And a pretty lawyer, too. Sort of resembles Vali
By Jessica Schulbert, Paul Blumenthal
Washington - The Russian lawyer (click here) President Donald Trump’s son, son-in-law and campaign chairman met last year with the understanding she would provide damaging information the Russian government had acquired on Hillary Clinton was simultaneously leading a lobbying effort to repeal U.S. sanctions that Russian President Vladimir Putin loathes.
Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer for a powerful Russian oligarch and government official, met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort on June 9, 2016, at Trump Tower, according to emails Trump Jr. released Tuesday. Veselnitskaya never delivered the damaging information on Clinton, Trump Jr. told The New York Times. But her interests were nevertheless in sync with the Kremlin’s: She was working to repeal the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law that imposed sanctions on several Russian officials and businessmen.
Moscow was “outraged” by the Magnitsky sanctions, Putin’s then-deputy foreign minister said in 2012, and the Russian government retaliated by banning Americans from adopting Russian children....Who would ever guess they were meeting with a Russian spy?
I get it. Trump. Beautiful women. Hollywood. Sure, I can see why Putin might think it would be better if they were not seen with anyone that actually looked like a Russian spy. That is so very Russia.
But, besides the drama, that is the case in fact. Russia provides information about Clinton and among the first act by Trump is to remove the sanctions. Case closed. Treason, sedition, financial market violations. What is Sessions doing in California when his elustrius leader may be served impeachment documents?
Oh, this is what Sessions is up to. Oppression of the masses of women. What ever happened to Freedom of Speech?
July 12, 2017
By Prachi Gupta
Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (click here) have asked a judge to uphold the jury’s “guilty” verdict against Code Pink activist Desiree Fairooz, who was arrested for laughing at Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing in January. Her sentencing is scheduled on Friday. She, along with two other Code Pink protesters, could face up to a year in prison.
Capitol Police Officer Katherine Coronado, a rookie cop with no prior experience covering Congressional hearings, arrested Fairooz after she laughed during the Jan. 10 hearing. The jury foreperson told the Huffington Post they “did not agree that she should have been removed for laughing,” but believed that Fairooz was guilty of disorderly conduct and unlawful parading for raising a protest sign and yelling after she was escorted away. “She did not get convicted for laughing. It was her actions as she was being asked to leave,” the foreperson said....
Limbaugh is a crony, too. What is more important, Limbaugh or Freedom of Speech.
July 12, 2017
By Luke Dolan
The Department of Justice (DoJ) (click here) has refused to explain why a meeting with an anti-gay group undertaken by Attorney General Jeff Sessions was held behind closed doors.
Sessions, a key ally of US President Donald Trump, met members of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) at a closed event in Orange County, California, supposedly to discuss religious liberty.
The news was first broken by Buzzfeed journalist Dominic Holden, who said on Twitter the DoJ declined to comment on the meeting.
The ADF is involved in a landmark Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage, centring on a Christian baker in Colorado, Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. The group has backed Phillips in his case....
Justice won't confirm or deny the meeting Sessions spoke in with Anti-LGBT White Supremacists.
And where is the US Justice Department? Be afraid, be very afraid.
July 11, 2017
Attorney General Jeff Sessions (click here) reportedly will be delivering a speech to the
anti-LGBT hate group Alliance Defending Freedom at 5.30 PM PDT today, July 11,
at ADF’s Summit on Religious Liberty in California.
The event is closed to the press, and no venue information has been released.
Civil rights and Department of Justice reporter at Buzzfeed Dominic Holden Tweeted about the scheduled remarks. According to his Twitter feed, he asked the DOJ why Sessions was speaking at this anti-LGBT event and whether it signaled a new Department of Justice position in court. The DOJ declined to comment....
These are Sessions' cronies. I don't know about Sessions' speaking to White Supremacists, but, he was in California yesterday.
He wants to revitalize D.A.R.E. I didn't know it was ever gone off the radar. (click here)
The first Muslims graduated from D.A.R.E. I guess. I have a difficult time believing there were no other Muslims that graduated from D.A.R.E. But, if this is the first, then congratulations for realizing there have existed Muslim students in the USA for decades.
Launched in 1983, (click here) D.A.R.E. is a comprehensive K-12 education program taught in thousands of schools in America and 52 other countries. D.A.R.E. curricula address drugs, violence, bullying, internet safety, and other high risk circumstances that today are too often a part of students’ lives.
The opioid epidemic is a safe place for AG Sessions to focus given the issues facing the White House.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions (click here) reportedly will be delivering a speech to the
anti-LGBT hate group Alliance Defending Freedom at 5.30 PM PDT today, July 11,
at ADF’s Summit on Religious Liberty in California.
The event is closed to the press, and no venue information has been released.
Civil rights and Department of Justice reporter at Buzzfeed Dominic Holden Tweeted about the scheduled remarks. According to his Twitter feed, he asked the DOJ why Sessions was speaking at this anti-LGBT event and whether it signaled a new Department of Justice position in court. The DOJ declined to comment....
These are Sessions' cronies. I don't know about Sessions' speaking to White Supremacists, but, he was in California yesterday.
He wants to revitalize D.A.R.E. I didn't know it was ever gone off the radar. (click here)
The first Muslims graduated from D.A.R.E. I guess. I have a difficult time believing there were no other Muslims that graduated from D.A.R.E. But, if this is the first, then congratulations for realizing there have existed Muslim students in the USA for decades.
Launched in 1983, (click here) D.A.R.E. is a comprehensive K-12 education program taught in thousands of schools in America and 52 other countries. D.A.R.E. curricula address drugs, violence, bullying, internet safety, and other high risk circumstances that today are too often a part of students’ lives.
The opioid epidemic is a safe place for AG Sessions to focus given the issues facing the White House.
Then there is stacking the deck.
July 12, 2017
By Ellen Nakashima and Karoun Demirjan
Christopher A. Wray, (click here) President Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, told a Senate panel that if the president tried improperly to get him to drop an investigation, he would first try to talk him out of it-- and if that failed, resign.
He also testified that no one has asked him for any loyalty oath as part of his nomination. “And I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” he said.
Wray, a low-key former senior Justice Department official, was nominated after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James B. Comey in May amid a bureau investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Kremlin to interfere in last year’s presidential election.
His remarks at his confirmation hearing underscored the concerns senators have about his ability to be an independent leader, resistant to political pressures — including from the White House.
In his opening remarks, he said he would never allow the bureau’s work to be driven by “by anything other than the law, the facts and the impartial pursuit of justice.”...
No one is going to tell me Comey was fired for good cause. Not by Trump. If Clinton were in the White House having lost innumerable down ballot races, I would say there is reason for his firing, but, not Trump. Comey effected the election. He simply did. There is no reason for Trump to fire him, nor was there a valid reason given.
There is something here. Trump is manipulating his way out of something. He is creating VULNERABILITY FOR THE USA to prevent a personal tragedy. That is what Comey's firing was. It was creating a vulnerability for the USA that lessens the focus on him as a potential treasonist.
I am sure Christopher Wray is very qualified, but, given the problems the FBI is now facing it is far more ethical to advance from within the agency. There should be long term employees brought in to the Director's office. And forget McCabe, he is the Acting Director, but, is under investigation himself.
Ask Former Ambassador Joe Wilson. Ask him to head the FBI for the interim.
Yes, there is a double standard, "The Trump Standard" and the one for the rest of us. The majority Republicans in the House and Senate are afraid of Trump.
22 March 2017
By Jim Stinson
Washington, D.C. has reversed its thinking (click here) on the seriousness of federal government leaks with President Donald Trump in the White House.
Leaks of classified federal information are now treated as not a big deal — so long as they are damaging to Trump. Damaging leaks of classified information seem to be the preferred way to pry information from Trump, a Republican, no matter the slippery slope that federal workers head down when they unleash the documents.
A transcript of the president’s call to a foreign leader? No problem. Unmasking the name of an American citizen as he spoke to the Russian ambassador? That sounds fine to many. So long as it zings Trump....
...On July 14, 2003, columnist Robert Novak revealed that an Iraq War critic, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had traveled to Africa in February 2002 to look into claims Iraq was buying yellowcake uranium from Niger....
...David Corn, a left-wing journalist now with Mother Jones, insisted the law had been broken in the leak to Novak. The political drumbeat began, the CIA asked for action, and in September 2003, President Bush and his attorney general named a prosecutor....
...And Lawrence O'Donnell, now with MSNBC, made an infamous whiff of a prediction: "[A]t least three high-level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted co-conspirators."
But no one was indicted for the leak itself. Scooter Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted for misleading federal investigators in 2007. Perhaps realizing the political nature of the case, President Bush commuted Libby's sentence....
...The seriousness of the leaks involving Flynn helped build tremendous disappointment on Monday, when FBI Director James Comey, acting oddly as usual, said he could not even confirm an investigation into the leaks....
...What if, the former intel operative wondered, the Bush administration's National Security Council had received incidental collection on the Obama campaign in late 2008, and not informed the congressional oversight committees?
There would be hell to pay, he said.
So what is the media doing in 2017? They are asking for more leaks of classified documents. Some newspapers have even set up anonymous online "dropboxes."
And the Democrats? They are nowhere to be seen on the issue.
Any Democratic silence on this is standard. No one ever hears from a single Republican in the throws of an investigation.
By Ellen Nakashima and Karoun Demirjan
Christopher A. Wray, (click here) President Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, told a Senate panel that if the president tried improperly to get him to drop an investigation, he would first try to talk him out of it-- and if that failed, resign.
He also testified that no one has asked him for any loyalty oath as part of his nomination. “And I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” he said.
Wray, a low-key former senior Justice Department official, was nominated after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James B. Comey in May amid a bureau investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Kremlin to interfere in last year’s presidential election.
His remarks at his confirmation hearing underscored the concerns senators have about his ability to be an independent leader, resistant to political pressures — including from the White House.
In his opening remarks, he said he would never allow the bureau’s work to be driven by “by anything other than the law, the facts and the impartial pursuit of justice.”...
No one is going to tell me Comey was fired for good cause. Not by Trump. If Clinton were in the White House having lost innumerable down ballot races, I would say there is reason for his firing, but, not Trump. Comey effected the election. He simply did. There is no reason for Trump to fire him, nor was there a valid reason given.
There is something here. Trump is manipulating his way out of something. He is creating VULNERABILITY FOR THE USA to prevent a personal tragedy. That is what Comey's firing was. It was creating a vulnerability for the USA that lessens the focus on him as a potential treasonist.
I am sure Christopher Wray is very qualified, but, given the problems the FBI is now facing it is far more ethical to advance from within the agency. There should be long term employees brought in to the Director's office. And forget McCabe, he is the Acting Director, but, is under investigation himself.
Ask Former Ambassador Joe Wilson. Ask him to head the FBI for the interim.
Yes, there is a double standard, "The Trump Standard" and the one for the rest of us. The majority Republicans in the House and Senate are afraid of Trump.
22 March 2017
By Jim Stinson
Washington, D.C. has reversed its thinking (click here) on the seriousness of federal government leaks with President Donald Trump in the White House.
Leaks of classified federal information are now treated as not a big deal — so long as they are damaging to Trump. Damaging leaks of classified information seem to be the preferred way to pry information from Trump, a Republican, no matter the slippery slope that federal workers head down when they unleash the documents.
A transcript of the president’s call to a foreign leader? No problem. Unmasking the name of an American citizen as he spoke to the Russian ambassador? That sounds fine to many. So long as it zings Trump....
...On July 14, 2003, columnist Robert Novak revealed that an Iraq War critic, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had traveled to Africa in February 2002 to look into claims Iraq was buying yellowcake uranium from Niger....
...David Corn, a left-wing journalist now with Mother Jones, insisted the law had been broken in the leak to Novak. The political drumbeat began, the CIA asked for action, and in September 2003, President Bush and his attorney general named a prosecutor....
...And Lawrence O'Donnell, now with MSNBC, made an infamous whiff of a prediction: "[A]t least three high-level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted co-conspirators."
But no one was indicted for the leak itself. Scooter Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted for misleading federal investigators in 2007. Perhaps realizing the political nature of the case, President Bush commuted Libby's sentence....
...The seriousness of the leaks involving Flynn helped build tremendous disappointment on Monday, when FBI Director James Comey, acting oddly as usual, said he could not even confirm an investigation into the leaks....
...What if, the former intel operative wondered, the Bush administration's National Security Council had received incidental collection on the Obama campaign in late 2008, and not informed the congressional oversight committees?
There would be hell to pay, he said.
So what is the media doing in 2017? They are asking for more leaks of classified documents. Some newspapers have even set up anonymous online "dropboxes."
And the Democrats? They are nowhere to be seen on the issue.
Any Democratic silence on this is standard. No one ever hears from a single Republican in the throws of an investigation.
What is more interesting is the longevity of the apparent relationship between the Trump Organization, Russia and the Trump Campaign.
The first time that relationship was known was with the 'dark web' computer connection between the Trump Organization and Russia after sanctions were levied. I would think Former Director Mueller already has a timeline to initial contact and continued interference by Russia.
July 11, 2017
By Jo Becker, Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo
The June 3, 2016, (click here) email sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father’s former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide the Trump campaign with dirt on Hillary Clinton.
July 11, 2017
By Jo Becker, Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo
The June 3, 2016, (click here) email sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father’s former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide the Trump campaign with dirt on Hillary Clinton.
The documents “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” read the email, written by a trusted intermediary, who added, “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
If the future president’s eldest son was surprised or disturbed by the provenance of the promised material — or the notion that it was part of a continuing effort by the Russian government to aid his father’s campaign — he gave no indication.
He replied within minutes: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”
Four days later, after a flurry of emails, the intermediary wrote back, proposing a meeting in New York on Thursday with a “Russian government attorney.”...
Besides the 'dark web,' there is Paul Manafort in Ukraine. This was NOT haphazard by the Trump Organization. It was a growing and sustained relationship for some time now. That is troubling. It is more troubling to realize this organization has violated Russian sanctions and proceeded with a relationships completely outlawed by the USA.
Manafort was in Ukraine because he couldn't be in Russia. Russia was off limits to the USA for any economic development so he worked with the next best thing, Ukraine's President. Right, Viktor?
This is a sustained relationship. It is corrupt. It completely exonerated from wrong doing when Donald Trump decided the only way this could be handled was to become President and write pardons for everyone concerned. The problem is that conviction has to precede a pardon. Right, Don?
Who was that governor? There was a man elected governor (the details escape me) of a state, after he was sworn in this first and only act as governor was to pardon his business partner or someone close to him. He then promptly resigned as governor.
This entire mess has the appearance of "Oops, save everyone from prison and get elected to the White House"
There is the "Slate" dark-net to Russia connection from the Trump Organization, there is the Trump Jr. thing, there is the Kushner family taking China be storm with American government money in exchange for a double digit millions of Chinese Yen and there is also the Jared Kushner 'savior plan' for Israel and now... (...questions are also beginning to swirl around the involvement of another Trump family member who was present for the rendezvous: Jared Kushner.... (click here).
Trump's relationship with Russia is grossly out of step with allies, US policy and the previous administration.
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....
If I had the last name of Trump right now, I would be consulting with an attorney regarding racketeering. Absolutely.
This is what we know. Imagine what we don't know.
Besides the 'dark web,' there is Paul Manafort in Ukraine. This was NOT haphazard by the Trump Organization. It was a growing and sustained relationship for some time now. That is troubling. It is more troubling to realize this organization has violated Russian sanctions and proceeded with a relationships completely outlawed by the USA.
Manafort was in Ukraine because he couldn't be in Russia. Russia was off limits to the USA for any economic development so he worked with the next best thing, Ukraine's President. Right, Viktor?
This is a sustained relationship. It is corrupt. It completely exonerated from wrong doing when Donald Trump decided the only way this could be handled was to become President and write pardons for everyone concerned. The problem is that conviction has to precede a pardon. Right, Don?
Who was that governor? There was a man elected governor (the details escape me) of a state, after he was sworn in this first and only act as governor was to pardon his business partner or someone close to him. He then promptly resigned as governor.
This entire mess has the appearance of "Oops, save everyone from prison and get elected to the White House"
There is the "Slate" dark-net to Russia connection from the Trump Organization, there is the Trump Jr. thing, there is the Kushner family taking China be storm with American government money in exchange for a double digit millions of Chinese Yen and there is also the Jared Kushner 'savior plan' for Israel and now... (...questions are also beginning to swirl around the involvement of another Trump family member who was present for the rendezvous: Jared Kushner.... (click here).
Trump's relationship with Russia is grossly out of step with allies, US policy and the previous administration.
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....
If I had the last name of Trump right now, I would be consulting with an attorney regarding racketeering. Absolutely.
This is what we know. Imagine what we don't know.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Life is hard for Charlie, but, it is worth the struggle if he wins.
Would anyone deny a cancer patient experimental treatment? Would there be people excluded from the hope of a treatment? Answer that. Then there is only one way forward for Charlie Gard.
We can't know what he is experiencing or whether he is experiencing anything at all, but, I do know if he is suffering he is not an animal that can euthanized. He is a human baby with the PROMISE of life when he was born. Where in the social contract does it say where there is hope it is conditional?
By Kristine Phillips and Lindsey Bever
To left: Picture of Charlie Gard three days ago. He is growing. Physically he is thriving. Questions?
I have one. Question. Isn't that "Curious George?"
To left: Picture of Charlie Gard three days ago. He is growing. Physically he is thriving. Questions?
I have one. Question. Isn't that "Curious George?"
Washington: The parents of Charlie Gard, (click here) the 11-month-old British infant whose rare genetic condition has captured the world's attention, said they want to move their son to a hospital in the United States, where he would receive experimental treatment.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates on Sunday delivered a petition to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie has remained on life support for months. The petition, which has more than 350,000 signatures, calls for Charlie to be transferred....
Whatever works. That was the theme to the Trump campaign, right? Win at any cost.
What should have been done is for Donald Trump, Jr. to have reported the incident to authorities to continue the investigation to his death threats. The campaign should have been completely transparent to the FBI and others regarding it's position on Russia approaching it to win the election.
Since when is a foreign power influential at any level of American politics? There was an obvious relationship between Russia and the Trump campaign. There is no basis for that. There is a basis for reporting any and all attempts at corruption and coercion by a foreign power of an American campaign for presidency.
No matter how I look at this, it really does smell bad. Bad enough to be treason considering the intense relationship that exists after the election.
It just doesn't make sense to me. Donald Trump, Jr. received death threats. And he is entertaining Russia for information to throw the election. Is that someone with a false sense of security? Why?
The one entity in all this that could get away with murder and has in the past is Russia. Why mess with this?
July 9, 2017
By Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman
President Trump’s eldest son, (click here) Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.
The meeting was also attended by the president’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kushner recently disclosed the meeting, though not its content, in confidential government documents described to The New York Times.
The Times reported the existence of the meeting on Saturday. But in subsequent interviews, the advisers and others revealed the motivation behind it.
The meeting — at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Donald J. Trump clinched the Republican nomination — points to the central question in federal investigations of the Kremlin’s meddling in the presidential election: whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. The accounts of the meeting represent the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help....
Since when is a foreign power influential at any level of American politics? There was an obvious relationship between Russia and the Trump campaign. There is no basis for that. There is a basis for reporting any and all attempts at corruption and coercion by a foreign power of an American campaign for presidency.
No matter how I look at this, it really does smell bad. Bad enough to be treason considering the intense relationship that exists after the election.
It just doesn't make sense to me. Donald Trump, Jr. received death threats. And he is entertaining Russia for information to throw the election. Is that someone with a false sense of security? Why?
The one entity in all this that could get away with murder and has in the past is Russia. Why mess with this?
July 9, 2017
By Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman
President Trump’s eldest son, (click here) Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.
The meeting was also attended by the president’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kushner recently disclosed the meeting, though not its content, in confidential government documents described to The New York Times.
The Times reported the existence of the meeting on Saturday. But in subsequent interviews, the advisers and others revealed the motivation behind it.
The meeting — at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Donald J. Trump clinched the Republican nomination — points to the central question in federal investigations of the Kremlin’s meddling in the presidential election: whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. The accounts of the meeting represent the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help....
Do you doubt the power of the sun to heat Earth?
Obtain two sheets of paper, one complete blank and white and the other dark. The dark one can be colored dark with a "Sharpie" or colored pencil.
Wear shorts that expose the leg at least eight inches above the knee.
Now, sit in a chair so there is sunlight on your legs. Feel the temperature of your skin change and become warm because of the sunlight. Don't get a sunburn, simply allow the sunlight to warm your exposed legs.
Then, place the white sheet of paper over one leg. Cover the other leg with the dark(ened) sheet of paper.
What happens? I am not going to tell you, but, if you did it right, the evidence should be really obvious.
When you realize the results, which will occur quickly, get out of the sun as your skin is still unprotected from sunburn, etc.
If a doctor says not to go into the sunlight unprotected, don't participate in this simple experiment without permission.
"Morning Papers" The Rooster
"Okeydoke"
This is wonderful news. The USA is not abandoning it's principles and values for countries like Ukraine.
July 9, 2017
Newly appointed (click here) U.S. special representative for the Ukrainian settlement Kurt Volker will stay in Ukraine for several days to resolve issues of bilateral cooperation, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“I am very grateful that just within several hours after his appointment, Kurt Volker’s joined your delegation. We welcome him and thank you for your decision that he is going to remain with us for several days so that we do not suspend the issue, and without a delay, could start effective cooperation just a few hours after the appointment,” Poroshenko said at a joint briefing with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Kyiv on Sunday.
Poroshenko expressed the hope that Volker’s experience, combined with his determination, will speed up the negotiation process and ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the Russian Federation.
As reported, Tillerson on Friday, July 7, appointed former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Volker as a special representative for Ukraine, who will coordinate the U.S. State Department’s efforts to settle the situation in eastern Ukraine.'
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) welcomes and shakes hands with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prior to their meeting in Kyiv, on July 9. Rex Tillerson is in Ukraine for a one-day working visit.
"Good night, Moon."
15.6 days old
99.2 percent lit
July 6, 2017
By Len Melisurgo
Sky watchers (click here) will have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the full "thunder moon" on Sunday, July 9. It will be the seventh full moon on the 2017 lunar calendar and the first full moon of the summer season in the northern hemisphere.
Here are some facts about the 2017 thunder moon, when it will be visible, how it got its name, and other nicknames for the July full moon....
As a side note:
The presence of atmospheric methane has a role in the scientific search for extra-terrestrial life! The logic is this: the methane in an atmosphere will dissipate if there is nothing there to replenish it. Therefore, the detection of methane on a planet should indicate the presence, or relatively recent presence, of life. This was a topic of hot debate when methane was discovered in the Martian atmosphere by by NASA's Goddard Flight Center (verified by the Mars Express Orbiter in 2004), and in Titan's atmosphere by the Huygens probe (2005). It was argued that atmospheric methane can also come from volcanoes or other fissures in the planet's crust, and that without an Isotopic signature of the carbon, it is difficult to confirm the origin of the methane.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)