Welcome to the USA where the wealthy protect the wealthy.

December 14, 2018
By Hank Winchester, Kelley Kosuda and Derick Hutchinson

Flint - Dr. Eden Wells (click here) will soon be on trial for involuntary manslaughter for her alleged role in the Flint water crisis. As the clock ticks down, Wells has just received a new job with the state, and taxpayers are footing the bill for her $180,000 salary.

Wells was previously appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder as the state's top medical executive. She remains in that role despite the charges, and now she's taken on a new job.

Her new position is one that was recently created. Some people believe it was created as a political move to protect Wells, who is at the center of the controversy.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said she can't believe Wells landed the new job.

Wells learned earlier this month that she will head to trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter and lying to a law enforcement officer....

I believe most Americans would agree with Mayor Karen Weaver.

Mayor Karen Weaver had the following to say:

“I wish at this point that I could be shocked by the actions of MDHHS and state government, but I simply cannot. There is a saying about when people show you who they are, you better believe them. Since the beginning of this crisis who they are has been made clear, I believe them,” Weaver stated.

“To create a new position, a classified position, with protections in place, one where she was the only applicant, it’s just plain insulting. I understand that you are innocent until proven guilty in this country; but I would love to see how many people are allowed to be bound over for trial on manslaughter, lying to a police officer, and obstruction, get a new position within the governmental structure, that is protected.  Not only is this a defiant laugh in the face of Flint residents, but this appears to be a blatant maneuver to keep the Governor-elect from making any decisions as far keeping or removing a very controversial employee.”...

The brain trust of the GOP is wanting. I have this nightmare that realizes far too late that the GOP's idea of education isolates the majority of Americans from higher education and returns the country to a time around the American Revolutionary War when only the wealthy could afford education at any level. The difference between the time of Benjamin Franklin and now is that those educated have no moral character or the appreciation of humanity. When I see someone like Dr. Wells elevated to high office through appointment I want to be pinched to wake me up from my nightmare only to realize I am awake.

Government officials need to investigate the death and decide what occurred during eight hours.

14 December 2018

Washington — A 7-year-old girl (click here) picked up with her father and dozens of other migrants along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border suffered seizures and spiked a high fever in immigration custody and later died, federal officials said.

An autopsy was scheduled to try to determine what killed the girl, who appeared to be dehydrated and suffering from shock and apparently had not had anything to eat or drink in days, they said.

The girl was found Dec. 6 near Lordsburg, New Mexico, by U.S. Border Patrol agents. She was in custody for about eight hours before she began having seizures, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials said. Emergency medical technicians discovered the girl’s fever was 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit (40.9 degrees Celsius), and she was airlifted to an El Paso, Texas, hospital, where she later died.

Most American parents know such a high fever is deadly. The question is why did the fever occur if she was in custody with her family for eight hours. There should have been adequate water available when the family was found.

Often Border Patrol agents carry bottled water with them to give to the people they find along the border, it just seems odd to me that a young girl this dehydrated would not have received attention by agents that are somewhat cautious about dehydraton in most circumstances.

The results of the autopsy could take weeks, officials said.

The Guatemalan girl’s death comes as increasing numbers of children and families are making the dangerous trek north from Central America and as immigration officials are being increasingly criticized for their treatment of migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. A review of what happened in the girl’s case will take place, federal officials said....

Who wants this in the White House?

December 13, 2018
By Tom Winter

Donald Trump (click here) was the third person in the room in August 2015 when his lawyer Michael Cohen and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker discussed ways Pecker could help counter negative stories about Trump's relationships with women, NBC News has confirmed.

As part of a nonprosecution agreement disclosed Wednesday by federal prosecutors, American Media Inc., the Enquirer's parent company, admitted that "Pecker offered to help deal with negative stories about that presidential candidate's relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided."

The "statement of admitted facts" says that AMI admitted making a $150,000 payment "in concert with the campaign," and says that Pecker, Cohen and "at least one other member of the campaign" were in the meeting. According to a person familiar with the matter, the "other member" was Trump....

The women were right to come forward. Unfortunately, they were strong armed and paid off to stay quite. Do I have to remind that Stormy Daniels was threatened in a parking lot while with her daughter? 

Donald Trump is having a difficult time of things these days and anything to distract from it will suffice. So, having a scandal run by lawyers is far better than admitting he probably said, "You know, if it were me and I could knock off a journalist or two, I would. But, you actually having that power is enviable," to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

And on top of Congress making Trump's day a little sour, he could not beg his favorite lackey be Chief of Staff. I congratulate Chris Christie (click here) for moving on. The Trump administration is a snake pit and no one with any dignity wants to be a part of the inner circle.

If Trump had any sense at all he would keep Kelly on, assuming he wants to stay on as Chief of Staff. I suppose he can always hand it back to Bannon. No one is going to take that job. Trump needs to leave and then there would be people willing to work in the Executive Branch. No one is that foolish.

Donald Trump's mischief.

I suppose Flynn was coerced into sitting next to Putin, too.

Special Council and Former Director Mueller could have gone two ways with Flynn; he could have charged him with treason which would easily hold up or he could treat him with respect as a former military officer and recognize the truth provided to him and remove any sentence he was rightfully due. It makes sense to me that Special Council Mueller would opt for respecting a former military officer and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Me? I would have liked to see him charged with treason, but, that was not an option for telling the truth in cooperation.

Personally, I think Flynn and Trump are both real slimeballs. When one is fighting for the country and then decides the grass is greener on the other after he retires that is treason. Playing footsie with Vladimir Putin is a highly suspicious move by Flynn. What did he have to offer Putin besides insider information? Nothing. 

Flynn Intel Group, Inc. (click here)

44 CANAL CTR PLZ STE 400

ALEXANDRIA, VA, 22314-1548  United States

(703) 313-7040

Company Type: Parent

There is nothing wrong with a former military officer with some intelligence background forming a company with his son to officer private business and government SECURITY analysis and modifications, but, with Russia? Give me a break.

For his own reasons, Michael Flynn decided to march to the beat of a different drummer. And what I find more interesting than anything is that he not only was willing to work with Putin, but, ended up at the NSA with Trump. No one besides me finds that more than a coincidence?

Michael Flynn could have been easily charged with treason, but, he wasn't. He should be grateful to the country he once fought for in realizing he has been given another shot at his future. I rather he wouldn't have been given a break, but, I am not Robert Mueller.

December 14, 2018
By Chris Sommerfeldt and Denis Slattery

He should have known better. (click here)

Special counsel Robert Mueller unloaded on Michael Flynn’s legal team Friday for intimating the former national security adviser was lured into lying to the FBI, pointing out that someone who used to head a U.S. intelligence agency should not have to be reminded it’s a crime to mislead federal agents.

Citing Flynn’s extensive military and government experience, Mueller methodically detailed each step of the former Trump administration official’s lies about his presidential transition discussions with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s former ambassador to the U.S.

“A sitting National Security Advisor, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,” Mueller charged. “He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.”

Flynn’s attorneys repeatedly suggested in a sentencing memo earlier this week President Trump’s former top adviser had been tricked into lying because agents had not advised him to have an attorney present for an interview on Jan. 24, 2017 or explicitly spelled out to him that it’s illegal to lie to them.

Mueller — in one of his most pointed filings to date — wholeheartedly refuted that claim, not just because Flynn should have known better, but also because he was evidently “committed” to lie.

Specifically, Mueller noted Flynn first lied when he told The Washington Post via a spokesperson on Jan. 12, 2017 that he hadn’t discussed U.S. sanctions policy with Kislyak....

It is well within reason, the "Guardians of the Truth," were honored for their selfless duty to the truth and the nations of people that fall under a truth.

There are no words. I am glad "Time" did find the words to make such reality known to all.

Jamal Khashoggi embodied the selflessness every other writer knows as the moral character that accompanies them into the battle of bringing truth to power.

Peace with Israel is impossible with the current military leadership.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been to Oman to talk peace to an Arab nation. He has been instrumental in bringing about a ceasefire with Gaza through efforts by Egypt. So, what does he get (no different than Olmert or any other Prime Minister that approaches peace)? He gets corruption charges leveled at him. THIS IS A PATTERN to control the Prime Minister of Israel to prevent peace from occurring so much as a war of expansionism.

This chronic assault on a peace initiative by the Israeli right wing establishment has to stop and Jarad Kushner needs to end his advocating for war. He already got his friend the Crowded Prince in plenty of hot water the way it is.

Enough. There needs to be a dedicated OFFICE within Israel that carries out a peace initiative on a continuous basis and it must remain out of reach of those that would see it destroyed.

December 2, 2018
By Paul Goldman and Saphora Smith

Tel Aviv  — Israeli police (click here) are recommending bribery and fraud charges be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife in the third corruption scandal to engulf the Israeli leader.

Authorities said Sunday that they have evidence that Netanyahu made regulatory decisions that favored Bezeq telecommunications group in exchange for positive coverage on its news website, Walla. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

The decision of whether to charge Netanyahu rests with Israel’s attorney general, who is still deliberating on whether to indict the prime minister in two other cases....

Like I said, it is about national security from a Chinese 5G network intent on breaking into government secure sites.

September 24, 2018
By David E. Sanger and Sheera Frenkel

Washington — The Trump administration (click here) and its closest intelligence partners have quietly warned technology firms that they will demand “lawful access” to all encrypted emails, text messages and voice communications, threatening to compel compliance if the private companies refuse to voluntarily provide the information to the governments.

The threat was issued last week by the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the so-called Five Eyes nations that broadly share intelligence. Collectively, they have been frustrated by the spread of encrypted apps on cellphones and the ability to send encrypted messages through social media and, most prominently, on Apple’s iPhones.

The issue flared repeatedly during the Obama administration, with the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, warning that law enforcement officials were “going dark” as nefarious actors relied on encrypted channels to discuss or plan criminal activity or terrorist plots. But the Trump administration has said little about the subject, even after the meeting in Australia where the demand was issued in a joint statement by the five nations....

Meng Wanzhou (click here) was unaware she was going to be picked up in Canada. That seems like a success of the intelligence network that China wasn't to find access.

..."Sometimes Chinese (click here) aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it's laundered through many of Beijing's so-called 'private' sector entities that are in bed with (President) Xi (Jinping)'s communist party," he added....

I just don't buy the Iran thing. I doesn't make sense to me and this explanation seems to burdened to be the reason. That is a lot of spying in cyberspace for the NSA and/or CIA. It just doesn't smell right to me. The internet security issues are more the problem.

...This paper (click here) examines factors driving Chinese-Iranian cooperation, potential tensions in the Chinese-Iranian partnership, and U.S. policy options for influencing this partnership to meet U.S. objectives....

The ministers of foreign affairs of France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as Chinese and Russian diplomats announcing the framework for a Comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program (Lausanne, April 2, 2015)

China was never a part of the Iran talks. China has no real interest in providing an international fellowship with the Permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. China has no real impediments on developing a relationship with Iran and I can tell you, China sees itself as a real partner for a nuclear free Iran in it's relationship.

The arrest has less to do with Iran so much as the spying on The West by China though a large family run telecommunications company. Not to say the USA isn't annoyed with a relationship between Iran and China, but, it has little reason or leverage to move against China in this way.

China was surprised and caught off guard with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou. It could easily have been a test of Chinese intelligence as well as an annoyance by the USA of China with Iran.

13 December 2018
By Chris Uhlmann

It was a warm evening this past July (click here) when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared a drink with the world’s most powerful intelligence network.

Spy chiefs from the Five Eyes nations had come to a secure resort in coastal Nova Scotia for an informal evening after intense talks in nearby Ottawa.

Trudeau, who’d spent part of the day pledging to fix a “death trap” highway in the Atlantic province, dropped in on the gathering to share some thoughts about geopolitical threats....

...detailed evidence of the brazen attacks in Salisbury, where Moscow had used a military-grade chemical weapon on UK soil. 
In the aftermath the British went public and the Five Eyes coordinated the largest ever expulsion of Russian intelligence officers from NATO and partner states. All agreed this would significantly degrade Russia’s intelligence capability.

That episode reminded everyone that espionage and foreign interference continues to be a pervasive threat. Some believed since 9/11 that mission had been obscured by the fight against terrorism and so at their own pace each had concluded the greatest emerging threat was China’s Communist Party.

They also knew that to contend with this challenge there was no other group of nations that enjoyed such shared knowledge, cultural affinity and technical expertise....

...Since that July meeting there has been a series of rare public speeches by intelligence chiefs and a coordinated effort on banning Huawei from 5G networks. It began with one of Malcolm Turnbull’s last acts as Prime Minister....

Conservation of electricity this time of year is about cost, NOT GREENHOUSE GASES.

I must sound like an environmental heretic, but, I am not. There is absolutely no reason to avoid lighting up the night with sparkling lights to bring holiday cheer.

That's right, the LEDs are fantastic to look at, but, that is not the point.

If Americans are second guessing their reason for decorating the house because it will pull more electricity and that means higher GHG (GreenHouse Gas) emissions. STOP. There is no doubt there will be higher emissions with higher use of electricity this Christmas, but, the consumers of electricity that believe it is ONLY their responsibility to stem the emissions of GHG are being manipulated by the energy suppliers.

THIS IS NOT A CONSUMER ISSUE. The holidays should not suffer because of GHG emissions.

The problem is not the LED revolution, it is the SOURCE of the electricity. If you are enjoying hydroelectric power, congratulations, you will the big prize for being the best and most conscience environmentalist on the planet. If the electricity used to light those pretty lights is from alternative sources, WOW, that is like wonderful and Santa will not be leaving coal in your stocking this year.

But, if those pretty lights are bring holiday cheer from the use of coal or fossil fuels, including methane/natural gas; then you need to make a resolution for the new year to demand cleaner electricity that does not harm Earth. 

But, seriously, this is the message. Don't alter the wonderful American traditions we all have come to love, but, make those traditions safer for the future generations that will inherit planet Earth. It is not the American way of life and quality of life that is in peril; it is the way we find our energy source while protecting the American way of life.

So, enjoy the holidays, decorate without hesitation, but, at the same time become aware of the source of that electricity that makes those twinkling lights so bright, and resolve in 2019, to never feel guilty again about flipping that switch for holiday cheer. By this time next year because happy the electricity that makes holidays bright is safe, green energy. Do it for the kids. Please.

Christmas Energy Saving Tip #1: Use Candles (click here)

When you are trying to come up with some beautiful lighting ideas, consider using candles. Lighting Christmas candles uses no energy and will provide some fantastic mood lighting. For safety purposes, you might want to use battery-operated candles that are available in a variety of different colors and styles. You can get rechargeable tea lights, battery-operated taper candles, and even some remote-control candles – now that’s convenient! Some battery-operated candles will even flicker so you’ll still achieve the non-electric mood lighting that is created by candles, but without the fire hazard....

Don't change your quality of life, make it safer for the planet.

Michael Cohen is lucky. I imagine before much longer he might be up for parole.

He was expected to take the fall for Trump. Donald Trump is supposed to be untouchable and he pays men like Michael Cohen to be the loyal person that cares about Trump more than anyone else does.

Michael Cohen would not have received a three year sentence if he didn't see the light and tell all he knew about the covert activities of Donald Trump, including his hush money that would have cost him the election if the country knew about it. This is an election issue and it should carry a great deal of brevity in allowing someone to continue to occupy the White House.

Donald Trump is shady. His business dealings are shady and he operates the White House like a play toy. He doesn't care about the country. It is heading for disaster, but, like Trump says, "I won't be around when it happens."

December 12, 2018
By Benjamin Weiser and William K. Rashbaum

Michael D. Cohen, (click here) a former lawyer for President Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday after denouncing Mr. Trump and explaining that “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”

Mr. Cohen gave an emotional apology to the court for his involvement in a hush-money scandal to buy the silence of two women who said they had had affairs with Mr. Trump. The payments were meant to influence the 2016 election. Mr. Cohen said his blind loyalty to Mr. Trump led him to ignore “my own inner voice and my moral compass.”

The sentencing in federal court in Manhattan capped a startling fall for Mr. Cohen, 52, who had once hoped to work by Mr. Trump’s side in the White House but ended up a central figure in the inquiry into payments to a porn star and a former Playboy model before the 2016 election.

Judge William H. Pauley III said Mr. Cohen called Mr. Cohen’s crimes a “veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct” and added, “Each of the crimes involved deception and each appears to have been motivated by personal greed and ambition.”...

Is Giuliani still on the White House dole? Because he is probably plugging business for Trump as well.

May 7, 2018
By Andy Borowitz

Washington—In a move that has stirred controversy (click here) in both legal and medical circles, Donald J. Trump removed Rudy Giuliani from his legal team on Monday by naming him the new White House doctor.

The decision to appoint the former New York mayor to such a key medical position raised eyebrows, in no small part because Giuliani would become the first White House doctor in history not to possess a medical degree.

But, in an official White House briefing to announce the decision, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, pushed back against the criticism of Giuliani’s nonexistent medical credentials. “Rudolph Giuliani is every bit as qualified to be a doctor as he is to be a lawyer,” she said.

Dr. Giuliani hit the ground running in his new job, immediately scheduling an hour-long appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program to discuss the state of Trump’s health.

“Is the President’s mental health good?” Giuliani asked on the air. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Is he all there? You really have to define what you mean by ‘all.’ If he’s out of his mind, so what? That’s nobody’s business. The important thing is, I’m on TV again talking a lot, and I’ve never felt so alive....

A Physician at White House (click here) earns an average of $275,114, ranging from $153,315 at the 25th percentile to $344,427 at the 75th percentile, with top earners (the top 10%) earning more than $495,773. Compensation is derived from fewer than 20 profiles, including base salary, equity and bonus.

These men are such a joke. Ever since New York City was hit by terrorists on 911, Guiliani has been selling himself as a security expert. He isn't. He saw many people killed that day and the firemen's radios didn't even work. Guiliani is a failure, plain and simple. He plays with the system as if he owns it and he should be ostracized as the worst mayor in the world.

December 12, 2018
B Kenneth P. Vogel

Washington — The special counsel’s investigation (click here) was grinding relentlessly onward, with President Trump’s former national security adviser pleading for leniency in his case and his former fixer about to be sentenced for his crimes. But Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was in Manama, Bahrain, on Tuesday, meeting with the king and the interior minister of an important United States ally in the Middle East.

The government-run Bahrain News Agency featured a photo of Mr. Giuliani meeting in a royal palace with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. The story said the king discussed “Bahraini-U. S. relations” with Mr. Giuliani, who was described as leading a “high-level U.S. delegation.”

But Mr. Giuliani was not in Bahrain, a country with a record of human rights abuses, on official business. He was there to seek a lucrative security consulting contract with the government.

The trip was part of a concerted push Mr. Giuliani has undertaken in the last few weeks to win business from governments around the world — including in Africa and South America — for a firm he owns called Giuliani Security and Safety....

Shut down Line 5, it is not needed.

Enbridge Line 5 is so old, the only thing preventing the entire Great Lakes from being destroyed by a leak is the marine befouling of the pipe.

September 8, 2016

The C$37-billion (click here) deal announced this week merging Calgary-based Enbridge with Houston-based Spectra Energy will create North America’s largest energy and pipeline operator....

October 3, 2018
By John Flesher

...The plan calls for decommissioning (click here) the pipes after installing a new line in a tunnel to be drilled through bedrock some 100 feet beneath the Straits of Mackinac, a more than 4-mile-wide waterway where Lakes Huron and Michigan converge. The massive engineering project is expected to take seven to 10 years to complete, at a cost of $350 million to $500 million — all of which the company would pay.

In the meantime, about 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids used to make propane would continue moving daily through the twin lines at the bottom of the straits. They are part of Enbridge's Line 5, which extends 645 miles from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ontario, crossing large areas of northern Michigan....

Line 5 runs underwater, but, not underground. If it starts to leak, the oil spill will be catastrophic. The water is unimportant to the Republicans, the oil has precedent over life itself. Shutting down Line 5 is prudent and will not end the oil flowing from Canada to the refineries in Texas. 

SHUT IT DOWN !

The monies to be spent on another oil pipeline are astronomical and will have plenty of cost overruns. It is not needed. Regardless, if the company states it is paying for the building of the tunnel, examine the subsidies they get from the government every year. They aren't paying for it, the American taxpayer pays for the petroleum industry to continue it's polluting and emissions.

Seven to ten years is far too long for Line 5 to remain in service. Shut it down.

December 11, 2018
By David Eggert

...Most Republicans in the GOP-controlled chambers (click here) and some Democrats supported advancing the legislation to Gov. Rick Snyder, who plans to sign it quickly despite criticism that his administration should not tie the hands of Democrats who will take over the governor and attorney general offices. The outgoing GOP governor is working on several fronts to finalize an October agreement with Canadian oil transport giant Enbridge to replace the underwater segment of its Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, where Lakes Huron and Michigan converge. The pipeline carries oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario....

December 12, 2018

Traverse City — Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) has signed legislation establishing a panel to oversee a hotly disputed tunnel that will house an oil pipeline beneath the waterway linking Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

Snyder acted Wednesday, a day after the Republican-dominated Michigan Legislature gave the bill final approval. It creates the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority to monitor construction and operation of the tunnel in bedrock beneath the waterway.

The tunnel and new pipeline segment will replace twin pipelines now resting on the bottom of the straits. They are part of Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5, which runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario.

Snyder also appointed the corridor authority’s three members, who will serve six-year terms.

They include Geno Alessandrini of Iron Mountain, Anthony England of Ypsilanti and Michael Zimmer of Dimondale.

Basically, the Argentine military took control of a Ford plant to use as a torture chamber. It just happened to be for employees.

Consumers in the USA didn't know. We have taken action against human rights abuses in factories in the modern era and even against apartheid. But, this? I don't believe consumers in the USA had a clue about it.

The first Ford assembly plant in La Boca, Buenos Aires, c. 1921.

Ford Motor Argentina (click here) is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Buenos Aires in 1913.[1] Its first products were Model Ts assembled from complete knock down (CKD) kits provided by Ford Motor Company in 1917. Nevertheless, Ford Motor Argentina is best known in more recent times for producing the Ford Focus and, previously, the Argentine version of the Ford Falcon,[2] originally a US model introduced in Argentina in 1961, but adapted to the Argentine market....

Ford was making money while this was going on, so for all intentions and purposes this inhumane activity was sanctioned by the company.

December 11, 2018
by Cassandra Garrison and Nicolas Misculin

Former Ford Motor Co. security chief Hector Sibilla leaves the court after the trial in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 11, 2018.

...It is the first time former executives of a multinational company (click here) working in Argentina during the dictatorship have been convicted of crimes against humanity, one of the lawyers, Tomas Ojea Quintana, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“It is clear that Ford Motor Company had control of the Argentinian subsidiary during the ‘70s. Therefore, there is a direct responsibility of Ford Motor Company and that might give us the possibility to bring the case to the U.S. courts,” Ojea Quintana said....

I wonder if the USA Congress held any hearings on this. If not, they should now.

December 11, 2018
By Uki Goni

...Although nearly 1,000 former military officers (click here) have been imprisoned over crimes committed under military rule, Tuesday’s verdict in a Buenos Aires court marked the first time executives of a foreign company have been convicted.

Former Ford executive Pedro Müller, 86, and Héctor Sibila, 90, a former Ford security manager, were sentenced to 10 and 12 years, respectively, for the kidnapping and torture of 24 employees at Ford’s General Pacheco plant outside Argentina’s capital city.

Testimony at the trial showed the executives provided the military with lists, addresses and photo IDs of workers they wanted arrested and even provided space for an illegal detention centre at the plant where the abductees could be interrogated.

“The company acted in a coordinated manner with the military,” the prosecution alleged.

Former army general Santiago Riveros, who oversaw repression in the General Pacheco area, was convicted to 15 years for the same crimes committed at the Ford plant. All three will benefit from house arrest because of their advanced age.

“Ford is an example of civilian-military state terrorism operations,” tweeted Hijos Capital, an association representing the children of the disappeared of the capital city of Buenos Aires.

The trial got under way last December in a tribunal packed with former employees of the General Pacheco plant. Prosecutors alleged that the plant was used as a clandestine detention centre.

“The majority were kidnapped right off the assembly line,” said Tomás Ojea Quintana, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the start of the trial. “They were taken by rifle-toting military officers and paraded before the other workers so they could see what happened to their union representatives. This created an atmosphere of terror in the workplace that prevented any wage or working condition complaints.”...    

Speaking of pink. Remembering Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

December 11, 2018
By Jarrett Earnest

...These islands (click here) are dark thickets in the gleaming bay. Like “happy little accidents” populating Bob Ross’s landscapes, they’re remnants of a dredging project in the 1920s. Seeds of the invasive Australian pine found their way onto their man-made land and a haphazard ecosystem was formed. Christo and Jeanne-Claude noticed them while crossing the Venetian causeway — which connects the barrier island of Miami Beach to Miami proper — when they visited the area at the end of 1980. Almost immediately, they had an idea: to wreathe 11 of these non-naturally-occurring islands in 6-and-a-half million square feet of a woven tropical pink polypropylene, creating a wide, matlike margin of gently pulsing plastic, appearing for two weeks before being removed without a trace. They went to work, engaging the federal, state, and county’s bureaucratic machinery, creating sketches, hiring engineers, scientists, and lawyers. And they are nothing if not persistent (their 2005 The Gates project in Central Park was 26 years in the making). The effect of their installation in 1983 proved to be profound, remaining deeply embedded in the cultural psyche of a city that has since fashioned itself into a hub for international contemporary art....

...Christo and Jeanne-Claude assembled these archives to be shown in cities where they were developing new pieces, to “sensitize” them to their vision, process, and to show no harm had been done. In the exhibition, you see many of the large-scale preparatory drawings and collages, the sales of which financed the project, along with photographs by Wolfgang Volz from 1980–1983. In the pictures, you see Christo and Jeanne-Claude talking to people — everywhere from committee rooms to shipyards — modeling the elegant pantomime of renaissance painting, alongside the many stages of installation, often from the air....

Surprise, surprise, surprise; the border wall wasn't written into CAMUS.

What a disappointment this must be to Trump supporters that were promised that Mexico would pay for the border wall. Now, Trump wants the US Congress to pay for the border wall. Surprise, another bait and switch by Trump. He needs to leave the White House.

He is so proud of any promise made and promise kept, well, this is a big one and the American taxpayer is NOT building a border wall with taxpayer monies. He needs to admit the promise he made about Mexico paying for the wall and it's big beautiful door is a promise broken. 

WE ARE NOT PAYING FOR TRUMP'S FAILURES!!!!

I like that picture. Standing tough on paying for Trump's failures. Nancy looks good in pink.

December 11, 2018
By Jacqueline Alemany

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) will head to the White House this morning to meet with President Trump

DEJA VU: It looks like President Trump (click here) could end the year just as he started it — with the self-proclaimed dealmaker unable to secure $5 billion in funding for his signature border wall between the United States and Mexico. It's either that or a partial government shutdown. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) head to the White House this morning where they plan to offer Trump "$1.3 billion in funding for a border fence . . . a bid that falls far short of the $5 billion Trump is demanding,” but amounts to current levels of funding for border security within the Department of Homeland Security, The Post's Erica Werner reports....

Sound does carry from Mars.

Speed of Sound NASA (click here)

December 9, 2018
By Eleanor Imster

On December 1, 2018, NASA’s InSight lander, (click here) which touched down on Mars on November 26, provided the first ever sounds of winds on the planet Mars.

The spacecraft’s sensors captured a haunting low rumble caused by vibrations from the wind, estimated to be blowing 10 to 15 miles per hour (6-24 km per hour) from northwest to southeast. The winds were consistent with the direction of dust devil streaks in the landing area, which were observed from orbit.

You can listen to full-length uncompressed .wav files here.

Bruce Banerdt is InSight principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Banerdt said in a statement:

Capturing this audio was an unplanned treat. But one of the things our mission is dedicated to is measuring motion on Mars, and naturally that includes motion caused by sound waves.

InSight (which stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is not a rover; it’s designed to stay in one place and to drill into and study Mars’ deep interior. NASA said:

InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the moon, 
formed....

Voyager 2 has joined it's sister, Voyager 1 into interstellar space. I wonder?

December 10, 2018
By Charlie Wood.

Voyager 2, (click here) the little spacecraft that could, continues to hurtle outward into the universe, moving around 10 miles away from the sun every second. Those miles have added up over the course of 41 years, taking it past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. On November 5 it finally joined its sibling Voyager 1 in the unexplored reaches of interstellar space....

Why is Roof allowed contact with the outside world?

Who else is he talking to and is the plot bigger than one person?

December 10, 2018
By Yaron Steinbuch

An Ohio woman (click here) who corresponded with Charleston, SC, church shooter Dylann Roof was accused Monday of planning to commit “an upscale mass murder” at a Toledo bar, according to reports.

Elizabeth Lecron, 23, one of two people arrested in terrorism-related cases, was charged with purchasing bomb-making materials that the FBI said she intended to use at the drinking joint, the Toledo Blade reported.

Toledo police received a tip about Lecron’s social media activity and alerted the Northwest Ohio Joint Terrorism Task Force, US Attorney Justin Herdman said Monday.

On Friday, she bought two pounds of a muzzle-loading propellant, and then went to another retailer in Perrysburg, where she bought 665 screws of various sizes....

Dylann Roof is a confessed mass murderer. He is not married and short of his immediate family visiting why is he allowed contact with the outside world? The USA isn't violent enough?