COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

PNG Bitches - Eat it!

‘Never Trump’ national-security Republicans fear they have been blacklisted

They are some of the biggest names in the Republican national security firmament, veterans of past GOP administrations who say, if called upon by President-elect Donald Trump, they stand ready to serve their country again.

But their phones aren’t ringing. Their entreaties to Trump Tower in New York have mostly gone unanswered. In Trump world, these establishment all-stars say they are “PNG” — personae non grata.


Their transgression was signing one or both of two public “Never Trump” letters during the campaign, declaring they would not vote for Trump and calling his candidacy a danger to the nation.

One letter, with 122 names, was published by War on the Rocks, a website devoted to national security commentary, during the primary season in March. The other, with 50 names, including some repeat signatories, was published by the New York Timesduring the general-election campaign in August.

Now, just days before Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 45th president, the letter signers fear they have been added to another document, this one private — a purported blacklist compiled by Trump’s political advisers.

Flynn says Trump administration wants 'peace through strength'


During a Jan. 10 speech at the Institute of Peace, President-elect Donald Trump's national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn spoke of the need for "peace through strength" and the potential to “rebaseline" global relationships. (The Washington Post)

HEADLINE: "Trump transition aides did not respond to a request for comment for this article." (You Think?)

“Before he won, the conversation was, ‘We really would love for you to change your mind and join us,’ ” Peter Feaver, a National Security Council special adviser under President George W. Bush, said of informal talks with Trump aides. Feaver, who signed both letters, added that, “Since he won . . . the conversation is, ‘There likely will be a blacklist of people who signed the letters who won’t themselves be eligible for a post.’ ”

Trump transition aides did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
The president-elect has virtually no experience in national security and foreign policy, and his transition team could presumably benefit from the broadest pool of applicants for the influential appointive positions in the State Department, Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security.

But the purportedly blacklisted figures report to their jobs at Washington law firms and think tanks in a state of indefinite limbo as their colleagues, some working in the same offices, are flirting with potential administration jobs.
Last week, the Trump transition held a private briefing for secretary-of-state nominee Rex Tillerson to prepare him for his Senate confirmation hearing. One former Bush national security official who works at a Washington think tank said that some of his younger staff assistants were invited to participate but that he was not. He assumes it was because he signed the letter.

“It’s hostile,” said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of further retribution. “It’s not just that we’re frozen out. . . . I was told they said there was an enemies list.”

Among those who signed at least one of the letters are Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, the first two secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security; two former U.S. trade ambassadors, Carla Hills and Robert Zoellick; two former heads of U.S. intelligence agencies, John Negroponte and retired Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden; a former ambassador to NATO; and several former deputy secretaries of various U.S. government agencies.

Not everyone who signed the letters wants a job, and some remain vocal critics of Trump. But many stand ready to serve or offer guidance if asked.

The letters were explicit in their denunciations of Trump’s professed support for torture of terrorism suspects, his pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico, his anti-Muslim rhetoric and his admiration for Russian President Vladi­mir Putin.

The letters also attacked Trump’s character and temperament, asserting that he “lacks self-control and acts impetuously,” has demonstrated “erratic behavior” and is “fundamentally dishonest.”

Former Bush administration lawyer John Bellinger III, who organized the letter published in the Times, said that many have not given up and are trying to help from the outside.

“They’re seeing how it goes and trying to provide advice, counsel, support to our friends who go into the administration,” said Bellinger, who has served as legal counsel at the State Department and the National Security Council.

The scenario was set up by Trump’s un­or­tho­dox candidacy and then his upset victory. The threat the New York business mogul’s populist campaign posed to the establishment of his party caused some of the Republicans’ leading lights to oppose him, even after he had clinched the nomination.

The question after Election Day was how quickly Trump loyalists and the onetime GOP resistance would reconcile.

In some cases, the process has gone fairly smoothly. Congressional leaders who had been lukewarm toward Trump’s campaign have made nice with the president-elect, and they have vowed to work together on a conservative policy agenda.
In other cases, it has been painfully awkward, as with Trump’s flirtation with Mitt Romney for secretary of state. Romney had called Trump a “phony” and a “fraud” last March, but the 2012 GOP presidential nominee called to congratulate Trump on his election victory. After a courtship that included a dinner of frog legs and lamb chops in New York, Romney was passed over for Tillerson, the head of ExxonMobil.

During a national security forum last week at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, K.T. McFarland, who was named Trump’s deputy national security adviser, opened her remarks by referring to the “elephant in the room.”
“Most of the people in this room didn’t support Donald Trump — maybe not at first or maybe ever,” she said. “And I suspect most of the people in this room didn’t think he’d win. But he has.”

Some of the “Never Trump” letters signers fear they are at the bottom of the pecking order, below those who expressed verbal opposition to Trump’s campaign but did not sign either of the letters. (You Think?)


The conflict was exacerbated shortly after the election when Eliot Cohen, a State Department counselor during the Bush administration who had helped organize the War on the Rocks letter, aired new criticism of the Trump transition. In an opinion column for The Washington Post in November, Cohen said that a friend on the transition team had asked him to provide names of potential job candidates — with the stipulation that he include no one who signed either of the letters.

Cohen wrote that he became convinced there were “pent-up resentments” among members of the Trump team, and he warned young policy experts against working for the administration. Cohen has had no further communications with the transition team.

“Believe me — my phone is not ringing,” he said in a recent interview.
Other letter signers said Cohen had misinterpreted emails from the transition official and overreacted, and some of them expressed a sense of regret.
Mary Beth Long, who served as assistant secretary of defense in the Bush administration, signed the War on the Rocks letter. But, she said, her opinion of Trump improved as he began to moderate his rhetoric and selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.

Long attended a Pence rally in Charlotte in October, during which, she said, a local GOP official announced that a “Never Trump” letter signer in the audience had changed her mind and was now supporting Trump. The crowd cheered.
But her about-face hasn’t thawed the ice. Long said her inquiries to the Trump transition team to get clarity on some of his foreign policy positions have gone unanswered. She said that she has spoken with retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Trump’s designee for national security adviser, whom she knows from the Pentagon, but that she isn’t expecting a job.

“If I were asked to sign a letter like that again, I would be much more careful about the verbiage that related to the candidate himself,” she said.
Some letter signers said the Trump transition might be overwhelmed and could reach out more broadly in the coming weeks. Some hoped that Cabinet nominees, such as retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, Trump’s pick to head the Pentagon, could potentially have the freedom to hire them. Many jobs below the Cabinet level remain unfilled.

But others are resigned to waiting until some of Trump’s initial appointees begin leaving his administration.

Frances Townsend, a former Bush homeland security adviser who signed the War on the Rocks letter, is friendly with Flynn. A few weeks after the election, she received an email from the transition team inviting her to meet with the president-elect.

Ahead of the meeting, she thought over how to explain her past actions if Trump raised the letter — but he did not, she said.

“I took that as a sign of maturity and graciousness,” said Townsend, who has not taken a job with the administration and declined to say whether she was offered one.
“As I was leaving, I said I was privileged and humbled to come in and speak to him,” she said. “It was a veiled reference [to the letter]. Given the circumstances, I didn’t expect to be there.”

161 comments:

  1. As if anyone will miss Tom Ridge.

    Stationed on a remote military site, we had monthly meetings, called a "Commander's Call". It was informal and entertaining. Our base commander knew how to keep up troop morale.

    The commander would as part of his monthly address would credit those that did a good job and always mention someone or an event that didn't do somehing right.

    At an unpredictable time during his address, he would call upon a tech sergeant that had a particularly good singing voice to stand up and sing a hymm for Airman So & So.

    The entire room would laugh and join in the hymm as the sergeant pointed to the unlucky guy. The group hymm went:

    "Himmmmm ( pause for laughter ) Himmmmm, ( pause for laughter ) FUCK HIM!!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Let's give a hymm for the Dirty 4 Dozen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sedition:
    18 U.S. Code § 2387 - Activities affecting armed forces generally

    (a) Whoever, with intent to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States:
    (1) advises, counsels, urges, or in any manner causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States; or
    (2) distributes or attempts to distribute any written or printed matter which advises, counsels, or urges insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States—
    Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
    (b) For the purposes of this section, the term “military or naval forces of the United States” includes the Army of the United States, the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve of the United States; and, when any merchant vessel is commissioned in the Navy or is in the service of the Army or the Navy, includes the master, officers, and crew of such vessel.


    ReplyDelete
  4. Plane in 'mock dogfight with Russian jet' above Area 51....DRUDGE

    It's really Quirk, in his ultra light The Super "Q" Soarer.

    He went in low last time, trying 'to get to the bottom of this'.

    Got his ass shot down.

    Trying the high route this time.

    If he survives, I'll report.

    If he doesn't survive, I'll report.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What was the strategy of camouflaging the "Q" Soarer as a Russian MiG, Quirk ?

      Sow confusion ?

      Seems like it would just attract attention, to me.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

  5. US, Baltic states sign military pacts as Trump uncertainty grows

    AFP
    Vaidotas Beniusis
    AFPJanuary 17, 2017

    The US-lead NATO has been increasing its military presence along Europe's borders with Russia ever since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from UkraineView photos

    The US-lead NATO has been increasing its military presence along Europe's borders with Russia ever since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine (AFP Photo/Petras Malukas)

    Vilnius (AFP) - The United States and Baltic NATO allies Estonia and Lithuania signed military deals on Tuesday as President-elect Donald Trump's pro-Moscow stance stokes uncertainty about future commitments.
    Fellow Baltic state Latvia has also inked a similar agreement defining the status of hundreds of US troops that are to be deployed this year to deter a more militarily aggressive Russia on NATO's vulnerable eastern flank.
    These pacts also come after Washington launched a separate mission last week that will see an armoured brigade of some 3,500 soldiers and heavy equipment sent to Poland, the Baltic states and nearby NATO allies Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

    The US-lead NATO has been increasing its military presence along Europe's borders with Russia ever since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

    The Kremlin denies it has any territorial ambitions and accuses NATO of trying to encircle Russia.
    But Moscow's deployment of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its already heavily militarised Kaliningrad exclave last year and frequent military drills in the Baltic region have rattled nearby NATO states.
    The defence accords, which controversially limit the jurisdiction of local courts over US military personnel, still need to be ratified by the respective national parliaments.

    "It's in our interest to have US forces here, and we must have clarity over their status," Lithuanian Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis told AFP as he concluded the so-called "status of forces" agreement with US Ambassador Anne Hall in Vilnius.

    Estonia's Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna echoed the remarks, saying the accord "supports the presence of US units in Estonia and strengthens our security."

    Karoblis added that Lithuania, the largest and southernmost of the three Baltic states, will host "up to 800 US troops" at a time this year.

    - Trip wire -
    With a combined population of six million, the three formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic nations have warily watched Trump question the US committment to guarantee the security of NATO allies....

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-baltic-states-sign-military-pacts-trump-uncertainty-160318994.html?ref=gs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. The US-lead NATO has been increasing its military presence along Europe's borders with Russia ever since ...
      ... the US financed 2014 coup against the elected government of the Ukraine.

      Delete
  6. "Q"Nit of the Day:Esteban Santiago/Aashiq Hammad


    Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooter Converted to Islam Before He Joined Army

    JANUARY 16, 2017 11:30 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

    Why wasn’t he stopped? My latest in FrontPage:



    It has now been definitively established that Esteban Santiago, who opened fire in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale Airport on January 6, murdering five people, was a convert to Islam who took the name Aashiq Hammad, downloaded jihadist material and recorded himself singing the Islamic confession of faith. The universal mainstream media indifference to these facts is yet another indication of how the prevailing denial and willful ignorance about the jihad threat is hamstringing our opposition to it.

    The new revelations came after it was discovered that Santiago/Hammad had told the FBI, in a bizarre incident, that he was being forced to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS). He was also photographed making the one-finger sign that signifies one’s adherence to Islamic monotheism, and which has come to be associated with allegiance to ISIS.

    Santiago’s aunt, Maria Ruiz Rivera, claimed that it was all about his mental problems: after he served in the U.S. army in Iraq, she said, “He lost his mind.” But this only raises a larger question: why was he able to join the army in the first place, since Santiago’s enlistment came after his Muslim alter ego, Aashiq Hammad, had downloaded jihad propaganda?

    The obvious answer is that to bar him from the army on those grounds would have been “Islamophobic.” Recall that the Fort Hood jihad mass murderer, army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had been in repeated contact with jihad mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki. But when the FBI agent who was monitoring Hasan’s communications reported these contacts to his superiors, they told him again and again that they had no interest. After the agent persisted, he was told that the bureau “doesn’t go out and interview every Muslim guy who visits extremist websites.”

    Why not?

    Hasan, in any case, remained on active duty until, screaming “Allahu akbar,” he massacred 13 people at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Esteban Santiago was likewise not stopped. Nor was he by any means singular in this. After an Islamic jihadist set off bombs in New York City and New Jersey in September 2016, the New York Post reported: “It happened again: The FBI had the future Chelsea bomber on its radar — for a while, anyway — but let him slip through. Just as officials had done with men who became the perps in at least eight other terror attacks.”

      Terror researcher Patrick Poole, who for years has tracked what he has dubbed the “known wolf” phenomenon – that is, jihad attacks perpetrated by people who were known to authorities who had turned a blind eye to the threat they posed – details one incident that is as disquieting as it is emblematic:

      When the problem of terror recruitment amongst the U.S. Somali community by al-Shabaab became an issue in 2008 and 2009, there were reports in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, which has the second largest Somali population in the country, that al-Shabaab operative Dahir Gurey was fundraising and recruiting for the terrorist group in the area. He later showed up in Minneapolis.

      When we told the FBI about it, the response was that our information couldn’t be accurate, because if it were true they would have heard about it from their local Muslim outreach partners.

      This indicates a level of credulity on the part of law enforcement authorities that is truly breathtaking. Many who are aware of the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat blandly assume that officials parrot the party line about Islam being a religion of peace and “extremism” being a problem among people of all faiths in public, but in private are aware of the jihad threat and working to counter it. Poole’s account, however – and there are many other similar accounts – shows that they really believe the nonsense they purvey in public.

      The establishment media, meanwhile, is no better. Three days after the Aashiq Hammad story broke, ABC News reported, in the 26th paragraph of a story about the Fort Lauderdale shooting, that “since the attack, investigators recovered his computer from a pawn shop, and the FBI is examining it to determine whether the alleged shooter created a jihadist identity for himself using the name Aashiq Hammad, according to officials familiar with the case.” That’s it, as far as the mainstream media is concerned.

      Imagine, in order to put this into perspective, imagine if Santiago had put up a webpage some years ago indicating that he had joined the KKK, and had downloaded white supremacist literature. Do you think the establishment media would be so indifferent to this as a possible indication of a motive for the Fort Lauderdale Airport shootings? Neither do I.

      Esteban Santiago/Aashiq Hammad could have been stopped before he killed anyone. But that would have required an entirely different culture within law enforcement and the media. If such a sea change is not forthcoming, there will be many more Aashiq Hammads.

      https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/01/robert-spencer-in-frontpage-fort-lauderdale-airport-shooter-converted-to-islam-before-he-joined-army

      Delete
    2. .


      You, sir, are bizarre as is your reading material.


      .

      Delete
  7. WAR ZONE: 10 Killed, 29 Wounded In Chicago Over MLK Day Weekend....DRUDGE

    Sad.

    ReplyDelete


  8. There's a second grade teacher here I've been calling a pedophile for the last two years.

    He seems to have a pent up resentment toward me.

    Odd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope it's only resentment.

      How pent up is it ?

      Delete
    2. I'm hoping that, like Mary Beth Long, his opinion of me will improve.

      Lately, I've only alluded to the fact that he really seems to like little boys.

      Delete
  9. DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR TRUMP IMPEACHMENT, CLAIMS RUSSIA FED HIM THE TERM ‘CROOKED HILLARY’

    Desperate: Democrat Calls For Trump Impeachment, Claims Russia Fed Him The Term ‘Crooked Hillary'

    A Democratic Congresswoman has called for Donald Trump to be impeached on the grounds that he coined the term ‘crooked Hillary’ in collusion with the Russian government, even suggesting that the Kremlin was feeding Trump such lines to use during his campaign.

    California Congresswoman Maxine Waters was egged on by MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews to explain why Trump’s presidency is ‘not legitimate’.
    Matthews and Waters then engaged in some of the most dumb speculation ever aired on a broadcast.

    Matthews suggested that the Russian government engaged in “collusion” with the Trump campaign, and asked Waters “Does that make Trump subject to impeachment?
    Waters struggled to find a valid answer, so went with the following remarkable utterance:

    “If we discover that Donald Trump or his advocates played a role to help provide strategy — if they’re the ones who came up with ‘Crooked Hillary,’ if they’re the ones who came up with, ‘she’s ill, something’s wrong with her energy,’ and the way that he basically described her during the campaign — I think that is something that would put the question squarely on the table whether or not he should be impeached.”

    Waters went as far as to suggest that the nicknames Trump used against all his political opponents, even Republicans, were fed to him by Russia.
    “So, you think you can commit an impeachable offense before you take office?” Matthews probed further.

    “Well, I think that at the point that investigations discover and confirm and can document any of that role in helping to strategize — they had a role in attempting to determine the outcome,” Waters said, not answering the question.

    She attempted further reasoning on the fly, again failing to deliver any logical conclusion:
    “…In many ways they used the information they got when they hacked into emails etc. — if that was used against Hillary Clinton in some way, yes I think that’s impeachable.” Waters suggested.

    Matthews also suggested that “Russian television was running a lot of propaganda that Hillary was mentally and physically impaired. That was their—That was the propaganda message.”

    “Do you believe that Trump is somehow being held hostage by Vladimir Putin because of information on his behavior?” Matthews then asked, despite the fact that the story was revealed to be totally fake last week.

    “You know, what we have heard, not in the classified briefing, but in this information about the dossier that has been collected by the man in London on him,” Waters replied, “It talks about some things that appears to ring true based on what we have learned about Trump.”

    That’s right, MSNBC are STILL pushing fake news about Trump as if it’s real. In fact, Matthews himself admitted last week that the dossier was complete “misinformation”.
    Nevertheless, Waters continued to bring the crazy:

    “Ok, what I have learned or heard about the dossier, it’s about his involvement with women. It’s probably prostitutes that are involved and those kinds of things. And he has sounded that way. He has acted that way, and it gives you reason to think maybe
    something is to this and we need to find out more.” the Congresswoman declared.

    Matthews then spent the rest of the broadcast fawning over outgoing president Obama with fake news guru Brian Williams in tow, commenting on how “cool” and “young he looks,” and how “smooth” he is for singing Al Green songs while in office...

    http://www.infowars.com/desperate-democrat-calls-for-trump-impeachment-claims-russia-fed-him-the-term-crooked-hillary/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Matthews is beyond hope and based on his ratings doesn't have the capability to do much harm.

      Waters would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that she is an elected member of the US Congress.

      .

      Delete
    2. Add to that list Hank Johnson ....

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q

      Delete
  10. .

    What was the strategy of camouflaging the "Q" Soarer as a Russian MiG, Quirk ?


    You, like all the rest, were fooled by the simplest of stratagems. The plane was a drone.

    It was a Revell model of the classic Mig 25 Foxbat in XXXXXXXXXXXXX (1:1) size that I picked up on Hobby Link. I fitted it with remote controls scavenged from an old Hobby Boss helicopter model.

    I did it just to test defenses but was surprised by the fact that I almost took out the F16 and probably would have if the scavenged remote controls I had weren't a little too sticky on the turns.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I moved the comment above from where it would normally go even though the post it should have been attached to is only a few posts back. I did this in deference to Mr. Bob and his infirmities specifically his limited attention span reluctance, nay refusal, to go back and view the damage his posts have done.

      .

      Delete
    2. I did it just to test defenses

      Ah, good deal, testing defenses.

      So, the real penetration is yet to come.

      Put one of those little video cam dealies on your head flight gear for the real event, will ya, so we can all watch the action ?

      Would be much appreciated plus everyone wants to study your flight tactics.

      Delete
    3. .

      Regarding Bob's memory problem mentioned above, sometimes, Bob's MO is irksome. However, every so often it ends with a serendipitous result.

      For instance, yesterday Bob went on at length explaining the meaning of a phrase he used, Acres of Nothing. After a windy explanation of the phrase, he said...

      It's an old saying of ours.

      to which I replied

      Gee, thanks for the info.

      Me and my team are trying to collect odd bits of Americana from our rural past and we're racing the clock to gather as much as we can before you old guys kick the bucket.

      P.S. Do you have any old tintypes of you and Wayne you could pass along so we can illustrate the book we are putting together?


      .

      When asked a second time for the tintype, Bob responded...

      Here:

      https://www.google.com/search?q=tintype&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS698US698&espv=2&biw=780&bih=364&tbm=isch&imgil=N1d3z1MngFOS7M%253A%253BwkjklYFGc0XV3M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fen.wikipedia.org%25252Fwiki%25252FTintype&source=iu&pf=m&fir=N1d3z1MngFOS7M%253A%252CwkjklYFGc0XV3M%252C_&usg=__fhuQ9TKahxaMf0JYHsdg521WUSo%3D&ved=0ahUKEwiM46LKwMjRAhUFx2MKHXE_CIYQyjcIRw&ei=T7N9WMz_AYWOjwPx_qCwCA#imgrc=N1d3z1MngFOS7M%3A


      But I can't recall you asking for it. [Editorial note: My point exactly]

      The serendipitous part is that Bob gave me exactly what I had asked for. The only clarifications I would ask of Bob regarding the tintype that was provided are...

      1. Who is the short one, you or Wayne? and...

      2. Were you guys actually cross-dressers or was that just the style back then

      .






      Delete
    4. At 1-17, you can see me strapping in for my helicopter chores for the day.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhTXY4ERlj4

      Delete
    5. Meanwhile, further east on Highway 41, investigators are busy searching Honest Bob's Idaho Chop shop, finding missing vehicles from eastern Washington.

      Detectives arrived at the property June 22 trying to serve two felony arrest warrants. Instead, they found a vehicle with a punched ignition that had been reported stolen in Stevens County. Detectives obtained a search warrant and spent two days seizing evidence from the property. They checked records for 294 vehicles, many with missing or altered VIN plates.

      People continued to show up at the property during the search and on some occasions tried to slip past the law enforcement perimeter. Two were arrested on felony warrants and another was arrested for possession of methamphetamine.

      Property owner Dennis Hiebert, 51, was arrested for possession of stolen property. Investigators confirmed five of the vehicles at the business were stolen, including a large motor home, which had its cabinetry stripped and hung in Hiebert's kitchen.

      Investigators also found a small amount of meth and large quantities of drug paraphernalia.

      http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sirens/2011/jun/29/suspected-chop-shop-raided-idaho/

      Delete
    6. The motor home was my wife's idea.

      Delete
    7. Nothing like a classy upgrade for the kitchen.

      Delete
    8. .

      So, the real penetration is yet to come.

      Well, that's been my story of late.

      .

      Delete
  11. .


    Obama commutes much of Chelsea Manning's sentence.


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then why play games? If there is a commutation, open the gates.

      Delete
    2. .

      I see now that she will be held until May 17, 4 months.

      I'm sure she'll take it given she was originally sentenced to prison until 2045.

      .

      Delete
    3. We still have 2 more days

      Delete
    4. For more pardons and commutes

      Delete
  12. Elections have consequences.

    If you are a shitter on America?

    Good luck, there is a new sheriff in town...

    :)

    Let the games begin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Julian Assange deserves to catch a break.

      Delete

    2. You're so right, "O"rdure, if those Zionists attack a US Navy ship during a Trump Presidency, chances are he'll nuke Haifa ...

      Delete
  13. 1. Who is the short one, you or Wayne? and...

    2. Were you guys actually cross-dressers or was that just the style back then ?

    Quirk


    Quirk seems to have forgotten so soon my pledge not to answer any more of his questions until he reveals the TRUE name of his new Mutt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Damn, Bob, can't you remember anything especially in instances when you seem so dang interested in it.

      I told you weeks ago his name was Chuck. Chucky. The old Chuckster. Chuck.

      I have been reluctant to talk about it since I ended up taking the poor guy back to the shelter. It didn't work out. I consider it a personal failure on my part.

      Ol Chuck was a great little guy and he bonded with me an my wife immediately. After the first couple days, he and my other dog became great pals. However, we currently have a niece living with us and no matter what she did she couldn't break the ice with him. As soon as she came into the house, he would start barking until I got them into separate rooms and calmed him down. He even took a nip at her leg as she was walking away one day.

      Just as bad, he was very timid. As soon as he saw her he would start dribbling. If you pointed it out to him, he would get more nervous and he would void his ladder. Not good. Really, not good.

      Our vet put him on Prozac to try to calm him down. But after a couple weeks, it didn't seem to help. By this time, our niece was a nervous wreck and we were thinking of putting her on Prozac too.

      I called a couple of the local dog whisperers but the only suggestion I got was that there must have been something from his past that left an imprint on him that she reminded him of.

      It came down to a choice, our niece or the dog. My wife didn't like my choice so she made me take Chuck back.

      That was a few weeks ago and I still feel bad about it. That's the first dog we've ever taken back. All of our dogs live to be about 15 or 16. I wish I had been better qualified to deal with his problems.

      .

      Delete
    2. You really shouldn't blame yourself.

      There is no cure for a void ladder.

      Delete
    3. .


      I'm sure there is research being done on the problem somewhere in the world.


      .

      Delete
    4. Sorry to hear of your sorrows and tribulations, Chuck,

      I'm certain Quirk will find a suitable home soon.

      Delete
  14. In March 2014, the then Malaysian transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, fronted the world's press and told them MH370 had "vanished".

    ...

    Investigators from Australian Transport and Safety Bureau must be bitterly disappointed.

    Last year, the head of the search, Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan told the ABC he remained deeply committed and passionate about the search.

    ...

    Flight captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had flown with Malaysian Airlines since 1981, with more than 18,000 flight hours.

    Much speculation has revolved around whether he may have been responsible for the catastrophe.

    ReplyDelete
  15. .

    I'm sitting here listening to Governor Snyder giving the State of the State message in the background.


    I've learned that we have two army reserve guys here who just won an international sniper competition this year.

    That the air national guard unit at Selfridge Air Base was rated No. 1 in the US.

    That the state is rated No. 5 in the production of hops.

    That we are No 2 in milk production per cow just behind Colorado. Look out Colorado, we're coming for you.

    That we are No. 1 in the number of existing manufacturing jobs, as well as, No 1 in the rate of growth of manufacturing jobs.

    Whoo-hoo.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, but your football team sucks almost as bad as the Seahawks.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Milk production per cow is easy to fake.

      I'm not believing that until I interview the cows.

      Also I'd need to know the percentages of hand milking vs machine milking.

      States are always making up bullshit like that about themselves.

      Delete
    4. .

      Yeah, but your football team sucks almost as bad as the Seahawks.

      Sam, you would have to live here to know the half of it. They have a term here, SOL, Same Old Lions. That's why when Bob was trying to get my goat after the Seahawks game all I could do was smile. There is no one who gets down on the Lions more than Lions fans. The Lions sucked before the Seahawks were born.

      Having lived long enough I have seen the good years, the 50's when they won three championships (that was before there was anything called Superbowl), and everything after when they sucked. Since the 50's they have had some great players but never any great teams.

      The Seahawks game? SOL.

      .

      Delete
  16. CNN PANELIST CALLS STEVE HARVEY ‘MEDIOCRE NEGRO’ FOR VISITING TRUMP

    http://www.infowars.com/steve-harvey-fires-back-at-cnn-for-racist-comment/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Russian Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) is developing the KSV heavy sniper system for the Russian Armed Forces.

    ...

    “The company expected to make the first prototype of the KSV in 2017,” Alexei Sorokin, director of the Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Weapons (an affiliate of KBP), has told the Izvestia daily.

    ...

    "Now, the development of sniper rifles with a caliber close to 20 mm is high on the small-arms agenda of many countries," military expert Alexei Leonkov added. Such rifles are heavier than the standard in-service 12.7-mm systems, he added.

    ReplyDelete

  18. What if the niece is possessed?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Chucky. The old Chuckster. Chuck.

    If I were the Mutt, and was called all those names, I might feel possessed.

    Talk about confusing....it's almost animal abuse....intentional infliction of confusion.....mama, mama, who am I ???


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I guess that must be your problem Bob, Idaho Bob, Bobbo, Bobbsey Twin #2, Faux Farmer Bob...I could go on but the other names gradually grow darker, not fit for polite company.

      Oh, mama.

      .

      Delete

  20. REPORT: TRUMP OPERATIVE ROGER STONE SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
  21. “I find it difficult to believe that he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of reduced social responsibility,” Putin said at a news conference in Moscow with Moldova’s President Igor Dodon.

    Reuters has not independently verified the claims contained in the dossier.

    The information was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to Trump and President Obama this month. James Clapper, director of national intelligence, has said the dossier was not produced by U.S. intelligence agencies and they have not judged whether the information is reliable.

    Putin said it was “total nonsense” that Russian intelligence had followed Trump to gather compromising material on him and reiterated that he had never met Trump.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Putin also mentioned that their girls of reduced social responsibility
      “are, of course, the best in the world.”.

      Delete
  22. Mr. Priebus was one of the few Republicans to take Mr. Trump seriously as a potential candidate in 2011, when the reality-TV star floated a potential campaign, and he continued to offer advice to Mr. Trump throughout the campaign.

    Eventually, the wary candidate came to trust the party chairman’s advice, and by last summer Mr. Priebus began telling people he wanted to be Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, on the off chance of a victory.

    And for all the pressures he faces, Mr. Priebus remains upbeat about his new job, if only because he never expected to have it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. .

    Just heard that Millennials spend more money on coffee than they do on retirement.

    Must be why Starbucks is do so well.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I heard on the radio Starbucks is do weller than McDonald's is do well.

      Don't know the truth of it, though.

      Just heard it on the radio.

      Delete
    2. Why not get free coffee at the Casino and gamble your Starbucks money away there ?

      Delete
  24. Wolves - real ones - sighted in French capital of Paris

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/french-told-not-fear-wolves-9638206

    Fought back from near extinction in the 1930's.

    Howling heard in Parisian suburbs.

    ReplyDelete
  25. A speedy exit -

    MASERATI Salesman Killed After Demonstrating Zero To 111 MPH....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
  26. The UK is heading for a hard Brexit after Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that when the UK leaves the EU, it will also be withdrawing from Europe's single market.

    ...

    The EU has preferential trade deals with over 50 countries and is in the middle of negotiating another 70 plus — the UK would have to re-negotiate deals with all of these countries.

    ...

    Ms May has now outlined some of the key objectives behind her Brexit strategy, but it will be a while yet until we know what the true impact will be on the British economy.

    ReplyDelete
  27. POLONIUM

    EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP OPERATIVE ROGER STONE SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
    Doctors suspect longtime political adviser poisoned with radioactive substance used to murder spies


    Infowars.com - JANUARY 17, 2017 1910 Comments

    Stone went on to contemplate who may have been behind the possible assassination attempt, fingering Democrat opposition and the intel community.

    “Who would want to do this to me? I am an enemy of the deep state. I think people know that I was an insider in American politics I was close to power in nine presidential elections. Everything Glenn Greenwald says [about the “deep state”] is true,” Stone claimed, referring to a recent The Intercept article which outlined how the intelligence community is attempting to stifle Trump.

    “The Republican/Democrat Bush Clinton deep state has manufactured this Russia fraud. They have compounded it by pushing a clearly fabricated document.”

    “Perhaps the fact that I’m effective on behalf of my beliefs has something to do with it,” Stone theorizes.



    http://www.infowars.com/exclusive-trump-operative-roger-stone-survives-assassination-attempt/

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. January 18, 2017
    ‘Moderate’ Rafsanjani’s death and the end of Obama’s appeasement of the mullahs?
    By Hassan Mahmoudi

    On the evening of January 9th, something unusual happened in Iran. The Iranian people turned the music on until midnight, some others distributed candy in the streets of Tehran, and some turned on their automobiles' flashers. The news that sparked this was that Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the founding fathers of Iran’s regime, died from a heart attack in a hospital.

    The next day, tens of thousands of Iranians filled the streets of Tehran for his funeral procession to voice their dissatisfaction with the regime, chanting slogans “Dictator, dictator” “Free political prisoners,” "we demand justice," "hands off Syria."


    State television muted the sound from the funeral. Fearful of the recurrence of 2009 uprisings, the regime blocked the Internet and mobile networks to prevent news of the protests from spreading....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/01/moderate_rafsanjanis_death_and_the_end_of_obamas_appeasement_of_the_mullahs.html

      Delete
  30. ÈDAVID SCHNEIDERMAN

    Trump won’t dump investor rights – and here’s why
    DAVID SCHNEIDERMAN
    Special to The Globe and Mail
    Published Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 5:00AM EST

    David Schneiderman is a professor of law at the University of Toronto and a CIGI senior fellow.

    Donald Trump made clear during the 2016 campaign that he did not like trade agreements. He described NAFTA as the “worst trade deal ever.” Withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a priority for the first 100 days of his presidency. Mr. Trump and his surrogates have been less emphatic about one feature typically included in these agreements; it is also the impetus behind 41 U.S. bilateral treaties currently in force. What does Mr. Trump think about the constitution-like rights for the protection of foreign investors that are enforced via the system of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)?

    Each of these treaties confers rights on foreign investors against states, beyond the jurisdiction of national court systems, and enforced by a cadre of international lawyers and arbitrators. These rights, which exceed even U.S. constitutional protections, authorize arbitrators to award damages to foreign investors for all variety of policy changes. Some states engage in bad behaviour, to be sure, but some are on the hook for measures that are beneficial to the citizens of those states. As a consequence of the system’s muscularity, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development describes ISDS as experiencing a “legitimacy crisis.” The Obama administration resisted such characterizations, complaining that critics of ISDS were “making stuff up.” The United States, after all, has yet to lose an investment dispute.


    Read more: What's at stake for Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in Trump's new NAFTA

    Canadian auto industry threatened by Trump's NAFTA promise

    Subscribers: Trump wants to overhaul NAFTA? Bring it on



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given the campaign’s emphasis on NAFTA, it is hard to explain the quiet about ISDS coming from the president-elect. A number of indicators, however, suggest that the coming administration will stick closely to traditional U.S. policy of promoting ISDS.

      First, there is good reason to believe Mr. Trump will want to have these protections available as a backstop for the Trump organization overseas. The president-elect has not yet explained how he will both serve as president and hold a major interest in the Trump empire without offending the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause. He only has indicated that he does not intend to divest himself of his business interests and that he intends to keep them somehow separate from presidential duties. Consider how vulnerable Trump foreign properties will be once the Trump administration takes a position that is unpopular in some other part of the world. Or consider how a foreign government may choose to target Trump properties in order to seek U.S. government concessions. Why wouldn’t Mr. Trump insist upon, among other protections available in investment treaties, “full protection and security” for Trump properties? One can safely predict that, the more the president-elect thinks about this, he is likely to act in the best interests of his family’s business concerns.

      His nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, provides further reason to suspect there will be no change in U.S. policy. As former head of Houston-based Exxon Mobil, Mr. Tillerson will be aware of the advantages of having ISDS as a means of challenging government regulation. Under his watch, the company has successfully launched investment disputes against a number of countries with which the United States has investment treaties, including Venezuela and Argentina. In a recent case against Canada under NAFTA, Exxon was awarded $17-million (Exxon initially claimed $66-million) for having to pay into a provincial research and development fund where Exxon drills for offshore oil. Do not be surprised to see nominee for office of the U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer working closely with Mr. Tillerson’s State Department to pursue bilateral investment treaties with countries in which ExxonMobil operates.

      Delete
    2. Finally, we can assume that traditional Republican Party positions will fill policy vacuums not otherwise filled by Mr. Trump. House and Senate Republicans have long been supportive of placing constraints on state action abroad via investment treaties. Congressional Republicans were important allies of President Barack Obama in the summer of 2015, when he sought trade promotion authority in Congress. Most Senate Democrats were not willing to authorize a Democratic President to proceed with a treaty that included ISDS.

      For U.S. supporters of ISDS, there would be no small irony in terminating NAFTA. Were this to occur, the U.S.-Canada free-trade agreement, signed in 1988, would fill the vacuum. It contains no ISDS, however. Instead, protections for investors would be enforced by interstate dispute settlement, the traditional way of enforcing international law. As regards Mexico, the U.S. would have no such inter-state mechanism available, even though it was fear of unwelcome Mexican policy changes that prompted ISDS to be included in NAFTA. Much remains uncertain as we stand on the threshold of the Trump era. However, it is safe to predict that the new administration will stick with existing U.S. policy. It is only a matter of time before the United States loses its first investment-dispute case. Imagine the storm that will follow."

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/trump-wont-dump-investor-rights-and-heres-why/article33649976/

      Delete
    3. .

      This was the main reason I opposed TTP and TTIP. TTP put ISDS on steroids and put the dispute resolution process in the hands of third party corporate lawyers abrogating national law including the U.S. Constitution.

      The G&M makes good arguments with regard to ISDS and Trump. As with all of Trump's claims and potential policies I'll wait to see what they actually are. However, when asked where Trump will come down regarding ISDS and his investments, it's hard for me to believe he will do anything to hurt his investments.

      .

      Delete
  31. Trump will not hurt his precious investments.

    He's not that kind of guy.

    ReplyDelete
  32. .

    I've been watching the nomination hearings for Tom Price for HHS Secretary. I'm not impressed with the man. IMO his interests lie with the insurance companies rather than with the insured or more accurately the uninsured.

    The low point of the of the hearing I have seen so far was the fawning questioning of Price by Rand Paul. I say questioning but in a court of law he would be accused of leading the witness, putting words in his mouth to support the points Paul was trying to make. First, he attempted to emphasize generalities rather than specifics, arguing that everyone wants universal insurance coverage with 'access' to insurance for everyone. He denied that the US was not a compassionate country pointing out that anyone can go to the emergency room to get care and won't be turned away. And finally, arguing against the social basis of health care systems like Obamacare, using Venezuela as an example of what will happen to the US. The man is a complete moron.

    Just from the initial testimony, if I had a vote on the Price nomination, I would vote against it.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      While the Price nomination isn't quite as inherently stupid as that of appointing JFK Jr. as head of the commission evaluating the scientific basis for inoculations, it still has the potential to cause exponentially more damage to the American people.

      .

      Delete
    2. Everyone knows the smallpox vaccine is a fraud by Big Pharm.

      JFK Jr. is just the guy to wake up the American People.

      Isn't he the drunk, JFK Jr. ?

      Delete
    3. .

      Interesting post given yours on the same subject below.

      .

      Delete
  33. Who is a complete idiot, Paul or Price ?

    Or both?

    The ObamaCare exchanges have collapsed.

    Something needs to be done, as we are becoming Venezuela.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just be honest and admit you're for single payer.

      Delete
    2. .

      Who is a complete idiot, Paul or Price ?

      Paul is the idiot. Price is merely your run-of-the-mill, let them eat cake Republican.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Something needs to be done, as we are becoming Venezuela.


      You, sir, are nutz.

      My comments above were posted assuming the general intelligence level of the bar. Next time, I will try to dumb them down to your level.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      Blog Posts for Dummies (including Faux Farmers)

      The low point of the of the hearing I have seen so far was the fawning questioning of Price by Rand Paul. I say questioning but in a court of law he would be accused of leading the witness, putting words in his mouth to support the points Paul was trying to make.

      First, Paul attempted to emphasize generalities rather than specifics, arguing that everyone wants universal insurance coverage with 'access' to insurance for everyone. Paul (and Price)talk of universal coverage but say nothing of what it will cost the individual. They talk of access but that means little if the insurance is too expensive. Millions of Americans have access to $10 million dollar homes. Relatively few can afford to buy one.

      [Price's healthcare proposals so far do not carry the provisions for coverage for preexisting conditions. They also do not covers children to the age of 26. Price's rationale for the latter, he says the insurance companies plan to keep that provision. Either he is disingenuous or a fool? That was the same rationale Obama used with the ACA when he accepted Big Pharma's 'promise' to reduce drug prices to the government by $80 billion in exchange for Obama's promise that he wouldn't ask for competitive bidding.]

      Second, Paul denied denied the claim that the US was not a compassionate country pointing out that anyone can go to the emergency room to get care and won't be turned away. That is not healthcare. That is emergency care. In effect, Paul proposes we return to the bad old days of American healthcare.

      And finally, arguing against the social basis of health care systems like Obamacare, Paul uses the straw man of Venezuela arguing the zero-sum either or case that you can either accept laissez-fare (and in our case oligarchic) capitalism or socialism which in Paul's case seems to equate to communism. There does not appear to be any middle ground in Paul's thinking. His comparison of the US under Obamacare to Venezuela indicates the vacuity of his thoughts.

      The man is a complete moron.

      .

      Delete
    5. .

      Just be honest and admit you're for single payer.

      I'm not. At least, I'm not 'necessarily' in favor of it.

      When people form a government, as in the US, it's a social contract that assumes it will work to the benefit of everyone in the society. When assets are allocated its always a political decision. If the money is not spent on one thing, it will be spent on another. In my opinion, the money should be spent on positive things like healthcare rather than on shit with no practical advantage like the current military spending and foreign wars. This is opposite the thinking of the GOP and the neocons.

      Which brings me to the single payer issue. I doubt there is any perfect healthcare system in the world. It's probably not possible. But I also believe that while it may be difficult it is still possible to come up with a reasonable approach to healthcare in the US.

      That said, if only given the choice between the Paul and Price vision of healthcare in the US and single payer, I'd probably opt for single payer.

      .

      Delete
    6. .

      By the way, I'm not defending Obamacare merely defending certain provisions of it.

      Obamacare is loaded with problems.

      - It didn't come close to providing universal healthcare.

      - Even the 20 million figure the Dems tout as being added is highly inflated. The et number is probably closer to 15 million.

      - Of that, probably 12 million were added by providing them Medicaid.

      - Probably half of that figure would have actually qualified for Medicaid even without the ACA.

      - Competition has been reduced under the ACA.

      - Exchanges are folding.

      - Costs are rising.

      - Obama's promises to Big Pharma pretty much lock in rising drug prices.

      And those are just off the top of my head.

      ACA needs to be repaired or replaced. However, it doesn't need to be repealed until there is a new plan ready to take it's place.

      I just don't trust the GOP to do the job. They are not committed to the process and their constituency is not the American people. Healthcare represents almost 20% of the US economy and it continues to grow along with America's aging population. For the past 20 years the GOP has done nothing but resist healthcare reform. They have done nothing but whine and bitch. They have done nothing positively to try to correct the problem.

      And that's the name of that tune.

      .

      Delete
  34. .

    QUESTION


    Is there a way of increasing the sensitivity of the keyboard on a laptop?

    The problem I have is that if I start typing fast, in a long sentence when I reread it there are usually a few words were letters or multiple letters have been dropped.

    I've tried cleaning the keys but it hasn't helped.

    I seem to recall that there is some way of increasing the sensitivity of the keys but I haven't been able to find where to do it.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The key is in your mind. Your information flows are all fucked up.

      For instance, it's going to be tough sledding for JFK Jr to have much input on a conversation concerning inoculations, though RFK Jr might get in a slurred word or two.

      Delete
    2. Maybe you should take up, as it were, tweeting, and hold your long sentences to 140 characters or less ?

      This would hold advantages for us all, and give you time to think while typing.

      Delete
    3. .

      For instance, it's going to be tough sledding for JFK Jr to have much input on a conversation concerning inoculations, though RFK Jr might get in a slurred word or two.

      Point taken.

      .

      Delete
    4. if you type keyboard into the win 10 start you will find a place where there are some keyboard properties

      Delete
    5. .

      Thanks for the suggestion, Ash.

      I ended up at Keyboard Properties.

      I moved the Repeat Delay to short and the Repeat Speed to fast.

      :o)

      Not sure what that means but I'll give it a try.

      .

      Delete
  35. To get an adjustable sensitivity keyboard you probably need to buy a new more expensive computer.

    It does seem I've read/seen ads of such a thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      You have to pay extra to get a sensitivity adjustment?

      How stupid is that? All you needed to do in the past was go to Control Panel find Devices and click on Keyboard and adjust it. However, this is the first time I've run in to the problem on a laptop. When I go through Control Panel there is no keyboard listed.

      .

      Delete
    2. Damned idiotic, in my view.

      Though I admit to knowing nothing about the issue.

      Could your preternaturally elongated ring finger be part of the problem ?

      I recall you having difficulty finding gloves that fit your lusty hands.

      Delete
  36. Hey, Obama's 'last presser' is coming up !

    I thought we were finally rid of the Alinskyite fraud when he gave his 'Farewell Address' the other day.

    Maybe this really is the end of hearing him mumble his own name.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The man who brought peace to the mid-East, and racial harmony here at home, and silenced 'the guns of Chicago'.

      Delete
    2. And pardoned Chelsea Manning as a last slap in the face to us all.

      Delete
  37. Damn, my Fox News just went down with the Presser coming up.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I love the irony:

    "U.S. challenges sale of B.C. wines in province’s grocery stores
    VANCOUVER — The Canadian Press

    The sale of B.C. wines in some of the province’s grocery stores is being challenged by the United States government as a breach of Canada’s commitments to the World Trade Organization.
    The American government says the decision to allow only B.C. wines to be sold in grocery stores is damaging to U.S. wine makers.
    U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman says the province’s regulations provide a substantial competitive advantage for B.C. wines.

    “American winemakers produce some of the highest-quality, most popular wines in the world. When U.S. wine producers have a fair shot at competing on a level playing field, they can compete and win in markets around the globe,” Froman said in a news release.
    “This administration is continuing to fight to level the playing field for American producers and workers, so that we can continue to grow our economy and support quality jobs across the United States.”
    The U.S. has sent a letter to the Canadian government asking for consultations as a first step in trying to resolve the dispute.
    If that fails, the U.S. says it may request that the WTO establish a dispute settlement panel.
    B.C. amended legislation in April 2015 to allow wine sales in grocery stories and held an auction for licences about a year later.
    The news release from the executive office of U.S. President Barack Obama says the regulations implemented by B.C. intentionally undermine free and fair competition.
    “Canada and all Canadian provinces must play by the rules,” Froman said.
    Acting Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse says in B.C., local wines get an unfair advantage because they can be sold on grocery store shelves, while U.S. wines cannot.
    “The United States simply seeks equal opportunities to market our wines, consistent with Canada’s international obligations.”"

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/us-challenges-sale-of-bc-wines-in-provinces-grocery-stores/article33655441/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. B.C. wines can't compete with USA wines.

      B.C. bud is superior however.

      So I've been told.

      Delete
    2. .

      Ash, Ash, Ash.

      Things change.

      Besides, you can't expect the US to live by the rules we impose on others.

      .

      Delete
    3. It appears to be a clear violation of NAFTA and the BC government should change the law or face penalty under ISDS

      Delete
    4. or is wine exempt and that's where WTO comes in?

      soon, after Trump does his stuff, we can have the pleasure of all sorts of barriers to trade...

      .joy.joy

      Delete
  39. .

    Senate panel approves Mattis for Defense Secretary.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  40. .

    For those who think POTUS and FLOTUS aren't sweet gigs...

    Barach Obama's net worth: estimated at $12.2 million.

    Michelle Obama's net worth: estimated at $11.8 million.


    Or, as Hillary Clinton would put it, they are 'dead broke'.


    Still, pretty sweet. And this is just the beginning.

    Based on a recent study by American University in Washington, D.C., the Obamas could stand to make as much as $242 million once leaving the White House.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  41. .

    USS Gerald R. Ford - Supercarrier - Cost $13 billion


    China’s lone aircraft carrier, the retrofitted Liaoning, has spent the past several weeks cruising around the South China Sea. It recently passed through the Taiwan Strait, which seen by some observers as a threatening message to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen.

    The Taiwanese president, of course, set off diplomatic red alerts when she phoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on being elected president – and he took the call in what Beijing considers a violation of the “One China” policy in place since 1979.

    But if China’s intent was to shiver a few timbers by its display of naval might, the American military might have reason to take the warning lightly. The Navy just announced that after delays, the $13 billion supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford – the most advanced and expensive aircraft carrier every built – will be ready for delivery by April.

    The Ford will be the first of a new class of carriers being built as part of a $40 billion program, and it will be one of nine new vessels the Navy is adding in 2017. They include four littoral combat ships, two destroyers and two submarines.

    In its 2016 index of U.S. military strength, the conservative Heritage Foundation gave the Navy a “marginal” rating. And there was no shortage of talk in the past election year about the American military falling behind. But it’s hard to make the case that the Navy is outgunned when it comes to aircraft carriers: It currently has 10 1,000-foot Nimitz-class carrriers in service.

    The Ford class ships, which are designed to accommodate the F-35 fighter jets, would be a game-changer if there was another country even in the carrier game in a meaningful way.

    A column in Bloomberg View early last month described Russia’s “embarrassing aircraft carrier” the Admiral Kuznetsov -- the only active one in its fleet -- as lumbering along “belching black smoke, accompanied by tugboats standing ready to tow because of frequent breakdowns.” The column by Tobin Harshaw also referred to media reports saying that plumbing problems has reduced the number of latrines to 25 for a crew of 2,000.

    Harshaw suggested that the Kuznetsov might be worth more as scrap metal than as a projection of Valdimir Putin’s military muscle...


    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/money/the-us-navys-dollar13-billion-answer-to-china-and-russia/ar-AAlZ0Ki?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come on.

      Jerry deserves a super carrier for pardoning the criminal Nixon.

      Delete
  42. .

    Libor scandal: the bankers who fixed the world’s most important number


    The big flaw in Libor was that it relied on banks to tell the truth but encouraged them to lie.


    For anyone interested in the history of the libor scandal that affected $ trillions of dollars of investments during the 2008 financial meltdown, the article provides a pretty good read.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  43. .

    As the testimony continued, it became more and more clear that the Trump/GOP plans for healthcare is best titled the 'TBD Plan'. Every GOP spokesman today talks in generalities. They have zero specifics they can point to.

    More and more, their explanations (excuses?)for doing away with Obamacare while having no plan to replace it appear to have the consistency of farts in the wind.

    (Oh, to have Rufus back to contribute on this subject.)

    .

    ReplyDelete

  44. Washington (CNN) South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be UN ambassador, questioned Wednesday at her Senate confirmation hearing whether the US's funding of the world body is worth it.

    ReplyDelete

  45. (CNN) Donald Trump is turning the world upside down. Some US enemies like Russia are becoming his friends, and longtime US allies like Germany are wondering whether America will be there for them any more.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hey, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson ...

    Now that Mr Trump has hit the "Reset" button with Russia, is it not time for you to review your opinion of President Assad of Syria.

    He is one of Russia's premier clients.

    While Germany's premier client in the region, Israel, is having to come to terms with the reality that Bibi is more of a criminal that Richard M. Nixon.


    The transcripts of Netanyahu’s taped negotiations with his supposed arch-nemesis, media mogul Arnon Mozes of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper group, have dominated the national agenda in recent weeks. Netanyahu allegedly promised to promote legislation that would weaken Yediot’s main competitor in exchange for more favorable coverage.

    It follows previous allegations that Netanyahu improperly accepted lavish gifts from wealthy supporters – including Australian billionaire James Packer and Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan – and that his personal attorney, who is also a cousin, represented a German firm involved in a controversial $1.5 billion sale of submarines to Israel.


    ReplyDelete

  47. Your continued animosity towards Mr Putin and, more importantly, your dismissal of our Iraqi allies ...

    It's got you on the "Wrong Side of History", Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson

    Iraq says it has split ISIS' last stronghold in the country in half

    Almost three months to the day after Iraqi forces set off on their offensive to recapture the city of Mosul from ISIS fighters, Baghdad says it has retaken the eastern half of the city, splitting the terrorist group's last Iraqi stronghold down the middle.

    On Wednesday, Iraqi Staff Gen. Talib al-Sheghati, the head of the elite Counter Terrorism Service that has spearheaded fighting in eastern Mosul, announced "the liberation ... of the left bank" of the Tigris River, which runs north-south and divides the city.


    http://www.businessinsider.com/iraq-retakes-eastern-mosul-from-isis-2017-1

    ReplyDelete

  48. How the U.S. Military Sees the Anti-ISIS Fight

    A dispatch from Iraq


    On the whole, America’s military leaders do not want to be here any longer than they must. It is also clear that they wanted to “accelerate” the campaign against ISIS, as Obama has been doing already for more than a year with success, but they do not want America to own this fight. They do want Iraqis to fight and a functioning Iraqi government to take control when the Islamic State is gone. They don’t want to defeat ISIS only to become an occupying force of sitting ducks.

    What they want is what Obama wants: patience. It’s a word I hear over and over, talking with special operators tasked to train local forces to fight terrorism and with the faraway policy makers they support.


    https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/obama-doctrine-military-trump/513470/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Of course that's the way they feel. That guarantees they've got a job while also guaranteeing that there is no risk, nothing that could mar their record or their drive to the next star.

      It's safe. Mediocrities will always choose that path.

      .

      Delete
  49. .

    Saw Obama talking to the press and telling them they had to remain adversarial, that it was their duty.

    Rather hypocritical for a president who often ignored or criticized the press and infact prosecuted more of them over leaks than did any other president. But still, it's easy to say when you only have to worry about them for the next couple days.

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
  50. .

    Saw Sen. Tom Cotton talking about the ACA. It only confirmed my opinion that the GOP is trying to blow smoke up the ass of the American people. They don't have a plan, things they want to do on healthcare. They simple have an idea of what they 'don't' want.

    When asked when a replacement for the ACA would be available, Cotton said, 'We want to do it as soon as possible, weeks or months rather than years.'

    Good lord. I hope I'm still around when the GOP finally comes up with a plan.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The plan is to delay until you're no longer around, and save some bucks.

      You wouldn't have been helped under ObamaCare either, at your age, so consider yourself good and screwed either way.

      (the same goes for me)

      It would be good to hear Ruf's opinion on these things.

      Hope he is doing well.

      Delete
    2. Foul-mouthed people 'most honest'....DRUDGE

      Delete
  51. A short drive from Tehran's imposing "Down with the U.S.A." mural and a dash from the towering depiction of Barack Obama as a villain, a small bookstore is doing a brisk business selling books by Donald Trump.

    ...

    But in the weeks leading up to Trump's inauguration as the 45th president, there appears to be a surge of curiosity about him.

    ...

    Beyond being known for his motivational tomes and his new powerful role, what puts Trump on the front pages here is his repeated criticism of the deal Iran signed with world powers in 2015 to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of sanctions.

    ReplyDelete
  52. .

    Planning a vacation this spring?

    Skip through the commercials and visit these

    Strange Places

    and find strange new ways to die.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All I could get was 'How The Universe Works'.

      Anyway it sounds too spooky for me.

      Delete
    2. .

      Sorry, I see you have to be signed in to view it.

      It was great. The most amazing thing I've ever seen. It was transcendental and transformational. It's hard to explain but I think it has changed my life for the better and forever. I'll never be the same. It has given me hope for the future. First thing tomorrow, I am going to go see my kids just to give them a hug and tell them everything is going to be ok and not worry about anything.

      Anyway, too bad you didn't get a chance to see it.

      .

      Delete
    3. :)

      Sounds like you had an NDE.

      You're not going to shot yourself to get that great feeling again, are you ?

      If so, contact me immediately.

      Delete
    4. 'Shoot yourself'

      Damned insensitive keyboard.

      Delete
  53. Wealth comes to Ashland, Venezuela -

    As predicted, everyone is now a millionaire -

    Socialism works! Venezuela a nation of millionaires

    POSTED AT 9:01 PM ON JANUARY 18, 2017 BY JOHN SEXTON


    Venezuelan socialism has been a huge success. There’s no doubting it now. Thanks to the brilliant economic management of President Nicolas Maduro there are probably now more millionaires in Venezuela than any country in the world. From Fox News:

    Amid rampant inflation, widespread shortages of everything from toilet paper to medicine and a failing economy, the Venezuelan government recently introduced three new bank notes into the market ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars.

    But while somebody in Caracas can now carry 1 million bolivars in his billfold, in terms of U.S. currency those 50 bank notes are only worth only about $300 on the country’s black market and one bill is valued at less than $6.

    Well, hyperinflation does have its problems but let’s focus on the bright side. Lots of regular people can now say they are worth a million bucks. At least they could if anyone could scrape together that much cash after two years of economic collapse and privation. Chris Sabatini, a professor at Columbia University, tells Fox News, “There’s going to come a time when they’re going to run out of space on the bill for all those zeros.”

    Even the transition to the new bills was badly mismanaged by the incompetent Maduro. In December he announced that Venezuelans would have 72 hours to turn in all of the 100 bolivar bills in their possession. Since the 100-bolivar bill made up about half of all the bills in circulation at the time, people had just a few days to exchange 6.1 billion of them.

    Then, when the exchange deadline began, the new bills people were supposed to get in exchange for the old ones hadn’t arrived at most banks. Eventually Maduro had to extend the deadline for swapping bills several times. So on top of spending every day waiting for hours in long lines to get basic supplies like food and toilet paper, Venezuelans now had to wait in long lines at the banks to get rid of their old money.

    Did I mention that President Maduro is not very bright?

    http://hotair.com/archives/2017/01/18/socialism-works-venezuela-a-nation-of-millionaires/

    ReplyDelete
  54. Take that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and that,
    and...






    BCSO: Suspected gang member shot girlfriend more than 70 times with BB gun


    http://www.sfgate.com/news/local/crime/article/BCSO-Suspected-gang-member-shot-girlfriend-10863421.php&cmpid=artem

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a lot of work when one shotgun blast will accomplish the same.

      What a dumb fucker.

      Delete
  55. .

    Trump team prepares dramatic cuts


    Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday's presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned.

    The changes they propose are dramatic.

    The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.
    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.

    Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump's team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.

    The proposed cuts hew closely to a blueprint published last year by the conservative Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has helped staff the Trump transition...


    .

    ReplyDelete
  56. .

    Fake News Nit

    As I recall, the Bar was also treated to this bit of fluff by one of the usual suspects here...

    A Republican legislative aide in Maryland who was behind a fake news site that accused Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of election-rigging was fired Wednesday.

    Del. David E. Vogt III (R-Frederick) said he terminated Cameron Harris “on the spot” after learning that he was the ­mastermind behind Christian­TimesNewspaper.com and its fabricated Sept. 30 article, which reported that there were tens of thousands of “fraudulent Clinton votes found” in an Ohio ­warehouse.

    Harris, who graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina in May, had worked for the Republican delegate since June. He did not return a call for comment, but he apologized in a Twitter post to “those disappointed by my actions” and called for a “larger dialogue about how Americans approach the media” and other issues...


    :o)

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
  57. .

    GOP Dicks

    These are the DICKS we elect to Congress.


    GOP says US lands have No Value, prepare to give them away to the highest bidder (domestic or foreign), or to close friends and contributors

    Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue calling the land worthless. Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthright.

    In the midst of highly publicized steps to dismantle insurance coverage for 32 million people and defund women’s healthcare facilities, Republican lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land. In a single line of changes to the rules for the House of Representatives, Republicans have overwritten the value of federal lands, easing the path to disposing of federal property even if doing so loses money for the government and provides no demonstrable compensation to American citizens.

    At stake are areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forests and Federal Wildlife Refuges, which contribute to an estimated $646bn in economic stimulus from recreation on federal lands and 6.1m jobs. Transferring these lands to the states, critics fear, could decimate those numbers by eliminating mixed-use requirements, limiting public access and turning over large portions for energy or property development.

    According to the Outdoor Alliance, US public land is the government’s second largest source of income after taxes. In addition to economic stimulus in outdoor activities, federal land also creates revenue through oil and gas production, logging and other industrial uses. According to the BLM, in 2016, it made $2bn in royalty revenue from federal leases...


    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. {...}

      Ignoring those figures, the new language for the House budget, authored by Utah Republican representative Rob Bishop, who has a history of fighting to transfer public land to the states, says that federal land is effectively worthless. Transferring public land to “state, local government or tribal entity shall not be considered as providing new budget authority, decreasing revenues, increasing mandatory spending or increasing outlays.”

      Essentially, the revised budget rules deny that federal land has any value at all, allowing the new Congress to sidestep requirements that a bill giving away a piece of federal land does not decrease federal revenue or contribute to the federal debt.


      Republican eagerness to cede federal land to local governments for possible sale, mining or development is already moving states to act. Western states, where most federal land is concentrated, are already introducing legislation that pave the way for land transfers.

      In Wyoming, for example, the 2017 senate has introduced a joint resolution that would amend the state constitution to dictate how public land given to the state by the federal government after 2019 is managed. It has little public support, but Wyoming Senate President Eli Bebout said that he though the state should be preemptively thinking about what it would do with federal land.

      The Congressional devaluation of national property is the most far-reaching legislative change in a recent push to transfer federal lands to the states. Because of the Republican majority in Congress, bills proposing land transfers could now swiftly diminish Forest Service and BLM lands across the country.

      “We didn’t see it coming. I think it was sneaky and underhanded. It exemplifies an effort to not play by the rules,” said Alan Rowsome, senior director of government relations at The Wilderness Society. “This is the worst Congress for public lands ever.”

      Rowsome said he’s not exactly sure how the rule will be used, but he thinks the first places to come under attack might include areas adjacent to the majestic Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Those areas hold uranium and copper, respectively.

      Rowsome said he’s worried that sensitive tracts of public land, like the oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, could soon be up for sale. Some 60% percent of Alaska is made up of national land, and the state’s representatives have tried to pass laws claiming parts of it for state use as recently as 2015. “It’s amazing ecosystem and worthy of protection, and it’s very likely that House Republican majority will open that up for drilling,” Rowsome said...


      {...}

      Delete

    2. {...}

      Giving away national land has been part of the Republican Party platform since the mid-80s, after Reagan declared himself a Sagebrush Rebel, but it’s regained steam in the past few years as 20 states have introduced some form of legislation suggesting that federal property be given to local governments.

      In 2015, Bishop and fellow Utah representative Chris Stewart formed the Federal Land Action Group, a congressional team with the specific intent to come up with a framework for transferring public land. “Washington bureaucrats don’t listen to people,” Bishop said in a statement. “Local governments do.”

      But Rowsome argues that’s a populist message without any popular support, pushed by a small faction of legislators with support from industries like mining and energy. Despite the Republican message that Washington has overstepped in designating national parks and monuments, a 2016 study found that 95% of the American public believes that National Parks are worth protecting and 80% said they’d be willing to pay higher taxes to do so.

      “Western Republicans that are perpetuating the idea are very well funded by the oil and gas industry during their campaign,” Rowsome said. “It’s special interests wielding power for an agenda that will advance their goal. Nearly 90% of BLM lands are already open, but they can’t stop trying to get more.”

      A 2016 Colorado College survey of seven western states found that 60% of voters rejected both the sale of public lands to states and giving states control without sale.

      In 2012, Arizona voters struck down a proposal two pieces of legislation that would have turned over federal land to the state, including one that claimed the Grand Canyon as state land.


      Heard a report in the last couple days that the world's six (seven?) richest individuals control over 1/2 of the world's wealth.

      If the transfer of public lands takes place, who do you think will end up with most of it?

      Hint: It won't be you or me.

      .

      Delete
    3. Thanks for assuming I'm not in that group.

      Delete
    4. I used to think that would never happen but am worried.

      At that point I join the 'radical' environmentalists on the front lines.

      Delete
    5. I'll die for the Wenaha.

      https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/umatilla/recarea/?recid=56927

      Think I'm joking ?

      I'm not.

      You got to go sometime.

      Those lands belong to US, ALL OF US !

      Delete
    6. Our son knows one of the Andrades here on Maui.

      Delete
    7. One suit, according to the Star-Advertiser, was filed against about 300 people who are descendants of an immigrant Portuguese sugar cane plantation worker who bought four parcels totaling two acres of land in 1894.

      One of that worker's great-grandchildren, Carlos Andrade, 72, lived on the property until recently, the paper said. But the retired university professor told the Star-Advertiser that he is helping Zuckerberg's case as a co-plaintiff in an effort to make sure the land is not surrendered to the county if no one in his extended clan steps up to take responsibility for paying property taxes on the plots.

      Andrade, in a letter to his known relatives, said he believed selling to Zuckerberg would ensure that the relatives get "their fair share" of their ancestor's investment in the property — while avoiding further dilution of the value of individual property shares due to the clan increasing in size, the paper reported.


      Facebook's Zuckerberg sues hundreds of Hawaiians to force property sales to him

      http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/facebooks-zuckerberg-sues-hundreds-of-hawaiians-to-force-property-sales-to-him/ar-AAm1TvX?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

      Well, Carlos Andrade, at least, sounds like a turd, a turncoat, a traitor to his blood, to all that is right and good and true.

      Fuck Zuckerberg and Carlos, too.

      Delete
  58. Newt Gingrich says Democrats boycotting Trump's inaugural make themselves look 'small and silly' as their numbers grow to 65

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4136430/Gingrich-Democrats-boycotting-Trump-small-silly.html#ixzz4WEmU5cVS
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They should have a Poopie In on the first day of Congress,
      leaving nothing but their excrement on their seats.

      Delete
    2. "A feud between Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis and the president-elect has more and more Democrats saying they'll skip Friday's swearing-in

      We stand behind our ICONIC lying sack of shit.

      Delete
  59. Idaho Elevator Report: ex-Georgia Governor "Sonny" Perdue as Agriculture Secretary

    Current Governor of Idaho "Butch" Otter left in Idaho potato field

    ReplyDelete
  60. browse around here replica bags in bangkok discover this info here replica bags high quality www.dolabuy.co replica nappy bags

    ReplyDelete