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Trump takes direct aim at China as known U.S. infections double

Anne Gearan – The Washington Post – 20 March 2020

President Trump took direct aim at China on Thursday for allowing the spread of the coronavirus that has sickened Americans, shut down much of daily life and pushed the U.S. economy toward recession, while deflecting criticism that his administration was caught flat-footed by the outbreak.

The president dug in on his use of the term “Chinese virus” to describe the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, late last year and did not rule out directing economic retaliation toward Beijing.
“Thank you all for being here, and we continue our relentless effort to defeat the Chinese virus,” Trump said near the top of his combative appearance before reporters at the White House. 
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Trump’s use of the term has become a point of pride among some White House aides and supporters, and the president has used it more as his handling of the public health emergency has been increasingly faulted. A Washington Post photographer captured an image of a printed copy of Trump’s remarks that had the word “corona,” a medical term for a family of viruses, crossed out and the word “Chinese” put in its place with a black marker.

Trump’s shift to more fully blame China coincides with widening devastation from the virus in the United States and increasing criticism that his administration missed opportunities to prepare and respond. For weeks in January and February, Trump publicly dismissed the outbreak as of very little risk to Americans, even as he banned air travel for non-U.S. citizens traveling from China.

After appearing sobered by the scale of the crisis earlier in the week, Trump on Thursday bitterly attacked reporters and news organizations he said had failed to accurately report his accomplishments in confronting the virus. 

“We were very prepared. The only thing we weren’t prepared for was the, the media. The media has not treated it fairly. I’ll tell you how prepared I was. I called for a ban from people coming in from China long before anybody thought it was — in fact, it was your network, I believe, they called me a racist because I did that,” Trump told a reporter for NBC News. “It was many of the people in the room. They called me racist and other words because I did that, because I went so early.”

Trump didn’t specify who called the decision to limit air travel from China racist, and in recent weeks he has exaggerated opposition to the move at the time he made it, while complaining he has not been given enough accolades for the action.

The travel ban is credited with slowing the onset of widespread infection in the United States. But by the time Trump instituted it in February, the virus was already being passed person to person in some parts of the country.
Asked whether he is considering “repercussions for China” or a realignment of the supply system in which some American manufacturers rely on Chinese labor or raw materials, Trump suggested he was open to the idea.
“I don’t want to comment on that right now,” Trump said.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump ally, introduced legislation Wednesday to end American reliance on Chinese drug manufacturing and encourage drug production in the United States.
“China unleashed this plague on the world, and China has to be held accountable,” Cotton said in an interview Wednesday evening with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “That’s why I’m introducing legislation that will say we’re no longer going to buy our basic pharmaceuticals from China. There will be a total ban on buying.”

Trump has not commented directly on whether he supports the legislation.
He said he “inherited” a balky federal health system, a term he frequently uses when criticizing his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump did not name the former president Thursday.

“The system is starting to work out very well, but we had to break a system, like breaking an egg, because the system we had was obsolete and didn’t work and that was the system we inherited,” Trump said. “And now we have something that’s really been very good and certainly going to be great for the future, too.”
Taken together, the accusations and implied threat marked the president’s harshest critique of China, an economic adversary with which he is trying to negotiate a broad trade agreement. It was also Trump at his most defensive and irascible.

“It would have been much, much better if we had known about this a number of months earlier. It could have been contained in that one area in China where it started,” Trump said. “And certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did.”

Trump had earlier appeared reluctant to point fingers, saying that the virus was no one’s fault and “one of those things that happen.” He has praised his friendly relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and, as recently as this week, predicted progress toward the second, larger phase of a trade deal that he holds up as a main accomplishment.

That began to shift this week as the spread of the disease slowed in Asia and as Europe became the new epicenter. China this week reported no new infections for the first time since December, although health experts warn there could be a second wave.

“But now the whole world, almost, is inflicted with this horrible — with this horrible virus, and it’s too bad,” Trump said to make the point that China had allowed that to happen. “It’s too bad because we never had an economy as good as the economy we had just a few weeks ago, but we will be back, and I actually think we will be back stronger than ever before because we learned a lot during this period of time.”

The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled Thursday. The dramatic increase stems in part from more testing but also indicates how much the virus has spread.

On Tuesday, there were just more than 5,700 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. That number climbed above 13,000 on Thursday night, and officials indicated that the number will continue to rise sharply as more test results become available.

Meanwhile, the State Department warned Americans not to travel internationally and advised all Americans who are abroad to return to the United States or make preparations to shelter in place.
Trump’s recent criticism of China also aligns the president with the tougher message that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other members of his administration have voiced for weeks.

Trump went further Thursday, saying China could have stopped all spread beyond the Wuhan area but deliberately chose not to do so.
It is unlikely that China could have entirely prevented any spread outside that city or outside China’s borders, but global health experts have also faulted the country for a lack of transparency at the outset.

The National Security Council on Wednesday tweeted a Wall Street Journal story about the early days of the Chinese response.
“The Chinese Communist Party suppressed initial reports on the Chinese Virus and punished doctors and journalists, causing Chinese and international experts to miss critical opportunities to prevent a global pandemic,” the message from the NSC’s official Twitter account said.

After being egged on by a reporter from the pro-Trump One America News Network, Trump blamed the media for its coverage of the crisis and for accusations that his use of “Chinese virus” was racist or xenophobic.
The reporter asked Trump whether it was racist to use the term “Chinese food.” He said no and then transitioned to complaining that he doesn’t receive fair media coverage after saying earlier in the briefing that he wanted fewer reporters to attend his briefings.

“And you know what? Someday, hopefully in five years, I won’t be here, and that will be fine. I will have done, I think, a great job,” he said. “Because I don’t think anyone has done as much in 3½ years as I’ve done. I don’t think — and the administration. This administration has done a great job. But the press is very dishonest.”
anne.gearan@washpost.com

Editorial Comment This is the langauge of World War three, which Britain and the U.S have been waging, with their lackeys and associates since 9/11. The virus and subsequent hysteria are all too pat,

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Broken China Posted March 20th 2020

Factories in China, struggling to reopen after the coronavirus shut down the economy, face a new threat from U.S. anti-disease controls that might disrupt the flow of microchips and other components they need.

The shock threatens to set back the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to revive the world’s second-largest economy after it declared victory over the outbreak. It would add to pressures on global business activity as Western countries close workplaces, limit travel and tell consumers to stay home.

Chinese manufacturers assemble more than 80% of smartphones for Apple, Samsung and other brands, half of the world’s personal computers and a big share of home appliances and other goods. But they need U.S. processor chips and other high-value components. 

It isn’t clear how U.S. anti-coronavirus curbs might affect trade. Controls so far apply to travelers, not goods. American factories are operating, but the National Federation of Independent Business says 39% of 300 companies it surveyed already were suffering supply disruptions.
“A sustained disruption of activity in the U.S. will likely lead to disruptions to manufacturing activity in China,” said Darren Tay, a country risk analyst for Fitch Solutions, in an email.

Beijing is easing controls that left city streets empty and silent and sent shock waves through the global economy. Manufacturers are rebuilding supply chains — networks of thousands of providers of auto parts, microchips and other components.

Officials say steel makers and other state-owned industries are almost back to normal. But conditions are more precarious for small, private companies that are China’s economic engine and make clothes, toys and other consumer goods. Many are running at a fraction of normal levels or are closed due to a lack of materials and employees.

One in six companies that responded to a March 9-14 survey has run out of components and others are running low, the American Chamber of Commerce in South China said in a report Wednesday.

The United States, Europe and other Asian countries accounted for 18% of shortages, the chamber said. It said supply chains from the United States are suffering the second-biggest disruption after those in China.
Just over half the 237 companies surveyed were American and three-quarters were manufacturers. All reported “some impact” due to supply disruptions due to the outbreak.

“Many of the companies reported a great deal of their needed items regularly being shipped from Japan, South Korea, Italy and the U.S. — countries which are now under pressure from the outbreak,” said the chamber report.

Economists who have slashed forecasts of this year’s global economic growth cite disruption to Chinese and U.S. manufacturing as one reason.
The predicament highlights the risks of manufacturing strategies that cut costs by using far-flung networks of suppliers and factories across multiple countries.

Smartphone brands likely will be hard-hit due to their reliance on Chinese assembly and fragmented groups of components suppliers, according to IDC.

Germany, Japan and South Korea also supply microprocessors and other smartphone components, but the most advanced chip producers are American.
“The pessimistic scenario sees supply disruptions lingering throughout the year,” IDC researchers said in a report. If that happens, “the industry is permanently reshaped” once it starts to recover next year or in 2022.
Huawei Technologies Ltd., a Chinese maker of smartphones and network equipment, has said it expects no change in its supply chain in the next three to six months. The company scrambled to remove American components from its products last year after President Donald Trump imposed curbs on access to U.S. technology.

Automakers also are “highly exposed,” because they need components from U.S. and other global suppliers, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report. It said disruption in China would affect the worldwide industry.
Global automakers use lean systems that keep few components on hand. They have reopened factories in China but say the pace of recovery depends on how fast suppliers start delivering again.

Ford Motor Co. said in a statement is “carefully assessing the situation” but anticipates no disruption to its China operations due to anti-virus controls imposed by other governments. It said its factories are able to meet market demand but need time to return to normal.

Dell Technologies Ltd., one of the biggest PC manufacturers, said it uses a global network of suppliers and tells customers about changes in production time.
“We continuously explore alternative sourcing, production and logistics strategies” and will “adjust as needed,” the company said in a statement.
General Electric Co., which employs 18,000 people in China, expressed confidence its global supply chain gives the company “flexibility to manage and adapt to risks.”

The politics of supply chains are increasingly fraught as U.S.-Chinese trade tensions rise.
Manufacturers already were looking for ways to rely less on China after a tariff war with Washington blew up in 2018. But few countries can match its vast workforce, efficient suppliers and brand new ports and other infrastructure.

Peter Navarro, a Trump adviser on trade, has called for Washington to rely less on Chinese-supplied components for medical equipment and raw materials for pharmaceuticals.
Companies started looking for non-Chinese suppliers and manufacturing sites last year but there are few appealing options, said Gerry Mattios, a Bain & Co. supply chain expert.

In addition to its workforce and rising skills, China is a leader along with the United States in embracing digital technology to make its supply chains even more competitive, Mattios said.
“Right now, most people would think companies are quickly leaving China,” he said. “The reality is, that is very difficult.”
Companies including South Korea’s Samsung Electronics have shifted some production to Vietnam to cut labor costs. But Vietnam’s population of 90 million people is smaller than that of the single Chinese province of Guangdong, the country’s manufacturing heartland, which has 100 million.
Vietnam’s ports, airports and other infrastructure are straining to keep up with growing trade.
“I think China, even after this Covid, will still have a major competitive advantage,” said Mattios.

China’s government wants to shut down talk about companies leaving.
“It is neither realistic nor wise to try to artificially cut off the global industrial chain and supply chain,” a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Tuesday. “Given the current epidemic situation, it is simply the wrong medicine.”

Editorial Comment The global economy has always been about greed, cost cutting, les and deception. The competing power blocks are at War. this is just another aspect of World War Three where we minions are just canon foodder and foot soldiers. It is the ultimate and inevitable war which broke cover with the 9/11 deception – see ‘Stupid White Men’ by Michael More.

Right-wing conspiracy theorists see coronavirus as a plot against Trump

I am talking about the Coronavirus and the lock down situation.  This is quite serious.  The logic is mass unemployment and world wide social collapse, hence 10,000 troops on standby in Britain. 

Why cause such panic if there is not a hidden agenda?  Conspiracy theorists are always ridiculed because most people are like lemmings.  The collapse of capitalism has bee predicted since the 1970s. The technology is there. 

The global elite have their rivalries and the masses are atomised.  It is not the logic of war to create mass panic.  Governments are always secretive about these things, hence the Assange Manning situation.  So why this ?  There has to be a hidden agenda. Polly Sexual – ex spurt on cock ups.

The president’s supporters believe the ‘deep state’ is hyping the disease to damage the U.S. economy.

Feb 26, 2020, 5:25 pm IRL  Mikael Thalen

White House/Flickr (Public Domain)

Conspiracy theorists online believe that concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are being overblown as part of a secret plot to damage President Donald Trump.

The debacle began this week when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that “disruption to everyday life may be severe” if the disease were to rapidly spread throughout the country.

The announcement and previous updates from the CDC, however, have enraged Trump, according to the Washington Post. Growing public concern over the coronavirus has negatively affected the stock market, leading Trump to accuse outlets such as CNN and MSNBC of purposely exaggerating the issue in order to damage the economy.

The two outlets, Trump claimed in a tweet on Wednesday, “are doing everything possible” to panic markets. The president’s tweet, which misspells coronavirus, went on to also blame Democratic lawmakers.

Conspiracy theorists and defenders of the president have spread the same talking points as well, increasingly portraying the disease as a tool of the “deep state” to politically hurt Trump.

Rush Limbaugh, the controversial radio host who recently received the Medal of Freedom from Trump, took aim at Dr. Nancy Messonnier on Wednesday over the fact that Messonnier, who is a CDC official, is also the sister of former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Limbaugh went on to insinuate that Dr. Messonnier’s warning could have been influenced by her relation to Rosenstein, who was involved in the special counsel investigation into alleged ties between the president’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

“So you’ve got here the CDC urging Americans to prepare for a coronavirus virus outbreak…” Limbaugh began. “Okay. This person running this agency, who does she donate to? Well, her brother is Rod Rosenstein.”

Limbaugh added that listeners should “do what you want with” the information.

“It may mean nothing. Might…Who knows?” Limbaugh said. “It’s just in that town, I’m telling you, everything is incestuous. Most of that town is establishment oriented or rooted, which means they despise Trump.”

Other figures such as YouTube prankster turned conservative talking head Joey “Salads” Saladino claimed Democrats would “take Trump out of office” by exaggerating the disease’s danger.

“I don’t think Coronavirus will kill us all, but I know the Democrats will use this scare to cause panic and crash the markets to take Trump out of office,” Saladino said. “Dems have already admitted it!”

I don’t think Coronavirus will kill us all, but I know the Democrats will use this scare to cause panic and crash the markets to take Trump out of office. Dems have already admitted it!

I would rather be safe than sorry by preparing food for a few weeks. pic.twitter.com/v9yjvRLUdL— Joey Saladino (@JoeySalads) February 26, 2020

Mark Dice, a prominent conspiracy theorist and Trump adherent, also claimed that liberals would take advantage of the deadly outbreak in their efforts to topple Trump.

“Liberals are now hoping the #COVIDー19 coronavirus causes a global pandemic and crashes the stock market in order to point the finger at Trump for a ‘bad economy,’” Dice said. “These people are sick (no pun intended).”

Liberals are now hoping the #COVIDー19 coronavirus causes a global pandemic and crashes the stock market in order to point the finger at Trump for a “bad economy.”

These people are sick (no pun intended).— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) February 26, 2020

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) was also tied into the deep state conspiracy for suggesting that the Trump administration was unprepared for a coronavirus outbreak.

“Romney is screaming ‘pandemic’ to hurt the Trump economy by affecting the stock market, but we see what you are doing deep state snake Romney,” said Dawn Michael, a popular pro-Trump Twitter user, and advocate of the QAnon conspiracy.

While the disease has been contained so far in the U.S., health officials believe that it’s only a matter of time before the coronavirus spreads.

“Current global circumstances suggest it’s likely this virus will cause a pandemic,” said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC.

Current statistics show that there have been 59 confirmed cases in the U.S., with a global total of 81,322. At least 2,770 people have lost their lives as a result of the disease.

Judge orders Chelsea Manning’s release from jail

By John Kruzel – 03/12/20 06:53 PM EDT 3,950

Chelsea Manning, a former Army analyst convicted of leaking U.S. military secrets, will be freed from jail after a federal judge ruled on Thursday that her testimony against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange was unnecessary.   

Manning had been held since last May over her refusal to appear before a grand jury considering an indictment of Assange. 

Judge Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia said that because the grand jury’s work had concluded, Manning’s testimony was no longer needed. ADVERTISEMENT

“The court finds that Ms. Manning’s appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose,” wrote Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee.

Trenga ordered Manning to pay $256,000 in fines for non-compliance.

Manning’s release order comes a day after reports emerged that she attempted suicide while in federal custody in Alexandria, Va.

Andy Stepanian, a publicist for Manning, said Wednesday that Manning was recovering in a hospital after the event.

Manning’s lawyers filed a request for her release last month, arguing her detention was unlawfully punitive with no purpose because she would not testify under any circumstances.

The former analyst was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in military prison at Fort Leavenworth before President Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.

Assange was indicted in 2018 on a federal charge of conspiring with Manning to help her release U.S. state secrets to WikiLeaks. Tags Chelsea ManningJulian AssangeWikiLeaks

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Chelsea Manning fights for her life after attempting suicide in jail cell following her refusal to testify before grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and Julian Assange Posted March 12th 2020

• Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, 31, attempted suicide inside her jail cell at the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia on Wednesday
• Manning was found by guards, who administered first aid and then transported her to hospital 
• She was being held for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
• She was scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on Friday 
• Manning previously spent seven years in military prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified US documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 

But she told a judge last May she would rather starve to death than change her decision to testify about it in front of a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Manning’s lawyers have called for her to be set free and UN special rapporteur Nilz Melzer has denounced her captivity as a form of torture.

‘A jail deputy discovered her while conducting a check in the special housing unit where Chelsea is being housed,’ a source told DailyMail.com.

‘They found her with a sheet around her neck. Other deputies arrived and first aid was administered before she was taken to the hospital.’

Manning was originally sentenced to 35 years for leaking to WikiLeaks but was released in May 2017 after President Barack Obama commuted her time in prison.

The insider said Manning is expected to recover and was well enough last night to be able to communicate with medical staff.

‘It was a close run thing. Chelsea was unconscious, she was blue and unresponsive, but the deputies were able to resuscitate her,’ the insider added.

‘They did a great job keeping her life. Nobody wants a repeat of the Jeffrey Epstein fiasco.’

Editorial Comment the British elite are in this up to their necks , as the Assange story demonstrates. Polly Sexual

World, America

HAARP: Secret Weapon Used For Weather Modification, Electromagnetic Warfare

By Fred Burks Global Research, October 14, 2018 Global Research and WantToKnow.info 1 August 2010 Theme: Militarization and WMD In-depth Report: Climate Change

This carefully documented article on Weather Warfare was first published by Global Research on August 1, 2010.

Some small edits have been made. The CBC, History Channel and Trutv.com documentaries quoted in the article can now be viewed. They by no means can be considered as “conspiracy theories”.

Moreover, the US Air Force has referred to “Owning the Weather for Military Use”.

Weather modification will become a part of domestic and international security and could be done unilaterally… It could have offensive and defensive applications and even be used for deterrence  purposes. The ability to generate precipitation, fog, and storms on earth or to modify space weather, … and the production of artificial weather all are a part of an integrated set of technologies which can provide substantial increase in US, or degraded capability in an adversary, to achieve global awareness, reach, and power. (US Air Force, emphasis added. Air University of the US Air Force, AF 2025 Final Report,

http://www.au.af.mil/au/2025/ emphasis added, original link removed)

The HAARP facility in Gakona Alaska was closed down in 2014.

The Recent IPCC Climate Change report quite deliberately fails to identify the instruments of weather warfare.

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, October 14, 2018

***

“It isn’t just conspiracy theorists who are concerned about HAARP. The European Union called the project a global concern and passed a resolution calling for more information on its health and environmental risks. Despite those concerns, officials at HAARP insist the project is nothing more sinister than a radio science research facility.”

— Quote from a TV documentary on HAARP by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is a little-known, yet critically important U.S. military defense program which has generated quite a bit of controversy over the years in certain circles. Though denied by HAARP officials, some respected researchers allege that secret electromagnetic warfare capabilities of HAARP are designed to forward the US military’s stated goal of achieving full-spectrum dominance by the year 2020. Others go so far as to claim that HAARP can and has been used for weather modification, to cause earthquakes and tsunamis, to disrupt global communications systems, and more.

Major aspects of the program are kept secret for alleged reasons of “national security.” Yet there is no doubt that HAARP and electromagnetic weapons capable of being used in warfare do exist. According to the official HAARP website, “HAARP is a scientific endeavor aimed at studying the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes.” The ionosphere is the delicate upper layer of our atmosphere which ranges from about 30 miles (50 km) to 600 miles (1,000 km) above the surface of the Earth.

The HAARP website acknowledges that experiments are conducted which use electromagnetic frequencies to fire pulsed, directed energy beams in order to “temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere.” Some scientists state that purposefully disturbing this sensitive layer could have major and even disastrous consequences. Concerned HAARP researchers like Dr. Michel Chossudovsky of the University of Ottawa and Alaska’s Dr. Nick Begich (son of a US Congressman) present evidence suggesting that these disturbances can even cause tsunamis and earthquakes.Selected Articles: Weather Modification as US Military Strategy?

Two key major media documentaries, one by Canada’s public broadcasting network CBC (see below) and the other by the History Channel (below), reveal the inner workings of HAARP in a most powerful way. The very well researched CBC documentary includes this key quote:

“It isn’t just conspiracy theorists who are concerned about HAARP. In January of 1999, the European Union called the project a global concern and passed a resolution calling for more information on its health and environmental risks. Despite those concerns, officials at HAARP insist the project is nothing more sinister than a radio science research facility.”

o view the European Union (EU) document which brings HAARP and similar electromagnetic weapons into question, click here.

The actual wording at bullet point 24 in this telling document states that the EU “considers HAARP by virtue of its far-reaching impact on the environment to be a global concern and calls for its legal, ecological and ethical implications to be examined by an international independent body before any further research and testing.” This reveling document further states that the EU regrets the repeated refusal of the U.S. government to send anyone to give evidence on HAARP.

For an even more detailed and revealing 45-minute History Channel documentary on HAARP and other secret weapons used for electromagnetic warfare, click here. Below are two quotes from the History Channel documentary:

“Electromagnetic weapons … pack an invisible wallop hundreds of times more powerful than the electrical current in a lightning bolt. One can blast enemy missiles out of the sky, another could be used to blind soldiers on the battlefield, still another to control an unruly crowd by burning the surface of their skin. If detonated over a large city, an electromagnetic weapon could destroy all electronics in seconds. They all use directed energy to create a powerful electromagnetic pulse.”

“Directed energy is such a powerful technology it could be used to heat the ionosphere to turn weather into a weapon of war. Imagine using a flood to destroy a city or tornadoes to decimate an approaching army in the desert. The military has spent a huge amount of time on weather modification as a concept for battle environments. If an electromagnetic pulse went off over a city, basically all the electronic things in your home would wink and go out, and they would be permanently destroyed.”

For those who still doubt that such devastating secret weapons have been developed, here is an intriguing quote from an article in New Zealand’s leading newspaper, the New Zealand Herald:

“Top-secret wartime experiments were conducted off the coast of Auckland to perfect a tidal wave bomb, declassified files reveal. United States defence chiefs said that if the project had been completed before the end of the war, it could have played a role as effective as that of the atom bomb. Details of the tsunami bomb, known as Project Seal, are contained in 53-year-old documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.”

If the military secretly developed a weapon which could cause a tsunami over half a century ago, what kind of advanced deadly weapons might be available now?

And why is it that the general public still doesn’t know about secret weapons developed over 50 years ago?

To understand why the media isn’t covering these highly critical issues, click here. Clearly the military has the capability to cause a tsunami and likely to cause earthquakes and hurricanes, as well. It’s time for us to take action to spread the word on this vital topic.

Having interpreted to for top generals in my work as a language interpreter with the US Department of State, I learned that military planners are always interested in developing the most devastating weapons possible. Yet these weapons are kept secret as long as possible, allegedly for reasons of national security. The many layers of intense secrecy both in the military and government result in very few people being aware of the gruesome capabilities for death and destruction that have been developed over the years. There are many examples of major defense projects kept successfully out of the public’s eyes for years and even decades.

The massive Manhattan Project (development of the first atomic bomb) is one such example. The building of an entire city to support the project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee was successfully kept secret even from the state’s governor. The stealth bomber was kept top secret for many years, and the public still has no way of knowing it’s full capabilities. It is through the use of the highly organized military and intelligence services that the power elite of our world, working in cooperation with key allies in government and corporate ownership of the media, are able to carry out major cover-ups and secret operations like those involved with HAARP.

Some researchers have raised questions about the possible involvement of HAARP in major disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, Indonesian tsunami, and hurricane Katrina. Could these have been HAARP experiments gone awry? Might they even have been caused by rogue elements which gained control of this devastating technology. Of course disasters like this happen regularly on a natural basis, yet if you begin to research, there is some high strangeness around some of these disasters. The evidence is inconclusive, yet with the known and unknown major destructive capabilities of this weapon, serious questions remain.

Jesse Ventura, the former Navy Seal who turned pro wrestler only to then become governor of Minnesota, has also done a special on HAARP that is a bit sensationalized, yet contains useful information. You can watch this special on YouTube at this link.

Time and History Posted March 1st 2020

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Veterans of America’s longest war are finding themselves torn as the U.S. signs a potentially historic peace accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

For many, the U.S. is long overdue in withdrawing its forces after more than 18 years of fighting. Others question the trustworthiness of the Taliban, whose hard-line government the U.S.-led forces overthrew in 2001. Skeptics worry the Taliban’s re-integration could cause Afghanistan to backslide on such issues as human rights.
“If they sign a peace treaty and Afghanistan goes back to the Taliban or Sharia law, then it’s all been for nothing,” said former Army Staff Sgt. Will Blackburn of Hinesville, Georgia.

Though doubtful the Taliban will abide by the peace deal, Blackburn said he’s ready for hostilities to end. He first deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 with an infantry unit of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. A decade later, his son headed overseas for the same fight.

“Anything that would get us out of that country, I will support fully,” said Blackburn, 58, who left the Army in 2010.

Other Afghanistan veterans interviewed by The Associated Press said that, while the peace deal may not be perfect, it’s time to end the war that began weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The toll has been heavy. More than 2,300 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 20,600 others wounded in Afghanistan since the war began in October 2001.

Former Sgt. Michael Carrasquillo served as an infantrymen in the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade when his unit was ambushed in Afghanistan in 2005. Shot five times while dragging a wounded comrade to safety, Carrasquillo spent the next two years in the hospital and underwent dozens of surgeries.

“Peace in any way, shape or form is a good thing,” said Carrasquillo, 36, of Monrovia, Maryland, who leads a support group for wounded veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project. “We don’t want more guys to die or to get injured.”

The peace plan calls for the Trump administration to initially draw down U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600, with the remaining American forces withdrawing in 14 months.

In return, the Taliban promise not to let extremists use the country to stage attacks on the U.S. or its allies. The Taliban and representatives from Kabul must negotiate a framework for a postwar Afghanistan.
“I know the Taliban, and I never thought they could be trustworthy,” said Cmdr. Tom Porter of the U.S. Navy Reserve, who oversaw media operations in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led troop surge that began in 2010. “I know they have a different view of time and history than we do.”

Weinstein Convicted Posted february 25th 2020

A group of Harvey Weinstein accusers has criticised the jury after he was found guilty of only two of five charges.

The women, known as the Silence Breakers, released a statement welcoming the fact the disgraced mogul would be jailed but criticising the jury for failing to reach agreement on the more serious charges which carry a life sentence.

“While it is disappointing that today’s outcome does not deliver the true, full justice that so many women deserve, Harvey Weinstein will now forever be known as a convicted

serial predator,’ their statement said.

The group includes Rosanna Arquette and Ashley Judd alongside 19 other accusers.

A judge ordered Weinstein to go to jail immediately. Court officers surrounded Weinstein, handcuffed him and led him out of the courtroom. The judge said he will request that Weinstein be held in the infirmary after his lawyers said he needs medical attention following an unsuccessful back surgery.

Editorial Comment It is encouraging to see the rich and powerful facing justice for a change. Pity they can’t put Prince Andrew on the stand.

Anywya, hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of the notorious and infamous casting couch. Only real talent should count. More ralism in the cinema and about its actors would also be nice. Robert Cook

Sunday, Feb 23, 2020

Russia meddling with US elections again, intelligence officials say

APPublished Feb 22, 2020, 12:03 pm IST

Washington: Just weeks into this year’s election cycle, Russia already is actively interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign in hopes of re-electing President Donald Trump, and is also trying to help the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, intelligence officials have concluded.

The Russian efforts are aimed at undermining public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stirring general chaos in American politics, intelligence experts say.

Russia meddling in U.S. elections again: source [Video]

news.yahoo.com/russia–meddling-u-elections–again-054441852.html

1 day ago · U.S. intelligence officials warned lawmakers last week that Russia is meddling in U.S. elections yet again. That’s according to a source who spoke to Reuters. A week later, U.S. President Donald Trump replaced his head of intelligence. And according to a Thursday New York Times report, the disclosure angered Trump, who berated Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire a day later.

1. Bob Dylan Talking World War Three – Video Results
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Don’t Worry Liberal Hypocrits still on Trump’s Case February 9th 2020

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN, KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEIN

02/05/2020 07:42 PM EST

Donald Trump’s impeachment trial may have ended in acquittal, but the president is hardly in the clear.

The next nine months before the 2020 presidential election are packed with landmines that can cause all manner of embarrassing headlines, adverse legal rulings and other politically risky decisions for Trump and his administration.

Watch for more House Democratic subpoenas. Watch for several big Supreme Court rulings on Trump’s power to ignore subpoenas for his financial records. And watch for growing pressure on the president to pardon former aides and advisers caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Here’s a rundown:

The Ukraine probe 2.0

The most pressing question upon Trump’s acquittal is how quickly and aggressively the House will resume its investigation of the Ukraine scandal. Already there have been mounting calls for the House to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton, who offered eyewitness testimony during the Senate trial but was never called by Republicans.

Bolton, according to reports, is preparing to publish a book accusing Trump of linking a decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine in order to pressure the country’s president to announce spurious investigations of Trump’s Democratic rivals.

Likewise, House Democrats may schedule a deposition for Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a central figure in the Ukraine matter. Parnas, who along with three colleagues is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 5 in a Manhattan federal court, has been a willing cooperator with the House’s inquiry since a judge granted him permission last month to begin sharing documents with lawmakers.

Now that the impeachment trial is in the rearview mirror, Democrats may also reconsider subpoenaing top White House aides who refused to appear voluntarily, including senior budget officials with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s intent when he withheld $391 million in military aid to Ukraine.

Democrats have also subpoenaed for documents from the State Department and other agencies and may press their case in court to obtain those files, some of which have already begun seeping out in heavily redacted FOIA responses.

Trump’s finances

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on March 31 on three cases that could help define Trump’s presidential powers — and set precedent for future chief executives, too. Justices have agreed to hear several disputes that center on two questions: Does Trump have to comply with congressional subpoenas for his financial records? And is the president immune from state criminal investigations?

Jay Sekulow, the president’s longest-serving personal attorney, will handle the case about state-level criminal investigations. In that case, a Manhattan grand jury subpoenaed the Trump Organization and the international accounting firm Mazars for the president’s records as part of a broader investigation into financial and tax-related crimes.

In the other case, Trump lawyers will face off with House attorneys from several committees who subpoenaed the president’s financial records as part of their probes into Trump.

Emoluments

Trump still faces three separate lawsuits accusing Trump of illegally profiting from his hotels and other hospitality businesses

The D.C. and Maryland governments are awaiting a decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that alleges the president ignored clauses in the Constitution that block federal officials from collecting a salary via “emoluments” originating from foreign countries. All 15 members of the Richmond-based court heard oral arguments on the case in December.

Editorial The British and U.S Elite love the immoral moralising profiteering wars underwritten by Trump, like Obama and Bush before him, but, as fake rich liberals, they do not like Trump. Hence they are O.K with devious Joe Biden’s dubious fincanial schemes and his alternate reality.

Ukraine is like ‘ Brave little Belgium of World War One fame, just like Madonna’s virgin. Britain’s ruling elite have a lot of empathy and sympathy with this.

As in 2016, the BBC paid for by the underclasses taxes, fronted by toffs and their overpaid feminists, work overtime 24/7. Just listen to the BBC World Service.

On the road in the early hours of yesterday morning, I listened to it talking to their favourite insiders all painting Trump as a criminal and threat to U.S Democracy. It would be very funny if not so dangerous. Robert Cook

Another British and US Attack on Russia, MSN Report below insists Syria, backed by Russia, used chemical weapons on Idlib. February 8th 2020

The independent inquiry commissioned by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) shows that one of the two had never been on the team investigating the April 2018 attack in Douma and the other was only on the team for a brief period.

Both individuals, referred to in the report as Inspector A and B, may face legal action.

More than 40 people were killed on 7 April 2018 in the town of Douma on the outskirts of Damascus. The town was at the time held by rebels but besieged by pro-government forces. Civilians claimed they were the victims of a chemical weapon attack.

The assault prompted reprisal missile strikes on Syrian government targets by the US, Britain and France a week later, one of the few direct strikes on Syrian government assets in the nine-year civil war.

Russia immediately launched a campaign, including bringing witnesses from Syria to the OPCW headquarters in the Hague to challenge the claim that chemical weapons were used.

The charge that Russia permits, or covers up the Syrian president, Bashir al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians, is one of the most bitter flashpoints between Russia and the west.

Following the US strike, the OPCW set up a fact-finding mission to decide whether chemical weapons had been used, but not to attribute responsibility. It ruled in March 2019 that a banned toxic chemical containing chlorine was likely to have been used in Douma. The fact that chemical weapons were delivered through airstrikes effectively meant the OPCW believed the Syrian air force was responsible.

Internal OPCW reports questioning whether chemical weapons had been used leaked last May, raising questions about manipulation of the OPCW by the west.

But an OPCW inquiry into those leaks published on Thursday found the authors of the internal reports only had a minor supporting role in the Douma team.

The OPCW chief Fernando Arias told OPCW states in comments published on Thursday that the two individuals were “not whistleblowers”. He said: “They are individuals who could not accept that their views were not backed by evidence.” He added that the two men breached their obligations to the organisation, saying their behaviour was even more egregious since they had manifestly incomplete information on the investigation.

The official inquiry said: “Inspector A did not have access to all the documents, witness interviews, laboratory tests and analyses by independent experts.” It said he never wrote an official OPCW report, and only wrote a personal document created with incomplete information.

It added: “Inspector B was by contrast on the fact-finding mission and did travel to Damascus in April, but never left the command post because he had not completed the necessary training required to be deployed on-site in Douma. He left the OPCW in August, but continued to approach staff members in an effort to have continued access to and influence over the Douma incident. The majority of the fact-finding team’s work was carried out after he left the organisation.”

The two whistleblowers declined to take part in the investigation that met instead with 29 witnesses between July 2019 and this month.

Some have criticised the OPCW for being so slow to challenge the validity of the leaks, so ceding the ground to those who believe the west and its intelligence agencies fabricate evidence of chemical weapons use to discredit Assad.

Tobias Schneider, a Syria analyst, said: “I thought the organisation was slow and reactive in their initial response to the leaks, ceding the field and allowing the narrative to spin out of control. This is not surprising. The OPCW secretariat is very careful to avoid anything that might be viewed as ‘politicising’ what they see as their ‘technical’ work. Obviously, not all signatory states see eye to eye on this issue. So they [the secretariat] fell back on the independent investigation as a procedural tool.

“The final report of that investigation, as well as the remarks of the director general himself, I think were extraordinarily and unexpectedly forceful and direct.

“My sense is that the DG and the secretariat realised that this disinformation campaign represented a direct assault not only on the organisation (and thus the convention it is meant to uphold) but also on the professionalism and reputations of those that serve in their ranks, oftentimes in extremely difficult circumstances.”

Editorial Comment The British and U.S dominated OPCW report was used to justify almost immediate evidence destroying raids on Idlib. Anything these people say through mainstream elite media now should be taken with a ‘pinch of salt.’

It is obvious to anyone with a brain that the Anglo U.S (Brmerican ) elite alliance wants Assad out at any cost, thus asserting their strategic control, especially of Oil and Israeli interest.

The Western elite provoked global terrorism for their global interests. Now in Britain they use it as an excuse for 50,000 more police to watch and report on us all.

When that same puffed up pompus lying western smug self righteous money grabbing condescending elite kill and maim, it is called collateral damage.

The ongoing persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning for revealing British and U.S war crimes says it all about these vile hypocrits who make billions from wars in the name of ‘ democracy ‘ (sic )

Robert Cook

Anger over Trump Travel Ban Posted February 6th 2020

New travel bans imposed by President Trump on four African countries have prompted anger, concern, disappointment and resignation on the continent.

The measures significantly restrict visas that could end with permanent residency in the US for Eritreans and Nigerians, and end so-called “diversity” migration visas from Tanzania and Sudan.

Chad Wolf, the acting homeland security secretary, said the countries hit by the new measures failed to meet US security and information-sharing standards. Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar were also included in the list.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign, and his travel ban policy is popular with Republican supporters – but experts say that it will harm US efforts to roll back the growing influence of Russia and China in Africa.

Leaked documents reveal Russian effort to exert influence in Africa

Read more

A previous ban, introduced in 2017, barred nearly all immigrants and travellers from three African countries – Libya, Somalia and Chad – and five elsewhere. The policy sparked outrage and was revised amid court challenges before the US supreme court ultimately upheld it in June 2018.

“I think we are seeing a domestic political agenda steamrolling foreign policy concerns,” said Matthew T Page, associate fellow with the Africa programme at Chatham House, London.

Eritrea is a minor economic and diplomatic player on the continent, but is strategically situated on the Red Sea. The repressive, authoritarian regime has been courted by Moscow, which wants to build a major logistics base there to rival the vast US base in nearby Djibouti.

The Eritrean foreign minister, Osman Saleh Mohammed, said the government saw the ban as a political move that would hurt the country’s relations with the United States.

“We find this move unacceptable,” he told Reuters by telephone.

An official statement from Asmara said the measure was an “unfriendly act”.

Page said that the new measures sent an alienating and patronising message toNigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 206 million inhabitants – and its biggest economy. Advertisement

The country sent 7,900 immigrants to the US in 2018, by far the biggest number for any African nation. Almost all visas went to relatives of US citizens.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, said he was “disappointed” by the decision, and President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a minister to examine the problems that led to Nigeria’s inclusion.

Nigeria has been a key ally of the US in Africa, consistently voting with Washington in international forums. Economic and cultural ties between the more than 400,000 Nigerian Americans and the country are strong.

Atiku Abubakar, an opposition leader, said he was saddened by the decision.

“The ban does not take into account the pro-American sentiments of the Nigerian public … and the solidarity previous Nigerian administrations have had with the United States,” Abubakar said on Twitter.

The ban also seems to run counter to a new US policy for Africa – unveiled in 2018 by Trump’s then national security adviser, John Bolton –prioritising trade and the fight against Islamic militants. At the time, Bolton accused “great power competitors, namely China and Russia” of “predatory practices”.

New travel bans imposed by President Trump on four African countries have prompted anger, concern, disappointment and resignation on the continent.

The measures significantly restrict visas that could end with permanent residency in the US for Eritreans and Nigerians, and end so-called “diversity” migration visas from Tanzania and Sudan.

Chad Wolf, the acting homeland security secretary, said the countries hit by the new measures failed to meet US security and information-sharing standards. Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar were also included in the list.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign, and his travel ban policy is popular with Republican supporters – but experts say that it will harm US efforts to roll back the growing influence of Russia and China in Africa.

Leaked documents reveal Russian effort to exert influence in Africa

A previous ban, introduced in 2017, barred nearly all immigrants and travellers from three African countries – Libya, Somalia and Chad – and five elsewhere. The policy sparked outrage and was revised amid court challenges before the US supreme court ultimately upheld it in June 2018.

“I think we are seeing a domestic political agenda steamrolling foreign policy concerns,” said Matthew T Page, associate fellow with the Africa programme at Chatham House, London.

Eritrea is a minor economic and diplomatic player on the continent, but is strategically situated on the Red Sea. The repressive, authoritarian regime has been courted by Moscow, which wants to build a major logistics base there to rival the vast US base in nearby Djibouti.

The Eritrean foreign minister, Osman Saleh Mohammed, said the government saw the ban as a political move that would hurt the country’s relations with the United States.

“We find this move unacceptable,” he told Reuters by telephone.

An official statement from Asmara said the measure was an “unfriendly act”.

Page said that the new measures sent an alienating and patronising message toNigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 206 million inhabitants – and its biggest economy. Advertisement

The country sent 7,900 immigrants to the US in 2018, by far the biggest number for any African nation. Almost all visas went to relatives of US citizens.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, said he was “disappointed” by the decision, and President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a minister to examine the problems that led to Nigeria’s inclusion.

Nigeria has been a key ally of the US in Africa, consistently voting with Washington in international forums. Economic and cultural ties between the more than 400,000 Nigerian Americans and the country are strong.

Atiku Abubakar, an opposition leader, said he was saddened by the decision.

“The ban does not take into account the pro-American sentiments of the Nigerian public … and the solidarity previous Nigerian administrations have had with the United States,” Abubakar said on Twitter.

The ban also seems to run counter to a new US policy for Africa – unveiled in 2018 by Trump’s then national security adviser, John Bolton –prioritising trade and the fight against Islamic militants. At the time, Bolton accused “great power competitors, namely China and Russia” of “predatory practices”.

Editorial Comment Africa has to find somwhere for its surplus population because its post colonialist leaders do not want to share their wealth with their black fellow countryfolk. It is not that simple, Meghan and Gretta dears.

The U.S.A has a major presence in Africa, afraid of Russian and Chinese interest. The problem is that the U.S is not interested in bolstering infrastructure for economic growth or education. Their focus is old fashioned and reminiscent of their British fore fathers’ colonialism. It is about exploitation and conning.

However, the religiously bigoted and ignorant African population explosion along with the Latin American time bomb of Catholics flooding into the U.S because the idiotic regime change will do this, is an effective pincer movement on the U.S which the U.S black and white underclass of what Hilary Clinton called ‘deplorables’- nice one coming from a dubious person like her- will have to pay for.

The deplorables are also the ones supplying the troops to be killed or maimed in their ridiculous wars, while the elite suck out the billions of dollars in profit.

Cheap labour is one thing for the U.S WASP elite, but this is a cultural time bomb on a very short fuse. But you can’t talk sense to what the sociologist C Wright Mills called the U.S Power Elite – or to their British counterparts. Robert Cook

Trump Acquited of High Crimes and Misdemeanours. February 5th 2020

The decision to acquit Donald Trump followed soon after Senator Romney said he would vote to remove him. Obviously from Romney’s war mongering lunatic perspective nothing should stop Ukraine getting weapons aid to fight the phantom Russian foe. As long as those lunatics keep pushing, bunkers ready, we still might get World War Three and the population cull they want. All the bull about carbon footprints, zero carbon and little Greta is a smokescreen.

Mitt Romney had said he would vote to remove Donald Trump from office as the president’s impeachment trial draws to a close. Romney never forgave Trump for beating him to the Presidential nomination.

He bears a grudge barely covered by his typical self righteous political moralsing and hypocrisy. Diehard Republicans have never accepted Trump, having their own man lined up to challenge the Democrats, getting more assurances of money making population thinning war- and more massive profits for and from their sponsors.

Romney was the only Republican senator to say he would convict Mr Trump ahead of a vote on two articles of impeachments.

But his vote was not expected to affect the outcome of the trial, with the president set to be cleared regardless.

Related: How Romney decided Trump is guilty (The Atlantic)

The first vote was on whether Mr Trump abused power by putting pressure on Ukraine and holding back millions of dollars of military aid.

The second was about whether he obstructed Congress refusing to allow staff to testify at earlier impeachment hearings.

MeanwhileJoe Biden finished fourth in the curiously delayed Iowa Primary. Biden objected to the Clinton impeachment where there was a much stronger case because he said it undermined the constitution, There is clear evidence that he used his postion to profit from corrupt Ukraine, which is being groomed as a patsy against Russia. The U.S.A has many problems but Russia is not one of them. Joe Biden and his son Hunter have been exposed.

The impeachment trial has been one long expensive whinge, also a real and most serious tampering with what little claim the U.S.A has to democracy. Obviously the conceited arrogant British elite with propagndist State broadcaster BBC has been right up there behind the Democrats, out to get Trump while promoting all their good joint wars and related arms industries. Doesn’t matter how many service folk are killed or maimed. plenty of poor white trash left over from the global economy- Hil;ary Clinton’s unspeakable as it were ! We are way past the hippies and anti Vietname culture. Robert Cook

State of the Union in a State Posted February 5th 2020

For President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday night, the State of the Union was hostile.

The mutual snubbing began the moment Mr. Trump walked into the House chamber and continued until he finished speaking, when Ms. Pelosi stood, an expression of vague disgust on her face, and tore up her printed copy of his speech — in full view of the television cameras, while Mr. Trump had his back turned.

The interaction between Mr. Trump and Ms. Pelosi, who had led the drive to impeach him, was one of the most anticipated moments of the president’s appearance at the Capitol the night before the Senate is expected to acquit him in his impeachment trial. The two had not seen each other since October, when Ms. Pelosi abruptly left a White House meeting after lecturing a scowling Mr. Trump.

Then Ms. Pelosi dealt Mr. Trump a slight of her own by omitting the customary laudatory words in her introduction of the president. Normally, she would have said, “I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.”

Instead, she said simply, “Members of Congress, the president of the United States.”

But it was the flourish at the end — when Ms. Pelosi made a point of picking up her copy of the speech, ripping it in half and throwing the pieces on the table in front of her — that grabbed the attention of the public and drew the ire of Republicans. The gesture was particularly out of character for the speaker, who prides herself on exhibiting proper decorum.

Republicans seized on the speech-ripping as beyond the pale.

Editorial Comment Political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic like to overcomplicate the differences between the U.S.A and U.K. It is in their interest to blind ordinary working people with so called political science. The media in both countries are run by, if not always the same people it is always the same sort of people – members or groups of the elite Anglo U.S ruling class.

It should be obvious that what is going on between the Republicans and Democrats is a battle between two sections of this elite. The same is true between the Tories and Labour in U.K. In neither country do these professional liars and manipulators care about the masses whose votes they require.

When the British government grudgingly extended the vote to skilled working men in 1867, a Minister named Robert Lowe declared ‘We must now set out about educating our masters.’ Three years later the first British Education Act was passed, riddled with religion and indoctinating lower orders with class deference, along with severe intellectual limits to suit the work place and church.

For all the twaddle about multi culture little has changed. The British elite passed their skills of divide and rule to the new nation they created in the U.S and still bear upon with too much influence. Both places have massive influxes of immigrants, mostly highly religious poor and ignorant.

The posturing spoiled self defined self righteous lefties in the U.S Democrats and British Labour expect a monopoly of their votes. The situation is rather complicated regards Islamic inflows because the Anglo Americans are brothers in arms when it comes to bombing and killing in the Middle East where Islam was born out of a corrupted version of Christianity. So the wars will go on, with the war mongers getting ever richer.

Lincoln was wrong. You only have to fool some of the people some of the time for your dubious clique to win. So elections are like lotteries in these countries. Tails you loose, heads you don’t win because it is all about telling tales about each other, with the same outcome whatever. Robert Cook

Indians join illegal migrant flow into United States, blaming rise of Hindhu Nationalism February 4th 2020

After migrants from Latin America, more Indians are detained at the US southern border than citizens of any other country. 2018 (the last year for which figures are available) saw the highest number of detentions ever recorded: nearly 9,000 Indians were caught by the border patrol, a dramatic increase from a decade before when only 77 were caught.

As they make their journey halfway around the world, Indians face the same dangers as other migrants do: they risk rape, robbery and death on the border – a six-year-old Sikh girl died while crossing the Arizona desert in mid-June. And the dangers persist when they reach American soil: five Indian asylum seekers have been on hunger strike for more than 90 days to protest at being held in a Louisiana Ice detention centre, and two of them have been force-fed.

One of the men told the Guardian he fled India after being threatened by Hindu nationalists for converting to Christianity. “I am not a criminal. I never did any crime. I’ve never been to jail,” he said.

Some academics argue, however, that Indian emigration is more driven by economic factors.

“In the big scheme of things, it is not persecution which is driving global migration. It is the economy,” said Tayyab Mahmud, a law professor at Seattle University School of Law who has testified in asylum proceedings for Indian migrants.

Palestine will not be Pally Steins with Israel. They are not and never will be Jewish. February 2nd 2020

The Arab League has shot down US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, saying it would not lead to a just peace between Israel and Palestine. The deal has already been rejected by the Palestinian side.

League members met in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the deal, touted by Trump as the “deal of the century,” and a realistic roadmap to peace between Israel and Palestine. Speaking at the meeting, Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas announced he would cut all ties with the US and Israel over the plan, and would not go down in history as the person who “sold out Jerusalem.”

Many feared (or hoped) the Arab states would abandon the Palestinians and embrace the Trump plan. It would appear that did not happen. Arab FMs reject Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian plan https://t.co/3gE6ZWJOMC

Impeachment January 31st 2020

Senators questioned lawyers for both sides in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial for a second day Thursday, a day before a pivotal vote is planned on whether to call witnesses.

Here are the latest developments:

Bolton Praises Officials Who Testified (11:40 p.m.)

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton expressed support for various U.S. government officials who testified in the House impeachment investigation, a Texas television station reported on Thursday night.

Bolton, in remarks at a private function in Austin, Texas, defended former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, former National Security Council aide Fiona Hill and others who testified in House hearings, according to KXAN, which cited unnamed sources.

Bolton said all of them had acted in the best interests of the U.S., the report added. He spoke on the eve of a U.S. Senate vote on whether to call witnesses, including Bolton, at Trump’s impeachment trial.

Editorial Comment

The U.S.A is a product of Britain which is a product of Norman ( Germanic ) French and Anglo Saxons ( Germanic ) . There is a common evolutionary and thus political mindset.  Hypocrisy and greed are  strong under currents.

Trump is an oddball.  The nice patronising media folk are predictable.  Sex and Russia were his pre agreed weak spots marked by luminous paint spots as he runs down the dark alleyway.  Like business executives in a bonding paint ball arcade, the Democrats have been running after him ever since bulging eyed feminist icon Clinton lost the election.

Mad eyed Clinton famously screeched ‘We came, he saw, he died.’  She was joking about Gaddafi, a long time bulwark against mad Muslims. The relevance here is,-like Adam Schiffty boy- pleasing the arms industry with ever rolling wars, grabbing all the oil while faking environmental angst, is the engine.

Trump has employed his share of warmongers, notably Pompeo and Bolton.  The latter wants revenge and the Democrats are whores.  Trump has been in the back office boosting and rebuilding the U.S economy, with negative effects on international stability.  He is a businessman and may be out of his depth with all the sharks swimming below and alongside.  His deal with Israel may also be his undoing.  Still, who else is there.  

Sanders is the only one who seems to have a soul above money, but he has no chance.  Warren trades, like Clinton, on the vulnerable pussy factor and being descended from redskin Indians.  The reality is something else.  It is just a question of how stupid or desperate the voters are.  As Dylan wrote and sang ‘Knowledge waits while teachers teach.’  ( From ‘There’s Something Happening Here and You Don’t Know What it is, Do You Mr Jones? ‘ )  

Robert Cook

Impeachment January 23rd 2020

Former colleagues of alleged impeachment whistleblower Eric Ciaramella say they heard him discussing ways to get President Donald Trump out of office within days of his inauguration in January 2017, according to he sources, who spoke to RCI under the condition of anonymity, said Ciaramella talked about ousting Trump with Sean Misko. Ciaramella and Misko were holdovers from the Obama Administration’s national security team.

According to the sources, Ciaramella and Misko, who are reportedly friends, were upset about Trump’s policy changes from the Obama administration.

“They were popping off about how they were going to remove Trump from office. No joke,” one ex-colleague told RCI.

Misko joined House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s staff last July, one day after President Trump’s infamous call with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. Misko allegedly advised the whistleblower during the process of filing the complaint and helped run the impeachment investigation.

The whistleblower complaint was filed in August and made public in September, alleging that the whistleblower “received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals.”

The whistleblower failed to disclose his communications with Schiff’s staff when interviewed by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, and Schiff himself was misleading about what communication he or his staff may have had with the whistleblower.

Although Ciaramella is widely believed to be the whistleblower, the whistleblower’s identity has not been officially revealed. He is currently identified only as an unnamed CIA analyst.

Some Republicans want the whistleblower to be called as a witness during the impeachment trial, but Democrats have fiercely refused any attempts to publicly disclose his identity.

Mad or Bad ? Posted January 23rd 2020

Mason Trever Toney, 28, was arrested for the murder of his boss, William Knight, who was also 28 years old.

Toney was a longtime friend of Knight, and he had just been hired on for a construction job widening a freeway exit in Florida.

Witnesses told police that Toney and Knight got into a heated debate on Monday, possibly over their political differences, and that Toney stabbed Knight to death with a construction trowel.

Afterward, he’s said to have draped Knight’s body with a brand new American flag.

Witnesses said they attempted to stop Toney but that he jumped into a company truck and fled the scene while calling them “terrorists.” He was later apprehended by police.

Contrary to some media reports that the killing was politically motivated, the family of Knight said that Toney had been a friend of the family for many years. They implied that he might have been suffering from mental illness.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what, I can’t explain what happened to my son,” said Julia Knight, the victim’s mother. “I don’t understand. I never thought Mason would do this to my son. But it wasn’t about politics, I can tell you right now.

“There’s something wrong with Mason,” she said later in the interview.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with the funeral expenses.

Editorial Comment When the elite play divide and rule slogan politics, the people at the bottom attack and even kill each other. Robert Cook

Waiting in the Wings Posted January 22nd 2020

It seems to be the case that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will not be able to campaign for the Presidential nomination until the Impeachment programme is complete. They will not be in Iowa’s Primary because of this, meaning lower voter awareness.

Candidate Biden must not be impeded, in spite of his and his son’s dubious record in Ukraine. Hunter Biden was getting between $70 and 90,OO0 a month from his role in Ukraine’s energy sector, while the average Ukrainian earns a fraction of this. Ukraine is corrupt, though passed off as a demcoracy run by a harmless comedian.

Meanwhile there is an investigation into Ukraine’s president. Democrat represenative, head of the Intelliegence Committe told the Senate :

‘ Trump had been witholding funds from an ally who is at war with an adversary ( Russia ).’ That is crazy talk. But who cares about Mutually Assured Destrcution ( M.A.D ) when you are MAD.

Not to worry the super delegates have got Hilary Clinton in reserve if there is a brokered convention. She will rise again like Glen Close in ‘Fatal Attraction ‘ to do even more damage, as more of the same.

Trump hasn’t managed to drain the swamp, but with Hilary it will get bigger and deeper – but never mind she is a woman, isn’t she ? She is there for women, isn’t she? She represents women, doesn’t she ? She is waiting in the wings – like Dracula, ready to pounce and draw blood.

Robert Cook

Impeachment of Trump Articles Explained as trial kicks off today. Posted January 21st 2020

RESOLUTION

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, That Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

This is written in legislative language, so get ready for some legalese. Lawmakers who vote for these articles would be agreeing with impeaching Trump and referring his case to the Senate for trial.

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The Democratic lawmakers who wrote these articles argue they’re speaking for all Americans rather than just for House members. This is important since, while Congress is the unit of government closest to the people, Trump’s defenders have argued impeachment would overturn the will of the people expressed in the 2016 presidential election.

ARTICLE I: ABUSE OF POWER

This is the first article of impeachment. There will be votes on each.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, a Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. In his conduct of the office of President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed —

The oath of office, as spelled out in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, is: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article II, Section 4 has the portion about the President being impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate.

Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency, in that:

It’s important for Democrats to prove this point. It can’t just be a political or policy difference that leads them to this drastic step. They most prove that Trump has betrayed the trust of the American people.

Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election.

The fact of this charge is above dispute. He asked Ukraine’s President, in a phone call, for the favor of investigating the Bidens. Democrats argue they have to move fast and now because this is about the coming election in 2020. He’s trying to harm the democratic process in real time.

He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage.

The Intelligence Committee hearings featured testimony from numerous career diplomats backing up this idea, which was also central to the whistleblower report that launched the inquiry in the first place. Trump denies the claim, although his acting chief of staff all but admitted it. And obtaining the investigations was a clear aim of Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Read more on his role here.

Trump sought Ukraine’s help on two investigations. First, he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into a discredited conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committee. Second, Trump wanted an investigation of Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s position on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma. Neither Biden has been accused of wrongdoing.

President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations.

The acts in question are a White House meeting that was coveted by Zelensky, who was elected in April, to establish his legitimacy — and, more importantly, $391 million in security aid approved by Congress, much of it for Ukraine’s military, which is at war with Russian-backed separatists.

President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit.

The idea here is that if the Ukrainians were investigating Joe Biden’s son’s arrangements with Burisma, that would undercut the former vice president’s credibility at exactly the time he was gearing up to run against Trump.

In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the Nation.

Distancing the US from Ukraine and standing in the way of the aid it needed to fight its war with Russia certainly emboldened Russia, which arguably compromised US national security.

Fiona Hill, who served until this past summer as the top White House Russia expert, testified during the impeachment inquiry that the idea Ukraine interfered in the US election “is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.” And inviting a foreign power to undercut the credibility of a candidate in the 2020 election arguably undermines the integrity of the democratic process.

President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means:

(1) President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—corruptly solicited the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into—

Trump acted directly during the Zelensky call when he asked for a “favor” — of investigations. He acted through his agents in the US government by pushing EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland to work with Giuliani on investigations and by pushing for the aid to be frozen. He worked through agents outside the US government in the form of Giuliani, who was essentially conducting a shadow foreign policy.

(A) a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and

(B) a discredited theory promoted by Russia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Russia—interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election.

US senators have been briefed by the US intelligence agencies on the fact that Russia is pushing the false notion it was Ukraine — not Russia — that meddled in 2016. Here’s a full fact check.

(2) With the same corrupt motives, President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—conditioned two official acts on the public announcements that he had requested—

(A) the release of $391 million of United States taxpayer funds that Congress had appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of providing vital military and security assistance to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression and which President Trump had ordered suspended; and

There has been testimony from career State Department and Pentagon officials that they understood Trump to have been behind freezing the aid. It was formally frozen by his political appointee on the same day as the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky even though it was known within the US government to be frozen weeks before that. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted Trump held the aid. The aid was unfrozen in September — but only after Trump and the White House learned of the whistleblower complaint against him.

(B) a head of state meeting at the White House, which the President of Ukraine sought to demonstrate continued United States support for the Government of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

Trump did ultimately meet Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. Both denied there was pressure exerted by Trump on Zelensky in the July 25 phone call, although reporting suggests Zelensky was feeling pressure even before the call. A White House meeting for Zelensky has not yet occurred.

(3) Faced with the public revelation of his actions, President Trump ultimately released the military and security assistance to the Government of Ukraine, but has persisted in openly and corruptly urging and soliciting Ukraine to undertake investigations for his personal political benefit.

The aid was released after Trump knew about the whistleblower and after White House attorneys counseled the acting director of national intelligence not to inform Congress, as required by law, of the whistleblower complaint. So while the aid was unfrozen, it was only after Trump knew he was being accused of holding it up for political reasons. Further, there was no other change in Ukraine’s behavior to explain why the aid was released in September rather than earlier in the year. And after it was released, Congress had to pass a special law to release it since the fiscal year was ending.

These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections.

After the Ukraine scandal broke, Trump publicly asked Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens.

In all of this, President Trump abused the powers of the Presidency by ignoring and injuring national security and other vital national interests to obtain an improper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections.

Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

Part of the challenge for Democrats who support impeachment is to justify doing it as the country approaches the 2020 election, when Trump could be removed from office by voters. Their argument here is that leaving him in office endangers that very election. If he is impeached by the House and the Senate votes to remove him from office — which is not at all likely — he would be barred from holding federal office.

ARTICLE II: OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS

This is the second article of impeachment.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors“.

There were many possible articles of impeachment considered, including for bribery (by dangling the promise of US taxpayer funds in exchange for his “favor” from Zelensky), obstruction of justice in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and more. Democrats chose to narrowly tailor these efforts to the Ukraine scandal that has been the main subject of investigation since September.

In his conduct of the office of President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its “sole Power of Impeachment”.

The White House has ignored subpoenas for documents and testimony from agencies in the executive branch, including the Pentagon, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget. Officials in Trump’s Cabinet and top aides in the White House have also ignored subpoenas. Trump has said he can do whatever he wants under Article II of the Constitution. That obstruction is obvious, but Democrats — who have their eye on the election calendar — have chosen not to pursue lengthy court battles to force compliance with subpoenas. That decision complicates this article somewhat.

President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subversive of, the Constitution, in that:

The House of Representatives has engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials.

It’s important to note that the people who did testify — mostly career civil servants — chose to comply with the subpoena from Congress rather than the White House line. Track every subpoena Democrats issued here.

In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the “sole Power of Impeachment” vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.

President Trump abused the powers of his high office through the following means:

(1) Directing the White House to defy a lawful subpoena by withholding the production of documents sought therein by the Committees.

(2) Directing other Executive Branch agencies and offices to defy lawful subpoenas and withhold the production of documents and records from the Committees—in response to which the Department of State, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense refused to produce a single document or record.

Incredibly, the only documents included in the inquiry were WhatsApp messages and emails provided to the committee by Kurt Volker, the former special envoy for Ukraine, and Sondland. Read those here.

Officials from the State Department and Pentagon who testified had to rely on their own notes and recollections. They would at times describe other emails or communications in their testimony, but none of it was furnished as a result of subpoenas.

(3) Directing current and former Executive Branch officials not to cooperate with the Committees—in response to which nine Administration officials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney, Robert B. Blair, John A. Eisenberg, Michael Ellis, Preston Wells Griffith, Russell T. Vought, Michael Duffey, Brian McCormack, and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl.

See who has and who has not cooperated with congressional subpoenas.

These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous efforts to undermine United States Government investigations into foreign interference in United States elections.

While Democrats chose not to add anything from the Mueller report into these articles of impeachment, this is a clear reference to the possible elements of obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller report.

Through these actions, President Trump sought to arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety, scope, and nature of an impeachment inquiry into his own conduct, as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any and all information to the House of Representatives in the exercise of its “sole Power of Impeachment”.

Arrogate: to claim or seize without justification. It is true that by Trump’s logic, no President could ever be impeached.

In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”.

Although neither Richard Nixon nor Bill Clinton blocked all cooperation as Trump has, neither of them were exactly cooperative. It took a Supreme Court decision for Nixon to turn over Oval Office tapes, and then he turned them over to a special prosecutor and not Congress.

This abuse of office served to cover up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment—and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives.

Trump says he refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry in order to protect future presidents from superfluous congressional inquiry. His actions also had the benefit (for him) of hiding things like documents on the freeze of the aid to Ukraine from investigators.

In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

This is an incredible paragraph. They’re saying Trump violated public trust, subverted the Constitution, damaged the US legal system and did harm to the American people — exactly the opposite of what a President vows to do when taking the oath of office.

Wherefore, President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

Last Laugh Posted January 19th 2020

Political correctness is not against laughing at people so long as they are the right people. The latest news about legendary comedy series ‘The Simpsons’ is rather alarming to me. Below is a report from Vulture Website.

In the 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu, comedian Hari Kondabolu likened The Simpsons’ Apu Nahasapeemapetilon to a minstrel, and examined how the caricature of an Indian man voiced by Hank Azaria impacts South Asian representation on television. Now, The Simpsons has responded to the doc, showing Marge and Lisa Simpson in conversation about an old children’s book Marge has edited to be less offensive — and, it turns out, less good. “Well, what am I supposed to do?” Marge asks. “It’s hard to say. Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect,” Lisa answers. “What can you do?” To underline the point, the show pans to a bedside photo of Apu.

Slash Magazine reported the following :

Hank Azaria says he has no plans to continue voicing the character of Apu on “The Simpsons,” according to an industry blog. But that isn’t to say the Indian immigrant convenience store owner Azaria brought alive for 30 years won’t live on.

Producers and Fox Broadcasting Co. wouldn’t confirm to The Associated Press Azaria’s exit or an end to Apu, a recurring character that has drawn criticism for reinforcing racial stereotypes. There was no immediate reply Saturday from Azaria’s publicist.

One could argue that it is racist to cut the character, which has not been decided yet. Of greater importance are the references to stereotypes. The worst sereotype in this series is Homer Simpson, and then all the other ordinary white stupid Americans, the type of which Hilary Clinton called deplorables – the type of whose men make up the U.S front line troops while their liberated women mourn the needless dead.

The great strength and point of ‘The Simpsons’ was to expose and laugh at human pretentions, snobbery and hypocrisy. Start by making Apu a posh voiced man barred from professional life as a lawyer and all will fall away. So why bother? End the show now. Robert Cook

Supreme Court agrees to hear Electoral College cases that could forever change presidential elections Posted January 19th 2020

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide two cases that could forever change how American presidents are elected.

The central question the Supreme Court will answer is this: Are electors, members of the Electoral College who cast the actual votes for president and vice president, bound to follow their state’s popular vote results? Or are electors free to vote as they see fit?

Officially, the court agreed to hear two cases: Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca.

In Chiafalo, three Washington state electors were each fined $1,000 after the 2016 election because they did not cast their Electoral College vote for Hillary Clinton, who won their state’s popular vote; they voted for Colin Powell, instead. In Baca, the state of Colorado completely tossed elector Michael Baca’s vote because he voted for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), not Clinton, who won Colorado’s popular vote.

Although so-called “faithless electors” have been only footnotes in American electoral history so far, the monumental constitutional case could have significant implications in the 2020 election.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court will decide whether Electoral College electors are independent, and therefore allowed to vote consistent with their conscience, or whether state laws mandating electors follow their state’s popular vote are legally permissible.

From the New York Times:

The framers of the Constitution seemed to contemplate that electors would use independent judgment, the Supreme Court has said. “Doubtless it was supposed that the electors would exercise a reasonable independence and fair judgment in the selection of the chief executive,” Chief Justice Melville Fuller wrote in an 1892 Supreme Court decision. Over time, he added, “the original expectation may be said to have been frustrated.”

Alexander Hamilton described the original expectation in the Federalist Papers. “Men chosen by the people for the special purpose” of selecting the president, he wrote, “will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.”

Oral arguments for the case will likely be held sometime this spring, with a decision likely coming in late June.

How independent are Electoral College electors?

Former federal prosecutor identifies major ‘hole’ in the impeachment case against President Trump Posted January 19th 2020

Former U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy says there is a major “hole” in the Democrats’ impeachment case against President Donald Trump. Ditch the fake news ==> Click here to get news you can trust sent right to your inbox. It’s free!

McCarthy wrote in National Review that it’s obvious that the Democrats obviously “do not have an offense sufficiently grave for invocation of the Constitution’s nuclear option.” If they had one, McCarthy said, their “machinations and the posturing would be unnecessary — even ridiculous.”

The former Assistant United Stated Attorney for the Southern District of New York then asked, “Why are we talking about how Chairman Schiff, Speaker Pelosi, and House Democrats rushed through the impeachment inquiry without making a real effort to interview key witnesses?”

Tough questions for Democrats

McCarthy, who led the prosecution of 12 terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and other plots against New York City, laid out a series of questions that demonstrate the tenuous nature of the Democrats’ impeachment case against President Trump.

Why was the Democrats’ impeachment gambit driven by the election calendar rather than the nature of the president’s offense? Why were the timing of hearings and the unreasonable limits imposed on Republicans’ ability to call witnesses dictated by the frantic rush to get done before Christmas recess — to the point that Democrats cynically vacated a subpoena they’d served on a relevant administration witness, fearing a few weeks of court battles that they might lose?

Why did Democrats grope from week to week in a struggle over what to call the misconduct they accused the president of committing – campaign finance, extortion, quid pro quo, bribery? How did they end up with an amorphous “abuse of power” case? How did they conclude that an administration that goes to court rather than instantly surrendering potentially privileged information commits obstruction?

Why such tedious recriminations over adoption of Senate procedures that were approved by a 100–0 vote the last time there was an impeachment trial? Why all the kvetching over whether witnesses will be called when those procedures provide for the calling of witnesses in the likely event that 51 senators — after hearing nearly two weeks of presentation and argument from both sides — want to hear from one or two of them?

“None of this would have happened,” he added, “if there had been a truly impeachable offense.”

The founders reserved impeachment for ‘extraordinary wrongs’

McCarthy argued that if the Democrats suspected Trump of committing truly impeachable offenses, they would have allowed his lawyers to be present during the House hearings.

“Democratic leaders would have worked cooperatively with their GOP counterparts, as was done in prior impeachments,” he wrote. “They would have told the president: ‘Sure, you can have your lawyers here, and call whatever witnesses you want.'”

The former prosecutor also noted that the framers of the Constitution expected presidents and federal officials to occasionally abuse their powers, but that impeachment and removal from federal offices was only intended to be used for “extraordinary” crimes.

“We don’t leap from abuse to expulsion. We don’t expect routinely to expel members of Congress or impeach presidents and judges. That is reserved for historically extraordinary wrongs.” Instead, McCarthy argued, that lesser abuses of power are to be checked by other branches and elections, not impeachment.

McCarthy concluded by arguing that although Trump’s dealings with Ukraine are a legitimate 2020 issue, by exaggerating their severity, the Democrats have underscored that they do not amount to the kinds of “extraordinary wrongs” that merit impeachment.

“If there were real impeachable misconduct, there would be no time or place for games,” he wrote.

‘Be very careful with your words’: Trump warns Iran’s Khamenei after ayatollah delivers fiery sermon slamming ‘American clowns’

17 Jan, 2020 22:33 / Updated 1 day ago

US President Donald Trump has warned the supreme leader of Iran to watch his language, following a heated sermon in which Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed American leaders as “clowns.”

Leading a prayer in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasted that Iran had the “spirit to slap an arrogant, aggressive global power” in its retaliation to the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, which he said struck a “serious blow” to Washington’s “dignity” – triggering a response from the US president.

“The so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe,” Trump tweeted. “Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!”

In his sermon, Khamenei blasted “American clowns,” who he said “lie in utter viciousness that they stand with the Iranian people,” referring to recent comments by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The so-called “Supreme Leader” of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe. Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020

The exchange of barbs comes at a time of soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran after the US assassination of Soleimani.

“[Soleimani was] the anti-terrorist commander of the whole region,” Khamenei said.

“They assassinated the strongest and most prominent commander. They did not confront him on the battlefield.”

The killing of the revered Iranian general, who played a major role in pushing back the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, sparked outrage across the Middle East, with the Iraqi Parliament voting to kick US troops out of the country earlier this month.

Moments after penning what appears to be his response to the Iranian leader, Trump followed it up with another pair of tweets – one in English, the other in Farsi – stating that the “noble people of Iran… deserve a government that will help them achieve their dreams,” adding that they “love America.”

“Instead of leading Iran toward ruin, its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!”  Trump tweeted in a spin-off on his campaign slogan.

The noble people of Iran—who love America—deserve a government that’s more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect. Instead of leading Iran toward ruin, its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again! https://t.co/RLjGsC5WLc— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020

Iran responded to the Soleimani strike by firing a series of missiles at Iraq’s Ain al-Assad airbase, which houses US troops. While the retaliation resulted in no casualties, the Pentagon reported on Thursday that 11 troops displayed symptoms of concussion after the attack and had to undergo additional check-ups in Germany and Kuwait. Amid fears that a major regional conflict might break out, the US refrained from further military action, but tightened its sanctions on Tehran, unleashing yet another wave of crippling economic penalties.

www.rt.com

Boeing on and Boeing on Posted January 19th 2020

Boeing’s new flagship, the 777X, is threatened with similar safety failings to the US aerospace giant’s ill-fated 737 Max, according to internal emails.

Damning messages released as part of a US Senate probe into two 737 Max fatal crashes highlight Boeing staff fears that the 777X – a modified version of an existing plane – may be vulnerable to technical problems.

In an email from June 2018, before the first Max crash, one Boeing worker wrote: “Best part is we are re-starting this whole thing with the 777X with the same supplier and have signed up to an even more aggressive schedule.”

Another member of staff warns about a relentless cost focus, saying: “We put ourselves in this position by picking the lowest-cost supplier and signing up to impossible schedules.

Explosive Donald Trump January 17th 2020

Donald Trump has launched a fuming response to his impeachment from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, just hours after the Senate swore in its presiding officer and jurors to consider the charges against him.

“I got impeached for absolutely no reason,” Mr Trump complained during a rant that included at least nine denials that he knows Lev Parnas, the man who has now claimed that the highest echelons of the White House were well aware of the effort to use American military aid money to force Ukraine to launch an investigation into one of the president’s domestic rivals.

A Florida woman walked into Walmart and allegedly built a homemade bomb. An off-duty cop and a security guard stopped her before she could set it off.

‘This woman had all the supplies she needed to cause mass destruction’

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Phil Shiver

A Florida woman who walked into a Walmart and attempted to construct a homemade bomb was stopped just in the nick of time, police say. Ditch the fake news ==> Click here to get news you can trust sent right to your inbox. It’s free!

Emily Stallard, 37, was spotted wandering around a local Walmart gathering supplies with her son when a security guard took notice of her suspicious behavior, WTVT-TV reported.

After the guard watched Stallard open several unpurchased items, including “flammable materials, projectiles, and matches,” he decided to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office and alert an off-duty Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer who happened to be inside the store.

According to the police report, the off-duty officer and security guard stopped her right as she was about to light her shoelace as a wick. The two men then detained Stallard until deputies arrived.

The deputies found a mason jar with fuel denatured alcohol and wire brad nails inside.

“This woman had all the supplies she needed to cause mass destruction at her disposal,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said, according to WTVT-TV.

“Had it not been for an alert off-duty law enforcement officer and a watchful security staff at Walmart, she may have followed through with her plans to cause an explosion inside the store. I can’t stress this enough: if you see something, say something. You don’t have to tackle a bad guy to be a hero,” he added.

Investigators said that Stallard had also taken her young son into the store with her, enlisting his help in making the bomb.

“The defendant encouraged the child to engage in an act that could have caused great bodily harm and induced the child to become delinquent,” the arrest report said.

Investigators added that Stallard resisted arrest and spit at deputies as she was being loaded into a patrol car.

She has been charged with multiple felony crimes, including attempted arson, fire bombing, and child abuse. Exclusive video

Glenn Beck January 16, 2020

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Carter Page: Smeared by the Russia hoax, betrayed by his country

Now, he’s hinting at a renewed lawsuit Posted January 17th 2020

Carter Page, a former advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, found himself at the center of the Russia probe and had his reputation and career destroyed by what we now know were lies from our own intelligence system and the media.

On the TV show Thursday, Page joined Glenn Beck to speak out about how he became the subject of illegal electronic surveillance by the FBI for more than two years, and revealed the extent of the corruption that has infiltrated our legal systems and our country as a whole.

“To me, the bigger issue is how much damage this has done to our country,” Page told Glenn. “I’ve been very patient in trying to … find help with finding solutions and correcting this terrible thing which has happened to our country, our judicial system, DOJ, FBI — these once-great institutions. And my bigger concern is the fact that, although we keep taking these steps forward in terms of these important findings, it really remains the tip of the iceberg.”

Page was referencing the report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, which revealed that the FBI made “at least 17 significant errors or omissions” in its Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications for warrants to spy on Page, a U.S. citizen.

“I think this needs to be attacked from all angles,” Glenn said. “The one angle I’m interested in from you is, please tell me you have the biggest badass attorneys that are hungry, starving, maybe are a little low to pay their Mercedes payments right now, and are just gearing up to come after the government and the media. Are they?”

I can confirm that that is the case,” Page replied.

Watch the video clip below for a preview of the full-length interview:

The full interview will air on January 30th for Blaze TV subscribers, and February 1st on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast.

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