tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post8454184785470033890..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: I don't like the feel of this. Obama, Clinton and others are flirting with a real danger. Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76979769312793494772016-12-14T01:13:26.575-05:002016-12-14T01:13:26.575-05:00similarly you may get plenty of statistics about h... similarly you may get plenty of statistics about how this system works whether it is superb or terrible when you read this type of overview. <br /><br /><a href="http://musclegainfast.com/ef13-muscle-supplement/" rel="nofollow">http://musclegainfast.com/ef13-muscle-supplement/</a><br />bessiewalshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11133421475378663330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-74481757687909119502016-12-13T21:59:05.126-05:002016-12-13T21:59:05.126-05:00I can come to no other opinion about McCain other ...I can come to no other opinion about McCain other than he did some real bad shit while in captivity and his life mission needs to recast his manlinessDeuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53857404246155957892016-12-13T21:31:54.391-05:002016-12-13T21:31:54.391-05:00Which do you like best ?
The sounds of Smith &...Which do you like best ?<br /><br />The sounds of Smith & Wesson<br /><br />or<br /><br />American Outdoor Brands Corporation <br /><br />?Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-50063100869433778352016-12-13T20:48:17.782-05:002016-12-13T20:48:17.782-05:00America First scares the Begeezus out of everyone ...America First scares the Begeezus out of everyone that isn't American and everyone that has the global fixation. Too bad. They should go to their safe place and eat a cookie. MOMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18307879234693014691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-41725840026734212442016-12-13T20:45:37.240-05:002016-12-13T20:45:37.240-05:00WaPo owned and edited by AmazonWaPo owned and edited by AmazonMOMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18307879234693014691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-21875657823400171532016-12-13T20:30:33.822-05:002016-12-13T20:30:33.822-05:00Jennifer Rubin: (Washington Post)
Trump's pic...<br />Jennifer Rubin: (Washington Post)<br /><br />Trump's picks <br />"a bunch of ignoramuses and billionaires."<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH5B6PObg00Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15511253380568677872016-12-13T18:01:38.032-05:002016-12-13T18:01:38.032-05:00Iran building nuke-powered warships after U.S. ...<b>Iran building nuke-powered warships after U.S. 'violation' of deal....DRUDGE</b>Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-33184154990877154832016-12-13T17:36:35.555-05:002016-12-13T17:36:35.555-05:00If he's such a smart man why not write up the ...If he's such a smart man why not write up the intelligence briefs himself and give them out to the CIA, NSA, etc ?<br /><br />Keep them up to speed.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76890225691752991032016-12-13T16:50:03.978-05:002016-12-13T16:50:03.978-05:00TRUMP: I'm a 'smart person,' don't...TRUMP: I'm a 'smart person,' don't need intelligence briefings every single day<br /><br />http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Donald-Trump-I-don-t-have-much-faith-in-US-9152316.phpDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-33254572631379784522016-12-13T16:30:44.149-05:002016-12-13T16:30:44.149-05:00"Everybody goes to Ye Olde Mafia Barber Shopp..."Everybody goes to <i>Ye Olde Mafia Barber Shoppe</i> because it's always empty"<br /><br />Bogi YerraCharltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-40277298371801299532016-12-13T16:27:07.125-05:002016-12-13T16:27:07.125-05:00Centuries later, Cahokia's meteoric rise and f...Centuries later, Cahokia's meteoric rise and fall remain a mystery. It was booming in 1050, and by 1400 its population had disappeared, leaving behind a landscape completely geoengineered by human hands. Looking for clues about its history, archaeologists dig through the thick, wet, stubborn clay that Cahokians once used to construct their mounds. Buried beneath just a few feet of earth are millennia-old building foundations, trash pits, the cryptic remains of public rituals, and in some places, even, graves.<br /><br />To find out what happened to Cahokia, I joined an archaeological dig there in July. It was led by two archaeologists who specialize in Cahokian history, Sarah Baires of Eastern Connecticut State University and Melissa Baltus of University of Toledo. They were assisted by Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Watts of Indiana University, Bloomington, and a class of tireless undergraduates with the Institute for Field Research. Together, they spent the summer opening three large trenches in what they thought would be a sleepy little residential neighborhood southwest of Monk's Mound.<br /><br />They were wrong. The more they dug, the more obvious it became that this was no ordinary place. The structures they excavated were full of ritual objects charred by sacred fires. We found the remains of feasts and a rare earthen structure lined with yellow soils. Baires, Baltus, and their team had accidentally stumbled on an archaeological treasure trove linked to the city's demise. The story of this place would take us back to the final decades of a great city whose social structure was undergoing a radical transformation.<br /><br />East St. Louis palimpsest<br />Finding a lost city in the modern world isn’t exactly like playing Tomb Raider. Instead of hacking through jungle and fighting a dragon, I drove to Cahokia on a road that winds through the depressed neighborhoods of East St. Louis and into Collinsville, Illinois. As recently as the 1970s, the ancient city’s elevated walkways and mounds were covered over by suburban developments. Just west of Monk's Mound was the Mounds Drive-In Theater....<br /><br />http://arstechnica.com/features/2016/12/theres-a-1000-year-old-lost-city-beneath-the-st-louis-suburbs/Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32219367305177406672016-12-13T16:26:27.259-05:002016-12-13T16:26:27.259-05:00finding cahokia —
Finding North America’s lost m...finding cahokia — <br /><br /><b>Finding North America’s lost medieval city</b><br /><br />Cahokia was North America's biggest city—then it was completely abandoned. I went there to find out why.<br /><br />Annalee Newitz - 12/13/2016, 4:30 AM <br /> <br />Enlarge / Artist's recreation of downtown Cahokia, with Monk's Mound at its center.<br /><br />A thousand years ago, huge pyramids and earthen mounds stood where East St. Louis sprawls today in Southern Illinois. This majestic urban architecture towered over the swampy Mississippi River floodplains, blotting out the region's tiny villages. Beginning in the late 900s, word about the city spread throughout the southeast. Thousands of people visited for feasts and rituals, lured by the promise of a new kind of civilization. Many decided to stay.<br /><br />At the city's apex in 1100, the population exploded to as many as 30 thousand people. It was the largest pre-Columbian city in North America, bigger than London or Paris at the time. Its colorful wooden homes and monuments rose along the eastern side of the Mississippi, eventually spreading across the river to St. Louis. One particularly magnificent structure, known today as Monk’s Mound, marked the center of downtown. It towered 30 meters over an enormous central plaza and had three dramatic ascending levels, each covered in ceremonial buildings. Standing on the highest level, a person speaking loudly could be heard all the way across the Grand Plaza below. Flanking Monk’s Mound to the west was a circle of tall wooden poles, dubbed Woodhenge, that marked the solstices.<br /><br />Despite its greatness, the city’s name has been lost to time. Its culture is known simply as Mississippian. When Europeans explored Illinois in the 17th century, the city had been abandoned for hundreds of years. At that time, the region was inhabited by the Cahokia, a tribe from the Illinois Confederation. Europeans decided to name the ancient city after them, despite the fact that the Cahokia themselves claimed no connection to it.<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54820700405007898672016-12-13T15:03:51.993-05:002016-12-13T15:03:51.993-05:00Yes, I agree, it would reduce the costs the oil co...Yes, I agree, it would reduce the costs the oil companies incur to ship the oil - it is more productive. Yes, oil companies are in it for profit. That is the only game in town in the USA unless you suggesting some other method should be employed to sell and distribute oil and its by-products. Are you? If not then we are stuck with the business model and increased productivity is generally accepted as the best means to advance an economy.<br /><br />So, we are agreed that pipelines will reduce the cost to oil companies but there are also environmental costs to be taken into account. The current method of shipping oil is truck, train, boat and pipeline. All come with environmental impacts with spills being just one of the impacts. Pipelines don't consume energy and pollute like trucks, trains and boats and spills, well, we can split hairs, but there's pretty nasty impacts when accidents happen with all these methods of transport - heck a runaway oil train burned down a bloody town here in Canada not too many years back.<br /><br />Then there is the environmental argument that oil is baaaad, it releases CO2 when burned, and it is a depletion industry, therefore all oil is bad and every effort should be made to leave it in the ground forcing all to 'greener' alternatives. Is that your stance that not only big oil is bad but all oild is bad? :)<br /><br />btw - is there small oil as opposed to 'big oil'?Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-44438202165283429822016-12-13T14:19:13.800-05:002016-12-13T14:19:13.800-05:00.
Oil is a depletion industry. Big Oil's goa....<br /><br />Oil is a depletion industry. Big Oil's goal is to maximize profits until the golden goose is gone. A free-trader might argue that for a commodity like oil everyone should be paying the same base price (less transit costs, etc) but I would disagree. While I don't view trade as a zero sum game, if there is an advantage to one of the parties, I prefer it be mine, that is, America's.<br /><br />Excuse my cupidity.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27301399481349774892016-12-13T14:03:44.590-05:002016-12-13T14:03:44.590-05:00.
Your points...
but it would decrease the cost ....<br /><br />Your points...<br /><br /><i>but it would decrease the cost base and the environmental impacts of the current method of transport.</i><br /><br />Cost basis? You agree with my conclusion it would increase the Oil companies bottom line.<br /><br />Environmental costs? I used to agree the pipe lines were safer based on articles by the 'experts'. Now, though I may be wrong, I have grown suspicious of all so-called 'experts'. You may have noticed. Now, my thinking is as I've stated it. That is, that though statistically there may be more spills involving trucks or rail the impact of them is far less than from pipeline spills, such as the 176,000 gallons released in the latest one.<br /><br />I come to this conclusion based on oil spills I have seen here in Michigan including those involving oil from the tar sands in Canada. If you are really interested in the subject the following article though pretty long is instructive about the damage a spill can do to the environment and what it takes to deal with some of these companies.<br /><br /><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20072016/enbridge-saga-end-department-justice-fine-epa-kalamazoo-river-michigan-dilbit-spill" rel="nofollow">Enbridge's Kalamazoo Spill Saga Ends in $177 Million Settlement</a><br /><br /><i>Because of the limitations of the current transport environment a pipeline would increase the amount of oil brought to market and, say the pipeline builders, bring that oil to market with less environmental impact then the current methods, and, be more cost efficient.</i><br /><br />A repetition of the previous arguments.<br /><br /><i>...say the pipeline builders...</i><br /><br />I view their claims with more skepticism than that Of the experts.<br /><br /><i>Currently, in the USA, it is private oil companies who bring oil to the market and more oil brought to market has benefits for the consumers of oil and the oil companies. In addition, the oil is sourced NOT in the middle east which has required military force to maintain supply.</i><br /><br />In general that should be the case, especially with crude oil which is more or less fungible. However, there are other factors that affect the price. That's the WTI price is cheaper than the Brent price.<br /><br />The WTI delivery point is landlocked and transportation constrained. In most other oil delivery points worldwide, if oil is cheaper at that point than the rest of the world it can easily be transshipped to another location and the price level will quickly equilibrate. Since WTI is not delivered by the sea, however, the amount of arbitrage that can occur with the rest of the world is limited by the transportation bottlenecks going from Cushing, Oklahoma to the US Gulf Coast. Those who cannot find a way to get their oil to market in the USGC will be forced to sell in Cushing at a discount.<br /><br />This constraint provides a price advantage for Americans (added to other issues such as the US just recently allowing some sales to world markets, or the fact that the constraint doesn't allow US producers to expand their market by mixing their oil with different grades around the world, etc.)<br /><br />So the effect of removing the constraint in Cushing and allowing oil to be shipped directly to the Gulf could eventually result in higher prices in the US; but of course Big Oil will do just fine.<br /><br /><i>There is currently a glut of oil on the market but that is most likely a short term phenomenon but also requires that productivity in bringing oil to market is even more important to remain competitively priced.</i><br /><br />This assumes that oil is a simple commodity and constricted by the rules of competition. As pointed out above, that is not exactly true; and as you noted the current glut may be temporary but we are talking about the transportation of oil not it's production.<br /><br />. Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-83247098442921623992016-12-13T13:34:31.218-05:002016-12-13T13:34:31.218-05:00Who is Gert Boyle ?Who is Gert Boyle ?Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-44665212313835670372016-12-13T13:17:12.687-05:002016-12-13T13:17:12.687-05:00When I read about this beautiful young woman some ...When I read about this beautiful young woman some days ago I knew she was going to get it -<br /><br /><b>Here’s what happens when a woman fails to wear a hijab in an actually repressive country</b><br /><br />posted at 12:01 pm on December 13, 2016 by Jazz Shaw<br /><br />We’ve had our fair share of hijab news in the United States this year. You may recall that back during the Olympics, one Muslim athlete said that she didn’t feel safe in our country while wearing her traditional Muslim garb. In the heat of the election and the weeks which followed, we heard continual stories of “hate crimes” against women wearing such apparel, even though at least some of them turned out to be hoaxes. So I suppose wearing a hijab can be considered controversial. But not wearing one can cause even more issues depending where you live.<br /><br />If’ you’re worried about repression and intolerance in the United States, perhaps you should check out what happens to women in a country where the idea of women’s rights is strictly the subject of fiction. Take, for example, our friend and ally Saudi Arabia. They’ve recently demonstrated that the 21st century is still an idea they want no part of and it’s a lesson which came the hard way to one young woman who decided to go to a local cafe without her head being covered. She tweeted a picture of herself doing it and things went downhill from there. (WaPo)<br /><br />The Saudi woman was going out for breakfast when she decided to make a statement. Violating the country’s moral codes, she reportedly stepped out in public wearing a multicolored dress, a black jacket and ankle boots — without a hijab or abaya, a loosefitting garment.<br /><br />Late last month, she tweeted a photo of her outfit, and the post circulated through Saudi Arabia, drawing death threats and demands to imprison or even execute the woman.<br /><br />On Monday, police in the country’s capital of Riyadh said they had arrested the woman, following their duty to monitor “violations of general morals,” a spokesman, Fawaz al-Maiman, said, AFP reported. The woman, who is in her 20s, was imprisoned after posting the tweet of herself standing next to a popular Riyadh cafe, he said.<br /><br />He also accused her of “speaking openly about prohibited relations” with unrelated men, according to AFP.<br /><br />The first responses came not from the government, but from her own countrymen. Many responses on social media adopted a theme of, “we demand the imprisonment of the rebel Malak al-Shehri.” Many were worse, calling for her to literally lose her head. Another said her body should be dumped in the streets for the dogs. But the social outcry was only the beginning. The government soon came knocking and Ms. al-Shehri was arrested.<br /><br />For not wearing a head scarf. <br /><br /><br />On the planet Earth.<br /> <br />In the 21st century.<br /><br /><br />It looks like she’s going to avoid losing her head, but the outcome isn’t all that much better. The latest reports indicate that she will be lashed. (Daily Mail)<br /><br />A woman who received death threats after going out without her abaya in Saudi Arabia has been arrested and now faces being lashed…<br /><br />The Arabic-language al-Sharq newspaper said the woman was detained after a complaint was filed by the religious police.<br /><br />‘Police officers have detained a girl who had removed her abaya on al-Tahliya street, implementing a challenge she announced on social media several days ago,’ Colonel Fawaz al-Maiman, a Riyadh police spokesman, was quoted as saying.<br /><br />Getting a lashing in that country is more serious than a spanking from your parents. People have been known to die from it while others wind up being disfigured for life. And this is the punishment the woman received after the “religious police” freaked out because of a picture of her standing on the sidewalk dressed in a stylish fashion went viral.<br /><br />If this is how our friends treat women can you imagine how it must be among our enemies?<br /><br />http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/13/heres-what-happens-when-a-woman-fails-to-wear-a-hijab-in-an-actually-repressive-country/Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58627302094822705412016-12-13T13:05:28.108-05:002016-12-13T13:05:28.108-05:00.
I disagree with your disagreement on each of th....<br /><br />I disagree with your disagreement on each of the issues.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59719063987700401442016-12-13T13:02:47.849-05:002016-12-13T13:02:47.849-05:00I blame it all on our nation's addiction to hi...I blame it all on our nation's addiction to high powered pot.<br /><br />One thinks one is so funny but no one else does, except other high powered pot smokers.<br /><br />Another indication of our nation's cultural decline.<br /><br />Jack Benny was much better.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-41930361995698826082016-12-13T13:01:15.010-05:002016-12-13T13:01:15.010-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-55701611815132540272016-12-13T12:25:55.673-05:002016-12-13T12:25:55.673-05:00Quirk wrote:
"The only ones that would benef...Quirk wrote:<br /><br />"The only ones that would benefit from the new pipeline would be the oil companies and the pipeline operators."<br /><br />I disagree with this conclusion of yours. Yes, the jobs building the pipeline are only temporary and, yes, there would be a decrease in the amount of workers involved in the current method of transport on the oil but it would decrease the cost base and the environmental impacts of the current method of transport. Because of the limitations of the current transport environment a pipeline would increase the amount of oil brought to market and, say the pipeline builders, bring that oil to market with less environmental impact then the current methods, and, be more cost efficient. Currently, in the USA, it is private oil companies who bring oil to the market and more oil brought to market has benefits for the consumers of oil and the oil companies. In addition, the oil is sourced NOT in the middle east which has required military force to maintain supply. There is currently a glut of oil on the market but that is most likely a short term phenomenon but also requires that productivity in bringing oil to market is even more important to remain competitively priced.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18407063423023771502016-12-13T12:24:15.603-05:002016-12-13T12:24:15.603-05:00.
For the Critics Choice Awards...
Alec Baldwin&....<br /><br />For the <i>Critics Choice Awards</i>...<br /><br /><i>Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump impersonation on "Saturday Night Live" earned him Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.</i><br /><br />I agree with Trump's assessment of Balwin's performance on SNL, it appears mean and frankly not very good.<br /><br />In my opinion, Balwin's act is more cartoonish than an actual impersonation of Trump. Worse, it just isn't funny. I can't believe that even the most partisan lib can actually find it funny. Perhaps, they just take guilty pleasure (well, maybe not so guilty) in watching Trump be lampooned on the show.<br /><br />SNL is showing its age and the current cast can't seem to maintain the same comedic edge the show enjoyed in the past. They have some talented players there but much of the material is just bad. With much of it there is a certain meanness indicative of, IMO, a decadent trend in entertainment I find objectionable. It's biggest crime is that it just isn't funny. <br /><br />The same goes for Seth Meyers on the Late Night Show. His comedy for the past year or so has amounted to nothing but a political attack against Trump so one-sided and partisan that it loses any claim to humor.<br /><br />.<br /><br /> Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-14585759374462699132016-12-13T11:59:07.564-05:002016-12-13T11:59:07.564-05:00http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/th...http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/the_big_lie_russia_stole_the_election.htmlCharltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37975503006861467292016-12-13T11:58:10.964-05:002016-12-13T11:58:10.964-05:00Donald Trump is being portrayed as not very bright...Donald Trump is being portrayed as not very bright and indifferent to intelligence matters. He is “a man known to have a very short attention span and a dislike of reading.” Michael V. Hayden, former N.S.A. director, stated, “To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow.” Politico reported, “Trump's highly public rebukes of the U.S. intelligence apparatus will undermine morale in the spy agencies.” They state, “If the U.S. president doesn't believe his own intelligence officials, why should anyone else?” and “There is nothing more sacred to intelligence officers than their professionalism, honesty and non-partisanship.”<br /><br />Is there a problem with intelligence being misused? 50 intelligence analysts formally complained that their reports on ISIS were being inappropriately altered. The FBI went through 650,000 emails In 8 days and they failed to recommend prosecution for Clinton’s misuse of classified material. Trumps critics on the left have been joined by John McCain and Lindsey Graham who issued a joint statement with Chuck Schumer. It read, "This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country."<br /><br />McCain seems to have a particular problem with Trump’s relationship with Putin, whom McCain calls “a thug and a murderer and a killer and a KGB agent.” What did Senator McCain say when President Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, “Tell Vald that I’ll have more flexibility once I am re-elected.” Senator McCain appears to have he own problems with intelligence. When he proclaims someone his hero they turn out to be ISIS or Al-Qaeda.<br /><br />What is the purpose of this elaborate scheme? White House spokesman Eric Schultz announced, “This is not an effort to challenge the outcome of the election.” Senator Angus King commented, “I’m not trying to relitigate the election. I’m just trying to prevent this from happening again.” These comments will be repeated endlessly and they should concern us all. <br /><br />It should remind us of Otto von Bismarck’s remark, <b>"Nothing is proven until it is officially denied."</b><br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-22365473134976218642016-12-13T11:57:35.481-05:002016-12-13T11:57:35.481-05:00December 13, 2016
The Big Lie: Russia Stole the El...December 13, 2016<br /><b>The Big Lie: Russia Stole the Election</b><br />By John Dietrich<br /><br />“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” - Joseph Goebbels<br /><br />Paul Roderick Gregory wrote in Forbes, “The Kremlin knows that repeated lies are eventually taken as truth, so that an unsourced narrative, repeated, will eventually become the ‘truth.’” Of course Joseph Goebbels said it more concisely. The public is now being subjected to a barrage of reports that the Russians are in effect responsible for Donald Trump being elected president.<br /><br />Naturally Donald Trump is denying this. California Rep. Eric Swalwell avers that Trump’s denials are ridiculous. He claims, "He (Trump) is denying that the sun sets in the West." Rep. Elijah Cummings claims, "experts agree that there is overwhelming evidence that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Overwhelming. It is not disputed, it's overwhelming." If you disagree with this you are crazy.<br /><br />The congressmen and media are basing their opinions on the October 07, 2016 “Joint Statement from the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security” issued by the Director of National Intelligence. The various accounts of the meeting of the CIA with House and Senate leaders do not appear to support the claim that there was overwhelming evidence of Russian interference. The Washington Post quoted one official saying, "It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected." The article claims that the CIA has “high confidence” and that it “believes” the Russian were responsible several items. It also states, “we are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government.” <br />This does not sound overwhelming.<br /><br />Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell questioned the veracity of the intelligence. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee stated, ‘‘I’ll be the first one to come out and point at Russia if there’s clear evidence, but there is no clear evidence – even now. There’s a lot of innuendo, lots of circumstantial evidence, that’s it.’’ Julian Assange has stated the Russian government is not the source. The Russians have also denied it. Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, and a close associate of Assange, called the CIA claims “bullshit,” stating, “They are absolutely making it up.”<br /><br />Naturally Donald Trump does not believe the Russians interfered in his favor. He criticized the CIA, saying, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” He pointed out that the hacking, ‘‘could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.’’ The guy from New Jersey is a real possibility. During congressional hearings on the Clinton emails Congressman Chaffetz asked Director Comey, “Are you implying in that statement that the private email servers of Secretary Clinton were perhaps less secure than a Gmail account?” Comey responded, “Yes.” During the same hearing Congressman Blum claimed that, “the going rate to hack into somebody’s Gmail account: $129.<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.com