Racial Discrimination

I was just reading an article in The NY Times regarding discrimination in resolving claims for dwelling (apartment and/or home) insurance. 

Let’s, for this entry, assume all insurance claims are discriminating based on ethnicity/race when it comes to people of color. I am going to add another qualifier, balance insurance bias/discrimination with the KNOWN commodity of Environmental Justice.

The US Congress as well as state legislatures should have no problem in stepping up to the challenge and bring about legislation that places all claims on the same level playing field. Then define that level playing field for profound fairness in quotes for insurance, fees, claims, and claim resolution. 

When that legislation is written a clause that provides transparency for the customer and transparency for annual reporting of statistics must be included. By reporting statistics (absent of customer personal data) legislators can determine whether insurance premiums are fair or gouging consumers.

Insurance providers of any kind also need to be blind to ethnicity, race, gender, sexual identity and the way a person makes a living except if the insurance is directly involved in employment, ie: fire personnel or police that receive insurance through a union contract. 

Penalties for not adhering to the rule of law should be made plain to the insurer if violations occur. The fines need to be significant. The insurer has broken the law(s) that directly effect citizen’s lives.

Penalties, including jail/prison time should be part of the legislation, including prohibition of pardons. And let’s not forget prohibited from any form of liability waiver.

Unruly students

When I think of Trump supporters there are two categories; those that become wealthy on the novelty and those unwitting from peer pressure.

There is little to be done with those preying on others to gather personal wealth, but, the solution to this dynamic is the same for both, teach to remove ignorance. 

It is amazing to me that once unruly students become ENGAGED in the lesson being taught when personal attention is provided to bring them up to speed. 

When I teach and notice behavioral problems or silent distraction I always offer personal help during class and at the end of teaching a daily lesson, I offer time at the end of the day for any student who cares to review any subject. Guess what? I never leave on time for home because students always show up after they too finish classes.

The point is children and/or young people have “ego defenses.” Those ego defenses are difficult to get past because they receive approval from peers with similar knowledge deficits. I do believe knowledge deficits are at the basis of many a bully and their cohorts.

I have yet to witness a student engaged in study and doing well, spend time as a bully so much as completing an in class assignment or homework. When students with poor behavior are proved an opportunity to ask questions one on one during or after class their bad behavior improves and often is eliminated. I believe that same method of engagement extends to adults.

People long for power in their lives that will not betray their trust. Americans engaged in politics for the first time in their lives regardless of their age will attach themselves to foolish and often adverse information for the purpose of peer acceptance. It is a form of brainwashing on a societal level. It isn’t political because it is based in disinformation, lies, half-truths and a demonization of truth tellers.

ie: Don, Jr. and probably Ivanka will engage any peripheral belief system, including white supremacy/nationalists. The most stark example is that of the “Tiger King.” I think that is the name of the wayward and supposed animal loving people that created a movie about their caging of what should be wild animals. Jr. didn’t care about the truth. He took the “fascination” of those following and enthusiastic about the movie as his purpose when he achieves power to right a supposed wrong, hence voters.

It isn’t okay anymore for politics to estrange American voters from the truth and benevolence that is the foundation of this democracy. All Americans must be told an understanding of truth and why truth is considered the best basis for power. 

I sincerely believe when politics goes off the rails to allow adversity a legitimate place in society it in turn destroys democracy. Democracy lives and grows within truth. Not truthiness, but, unforgiving truth.

Truth does not abandon democracy, it solidifies it. Truth is a vapor and not brick and mortar. It can easily be toyed with when ethics is scoffed at as a sissy behavior. Ethics is not law, but, ask any student I have taught if it is important and they will say, “My principal and parents cannot punish me for telling it.” 

Truth is a foundation that becomes stronger as it grows among a society. It is not a toy, it is freedom. In the case of Trump supporters, the unwitting become knowledgeable and those seeking wealth at the expense of democracy can no longer deliver votes for the lack of followers. 

Chronic pain

This is not a scientific poll, however, in speaking to basically strangers who have suffered contracting the virus and lived, state they are grateful to be alive. They state they know other people they know, on a spectrum of friend to family, that did not survive the virus. The most common symptom after recovering from SARS-Cov-2 is chronic pain that feels like arthritis. 

I believe this pain is neurological and not much musculoskeletal. I believe anti-inflammatories during and after recovery may lessen the pain. Anti-inflammatories as simple as aspirin or ibuprofen should be followed in a trial of these people. The problem being GI and kidney problems over the short and long term. 

Some of these people were receiving physical therapy and state they still have the pain. 

The post virus attack should be treated vigorously to return function and comfort to its victims.

Eliminating SARS-Cov-2 from the face of Earth should be a high priority and refusal to accept the concept of “permanent endemic” at every turn.

This new strain of the virus effects children and spreads easily. That strain must be ended as well to prevent a generation of cripples.

January 6, 2021 will be uneventful.

The Electoral College will elect Joe Biden as President of the United States of America. 

What Al Gore didn’t say when he lead the Electoral College in 2001, was that if a Senator had signed the written complaint there would then be a hearing of FACTS that would prove there were egregious breeches in the election that could actually change the outcome.

A House Representative and a US Senator cannot simply submit a written complaint to over turn the vote of the people. They have to prove there were actually remarkable issues with the election. They have to show all four swing states had profound problems that caused their electors to be fraudulent. That won’t happen because those states have been scrutinized and held to be accountable in courts of law. 

Bringing a complaint to the Electoral College in the year 2021 is nothing but the last attempt of a defeated president to commit fraud to stay in power.

The Weather

 Stay home.

There is a whopper of a severe storm headed for the Midwest and nearly the entire east coast. There is going to be dangerous conditions New Year’s Eve and New Years Day and most of the days leading up to the holiday. 

Given the social circumstances and the very dangerous weather to would be BEST if everyone would stay home to celebrate and WELCOME in the New Year.

The northwest USA will have as much severe weather as the rest of the country.

Please, everyone, be safe. Thank you.

Enjoy the holiday. I think the country is safe from any repeat of violence this holiday season.

The new year is coming,

Be happy. 

Stay safe.

Masks work.

Social distancing works.

Hand hygiene works. 

Stay away from uncertain social venues like bars.

Until later...

Trump's negligence will fall to Congress' shoulders.

pocket veto - The Constitution grants (click here) the president 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the president has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law.

Ten days from December 22, 2020 falls on January 1, 2021. Some of the states have passed aid bills. 

December 22, 2020
By Andrew Taylor

Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package (click here) that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages of other end-of-session business in a massive bundle of bipartisan legislation as Capitol Hill prepared to close the books on the year. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days.

The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The Senate cleared the package by a 92-6 vote after the House approved it by another lopsided vote, 359-53. The tallies were a bipartisan coda to months of partisanship and politicking, a logjam that broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked....

A Lone Wolf

It looks like the bomb was a suicide of a man that worked with IT. Both he and his RV are missing from his home and he gave the deed to his home and another property to a woman friend. He was paranoid of 5G, hence, ATT. 

It looks like a one time attack. It is a strange time in the USA.

Besides the apppropriate lockdowns across the country to stem the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the country needs to be put on alert when returning to work on Monday.

This is a terrorist attack. It has the probability of a domestic terrorist attack, but, none the less it is a terrorist attack.

The USA has a national alert system that was regularly used after September 11, 2001, and that should be applied until more is known about this bombing.

It doesn't feel right. Nashville is not the place where extremists go to make a point. I think the fact this was Christmas is less about the holiday/Holy Day and more about the area being empty to reduce any deaths from the explosion.

The staging of this bombing was studied. It was decided when and where this would take place. This was planned and did not occur by some angry person.

The buildings that have shattered glass as the major damage probably have more damage than is evident. They are beautiful buildings by the way. Iconic for the city and area. But, concussive force of air can do damage that would erode the structure slowly over a shorter period of time than it would normally occur. Before any of the buildings are occupied adding weight and stress to them engineers must check the foundations and the floors above the foundation to be sure it is sound. Bricks are beautiful and stand up to intense wind like hurricanes, but, a force that was unleashed by the bomb would create high velocity that could disrupt the masonry. All the buildings in the area of the explosion, especially those showing damage, must be inspected for safety before they can be occupied again.

December 26, 2020
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio

Officials said at least 41 businesses, (click here) including several historic buildings, had been damaged by the explosion.

Federal agents said on Saturday that they do not yet know who carried out the Christmas Day explosion that ripped through the city’s downtown, mangling storefronts, injuring three people and leaving the city mystified as to the motive.

Investigators were tracking down more than 500 leads, working to piece together what happened before an R.V. — apparently rigged with explosives and parked on a street in the tourist district — detonated in the early hours of Christmas. The blast devastated the neighborhood, which regularly draws thousands of people each night, and officials said the city was lucky no one was killed.

Douglas Korneski, the F.B.I. special agent in charge of the Memphis office, said at a news conference that more than 250 F.B.I. employees were working the case, but that they still had many unanswered questions....

I am curious about the gun violence that prompted the 911 call. Nashville has a higher gun violence rate than Chicago which is chronically pointed to as an out of control city.

I don't know if it was related to the bombing. I don't really believe in coincidence, but, there were a series of incidents that makes the timing of the bomb explosion appear to be aligned with the actions of a 911 call. It is hard to believe it was all coincidence.

January 3, 2020

By Beth Joslyn Roth

Gun violence in Tennessee is a public health crisis. (click here)

Based on the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, we are 11th for firearm mortality, seventh for firearm homicide, and fourth for both youth gun death and gun homicides. 

According to data reported by The Tennessean, Tennessee is currently fifth in the nation for women murdered by men, most often with a firearm and almost always by a man they know. Tennessee has ranked in the top 10 states for women murdered by men for the last decade.

Tennessee also has an ongoing problem with unintentional shootings involving children with access to negligently stored guns. In 2017, Tennessee led the nation in these types of shootings. There have been 25 of these incidents this year, resulting in the deaths of eight kids....

The bombing was a complete surprise and it could be the act of a lone wolf. The surprise worries me. If there was no suspicion of this act of violence, how much more is not suspected? I think the country needs to be on alert and their State Bureaus of Investigation should be reviewing any potential to this level of violence that may be under the radar.

December 26, 2020
By Kimberlee Kruesi, Michael Balsamo, and Eric Tucker

Nashville, Tenn. – Federal agents converged Saturday (click here) on the home of a possible person of interest in the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville as investigators scoured hundreds of tips and leads in the blast that pulverized city blocks on Christmas morning and damaged dozens of buildings.

More than 24 hours after the explosion, a motive remained elusive as investigators worked round-the-clock to resolve unanswered questions about the mysterious blast, which took place on a mostly deserted street on a sleepy holiday morning and was prefaced by a recorded warning advising those nearby to evacuate.

Still, there were signs of progress in the investigation, as the FBI revealed that it was looking at a number of individuals who may be connected to the investigation. Officials also said no additional explosive devices have been found – indicating no active threat to the area. Investigators have received around 500 tips and leads....

Credit...

It is a similar methodology to Timothy McVeigh. Reports the FBI may have a person of interest.

The FBI (click here) is probing whether Nashville's Christmas Day bombing was deliberately designed to target police officers, amid reports that investigators have found human remains at the site of the blast. The RV which exploded is pictured

26 December 2020
By Andrew Court, Francis Mulraney, and Jennifer Smith

Explosion occurred on 2nd Avenue (click here) in Nashville's downtown at 6.40am on Christmas morning 

The blast injured three people and caused massive damage

Cops had been called to the area a short time before the explosion amid reports of a shooting

However, when they arrived at the scene they discovered a parked RV playing a recording which claimed the vehicle would explode 

The FBI is now investigating whether the bomb may have been designed to deliberately target police officers as they were lured into the area

Meanwhile, possible human remains have been discovered near the site of the explosion

Dramatic new videos have also been shared; one  shows buildings shaking during the impact of the blast while another shows a man run for cover...

The police did exactly what they should have done, warn people living in the surrounding buildings to evacuate to a safe distance. If he was targeting police he didn't understand police work.

McVeigh's rental truck was a large explosion; so was the bomb-RV filled with fertilizer? There was no rental truck because it would have been investigated if it was parked in that area. The bomber spent money on the bomb if that RV was purchased for this purpose alone. It doesn't really appear to be an old van. There is only one axle (click here) in the rear. That would have limited the amount of explosives. There is something on the passenger seat that is basically unrecognizable. The driver appears to be Caucasian.

In the foreground is what appears the grill of the RV in flames. The explosion didn't blow up the engine compartment. It is just burning.

The damage to the downtown area was by concussion and not the direct explosion. The immediate area to the explosion is charred. Other areas effected are not charred. It was the massive movement of air from the area among buildings. 

  December 26, 2020

The first case of a particularly infectious coronavirus variant (click here) that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in France, the health ministry said on Friday.

The first case of a particularly infectious coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in France, the health ministry said on Friday....

December 26, 2020

India crossed the 1-crore mark (click here) (10 million) for coronavirus infections as the country witnessed a substantial drop in daily Covid-19 cases and deaths in the past few weeks. The country continues to be the second-worst hit nation in the world after the first posit...

78,194,947 confirmed cases globally

1,736,752 global deaths

33,878,565 confirmed cases in the Americas leading the world

18,311,405 confirmed cases in the USA leading the world

The USA is 23.4 percent of cases in the world.

The USA has 323,527 deaths which are 18.6 percent of global deaths.

They found body parts near the explosion.

It was probably started remotely. I find it odd that Ms. Williams was on the phone to 911 over rapid gunfire when the bomb started, as if the bomb maker was listening to a police scanner.

December 25, 2020
By Yihyun Jeong, Brinley Hinema, Joshua Bote, ane Jessica Flores

...Betsy Williams, (click here) the owner of The Melting Pot, a restaurant across the street from the explosion, told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, that guests reported the RV was stationed there since Thursday night.

Williams, who lives in a loft apartment on the third floor of the restaurant building, said she heard the sound of loud, rapid-fire gunshots at about 4:30 a.m. After multiple rounds of gunshot sounds, Williams said she called 911. Then, she said, she heard a repeated warning she said came from the RV parked outside her building.

“Evacuate now. There is a bomb. A bomb is in this vehicle and will explode,” she remembers the recorded warning saying. Then, she said, the voice started a 15-minute countdown.

Her family headed to Nissan Stadium, about a half-mile away and waited. When they didn’t hear an explosion, they headed back. That was when they saw a fireball fly over the AT&T building on Second Avenue....

December 23, 2020
By Winter Keefer

Leon Mize is ready for home.

Flint - After serving 21 months in jail, (click here) a Genesee County inmate will walk free next week with a job and certification that will put his resume at the top of the pile at any food service workplace.

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office held a graduation Wednesday, Dec. 23 for Leon Mize who received a ServSafe certification and IN2WORK certificate during his time in the jail.

The five-year certification required the completion of a test and is issued through the National Restaurant Association....

Pope Francis is calling for compassion to the world's populous as we produce vaccine and distribute it.

The World Health Organization needs to be sure there are sufficient deep cold freezers in order to facilitate the transportation and administration of the vaccine.

December 25, 2020
By Elisabetta Povoledo and Marc Santora

Rome - Pope Francis on Friday called on world leaders, (click here) businesses and international organizations to help ensure that the most vulnerable and needy have access to newly developed coronavirus vaccines.

Instead of speaking to the tens of thousands usually gathered on St. Peter’s Square, Francis made his annual Christmas address from a grandiose hall inside the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.

In a year in which the pandemic plunged the world into economic and social uncertainty, the pope was only one of many Christian leaders and pastors around the globe who issued big, weighty messages to small, in-person audiences.

Francis used his traditional Christmas address to argue that widespread suffering should compel people to reflect on their common humanity, and apply those principles to how vaccine rollouts are handled....

December 25, 2020
By Sarah Rahel

Detroit - Two children have died and a family is hospitalized after a fire blazed a home on the city's east side Friday morning, fire officials said.

A 4-year-old and 6-year-old were found in the front room of the scorched two-story home, Detroit Fire Cpt. Dave Fornell said....

...They also saw a 30-year-old woman who jumped out of the second-floor window with a 3-year-old in her arms. They did not appear to be critically injured, Fornell said.

Two other children also made it out of the home, an 8-year-old girl with third-degree burns on her hands and face, and a 10-year-old boy who suffered smoke inhalation.

The three children were transferred to Children's Hospital. The eldest children are in critical condition, Fornell said.

For cryin' out loud, on Christmas?

Ah, see, the compassionate bomber, save as many lives as possible and just destroy the brick and mortar. I haven't made up my mind yet, could be Russians or a domestic terrorist. The Muslims are not allowed into the country anymore, so it can't be them.

I don't know what the bomber is hoping to achieve. They have a long way to go to match the death toll of Trump.

Any robberies in the area? Banks, jewelry store. An explosion would act as a distraction from other crimes. "Too Tall Bandit" (click here) is still on the lose and has been robbing backs from NC to Tennessee.

He seems to be in North Carolina this year, though.

November 06, 2020, First Bank, 2 Market St, Brevard, NC
November 27, 2020, United Community Bank, 50 United Bank Dr, Etowah, NC

It may be a religious attack of some kind. Look, people want to start a civil war in the USA. This is probably an attempt at that. Who were the gunmen? What was the license plate on the van?

I think it was staged as an attack by leftists against the right. The right stereotypically are country music fans. An attack on “Church” St. on Christmas. 

I really think there is a possibility it is the Russians. It is to “thematic” to ignore. Nashville isn’t usually connected to this kind of issue. 

I think it was staged to make people angry with each other. Like a spark to a larger fire. There were some odd characters involved in the violence around the country when the protests were occurring, too.

Any other day besides Christmas there would be a lot of people in that area unless they were on lock down for the virus.

This was staged. Some one or ones are trying to get an effect from it. It was to make the right more and more violent. It was as much an attack on culture as it was on brick and mortar.

I would expect to find inflammatory propaganda connected to it on the social media sites. There maybe a thread between that propaganda and the event. 

December 25, 2020
By Yihyun Jeong, Brinley Hineman, and Joshua Bote

Damage near the scene of the explosion on Friday, in a photo from the Nashville Fire Department.

Nashville - The FBI was leading an investigation Friday (click here) into an explosion that erupted in downtown early Christmas morning, an incident that rattled residents for miles and is being called "intentional" by authorities.

Police were responding to reports of shots fired near Second Avenue and Commerce Street before 6 a.m. when they saw a suspicious RV outside a nearby AT&T building.

Officers alerted the department's bomb squad, which was en route, when a "significant explosion" happened about 30 minutes later, Metro police spokesperson Don Aaron said. The force of the explosion knocked an officer to the ground.

Betsy Williams, the owner of The Melting Pot, a restaurant across the street from the explosion, told The Tennessean that guests reported the RV was stationed there since Thursday night....

"Twas the night before Christmas" by Clement Clark Moore

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And Mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap;

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name;

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof—

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he look’d like a peddler just opening his pack

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And fill’d all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

The United States has always reached to the higher self found with inspiration.

 

Vintage colour lithograph from 1898 showing Santa Claus and his reindeer flying through the sky. The image of Christmas we know today was popularized with the help of Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem.

Christmastime (click here) in the early-1900s was mostly observed by drinking copious amounts of alcohol and going door-to-door to raucously solicit contributions of food, money, or more drink.

Refusal often resulted in vandalism or other acts of retribution. Brian Rouleau, an associate professor of history in the Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts, said New York writer Clement Clarke Moore hoped to end some of the disorder by evoking a more peaceful celebration when he penned “A Visit from St. Nicholas” nearly 200 years ago.

“That story served a few purposes that are lost to us today. Christmas was at one time not a family-friendly holiday,” Rouleau said. “It was most often celebrated in the streets by rowdy groups of teenagers and servants. It was considered a day where the ordinarily humble and subservient lower classes of society could engage in behavior we call ‘wassailing.’”

In perhaps the most famous Christmas poem, better known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” Moore sets a quiet, domestic scene in which “not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

Instead of rowdy wassailers banging at the door, Moore wrote of the jolly, non-threatening St. Nicholas coming down the chimney “dressed all in fur” to quietly leave presents for good girls and boys.

First published in 1823, Rouleau said the poem succeeded in popularizing the image of Santa Claus and turning Christmas into the family-centered holiday we know today.

“All of this was meant to transform Christmas into a holiday geared toward children and families, rather than the obnoxious and drunken mobs that Moore thought had corrupted the celebration,” Rouleau said.

Children’s literature has often been designed to pass a society’s core values from one generation to the next, he said, with the messaging usually intended to steer children along paths considered proper and acceptable. In the United States, many of the first children’s books were religious in nature, the product of Puritan parents seeking to prevent their offspring from sinning.

But slowly, as children’s place in society changed and views on parenting evolved, children’s literature became kinder and gentler, and themes became less explicitly spiritual. Fairy tales, talking animals, and other fantastical settings took the place of the fire and brimstone from years past. Young people were less often threatened with punishment for their transgressions. Instead, it became more common to celebrate a child’s innocence, wonder and capacity for creativity.

Though Moore’s story successfully changed the image of Christmas, Rouleau stresses the importance in understanding the resilience of children in resisting their own indoctrination.

“Literature might attempt to teach young people certain values, but this messaging isn’t always absorbed,” he said. “The most successful children’s literature often consists of stories that offer youths the opportunity to think through some problem or dilemma on their own.”

A group of persons or concerns who combine to carry out a particular transaction or project.

Donald John Trump has been known for nothing but a transactional presidency. It took becoming president to reveal the "Trump Syndicate."  He is now branded for the rest of his life and that of all his associates. They were all under the radar because of his celebrity status. None of these members of the Trump Syndicate will have peace for the rest of their lives. They tried to overthrow the government. Trump is engaged in a scheme to continue those efforts as I write this.

The Trump Syndicate is followed by Russia and it will be tapped for top security information. There absolutely is no doubt about that fact. They all need to be followed to ensure the national security of the USA.

Michael Cohen is well out of it.

December 23, 2020
By Kristine Phillips, Kevin Johnson, and David Jackson

Former Trump (click here) campaign chairman Paul Manafort arrives to his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, on June 27, 2019 in New York City.

Washington - President Donald Trump (click here) pardoned his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Wednesday, making the former globe-trotting political operative the latest presidential ally to receive a grant of clemency during Trump's last days in office.

The pardon once again highlighted the long shadow cast on the White House by the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, which resulted in the prosecution of six former aides to the president. The Manafort pardon was the latest in a series given to former aides caught up in that investigation – and underscored the president's desire to deal with the fallout of that probe.

On the heels of another round of clemency just a day earlier, Trump granted pardons to 26 people on Wednesday and commuted part or all of the sentences of three more people. The move followed a tradition of presidents granting pardons – often controversial – during their remaining days in the White House....

President Donald John Trump admires those that never cooperated with prosecutors.

I think a US House of Representatives member should write to Michael Cohen's court and request a commutation of his sentence. It is the right thing to do.

September 14, 2020
By Paul Waldman

...As Trump said a few weeks ago, (click here) "one of the reasons I respect Paul Manafort so much" is that unlike other Trump aides who felt the law come down on them, Manafort never offered to cooperate with prosecutors. "I know all about flipping, for 30, 40 years I've been watching flippers," Trump said. "Everything is wonderful, and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go. It (It refers to prosecutors who are enforcing the rule of law. Given half a chance I am sure Trump would issues fines to those that did cooperate with prosecutors. Amazing to think some Americans actually believe in his belief system.) almost ought to be outlawed."...