FOX News is a cherry picker. Prime example.

Don't misread this entry as an endorsement. It is an example of the very poor journalism at FOX News. FOX is trying to brand the new Democrats making headlines before there are known as good people with good policy that deserve a vote.

They also point to the fact "Vanity Fair" published the article about the Democratic hopeful before he announced. That is good journalism. Looking for "the exclusive" is what makes journalism great. I applaud "Vanity Fair" for it's insightful journalism.

Cherry picked news is not good for anyone or the country.

March 14, 2019

By David Badash

FOX News tried to take down former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (click here) Thursday morning, just after the Texas Democrat announced he is entering the race for the White House.

Vanity Fair published a lengthy, nearly 9000-word profile of O’Rourke this week, in advance of his expected announcement, and the “Fox & Friends” crew couldn’t help but try to mock the 46 year old who came surprisingly close to unseating Senator Ted Cruz this past November.

But out of all that nearly 9000 words in the Vanity Fair profile, it was this sentence that appeared to really bother “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade:

“A candidate of honesty and basic decency, à la Jimmy Carter, is in high demand among a lot of Democrats looking for optimal results in 2020, as is that sense of generational shift that powered Democratic campaigns dating back to John F. Kennedy (whose Profiles in Courage is in O’Rourke’s library).”

Kilmeade was clearly upset – that Beto reads books, and that Vanity Fair mentioned it.

“Vanity Fair has a huge article and feature on [Beto O’Rourke], it’s almost as if they helped launch his campaign,” Kilmeade says, as Media Matters reports....

There is a link between colorectal cancer and the consumption of beef.

The study noted below is very important because of the size of the group studied and the longevity of the study.

April 2, 2018
By E J Mondell

Another study, (click here) this time in British women, finds that diets high in red meat are linked to higher odds for colon cancer.

Numerous studies have linked a high intake of red meat to colon cancer. In fact, guidelines from the American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund International, released in September, recommended that people limit their intake of red meat to just over a pound per week to lower colon cancer risk.

In the new study, researchers tracked data on more than 32,000 women in the United Kingdom who were followed for an average of 17 years....

George Conway is getting increasingly upset with the Trump presidency.

This is March 8, 2019:

By Jessica Kwong

Lawyer George Conway, (click here) the husband of Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, on Friday said that if people were to be indicted based on President

Donald Trump’s wishes, the United States would be a “banana republic.”

Conway used the epithet—which can refer to both a politically unstable country with a limited economy, or to a country essentially operated as a private commercial enterprise—while speaking on a panel at Georgetown Law School.

“Now we have a president who has actually criticized this own attorney general on political grounds, because the attorney general allowed the indictment to congressmen who were supporters of the president,” Conway said. “The criticism being, ‘These guys supported me. Why did you allow that to happen?’”...

This evening Mr. Conway is even more upset, and his tweeting went on from this entry several more times.

George Conway@gtconway3d 1h

Have we ever seen this degree of brazen, (click here) pathological mendacity in American public life? One day he makes a harmless slip of the tongue, something any mentally balanced person would laugh off.

I think George Conway is right. Additionally, there is this retweet by Mr. Conway:

During White House event, (click here) Trump -- echoing Manafort's lawyer's lie -- falsely claims Judge Amy Berman Jackson exonerated him of collusion.

"That was proven today -- no collusion. There was no collusion... it was all a big hoax... Today, again, 'no collusion.'"

The original tweet is by Aaron Rupar. This parroting that Donald Trump carries out regarding the Manafort convictions and sentencing is corrupt to the core. His parroting is pardon dangling. Trump does this to impress upon Paul Manafort that he should not speak of any crimes by Trump.

This is pardon dangling by a man that has no respect for the American people or the USA Constitution. All Trump knows is power and plenty of it to make his life as comfortable as it can be at the expense of everyone else.

TRUMP'S PARROTING IS PARDON DANGLING!

California Governor Gavin Newsom is correct. Besides the death penalty being a moral issue all by itself; there is no humane or safe way of carrying out.

Donald Trump is responsible for the deaths of the Ethiopian Airlines crash. 

1. The FAA argued with Boeing about “the fix” to the MAX 8 after the October crash.

2. He did not seat a director to the FAA at all.

3. His five week shutdown delayed Boeing in carrying out “the fix” of the now KNOWN problem.

4. If Boeing was left alone and Trump didn’t chronically use the US government as a political wedge including a 5 week shutdown the people on the Ethiopian Airline jet would still be alive.

5. How long is Mitch McConnell going to allow Trump to remain in office killing innocent civilians through his illegitimate administration!

Americans need to boycott the use of the Boeing MAX 8 until EVERY MAX 8 is repaired and safe to fly. Americans need to put their safety and their well being first. They have a president willing to gamble with their lives.

Boeing has been acting in good faith following the crash in October.

Police work continues to save lives.

Trump's promise to stop drug smugglers is yet to be achieved. This seizure of 3200 pounds of cocaine is proof the cartels are worse than ever and don't necessarily use just the southern border.

March 11, 2019
By Augusta Anthony

New York - Authorities at the Port of New York and New Jersey (click here) have seized about 3,200 pounds of cocaine in what authorities are calling the largest cocaine seizure at the port in nearly 25 years, and the second largest of all time.

The drugs were found aboard a shipping container that entered the US from Buenaventura, Colombia, last month and have an estimated street value of $77 million....

The conservative members were willing to back May's agreement.

It is getting interesting.

Brexit, AKA "Apocalypse now."

March 12, 2019

In a major rejection, (click here) British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal deal was voted down by lawmakers in the House of Commons.

MPs rejected the agreement by 391 votes to 242 -- a majority of 149.

It’s the second time her deal has failed.

The coming days will be unpredictable, as British lawmakers vote on whether to crash out of the European Union without a deal, or to delay the divorce process.

May had hoped that changes to her deal agreed with the EU at the last minute on Monday night would get her deal across the line, but many lawmakers remained reluctant to back it.

I take it that Russia is not willing to give Europe that feel good feeling anymore.

We have been here before. It was called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The difference is that the USA could trust Kennedy.

March 12, 2019
By Rikard Jozwiak

Brussels -- The European Parliament (click here) has overwhelmingly voted to approve a report stating that Russia “can no longer be considered a ‘strategic partner’” and that “the EU cannot envisage a gradual return to ‘business as usual’ until Russia fully implements the [2015] Minsk Agreement [which lays out a process for achieving peace in eastern Ukraine] and restores the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

The report -- titled On The State Of EU-Russia Political Relations -- is nonbinding but represents the European Parliament’s position on relations with Moscow.

The document says European lawmakers are “deeply concerned about the links between the Russian government and the extreme right and populist nationalist parties and governments in the EU, such as in Hungary” and calls for an “EU-wide mechanism allowing the screening of political parties’ funding,” and measures to be taken “to avoid some parties and movements being used to destabilize the European project from within.”...

Maine's State Senate Democrats are taking on the high cost of prescription meds.

March 12, 2019
By Joe Lawler

Party leaders (click here) will submit an array of bills, including setting up a state commission with oversight authority on drug pricing and allowing bulk importation from Canada....

Putin is old KGB. He believes the more intelligence he has about the USA the more confident he is about defeating NATO and the USA. Well. If Syria is a precursor to the truth; so far it is the USA 0, Russia 200. Losses. Soldier losses.

It all comes down to the fighting force, the will and the ability of generals to turn a burgeoning loss into a victory. I think NATO knows it's odds.

The relationship between China and Russia is interesting. China is less motivated to carry out a war, although it's struggling modern economy may be an interesting reason to join Russia in combat. China is more interested in it's Superpower status. China also has incredibly good infrastructure. Beautiful actually. I believe China is more amenable to diplomacy than Russia.

NATO must stand strong with Post Soviet states.

The Post-Soviet states have strong alliances. They share many of the same concerns. Russia is deathly afraid of Ukraine because of it returning missile capacity. The first missiles Ukraine tested after years of dormant interest as it's national military was disarmed,  proved to be successful. Ukraine can sell it's missile technology to other Post-Soviet states that will understand it's mechanisms. All these folks once lived under the same oppressive regimes, they know Ukraine technology.

HAVING THE POST-SOVIET STATES USE FAMILIAR TECHNOLOGY WILL FACILITATE A FASTER BUILD UP. The downside is that Russia knows this technology as well, so it has to be replaced with NATO munitions over time. 

NATO needs to stand with them while accepting refugees should Russia become really stupid about the future.

To be noted is the trade relationships China has with South America and Africa. It is benevolent, however, if there is also military sales to these countries from China there also could be authority between them to act as allies. 

This is 2019 and Trump is the dummy in the Oval Office, don't take anything for granted.

Oh, yeah, the collapse of the Venezuelan electrical power grid is Russia not the USA.

Russia has a history of pulling such stunts. It is worth noting this occurred while Trump is in office. He is giving information to Russia. No one can convince me otherwise.

NATO should take note.

March 15, 2018
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Michael Riley

Russian hackers (click here) are conducting a broad assault on the U.S. electric grid, water processing plants, air transportation facilities and other targets in rolling attacks on some of the country’s most sensitive infrastructure, U.S. government officials said Thursday.

The announcement was the first official confirmation that Russian hackers have taken aim at facilities on which hundreds of millions of Americans depend for basic services. Bloomberg News reported in July that Russian hackers had breached more than a dozen power plants in seven states, an aggressive campaign that has since expanded to dozens of states, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

"Since at least March 2016, Russian government cyber actors" have targeted "government entities and multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors," including those of energy, nuclear, water and aviation, according to an alert issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation....

Inhumane conditions under Maduro proves the true agenda of Cuba and Russia.

Maduro isn't using money anymore, he sent a trillion US of gold to Russia for munitions. If Russia and Cuba cared about the people in Venezuela they would be instilling their own sanctions against Maduro, but, that is not what is occurring.

Venezuela is being used as a staging ground for the conflict between the communists and the USA. There is a far greater peril with Venezuela than starving people.

Diplomats need to leave the country for their own safety due to rapidly deteriorating conditions, but, 90 day unilateral war within Venezuela by Trump is simply playing into Russia's plans for a major First World war with Russia, Cuba and China.


...The Russian resolution called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but added that Maduro needed to approve aid deliveries. The Russian text also expressed "concern over the threats to use force" against Venezuela....

The Russian "concern" is a pretext to war. Russia has no intention of providing humanitarian aid.

There is absolutely no consensus that I have found whereby any USA allies or surrounding countries endorse an invasion into Venezuela (click here). Trump will carry out a 90 day war that will escalate with Russia's alliance with Maduro. The USA Congress will not approve a war within Venezuela, except, if the conflict escalates to the point of danger to the USA. It will happen and Russia will make it happen.

March 11, 2019
By Kenneth Rapoza

Unless that Petro coin is worth anything, (click here) it is going to be increasingly difficult for Venezuela’s ruling Socialists United to get loans from abroad. Especially if it means the bank has to go through the American financial system.

Treasury sanctioned Russia’s Evrofinance on Monday, sending a clear message to other foreign lenders.

Evronfinance was involved in helping Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro set up the nation’s cryptocurrency last year as an end-around potential sanctions. Sanctions have now hit and are getting worse for the struggling Venezuelan leadership.

Targeting Russia is a shot across the bow to other lenders. Chinese banks could easily be next. Both Russia and China have been the lenders of first—and last—resort for Venezuela....

The Russian soldiers currently in Venezuela are there to protect Maduro, but, they are also there for reconnaissance. Russia is carrying out it's strategy for war against the USA.

Trump is playing right into their plans. I find the willingness of Trump without a consensus of NATO or the surrounding South American countries inconsistent with USA policy and more reminiscent of "W"s invasion of Iraq. 

Russia has been leading up to this for a long time. It has been building relationships with South American countries since the Iraq invasion by the USA. Putin knows once the elections of 2020 occur there will be a sea change of political will in DC and he won't be tolerated for any of Russia's mischieve. Putin is building up forces along it's western border to invade NATO while Trump is distracted by Venezuela. Trump has proven indifferent to NATO and now it is evident why.

January 25, 2019

Moscow - Private military contractors (click here) who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in the past few days to beef up security for President Nicolas Maduro in the face of U.S.-backed opposition protests, according to two people close to them.

A third source close to the Russian contractors also told Reuters there was a contingent of them in Venezuela, but could not say when they arrived or what their role was.

Russia, which has backed Maduro's socialist government to the tune of billions of dollars, this week promised to stand by him after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself president with Washington's endorsement.

It was the latest international crisis to split the global superpowers, with the United States and Europe backing Guaido, and Russia and China urging non-interference.

Yevgeny Shabayev, leader of a local chapter of a paramilitary group of Cossacks with ties to Russian military contractors, said he had heard the number of Russian contractors in Venezuela may be about 400....

FOX News and their lying commentators are practicing racism.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Congresswoman Ihan Omar are both minority women. Is there any doubt these freshman Congresswomen are targets of hate? To state Speaker Pelosi is not doing their job in HANDLING these talented women is also racism.

When FOX News talks about competency and hate speech they can start with the President, a white man. There is a direct link between Trump and FOX News in manipulating the messaging to the American people.

Shutting down the USA Press Briefings was UnAmerican. Now that it has resumed the President needs to answer for his incompetent administration and the lack of professional staff in all the Executive Branch agencies. I don't hear those questions. The previous administrator of the FAA improved standards, improved the airlines' records and today we are looking at over 500 deaths in two airline crashes of a single model jet and still, Trump is leaving seats in vital agencies open.

The focus on election propaganda needs to change with the Trump Press Secretary and hard answers to pressing dangers put in it's place! The American people have a right to safe and sane answers to important questions and Sanders is not forthcoming.

Sanders should also be taking a stand in regard to the "NO information voter" and not promoting it. The NO information voter may not have a clue about this occurrence and that is UnAmerican. In the age of information, every American needs facts to make informed decisions.

The fact Boeing stock is tumbling is not going to end because of Trump propaganda. THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP IN THE WHITE HOUSE and that is why the company's stock is at issue.

There should be press conferences with the company about what the issues actually are and Trump should be holding the line on giving Boeing a pass for the responsibility it may hold in these crashes. The longer the vacuum of enforcement of high standards for the airline industry goes on, the worse the circumstances for Boeing will become. This is a reflection on American competency and the world is watching.

March 12, 2019
By Trista Kelly

Boeing is set to tumble again (click here) in New York trading when markets open on Tuesday, following a 5.3% plunge on Monday, after Australia and Singapore became the latest to suspend use of all Boeing 737 Max planes. 

Boeing's stock is down 3.7% in premarket trading, equivalent to a drop of about $8.4 billion from Boeing's market capitalization. 

Mexican, Brazilian and Argentine carriers also said they will ground Boeing 737 Max planes, the Wall Street Journal reported. The countries follow Indonesia and China in grounding the jets after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Sunday, which killed all 157 people on board.

Who replaced Michael Huerta at the FAA?

Is this one of the "Acting" director issues that Trump prefers?

January 3, 2018

The U.S. agency overseeing aviation safety (click here) loses its chief at midnight Saturday with no replacement in sight — days after President Donald Trump took credit in a tweet for the airlines’ safest year on record....

There were Americans killed in that Ethiopian Airlines crash. There is profound reasons to impeach a president if he is placing the lives of Americans in jeopardy. McConnell needs to realize this president is incompetent and it is showing.

March 12, 2019

Alan Diehl, (click here) former air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 and what can be learned from the accident. They also discuss the plane Boeing 737 Max 8 which has now been involved in two crashes.

McConnell is not conducting Senate oversight and is absolutely not backing the American people when dangerous conditions exist with impunity.

March 11, 2019
By Alan Levin and Julie Johnsson

U.S. aviation regulators (click here) signaled their confidence in the safety of Boeing Co.’s embattled 737 Max jetliner, issuing a global notice of “continued airworthiness” a day after the model’s second deadly crash in less than five months.

There isn’t conclusive evidence so far to link the loss of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 on Sunday and a fatal Lion Air disaster involving the same jet model in October, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday. Boeing is working on improvements to the plane’s flight-control system and the FAA plans to publish a related directive to operators “no later” than April.

“External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and the Lion Air Flight 610 accident on October 29, 2018,’’ the FAA said. “However, this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions.’’...

There is absolutely no reason the FAA has to contradict the public concern. This is "Wall Street" focused propaganda. If the FAA has scoured it's records regarding the Max 8 that proves there is no threat to American lives then put it out to the public. The two crashes within 8 months is notable and there is something wrong. It is the obligation of the USA government to investigate these crashes and have PROOF there is nothing wrong with the jet. The facts currently at work is highly worrisome, including any other factor such as pilots and maintenance.

Knock it off. China is too invasive into American infrastructure. Is Wall Street guilty of providing China with USA intelligence exposure?

Nancy Pelosi is not the person to harass regarding impeachment, McConnell is.

Here is something worth chasing down:

March 11, 2019
By Alex Marquardt

...Nestled among these silos (click here) are clusters of cell phone towers operated by a small rural wireless carrier. According to FCC filings, those cell towers use Chinese technology that security experts warn could allow China to gather intelligence while also potentially mounting network attacks in the areas surrounding this and other sensitive military installations.

Huawei, the Chinese company that makes the tower technology, is shunned by the major US wireless carriers (including AT&T, which owns CNN parent company WarnerMedia) and the federal government over national security concerns. Yet its technology is widely deployed by a number of small, federally-subsidized wireless carriers that buy cheaper Chinese-made hardware to place atop their cell towers. In some cases those cellular networks provide exclusive coverage to rural areas close to US military bases.

In congressional testimony last year, the heads of six major US intelligence agencies -- including the FBI and CIA - warned Americans against using Huawei devices and products. Security experts say that having its technology deployed so close to the nation's arsenal of ICBMs could pose a far greater threat.

"We know the Chinese are engaged in a massive espionage campaign against the US," said James Lewis, director of the Technology Policy Program at the DC-based think tank The Center for Strategic and International Studies. "We know that the Chinese engage in massive surveillance against their own population. You put two and two together and say, how comfortable do I feel having Huawei on the phone systems around my most important military bases?...

To me the arrest in Canada of the Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, is far more profound than it appears. Trudeau did the USA a great favor by arresting Meng Wanzhou.

Americans are not used to thinking of a Wall Street company as an espionage tool. That is a problem which leads to the invasive methods that effected the 2016 election. The Russians invaded the USA's telecommunication infrastructure long before 2016.

I do not believe these Chinese cell towers controls the missile silos, but, I do believe Huawei cell towers are used by China for espionage and information gathering. If the USA is stupid enough to use any cell tower to control missile silos then the country is lost. Those missile silos are older than any cell tower and are manned by USA military. What is a worry is the land above these missile silos are invaded by Chinese intelligence.

Good for thought.

Regarding Russian collusion or better said conspiracy; there is real incentive for all facing the Special Council to steer clear of putting Donald Trump in the path of indictments and/or impeachment. It is called a pardon. He is the real lynchpin in all this. Trump has been talking to these defendants in code through the media and them to him. If there seems to be missing pieces in some of the stories surfacing, it is probably to keep Trump in the position of president. The missing piece could be Trump. 

Try filling in the missing piece with Trump and see if the story makes better sense.

I would close down a website to protect a friend wouldn’t you?

The findings for the Special Council investigating the invasion of Russia into the 2016 elections is vital to USA sovereignty.

The Special Council/Mueller Investigation is about the country and the ways it was invaded by Russia to effect the 2016 elections. It is vital and to that end, it needs to go forward and bring about a clear understanding of the problems beset that election.

I understand AG Barr is thinking about providing his own edition of the Special Council report when it becomes available. That is not acceptable. A full report MUST go to the Congress and the public can be provided a redacted copy from the US Congress.

The Trump campaign is involved in this report and no Trump administration official should be changing a word when it is sent to Congress.

March 11, 2019
By Chris Strohm

The Trump administration has set aside $10 million (click here) for Special Counsel Robert Mueller during the next fiscal year, although the funding won’t be necessary if the Russia investigation ends before then.

The funding is essentially a placeholder in the Justice Department’s budget request for fiscal 2020, a Justice Department official said. Mueller is believed to be wrapping up his investigation. In the unlikely event he needs money in the next fiscal year, however, he’ll have to put forward his own budget request this summer.

The placeholder funding isn’t intended to represent how much money Mueller will actually spend, the official added, but it nevertheless appears to be a close estimate of how much the investigation costs.

For example, Mueller spent $9.1 million during fiscal 2018, according to expenditure statements released by the Justice Department.

Brexit

Tomorrow is the final day for the Brexit vote of the British government.

March 11, 2019

London - British Prime Minister Theresa May (click here) is likely to change the status of Tuesday’s parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, The Sun’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, said.

“PM meeting with senior aides in No10 now to plot a way through this week’s carnage,” he said on Twitter. “I’m told it’s most likely she will decide to change tomorrow’s vote from a meaningful one to a provisional one.”

The above opinion is incorrect. Prime Minister Theresa May has successfully met with the EU and has come out with specifics about the concerns of Ireland a winner.

I sincerely believe the British Parliament will vote to accept the agreement between the UK and EU. The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke eloquently about the governance of the transition the British people will receive. He believes the EU has acted responsibly in regard to the concerns of the British Parliament and includes concerns for all parties, including Ireland.

Tomorrow is the vote and if the agreement does not pass the British Parliament there will be no more meetings.

March 11, 2019
By Jill Lawless and Raf Casert

London - The British government (click here) said Monday that frenzied last-minute diplomacy had won "legally binding changes" to overcome a roadblock in its divorce deal with the European Union, hours before Parliament was due to decide the fate of Prime Minister Theresa May's hard-won agreement — and of Britain's departure from the EU.

On the eve of Tuesday's vote, May flew to the French city of Strasbourg, where EU legislators were meeting, for nighttime talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The prime minister was seeking revisions, guarantees or other changes to persuade reluctant British legislators to back her withdrawal agreement with the EU, which they resoundingly rejected in January.

Late Monday, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington announced in the House of Commons that the two sides had agreed on "legally binding changes" to a portion of the deal relating to the Irish border....

A subpoena will break the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

There are women and men waiting in the wings hoping to testify before Congress.

Karen McDougal, Stephanie Clifford, Michael Avenatti and currently Diana Falzone believe they need to be on the Congressional record and still want the public to know the truth.

Calling these folks forward on a subpoena will be politically controversial because, as Michael Cohen, they are accused of being liars or worse. With that, I believe the American people want these people to be subpoenaed and compelled to tell the truth. The American people want the truth. 

March 9, 2019
By Maria Jose Valero

A former Fox News reporter (click here) is calling on the network and “specifically Rupert Murdoch” to release her from a non-disclosure agreement after others in the media questioned her reporting on President Donald Trump’s alleged payment to Stormy Daniels.

“The public has the right to know the truth,” Diana Falzone said in statement released on Saturday. Falzone accused former Fox News executive Ken LaCorte and Howard Kurtz, an on-air commentator at the network, of making “defamatory statements” about her.

An investigation by the New Yorker published March 4 said Falzone had confirmed before the 2016 presidential election that Trump arranged the payments to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet about their affair....