There was a statement I thought I heard. I wasn't listening very intently for such statements, so much as content, but, I thought I heard someone say, "Donald Trump stated, Congress is nothing more than palls."
If that is the statement, my assessment is this:
l. That is not Trump talk. Donald Trump doesn't speak like that. Insulting, yes, but, using the image of Congress as a pall to the country is not in Trump vocabulary normally.
2. When I heard that my first impression was that was Vladimir Putin talking. See, the Russian Duma is very different than the US Congress. The leadership of Communist Russia would say that of the Congress because it doesn't understand the dynamic that exists with the country and the Congress.
So, Trump may have said something like that about Congress as an insult to raise his own spectrum of authority, but, those are not original words and they are grossly out of context it is obvious to me he learned that from a far different source.
My estimation is that Trump is still talking to Putin and garnering all sorts of ideas of grandeur inappropriate in every way for a president of the USA to think about himself.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Special Council's foot note stands.
By Stephanie Baker and Helena Bedwell
A Georgian-American businessman (click here) is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller of “glaring inaccuracies” and sensationalizing texts about alleged salacious tapes involving Donald Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday, lawyers for Giorgi Rtskhiladze demanded a retraction to a footnote in Mueller’s 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election....
The paragraph below is a lie.
...Rtskhiladze said the full exchange of his texts with Cohen shows he was only communicating a rumor a friend had overheard at a Moscow party. He said his friend, whom he declined to identify, called to alert him about the rumor because of Rtskhiladze’s business dealings with Trump. Rtskhiladze said he passed along the identity of his friend to Mueller....
Oh, dear. In typing the word "some" was left out and it completely changes the entire meaning of the conservation. That is a man that does not understand the English language. SOME? SOME?
...In his texts, Rtskhiladze tells Cohen: “Stopped flow of some tapes from Russia.” But in the footnote, Mueller dropped “some” from the text, which is a “crucial” word because “it establishes the fact that Mr. Rtskhiladze had no knowledge of the tapes’ content,” according to the letter to Barr. Mueller didn’t disclose the rest of the text exchange, which shows Rtskhiladze didn’t have direct knowledge of the rumor involving the tapes, the letter says....
“Stopped flow of some tapes from Russia.”
The only person that would be interested in the word SOME would be Donald Trump. Some is meaningless to the Special Council. It doesn't matter if there are some stopped coming from Russia or one stopped coming from Russia or a million; there is at least ONE tape that Rtskhiladze was interested in talking to Michael Cohen about.
Donald Trump would definitely be interested in the word some, because that would indicate there are others that were not stopped coming from Russia. But, for the Special Council, if there is just one tape stopped coming from Russia, the question is, "Why would a Russian call Michael Cohen to pass on a message that there was at least one tape that was stopped coming from Russia?" My guess is the word some was allowed to be absent from the footnote because it is completely irrelevant to the fact there was at least one tape stopped coming from Russia.
I don't care if a Russian by the name of Rtskhiladze has his pants in a wad because his text message was included in a footnote of the Special Council. WHAT IN THE HELL IS BILL BARR ENTERTAINING RUSSIANS FOR?
How did a personal friend of Trump get to write an introduction to an official government document?
July 7, 2018By Ryan W. Miller
Harvard law (click here) professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said backing President Donald Trump in certain cases has been harder than defending O.J. Simpson and other celebrity clients, according to an interview with.
The New York Times.
When asked, "Is this actually worse than when you defended O.J. Simpson?" of his defense of the president, Dershowitz replied:
"Of course. Or Claus von Bulow or Leona Helmsley or Michael Milken or Mike Tyson. This is much worse than all that."
Dershowitz continued, "In those cases people were critical of me, but they were prepared to discuss it. They were prepared to have a dialogue. Here, the people that I’m objecting to want to stop the dialogue. They don’t want to have the conversation."
Dershowitz was an appellate adviser to O.J. Simpson during his murder trial and also defended Claus von Bulow....
I want to know how much Dershowitz was paid for his introduction and is he receiving royalties from document sales. Why are the words "Authorized Edition" missing from the cover of the Special Council Report? This is not the Mueller Report, that is a populist rendition of the fact the Special Council compiled this report.
Harvard needs to carry out an ethics review of Dershowitz.
I won't buy this book. It's cover alone is corrupted by Trump's administration.
Jupiter, Fla. detectives say they found $43,000 in unreported cash in Shen Mingbi's bank safe deposit box.
By Chloe Teboe
West Palm Beach — A second massage therapist (click here) has been arrested and faces several prostitution charges after detectives in Florida say she performed a sex act on New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
A hearing was held for Shen Mingbi in Palm Beach County on Tuesday, a day after she was arrested. Through a Mandarin interpreter, Mingbi was ordered to surrender her passport and stay away from massage parlors.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Yes, this is Iowa. Presidential Candidate Governor Inslee was there to review the devastation of the places ice and water had it way with the Missouri River.
That is only the beginning. Homes and buildings are covered in black mold, which makes me wonder about the air quality to remaining residents.
The comment by the resident was about seeing Hamburg from a helicopter. If Governor Inslee believes that is necessary, the Army Corp and/or USGS may already have aerial views or would accommodate his visit when those aerial photos are gathered. It is not at all unusual for the federal agencies to take aerial pictures to clearly understand the problems. Sometimes, media aerial views are accepted by those agencies as well.
Modern day Iowa is not resilient to the climate crisis and it's current state is not sustainable.
If there are no air quality studies conducted by now, the US EPA needs to carry out that responsibility and it can't be conducted from a desk in DC.
April 23, 2019
By Robin Opsahi and Barbara Rodriquez
The longest-serving Republican in the Iowa Legislature (click here) said he's leaving the party, in part because of his disapproval with President Donald Trump.
Rep. Andy McKean, who represents Anamosa in the state House of Representatives, announced Tuesday that he plans to register as a Democrat and vote with the minority caucus.
"With the 2020 presidential election looming on the horizon, I feel, as a Republican, that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party," McKean said during a news conference at the Capitol. "Unfortunately, that's something I'm unable to do."
McKean said Trump is just one part of a bigger national trend of partisanship that made him feel out of place in the Republican caucus. McKean said when he joined the Iowa Statehouse 40 years ago, there were many moderates in the Republican Party. But now, he said, the ranks have thinned.
"I think the party has veered very sharply to the right," McKean said. "That concerns me."...
...McKean had a "no party" affiliation on the Iowa Legislature website briefly Tuesday before updating it to reflect that he now identifies as a Democrat. According to the site, McKean has left his Republican committee assignments.
Don McGahn's fuss about testifying to Congress is a lot of nonsensical fluff to appear to put up a fuss to temper Trump's high anxiety.
The United States of America's Constitution is built on a very solid premise that there are three branches of government which is to carry out oversight as a check on any one power of any one branch.
The idea a White House Council paid for by the American people to assist the President to LAWFULLY and ETHICALLY carry out his duties to the American people would even balk at a mere request by the US House to make testimony is an insult to the Legislative Branch of the USA. It is also taking on the role of a Defense Attorney long before there is finding and proof of illegal activity. To say this is astounding is only to realize the content of the White House is based in criminality and its defense.
The US House has every right to ask a former and/or existing White House counsel to come forward to make a testimony to the advice being afforded the president due to such veering off of any legal path revealed by the Special Council report. Trump needs to get over his high anxiety and step aside from more obstruction that is becoming more and more clear as the only defense for Trump and his revolving door cabinet.
The White House Counsel is a staff appointee of the President of the United States whose role is to advise the President on all legal issues concerning the President and his Administration.
The White House Council is not a defense attorney. May we please reflect on that for a minute.
Okay, times up.
Why would the American people pay an attorney who is supposed to advise the president to also defend the president? What is there to defend if the president is carrying out his duties to the letter of the law? The letter of the law is what the White House Council is supposed to be advising. McGahn better not have acted as a defense attorney in any of his advise.
There should have never been for one second any speculation as to the lawful actions of a president of the USA. No question.
The United States of America's Constitution is built on a very solid premise that there are three branches of government which is to carry out oversight as a check on any one power of any one branch.
The idea a White House Council paid for by the American people to assist the President to LAWFULLY and ETHICALLY carry out his duties to the American people would even balk at a mere request by the US House to make testimony is an insult to the Legislative Branch of the USA. It is also taking on the role of a Defense Attorney long before there is finding and proof of illegal activity. To say this is astounding is only to realize the content of the White House is based in criminality and its defense.
The US House has every right to ask a former and/or existing White House counsel to come forward to make a testimony to the advice being afforded the president due to such veering off of any legal path revealed by the Special Council report. Trump needs to get over his high anxiety and step aside from more obstruction that is becoming more and more clear as the only defense for Trump and his revolving door cabinet.
The White House Counsel is a staff appointee of the President of the United States whose role is to advise the President on all legal issues concerning the President and his Administration.
The White House Council is not a defense attorney. May we please reflect on that for a minute.
Okay, times up.
Why would the American people pay an attorney who is supposed to advise the president to also defend the president? What is there to defend if the president is carrying out his duties to the letter of the law? The letter of the law is what the White House Council is supposed to be advising. McGahn better not have acted as a defense attorney in any of his advise.
There should have never been for one second any speculation as to the lawful actions of a president of the USA. No question.
Just to be clear, the violations by Trump and his family, of the USA Constitution has nothing to do with the Special Council report.
Let me state that one more time.
The violations by Trump and his family, of the USA Constitution has nothing to do with the Special Council report.
The Special Council did not go on a witch hunt and look for reasons to hold the Trump Administration responsible for it's unethical and illegal activities. None of the other violations the US House is finding in Oversight has nothing to do with the Special Council Report.
These violations of the law and ethics are not under one committee. The illegality is spread across most of the committees in the US House.
Let me state that one more time.
The violations by Trump and his family, of the USA Constitution has nothing to do with the Special Council report.
The Special Council did not go on a witch hunt and look for reasons to hold the Trump Administration responsible for it's unethical and illegal activities. None of the other violations the US House is finding in Oversight has nothing to do with the Special Council Report.
These violations of the law and ethics are not under one committee. The illegality is spread across most of the committees in the US House.
Trump and his family are in violation fo the law.
The USA Constitution is the law. Just that simple. For two years the US Congress did nothing in upholding the USA Constitution and due to that, now the Trumps and Kushners believe they can conduct themselves as they please without worry.
“[N]o Person (click here) holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], 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.” Foreign Emoluments Clause, U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 8.
THEY VIOLATED THE USA CONSTITUTION AND NO ONE DID A THING until members filed suit to end the abuse. (click here) I think the violations go well beyond Trump and also extend to his advisers. I don't care if they state they are volunteers, that is just another lie. They are using their power within the White House for their personal enrichment.
“[N]o Person (click here) holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], 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.” Foreign Emoluments Clause, U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 8.
THEY VIOLATED THE USA CONSTITUTION AND NO ONE DID A THING until members filed suit to end the abuse. (click here) I think the violations go well beyond Trump and also extend to his advisers. I don't care if they state they are volunteers, that is just another lie. They are using their power within the White House for their personal enrichment.
More illegal activity by Kushner and Trump.
Jarad Kushner is emptying some cabinet posts and running the 2020 campaign from the White House for the RNC and Trump.
Passive observation is not allowed. Trump has been grooming the NO INFORMATION VOTERS for years if not decades or more. His dialogue, including Twitter, is absent of facts and only serves as a master to his underlings.
There are people that have no information about the illegality of the Trump administration, except, for the words he utters. That is a fact. There are violent outbursts to prove it.
April 16, 2019
By Gabriel Sherman
...Inside the West Wing, (click here) acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has told officials the immigration controversies are more than a distraction, but good 2020 politics. “Everyone including Mick thinks it’s really smart,” a source close to the White House said. “The Democrats want to make this election about Donald Trump. But if Trump makes it about immigration and socialism and the Electoral College, it’s good for him,” the official said. It’s a view shared by the 2020 campaign. “He is battling obstructionist Democrats who tried to block his national emergency declaration and is openly considering relocating illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities, which had proudly proclaimed themselves safe havens. You can bet you’ll be hearing about immigration as 2020 approaches,” campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told me....
The Hillary Clinton investigation has been closed a long time ago. There were no laws governing the use of electronic messaging until the Obama Administration. The 30,000 personal emails on the Clinton sever (a former President and First Lady and later a Senator and Secretary of State) that was erased by lawyers were under no obligation to protect those conversations for most of the years Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. There is no case here.
...Rudy Giuliani (the wayward former NYC mayor) told a prominent Republican last week that Barr has all the evidence he needs to name a special prosecutor to investigate the basis on which Mueller was appointed. “Rudy is dead focused. He wants Barr to take action and investigate McCabe, Strzok, Page, Rosenstein, and Comey,” the Republican said, referring to the senior Justice Department and F.B.I. officials.
Passive observation is not allowed. Trump has been grooming the NO INFORMATION VOTERS for years if not decades or more. His dialogue, including Twitter, is absent of facts and only serves as a master to his underlings.
There are people that have no information about the illegality of the Trump administration, except, for the words he utters. That is a fact. There are violent outbursts to prove it.
April 16, 2019
By Gabriel Sherman
...Inside the West Wing, (click here) acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has told officials the immigration controversies are more than a distraction, but good 2020 politics. “Everyone including Mick thinks it’s really smart,” a source close to the White House said. “The Democrats want to make this election about Donald Trump. But if Trump makes it about immigration and socialism and the Electoral College, it’s good for him,” the official said. It’s a view shared by the 2020 campaign. “He is battling obstructionist Democrats who tried to block his national emergency declaration and is openly considering relocating illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities, which had proudly proclaimed themselves safe havens. You can bet you’ll be hearing about immigration as 2020 approaches,” campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told me....
The Hillary Clinton investigation has been closed a long time ago. There were no laws governing the use of electronic messaging until the Obama Administration. The 30,000 personal emails on the Clinton sever (a former President and First Lady and later a Senator and Secretary of State) that was erased by lawyers were under no obligation to protect those conversations for most of the years Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. There is no case here.
...Rudy Giuliani (the wayward former NYC mayor) told a prominent Republican last week that Barr has all the evidence he needs to name a special prosecutor to investigate the basis on which Mueller was appointed. “Rudy is dead focused. He wants Barr to take action and investigate McCabe, Strzok, Page, Rosenstein, and Comey,” the Republican said, referring to the senior Justice Department and F.B.I. officials.
While Trump relishes the prospect of going after his opponents, his family is acting emboldened in the post-Mueller environment. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, in particular, are taking a more aggressive approach to internal politics, sources said. “Jared is totally relieved about Mueller. He feels they’ve been completely exonerated. The criminal liability has gone away,” a source who spoke recently with Kushner told me.
A former West Wing official said Kushner’s influence has never been stronger. “He’s running the R.N.C. He’s running the campaign,” the official said. “You have to go through Jared on everything,” a Republican close to the White House said. “He’s the kingmaker....
The only reason the Trumps and their cohorts are acting out in the face of very obvious crimes and ethics violations are that they are trying to bring the country's opinion of them under their control. The issue with classified clearance and Trump circumventing all others to issue it is to provide leverage to family business interests.
The violations of the public trust are extremely obvious. The New York State bar needs to review Guiliani's license and Barr should be reviewed by ethics panels and legal authority as well.
The US House has its hands full with the Special Council report AND two years of negligence of LEGALLY REQUIRED oversight.
The violations of the public trust are extremely obvious. The New York State bar needs to review Guiliani's license and Barr should be reviewed by ethics panels and legal authority as well.
The US House has its hands full with the Special Council report AND two years of negligence of LEGALLY REQUIRED oversight.
Gloves are off,. the Trump White House, including Guiliani, is attempting to shift public sentiment toward Russia.
The Trump and Kushner families have exploited the power of the USA for their own personal gain and they want to keep it that way.
The entire family is used to talking past detractors, especially on Facebook. They have been conducting dialogue for a long time to maintain and expand their wealth with Facebook. The "realDonaldTrump" has been selling himself as a real celebrity with a dark secret of how to best overcome financial woes.
So, their skills are interesting, compelling to some, but, if Americans sincerely love their country they will reject this show business White House and cling to their Constitution.
Right now the Trumps, Kushner and Guiliani are trying to sway public sentiment to disqualify Democrats at the sincere embrace of the country.
The White House wants the USA, but, does not want the USA Constitution regardless of flag hugging. They want to rule as they please and make it their home. Not their home away from home, but, their home.
The Kushner family has used the power of the White House to obtain visas for Chinese oligarchs lobbied by Don, Jr. Jarad received large amounts of money from the Arab countries with the Saudi Prince openly stating he had Kushner in his pocket. He does. It is a fact. Kushner is now chasing business ventures in Israel. The entire disaster that is Trump is about their personal wealth and has little to no the country or the people. Trump and Kushner would sell the USA to Russia if it meant the oligarchs would pass more money through Deutsche Bank.
If statements by the Trump White House and it's cohorts don't sound right, it isn't.
April 23, 2019
On Tuesday, (click here) White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was asked about the now-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his own ties to the foreign power. Here's his response:
"You look at what Russia did, you know, buying some Facebook ads to try and sow dissent and do it, it's a terrible thing. But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that's happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple Facebook ads."
In short: No biggie!...
The entire family is used to talking past detractors, especially on Facebook. They have been conducting dialogue for a long time to maintain and expand their wealth with Facebook. The "realDonaldTrump" has been selling himself as a real celebrity with a dark secret of how to best overcome financial woes.
So, their skills are interesting, compelling to some, but, if Americans sincerely love their country they will reject this show business White House and cling to their Constitution.
Right now the Trumps, Kushner and Guiliani are trying to sway public sentiment to disqualify Democrats at the sincere embrace of the country.
The White House wants the USA, but, does not want the USA Constitution regardless of flag hugging. They want to rule as they please and make it their home. Not their home away from home, but, their home.
The Kushner family has used the power of the White House to obtain visas for Chinese oligarchs lobbied by Don, Jr. Jarad received large amounts of money from the Arab countries with the Saudi Prince openly stating he had Kushner in his pocket. He does. It is a fact. Kushner is now chasing business ventures in Israel. The entire disaster that is Trump is about their personal wealth and has little to no the country or the people. Trump and Kushner would sell the USA to Russia if it meant the oligarchs would pass more money through Deutsche Bank.
If statements by the Trump White House and it's cohorts don't sound right, it isn't.
April 23, 2019
On Tuesday, (click here) White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was asked about the now-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his own ties to the foreign power. Here's his response:
"You look at what Russia did, you know, buying some Facebook ads to try and sow dissent and do it, it's a terrible thing. But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that's happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple Facebook ads."
In short: No biggie!...
My understanding of the Venezuela refugee status is half the country's population will leave. That is failed leadership. It is also a huge failure for Russian intervention which only regards Venezuela as a strategic military site.
Maduro has no reason to have nuclear capacity jets. I think he needs to return them to Russia in exchange for food, clothing and a better grid structure.
Republican men not only have identity issues, they are insecure beyond belief. Evidently, it drives them to drink beer to intoxication.
This is pathetic and shows a real trend in identity issues with Republican men. In the White House today women are treated as sex objects in demanding of hair length and dense make-up. I don't want to hear "this is who we are" because they all look like the same Barbie dolls.
After Kavanagh found his sexual prowess as his only real accomplishment in high school, he took his lack of identity into college and carried out the same lack of social skills.
This hatred/bigotry against other people, including the opposite gender, is a gross example of men that only define themselves by the narrowest of margins in the category of mature and able to take on life. At no point in time in his high school years (high school people may lack some clout but they aren't children) did Miller ever realize that the people surrounding him were his community. He totally rejected the idea of BELONGING to a diverse community. He also doesn't allow females THEIR SPACE at all.
The profile of these bozos is all too easy. They are narcissistic and not even simply arrogant, they define themselves by denying everyone around them as a legitimate human being.
When one denies others their valid place in life the only place for them is in service to their master. Hence, women are sex objects and assaulted. It is the only place for women in a man's world where being self-centered is their survival.
Just as a point of interest, being financially aloft does provide for even more distance between them and real people. Being a member of the 0.01 percent club isn't really a club, it is competition to own the world.
October 9, 2019
By Maxwell Tani
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller (click here) once jumped into a women's track meet to make a point about masculinity.
In a lengthy profile published on Monday, The New York Times reported that Miller "jumped, uninvited, into the final stretch of a girls' track meet, apparently intent on proving his athletic supremacy over the opposite sex."
The White House seems not to have denied the incident to the Times, only clarifying that the girls' track team was from another school.
Classmates remembered different racially and politically charged incidents.
Miller reportedly said he could not be friends with a person of Latino heritage, and on a different occasion, the paper reported, Miller "set off on a patriotic semi-striptease before the editor of the student newspaper, according to the editor, Ari Rosmarin, theatrically removing a button-down to reveal an American flag T-shirt in protest of an article he found inconsistent with the national interest."...
After Kavanagh found his sexual prowess as his only real accomplishment in high school, he took his lack of identity into college and carried out the same lack of social skills.
This hatred/bigotry against other people, including the opposite gender, is a gross example of men that only define themselves by the narrowest of margins in the category of mature and able to take on life. At no point in time in his high school years (high school people may lack some clout but they aren't children) did Miller ever realize that the people surrounding him were his community. He totally rejected the idea of BELONGING to a diverse community. He also doesn't allow females THEIR SPACE at all.
The profile of these bozos is all too easy. They are narcissistic and not even simply arrogant, they define themselves by denying everyone around them as a legitimate human being.
When one denies others their valid place in life the only place for them is in service to their master. Hence, women are sex objects and assaulted. It is the only place for women in a man's world where being self-centered is their survival.
Just as a point of interest, being financially aloft does provide for even more distance between them and real people. Being a member of the 0.01 percent club isn't really a club, it is competition to own the world.
October 9, 2019
By Maxwell Tani
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller (click here) once jumped into a women's track meet to make a point about masculinity.
In a lengthy profile published on Monday, The New York Times reported that Miller "jumped, uninvited, into the final stretch of a girls' track meet, apparently intent on proving his athletic supremacy over the opposite sex."
The White House seems not to have denied the incident to the Times, only clarifying that the girls' track team was from another school.
Classmates remembered different racially and politically charged incidents.
Miller reportedly said he could not be friends with a person of Latino heritage, and on a different occasion, the paper reported, Miller "set off on a patriotic semi-striptease before the editor of the student newspaper, according to the editor, Ari Rosmarin, theatrically removing a button-down to reveal an American flag T-shirt in protest of an article he found inconsistent with the national interest."...
Monday, April 22, 2019
I would trust Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence.
He has been a long time patriot of the USA. He is different from Mueller in that he chose a different path after serving two years in the USA military. His path has been primarily legislative, but, he was also Ambassador to Germany. He was given the post a few days before 911. Germany is a big deal when it comes to intelligence that would effect the USA. So, he served as Ambassador for I think it was five years. Dan Coats knows intelligence.
July 23, 2018
By Pierre Atlas
With the German consul general from Chicago seated in the audience, (click here) Coats reminisced about those trying times and noted the tremendous support that Germany, a longstanding ally and fellow NATO member, had given the United States in its moment of dire need. The Islamist terror cell that attacked us was based in Hamburg, and as ambassador, Coats helped to coordinate the security and intelligence response in Germany.
NATO was founded in 1949 as a military alliance to hold off Soviet aggression and to keep Europe free and democratic. Article 5 of its charter establishes the principle of collective security: an attack on one member will be considered an attack on all members. Article 5 has been invoked only once — not in response to Russian aggression in Europe, but after the United States was attacked on 9/11. As the World Trade Center smoldered, the German Air Force flew combat air patrols over America’s eastern seaboard. NATO forces have been fighting alongside our troops in Afghanistan since 2001, with thousands being killed or wounded in action. NATO members are America’s truest allies.
July 23, 2018
By Pierre Atlas
With the German consul general from Chicago seated in the audience, (click here) Coats reminisced about those trying times and noted the tremendous support that Germany, a longstanding ally and fellow NATO member, had given the United States in its moment of dire need. The Islamist terror cell that attacked us was based in Hamburg, and as ambassador, Coats helped to coordinate the security and intelligence response in Germany.
NATO was founded in 1949 as a military alliance to hold off Soviet aggression and to keep Europe free and democratic. Article 5 of its charter establishes the principle of collective security: an attack on one member will be considered an attack on all members. Article 5 has been invoked only once — not in response to Russian aggression in Europe, but after the United States was attacked on 9/11. As the World Trade Center smoldered, the German Air Force flew combat air patrols over America’s eastern seaboard. NATO forces have been fighting alongside our troops in Afghanistan since 2001, with thousands being killed or wounded in action. NATO members are America’s truest allies.
I couldn’t help but think of Coats last week, as President Donald Trump publicly attacked Germany and brazenly sought to undermine the trans-Atlantic alliance at the NATO Summit in Brussels. I wondered, what must our former ambassador to Germany, now serving as Trump’s director of national intelligence, be thinking?
In his 2015 address at Marian, then-Sen. Coats, a traditional conservative Republican, also offered a blistering critique of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. He said Obama did not take a strong enough stance against Russian leader Vladimir Putin after Russia invaded Ukraine, and that this sent the wrong signal to Putin. At the time, some people may have dismissed Coats’ comments as simply partisan sniping one year before the 2016 presidential election. But this week, it became clear to everyone that Coats puts country above party....
I think his views on Russia are clear.
January 5, 2017
by Brian Naylor
In choosing Coats, (click here) he is getting a veteran Washington establishment figure — a senator, former lobbyist and ambassador to Germany — with a rare distinction: being banned from Russia.
Coats' views on Russia after its annexation of Crimea, and his calls for stronger sanctions as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, landed him and other senators on Russia's banned list.
It's a major difference with the president-elect, who has praised Putin and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence conclusions that the Russian government, sought to help President-elect Donald Trump's election chances.
Coats even mocked Russia with a David Letterman-style top 10 list on Twitter in 2014:...
I understand there is a conflict of information in the Special Council's report regarding the Director of Intelligence and his staff about an incident that seems to alarm him and concerned his staff.
That doesn't worry me. It doesn't worry me because Dan Coats has a rather important and difficult job.
If I may?
I don't know first hand what it is to be Director of National Intelligence. I can imagine though. The job isn't simple and it has to be similar to working in a mist of information all the time. Sort of like breathing. We use oxygen, but, the oxygen is mixed with all sorts of gases, but, yet it is the oxygen our lungs bring into our metabolism. I think the information that intelligence uses is similar to that. Being director of that intelligence is more or less a place where the absolutely most important information is garnered with brevity.
I think Dan Coats is focused on the country and what is going on that seeks to undermine it. I am sure when he was summoned to speak with the Special Council he honestly didn't recall the same event his staff would have remembered. I really think his job requires so much focus that he simply dismisses events that interfere with his priorities. While he may have been upset, it probably washed away with his discussions with staff. I doubt he is impaired from performing his responsibilities.
In this case, I think it is more important to give greater brevity to Dan Coats staff than the man himself. I think the staff is concerned for their Director and remember things like an upset moment far better than he remembers it himself.
If this is the reason the Special Council left wiggle room in the report, it is because Dan Coats testimony would be given greater weight by STATUS than his staff. That has to be sorted out by the Congress.
I think his views on Russia are clear.
January 5, 2017
by Brian Naylor
In choosing Coats, (click here) he is getting a veteran Washington establishment figure — a senator, former lobbyist and ambassador to Germany — with a rare distinction: being banned from Russia.
Coats' views on Russia after its annexation of Crimea, and his calls for stronger sanctions as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, landed him and other senators on Russia's banned list.
It's a major difference with the president-elect, who has praised Putin and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence conclusions that the Russian government, sought to help President-elect Donald Trump's election chances.
Coats even mocked Russia with a David Letterman-style top 10 list on Twitter in 2014:...
I understand there is a conflict of information in the Special Council's report regarding the Director of Intelligence and his staff about an incident that seems to alarm him and concerned his staff.
That doesn't worry me. It doesn't worry me because Dan Coats has a rather important and difficult job.
If I may?
I don't know first hand what it is to be Director of National Intelligence. I can imagine though. The job isn't simple and it has to be similar to working in a mist of information all the time. Sort of like breathing. We use oxygen, but, the oxygen is mixed with all sorts of gases, but, yet it is the oxygen our lungs bring into our metabolism. I think the information that intelligence uses is similar to that. Being director of that intelligence is more or less a place where the absolutely most important information is garnered with brevity.
I think Dan Coats is focused on the country and what is going on that seeks to undermine it. I am sure when he was summoned to speak with the Special Council he honestly didn't recall the same event his staff would have remembered. I really think his job requires so much focus that he simply dismisses events that interfere with his priorities. While he may have been upset, it probably washed away with his discussions with staff. I doubt he is impaired from performing his responsibilities.
In this case, I think it is more important to give greater brevity to Dan Coats staff than the man himself. I think the staff is concerned for their Director and remember things like an upset moment far better than he remembers it himself.
If this is the reason the Special Council left wiggle room in the report, it is because Dan Coats testimony would be given greater weight by STATUS than his staff. That has to be sorted out by the Congress.
Scientists take many risks in bringing people the truth. Today is Earth Day and they did not forget.
Scientists test the age of sea ice off the northern coast of Russia.
The northern coast of Russia (click here) is largely considered the most important spot for the formation of new sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, fueled by the area’s shallow waters, frigid winter temperatures, and a strong wind that pushes ice to the open sea. But scientists have discovered that 80 percent of this new sea ice now melts before it can leave coastal waters — up from 50 percent in 2000.
The melting is being driven by the region’s rapid warming, according to the new research published this week in the journal Scientific Reports. Temperatures in the Arctic have risen twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
With just 20 percent of new Russian sea ice making its way to the central Arctic Ocean, the region is losing an important means of transporting nutrients, algae, and sediment, the scientists note. And without new sea ice to replenish the region’s more stable, older ice, “the world is one major step closer to a sea-ice-free summer in the Arctic,” warned Thomas Krumpen, a sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany and lead author of the new study....
Sea ice floats through the seas. When it freezes it traps all kinds of nutrients and microscopic food into the seas and oceans. The loss of sea ice off Russia is a threat to the global marine food chain.
The sea ice floats out of the Arctic and melts as it reaches the oceans and seas. That melting will engage the food chain. If the ice can't reach global circulation full of these nutrients to the North Atlantic after passing through the Arctic Ocean, there will be a loss of viability in the oceans.
Fish don't happen by magic. The fisheries need to be monitored closely for loss of productivity. We already know there is the migration of species toward the north and the south as the equatorial regions warm and become a threatened habitat by many species. What occurs then when there is an inadequate food chain when they arrive in their migration?
On Earth Day, CNN is stating the climate crisis is signs of the rapture.
OMG.
Has CNN ever heard of Pope Francis and his "Encyclical and Climate Change?"
It can be found here. (click here) I spent time and hours with it's content to validate the basis of his work.
Does CNN not read or are they just to lazy to educate themselves about global issues of concern to the people? Listening to Sarah Sanders, right?
Sarah Sanders is not a religious authority that has sound facts behind her. The Vatican does it's own research on many things.
I am fairly sure when God gave humans dominion over the Earth, it wasn't supposed to submit control to the petroleum industry, or exploitive fishing or destructive drilling and mining. Somehow, that just isn't God.
Genesis 1:26-28 King James Version (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
OMG.
Has CNN ever heard of Pope Francis and his "Encyclical and Climate Change?"
It can be found here. (click here) I spent time and hours with it's content to validate the basis of his work.
Does CNN not read or are they just to lazy to educate themselves about global issues of concern to the people? Listening to Sarah Sanders, right?
Sarah Sanders is not a religious authority that has sound facts behind her. The Vatican does it's own research on many things.
I am fairly sure when God gave humans dominion over the Earth, it wasn't supposed to submit control to the petroleum industry, or exploitive fishing or destructive drilling and mining. Somehow, that just isn't God.
Genesis 1:26-28 King James Version (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
King James Version (KJV)
Is there still misogyny at work after the defeat of Hillary Clinton?
The media is not covering women candidates the same as men. That is an issue that should not be ignored. I thought perhaps with debates that would change, but, I don't think it will.
Was the misogyny against Hillary Clinton ever documented in studies? It should have been by now. There are articles like this appearing in popular journals, but, this is more or less a self-help article, which I find useless. It is written in Ireland and not the USA, but, the idea girls are oppressed by external culture is already realized here.
I want women to stop blaming themselves and their culture and reach into documented proof of misogyny. I want to see journal articles and psychiatrists naming the syndrome. We know it exists and the disparity in the media is proof. It is time to name the REASON, with real facts, figures and analysis. Time's up, it is time to move forward with a real measure of the misogyny women face.
August 20, 2019
By Sarah Carey
My friend the psychoanalyst gave me great advice once: (click here) "Name It". Dr Ciara Kelly - in a fine piece in the Irish Independent last Monday - extracted some shrapnel from this BBC/Kevin Myers incendiary device. Struggling to answer Myers' question - why is there only one female chess grandmaster? - she Named It: Expectations.
That's when I remembered when we girls from the Convent were sent down to the Christian Brothers to try Honours Maths. On the first day, the teacher declared that he expected only half a dozen of the class to sit the paper in the Leaving Certificate. He looked at me meaningfully and I knew straight away I'd never make it. And ever since I've deferred to men I thought were smarter than me because they did Honours Maths.
So with expectations of Us and Them set hard in my psyche, I cheerfully laughed off the drunken groping because hey, they're only lads, and isn't a sense of humour the trick to getting through life and sure, some things you just have to put up with? And then you watch, in broad daylight, as the King of The Office actually grabs an intern, right in front of you, and you don't even know what you're looking at any more. Was that a friendly embrace or an assault? And it was the wonderful Barbara Scully who Named It for me: "But imagine if a woman did that? It simply wouldn't happen. We put up with this stuff and that's how they get away with it."
Or the years I spent arguing against gender quotas because I didn't want men to hate us any more than they already did, and sure, if you were good enough, there wasn't really anything stopping you getting that nomination to the ticket or the board....
Was the misogyny against Hillary Clinton ever documented in studies? It should have been by now. There are articles like this appearing in popular journals, but, this is more or less a self-help article, which I find useless. It is written in Ireland and not the USA, but, the idea girls are oppressed by external culture is already realized here.
I want women to stop blaming themselves and their culture and reach into documented proof of misogyny. I want to see journal articles and psychiatrists naming the syndrome. We know it exists and the disparity in the media is proof. It is time to name the REASON, with real facts, figures and analysis. Time's up, it is time to move forward with a real measure of the misogyny women face.
August 20, 2019
By Sarah Carey
My friend the psychoanalyst gave me great advice once: (click here) "Name It". Dr Ciara Kelly - in a fine piece in the Irish Independent last Monday - extracted some shrapnel from this BBC/Kevin Myers incendiary device. Struggling to answer Myers' question - why is there only one female chess grandmaster? - she Named It: Expectations.
That's when I remembered when we girls from the Convent were sent down to the Christian Brothers to try Honours Maths. On the first day, the teacher declared that he expected only half a dozen of the class to sit the paper in the Leaving Certificate. He looked at me meaningfully and I knew straight away I'd never make it. And ever since I've deferred to men I thought were smarter than me because they did Honours Maths.
So with expectations of Us and Them set hard in my psyche, I cheerfully laughed off the drunken groping because hey, they're only lads, and isn't a sense of humour the trick to getting through life and sure, some things you just have to put up with? And then you watch, in broad daylight, as the King of The Office actually grabs an intern, right in front of you, and you don't even know what you're looking at any more. Was that a friendly embrace or an assault? And it was the wonderful Barbara Scully who Named It for me: "But imagine if a woman did that? It simply wouldn't happen. We put up with this stuff and that's how they get away with it."
Or the years I spent arguing against gender quotas because I didn't want men to hate us any more than they already did, and sure, if you were good enough, there wasn't really anything stopping you getting that nomination to the ticket or the board....
Republicans don't read. They rely on others to read and then talk about it.
No one actually expects a reasonable response from the Republicans. I don't. I know they don't read. As a matter of fact it is well known that Republicans listen to others read in order to understand documents. It happens often in the right wing media. People read on the air because they know Republicans don't read.
All those fancy charter schools are experimental schools. That is what a charter school is by law. The Republicans are still looking to find a method that will allow them to read.
Case in point. Why would Republicans take so many votes about health care if they could read? Stubbornness? Really? People who can read are telling Republicans they know what they want from their country when it comes to health care, yet, they don't read it for themselves. If the people talking aren't valid Republican readers, the leadership does not listen, either.
Why would a Republican expose all his children to measles rather than have his children vaccinated? Because he doesn't read.
The illiteracy must be high in the Republican Party. It explains the obstructionism of McConnell. He doesn't read.
This article was written by Senator Schumer. He can read and write.
October 23, 2018
By Charles E. Schumer
With only a few weeks to go until the midterm elections, (click here) Democratic Senate candidates across the country just got a boost from the unlikeliest of places: Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
This past week, Leader McConnell told the American people exactly what another two years of Republican control of the Senate would look like. If Republicans retain the majority, he said, there will be another attempt to repeal the health care law, which could result in 20 million fewer Americans with health insurance. He then defended the partisan lawsuit that could end protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions — a lawsuit supported by 20 Republican officials, including two attorneys general who are running for Senate seats....
The Rooster
"Okeydoke"
The Special Council report is not a "hit job."
To begin, what kind of language is that for a president of the United States of America. It lacks complete dignity that is this country.
Secondly, there is not a false fact in the report. These facts came directly out of the records that were produced because of Trump's activity. There is nothing dishonest about any of the information in the report.
Simply because people cooperated with the requests of the Special Council does not exonerate them. The facts in the report are because they cooperated because they had to cooperate.
The most deceptive and dishonest person ever to occupy the Oval Office provided all the facts in the report of the Special Council. He needs to look in the mirror and see more than a tie that reaches below his belt buckle.
Enough of the lies already. Trump and his cohorts have no dignity, they don't even have self-respect. They will bargain for power without regard to the truth, honesty or the values American people hold dear. Even his family had to barter their way to a status of being considered above the reason for an indictment.
The US Congress needs to continue to press for the entire report and it's supporting documents. If this is what a redacted copy says, I can only imagine the rest of the report.
Additionally, the Attorney General needs to be held responsible for the willingness he has allowed with his office. He is more than willing to set up firewalls and false reporting at every turn to Congress and the American people. That is not permitted in the job of Attorney General. Covering for a ruthless and dangerous president is not in the job description.
Congress needs to do it's job and do it well. The parts of this report we already know are appalling and Trump definitely does not belong in the office of the highest office in this country. He is not a good president and his administration has lost credibility as the most corrupt administration in the modern era.
"Good Night, Moon"
17.6 day old moon
91.3 percent lit
April 17, 2019
By Douglas Main
A full moon is looming (click here) —and it will have a big impact on animals, especially those in the ocean.
Recent studies show that many types of animals have biological clocks finely tuned to the cycles of the moon, which drives fascinating and sometimes bizarre patterns of behavior.
Besides revealing hidden aspects of animal life, the research also has implications for better understanding the circadian clocks present in all animals, including humans.
The first circadian clocks evolved in the oceans, so studying them in marine animals can tell us a lot about how they evolved and how they work and interact with each other, explains Kim Last, a researcher at the Scottish Association for Marine Science.Take zooplankton. These tiny animals engage in the world’s largest migration, which takes place every night when they swim toward the surface to feed on algae. These mini-creatures are prey to a many larger animals that hunt by sight. So to avoid predation, zooplankton head for the depths at dawn....
...When the winter moon is full over the Arctic, it stays above the horizon for a handful of days (depending on latitude), and during this time, zooplankton dive to take cover from predators. But while the moon is out, it also rises and sets—and the zooplankton respond, rising and diving over the course of this cycle, which takes 24 hours and 50 minutes....
Zooplankton (click here) include such protozoans as the foraminiferans ; they are found at all depths but are more numerous near the surface. Bacteria are abundant in upper waters and in bottom deposits....
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