There is another guy that bothers me a bit, simply because he talks out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.

This is Caleb Crosby (click here). He controls political money in Alabama. He claims to be non-partisan, but, he doesn't donate as if he is. He speak for himself.

I have the honor of leading the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit educational and research institution which has championed free markets, limited government, and strong families for over 30 years.

When you look back at our state’s major policy discussions, you will most likely find that API was right there in the midst of the battle. We do not take lightly the task we have been given to work for good government which leads to flourishing and opportunity for all Alabamians.

Today we find our state at a crossroads....

Hm. Laws and the McConnells, one big happy family.

the 

The resume (click here)

Laws was also general council to the US Chamber of Commerce (click here). He is just connected beyond imagination with large amounts of money and those in power. It is a concern for a country with an extremist element he most likely approves of for campaign funding.

Steven Laws was Deputy Secretary, Chief of Staff of the Department of Labor, 2001-2007.

The Secretary of Labor during that time was Elaine Chao. She is pictured below with Donald John Trump announcing a replacement for the Inspector General for her department. 

Yes, Elaine Choa (click here) is Mitch McConnell's wife with the family shipping conglomerate that donates a million or so to McConnell's political campaign every year.

May 21, 2020
By Michael Laris and Ian Duncan

The top lawyer (click here) in Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s office told congressional Democrats on Thursday there was no “nefarious motive” in replacing the department’s acting inspector general....

Yes, that is correct, the cool million goes to Steven Laws in order for it to be used on Mitch's campaign. The only problem is that Chao's father is not an American.

It is all very cozy, isn't it?

August 18, 2022

By Amy B Wang

 and 

Mariana Alfaro

...In a year (click here) when Republicans should have the advantage over Democrats, especially as President Biden’s approval ratings sag and inflation remains high, the GOP is facing surprisingly tight Senate races in several states — even with Republican groups providing huge sums of money to aid struggling candidates....

I think it is easy to understand the concern. The Republican money machine is controlled by literally one man and he can funnel those monies in any direction he wants. I find this rather unethical to say the least. Four different PACS with enormous amounts of money in the hands of one man. I really don't think this is legal. It skirts the maximum donations per organization. 

I am not certain, but, it could impact his law license as unethical political manipulation of money.

Just a little history. Everyone loves histoy, right?

February 12, 2022
By Robert Macquire

Crossroads cofounders Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie in 2007 when they worked for President George W. Bush.

When a group called Crossroads GPS (click here) sent the IRS an application for tax-exempt status in September 2010, Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House, Snapchat hadn’t started doing whatever it does, and Miley Cyrus was still Hannah Montana.

A lot has changed since then, including the political influence of 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations like GPS, a brainchild of Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie and other GOP political operatives that was an early player in the post-Citizens United landscape. For example, in the 10 years leading up to that date, the combined political spending by organizations, like GPS, that aren’t required to disclose their donors stood at about $100 million. That was about $30 million less than was ultimately spent by such groups in the last few months of the 2010 midterms alone, and less than one-third of what they spent in the 2012 presidential election cycle. In that cycle, GPS’ political outlays alone made up nearly one-fourth of all spending by nondisclosing groups, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. None of those totals include the many ads GPS has run outside of the FEC’s reporting windows....

...But as OpenSecrets Blog first reported Tuesday, that long battle with the IRS finally ended last November, assuring prospective donors that the group is operating with the IRS’ blessing.

The decision has shocked many observers, though not Crossroads GPS itself, whose president Steven Law said the group was “pleased but not surprised.”...

It is only fair Americans get to know Steven Laws as president and ceo of One Nation, too.

Steven Law brings two and a half decades of diverse experience (click here) in government, politics, ethics and management to his role as chief executive officer of Senate Leadership Fund, One Nation, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS – four organizations that have transformed the world of independent advocacy, inspired numerous imitators on the left and right, and helped elect and defend new leadership in Congress that is dedicated to the goals of limited government, free markets, and a safer, more prosperous America.

Prior to helping found these organizations, Law served as chief legal officer and general counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he led a highly successful grassroots advocacy campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act; counseled the Chamber’s audit and employee benefits committees; designed new compliance programs on ethics, lobbying, and international activity; and oversaw the Chamber’s litigation portfolio....

What does it mean when one or two men, without membership or board of directors to the organization? 

It means the Republicans are running on monies from four different organizations run by at the most two people, but, primarily Steven Laws. Given the fact the Republican Party has become an extremist organization in the politics of the USA, that means one man, primarily holds the keys for every Republican running for office when it comes to monies in their political treasuries. Laws can so yes or no to any Republican that does not measure up to his expectations. 

There is a problem here with the idea any of these organizations are legal according to their own incorporation documents and/or the requirements under law of these organizations to exist at 301(c)4. There are no other persons seeing the cooked books either. There are far to few eyes on this money to decide if it is dark money from outside the USA or from extremist groups in the USA.

Steven Laws can distribute over the limits set by the election commissions because he is doing it with four separate free standing organizations. That is unethical, but, it also is fraud. One man is making decisions about what Republicans can and cannot say and do.

I defy anyone to find information regarding who exactly the Senate Leadership Fund is.

Senate Leadership Fund  (click here)

There is nothing on that webpage that says who exactly the leadership and/or board of directors are and where they have an address. Simply drop your money here.

There is a news page that goes on and on about the propaganda the Republicans are peddling these days. (click here)

I suppose that is all that is needed to convince donors to drop there money at the site.

NJ50 Profile (NJ is National Journal)

When Steven Law (click here) helped launch American Crossroads, one of the first super PACs to form in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that loosened restrictions on campaign finance, he thought it would be a temporary detour in a distinguished career. After all, by that point, he had served as chief legal officer and general counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and deputy Labor secretary under George W. Bush.

In 2010, his efforts helped Republicans win back control of the House and cut Democrats’ majority in the Senate. With less than a year to go until the election, Law had managed to raise over $70 million on behalf of Republican candidates in critical races.

Nearly a decade later, Law is still on the front lines of Republican politics, serving as the chief executive officer of four independent advocacy organizations—including Crossroads —that have reshaped the nature of political campaigns. He’s now squarely focused on helping Republicans maintain their Senate majority, with the affiliated Senate Leadership Fund providing critical reinforcements for Republican senators and candidates in competitive races.

“We originally were planning to just be around a couple cycles, but I’m proud of the fact we have built an unusually seasoned and stable team,” Law said. “We built a network of donors that understand these organizations and know what we do. I have confidence in operating principles that go well beyond me or anyone else.”

Law’s career arc mirrors the changes in the way campaigns are run these days. In 1998 and 2000, he served as executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee—at a time when most outside cash to candidates flowed directly to partisan institutions. Now Law has as much influence on the outside, raising and spending millions on behalf of GOP candidates trying to protect Mitch McConnell’s hold on the majority.

—Josh Kraushaar

January 24, 2020

Steven Law is also president of Senate Leadership Fund.

Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, talked about Republican efforts to keep a Senate majority in 2020. Republicans were defending 23 seats in 2020 while Democrats were defending 12. Other topics included the impact of the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump and the president’s re-election race, political messaging, money, and the individual races of Senators Susan Collins (ME), Corey Gardner (CO), Martha McSally (AZ), and the Alabama Senate race in which former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to reclaim the seat held by Democratic Senator Doug Jones. Mr. Law, a former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY), also talked about Senator McConnell, who is up for reelection in 2020. 

The Democrats request for donations is in response to this man's insistence that Republicans be elected in 2020 and 2024.

Meet Steven Law.

Never heard of him? Makes sense. Not many Americans deal with the fact there are only a handful of men at the top of Republican fund raising. He is one of them. As a matter of fact he is so much the sole leader of such efforts there has to be a violation of campaign finance law.

October 30, 2012

By T. W. Farnum

After more than a decade (click here) working side by side, the two men rarely talk these days. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Steven Law, his trusted former aide, remain a powerful combined force in Washington.

Law heads American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, conservative groups whose $300 million budget has allowed them to outspend every other interest group in this election, as well as the Democratic National Committee. Together, the two groups have matched the Romney campaign in running anti-Obama ads, and in the past two months, they have put $35 million into 10 Senate races around the country — more than the Republican Party itself.

If things go his way, Law could deliver control of the Senate to the Republicans and their leader, McConnell. It would be a fitting outcome for the two, who have spent their careers in part shaping the rules governing how money is spent in politics....

I was always under the impression that Crossroads GPS was Karl Rove, not Steven Laws.

Pro-Ukrainian separatists

Could it be a child for a child retaliation? Many Ukrainian children are dead b cause of the Russian invasion to Ukraine.

Mr. Putin has many domestic enemies, estimates as high as 50 percent of the Russian people.

The question comes to mind, is a civil war breaking out in Russia? It might be best if the Russian people knew of the well being of Mr. Navalny.

Wasn't Flint supposed to join the Karegnondi Water Authority?

Reflecting on the extensive construction that has to occur to for a new pipeline, I can't believe the GLWA pipeline will make the September 3rd deadline. I know Governor Whitmer has initiated an emergency measure to move things along, but, her office really needs to take control of the final outcome.

I realize private contractors are preferred because they handle the business of economic thrift so well. But, with the Army Corp in Detroit (click here), I think they can be called in to protect the people from otherwise, gross mishandling of the water for Michigan.

The Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) (click here) acquired the services of LAN to evaluate and design a 66-inch raw-water transmission main from Bricker Road to Intermediate Pump Station. LAN was one of five design teams to help KWA design the 65 miles of raw transmission main that varied in size from 36-inch ductile iron pipe to 66-inch steel pipe. This project will include approximately 68,900 LF of pressure-class 150- and 200-psi steel pipe, as well as all necessary fittings, valves, and flushing hydrants. The estimated construction cost for the project is $36 million. The anticipated timeline for the evaluation and design of the project is to be completed within one year from the notice to proceed until notice to bid.

LAN also coordinated all site activities related to soil and survey collection both on the original and final routes within the allotted time, even though the final route was not determined feasible and easements acquired until after the completion of the 60 percent design documents for the original route.

This is how the it looks as of August 15, 2022.

Big connector pipes sitting on top of the ground are not the answer.

August 15, 2022

A water main break Saturday (click here for pictures) near the regional water authority’s water treatment facility in St. Clair County prompted it to place nearly two dozen communities under boil water advisories.

The water main distributes finished drinking water from the Great Lakes Water Authority's Lake Huron Water Treatment Facility to communities in the northern part of the water supplier's service area.

On Sunday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair counties due to the break.

Also Sunday, officials with the Great Lakes Water Authority said crews restored water pressure to communities impacted by the break. The pressure is not at its normal level, but there is enough for sanitary use....

Remember this? February 23, 2022

September 3rd is the best GUESS.

It is still going on.

It has been five days since the water main break occurred. No one is stating what caused it.

It is incredible. This is the counter offensive.

There was nothing the Ukraine military could do at the time of Russia's invasion of Crimea. The clash in the Maidan followed by Yanukovych leaving the country due to a very quick occupation force in Crimea happened very quickly. The national military of Ukraine had been disarmed by Yanukovych. There was nothing they could do to move against the occupying force.

Yanukovych had armed the oligarchs with militias to contain any uprising by the people. Ukraine leaders were jailed in Russia at this time, if they hadn't been poisoned to attempt assassination. Ukraine was foundering with power struggles considering all the Russian corruption still within the country. 

This is Ukraine today. Eight long years of being divided. It was going to happen one way of another. There was too much tension within the populations to have this simply be settled by Russia spending money on bridges. I am not surprised there are Pro-Ukrainian forces in Crimea. Russia oppressed these freedom loving people through their Pro-Russian corrupt leadership. Oppression only lasts long enough until it reaches a boiling point and then people find a way to undermine it and get rid of it.

August 17, 2022
By Srishti Singh Sisodia

"Extraordinary" details were provided in advance to the United States President Joe Biden related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, The Washington Post has reported.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine, what it calls a "special military operation" to "demilitarise" and "de-Nazify" its neighbouring country.

The invasion turned into a full-fledged war, causing an outsized impact on the global supply chain and leading to a massive humanitarian crisis. Thousands of people are dead and millions flew away from the conflict zones.

August 19, 2022
By Greg Miller and Catherine Belton

Kyiv - In the final days before the invasion of Ukraine, (click here) Russia’s security service began sending cryptic instructions to informants in Kyiv. Pack up and get out of the capital, the Kremlin collaborators were told, but leave behind the keys to your homes.

The directions came from senior officers in a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) with a prosaic name — the Department of Operational Information — but an ominous assignment: ensure the decapitation of the Ukrainian government and oversee the installation of a pro-Russian regime.

The messages were a measure of the confidence in that audacious plan. So certain were FSB operatives that they would soon control the levers of power in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian and Western security officials, that they spent the waning days before the war arranging safe houses or accommodations in informants’ apartments and other locations for the planned influx of personnel....

It is not worth it Vladimir, leave Ukraine.

 

Have the Ukrainian prisoners of war made it out of their prison camps?

August 19, 2022
By Josh Lederman and Hyder Abbasi

Dnipro, Ukraine - Pro-Ukrainian saboteurs (click here) were involved in the recent spate of explosions at Russian military sites in Crimea, a Ukrainian government official told NBC News.

The series of blasts hit military depots and airbases in the annexed peninsula over the past week, hinting at a growing ability by Ukraine's military or its backers to strike deep behind enemy lines, a development that could shift the dynamics of the war.

Kyiv has stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility for the explosions. The government official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to disclose information about the Crimea strikes to journalists....

August 18, 2022

By Annabelle Timsit, Sammy Westfall, Adam Taylor and Ellen Francis

A series of blasts at Russian military sites in Crimea (click here) this month has put a spotlight on the contested peninsula, which until now had been spared the heavy fighting of the nearly six-month-long war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have told The Washington Post that the explosions — including those at two air bases and an ammunition depot — were the work of Ukraine’s special forces seeking to disrupt Russia’s supply lines. Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and has occupied it since.

The Black Sea peninsula, which is about the size of Massachusetts, has long been fought-over by the world’s great powers. For years, it has been a point of contention between Moscow and Kyiv.

As it emerges as a new battlefront in the war, here’s what you need to know about Crimea and its strategic importance....

August 19, 2022
By Zoe Strozewski

More than half of Russia's naval aviation combat jets (click here) from its Black Sea fleet were knocked out in a series of explosions at a Russian airbase in Crimea earlier this month, according to a western official cited in a Reuters report Friday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that Ukraine was now steadily exacting "kinetic effects" far behind Russia's lines in the ongoing war that began February 24. This is impacting Russia's logistics support, as well as having "a significant psychological effect on the Russian leadership," the official said.

Newsweek was not able to independently verify the Russian jet losses and reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for confirmation and comment....

The Russian military relies on propaganda and political hubris to maintain it's fearsome reputation. It has no successful military industrial complex. It relies on spies and spineless USA presidents to carry it's reputation as invincible. 

It is time Vladimir Putin retire or resign and end this siege of Ukraine. Russia cannot contain the war. Given it's vulnerability from inside it's own borders Putin should not have pulled the linchpin on an invasion without knowing he would succeed. It has been a disastrous war without mercy on any civilian, especially children. 

August 18, 2022
By Holly Ellyatt

When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014 (click here) little was done to stop it or actively help Ukraine get its territory back, a salient point given Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor that begun earlier this year.

But now, Ukraine appears to be finally in a position to fight back on the peninsula with a spate of recent incidents in which Russian military positions and infrastructure in Crimea have been damaged.


These, it’s believed, are likely to be a part of Ukraine’s tentative counteroffensive in the south as it seeks to dislodge the occupying forces and eventually reclaim its territory, once and for all.

The latest incidents in Crimea took place on Tuesday when a fire caused multiple explosions in a Russian ammunition depot near Dzhankoi in the north of the peninsula. A nearby railway and electricity sub-station were also damaged as well as residential buildings, Russia’s defense ministry said....

This is not an unusual story.

We are a country, even with a global pandemic still unresolved, of nearly 330 million people. That is a lot of people on planet Earth in the USA. There are a lot of women managing their gender and it's potential for pregnancy everyday. There are also a lot of women becoming pregnant. There is an enormous amount of genetics at play in a country that proudly touts itself as "a melting pot." Those genetics can play tricks and physical ailments or physiological interruptions cause pregnancies to hang in the balance. The ONLY person qualified to assist in the decisions women make everyday regarding their fertility, unwanted pregnancies, pregnancies and some of those wanted pregnancies with troubles unique to the woman, is her doctor(s).

There is NO ONE IN THE USA qualified to assist every woman to make these decisions besides her doctor(s). 

NO ONE in the USA are licensed to practice medicine to assist American women with these difficult decisions. Women have worries about birth control, the kind that works best, unwanted pregnancies at a time in their lives that will set them back in their own pursuit of happiness and/or betterment in life than their parents. Women worry the entire time they are carrying a pregnancy. They think about the baby and wonder what it will be like to hold their children in their arms for the first time. 

Women worry about their husbands and/or partners as to what they will say and think when a surprise pregnancy is revealed. They worry about whether or not the future will be secure enough to provide for the ideals floating in their heads and hearts about the future expectations. 

Do you know there was a significant drop off in the number of pregnancies in 2020 because men and women thinking about having a family or having more of a family might be effected by a coronavirus. The financial insecurity that accompanied it alone was enough to postpone pregnancy.

Women with or without husbands worry a lot. They also experience great joy with pregnancy and childbirth willing to have their lives changed within nine months of a healthy and successful pregnancy. That goes unsaid. Americans love children. But, what no one in government stops to realize is that women don't want to have to worry about them, too. They have enough to worry about without having old, white guys in office call them irresponsible women for deciding an abortion is necessary for the reason they find it necessary.

Texas has passed laws that guarantee malpractice because highly qualified doctors have to first consult an attorney before doing the right thing for the woman and the family. THAT IS WRONG AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!

July 26, 202
By Carrie Feibel

New, untested abortion bans (click here) have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications, which has led to life-threatening delays and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.

Elizabeth Weller never dreamed that her own hopes for a child would become ensnared in the web of Texas abortion law.

She and her husband began trying in late 2021. They had bought a house in Kingwood, a lakeside development in Houston. Elizabeth was in graduate school for political science, and James taught middle-school math.

The Wellers were pleasantly surprised when they got pregnant early in 2022.

In retrospect, Elizabeth says their initial joy felt a little naive: "If it was so easy for us to get pregnant, then to us it was almost like a sign that this pregnancy was going to be easy for us."

Things did go fairly smooth at first. Seventeen weeks into the pregnancy, they learned they were expecting a girl. They also had an anatomy scan, which revealed no problems. Even if it had, the Wellers were determined to proceed....

My mother was right.

She is frequently right. Long time ago when Trump first started his shenanigans with the White House, my mother said, "That man has a lot to hide. That is why he is in the White House. If he were a successful businessman like he portrays he would not be in the White House. You wait and see, he will end up against the law before long."

From the first day she heard the name Allen Weisselberg she said he would be convicted of law breaking. She stated, "He will probably die in prison when this is over."

I said, "Mom, please can the facts come out and we will see what occurs?"

She replied, "You have got to be joking, Donald Trump has been hiding from reality and the truth all his life. He wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the butt. He is guilty and so is Weisselberg. And if Weisselberg takes the blame alone then Trump is threatening him. Cohen wasn't enough. Trump had to ruin lives to do what he did all his life. He doesn't deserve the time of day from any American in this country."

I guess if there has to be a moral to the story it is that many people like my mother have lived their lives within the law, paying their taxes, fighting for their country in war, raising their children to do better than they did and expecting their souls to go to heaven to be in the presence of the Almighty.

That is how my parents have lived their lives and they have a sixth sense when politicians are lying and/or promising something they can't deliver. The "can't deliver" part is a lie in a campaign that is unrealistic to any possible outcome. The "can't deliver" part is not about obstructionists like McConnell. My parents expect everyone elected to be forthright and honest and deliver what the country needs. My parents would not heap praises on a man who likes to be called "The Grim Reaper" or "Moscow Mitch." 

They were and my mother, now a widow, are very Middle Class. They didn't mind it. Both of their parents made their living as coal miners. In the case of my maternal grandfather from the age of 13 he went to work in the mines with his father. My paternal grandfather was a Blacksmith for the Pennsylvania coal mines. Anthracite coal was the commodity and it is gone now. But, they were poor. My parents didn't have nice homes as children growing up. My father went into the Air Force after graduation from High School and sent his pay home with instructions to buy a house for his return. Four years later, he returned to his parents and they had bought a two story house and he lived upstairs. 

Those are my roots. I am proud to this day to be the daughter of Middle Class adults who were in dirt poor poverty as young people and pulled themselves up through legitimate work and strong moral values. My grandparents on both sides are just as admirable and I still miss them to his day.

These people I speak of from my family have a sixth instinct. They know when something is wrong. They can sense it. It doesn't fit their moral fiber. So, when my mother says, "He will break the law, you just wait and see." I know she is right. I just like to have the facts before I "...get on my high horse about things."

I don't value living a lavish life. I value living. I value the quality of life I am afforded as an American and the freedom that accompanies it. My father and my uncles fought for it. I know when my mother protests the portrayed reality as false she means it and I know where she is coming from.

There is a Middle Class morality that many of us learn from the Unions that we join and the honor of representing others as Shop Stewards. We know the values that maintain the honor within our lives and we stand up for it every time.

I am glad Mr. Weisselberg is cooperating with the prosecutors. It is the right and moral thing to do. I am glad he will be in prison a short time and be able to be with the ones he loves for the rest of his life. I hope he holds this cleansing of his past dear to his heart and brings it to his god in humility. He is forgiven by the people of the USA. Mr. Cohen is, too. 

Donald John Trump is a traitor and he will not get away with it.

August 18, 2022

By Sheila McClear and Mark Berman

New York - Allen Weisselberg, (click here) the longtime top financial officer of former president Donald Trump’s company, pleaded guilty on Thursday to committing more than a dozen felonies, including criminal tax fraud and grand larceny.

Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were indicted last year by authorities in New York who charged them with concealing certain financial compensation as part of a years-long scheme to avoid paying taxes. The case is part of the churning legal maelstrom still surrounding Trump and his close allies, with local, state and federal authorities scrutinizing everything from his namesake business to his handling of classified government documents since leaving office.

Appearing in a Manhattan courtroom, Weisselberg, 75, acknowledged his part in the scheme outlined by prosecutors — and agreed to testify, if called, at a pending trial for the company. As part of his plea agreement, Weisselberg, Trump’s close and trusted associate for decades, would spend five months in jail, followed by five years of probation....

Rents are too high

 The reason there is a shortage of workers is because the rents and homes prices are far too high, especially rents. If workers can’t afford the rent they won’t be where they are needed. 

There is no reason for the increase except greed. The taxes haven’t gone up and city services are the same. Greed is the driving factor and when one landlord raises the rents they all do it.