Get your money !

Consumers (click here) affected by the 2017 Equifax data breach (that’s most U.S. adults who have credit) can get their names on the list to get free credit monitoring and/or monetary compensation.

You can see if you’re included by visiting  the settlement website 

But the compensation you apply for may not be what you end up with. Watch for qualifiers like “up to,” and know the limitations of the settlement....

CLAIM WEBSITE (CLICK HERE)

Moscow police detain hundreds over election protests (click here for new articcle - thank you)

Before Russia set its sights on the USA in 2014, it had plenty of practice at home. It is about time there were demonstrations to protest a country run by corruption.

There is no way Rep. Elijah Cummings is a brutal bully. It is more identity politics.

Congressman Cummings represents half of Baltimore, Maryland. If he is criticizing ICE in that city, there may be a good reason for it. 2018 revealed deep seated problems in law enforcement in Baltimore. Cleaning it up has been quite a task. 

December 20, 2019
By Jessica Anderson

...Right at the top of the department’s struggles (click here) were the racketeering convictions of eight members of its once-elite Gun Trace Task Force. Two sergeants and eight detectives robbed citizens under protection of their badges and claimed massive amounts of overtime for hours they did not work. In November, a ninth officer, former Baltimore and Philadelphia cop Eric Snell, pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired to sell drugs with the GTTF members.

The scandal only reinforced the community’s deep distrust of the Police Department at a time when widespread policing reforms were under way. A consent decree reached between the city and the U.S. Justice Department mandates a wide range of reforms, including limits on when and how officers engage individuals suspected of criminal activity, more training for police on de-escalation tactics and interactions with youths, those with mental illnesses, and protesters, and enhanced civilian oversight and transparency of the department....

Perhaps everyone will remember the exposure of the underbelly of the corruption in Baltimore with the death of Freddy Gray in 2017. Then when charges were brought against the officers involved it was all dismissed by the judge at the earliest phase of indictments. That is the disgusting truth of Baltimore and it isn't the crime that is the problem, it is the depth of the corruption that was the problem.

It took national recognition of the death of Freddy Gray in order to bring a focus to the corruption in Baltimore.

The name calling by the coward in the Oval Office is just more racism. Then people wonder why others don't trust the law.

The Arctic Regions of the USA are in very poor condition and cannot support profiteering.

Dutch Royal Shell was correct when they packed up and went home.

A cemetery (click here) sitting on melting permafrost tundra at the village of Quinhagak on the Yukon delta in Alaska. The scientists’ findings offer a further sign of a climate emergency. 

The Supreme Court will rule in favor of the emergency.

Why hasn't the Legislature and the Department of Defense sue Donald J. Trump? They have standing. This is Trump circumventing the legislature and robbing the DOD.

There is no military emergency. Therefore, taking monies from the DOD is wrong. There is a humanitarian emergency. That is hardly a military issue.

The lawsuit can easily state the president has caused the humanitarian emergency because of his own policies that have not been legislated. If there was a sincere threat to the USA, the legislature would move to pass legislation expressing same and funding it. Since there is no threat to the sovereignty of the USA through war, then the humanitarian relief is due to the lack of effective policies in the countries the asylum seekers are leaving.

There are good arguments to end this hideous situation at the southern border. The American people are effected by bad policies that cause these emergencies.

July 26, 2019
By Andrew Buncombe 

Donald Trump (click here) has celebrated after the US Supreme Court gave his administration the green light to spend $2.5bn from a military budget on building a border wall.

A trial court had previously said the money could not be switched from the Pentagon towards the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border, one of the president’s repeated policy promises to supporters. An appeals court had also refused to enter a stay while the matter was considered.

But on Friday, the nation’s highest court entered such a stay, and permitted constriction to continue while litigation over the issue played out....

Is she a future president?

July 25, 2019

Mari Copeny, (click here) 

Mari Copeny (click here) otherwise known as “Little Miss Flint”, has been advocating for the children of Flint since she was eight. She is now organizing a youth town hall so presidential candidates can answer questions from inquisitive youth.

Her activism work started when she wrote a letter to former President Obama about the lead contamination within Flint drinking water and he visited her to discuss her concerns. The youth town hall is a continuation of that conversation. So far, 10 candidates have agreed to participate in the town hall event.

These are the following candidates that are showing up to the event: Democrats Michael Bennet, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Mike Gravel, Seth Moulton, Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, Joe Sestak and Marianne Williamson.

She has voiced her excitement about the upcoming event on social media....    

McConnell covets donations over the country.

There has to be a way to bypass McConnell and bring the bills to the Senate floor for a vote.

July 26, 2019
By Nicole Goodking

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (click here) squashed two bills intended to ensure voting security on Thursday, just one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned that Russians were attempting to sabotage the 2020 presidential elections "as we sit here."

McConnell said he wouldn't allow a vote on the bills because they were "so partisan," but, as previously reported, earlier this year McConnell received a slew of donations from four of the top voting machine lobbyists in the country....

...The plans would likely burden the two largest electronic voting machine vendors in the United States, Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems, with new regulations and financial burdens. Together, the companies make up about 80 percent of all voting machines used in the country and both have far-reaching lobbying arms in Washington D.C. Many of those lobbyists have contributed to the McConnell campaign, reported Sludge last month, an investigative outlet that focuses on money in politics....

...Thursday's first bill, presented by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would authorize $775 million to bolster election security and require states to keep paper trails of all votes cast. The second, presented by Senator Richard Blumenthal, would require political candidates and their staff and family members to notify the FBI about any offers of assistance from foreign governments.

Election Systems & Software's CEO Tom Burt did speak in favor of creating paper trails for digital election systems and urged Congress to pass legislation requiring states to do so. Election Systems & Software has said it no longer sells machines without paperless ballots, so a rule change would benefit them....

...McConnell's actions seemed even more out of balance with his party, as the Senate Intelligence Committee⁠—led by Republicans⁠—released a report later on Thursday claiming Russians have targeted voting systems in all 50 states in 2016. Though there was no evidence votes were changed, in Illinois "Russian cyberactors were in a position to delete or change voter data."...

I have to wonder what all the failed court challenges by Trump has cost the people.

December 22, 2018
By Caroline Kelly, Ariana de Vogue and Dan Berman

The Supreme Court (click here) on Friday upheld a federal judge's order blocking the Trump administration's new asylum restrictions....

The latest is an agreement in Guatemala to have asylum claims signed in the country rather than the USA. At this point after the Supreme Court decision in 2018 that agreement is probably worthless. That is the problem for a man that tries to be a dictator in the USA if it doesn't have the agreement of the legislature, it probably will be defeated.

Watch the past Trump campaigns. In the immediate past campaign appearances, he took the stage as a heavily burdened man. He didn't take the stage as a high energy man as he demands of others that oppose him. 

I think it was all part of his act to win sympathies of his constituency. I suppose the Corruption Ring Boss isn't up to the job.

Trump has no strategy. He is sending troops willy nilly. He cannot deploy troops without a sound and measurable strategy.

22 June 2019
By Clarence Silber

Austin — Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott (click here) announced on Friday that he will send another 1,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border while accusing Congress of failing to take action on the growing humanitarian crisis.

The governor said at an afternoon press conference among Republican leaders and Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris that additional Guard members will assist at new detention facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso and at ports of entry.

It brings the total number of Guard members on the Texas border to more than 2,000, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. There are also 1,400 active-duty soldiers who remain on the border, according to an Army spokesman....

This can be what National Guard troops are for, not combat in Afghanistan.

July 26, 2019

Washington, D.C.—In response to reports that active-duty U.S. troops(click here) are now stationed inside Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) facilities at the U.S. southern border, Human Rights First's Bishop Garrison issued the following statement:

This is not why our men and women in uniform signed up to serve and it does them a disservice. Being stationed in detention facilities undermines our troops’ readiness for real crises. Our military is made up of the best and brightest our nation has to offer, but the longer our troops are used to carry out a misguided and cruel political agenda, the more our nation suffers for it. The president needs to provide the asylum system with the resources it needs, not militarize the border.

Human Rights First, in partnership with more than a dozen organizations with refugee and regional human rights expertise, recently released a new blueprint offering concrete steps to manage the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border and to address the damage the Trump Administration’s mismanagement of it has caused. 

Trump, Pence, Bolton, Pompeo and Esper are beginning their back door draft.

July 26, 2019
By Elvia Malagon

...O’Neill, (click here) a father of four who lives in suburban La Grange, is among an estimated 400 members of the Illinois Army National Guard who will be leaving this weekend to begin a more than yearlong deployment to Afghanistan in support of America’s “Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.”

Officials say the deployment of the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment — headquartered on Chicago’s South Side with companies in Elgin, Woodstock, Joliet, Kankakee and downstate Bartonville, near Peoria — marks the largest mobilization of Illinois National Guardsmen and women in nearly a decade....

I don't find it a surprise they are beginning a troop build-up by drafting our National Guard into service at the federal level at a time when Congress is going on a six week recess.

Trump's options are definitely spinning out of control since he abandoned the Iran Agreement.

Esper is a very different kind of Defense Secretary. He hasn't sincerely left Raytheon to take this position. He is considered a lobbyist for Raytheon. What he knows about the balance of power in the world can be put in a thimble. He is about war spending and not much else.

June 23, 2019
By Quinn Scanlan

Retired Admiral Mike Mullen (click here) was the second lecturer in the LEAD Distinguished Speaker series. 

The former top military adviser (click her) to both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama said on Sunday that he's concerned escalating tensions with Iran "could spin out of control," stressing that the last thing the world needs is the United States going to war with the Middle Eastern country.

"My biggest concern is the president is running out of room, running out of options, and while the rhetoric goes back and forth on how close we came to hitting Iran just the other day, that this thing could spin out of control," retired Adm. Mike Mullen told "This Week" Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz. "The last thing in the world we need right now is a war.

Mullen, who boasts a lengthy military career and served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff between October 2007 and September 2011, said politicians need to diplomatically attain their goal of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and that Americans need to call their representatives to advocate against declaring war on Iran.

"I really would like to know that the American people who feel we should not go to war with Iran are pressing their congressmen, their senators and everybody in the public domain to make sure that no matter what happens with respect to where we are with Iran right now, that we do not go to war," he said on "This Week." I think the politicians need to figure out a way to achieve the objective, which is Iran without a nuclear weapon, without -- from my perspective -- without regime change, without going to war."...

Esper is primarily a desk jockey. His highest rank was a lieutenant colonel which was achieved while in the Army Reserve. His battlefield exposure is very limited.

...Esper served as an infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division and deployed with the "Screaming Eagles" for the 1990–91 Gulf War. His battalion was part of the famous "left hook" that led to the defeat of the Iraqi Army. For his actions, Esper was awarded a Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and various service medals. He later led an Airborne Rifle Company in Europe and served as an army fellow at the Pentagon. Esper was on active duty for over ten years before transitioning to the Army National Guard and later the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Esper is a recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Among his military awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal – Saudi Arabia, and the Combat Infantryman Badge....

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is correct about impeachment. The case has to be strong to persuade the US Senate it is not a partisan effort to remove a president.

The progression to impeachment is obvious and it is not because it is artificial, it is all based on facts. I don't know how any American can state the US House is making up a movement against Trump with such a compelling testimony by the Former Special Counsel.

The USA Constitution states, "High crimes and misdemeanors." Misdemeanors. I think that speaks to the demand by the US Constitution for the strong moral character that every president should demonstrate. Trump doesn't come close.

The American Rule of Law states crimes committed by the president is not permitted. There have been presidents in the past that have been impeached. The issues with Trump demonstrate and far exceed that of previous impeachments. However, the Senate is not interested in the words of the USA Constitution and represent immoral people inside and evidently outside the borders of the USA.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is correct, the US House cannot impeach alone. She believes rightly if the investigations of the US Hosue leads to impeachment it will go forward and when it does it will be a strong case the Republican Senate is going to find impossible to deny.

Senator Mitch McConnell is Un-American. He doesn't care about the highest esteem possible for the VOTE.

July 25, 2019

Toward the end of his testimony (click here) before the House Intelligence Committee, former special counsel Robert Mueller responded to Democrat Peter Welch, who asked: “Have we established a new normal from this past campaign that is going to apply to future campaigns, so that if any one of us running for the U.S. House ― any candidate for the U.S. Senate, any candidate for the presidency of the United States ― aware that a hostile foreign power is trying to influence an election, has no duty to report that to the FBI or other authorities?”

Mueller responded: “I hope it’s not the new normal, but I fear it is.” During his testimony, Mueller added that “we are expecting [Russia] to [interfere] again during the next campaign.”...

Cindy Hyde-Smith is actually afraid that if foreign governments don't effect the USA elections Republicans will lose. They are Un-American. Just that simple. Anyone running for office should be representing ONLY those voting and not the influence of foreign power that seeks to end the USA democracy. They are cowards. They are afraid of their own voters unless they are UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN POWER.

...As if sensing an opportunity to prove Mueller correct, on Wednesday Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi blocked two election-security bills and a measure regarding cybersecurity for Senate staff. Democrats hoped to pass two bills requiring campaigns to alert the FBI and the Federal Election Commission if they received offers of assistance from abroad. Within the Senate, their bill would allow the sergeant-at-arms to offer voluntary assistance to help secure the personal devices and accounts of lawmakers and their staff....

Republicans cower in the corners of the American democracy along with White Supremacists/Nationalists and foreign powers that literally wage cyberwar against the freedoms and power of the USA. They are all cowards.

Foreign governments spending enormous amounts of money in efforts to end the power of the USA are among the most cowardly in the world. They don't care about the values of the USA in order to join capitalism as a strategy for their countries to begin to instill a strong middle class.

Cowards. That is what Republicans are, cowards among all the cowards of the world.

Having a strong and safe electoral system is the call of the unafraid to stand on their values and hopes for this country.

November 24, 2018
By Christal Hayes

Washington  – Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (click here) attended a segregation academy in high school and praised a Confederate soldier's attempts to "defend his homeland," according to reports. 

The reports, from the Jackson Free Press, an independent newspaper in Mississippi, and CNN, are the latest to bring up Mississippi's racist history ahead of a tense runoff election between Hyde-Smith and  Democrat Mike Espy, who is vying to become the state's first African-American in the Senate since the Reconstruction. 

In recent weeks, Hyde-Smith was criticized for a joke where she said she'd gladly attend a "public hanging" and be in the "front row." She was also captured on video making a joke about voter suppression, and photos posted to Facebook in 2014 show her with Confederate items and a caption reading, "Mississippi history at its best!"...

Michael Cohen commented on the testimony of the Former Special Counsel.

What I find interesting about his statement is that he is with the understanding there is much more to do to bring justice to the American people.

July 24, 2019
By Paul LeBlanc

..."Mr. Mueller today had the world stage to answer questions regarding obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Sadly, his reluctance just continues to leave the debate open and those responsible free from prosecution ... for the moment," he said. "The American people deserve more!"...

If Trump launches into war in the Middle East and/or returns the military draft Trump’s impeachment should begin immediately.

Donald Trump an no longer make the claim North Korea is not testing missiles.

July 24, 2019
By Barbara Starr and Sophie Jeong

North Korea has launched at least one short range projectile, (click here) according to an initial assessment described by a US defense official.

The official added that the launch appears to resemble the May 2019 firing of two short-range missiles, which traveled approximately 260 miles.

The South Korean military told CNN it was fired from the Wonson area.

"Our military, in preparation for additional launches, is maintaining (its) readiness posture by monitoring related movements," an official in the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff office said.

I think the US House Speaker is correct in that there needs to be more evidence and testimony to come forward. I also believe the Former Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III also made that perfectly clear today.

I think the Chairpersons of the US House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees did a great job. They proved their expertise. They were correct in bringing these hearings today. I had no idea the intelligence agencies are still engaged with so much information from the report of the Special Counsel.

Also, as evidence to the patience needed with this process are judges working with this material willing to release the redacted information as soon as possible. I do believe the country's legal infrastructure recognizes the brevity of this issue and everyone is working to bring all possible transparency to the people.

The numbers the Speaker presented to the press is impressive. It was a nice surprise to realize the fines defendants have to pay to the federal government pays for the Special Counsel investigation.

I will continue to read the report after a day or so until the country has absorbed what occurred today.

The Russians are still at it.

August 21, 2018
By Colin Dwyer and Sasha Ingber

A familiar cyberattack suspect linked with the Russian intelligence service (click here) has resurfaced in the months leading up to the U.S. midterm elections, according to Microsoft. The tech giant announced overnight that last week it executed a court order to disrupt six fraudulent websites set up by a hacker group known by many names — most often APT28, but also Fancy Bear or Strontium, among others.

The unit has been associated with the Russian spy agency GRU and blamed for a raft of high-profile hacks across the world in recent years — including the breaches of the Democratic National Committee's network during the 2016 presidential election.

In this case, Microsoft says the group established a half-dozen domains meant to be confused with two conservative groups, the U.S. Senate and even Microsoft's own suite of products. Two of those targets, the nonprofit International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute research center, have criticized the Kremlin.

Microsoft says the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute were targeted with my-iri.org and hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com, and that three domains — senate.group, adfs-senate.services and adfs-senate.email — mimicked the Senate. Microsoft itself appears to have been the focus of office365-onedrive.com....

Joseph Mifsud is a Maltese academic, with reportedly high level connections to the Russian government. In 2016,  (Wikipedia)

He lives and works in the UK. He was never a Russian agent, except Nunes. I don't know who anyone with a relationship with Malta can be called a Russian spy.

18 April 2019
By Kurt Sansone

The Russian government (click here) has described Malta’s decision to close its airspace to Russian military transport planes bound for Venezuela as “not friendly”.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday said the Russian government will take Malta’s decision “into account” when considering bilateral relations with Valletta.

Malta has twice refused permission to Russian military planes bound for Venezuela to use its airspace after a first request had been accepted.

At the weekly news briefing today, Zakharova said the Russian embassy in Malta had asked for permission to allow Russian planes bound for Venezuela to pass through Malta’s airspace.

She acknowledged that Malta exercised is sovereign right but went on to say: “The solution of Malta government is not friendly… of course Russia will take this into account in its bilateral relations with Valletta.”

The Russian government has insisted it was not given an explanation for the refusal....

...Zakharova insisted she was “surprised” by the statement that Russia would cause trouble, describing it as “absurd” and “fake news”....

...The Russian embassy had sought permission for a visit by the warship Severomorsk, a large anti-submarine guided-missile destroyer, to dock at Grand Harbour between 23 and 26 April but withdrew the request last Tuesday.

The Maltese government was going to refuse the request.

Exculpated!  Donald Trump was and is not exculpated.

It doesn't matter if the Special Counsel Report went to the Attorney General. The DOCUMENT CREATING THE SPECIAL COUNSEL SPECIFICALLY THE FINDINGS ARE TO BE PROVIDED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Bill Barr violated the order creating teh Special Counsel when he issues a four page summary, hence, Barr violated the law. When he was called on the carpet by Mueller with a 2 page letter, Barr finally released the report albeit redacted.

Exculpated is the word.

Donald Trump was and is not exonerated/exculpated. 

Exculpated is the word.

May 29, 2019
By Rachel Sandler

...Speaking publicly (click here) about his investigation for the first time, Mueller made it clear that—despite Trump critics’ hopes—he followed Justice Department policy that prohibits indicting a sitting president. But,he also said that if his team proved Trump was clean, “we would have said so.”...

Robert Mueller as a Special Counsel carries a responsibility to the American people. It was their election he was investigating. He made it clear Donald J. Trump could not be charged as his campaign chairman, Manafort was, HOWEVER, it was because of an opinion of the DOJ, and the American people should not be confused that actions and behavior by Donald J. Trump was indeed criminal in content.

I got that. Ya know? When he spoke about the report's findings I got the fact that the DOJ has a stupid opinion.

I really did get that part. I got it because Robert Mueller as Special Counsel said it.

When are the Republicans going to find a backbone to protect their country? Never? Then they need to be defeated when they want their Senate seat back.

Possible Statute of Limitations on Trump.

5 years (click here)

All crimes not otherwise provided for

The American people should not have to tolerate such issues. If there are crimes that have to be answered for and the DOJ has rendered itself helpless, then the Congress must seriously consider impeachment.

If he is guilty of bank fraud and tax evasions and/or fraud that statute is different. I believe bank charges are at least six years. However, the action by the US House regarding racism by the president has a statute limitation of a hate crime of seven years.

Considering the brevity of hate crimes, the president needs to abandon his campaign of hate against the four women. He will bear a degree of responsibility for any harm caused them.

The Wikileaks stuff is a problem with the chain of custody. The FBI/CIA would have to be able to prove the emails taken from the hacking were the emails displayed on Wikileaks. If there were intermediaries it would get messy and cause a flaw in the case to the jury.

Any emails displayed on the Russia sites are more clear. Trump's statements don't really convey anything that is evidence. They are evidence of his political preferences and that implies a lot of misguided values, but, there is no hard evidence in those statements about the crimes involved with ongoing proceedings.

While Trump was hugging Wikileaks, the Clinton campaign should have noted everything was one sided and his statements implied a lot of why that may be. That is the real craft in politics. In their defense and all those that supported her campaign were astounded by the crime and caught completely off guard, yet nothing seemed to rattle Trump.

Robert S. Mueller, III has been nothing short of an American hero all the years of his life and that is the case today. His time today was invaluable and a sincere thank you is in order for him, his staff and the family he is not with today.

I wish him a continued happy life and retirement.

3:29 PM