I don't doubt Lucy Flores. I am sure the interaction occurred. I was anticipating others to come forward, but, considering at this point he is able to beat Trump in a general election that might be holding others back. It is hard to say what exactly other women would think or say. It is always up to the lady to decide. It would be unfair to make an assessment of their understandings of such touching.
Joe Biden needs to apologize to Lucy Flores (click here) and any others he may have insulted. His actions, as described by Ms. Flores does not rise to sexual assault. He sure isn't Donald Trump and Trump's "grab the pussy" advice or the man with small hands comment. Other candidates in the past have made worse mistakes and survived the primary.
Touching women or men is not allowed without explicit consent. No maybes or supposing it is all right. Touching is not alright.
(The War is Over Picture - click here)
I am not making excuses for the Former Vice President just trying to understand. My experience with politics is that there are those awkward moments that afterward, people look at each other like, "What was that?"
If there is anything the Democrats know is that Joe Biden provides plenty of those, "What the heck was that moment?" He may never have been a sailor, but, the picture describes what others feel in a commonly understood emotion when a battle is won.
I think the former Vice President needs to provide an interview with a trusted journalist and set the record straight. The moment Ms. Flores described sounds like it was full of emotion and anticipation. That may have been the issue. But, I wasn't there and she felt uncomfortable when the VP put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. He needs to express his regret which I am sure he feels.
Joe Biden is liked by a lot of people, including unions. It is going to be up to the people to decide. If he enters the race for President of the country he has served most of his adult life, he is going to have to stand on his own and make the case for his candidacy. This may eliminate him, but, that is uncertain.
There are many highly qualified candidates in the Democratic field and some new faces that are turning people's heads. I wish everyone great luck and skill. I will be casting a ballot for the person that makes the climate crisis a priority and means it.
Next week I will be reviewing China and world events. I think there is a lot missing in the news these crazy days. But, Trump is determined to distract the country until the election of 2020. It will be up to the opposing candidates to remind the country what is really important. Protecting our democracy should be at the top of that list.
Good night.
Moving office space from one part of the USA to another part of the USA is not considered an increase in auto jobs. This type of site consolidation will probably result in a net loss of jobs in the USA.
March 31, 2019
By Steve Brown
Toyota is expanding its footprint in Plano. (click here)
The international automaker's Toyota Motor Credit Corp. is almost doubling the size of its office in the Legacy business park.
Toyota Motor Credit now occupies more than 54,000 square feet of offices in the Legacy Town Center III office building at 6900 North Dallas Parkway....
...Along with its main headquarters campus and the Toyota credit office in Legacy Town Center, the automaker's tech-oriented Toyota Connected subsidiary has a large office in the nearby Legacy West Urban Village.
Toyota announced in 2014 that it planned to move much of its U.S. base from Southern California to West Plano. The Japan-based automaker now has more than 5,000 workers in North Texas.
There are reports pregnant women are fleeing Venezuela for Columbia. This dam should not be failing. Is there any reason to believe the people qualified to take care of it no longer are in Venezuela?
If a communication link can be provided to the engineers involved perhaps The West can advise those remaining to run the plant.
Is the grid supplied by this dam failing? By every estimation, there should be little interruption of electricity in Venezuela. Unless those responsible for maintaining the grid aren't being paid and won't work. Russia can explain if they are part of the Venezuelan collective, pay rates aren't established yet.
March 30, 2019
By Vasco Cotovio and Ralph Ellis
On the Caroni River, (click here) one hundred kilometers from the confluence with the Orinoco River stands an impressive engineer work and art masterpiece. We are talking about Simon Bolivar (formely "Raul Leoni") Hydroelectric Power Station, also known as the Guri Dam. The construction started in 1963 concluded the first part in 1978 and the second one in 1986.
Caracas - Electricity slowly returned (cick here) in most areas of Caracas on Saturday after Venezuela struggled through the third major blackout of March.
Power went out around 7 p.m. Friday. Sirens, car horns and alarms echoed throughout the dark streets before generators began kicking in.
The situation is much worse in the barrios and poorer areas of the capital, and especially outside Caracas, with many struggling with intermittent service since the first major blackout.
Blackouts have become a daily occurrence across Venezuela as the economic crisis has worsened.
The power outage was the talk of the town, overshadowing another round of dueling protests by supporters of embattled President Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly....
...The cause of the third blackout has not been given, but the first two occurred because of problems at the Guri hydroelectric plant, which serves 70% of the country....
Mulvaney? (click here) I didn't know he was a mind reader. He doesn't know what is occurring with the Mueller report either. It's all speculation and propaganda.
The US House is going to have to call Former Director Mueller to testify to find out if the Special Council was cut short so he could decide about all the issues in front of him.
I don't believe Robert Mueller would leave loose ends like this. There are outstanding trials and continuing investigations he has had to pass on to different authorities that Barr will try to wrestle to the ground, too. I think there is more corruption at work and Mulvaney is proof. He is the President's Chief of Staff. People are supposed to believe him? I don't think so.
AG Barr is out of line. HIs letter was written without any sound evidence and to CYA his obstruction of justice. All that was required by Barr was to review it for criminal content that needs to be prosecuted WHILE passing on the Mueller Report and supporting documents to Congress for review of need legislation.
Russia, an enemy of the USA, interfered in the 2016 elections. That is a fact. The investigation by the Special Council had autonomous power to carry out the law and secure future elections from foreign influence. The Mueller report belongs to the people of the USA and it needs to be passed on to Congress and the American people.
I think the assessment by Rachel Maddow is spot on. She cites the law. Something that seemed to escape the AG. Questions?
It would strongly appear as though Republicans are nothing more than lapdogs to Trump.
They don't care about the country, they care about power and how to get it.
Governments should know this is coercion and it needs to be reported to authorities in the USA. There is always the FBI. The CIA can be a better agency to report such problems.
This is extortion. A journalist FINALLY has brought threats to the American conscience.
Jarad Kushner is using his security clearance to extort monies from other countries.
Countries cannot be fearful of such actions. This is completely outrageous and has to be dealt with. No government entity should have the power to coerce another country. All actions between countries should occur through proper diplomacy channels and in writing. The entire scenario is not American in any way, shape or form.
This is not the first time the Kushner family has used the powers of the USA for their own purposes. There was that entire episode early on in Trump's administration whereby Chinese oligarchs were romanced into visas that would directly benefit the Kushners. Don, Jr. was in Congress pounding the halls of Congress for the passage of an extension on those visas before the Kushner family meeting held in China. That administration had intimidated the majority Republican Congress into submission because of threats to primary them.
Things are different now. The US House has a majority Democratic leadership and the doors of justice are open again.
I realize Qatar has image problems within its Middle East neighborhood. That is a matter left up to the nations in the Middle East. But, coercion for personal wealth by any American of an entire government or it's leaders is deep trouble for that person or persons.
When Turkey realized a Washington Post journalist was murdered and his body disposed of it did not conceal "the shame" of it happening within it's borders. Turkey immediately began providing information to American journalists to expose the crime. Turkish intelligence did not hesitate and it's President did not stop their exposure of a murder.
Those are the extremes to which wrongdoing has to be exposed sometimes. There is absolutely no way Qatar leadership should be hiding such outrageous crimes. No country should feel that threatened by any one person of USA origin. This could have been stopped before it became a crime and moniey was transferred. Exposure of internaitonal crimes is vital to it's resolve. Democractic freedom of speech governs such exposure and it is a very important right any international authority should know is available to them.
If nothing else put it on a Facebook entry on an official website, as a cry for help. Do something. The idea alone that exposure of crime will be carried out will stop it before it starts.
March 29, 2019
By Ed Krassenstein and Brian Krassenstein
While America’s attention has been focused primarily on the Mueller report, (click here) over the course of the last several weeks, a story that likely isn’t clearly captured in the Mueller report has been building steam. For well over a year now, there has been speculation about Jared Kushner’s security clearance, as well as his meetings and ties with various leaders within the Middle East. Now it appears as if this speculation is becoming a full-blown scandal.
Last week on KrassenCast we spoke to Vicky Ward, an investigative journalist and author of the new book Kushner Inc. Since then, Ward, who has been investigating ties that Kushner has had with the Saudis, Emiratis and Qataris, has come across new information that appears to imply that the president’s son-in-law may be extorting the nation of Qatar. HillReporter has also been in contact with several sources with ties to the Qatari government, which also help confirm some of the information that Ward has provided....
And this is just one project.
June 25, 2018 (posted by Ben Joravsky)
By Ryan Smith
...The amount you pay in property taxes (click here) is partly determined by the value of your property as assessed by Cook County assessor Joe Berrios. If you think Berrios has overassessed your property, you can appeal his assessment. If he—or the Cook County Board of Review—lowers your assessment, you'll pay less in property taxes. Over the last few years, Trump has successfully appealed several times, hiring 14th Ward alderman Ed Burke as his attorney. In addition to being chairman of the City Council's finance committee and one of Mayor Rahm's closest allies, Burke somehow finds the time to run a property tax appeal business....
Trump practices tax avoidance. But, he doesn't practice tax avoidance as a method of process, he seeks out the avenue of corruption that will guarantee him tax avoidance. Ed Burke is an attorney that needs to be reviewed by his peers. He practices conflict of interest, not tax avoidance. His applications for tax relief for his clients need to be audited to be sure they received legitimate tax reductions.
Ed Burke should not be re-elected 14th Ward Alderman. He is corrupting the tax system in Chicago.
Considering the tax avoidance by Trump, the Chicago tower needs to be reassessed and for back taxes as well. The process Ed Burke employed was corrupt because of conflict of interest.
...So, in effect, Trump has depended on the kindness of powerful Democratic bosses to cut his property taxes even as he bashes the Democrats and tries to eradicate everything they believe in.
Burke recently dropped Trump as a client—in part because he's worried the connection will cost him votes as he runs for reelection next year in a mostly Latino ward. But the damage has already been done. Thanks to Burke, Trump has saved roughly $14 million in property taxes since 2010, according to a Sun-Times exposé.
What's worse, the less Trump pays in property taxes, the more the rest of us have to pay. I don't know exactly how much more we have to pay to compensate for the $14 million in breaks that Burke helped Trump win. But it makes my blood boil just thinking about all of this....
Does Trump go out of his way to build towers no one else would? Does he think bankruptcy is a business model? Does he build these towers so he doesn't have to pay rent or purchase a home? The White House, other than the house he grew up in, is probably the first place he lived with a lawn to mow.
March 27, 2019
By Alex Nitkin and Joe Ward
About a year before the 2005 groundbreaking (click here) for Trump International Hotel & Tower, Trump Organization executive Charles Reiss met the late Chicago real estate broker Bruce Kaplan and his colleague, Leslie Karr. The Trump family, Reiss said, wanted advice on how to market the retail space that would face the Chicago River at the tower’s base.
“The way it’s designed now, it’s never going to lease up,” Karr recalls telling Reiss. The roughly 70,000-square-foot deck’s 10-foot ceilings, undulating facade and sunken location would be too awkward to attract customers, she said.
Just reaching the space requires detailed directions. At the north end of the Wabash Avenue bridge, a tiled stairway dips down from the sidewalk and beyond the sight of passing pedestrians. Once you reach the bottom, the path gives way to a row of metallic columns rising like Sequoia trees five stories up to the hotel lobby, interrupting an otherwise unobstructed view of the river....
I am quite confident Scott Pruitt's time at the EPA served Trump well. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois need to assess Trump's Chicago tower for compliance with water quality standards.
There is no excuse for this. It effects the environment of the river and can create algae growth. The conservation clubs should be up in arms no matter where a Trump tower exists, even by name only, if the property is in violation of environmental laws.
Water quality needs to be a national agenda.
August 15, 2019
By Jay Kozlarz
Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower (click here) may find itself in legal hot water due to a recent lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan alleging that the building’s river-fed cooling system is in violation of multiple state and federal clean water laws.
Madigan’s complaint, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, says that President Trump’s namesake downtown tower is lacking the necessary permits to pull nearly 20 million gallons of water from the Chicago River each day and discharge a byproduct known as “heated effluent” back in the waterway.
The lawsuit also states the building’s owners failed to submit a mandatory study detailing the impact of their intake system as well as measures implemented to limit the number of fish killed either by its powerful suction or its heated outflow—which can be up to 35 degrees warmer than ambient river water....
It is my understanding that when items are stolen, regardless of their value, it is widely reported by police to pawn shops. No doubt these thieves are aware of such notices, so they will probably sell them in alternate ways such as baseball trading card shows and online. If rare and unusual baseball articles are seen online kindly report them to the police. The sales may be legitimate and the authorities will know that, but, the odds are they are stolen and need to be returned.
March 27, 2019
By MacKenzie Shuman
Dozens of Hall of Fame (click here) autographed baseballs were stolen early Wednesday from a trophy case at beloved Scottsdale restaurant Don & Charlie's, said Ben Hoster, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department.
The baseballs have an estimated value of $200,000 to $600,000, depending on current market values and baseball excitement, Hoster said....
I saw the town hall meeting conducted by "Chris Hayes All In" (click here) with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Everyone is talking about it. She is fantastic. Extremely well spoken. I loved the fact she goes home every weekend because DC is actually a place that is an upside - down. So, right.
I look forward to her leadership for a long time. She has it correct in seeing morality as a strong indicator of where to start in Washington, DC. There is nothing but morality in "The Green New Deal." I really thought her statement about where to start with projects that need to be done, like, "Let's rebuild Flint" is the correct path to take. That is a vision of tomorrow that includes commitments to people. Flint needs that. So does Puerto Rico. (click here) There are other cities and towns struggling to recreate themselves because of "Bubble and Bust" economics of the past.
If focusing on cities and towns left behind is a real marker for her position, the construction lobby will love her and her vision. She needs to have successful planning first, especially in tackling issues facing Puerto Rico.
The Island societies regardless of the ocean or sea need to be prepared for the Category 5 storm. The wind speeds of Superstorms in the Pacific Ocean are reaching to 250 miles per hour. Rebuilding can occur. It needs intense planning. These island societies are best powered by wind and solar. Wind and solar can be used in individual dwellings. Big electrical grids may not even be necessary. The sooner these societies can recover from Superstorms the sooner they can return to economic activity.
Green technologies, infrastructure and economic planning. Construction is always an easy economic boom in the beginning, but, the long term vision of an economy that will last is the goal.
I admire the way she has honored FDR when he had a new deal for America. She is strongly stating she is not running away from language traditionally used by Republicans to demean healthy, wonderful ideas that have served to provide strong economies before. FDR was a great American President. He had a vision and it started with projects that turned the USA into accessible recreation areas with his Civilian Conservation Corps. (click here) He stated, “government worthy of its name must make a fitting response”. Our government has yet to respond to the climate crisis. US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the first and youngest real voice of her generation and it is one that leads. It is a sincerely welcome change.
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The male birth control pill has passed its first trial. It is a part progestin and part modified testosterone. It protects the male libido while ending sperm production. It is a different combination of hormones, but, women have been using the pill for 60 years without sincere side effects. I think a male birth control pill will be popular and safe. Men need to use birth control and the only real device today is a condom.
Now, a birth control pill will not prevent HIV. HIV prevention requires a barrier of some kind. That is why long term relationships are the best preventative to HIV.
I look forward to men being able to manage their fertility. However, there is one reservation and it is social and not physiological. Will it increase date rape?
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The nearly last, but, hardly least of my concerns is the use of fear by Trump and is followers. Evidently, they pay attention when comments are made about them in the media. I sat in online to the announcement of Linda McMahon and her reassignment to the Trump 2020 campaign. (click here) How often does that happen? A cabinet member is reassigned to an election campaign? ???
At any rate, those watching online fluctuated between 3200 and 3300 people. They no longer called Trump "Jesus," they simply said "Thank God for Trump." There was one comment I could not ignore so I wrote it down.
On Facebook when Trump was talking with Linda McMahon at approximately 4:26 pm EST on March 29, 2019, Jonathan Robinson stated, "We stand with this president and will start a civil war for this president keep helping the real American people." That statement is fraught with fear.
First, who are the real Americans? Second, Jonathan Robinson is stating he, among others, will start a civil war. That is a threat. No matter who says it or when, including Donald Trump, the FBI should receive that information and act on it. For all I know Jonathan Robinson and his cohorts are armed and ready to carry out violence.
The point is when Americans hear other Americans threatening a civil war, report it to the FBI. There are phone numbers to the FBI that would take the information and if there is a pattern it may result in arrests and most probably convictions.
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I am also tired of hearlng that Donald Trump is not impeachable or indictable. The AG is blocking any real information to know that. Any American with Mueller Fatigue should be ashamed of themselves. There is much to be learned and the US House should continue with their REQUIRED oversight.
The AG is being so controlling I would not be bothered waiting for his next creative writing document, I will be paying attention to FACTS and listening to the hearings being conducted as oversight.
Michael Cohen has not painted a good picture of Trump or his company and I do not believe Michael Cohen is lying. He lied for his client, the now president. DID EVERYONE REGISTER THAT! Michael Cohen, Trump's private attorney lied, on Trump's behalf. Knowingly. Trump knew his private attorney was lying and conducting businesses in setting up shell companies to handle, at the very least, Trump's womanizing habits.
Nearly two years of Special Council investigation is collecting dust on Barr's desk and he needs to pass it on to Congress and the American people. UNREDACTED!
Mueller directly stated: “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him”.
And if the Republicans have their way, income inequality will continue to grow across the USA.
March 29, 2019
By Ron Walker
The ride from Flint, Mich. (click here) to the Detroit airport took Demario Davis only about an hour.
But for Davis, it felt more like he had traveled from one side of the world to the other.
Things in Flint were much different from Detroit, or anywhere else for that matter, the New Orleans Saints linebacker has ever traveled.
"It was unbelievable," Davis said in a phone interview on Thursday.
"You just can't believe this is happening in America. You hear about people not having healthy drinking water in other countries. It felt like we had left a different country because when we got to Detroit, we could drink the water. We couldn't do that in Flint."...
I really think Americans have to recognize the gross difference in the quality of life that exists within the USA and call it what it is America's Third World.
Today, we put fancy words around it, like "Environmental Justice." It is actually environmental injustice. Yes? The reality of the circumstances is that a growing number of Americans are falling short of quality of life issues. I think the USA needs to address what quality of life is. It is a nice saying, "Quality of Life." It also lends itself to political exploitation.
Politicians will get away with all kinds of "talk" if they can say, "American has the greatest quality of life than any other country on Earth." As an overall view, that is probably true, but, when we look at communities like Flint, there isn't the quality of life many Americans have today, they have Third World quality of life.
Some time ago, John Edwards stated there were two Americas. That was a long time ago. There has been no appreciable change in that.
What Demario Davis encountered an hour from Detroit's airport was complete exploitation of a community that included contaminated water. Why? Why was Flint allowed to have contaminated water? Why? BECAUSE those people didn't matter to their government. The local government that maintained very good drinking water in Flint was made silent by a Governor that saw injustice, but, it was taxation injustice.
See, the problem with the Flint prosecutions to date is that Snyder was very successful in pointing to everyone else besides his own bigotry and racism. Snyder's bigotry involves a begrudging of paying taxes. His wealth was "going down the drain" because of taxes. He has say over making his wealth, why didn't he have say over the way it was spent when he paid taxes?
That is Trump's issue as well. I think if one speaks to any million-billionaire they will say they hate paying taxes because it goes to people that can't get their act together and get out of poverty. In other words, Snyder didn't see the people of Flint worthy of any water except what came out of the Flint River. He also didn't see the need to pay for water treatment because Flint was in debt and needed to pay its bills first, regardless, of robbing the people of Flint their MINIMAL quality of life.
See, the demands of human health and HEALTH SAFETY in the USA include the very basics of life; like water quality. So, in communities across the country, there are rules that require high quality of water. Now, I am not saying it is happening to the degree it is supposed to happen, but, there seems to be more compliance with quality water than not in the USA. In the case of Flint, before Snyder decided money and paying bills was more important than human life, it had good water quality. Some of the quality water lead to indebtedness that caused some of the problems in Flint. But, making people drink untreated water is not the answer to paying bills.
What Demario Davis witnessed in Flint was Snyder's racism and bigotry. Snyder's governance included punishing people for being poor and making him and his friends pay, in their opinion, unnecessary taxes.
The community of Flint had been suffering from an economic crisis brought on by the closing of car factories. However, the quality of water was never in question, until, Snyder made his decisions to assault poor minority communities. Not one of the communities in Michigan that was taken over by Emergency Managers were primarily Caucasian. That should have been a CLUE to Snyder to the extent these communities have been NEGLECTED in the economic collapse that occurred in Michigan. But, he didn't see it as a symptom of Michigan's collapsed economy, so much as a disease of lack of initiative of these minority communities. As far as Snyder was concerned the white guys didn't have these problems.
So, when the people of Flint FINALLY had a couple of champions in the way of a pediatrician and a college professor, the rest of the country was appalled and disgusted with the idea the children had damage and the older folks died of Legionnaires' disease. To the rest of the country, regardless of their own economic standing, Flint was an abomination and completely anti-American in its governance.
Flint may have a unique situation in it's IMPOSED water problem, but, it was not unique in the negligence of governance at the state and federal level when it comes to minority communities. They are there to be found and they can be some of the most wonderful and deeply faithful people in the country. Their faith helps them cope with the neglect.
There is a lot wrong with Flint's immediate past. Seeing it through the eyes of someone that has never come face to face with America's Third World is as refreshing as it is stark. Refreshing because it says Americans have a conscience when THE TRUTH is important.
The monies being removed from the USA military budget to fund Trump's National Emergency is used to defeat the drug cartels. We know for a fact that when President Obama removed those funds from their purpose, the drug cartel problem because worse and even closer to the USA borders, both coastal and southern.
So, the entire idea of border security under ideologues is misconstrued and dangerous.
One might consider the national security of the USA from the hate mongering at Trump rallies more prudent. I understand Trump followers are CULT members and bizarre groups that traditionally in the past the USA has viewed as a threat. Trump's populism is dangerous and ridiculous.
During the Trump rally yesterday there were comments stating they believe Trump to be Jesus. Not a genius. Jesus. Their savior. I read it for myself.
Welcome to the USA, Ms. Nielson.
The Trump administration says these things as if it is new. This is not new. If Ms. Nielson would read into the history of immigration in the USA, she would find the number of immigrants, legal or otherwise has been much higher than the populations currently.
If she is referring to the USA southern border, the number of people coming to the southern border is a fraction of that even 15 years ago.
Get used to it. And to deporting minors, that is a very interesting idea, however, extremely flawed.
March 26, 2019
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (click here) will ask Congress for the power to deport migrant children entering the country alone more quickly, according to a letter she is expected to send legislators Thursday night.
The letter, made public by NBC News, says Nielsen will also ask for authority to hold families who cross the border to seek asylum in detention until their cases are resolved and the authority to let immigrants apply for asylum from their home countries....
The two statements by Ms. Nielsen are contradictory. Now, either there is a crushing breaking point at the southern border or not. If Ms. Nielsen is stating she has the capacity to hold families for years at the southern border until their status is decided, then there can't be a crushing immigration crisis at the southern border. The two statements IF said in the same breath make no sense.
...Nielsen writes that she will soon send Congress proposed legislation to “help address the root causes” of a spike in the number of migrants entering the country through the Mexican border — especially families entering together and children entering alone — which she describes as an emergency. She writes the DHS is “increasingly unable to uphold that responsibility (to secure the border) given the emergency situation. We are grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day, and the Department has run out of capacity.”...
Secure the border from what? Families with children and unaccompanied minors? What exactly is the danger from these people?
Ms. Nielsen obviously is not good at humanitarian aid to the incoming border crossers. See, if she was able to process the people and then release them, there would be no humanitarian crisis. Why that seems absurd, they would enter the country and still have a humanitarian need. True. But, the infrastructure at the USA southern border that provides legal help and humanitarian assistance is incredible. Primary, non-profits and many affiliated with FAITH BASED organizations take over where the USA government leaves off.
CATCH AND RELEASE, MS. NIELSEN.
It is a concept that has worked for decades. DETENTION CAMPS don't work, they CAUSE a humanitarian crisis.
Unaccompanied minors are some of the saddest scenarios seen at the USA southern border. If the USA were to simply SEND THEM BACk, the minors would be in far worse condition than when they arrived at the USA southern border. Most of the minors arriving to
the USA southern/Mexican border left their parents or families behind to come to the USA. Those families could be dead by the hand of drug cartels or simply unable to protect them from the drug cartels, so the families encourage these young people to run and find a safe haven.
Now, if Ms. Nielsen succeeds in SENDING THEM BACK she will create a humanitarian issue in the originating countries.
So, therefore, Ms. Nielsen needs to come up with a better and more expedient PROCESSING REGIME or she needs to begin to work with other countries to BUILD ORPHANAGES that are secure from drug cartels in the countries of origin.
If Ms. Nielsen is able to provide secure orphanages in other countries, then she may actually have solved the existence of drug cartels.
Ms. Nielsen needs to examine the number of times these same children are abducted and trained as child soldiers by the drug cartels because that is why the families are sending them north. Once she secures an understanding to the humanitarian crisis IN THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN caused by these cartels, what will she do about it? Declare war? Against whom? The country of origin because they can't control violent drug cartels in their countries?
The entire idea of CONTROLLING the USA southern border is bizarre and UNATTAINABLE no matter how one tries to tackle the issue. The issue is NOT SECURITY, it is how are these people processed once discovered at the USA southern border and what humanitarian assistance do they need, including legal help because they are now in trouble, once they are decided to be peope without a criminal background.
CATCH AND RELEASE, Ms. Nielsen is the only viable solution. After pretending over two years there is a security issue at the USA southern border (which has been pursued at enormous cost, even insulting the military budget) one would think the ideologues of the Trump White House finally figured it out.
March 28, 2019
By Eli Chen
A Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District worker dives into a manhole in north St. Louis to install a plug to help keep flooding from the Mississippi River from overpowering the sewers and causing backups into homes.
As the Mississippi River (click here) continues to rise, utilities and government agencies in the St. Louis region are taking steps to protect sewers, levees and other facilities that could be affected by moderate flooding.
Above-average snowmelt and rainfall from northern parts of the Midwest have caused river levels to rise in the St. Louis region. The National Weather Service reported Thursday that the river at St. Louis is at 34.8 feet. Meteorologists expect the river to crest at 36.3 feet by late Wednesday.
In anticipation of moderate flooding, which occurs at 35 feet, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District plugged two manholes in St. Louis, in north and south St. Louis....
...The Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis also activated its emergency-response center on March 15, after the town of Clarksville requested sandbags and other supplies to fend off potential flooding. Engineers from the corps’ St. Louis District have also been communicating with the Riverport Levee District in Maryland Heights regarding flooding from the Missouri River.
The corps expects to keep its emergency-response center activated through April, said John Osterhage, chief of emergency operations of its St. Louis District....
Mississippi River at St. Louis (click here)
Mike Conaway (click here) is a prime example of the desperate petroleum industry. Among his biggest contributors is Concho. This is one of their oil fields.
The Republicans will dance with the devil forever. The attacks on Chairman Shiff is only the beginning to their ruthless plans.
Historically a major contributor (click here) to overall production growth for Concho, the New Mexico Shelf is a world-class asset with high rate-of-return drilling opportunities. It was this asset that enabled us to go public in 2007, and has supported our growth into other parts of the Permian Basin.
Since 2006, we have drilled more than 1,300 vertical wells on the New Mexico Shelf targeting the Yeso formation. In 2016, we drilled approximately 40 horizontal wells. By applying horizontal drilling and advanced completion techniques, we are expanding the boundaries of this legacy asset and increasing our resource potential. These low-cost, shallow opportunities generate strong economics and free cash flow that we in-turn redeploy to our other core areas.
The Koch Money wasn't enough?
March 19, 2019
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (click here) has been appointed to Fox Corp.'s board of directors.
Fox Corp. begins trading publicly following the completion of Walt Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox.
Ryan retired from Congress this year.
Trump states the deep state spied on him.
Really?
I don't recall seeing Trump emails on Wikileaks. Maybe the truth is the Russian Deep State is spying on democracy. Now that is hate.
Trump is feeding these people lies. He is saying he is funding enormous amounts of money to begin a Great Lakes Initiative for the first time in 30 years.
The truth:
March 11, 2019
By Todd Spangler
President Donald Trump (click here) is apparently hoping the third time is the charm when it comes to cutting funds for the Great Lakes.
The Trump administration on Monday revealed some details of its $4.7 trillion spending proposal for the next fiscal year and it included cutting $270 million from the $300 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
It is the third year in a row that Trump has proposed either eliminating or cutting most of the program, which is used on projects to restore wetlands and improve water quality in and around the Great Lakes.
Because the Great Lakes initiative is popular with legislators of both parties across the Upper Midwest, efforts to slash the funds have fallen flat in Congress and are expected to do so again.
These are not little lies. These are gigantic lies. And cheer no matter how much he lies.
The elections in Ukraine today are a far cry from the elections overseen by Paul Manafort. There is a populous figure who is an actor by profession. Look, the USA had Reagan. At any rate, there is a "March Surprise" that the actor turned presidential hopeful has a million gazillion dollar estate in a province in Italy where many Russian oligarchs like to call home.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is at the top of the polls and is hoping that translates into success on election day. The one real reason Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ambitions have taken shape is because of the corruption that still exists in Ukraine. The World Bank has also stated the corruption needs to be addressed. Evidently, with a civil war raging in Donetsk Province (Oblast) (Where Viktor Yanukovych was governor before Ukrainian president) bringing corruption under control is difficult.
March 28, 2019
...In a post on Instagram, (click here) Zelenskyy's campaign called the report "fake" and an attempt to "discredit" the candidate days before the election.
The Tuscan seaside town has been dubbed by pro-Russia media as Italy’s “Moscow Province” for being a preferred destination of such Russian oligarchs as Oleg Deripaska and Roman Abramovich, according to the Slidstvo journalists.
Zelinskyy's public asset declaration says he is the owner of four apartments in Kyiv and a country home outside the capital city, as well as apartments in Yalta, Crimea, and the United Kingdom. But his declaration does not mention the villa in Italy, which, according to the journalists, he owns with his wife, Elena....
Now, the USA government won't stand up to Trump's Russia, either. This is pure and unadulterated corruption.
March 28, 2019
By Manu Raju and Jennifer Hansler
..."If the department (click here) rescinded the award because of statements made by a journalist, exercising her right to freedom of speech, it would mean that the Department is using political fealty to the President as an eligibility criteria for receiving a government award designed to highlight courage," said Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the panel. "Furthermore, misleading the public and Congress about the true reasons behind its actions would harm the Department's reputation here in the United States and around the world, and undermine its credibility regarding future pronouncements from the press podium."...
The Russians are going to prison for their hate campaign that could have endangered Ms. Aro's life.
18 October 2019
When Jessikka Aro started investigating pro-Kremlin Twitter accounts, she was targeted by trolls both online and in real life
A Finnish court (click here) has sentenced the founder of a pro-Russian website to 22 months in prison on charges of defamation and negligence.
The court said MV-Lehti published offensive content about Jessikka Aro, an investigative journalist.
Ilja Janitskin and two other journalists were ordered to pay 136,000 euros (£119,300) in compensation.
Aro had been the subject of a hate campaign following her reporting on online Russian propaganda.
MV-Lehti is a well-known right-wing, anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic, pro-Russian publication.
The Barr Report has no legal standing. It is a letter. There is no EVIDENCE to back up anything in his letter.
It is a cover-up.
If that letter went before a judge, the judge more than likely would say, "So, what?"
There is nothing to the letter. A judge could not make a decision about anything based on that letter. Why would anyone else?
It is a summary of what Barr believed he read. Let him testify under oath to every statement he made and provide the proof of why he made those statements. This ridiculous. There is no legal standing to that letter.
Not long ago, the Republican members of Congress worried about Putin's influence within the USA.
May 17, 2017
By Sarah D. Wire
In a private meeting (click here) with Republican colleagues last year, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy commented that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and California congressional colleague Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) were being paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said in the recording of a June 15 exchange obtained and published by the Washington Post. At that point, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) cut off the conversation and swore those present to secrecy.
Hello? Really? Pouting? Too, bad. I strongly suggest the Republicans get on board with national security and now. I find it disgusting that there is a cover up in the DOJ to the Mueller Report and Republicans are running in the direction of corruption. Perhaps the Republicans know exactly what occurred in Helsinki. Do, tell.
March 28, 2019
By Grace Segers
Every Republican (click here) on the House Intelligence Committee is calling on Chairman Adam Schiff to resign Thursday, accusing the California Democrat of weaving a "demonstrably false" narrative of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and "undermining" the credibility of the panel.
