Sunday, December 03, 2017

"Good Night, Moon"

I don't dive into every earthquake at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I think most can be really frivolous and propaganda.

More urgent is the continued inhuman conditions in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I don't want to appear to be unfeeling, but, the country needs to realize what complete devastation is under a Category Five Hurricane. There haven't been media reports out of Texas or Florida since September and October.



North Pole Water Vapor Satellite
December 3, 2017

There are far reaching problems facing the USA. This image is of the North Pole. It shows at least four large heat transfer systems. The others can't be discerned because of the censorship of Russia and China.


The ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) is completely disrupted with water vapor carrying heat from the tropical areas to the Arctic Circle. 


November 30, 2017

...In Greenland, (click here) Ward gets a close-up view of Helheim Glacier, one of the country’s fastest-moving glaciers. Between August 2016 and August 2017, scientists say Helheim retreated two miles, the furthest retreat inland they have seen in a decade.
Jason Box, an American climate scientist and professor in glaciology at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, tells Ward the “melt is winning this game.”
“Greenland is at the epicenter of climate change,” says Box. “Everything is kind of stacking up that the ice is going faster than forecast. The melt is winning this game.”

Ward also gains rare access to Summit Station, a remote American outpost located at the summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet, to see how scientists and engineers are tracking these climate changes. As temperatures rise and the melt increases, Greenland has become the largest source of sea level rise globally....

The water vapor is extremely dense in 2017 since the heating has intensified over Greenland and Iceland. There is significant heat transfer happening in the northwest hemisphere and probably the entire northern hemisphere. Australia is receiving flooding in some of its cities and towns. Strong storms are frequenting the area.


The climate crisis is real and it is happening now all over the world. The USA simply doesn't care even after the tragedies in the Caribbean Sea. This is a perspective no one should forget and definitely should reflect on.


The Republican Congress just voted for a tax cut that will add $1.4 trillion to the national debt. Does anyone actually think that is going to support the needs of the country when swath of land after swath of land is devastated and made economic disaster areas for years to decades to come?



December 3, 2017
The effects of Climate Change, (click here) particularly sea-level rise, is an overwhelming problem for the Caribbean that needs urgent attention. Delay in putting in place sustainable plans for resilient building, that could secure international financial support, will cost the region dearly.
The problem has become multi-faceted and addressing it requires collaboration among structural and mechanical engineers, accountants, economists, environmentalists and designers of tourism plants.
The trick is going to be how to merge defences against sea-surges and flooding with the aesthetics necessary to maintain the Caribbean as a sun, sea and sand destination.
2017 has witnessed back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes that cut a swathe through the Caribbean from which the affected islands will not fully recover for many years to come.
As an example of this, in 1994 Antigua and Barbuda received the largest number of tourists in its previous history. Then, in 1995, Category 5 Hurricane Luis battered Antigua, leaving its tourism plant in tatters. The country did not achieve its 1994 figures until 2014, twenty years later....

And the Senate Democrats are seeking insight to Russia meddling and find obstruction.

December 3, 2017
By Mark Moore

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (click here) said on Sunday that the numerous investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election are beginning to build an obstruction of justice case against President Trump.

“The [Senate] Judiciary Committee has an investigation going as well and it involves obstruction of justice and I think what we’re beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice,” Feinstein, the panel’s top Democrat, ​told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I think we see this in the indictments, the four indictments, and pleas that have just taken place and some of the comments that are being made,” Feinstein​ said​. “I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets. And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of Director [James] Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s obstruction of justice​.”...

Putin liked him. Flynn had no right to discuss Russian sanctions with an understanding he could bring about change for Russia.

In this file photo taken on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, with retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, center left, and Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, obscured second right, attend an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of RT (Russia Today) 24-hour English-language TV news channel in Moscow, Russia. Flynn is widely reported Thursday Nov. 17, 2016, to be a potential contender to become national security advisor to U.S. president elect Donald Trump, although his appointment may be controversial.


February 9, 2017
By Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima

National security adviser Michael Flynn (click here) privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials, current and former U.S. officials said.

Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn on Wednesday denied that he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Asked in an interview whether he had ever done so, he twice said, “No.”

On Thursday, Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”...

February 14, 2017
By Michael A. Memoli nad Del Quentin Wilbur


Washington — President Donald Trump (click here) knew for three weeks that former national security adviser Michael Flynn misrepresented his contacts with a Russian diplomat before firing him under pressure, the White House acknowledged Tuesday in offering an account of Flynn’s downfall that differed strikingly from what it said a day earlier.
After days of questions about whether Flynn had spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. in December about new sanctions implemented by the Obama administration, White House officials said Monday that Trump was “evaluating” the situation. Trump’s review appeared to come to a swift conclusion with the announcement that he had accepted Flynn’s resignation Monday night.
But on Tuesday, the White House said Flynn’s actions had been under internal review for three weeks. And while the White House concluded that Flynn hadn’t acted illegally in phone calls and text messages with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a “trust issue” arose that ultimately led the president to conclude that “he had to make a change,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said....

House arrest also prevented any accidental meetings and collusion.

December 1, 2017
By Karen Ruiz

Mr. Gates, left, with Donald J. Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

A US District Court judge (click here) has granted embattled political consultant Rick Gates a limited release ahead of his trial.

Gates, who was indicted along with his business associate and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in October, will be released to allow him to meet with his attorneys who are based in Washington D.C. and New York City, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.

Gates, 45, and Manafort, 68, have been under house arrest since they surrendered to federal authorities after the first charges from the probe of possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election were unsealed.

In his motion filed on Tuesday, Gates - who has been confined to his home in Richmond, Virginia - argued that his current release conditions pose 'certain logistical issues,' as it does not specify whether he is able to stay overnight for multi-day meetings with his lawyers.

'In order to prepare for his defense, Mr Gates attorneys require the ability to meet with Mr Gates over multiple days, which would require Mr Gates to stay the night given the distance between his residence in Richmond and the District of Columbia (over 100 miles) which is widely known as one of the top traffic-congested areas in America' the motion read....

Manafort's tentacles go everywhere.

November 28, 2017
By Richard Esposito and David Voreacos

Manhattan prosecutors (click here) investigating Paul Manafort's New York business activities are scheduling interviews with 10 to 20 of his work associates and lenders, including Stephen Calk, whose Chicago-based bank provided millions of dollars in loans on Manafort family properties.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office has already subpoenaed lenders for documents related to transactions by Manafort, President Donald Trump's onetime campaign chairman, and is proceeding to conduct the interviews, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Separately, the Manhattan U.S. attorney has recently looked into Calk's bank as part of a probe into whether Manafort may have engaged in mortgage fraud, honest-services fraud and bank fraud, according to another person familiar with that investigation. Manafort is already under federal indictment for money laundering and other charges.

The district attorney's office wants to know how deeply Calk was involved in loans made by Federal Savings Bank, where he is chief executive officer, for Manafort's benefit, the person said. Investigators also want to know if Manafort used the money for the purposes outlined in the loan documents, the person said....

Paul Manafort is far to important to believe $11.6 million will keep him available.

Paul Manafort rubbed elbows with these men. They do not want to be smeared in The West. $11.6 million is nothing to these men or Paul Manafort if they decide he is a colleague needing protection. Heck, Putin would detain Manafort for his own reasons if it meant taking heat away from Trump or his administration. I don't think any of the men indicted are safe when traveling, even in the USA.

November 30, 2017
By Spenser S. Hsu

President Viktor F. Yanukovych (click here) of Ukraine, center, with Vladimir V. Putin, right, then Russia’s prime minister, and Dmitri A. Medvedev, left, then Russia’s president, in 2011.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has reached a bail deal with prosecutors led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, agreeing to secure his release with four properties worth $11.6 million, forgo foreign travel and limit his travel within the United States.

In a six-page court filing backed by more than 150 pages of financial documentation, Mana­fort’s lawyers agreed to a forfeiture of the homes held by Manafort, his wife and with their daughter if he fails to appear in court to face charges of money laundering and fraud in connection with his work advising a ­Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.

Manafort, 68, and his co-defendant and business partner Rick Gates, 45, have been under home confinement and GPS monitoring with few exceptions since pleading not guilty Oct. 30 in the first criminal allegations in Mueller’s probe of possible Russian influence in U.S. political affairs, including in the 2016 election campaign....

I went looking for Nixon's press secretary to see if there were analogies to be made, but, "Politico" beat me to it. I thank them.

March 19, 2017
By John A. Farrell

Apologies, (click here) from the get-go, for remarking on another Trump-Nixon analogy. But one has to go back to Richard Nixon’s presidency to find another White House press secretary so tugged between media and master, and so mocked for his subsequent contortions, as Sean Spicer. That man was Ron Ziegler.

There is much to be said in admiration of Ziegler, who served more than five years in turbulent times and was Nixon’s only press secretary—a significant exhibition of survival techniques and endurance that Spicer will be fortunate to match. He was loyal to a fault—a rare quality in Washington. Almost alone among senior aides, he stood by Nixon when the disgraced president rode Air Force One into the sunset of exile in 1974. And though he hid it well, the often publicly surly Ziegler had a sly, self-deprecating sense of humor. As I rummaged through the files at the presidential library for my upcoming biography of Nixon, I often chanced upon wry exchanges, on tape or paper, that Ziegler had with superiors like Henry Kissinger, who served as Nixon’s national security adviser, or foes like Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post. Perhaps most impressively, Ziegler was a rarity among the California public relations types who staffed the Nixon White House—in that he avoided the criminal wrongdoing, prosecution and imprisonment that many earned in the Watergate scandals....

I strongly believe Sarah is a problem while using "Fake News" as a crutch.

November 29, 2017
By Aaron Blake

Sarah and Bryan Sanders.
...Bryan was a press assistant for former Republican Sen. Sam Brownback. A year  later (after meeting Sarah Huckabee) he joined the Wicker Group (click here).

President Trump's controversial campaign (click here) against the threat he says Muslim extremists pose to the United States hit a new pitch Wednesday, when he retweeted a series of unverified videos of alleged Muslim violence from the account of a far-right anti-Muslim activist in Great Britain.

That was objectionable enough. But the White House's response carves an even deeper bunker.

In response to questions about the veracity of the videos Trump retweeted, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered this to CBS News's Major Garrett: “Whether it's a real video, the threat is real. His goal is to promote strong border security and strong national security.”

Yes, you read that right: The White House that complains almost daily about “fake news” doesn't care if these videos are fake news as long they serve real purposes. Sanders just tacitly endorsed the concept of propaganda, and she said it out loud.

This version of the ends justifying the means would make Machiavelli blush....

We know that Trump wants loyalists and to change the dialogue of the country to fit his own purposes. Sarah Sanders is an intricate part of that. Her husband, Bryan, makes his living doing exactly that.

It is time to review.

8 November 2017

Dismissed (click here) by the White House as a "low-level volunteer", more about the true status of adviser George Papadopoulos seems to emerge by the day.

The Trump campaign foreign policy aide's contacts with Russians have already got him in trouble. He has admitted lying to the FBI about them.

But it is now revealed he also met a British Foreign Office official, two months before the US presidential election, for a "working level" meeting.

"As you would expect in the run up to an election we seek to build links with figures in both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman told the BBC, confirming the meeting. "This type of outreach is normal diplomatic business."

While such meetings may be routine diplomacy, the fact that Papadopoulos was presenting himself to the government of one of the US's closest allies as a representative of the Trump campaign undercuts the White House's recent assertion that Papadopoulos was a campaign volunteer of little importance.

"It was extremely limited," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on 30 October, when questioned about Papadopoulos's role in the Trump campaign. "It was a volunteer position. And again, no activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign. He was a volunteer on the campaign."...

Russia-Trump: President hits out at FBI over Russia inquiry - BBC News

President Trump needs to stop his tirade over the lies of his former staff. He is implicating himself in knowledge of those lies.

I do not believe he is stupidly putting this mess out there. I believe to his way of thinking, since he knew Flynn lied, as President, he can control that outcome through his own actions regardless of the lies. He is putting out an image of a man in control of the Oval Office regardless of lies by Flynn.

Donald Trump believes himself omnipotent in his ability to handle power. He knows all, sees all and thinks all. The country has never been safer, you see.

Remember that "Opioid Crisis" Trump declared? It was sort of a national emergency?

Imprisoning the mentally ill and drug addicted feeds the private prison phenomena.

The regression of the USA from mental health treatment has caused crisis with drug related additions. Now, the USA has been forced to ask police forces to impliment regimes to safe people's lives with "Narcan." I think  that is good for the police and the people, however, it can't stop there. The USA needs to have far more mental health beds and end this addiction environment forever.

November 30, 2017
By Samantha Raphelson

...The United States (click here) manages to incarcerate more mentally ill adults per 100,000 people than other high-income countries incarcerate, period. Presumably, Lionel Penrose would feel vindicated, albeit without any satisfaction....

A severe shortage of inpatient care (click here) for people with mental illness is amounting to a public health crisis, as the number of individuals struggling with a range of psychiatric problems continues to rise.

The revelation that the gunman in the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting escaped from a psychiatric hospital in 2012 is renewing concerns about the state of mental health care in this country. A study published in the journal Psychiatric Services estimates 3.4 percent of Americans — more than 8 million people — suffer from serious psychological problems....


This movement of National Guard units has been going on for at least 11 months since Trump's election!

The military is out of control with a weak President in the Oval Office. They are walking all over him.

All the miltiary has to do is scare Trump into action and/or state something positive about Obama and then Trump will want to undo the Obama footprint. This is the USA military running the country. Does the new tax structure HURT the miltiary?

National Guardsman meets baby for the 1st time, surprising kids after 11 month deployment (click here)

December 1, 2017
By Eliza Murphy

Army Specialist Seth Howard got the best presents in the world when he returned home to his family after an 11-month deployment to Jordan on his 27th birthday.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better in the whole world,” he told ABC News of surprising his 3-year-old twins, Riley and Liam Howard, at their school, Gahanna Christian Academy, in Ohio.

“I was so excited. I was shaking I was so nervous,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I got in the military. I was going to walk into the classroom, but the academy took it upon themselves to make a big, big deal about it. It was so awesome. It was even better than I could imagine.”...

Generals are critizing the tax cuts and reform, while defense hawks are satisfied. Republicans do not care about the country or the American people; they are pandering to cronies.

December 1, 2017
By Joe Gould

The White House-backed tax plan (click here) is projected to increase the deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next decade, but Senate defense hawks are saying they’re not worried that steeper deficits will squeeze future military spending.

If they are wrong, and tax reform creates higher deficits with less headroom for defense spending, it could raise hurdles for the Trump administration’s ambitious plans for a military buildup to 355 ships, 1,200 Air Force fighter jets and thousands more Marines. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said in Capitol Hill testimony that those plans require sustained defense spending growth through 2023.

In a Senate floor speech Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed, slammed the GOP as selling out the military to give a tax cut to the rich. Reed plans to offer a measure to retain the estate tax, which has historically been used to fund wars....

More deception by the Trump White House. The military is out of control, at least President Obama tried,. He should have ended the USA involvement in the Middle East.

Every American knows when American troops are stationed in the Middle East, extremists will come to the Middle East for the sole reason of killing American soldiers. Trump has the USA military on a downward spiral into a black hole it can't get out of until the troops are removed from the Middle East.

American troops cause greater problems than they solve, because of this added incentive to war.

December 1, 2017

Since President Trump came into office, (click here) U.S. troop numbers have been edging up in the three countries where the U.S. is most deeply involved in fighting — Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. forces totaled just over 18,000 in these three countries at the end of last December, just before President Obama completed his term, according to the Pentagon's Defense Manpower Data Center.

The combined figure was about 26,000 as of the end of September, the most recent data available from the Pentagon.

Neither President Trump nor the military likes to talk about troop numbers. A Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Rob Manning, said multiple factors can be influence the figures, such as troop rotations, the changing nature of military missions and the political sensitivities of the host country.

He told reporters not to place too much stock in the quarterly figures put out by the Defense Manpower Data Center....

Trump is calling up the National Guard again! 

November 28, 2017
By Missy Ryan

The Trump administration’s new strategy for Afghanistan (click here) will array significantly more U.S. troops across the battlefield, increasing the risk to American lives, a senior general said on Tuesday.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., who commands U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon that President Trump’s new plan for Afghanistan would substantially expand how American advisers provide hands-on assistance to Afghan soldiers.

Nicholson spoke as the U.S. military seeks to showcase its new, more aggressive approach for the war in Afghanistan, now in its 16th year. Seeking to signal a break with the Obama administration, the White House in August authorized a sizable increase in the U.S. troop presence and a more expansive, open-ended mission to combat insurgent groups, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the regional Islamic State affiliate.

There are now about 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, up from about 8,400 at the end of the Obama administration....Merr

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Because of all the money business with the tax code by Congress, NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ripped up from their jobs and family, are concerned for the well being of their loved ones. There are family that will rely on Food Stamps as well when their bread winner is taken into active duty.



Dec. 3, 2017
By Staff Sargent Isolda Reyes

 General Joseph L. Lengyel (middle right), 28th Chief of the National Guard Bureau and Command Sgt. Major Christopher Kepner (middle left), poses with Col Mark. M. Beckler (right), commander of the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, and Command Sgt. Maj. Steven McKenna (left), during their visit to Taji Military Complex, Iraq, November 25,2017. The 29th Combat Aviation Brigade is made up of multiple Army National Guard, Army and US Army Reserve units deployed to Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield. CJTF-OIR is the global Coalition to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria. 

Taji Military Complex, IRAQ -  The 28th Chief (click here) of the National Guard Bureau, Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel visited with Soldiers from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade at Taji Military Complex, Iraq, Nov. 25.

Lengyel received a briefing from the 29th CAB commander, Col. Mark Beckler, and brigade staff officers about the Army aviation mission in Operation Inherent Resolve. Beckler noted that 29th CAB is the only aviation brigade supporting Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve. 

Lengyel expressed interest in the CAB mission as 29th CAB prepares to hand over their missions to the incoming 449th CAB, which is moving into Kuwait and Iraq now. 

“I want to be able to understand the issues so I can advocate what’s best for the mission,” said Lengyel. 

Following his meeting with other National Guard units at Taji, Lengyel and Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Kepner, the 11th command sergeant major of the Army National Guard, enjoyed lunch with a selection of Airmen and Soldiers during which he emphasized his role with Soldiers’ life in the National Guard.

Lengyel stated that his top three concerns are Soldiers and making sure they receive the right training, while ensuring National Guard personnel receive the right opportunities for their careers and families. 

Soldiers followed up with questions that ranged from keeping an Apache fleet in the National Guard, operational support and personnel questions, including allowing National Guard Soldiers access to Tricare even if they are Federal Government employees....