Thursday, April 18, 2019

Senior citizens are not safe in their homes with reverse mortgages under Mnuchin.

Forget the idea you are married and safe even if your spouse passes away. Surviving spouses can lose their home.

The Housing Crisis - Part 2 - the Trump years.

December 21, 2018
By David Dayen and and Rebecca Burns

...Mnuchin (click here) was a key architect of the GOP’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts, passed last December, which over the next decade will funnel 83 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of U.S. earners — including to himself. With net worth of half a billion dollars, Mnuchin and his wife are in the top one-one hundredth of one percent....

Munchkin in his 2014 divorce proceedings he asked that his address be withheld.

...“Without the . . . large LAPD presence on scene, I do not think the protest would have been as placid as it was,” Mnuchin pled in a 2014 divorce filing in which he asked the judge to keep his address private. “I can only imagine the psychological harm that would have come to our minor children if they were at the house to see over 100 people protesting at their home.”...

Somehow Munchkin can find trauma with his own children and their primary address, but, not with children of people displaced from their hoes for an overdue balance of 27 cents. Twenty - seven cents that was more than likely leveraged by the bank in some kind of fee and not part of the anticipated balance of the home. Nothing like homes that have appreciated in value by tens and hundreds of thousands only to lose it to the bank. Amazing.

...Never mind that the victims of OneWest’s operation included seniors reportedly foreclosed on over $0.27, and a family with young twin sons evicted abruptly while still in the process of applying for a loan modification. Won’t someone please think of the children?

Stories like these earned Mnuchin, who ran OneWest from 2009 to 2015, the nickname “Foreclosure King.” This apparently wounded him: During his confirmation hearings, he complained to senators that he has “been maligned as taking advantage of others’ hardships in order to earn a buck. Nothing could be further from the truth.”...

Discovery Reserve American Red Lager

This Bud is for the Mueller Team as well as, of course, NASA and the Astronaut corp. Well done, team.
Budweiser Discovery Reserve bottle caps represent humanity's footsteps on both the moon and the next frontier, Mars.

April 14, 2019
By Robert Z. Pearlman

...Discovery Reserve American Red Lager (click here) draws its recipe from a Budweiser blend that dates back to the time of the Apollo moon missions.

"This Bud's for those who challenged the odds and made the impossible, possible. Budweiser Discovery Reserve is our tribute to this epic moment in history, one that will certainly continue to inspire generations of present and future explorers," said Ricardo Marques, vice president of marketing core and value brands at Anheuser-Busch, in a statement released on Tuesday (April 16).

Discovery Reserve is brewed with medium-roast Voyager barley malt and features a "light hoppy aroma, a toasted barley malt taste with a hint of toffee and a sharp finish," says Budweiser. The lager's reddish color is meant to be reminiscent of the next frontier for humans, Mars.

The Discovery Reserve bottle and packaging was inspired by both the history and future of space exploration.

The 11 stars on the label represent the Apollo 11 mission, which landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon's Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Alternating bottle caps represent the historic boot prints on the moon and the ones that are still to come on the Red Planet....
No congressional member, Senate or House, should be playing politics with this report. Some of the finest minds in the country dedicated themselves to compiling this report. They did so because they expected it to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the majority of Congress has a redacted view of the facts. That needs to be overcome by leadership in both houses and both parties to bring their knowledge of the full report forward for Constitutional resolve.

This better not be toyed with or dismissed as inconsequential.

I know the younger members of Congress will take this seriously and will demand better leadership if a reasonable resolve does not honor those that wrote it.
I understand on Page 382 there are specific statements indicating there is a Constitutional mechanism that can be used to remove President Trump from office because he violated the law.

I am not putting responsibility for impeachment on the Democratic majority of the US House. This is the US Senate's PROBLEM. Mitch McConnell needs to do the right thing and agree with the Special Council's findings and recommendations and carry out a vote to impeach after the House has it's trial and vote.

This is now the responsibility of the American people to contact their US Senators to vote for impeachment as soon as they receive the trial results and vote from the US House. It is up to the American people to hold the US Senate responsible for their votes to remove Donald Trump from office.

If there is a known simple majority of votes to carry out the impeachment after a fair trial in the US House, then and only then should Speaker Pelosi bring about impeachment proceedings. The findings are all there. The Special Council has found reasons for a Constitutional remedy to criminality by the president. There is absolutely no reason why the US Senate would not confirm the US House vote. There is no reason.

The Special Council was overseen by the most respected and highly qualified person in the USA to carry out such an investigation. Also, it is all too obvious the affection and loyalty Trump has for Putin and Russia. The US Senate must be involved and if it isn't it is due to political priorities and not the best interest of the country. I don't want to hear how McConnell is going to bring it for a vote after it is known if the US House will impeach. McConnell MUST speak out to the American people about his firm support for actions in the US House. McConnell needs to clearly demonstrate he is not cowering to Trump and will conduct a successful vote to remove him. If McConnell hides in the political corner of Trump, he should no longer be in leadership or office.

THERE IS TO BE NO FILIBUSTER TO PROTECT TRUMP. 

My understanding is this:

I believe Congress has access to the unredacted report. It is still unclear that Congress has access to the supporting documents.

I understand the public has access to a redacted copy of the report. I can't believe the depth the press is taking this seriously. Some are reviewing the redacted report live. That is dedication. It is nice. 

It is important the press stay engaged. I am no different than many other Americans that are interested, but, have a family and an upcoming holiday. I have much to do today. It will be important to me that the press engages the redacted report and bring brevity to it's findings. It is also important to me that Congress is satisfied with it's access to the unredacted material and the supporting documents.

I thank all those diligently reading and pursuing the words and purpose of the Special Council and it's report. 

The truth is paramount and the country is counting on it.

Until later...
Barr, "...the private and information of..." 

There is no definition to the SPECIFICS of that. Everyone has privacy and information.

The Trump Administration is the enemy.

His revolving door strategy reveals a very corrupt process while using the "right wing identity" as a buffer to discover.

One of the best illustrations currently within the Trump Administration is the US Interior Department and I will start with the Former Secretary Zinke.

Ryan Zinke is now working in the very sector he created when he was Secretary of the Interior. His new job was very well sculpted to insure there were no obvious legal issues that would deprive the company of his influence.

April 16, 2019

Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (click here) has a new job, making more than $100,000 a year with a gold-mining firm that’s pursuing project approvals involving the federal agency that Zinke left less than four months ago.

Zinke said Tuesday that his work for Nevada-based U.S. Gold Corp., which focuses on mining exploration and development, would not constitute lobbying. But that company’s chief executive cited Zinke’s “excellent relationship” with the Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Department in explaining his hiring....

...Karr says Zinke would receive a total of $114,000 a year in salary and stock as a board member and under a one-year consulting contract. The company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says Zinke will also receive an expense allowance of up to $120,000 a year.

Zinke said his time in public office would be an asset at the mining company and in “making sure the environmental mitigation is done correctly.”

“I understand the process,” he said.

There’s very few former state senators, congressmen and secretaries that know more about the process than I do,” said Zinke, who served in the Montana Legislature and the U.S. House before being appointed to lead the Interior Department....

The Interior Department contains the Bureau of Land Management which is highly coveted by Republicans because the land of the USA can be exploited for profit. We know that the integrity of the land is not important to Republicans, ie: Oklahoma seismic activity that has resulted in damage to the North America Craton, not just Oklahoma if that wasn't bad enough.

But, as to Zinke, he knows the process the best because he wrote it and degraded any protective purpose by the BLM.

Kindly take note the extent and frequency that Trump's cabinet and Executive Branch staff runs into ethics violations. I imagine Trump warns his appointees that if they run into ethics violations it is theirs to maneuver. Trump placed a fairly stout Ethics Policy in place along with an Ethics Advisor to assist any administration member with ethics issues. The most high profile use of this dynamic was Former AG Whitaker. He openly would not redact himself from the Special Council investigation even after seeking advice from the ethics advisor acting to benefit the Trump Administration.

The Ethics Policy of Trump and it's advisor to the Executive Branch is a buffer to prevent blaming of Trump for any nefarious activities. What could be better but to have an entire process to protect Trump from scandal while his staffing exploits the government within reach of the Trump Cabinet. That entire process protecting Trump is an ethic issue, but, no one seems to realize it.

But, as to the Interior Department and Zinke.

If one recalls Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico as if anyone could forget; there was a crony of Zinke that landed an enormous contract.

October 23, 2017
By Steven Mufson, Jack Gillum, Aaron C. Davis and Arelis R. Hernandez

....Whitefish Energy is based in Whitefish, Mont., (click here) the home town of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Its chief executive, Andy Techmanski, and Zinke acknowledge knowing one another — but only, Zinke's office said in an email, because Whitefish is a small town where "everybody knows everybody." One of Zinke's sons "joined a friend who worked a summer job" at one of Techmanski's construction sites, the email said. Whitefish said he worked as a "flagger."

Zinke's office said he had no role in Whitefish securing the contract for work in Puerto Rico. Techmanski also said Zinke was not involved.

Techmanski said in an interview that the contract emerged from discussions between his company and the utility rather than from a formal bidding process. He said he had been in contact with the utility two weeks before Maria "discussing the 'what if' scenarios" of hurricane recovery. In the days after the hurricane, he said, "it started to make sense that there was a need here for our services and others."...

Of course, Zinke was involved, otherwise, why would Congress getting pressure from their cronies be up in arms and how does a very obscure company without the experience or personnel to honestly compete for a bidding contract get the ASSIGNMENT. Government contracts are usually bidded on by many qualified candidates. In this case, the bidding requirement was eliminated and Whitefish was suddenly in Puerto Rico while seeking enough employees to satisfy the lucrative contract.

But, the corruption of Zinke doesn't end there. Mind you he was the only Interior Secretary in modern history or most likely ever in the history of the USA to display a personal "sovereign flag" over the US Interior Building in DC whenever he was in the office. If anyone understands the right wing extremist voter, it is not only white male dominated, but, also has all these quirky values like personal identity. So, Zinke, as is the tradition of Trump and his administration, displays all the crony values, including hate speech, to ensure a loyalty quotient to their presence in the government. That loyalty quotient is to buffer skepticism as to any adverse activity embarked upon by those in power.

ie: Trump has yet to drain the DC swamp. As a matter of fact he increases it's weight at every turn.

Zinke's corruption definitely lead to his current employment. I haven't even begun to define Zinke's blind spot with his Deputy Secretary, now Secretary of the Interior as Zinke's replacement.

Zinke, with Trump permission and hubris, methodically went through national monuments to assess reductions of those lands to expose them to exploitation. The process used by Zinke and Trump was very invasive and caused alarm among the Americans that valued the land the most. Sure enough, those alarmed had a strong reason to be alarmed and today Zinke is profiting from the process he employed.

...The monument advisory committee, (click here) or MAC, "will provide information and advice regarding the development" of a first-ever monument management plan for Bears Ears, which President Obama designated in December 2016.

A year later, Trump signed a proclamation that removed protections for 85 percent of the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears monument (E&E News PM, Dec. 4, 2017)....

Everyone I know remembers the invasion into national monuments by Zinke. This process of forming a "Monument Advisory Committee" is new and removes authority from the traditional management of PARK employees and the National Park Service. It places people from industry and the public at the same table to bargain for protected lands. This process at Bears Ears was purely ceremonial and the final outcome was determined before the process of the MAC was even written.

Eight-five percent of land removed from protections of any national monument is an alarm and completely criminal. Zinke intended to exploit his position at the Department of Interior for ultimately his own income. Just because Zinke's new employer is not currently in Utah doesn't mean anything and the future is not set. 

...But that company’s chief executive cited Zinke’s “excellent relationship” with the Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Department in explaining his hiring...

Zinke specifically has his new job because he knows people and not because of his professional status dictates a career in mining. Zinke has never performed geologicals or cracked a mine in his life. This is more of the influence he exerted in Puerto Rico. The methodology will no doubt be the same.

Zinke left the Interior Department because of ethics violations. And why not? If one can craft a motherload of money in the private sector who cares about ethics!

As to his Deputy Secretary.

Zinke's Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt is currently the Interior Department Secretary and under investigation for ethics violations. ALREADY? Bernhardt just got the job and how can he be in violation? Well. Because he worked under Zinke with one foot in the private sector and the other in DC. Bernhardt is known as a former lobbyist, but, he today he is so much more.

This article is far ranging and reveals a completely corrupt and dangerous man that deals in power and money and not the interest of the country. Kindly recall first the continuous scandal of Trump's Oval Office and "Executive Time." It seems as though from the beginning a CALENDAR IS NEVER A CALENDAR. The Calendar of these men, including Trump, is a facade. It does not represent their true plans or activities. Behind the calendar, they are carrying out assaults against the USA government.

April 8, 2019
by Jacob Holtzman

Recently posted versions (click here) of acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s daily schedules contain at least 260 differences from his original schedules, with the newest records showing meetings previously described as “external” or “internal” were actually with representatives of fossil fuel, timber, mining and other industries, according to a review by CQ Roll Call....

The most disgustingly corrupt OPERATION by Bernhardt involves his continuing work with CESAR. He lawyered for CESAR as director and his methods are completely corrupt in that lawyering. But, there is every reason to believe he was continuing his work with CESAR and probably still a director while working for the USA government. The overlap is completely obvious. His published calendar put him in a far different place than a meeting with CESAR.

...Bernhardt was a director at CESAR, and represented the group in litigation against the Fish and Wildlife Service to enforce protections of the American eel. Environmentalists have said the case was a legal tactic to make the Endangered Species Act unworkable and force lawmakers to rewrite it.

Visitor logs show that Sagouspe arrived at Interior at roughly 8:30 a.m. that day. The meeting is not on Bernhardt’s public calendar....

Many Americans are aware of the word "ecosystem" and the meaning behind that word. As a lawyer for CESAR, Bernhardt thought he could dismantle the Endangered Species Act by pitting one species as important and another as wrongfully protected. His method is based in lawyering and not conservation or knowledge of anything within the practice of Conservation Biology.

Bernhardt in his practice with CESAR is completely corrupt and throws out the basis of entire professional practices of anything nature. His work with CESAR was ongoing as Zinke's Deputy.

Realize now that the Trump Administration is not about the people or the country, but, about holding power, enriching oneself while dismantling long established law based in sound principles and practices, including sound science.

All this corruption is completely litigable in court. The basis to USA law, especially as it impacts the Interior Department, is based in sound science, moral principles and sovereign land of the USA. It cannot be dismantled as it's existence is outside of lawyering. The existence of USA law is based in it's people and their professional practices. The law reflects the people and their elected officials that care about their constituencies and why the reason they were elected.

This administration is corrupt to the core, is not providing important work in their seats of power and his seeking to dismantle well established law. Now, apply this ONE EXAMPLE to the entire Executive Branch and begin to realize the depth of the corruption and the danger to the country. 

I remind.

There are nuclear capacity jets in Venezuela for the purpose of confronting the USA if troops interfere with Russian activities in that country. Russia has it's own wealth of natural resources in methane and petroleum. Russia does not need the USA. It needs the end of the moral global content of the USA, hence the end of the American people who are at the depths of USA law and policy.

Today, Barr will attempt to end the cries by the people to see the work of the Special Council. It cannot stop with a news conference and a redacted report lead by a hero to the USA and a man dedicated to the country's sovereignty, Robert Mueller.

Cost savings measures for airlines is now cancelling flights ahead of severe weather.

April 18, 2019
By Melissa Yeager

If you're flying the evening of Wednesday, April 17, (click here) double-check your flight status before you head out the door — especially if your itinerary takes you through Dallas.

Southwest and American airlines have preemptively canceled some Wednesday evening flights as meteorologists at the National Weather Service predict severe thunderstorms to move through the central and southern United States.

American Airlines will have only two departures and no arrivals in Dallas after 9 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday. A spokesman said the decision resulted in four departures and three arrivals canceled at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport....