Wednesday, May 31, 2017
"Norman"
The film, "Norman" stars Richard Gere and is funded through Israeli interests. Go see it. It is enjoyable with a fair amount of humor. It is about the choices that are before a person and the unmeasured morality that accompanies them. It is worth the cost of the ticket.
May 31, 2017
By Elizabeth Warren
Betsy DeVos recently completed her 100th day as Secretary of Education, and the resistance to her agenda has spread across this country like wildfire.
Last week, Secretary DeVos and President Trump's Department of Education released a budget that would upend the student aid program and make it much harder for students to afford college and repay their student loans. At the same time, the head of the federal student aid office abruptly resigned amid reports of political meddling by DeVos.
With the educational and financial futures of millions of people hanging in the balance, here's a place to start scrutinizing Secretary DeVos.
Early in the Obama administration, Congress gave full ownership of the federal student loan portfolio to the Department of Education, removing middlemen from the program and cutting out the profits that private banks skimmed off the system. This was a brave move that required standing up to some very powerful banks and private businesses that wanted to keep on skimming....
DeVos did not submit an ethnics document to the US Senate confirmation committee before her public questioning.
January 20, 2017
by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
The Senate Committee (click here) on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has postponed the vote on Trump’s education pick Betsy DeVos, hours after receiving the completed ethics review for the Michigan billionaire.
The committee vote, originally scheduled to take place Tuesday has been rescheduled for Jan. 31 at 10 a.m., according to a statement from the HELP committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The announcement arrived after the Office of Government Ethics, an agency that examines nominees’ financial disclosures and resolves potential conflicts of interest, released its long-awaited report Friday. Alexander said he wants to give each Senator on the committee time to review the documents.
Ethics Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. had said a full vetting of extremely wealthy individuals, such as DeVos, could take weeks, if not months, much to the chagrin of Senate Democrats who wanted to review it before DeVos’s confirmation hearing, which took place Tuesday evening....
Are the ethics documents STILL being reviewed from Trump's billionaires?
By Elizabeth Warren
Betsy DeVos recently completed her 100th day as Secretary of Education, and the resistance to her agenda has spread across this country like wildfire.
Last week, Secretary DeVos and President Trump's Department of Education released a budget that would upend the student aid program and make it much harder for students to afford college and repay their student loans. At the same time, the head of the federal student aid office abruptly resigned amid reports of political meddling by DeVos.
With the educational and financial futures of millions of people hanging in the balance, here's a place to start scrutinizing Secretary DeVos.
Early in the Obama administration, Congress gave full ownership of the federal student loan portfolio to the Department of Education, removing middlemen from the program and cutting out the profits that private banks skimmed off the system. This was a brave move that required standing up to some very powerful banks and private businesses that wanted to keep on skimming....
DeVos did not submit an ethnics document to the US Senate confirmation committee before her public questioning.
January 20, 2017
by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
The Senate Committee (click here) on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has postponed the vote on Trump’s education pick Betsy DeVos, hours after receiving the completed ethics review for the Michigan billionaire.
The committee vote, originally scheduled to take place Tuesday has been rescheduled for Jan. 31 at 10 a.m., according to a statement from the HELP committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The announcement arrived after the Office of Government Ethics, an agency that examines nominees’ financial disclosures and resolves potential conflicts of interest, released its long-awaited report Friday. Alexander said he wants to give each Senator on the committee time to review the documents.
Ethics Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. had said a full vetting of extremely wealthy individuals, such as DeVos, could take weeks, if not months, much to the chagrin of Senate Democrats who wanted to review it before DeVos’s confirmation hearing, which took place Tuesday evening....
Are the ethics documents STILL being reviewed from Trump's billionaires?
Governor Brownback's economy failed and now Republicans are afraid to admit it.
Speaker Pelosi should be making example of the Kansas EXPERIMENT that has brought the state to the brink of disaster with nearly a half a trillion per year deficit.
Brownback and the Kansas Republicans have been buying votes. That is what this amounts to. He stayed in office at the expense of the budget and now it has to be paid back and the Kansas Republicans don't want to admit they have been deceiving the people about the truth of the issues facing the state.
May 20, 2017
By Jonathan Shorman
...House Majority Leader Don Hineman, R-Dighton, (click here) would not comment after the failed vote....
Brownback and the Kansas Republicans have been buying votes. That is what this amounts to. He stayed in office at the expense of the budget and now it has to be paid back and the Kansas Republicans don't want to admit they have been deceiving the people about the truth of the issues facing the state.
May 20, 2017
By Jonathan Shorman
...House Majority Leader Don Hineman, R-Dighton, (click here) would not comment after the failed vote....
...In the Senate, Democrats joined with moderate Republicans and some members of Senate Republican leadership to move the bill across the line, but the vote total was short of the 27 votes that would have been needed to override a veto by Brownback.
"We need to get Kansas back on a somewhat structurally balanced budget," said Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, R-Overland Park.
Denning said the bill could make the state budget "semi-stable."
"At the end of the day, we’ve got to start some place. It’s the 102nd day of the session, people (are) wondering what the heck is going on," said Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City.
The bill the Senate passed Tuesday would have raised more than $1.2 billion over the next two fiscal years by ending Brownback’s tax exemption for roughly 330,000 business owners and boosting income tax rates.
It would have restored a third income tax bracket eliminated in Brownback’s 2012 tax cuts.
Tax rates would have begun to increase this year. The rates would have been phased in, rising first to 2.9 percent, 4.9 percent and 5.2 percent.
By tax year 2018, the tax rates would have risen to and remained at 3.1 percent for the lowest bracket, 5.25 percent for the middle rate and 5.7 for the highest rate.
The Sales Tax and Revenue Bond Financing Act, referred to as STAR bonds, would also have been extended under the proposal.
Kansas faces a budget shortfall of roughly $900 million over two years. That does not include any additional education spending that lawmakers may approve as part of a new school funding formula....
This is not the Taliban. Afghanistan has a very deadly history. War is almost as common place as diversity of cultures.
This is a peculiar bombing that murdered four journalists.
May 31, 2017
The appalling bomb blast (click here) in Kabul yesterday emphasised how fragile Afghanistan’s search for peace has become. The country has settled into an uneasy equilibrium that the insurgents find easy to disturb far too often, and the army is unable to take the fight to the remote valleys where the government’s authority does not run. The Afghan army has some major internal issues as it wrestles with high casualties and a steady stream of desertions as individual soldiers make their own decisions on their future. Their morale is low as they have been worn down by the long grind of years of military struggle against insurgents that seems to continue without end as the Taliban and its allies still control over a third of Afghan territory....
Afghanistan's History of War (click here) The West has never successfully won a war in Afghanistan. Neither has Russia. China has the most accepted approach in exploiting rare minerals. It would seem as though everyone is in agreement about making money.
I have no idea if the deaths of four BBC journalists has anything to do with the bombing in Great Britain that saw its military deployed in the streets, but, Daesh is desiring an invasion of sorts into Europe. If Afghanistan is seen as a greater threat it will relieve the pressure on entering Europe.
NATO has tow threats, that of Daesh in Europe, primarily where nuclear capacity is available and Russia that does not want to end the border wars with Ukraine. Both demand attention and there is little time for increasing a war footprint in Afghanistan. The Afghan military has had plenty of time to establish a worthy military.
If there is to be an escalation of any military presence, I would think it would be Libya. Drones perhaps.
...Britain's domestic security agency of MI5 is currently tackling 500 terror investigations and watching some 3,000 suspects. Putting one person under surveillance is expensive, requiring as many as 30 officers. That type of surveillance also requires a high threshold of suspicion that a suspect could turn to violence. British security officials say at least five terror plots in Britain have been thwarted in the past two months, although they have not released details of the plots....
The Brits are busy. I hardly think a further deployment into Afghanistan is wise. The Taliban are not allies of Daesh. Quite the opposite. There are however mixed reviews about the two groups.
April 26, 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
Kabul, Afghanistan
Nearly 100 Taliban and pro-Daesh militants (click here) have been killed in fighting in northern Afghanistan, police said Wednesday.
Sporadic fighting in the Darzab district of Jowzjan province is ongoing, Rahmatullah Turkistani, a spokesman for the Afghan National Police, told Anadolu Agency.
He said a total of 91 militants had been killed in clashes over the kidnapping of drug smugglers who were to pay the Taliban as part of an opium deal.
“The clashes erupted when group of armed Taliban attacked Daesh militants [to secure] the release of three drug smugglers who came here to pay 10 million afghanis [$14,780] to the Taliban for a deal,” Turkistani said.
Raza Ghafori, a spokesman for the provincial administration, confirmed the casualties and said the Taliban had borne the brunt of the losses....
Ethnic cleansing has never been a priority for the Taliban as it is Daesh. 77
September 10, 2015
The Afghan Taliban (click here) has condemned the killing of 13 people belonging to the minority community as a plot to “breed fault lines.” The statement seems to be an apparent dig targeted at Daesh (the Islamic State), as the Syria and Iraq based group struggles to gain a foothold in the South Asian country partly because of the absence of a deeply sectarian environment.
A few days ago, gunmen killed 13 Hazaras after dragging them from their vehicles in the relatively calm northern Balkh province -- in a rare attack as attacks targeting minority groups are not characteristic of violence in Afghanistan....
In my opinion, the attack on Kabul is a method to open still yet more war fronts and reduce presence elsewhere.
Trump abandoning NATO is simply opening the door to Daesh in The West and forcing a similar scenario to European outcomes during the rise of Hitler. The EU needs to assess it's alliance and seek others such as the Post Soviet states to join an alliance. Ukraine has very stealthy military men and women. They know everything there is about nuclear weapons and a great deal about Russia. With Ukraine as an ally Europe should have no worries. Sincerely.
France is capable of defending the EU from nuclear attack and even initiate if necessary. If France seeks intelligence about Russian nuclear capacity and design, the experts in Ukraine are fantastic allies. Ukraine and it's experts deserve the protection of the current NATO.
Ukraine is proceeding with it's future unafraid. Europe should be interested in recent proceedings. The judicial decision makes the 'stake' for Putin's political party "on the ropes." It seems as though Russia has more problems than having an entertainer compete on a Ukraine stage.
May 31, 2017
Moscow (Sputnik) — It adds that Kiev (click here) had also opened enforcement proceedings in the amount of $6.9 billion and a $632.6-million execution fee.
"On May 12, 2017, Gazprom received through the Gazprom representative office in Kiev the decisions of the Department of State Executive Service of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on… the arrest of Gaztransit shares belonging to Gazprom," the report states.
In mid-May, the Ukrainian supreme economic court dismissed the appeal of Russian energy giant Gazprom which demanded a reversal of the decision of lower courts on enforced recovery of around $6.4 billion in fines in favor of Ukraine....
Imagine that, Gazprom a monopoly. Ukraine's former Soviet state is more than interesting to most who view the border war as a breach by so called Russian rebels of signed agreements.
March 24, 2017
...This week, (click here) Russia and Ukraine's years-long legal row over gas prices and delivery terms took a new turn, with Naftogaz chief commercial officer Yuri Vitrenko revealing that Gazprom may claim up to $80 billion from Kiev at arbitration hearings in Stockholm. The Russian energy company initially sued Naftogaz in 2014, making the claim that Kiev had not paid for supplies it had received in 2013 and 2014, and switching the country to a prepayment scheme. Ukraine responded with a counter-suit, demanding a retroactive revision of prices, and that Gazprom compensate Naftogaz for sums it allegedly overpaid....
May 31, 2017
The appalling bomb blast (click here) in Kabul yesterday emphasised how fragile Afghanistan’s search for peace has become. The country has settled into an uneasy equilibrium that the insurgents find easy to disturb far too often, and the army is unable to take the fight to the remote valleys where the government’s authority does not run. The Afghan army has some major internal issues as it wrestles with high casualties and a steady stream of desertions as individual soldiers make their own decisions on their future. Their morale is low as they have been worn down by the long grind of years of military struggle against insurgents that seems to continue without end as the Taliban and its allies still control over a third of Afghan territory....
Afghanistan's History of War (click here) The West has never successfully won a war in Afghanistan. Neither has Russia. China has the most accepted approach in exploiting rare minerals. It would seem as though everyone is in agreement about making money.
I have no idea if the deaths of four BBC journalists has anything to do with the bombing in Great Britain that saw its military deployed in the streets, but, Daesh is desiring an invasion of sorts into Europe. If Afghanistan is seen as a greater threat it will relieve the pressure on entering Europe.
NATO has tow threats, that of Daesh in Europe, primarily where nuclear capacity is available and Russia that does not want to end the border wars with Ukraine. Both demand attention and there is little time for increasing a war footprint in Afghanistan. The Afghan military has had plenty of time to establish a worthy military.
If there is to be an escalation of any military presence, I would think it would be Libya. Drones perhaps.
...Britain's domestic security agency of MI5 is currently tackling 500 terror investigations and watching some 3,000 suspects. Putting one person under surveillance is expensive, requiring as many as 30 officers. That type of surveillance also requires a high threshold of suspicion that a suspect could turn to violence. British security officials say at least five terror plots in Britain have been thwarted in the past two months, although they have not released details of the plots....
The Brits are busy. I hardly think a further deployment into Afghanistan is wise. The Taliban are not allies of Daesh. Quite the opposite. There are however mixed reviews about the two groups.
April 26, 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
Kabul, Afghanistan
Nearly 100 Taliban and pro-Daesh militants (click here) have been killed in fighting in northern Afghanistan, police said Wednesday.
Sporadic fighting in the Darzab district of Jowzjan province is ongoing, Rahmatullah Turkistani, a spokesman for the Afghan National Police, told Anadolu Agency.
He said a total of 91 militants had been killed in clashes over the kidnapping of drug smugglers who were to pay the Taliban as part of an opium deal.
“The clashes erupted when group of armed Taliban attacked Daesh militants [to secure] the release of three drug smugglers who came here to pay 10 million afghanis [$14,780] to the Taliban for a deal,” Turkistani said.
Raza Ghafori, a spokesman for the provincial administration, confirmed the casualties and said the Taliban had borne the brunt of the losses....
Ethnic cleansing has never been a priority for the Taliban as it is Daesh. 77
September 10, 2015
The Afghan Taliban (click here) has condemned the killing of 13 people belonging to the minority community as a plot to “breed fault lines.” The statement seems to be an apparent dig targeted at Daesh (the Islamic State), as the Syria and Iraq based group struggles to gain a foothold in the South Asian country partly because of the absence of a deeply sectarian environment.
A few days ago, gunmen killed 13 Hazaras after dragging them from their vehicles in the relatively calm northern Balkh province -- in a rare attack as attacks targeting minority groups are not characteristic of violence in Afghanistan....
In my opinion, the attack on Kabul is a method to open still yet more war fronts and reduce presence elsewhere.
Trump abandoning NATO is simply opening the door to Daesh in The West and forcing a similar scenario to European outcomes during the rise of Hitler. The EU needs to assess it's alliance and seek others such as the Post Soviet states to join an alliance. Ukraine has very stealthy military men and women. They know everything there is about nuclear weapons and a great deal about Russia. With Ukraine as an ally Europe should have no worries. Sincerely.
France is capable of defending the EU from nuclear attack and even initiate if necessary. If France seeks intelligence about Russian nuclear capacity and design, the experts in Ukraine are fantastic allies. Ukraine and it's experts deserve the protection of the current NATO.
Ukraine is proceeding with it's future unafraid. Europe should be interested in recent proceedings. The judicial decision makes the 'stake' for Putin's political party "on the ropes." It seems as though Russia has more problems than having an entertainer compete on a Ukraine stage.
May 31, 2017
Moscow (Sputnik) — It adds that Kiev (click here) had also opened enforcement proceedings in the amount of $6.9 billion and a $632.6-million execution fee.
"On May 12, 2017, Gazprom received through the Gazprom representative office in Kiev the decisions of the Department of State Executive Service of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on… the arrest of Gaztransit shares belonging to Gazprom," the report states.
In mid-May, the Ukrainian supreme economic court dismissed the appeal of Russian energy giant Gazprom which demanded a reversal of the decision of lower courts on enforced recovery of around $6.4 billion in fines in favor of Ukraine....
Imagine that, Gazprom a monopoly. Ukraine's former Soviet state is more than interesting to most who view the border war as a breach by so called Russian rebels of signed agreements.
...This week, (click here) Russia and Ukraine's years-long legal row over gas prices and delivery terms took a new turn, with Naftogaz chief commercial officer Yuri Vitrenko revealing that Gazprom may claim up to $80 billion from Kiev at arbitration hearings in Stockholm. The Russian energy company initially sued Naftogaz in 2014, making the claim that Kiev had not paid for supplies it had received in 2013 and 2014, and switching the country to a prepayment scheme. Ukraine responded with a counter-suit, demanding a retroactive revision of prices, and that Gazprom compensate Naftogaz for sums it allegedly overpaid....
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
The country really is in trouble.
May 25, 2017
By Rachael Bade and Burgess Everett
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell (click here) are eager to avoid intraparty fights as they try to muscle through the GOP agenda.
...Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are taking a cautious approach to Trump’s Russia scandal, pointedly refraining from criticizing the president and tiptoeing around the topic — or simply avoiding it. It’s a strategy intended to avoid intraparty fights over Trump’s controversial presidency and sidestep confrontation with a president of their own party who has yet to sign key GOP agenda items like repealing Obamacare and cutting taxes....
It is the great pretending of the GOP. They have done this for decades, that is not going to change because the USA is actually being toyed with and citizens are in danger.
So, "Let's pretend none of this happened and it is a grand scheme by the Democrats." THE GREAT PRETEND. It is how Republicans are elected and how they stay in office.
"The Love Canal" returns.
May 23, 2017
By Garrett Ellison
...Trump had targeted the GLRI (click here) with a $50 million cut in 2017 to help cover early costs of a building a Mexican border wall.
The restoration program was launched in 2010 and funnels money to state and local projects to clean up contaminated sediments, restore watersheds, combat invasive species and build green infrastructure. It was given standalone authorization in Congress through 2021 in December....
That means there will be shortfalls in funding and companies currently involved in these efforts to restore the Great Lakes could be facing bankruptcy. There is no future planning. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has absolutely nothing to do with regulations, so much as returning a fishery and resort tourism to the Great Lakes. The idea this won't go forward threatens the entire tourism industry of Michigan which involves huge camping companies that sponsor RV seasonal rentals.
If The Initiative doesn't go forward the RV industry in Michigan will slump including recreational fishing.
...Funding advocates say ongoing projects to clean up "toxic hotspots" called Great Lakes Areas of Concern will grind to a halt without the GLRI, and projects in the pipeline will only become more expensive to tackle over time.
Republican governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan have both publicly supported the GLRI after Trump's draft proposal.
In March, 63 members of Congress -- 23 Republicans and 40 Democrats -- signed a letter to U.S. House leadership urging the GLRI be funded at $300 million in the 2018 appropriations bill....
The country is in trouble in many ways. I don't know what is going to be more devastating to Wall Street 2008 or Trump. This is only one example.
Shipments of all RVs (click here) (travel trailers, fifth wheel trailers, truck campers, folding camping trailers and motorhomes) increased to 356,735 units in 2014, a gain of 11.1% over the previous year. This was the fifth consecutive annual increase and the fourth double digit percentage gain in the past five years. Forecasts for the years 2015 and 2016 see shipments continuing to grow with increases expected in most all vehicle categories....
2015 saw a delivery of $16.506 billion in RV value alone. The industry is huge and in Michigan where there is over 1000 lakes, the state is dependent on this industry and it's success. There are national campground chains that also SELL premium lots for RVs so they will return annually. They basically capture their business. Michigan is in trouble if the waterways and lakes are AGAIN threatened by pollution.
I doubt any Mexican border wall will generate any income to match the loss of national revenues from defunding the EPA.
By Rachael Bade and Burgess Everett
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell (click here) are eager to avoid intraparty fights as they try to muscle through the GOP agenda.
...Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are taking a cautious approach to Trump’s Russia scandal, pointedly refraining from criticizing the president and tiptoeing around the topic — or simply avoiding it. It’s a strategy intended to avoid intraparty fights over Trump’s controversial presidency and sidestep confrontation with a president of their own party who has yet to sign key GOP agenda items like repealing Obamacare and cutting taxes....
It is the great pretending of the GOP. They have done this for decades, that is not going to change because the USA is actually being toyed with and citizens are in danger.
So, "Let's pretend none of this happened and it is a grand scheme by the Democrats." THE GREAT PRETEND. It is how Republicans are elected and how they stay in office.
"The Love Canal" returns.
May 23, 2017
By Garrett Ellison
...Trump had targeted the GLRI (click here) with a $50 million cut in 2017 to help cover early costs of a building a Mexican border wall.
The restoration program was launched in 2010 and funnels money to state and local projects to clean up contaminated sediments, restore watersheds, combat invasive species and build green infrastructure. It was given standalone authorization in Congress through 2021 in December....
That means there will be shortfalls in funding and companies currently involved in these efforts to restore the Great Lakes could be facing bankruptcy. There is no future planning. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has absolutely nothing to do with regulations, so much as returning a fishery and resort tourism to the Great Lakes. The idea this won't go forward threatens the entire tourism industry of Michigan which involves huge camping companies that sponsor RV seasonal rentals.
If The Initiative doesn't go forward the RV industry in Michigan will slump including recreational fishing.
...Funding advocates say ongoing projects to clean up "toxic hotspots" called Great Lakes Areas of Concern will grind to a halt without the GLRI, and projects in the pipeline will only become more expensive to tackle over time.
Republican governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan have both publicly supported the GLRI after Trump's draft proposal.
In March, 63 members of Congress -- 23 Republicans and 40 Democrats -- signed a letter to U.S. House leadership urging the GLRI be funded at $300 million in the 2018 appropriations bill....
The country is in trouble in many ways. I don't know what is going to be more devastating to Wall Street 2008 or Trump. This is only one example.
Shipments of all RVs (click here) (travel trailers, fifth wheel trailers, truck campers, folding camping trailers and motorhomes) increased to 356,735 units in 2014, a gain of 11.1% over the previous year. This was the fifth consecutive annual increase and the fourth double digit percentage gain in the past five years. Forecasts for the years 2015 and 2016 see shipments continuing to grow with increases expected in most all vehicle categories....
2015 saw a delivery of $16.506 billion in RV value alone. The industry is huge and in Michigan where there is over 1000 lakes, the state is dependent on this industry and it's success. There are national campground chains that also SELL premium lots for RVs so they will return annually. They basically capture their business. Michigan is in trouble if the waterways and lakes are AGAIN threatened by pollution.
I doubt any Mexican border wall will generate any income to match the loss of national revenues from defunding the EPA.
Free Shipping, Free Returns
Evidently, with Trump's retreat from being the force of good in the world, the idea is to set everyone up with a missile defense in case his company in Russia goes bad.
Did anyone bill South Korea for the additional missile interceptors? They may be a freebie if shipped in error. Ouch. And the USA is supposed to be run like a business?
Expensive ideology.
May 30, 2017
By Hyung-Jin Kim
Seoul, South Korea — (click here) Calling it a “very shocking” incident, South Korea’s new president on Tuesday demanded an investigation into why his office wasn’t told by defense officials about the arrival of several additional launchers for a contentious U.S. missile defense system meant to cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat.
Did anyone bill South Korea for the additional missile interceptors? They may be a freebie if shipped in error. Ouch. And the USA is supposed to be run like a business?
Expensive ideology.
May 30, 2017By Hyung-Jin Kim
Seoul, South Korea — (click here) Calling it a “very shocking” incident, South Korea’s new president on Tuesday demanded an investigation into why his office wasn’t told by defense officials about the arrival of several additional launchers for a contentious U.S. missile defense system meant to cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat.
Before taking office on May 10, Moon Jae-in vowed to review the deployment of a system that has infuriated both North Korea and China, which consider its powerful radar a security threat. Many of Moon’s supporters don’t want the system, which U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Seoul should pay for.
On Tuesday, senior presidential adviser Yoon Young-chan said Moon has discovered that four additional launchers for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system have arrived in South Korea since the original two launchers were installed in April.
Yoon said senior Defense Ministry officials didn’t report the arrival of the additional launchers when they gave Moon’s policy advisory committee a briefing last Thursday.
“President Moon said it’s ‘very shocking’ after receiving a report” on the incident from his national security director, Yoon said at a news conference....
...A THAAD battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers that can fire up to 48 interceptor missiles, fire control and communication equipment, and a powerful X-band radar officially known as AN/TPY-2. The THAAD system was installed in the southeastern town of Seongju....
It is coming out of Trump's paycheck!
...It’s unclear if Moon will go ahead with his campaign pledge to re-examine the THAAD deployment because a request for the withdrawal of the system’s components could severely undermine ties with Washington, Seoul’s most important ally, analysts say. The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea....
Japan and South Korea need to reassess their defense. Trump is giving away deployments of US nuclear submarines, that is a fact!
What is also a fact is that he didn't discuss the deployment of Russian nuclear subs at the same time.
...A THAAD battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers that can fire up to 48 interceptor missiles, fire control and communication equipment, and a powerful X-band radar officially known as AN/TPY-2. The THAAD system was installed in the southeastern town of Seongju....
It is coming out of Trump's paycheck!
...It’s unclear if Moon will go ahead with his campaign pledge to re-examine the THAAD deployment because a request for the withdrawal of the system’s components could severely undermine ties with Washington, Seoul’s most important ally, analysts say. The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea....
Japan and South Korea need to reassess their defense. Trump is giving away deployments of US nuclear submarines, that is a fact!
What is also a fact is that he didn't discuss the deployment of Russian nuclear subs at the same time.
Closing down the Kurdish culture in Turkey is not the answer. It will create hatred, racism and civil war. It is a stupid idea and even more stupid policy.
...In August 2016, a Turkish court in Istanbul ordered Ozgur Gundem, one of Turkey’s most prominent pro-Kurdish newspapers, to close its operations for “continuously conducting propaganda” for the P.K.K. The newspaper’s staff, as well as academics and intellectuals who volunteered to write for the newspaper, was arrested and charged with “creating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” Those arrested included Dr. Kuni’s colleague and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Sebnem Korur Fincanci, who could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted....
Arresting Kurds is not going to solve Turkey's problems, it only leads to regions such as the Russian Caucasus Mountains where hatred is bred by extremists and opens avenues for Daesh.
17 August 2017
A court in Turkey (click here) has ordered the interim closure of a newspaper for allegedly having links with Kurdish fighters waging a war against the state and spreading "terrorist propaganda" on behalf of them.
The judgment on Tuesday by the Istanbul court accused the Ozgur Gundem paper of "continuously conducting propaganda for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)" and "acting as if it is a publication of the armed terror organisation".
The PKK, designated a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
At least seven people, including three civilians, were killed on Monday in an attack on a police station blamed on PKK in the southeast of the country, which has seen some of the most intense fighting in decades after a ceasefire between the Turkish state and the PKK collapsed in July 2015....
This is only the beginning for Turkey. Russia's influence will have Turkey culling the Kurdish culture and then the Kurds themselves within it's borders. Putin's directive is simplistic and has high number of causalities. "We are Russians, don't cross the border. You are Turkish and we won't cross your border."
The world is not black and white, it is many shades of ethnicity. It is time The West learn diversity exists and the enemies of the past are now fighting the same war including Kurds and Shi'ite Muslims.
Daesh takes no prisoners, UNLESS, there is American US$ attached to their release as a hostage. Daesh already practices the culling of ethnic difference, Russia needs to stop being stupid! It's IDEOLOGY will destroy it.
The Syrian Shi'ite will stop supporting Assad if they seem him for what he is and are reassured their survival without him.
Welcoming Iran's Shia is the best idea The West has had for nearly a century of Middle East policy.
NATO may find the USA is more their enemy, ie: Iraq invasion, than the enemies the USA currently calls a threat.
There is opportunity to end decades of idiotic policy and find the peace within alliance against the charasmatic threat of Daesh. The best example of that is Saudi Arabia's current compassionate relationship with Yemen, while Houthi rebels continue to call them an enemy. The Houthi rebels cannot extend it's power beyond what it already has simply because their capacity is absent of that goal. It is time the Houthis realize their future lies in a power sharing government in Yemen and not more killing. An ambition to war will allow those that would see the Houthi ethnicty eliminated from Earth migrate into their ranks.
Arresting Kurds is not going to solve Turkey's problems, it only leads to regions such as the Russian Caucasus Mountains where hatred is bred by extremists and opens avenues for Daesh.
17 August 2017
A court in Turkey (click here) has ordered the interim closure of a newspaper for allegedly having links with Kurdish fighters waging a war against the state and spreading "terrorist propaganda" on behalf of them.
The judgment on Tuesday by the Istanbul court accused the Ozgur Gundem paper of "continuously conducting propaganda for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)" and "acting as if it is a publication of the armed terror organisation".
The PKK, designated a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
At least seven people, including three civilians, were killed on Monday in an attack on a police station blamed on PKK in the southeast of the country, which has seen some of the most intense fighting in decades after a ceasefire between the Turkish state and the PKK collapsed in July 2015....
This is only the beginning for Turkey. Russia's influence will have Turkey culling the Kurdish culture and then the Kurds themselves within it's borders. Putin's directive is simplistic and has high number of causalities. "We are Russians, don't cross the border. You are Turkish and we won't cross your border."
The world is not black and white, it is many shades of ethnicity. It is time The West learn diversity exists and the enemies of the past are now fighting the same war including Kurds and Shi'ite Muslims.
Daesh takes no prisoners, UNLESS, there is American US$ attached to their release as a hostage. Daesh already practices the culling of ethnic difference, Russia needs to stop being stupid! It's IDEOLOGY will destroy it.
The Syrian Shi'ite will stop supporting Assad if they seem him for what he is and are reassured their survival without him.
Welcoming Iran's Shia is the best idea The West has had for nearly a century of Middle East policy.
NATO may find the USA is more their enemy, ie: Iraq invasion, than the enemies the USA currently calls a threat.
There is opportunity to end decades of idiotic policy and find the peace within alliance against the charasmatic threat of Daesh. The best example of that is Saudi Arabia's current compassionate relationship with Yemen, while Houthi rebels continue to call them an enemy. The Houthi rebels cannot extend it's power beyond what it already has simply because their capacity is absent of that goal. It is time the Houthis realize their future lies in a power sharing government in Yemen and not more killing. An ambition to war will allow those that would see the Houthi ethnicty eliminated from Earth migrate into their ranks.
Doctors don't practice racism, politics or hatred in general. Their spirit is pure to administer to those that need them.
Every human being on Earth should be grateful for that fact.
May 29, 2017
By Christine Mehta
...Turkish forces (click here) laid siege to rebel towns and imposed long military curfews, and their tanks shelled the towns without restraint. In the subsequent months numerous neighborhoods in Kurdish cities and towns like Diyarbakir, Cizre, Sirnak, Silopi, Nusaybin and Yuksekova were reduced to rubble in the fighting. The International Crisis Group estimated that at least 2,721 people were killed by April 25, 2017, including 393 civilians, 927 members of security forces, 1,257 P.K.K. militants and “219 youths of unknown affiliation.”...
"Doctors without Borders" needs to come to the rescue for the fate of colleagues. It isn't as though the world has a surplus of physicians and surgeons to waste.
I am quite confident while Russia and Assad whisper in the ears of Turkish officials, these charges of Dr. Serdar Kuni are equivalent to the bombing of the aid warehouse to Syria.
See, there really are good guys and bad guys in the world and Dr. Serdar Kuni is definitely a good guy. There is a fine line to walk and it exists for a reason. Dr. Serdar Kuni is definitely on the side of 'good guy' when it comes to that thin line. However, forces on the bad side of that line, such as Russia and Assad would have the Turkish government and officials believe Dr. Serdar Kuni is a plague upon Earth.
Which brings me to the next point, in that President Trump's infatuation with Russia to insure his businesses flouish within it's borders, hurt men like
Dr. Serdar Kuni. Throwing away an alliance with NATO is a serious issue and this is one of them. Also included in that alliance is the bombing of the supply warehouse for Syria.
See, Putin and Assad see any support of so called Syrian Rebels as an assault on the sovereignty of Syria. In like terms, Turkey is now closer to Russia than the USA and sees Kurdish Rebels the same as Assad. Both countries see their rebels as arch enemies, when in fact, they are instrumental to end regimes such as Daesh.
But, as to the case of Dr. Serdai Kuni; he is not guilty of anything except caring for human beings in need of his services. He knows no difference between enemy and ally. His work is highly stressful and in an emergency he doesn't ask questions because seconds count. When a child is ill and a mother seeks help, there is no understanding as to the correct doctor to take the child. The practice of Dr. Serdai Kuni is one of action to protect life. That should always be his only practice and to that end there is no enemy or ally; there is only life and it's protections.
The USA and NATO need to move to protect these valuable practitioners and the Turkish Courts need to be enlightened as to who sincerely is the enemy. The bombings in Turkey nearly caused a collapse of the government in a military coup. I would think it would be Daesh and all it's charasmatic movement that needs to be focused on by any country fighting for it's sovereignty. War of such nature make strange bedfellows. Reaching out to rebel groups may prove enlightening and remove the stigma currently attached to Dr. Serdai Kuni.
Enough of the hatred. War is not about hatred, it is about the right to life and land and Dr. Serdai Kuni cannot discern who is wining or losing the war, he can only decide who in front of him is dying or sick.
May 29, 2017
By Christine Mehta
...Turkish forces (click here) laid siege to rebel towns and imposed long military curfews, and their tanks shelled the towns without restraint. In the subsequent months numerous neighborhoods in Kurdish cities and towns like Diyarbakir, Cizre, Sirnak, Silopi, Nusaybin and Yuksekova were reduced to rubble in the fighting. The International Crisis Group estimated that at least 2,721 people were killed by April 25, 2017, including 393 civilians, 927 members of security forces, 1,257 P.K.K. militants and “219 youths of unknown affiliation.”...
"Doctors without Borders" needs to come to the rescue for the fate of colleagues. It isn't as though the world has a surplus of physicians and surgeons to waste.
I am quite confident while Russia and Assad whisper in the ears of Turkish officials, these charges of Dr. Serdar Kuni are equivalent to the bombing of the aid warehouse to Syria.
See, there really are good guys and bad guys in the world and Dr. Serdar Kuni is definitely a good guy. There is a fine line to walk and it exists for a reason. Dr. Serdar Kuni is definitely on the side of 'good guy' when it comes to that thin line. However, forces on the bad side of that line, such as Russia and Assad would have the Turkish government and officials believe Dr. Serdar Kuni is a plague upon Earth.
Which brings me to the next point, in that President Trump's infatuation with Russia to insure his businesses flouish within it's borders, hurt men like
Dr. Serdar Kuni. Throwing away an alliance with NATO is a serious issue and this is one of them. Also included in that alliance is the bombing of the supply warehouse for Syria.
See, Putin and Assad see any support of so called Syrian Rebels as an assault on the sovereignty of Syria. In like terms, Turkey is now closer to Russia than the USA and sees Kurdish Rebels the same as Assad. Both countries see their rebels as arch enemies, when in fact, they are instrumental to end regimes such as Daesh.
But, as to the case of Dr. Serdai Kuni; he is not guilty of anything except caring for human beings in need of his services. He knows no difference between enemy and ally. His work is highly stressful and in an emergency he doesn't ask questions because seconds count. When a child is ill and a mother seeks help, there is no understanding as to the correct doctor to take the child. The practice of Dr. Serdai Kuni is one of action to protect life. That should always be his only practice and to that end there is no enemy or ally; there is only life and it's protections.
The USA and NATO need to move to protect these valuable practitioners and the Turkish Courts need to be enlightened as to who sincerely is the enemy. The bombings in Turkey nearly caused a collapse of the government in a military coup. I would think it would be Daesh and all it's charasmatic movement that needs to be focused on by any country fighting for it's sovereignty. War of such nature make strange bedfellows. Reaching out to rebel groups may prove enlightening and remove the stigma currently attached to Dr. Serdai Kuni.
Enough of the hatred. War is not about hatred, it is about the right to life and land and Dr. Serdai Kuni cannot discern who is wining or losing the war, he can only decide who in front of him is dying or sick.
Monday, May 29, 2017
I want an EB number for the Undocumented. First in line are those with the longest continuous residency. No criminals. No other qualifications. Legal residency begins with issuance of EB Visa.
If they have lived in the USA for a length of time they have already established their reputation as a loyalist.
If they have lived in the USA for a length of time they have already established their reputation as a loyalist.
Putin has his first victory, there goes NATO.
The UK is facing "Brexit" and the USA is facing "Trump." This leaves the EU feeling vulnerable because Trump offered to military support for the alliance. Trump is placing the USA in the direct path of danger.
That stand directly interprets in to FAVORS FOR RUSSIA AND CHINA. By using Chinese monies in their investments Trump, in his foreign policy is providing more reason for Chinese investors to make the leap in realizing their monies are no longer needed in Russia or China. The Chinese and Russians will not be attacked for their invasions into other vulnerable countries. IT IS CLEARLY QUID PRO QUO.
Trump's statements also advance certainly failing political parties in Russia.
May 28, 2017
By Emma Bowman
On the heels of last week's G7 summit, (click here) German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a wake-up call for European Union nations on Sunday. At a Munich stop on the campaign trail, Merkel told supporters that Europe can no longer count on the U.S. and the U.K. as reliable allies.
The days that Europe could completely rely on others are "over to a certain extent," Merkel warned at a rally in a packed Bavarian beer tent, Reuters reports. "I've experienced this in the last few days."
Her impassioned comments indicate her disappointment with the past week's contentious meetings of NATO in Brussels and the Group of 7 in Italy. Merkel had described the climate change talks at the G7 meeting as "very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying."...
That stand directly interprets in to FAVORS FOR RUSSIA AND CHINA. By using Chinese monies in their investments Trump, in his foreign policy is providing more reason for Chinese investors to make the leap in realizing their monies are no longer needed in Russia or China. The Chinese and Russians will not be attacked for their invasions into other vulnerable countries. IT IS CLEARLY QUID PRO QUO.
Trump's statements also advance certainly failing political parties in Russia.
May 28, 2017
By Emma Bowman
On the heels of last week's G7 summit, (click here) German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a wake-up call for European Union nations on Sunday. At a Munich stop on the campaign trail, Merkel told supporters that Europe can no longer count on the U.S. and the U.K. as reliable allies.
The days that Europe could completely rely on others are "over to a certain extent," Merkel warned at a rally in a packed Bavarian beer tent, Reuters reports. "I've experienced this in the last few days."
Her impassioned comments indicate her disappointment with the past week's contentious meetings of NATO in Brussels and the Group of 7 in Italy. Merkel had described the climate change talks at the G7 meeting as "very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying."...
Let's make this real simple.
January 23, 2017
By David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O'Connell
“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”...
There is some concern that Trump is not in violation of the Emolument's Clause because of lack of standing. That's nonsense. The organizations involved were formed to protect the people from abuse of government and corruption. Donald Trump is abusing the power of the presidency. His family is involved in his businesses, have influenced legislation to favor those businesses and the recent and marked example is that of the secluded Chinese meeting to hand out EB-5 Visas. The EB-5 Visa program was set to expire until the Trump family influenced the legislation to renew it.
28 April 2017
By Qian Chen
It only took one winter night for a Chinese mother to make the decision to leave her country. In the following two months' time, she rushed to prepare $500,000 in cash, trying to submit all her application documents ahead of April 28 — the expiration date for the current U.S. EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.
"My child had been sick for the entire winter and the whole family got respiratory infections due to Beijing's haze weather," said Liu, 33, who requested not to share her full name for privacy reasons.
"When I was pregnant, the government promised to treat air pollution. Now, my son is already three years old, but Beijing's haze has only become worse," she told CNBC over the phone. "I need a backup plan."
Liu's plan is to obtain U.S. green cards for her family through the EB-5 program, which is often called the "Golden Visa" by immigration lawyers because it provides a fast path for rich foreign investors to "buy" residency or even citizenship in the U.S....
So while Trump deports massive numbers of the Undocumented, there are wealthy Chinese no matter the sympathy of their stories buying their USA citizenship. The Undocumented have sympathetic stories as well, those stories are buried beneath the hatred of the right wing politics.
May 4, 2017
By Beckie Strum
The controversial EB-5 immigration program, (click here) a way for wealthy foreigners to obtain green cards through investment in the U.S., will live on for at least another five months thanks to a spending bill the Senate passed on Thursday.
The $1.1 trillion in federal funding averted an impending government shutdown and wrapped in an extension for EB-5 only one day before the immigrant visa program’s expiration. The extension bides lawmakers and industry lobbyists more time to come up with a set of long-awaited reforms to the program before the next expiration date, on Sept. 30....
This is not the making of a reservation at Trump's Washington hotel, these are direct investments into Trump enterprises and properties. This is the BAILOUT the Trump Organization was looking for and has received.
The DC properties issue is also value, both the DC government and it's concern for lack of income to the properties built on it's soil. LAND IS IMPORTANT. There is no reason why those PROTECTING THE USA CONSTITUTION can't subpoena records from hotels in Washington, DC to prove they have lost loyal business after Donald Trump was elected.
emolument - a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.
He signed the bill that provided for the 'PRIZE' at the meeting of the Trump Organization in China. What else is to know? This could go on forever and push Americans out of viable businesses and incomes. Every CEO, such as Tillerson, can buy an office that serves their purpose and bailout their company. This is idiocy to think it is not unconstitutional conduct.
This is not the making of a reservation at Trump's Washington hotel, these are direct investments into Trump enterprises and properties. This is the BAILOUT the Trump Organization was looking for and has received.
The DC properties issue is also value, both the DC government and it's concern for lack of income to the properties built on it's soil. LAND IS IMPORTANT. There is no reason why those PROTECTING THE USA CONSTITUTION can't subpoena records from hotels in Washington, DC to prove they have lost loyal business after Donald Trump was elected.
emolument - a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.
He signed the bill that provided for the 'PRIZE' at the meeting of the Trump Organization in China. What else is to know? This could go on forever and push Americans out of viable businesses and incomes. Every CEO, such as Tillerson, can buy an office that serves their purpose and bailout their company. This is idiocy to think it is not unconstitutional conduct.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
I hope everyone is having a nice designer holiday. The original Memorial Day was May 30, 2017. It was called "Decoration Day" when it was believed the flowers 🌺 were in full bloom. It was called Decoration Day to lay flowers on the graves of our dead soldiers.
I think the country has to get rid of the three day rule because it is abused by Wall Street. At one time the country rested and reflected. Today I question the number of Americans actually resting and reflecting. Because of government programs that have been victimizing and inadequately funded we are plagued with broken families, working poor families and people in jail or prison that have never experienced an intact family and happy life.
Memorial Day is about rest, reflection and remembering the war dead. It is not about profits for Wall Street at the cost of citizens suffering within our borders. Soldiers don't die to break up families, incarcerate people who know nothing but chaos in their lives or commit citizens to a life of 60 to 70 hour work weeks where they don't know their children except in passing.
We need to respect the lives of our war dead without bending the calendar to favor Wall Street.
I think the country has to get rid of the three day rule because it is abused by Wall Street. At one time the country rested and reflected. Today I question the number of Americans actually resting and reflecting. Because of government programs that have been victimizing and inadequately funded we are plagued with broken families, working poor families and people in jail or prison that have never experienced an intact family and happy life.
Memorial Day is about rest, reflection and remembering the war dead. It is not about profits for Wall Street at the cost of citizens suffering within our borders. Soldiers don't die to break up families, incarcerate people who know nothing but chaos in their lives or commit citizens to a life of 60 to 70 hour work weeks where they don't know their children except in passing.
We need to respect the lives of our war dead without bending the calendar to favor Wall Street.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
The area where the landslide took place is not yet stable.
The top of the hill increased it's instability.
..."This is a large slide preceded by smaller slides, which is not uncommon," Thomas Stanley, a geologist and researcher for NASA, said in a statement. “Much of the California coastline is prone to collapse, so it’s fortunate that this landslide happened in an unpopulated location.”...
It looks to me as the top of the hill became more unstable over that MONTH, the more and more debris carried down to the landslide area.
DO NOT ENTER THE AREA.
May 27, 2017
By Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad
What a mess: (click here)
The landslide that closed Highway 1 south of Big Sur is shaping up to be a major challenge for engineers. They’re looking at 1.5 million tons of rock and mud over the highway and into the ocean. The landslide was a third of a mile wide and 40 feet at its deepest. What once was a steep drop into the Pacific is now a broad, sloping bench extending almost 250 feet beyond the shoreline. By some estimates, the collapse had added 15 acres to the coast, a little more than 11 football fields including the end zones. And the worst might not be over, said field inspectors who had just returned from the slide. Listen closely, and you’ll hear a sound of water running like rain through the rocks and dirt. The slide at Mud Creek is still moving....
Big Sur 360 degree view (click here)
M 4.1 - 12km W of Isla Vista, California (click here)
He lived long with a rewarding life of work.
My sincerest sympathies to his family and friends at a difficult time.
"The Washington Post" is incredibly engaged in this offense to the American people.
By Callum Borchers
...Three months later, (click here) it is increasingly clear that the powers of the president to stop leaks are rather unsubstantial and will be questioned almost daily.
The Washington Post reported Friday — based on information from U.S. officials briefed on intelligence reports — that President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, discussed setting up a secret communications channel between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin using Russian facilities in Washington when he met in December with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States....
If Mr. Trump wants to continue as the first President from the Tea Party he should be grateful the leaks exist.
May 26, 2017
By Ellen Nakashima, Adam Entous and Greg Miller
...Jared Kushner and Russia’s ambassador (click here) to Washington discussed the possibility of setting up a secret and secure communications channel between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin, using Russian diplomatic facilities in an apparent move to shield their pre-inauguration discussions from monitoring, according to U.S. officials briefed on intelligence reports.
Ambassador Sergey Kislyak reported to his superiors in Moscow that Kushner, son-in-law and confidant to then-President-elect Trump, made the proposal during a meeting on Dec. 1 or 2 at Trump Tower, according to intercepts of Russian communications that were reviewed by U.S. officials. Kislyak said Kushner suggested using Russian diplomatic facilities in the United States for the communications.
The meeting also was attended by Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser....
I won't comment on the facts known to date, except, the reporting in the Post stated Mr. Kushner was insisting on a secret connection with Russia only after there was a transition team. "Salon" reported some time ago there was a secret communication line discovered by a group of professional hackers linking Moscow and the Trump Organization. This relationship with at least Kushner has existed for some time and outside the law.
The idea President Trump is more an ideologue when it comes to China and Russia is convenient for him and it may be his focus, but, he enlisted Russia to help during the campaign. I believe it was after the DNC was hacked and reported. That puts into question his real intent about his "shout out" to Russia and whether or not it was simply a rhetorical statement or a command.
Jared Kushner's father wasn't afraid of the law and he was caught and sent to prison. This is what really should be focused on socially. The wealthy never get enough. They always want more and more and entertain bankruptcy as a means to keeping their wealth while ridding themselves of debt they can never realistically pay. Mr. Trump ran his empire like that. He contracted enormous debt to build. Then, when cash was running short he simply declared bankruptcy with the company while he held a good deal of Trump Organization's FORMER wealth as personal earnings.
As to whether that is legal or not is not for me to assess, however, it is highly immoral and places "The Working People" of the USA in direct opposition of enhancing economic growth. The more the Middle Class has in wealth, while still the Middle Class, the more growth of the USA economy takes place.
As a side note, MOST if not all, union workers are not millionaries. They work. They earn their living by working. If the unions were taking AS WAGES AND BENEFITS such high percentages of monies made by a business, there would no longer be workers, so much as entrepreneurs and wealth management day traders passing through the money machine of unions. THAT IS NOT HAPPENING! Hello, America!
But, as to Kushner and his brothers-in-law, we know they are guilty of harnessing the powers of the USA for their own purpose. There is no doubt about that. That closed meeting in China was enhanced by a USA budget which included VISAS that will be used to provide wealthy Chinese a path to USA citizenship.
May 15, 2017
By Miriam Valverde
A widely criticized immigrant investor program (click here) is back in the spotlight after the sister of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, courted investors for a family real estate project.
Nicole Meyer, Kushner’s sister, earlier this month was in Beijing seeking $150 million from Chinese investors for Kushner Companies’ One Journal Square, a Jersey City housing development, according to media reports.
The Kushner business seeks to raise funds for the project through the EB-5 immigrant investor program, which allows wealthy foreigners to invest at least $500,000 in American projects and in turn, if conditions are met, get lawful permanent residence in the United States.
Critics say the program is a conduit for fraud and abuse....
It was all planned. The presidency and all that followed, while ridiculing The Western Press, was planned by the family and the Kushner family to resolve their greed and DEBT. The country was not the top priority. It was the ACCESS to bend the laws of the USA that was the goal. There is no doubt about it.
The EB-5 Visa program needs to be eliminated. It is a crutch to Wall Street.
EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (click here)
...Congress created the EB-5 Program in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. In 1992, Congress created the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as the Regional Center Program. This sets aside EB-5 visas for participants who invest in commercial enterprises associated with regional centers approved by USCIS based on proposals for promoting economic growth.
It is all there concerning Trump and the Kushners. It is the extent of the legality and whether it reflects treason or not. Add to that all the breaches in national security by President Trump and there is a real problem for him and his continued time in office.
This is just me, but, I found the Russian Foreign Minister, when at the White House after Comey's directorship was terminated, more jovial than any other time I witnessed him publicly. There is a side to this that theorizes the fact that Russia may have acted in willingness to contain the threat. That is the work normally found in allies. Russia would do that. Russia could not care less about the USA and would have gone along with the secret communications anyway. But, there is no doubt in my mind Vladimir Putin is grateful it was Russia the Kushners and Trump came to.
For the Kushners and Trumps, it is time to pay the piper.
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