This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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The government had a hard time finding bin Laden, too. Eventually they got him. Right, Barack? So, there are ways of locating Rudy. Try a few satellites.
What was the name of that movie?
Oh, yeah, “Enemy of the State.” It will give the MAGAs something to really dread. Put on a good show. Thrill their anti-American spirit.
The elected officials (click here) who were in the courtroom earlier, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, did not come back to the courtroom after the break.
Trump put Johnson in the speakership, right Kevin?
May 14, 2024
Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson (click here) joined Donald Trump at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday to express support for the former president amid his criminal trial, which the speaker called a "sham" and part of a broader "partisan witch hunt" against Trump.
Well that is it, isn't it? The entire campaign of the MAGApupblicans is about delegitimizing every aspect of American democracy to say the entire world is against them and their people. Life is just so unfair for all the MAGApublicans. So, now the legitimate practice of the Rule of Law in the courthouse where evidence is being presented is unfair and illegitimate. Johnson should be ashamed of himself. He doesn't belong there.
Everyone of the witnesses in this trial are under oaths to tell the truth. No one knows better than Michael Cohen what trivializing the USA Constitution and it's Rule of Law will bring, including prison.
Every one of the witnesses appearing before Judge Merchan are brave. It is unfortunate that bravery for a witness is necessary, but, it is and it is because Trump has no respect for human life.
There is one juror that belongs to the MAGApublicans. It is that one juror Trump is counting on and Johnson's appearance hoped to influence.
"President Trump is innocent of these charges," Johnson said, speaking outside the courthouse as proceedings got underway inside.
The Louisiana Republican was the latest in a number of GOP members of Congress who have shown their support for the former president at his New York trial in recent days. He said he came on his own accord to support Trump, whom he called a friend. Several other lawmakers also attended.
The speaker has emphasized his closeness to Trump in recent weeks as he faced a challenge to his speakership from a handful of conservatives within his conference. And the former president came to his aid when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene brought up a snap vote to oust Johnson, offering his support for the speaker in a social media post.
Johnson claimed on Tuesday that the trial is meant to "keep him [Trump] off the campaign trial." He said that as a former litigator, he's "disgusted" by what is happening to Trump....
If there are any West Virginia Republicans that want to vote for someone other than a MAGApublican, they have to write it in.
May 12, 2024
By Leah Willingham and John Raby
When West Virginia Republicans vote (click here) in Tuesday’s primary, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election....
It is the Federalist Society. The ones that put the six conservative justices on the bench. Where there is the Federalist Society, there is plenty of election money.
...The fourth pillar of Project 2025 (click here) is our 180-day Transition Playbook and includes a comprehensive, concrete transition plan for each federal agency. Only through the implementation of specific action plans at each agency will the next conservative presidential Administration be successful....
There is a plan to change the country to high end conservative values. This is not a plan about Americans. This is a plan about ideology.
The project is the effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in January 2025. With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government.
The 2025 Presidential Transition Project is being organized by The Heritage Foundation and builds off Heritage’s longstanding “Mandate for Leadership,” which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan era. Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage’s “Mandate” for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office....
Troup Hemenway (click here) is Associate Director for the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at The Heritage Foundation.
Troup Calhoun Hemenway (click here) is the President of Personnel Policy Operations, a non-profit dedicated to de-risking civic engagement for conservatives, and is a Senior Advisor to the America First Policy Institute’s America First Transition Project.
He previously served in the White House as Associate Director for National Security in the Office of Presidential Personnel, where his portfolio included the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, and the Intelligence Community. Hemenway was a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Pentagon, helping create that organization, serving previously as a Defense Fellow in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
He was a member of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team in the Trump Campaign policy team. Hemenway earned his degree in cybersecurity from the University of Virginia, graduating with highest distinction. He founded the Association of Republican Presidential Appointees, which now includes over 1,000 members.
Sorry, but, Putin has his own plans. To know that simply look at the rise of conservative candidates in Europe. I actually have less problem with that then some would think. Europe is usually very liberal.
President Emmanuel Macron (click here) broke the liberal hold on France. Really? President Macron's conservative values have resulted in a stronger ally to the USA. He is standing up to Russia about the violence rained on Ukraine. Because Macron is so strong a leader, Putin has been playing nuclear missile drills. We run those drills, too, but, Putin performed them as a threat to Macron. I don't believe the conservative leanings in Europe is a threat so much as a strengthening of allies if it reflects the tone President Macron brought to his leadership.
…given to Trump and Kennedy will take the election from President Biden. Joe needs to repeat in all the swing states what he did in Wisconsin, although there is still a strong Trump/Kennedy vote.
When the DNC does it's internal research polling Jeb Bush should be added to that polling. He is campaigning. No one can deny it.
...He told me (click here) that more people are moving to Florida than any other state in the country because "we don't try to micromanage people's lives" and that the government "works pretty good," especially when it comes to education, regulation, and infrastructure. We discussed what he really thinks of Gov. Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump, current President Joe Biden, and whether the "Florida Man" meme captures something essential about the state's residents. "It's probably not fair, but who cares?" he says. "It's funny. We should embrace it. We're striving to have a disproportionate number of candidates for the Darwin Award each year. We should be very proud of it."...
I think Joe Biden is having a difficult time getting his message out because Trump is on display everyday. I also believe the recent polling doesn't represent Democrats and Independents very well. These folks are working and making good money now that the unions have their footing back. So, while the polls aren't different today than six months ago, I have to question if those working people are actually getting the information they need.
The employment of thousands of foreign construction (click here) and renovation workers has been approved to fill the void left by Palestinian workers. The Population Authority has permitted contractors to hire workers from different countries in response to the ongoing war and the ban on Palestinian workers entering Israel since October 7. This ban has halted construction and renovation work in the country.
In the upcoming allocation of foreign workers, 4,000 people will be assigned to the renovation industry and small contractors. Additionally, an Israeli workers' bank will be established to assist local workers and support the renovation contractors during this challenging period. This initiative has been welcomed by Eran Siev, Chairman of the Association of Renovation Contractors, who acknowledged the need for government support in the midst of the crisis.
Committee Chairman MK Eliyahu Rabivo (Likud) explained the decision, stating that "due to the security concerns and the citizens' long-term worries, it was necessary to replace Palestinian workers with foreign workers. The renovation contractors play a crucial role in Israel's construction market, and we must support them during these uncertain times. The past is behind us, and we must adapt to the new circumstances."...
Yes, the picture is very dated, but, the reporting is not.
May 7, 2024 By Ofer Petersburg
Palestinian workers at the end of a workday, Eyal Crossing, May 2015.
An anonymous survey (click here) by the Renovation Contractors Association among 180 contractors indicates that 20% rehired their former Palestinian workers to work after Passover.
Presently, Israel bars Palestinian entry but continues to renew their work permits. Consequently, workers possess valid permits but are prohibited from employment due to the absence of entry permits for workers from the territories in the renovations sector.
Eran Siev, Chair of the Renovation Contractors Association, states, "Israel already permits 28,000 Palestinians to work legally: 8,000 in Judea and Samaria, 10,000 in essential factories, and 8,000 in isolated industrial areas."...
After more than six months (click here) of deepening crisis in Israel's construction and infrastructure sector, Raul Srugo, President of the Bonei Haaretz (Builders of the Land) Contractors Association, representing contractors and entrepreneurs across the industry, penned a scathing letter to the prime minister and finance minister, accusing the government of driving the industry to the brink of collapse.
"This industry is at its worst state ever, among other things due to government decisions that only deepened the crisis," Srugo contends. According to association data, decisions led by the government to halt the entry of Palestinian workers since October 7 and attempts to replace them with foreign workers who have not arrived are expected to cause a 6-8 month delay in projects nationwide.
In the letter, Srugo warns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that without an immediate plan to bring in 50,000 foreign workers, permit the return of some Palestinian workers, compensate affected contractors and facilitate imports, the consequences will include contractor collapse, apartment price hikes, Israeli worker layoffs, hindered reconstruction efforts, and substantial revenue loss to state coffers from tax under-collection and reduced land sales....
Militarily there are now smaller groups of terrorists in Gaza attacking the IDF. The IDF has been targeting leadership so what is left are smaller groups of terrorists who have banned together to attack the IDF in Gaza without a central authority. The rockets falling on northern Israel are Hezbollah across the Lebanon border. Hezbollah has centralized authority.
This video is one of the attacks by small terrorist groups in Gaza. While watching this video one might ask why do all the buildings come down? I do not believe this video in that there was a sophisticated drone that dropped the shell that killed four IDF soldiers. I believe the drone found the tank, but, that shell is dropped from a tall building by hand.
As an observer it is not simple to understand the strategies of generals. But, the IDF from the beginning of the war had one clear prerogative and that was to destroy any infrastructure that supported Hamas' aggression. Hamas used the infrastructure meant for Palestinians to live in peace, and turned them into battle stations.
We didn't really see this sort of strategy in Iraq. There was corruption within the power structures depending on the location and it was appropriately dealt with. But, it never took on the observable identity of using the civilian population as human shields. That danger was normalized in Gaza by Hamas.
