Monday, September 21, 2020

Ethics Violations

Ethics violations have to be filed against Moscow Mitch, Flip-Flopper Lindsay Graham, former decent man Chuck Grassley and any others that have succumbed to influence that is not openly apparent.

McConnell alone has been playing footsie with a Russian Oligarch. When does that and his favorite Chinese shipping magnate receive a full shaming? 

This is ridiculous. They are hoping to raise the anger of white men before an election no different than they did Cavinaugh.

They all require independent ethics reviews including financial disclosure. Ethics at one time was the US Senate’s stock and trade. Now. Ethics is a joke to them on the way to the bank.

Bill Barr is an propagantist and anarchist.

There is no legislated definition of an "anarchist jurisdiction." It is all politics in its worst form as corruption at the highest levels of the DOJ. An AG of the USA has no authority to "make up" definitions not codified by law.

Barr cannot simply "think up" a criminal category of entire cities. Has the word buffoon ever entered a Congressional confirmation process?

September 21, 2020
By Matt Naham

The U.S. Department of Justice (click here) woke up bright and early on Monday and declared Portland, Seattle, and New York City “anarchist jurisdictions” two and a half weeks after President Donald Trump revealed a controversial memo aimed at withholding federal funding from several cities—all of them run by Democrats. The memo was widely criticized for the open-ended way in which Attorney General Bill Barr was permitted to define the term “anarchist jurisdictions”; many of those criticisms were repeated on Monday because the DOJ again said that “any other related factors the Attorney General deems appropriate” was a legitimate criterion for labeling a place an “anarchist jurisdiction.” But, in a twist, other attorneys said that cutting federal funds would mean defunding police....

The three cities involved are all Democratic-held cities.  Additionally, there have been many more troubled cities in the USA that are not considered to contain aspects of crime that might classify as anarchist paths.

A very good example of "anarchist trends" within a city came in May of 2019 when 40 citizens were murdered and the Dallas police were unable to stop it. What did occur to stop the trend was the Governor's order for the State Troopers to assist in ending the violence.

When a city is overwhelmed with murder and accompanying law-breaking that cannot be tamed, that can be considered an anarchist trend. In 2019 the increase in murders in Dallas, Texas was 21 percent higher than the year before. But, it is only right to note the State Troopers brought those statistics down once they were on the job (cilck here). After 1000 arrests Dallas no longer needed the State Troopers to curb violence and break up a trend in organized crime that was leading to anarchy.

August 15, 2019
By Troy Closon

...Less than six months later, (click here) Pintucci was shot and killed in that sedan in the parking garage of Dallas shopping complex near the city’s NorthPark Center. The teenager was waiting to sell marijuana. But when the buyers — three male suspects — showed up, police said, they placed guns to the heads of Pintucci and others in the car and took the vape cartridges. Before running away, one of the suspects shot and killed Pintucci.

The suspects laughed as they headed for the garage exit, witnesses said.

Pintucci is one of at least 135 homicide victims in Dallas this year as the city is expected to reach its highest homicide rate in more than a decade. Meanwhile, other large Texas cities such as Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi are on pace for declines.

After Dallas experienced 40 killings in May — its highest monthly total since the 1990s — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to send state troopers to reduce violent crime in a city that has struggled for years with a massive shortage of police officers. Since the troopers' arrival, they've seized more than 70 guns, according to the Dallas Police Department. Violent crime — though still up compared with last year — has also dropped by nearly 30% in the areas of Dallas where they're deployed....

There is no such thing as an "anarchist jurisdiction" lead by the FREELY ELECTED authority. The authority in those three Democratic cities, no different than Dallas, was freely elected and conducting the people's business. Conducting the people's business never stopped for a priority to bring in anarchists to overrun the city. 

Protests are allowed under the First Amendment in freedom of speech and a right to assemble. There are no anarchist trends in local governments recognizing the First Amendment rights of protesters.
Damage to any property caused within those demonstrations belongs to the thugs that carried it out. Looting falls into that category as well.

As noted in this article there has been an increase in states to criminalize protests.

August 27, 2020
By Akela Lacy

Prosecutors and lawmakers in several states (click here) have responded to mass protests against police brutality by charging demonstrators with committing felonies, including terrorism charges. The trend of criminalizing protest has been on the uptick since the 2016 protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, during and after which numerous states upped charges for protests “near critical infrastructure” as felonies....

To clearly illustrate the wrong-headed thinking of this government aggression against protesters, the courts would eventually rule in the favor of the protesters at Standing Rock.

March 25, 2020

Washington, D.C. - A federal court (click here) today granted a request by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to strike down federal permits for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Court found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it affirmed federal permits for the pipeline originally issued in 2016. Specifically, the Court found significant unresolved concerns about the potential impacts of oil spills and the likelihood that one could take place....

The point is the First Amendment is absolute. There is no order by the government no matter what level, that ends the rights of citizens to protest. For Barr to come forward to call entirely freely elected city governments "anarchist jurisdiction" is a movement to end the First Amendment and replace it with an autocratic authority never sanctioned by any legislative process. Even if any legislative authority attempted to instill autocratic law, it would be struck down by the First Amendment and would not stand.

Bill Barr is also carrying out Trump's-Go-To strategy in enforcing his ideas by withholding money to states and cities already legislated to those official governments. That is illegal. Barr or Trump will never prevail in any of their machinations.

End of discussion.

There is nothing moral about McConnell anymore.

September 20, 2020
By Chris Truax

The year 2020 just keeps on giving. (click here) Not only have we lost one of the towering figures in American legal history in Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the empty Supreme Court seat she leaves is yet another wild card in the most dangerous and chaotic political season in American history. It’s not an exaggeration to say that how her seat gets filled could be as consequential for the continued political health of the republic as the election itself.

I’m not going to bother with all the justifications being offered as to why it’s perfectly OK to fill a Supreme Court vacancy a month-and-a-half before a presidential election while it is political obscenity to fill one nine months before a presidential election. They are fig leaves, not arguments, and all the explanations boil down to “because we can.” The issue here isn’t fairness or consistency. It’s consequences. Filling that seat would be the most disastrous thing Republicans could do, not just to the country but to themselves....

It is interesting how hypocritical McConnell is when it comes to the well being of the country. He really doesn't belong in the Senate with strong affiliations to China and Russia, while pulling the strings for a man in the White House that hates people, doesn't care about the country, has allowed a global pandemic to take hold of the USA, bows to dictators and is dreaming of a third term. 

Why did it happen? How is it that McConnell continues to wager in politics with very fateful and I might add hate-filled decisions and not be scarred by them? How did he know in early 2016 that Trump would be filling the Supreme Court seat in 2017? I find it odd. Not that he is hypocritical, but, that he is so willing to gamble with the well being of the USA on politics.

I am convinced he conducts the US Senate as an obstructionist to maintain the status quo. It is where his personal wealth and corrupt power live. I don't know why people in Kentucky continue to vote to maintain him in office. He is corrupt to the core and he is a liar. He is hypocritical and pats himself on the back for it.

You know, a politician is measured in two ways, but, his acts and by his words. If a voter can't trust the words of the person they are electing, then why elect them?

It would seem the USA is regularly laughed at when it comes to attempts to stop international gangs from conducting their illicit business. If the banks are doing their level best to report all this illegal and underworld activity, it isn't working because THERE IS NO ONE ENFORCING THE LAW. Oddly interesting.

Semion Mogilevich was in the Mueller Report. He is a Russian underworld boss. If the money is moving it should not be that difficult to find him. It is really creepy to think these Russian thugs are out there living their dream while banks are nothing more than their change agent. I don't know about Jamie Dimon, but, it can't be a good feeling to have all these thugs involved with a bank that is following the law. I doubt if the banks have much respect for law enforcement and the federal authorities that should be cleaning it up.

It must be a regular Wall Street joke to realize the number of criminals in Trump's circle of friends and loyalists and having them get pardons on top of the lack of interest in the bank's compliance and expectations to make a difference in the world.

And McConnell subscribes to it.

September 20, 2020
By David Pegg


..A separate report (click here) details over $1bn in wire transfers by JP Morgan Chase that the bank later came to suspect were linked to Semion Mogilevich, an alleged Russian organised crime boss who is named on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list.

A JP Morgan Chase spokesperson told the BBC: “We follow all laws and regulations in support of the government’s work to combat financial crimes. We devote thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars to this important work.”

According to BBC Panorama, the British bank HSBC allowed a group of criminals to transfer millions of dollars from a Ponzi scheme through its accounts, even after it had identified their fraud.

HSBC said in a statement: “Starting in 2012, HSBC embarked on a multi-year journey to overhaul its ability to combat financial crime across more than 60 jurisdictions.” It added: “HSBC is a much safer institution than it was in 2012.”...

Maybe if people like Trump and McConnell continue to throw Wall Street bailouts and money from the US Treasury, it is easier to accept the corruption conducted through USA banks. After all Wall Street needs banks, yes?

Whatever happened to Dodd-Frank?

Wow. Mom was right, someone is going to try to kill Trump. Wow.

You know how difficult it is to stress out a Canadian? I really didn't think anyone would try because Trump is nothing but a circus ringmaster, but, here it is. I feel bad for her. She loves the USA and really felt compelled to act. Wow.

20 September 2020
By Pete Williams, Tim Stelloh and Michael Kosnar

Washington - A woman suspected (click here) of sending a letter containing the deadly poison ricin to the White House was arrested trying to enter the United States from Canada, two federal law enforcement officials said Sunday.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed the arrest and said the agency is continuing to investigate the suspicious letter.

A federal law enforcement official said the woman was taken into custody while traveling across Peace Bridge, which connects Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York.

Another federal law enforcement official said the suspect was detained by Customs and Border Protection agents. Additional information about the arrest and the suspect was not immediately available....