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."

Friday, June 02, 2017

FACT : A Carbon Emissions Treaty That Exempts China and India is Absurd - Here is Why

98 comments:

  1. On a per capita basis, that's about 4.4 tonnes per person. Canadian emissions from fossil fuel consumption in 2010 were 536 million tonnes carbon dioxide, or about 15.7 tonnes per person. So the average Canadian carbon footprint is about four times the global average.

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    1. In the United States, it is 17.6 tonnes per person.

      Luxembourg: 21.4 tonnes per person, the highest in Europe

      Delete
    2. How did India and China get that deal?

      China has a per capita of 6.2 tonnes per person.
      India has a per capita of 1.7 tonnes per person.

      The fact is environmental standards have little to do with a clean environment.

      Large energy producers have a higher per capita because they are producing more fossil fuels. A country that burns down its forests for heat and regrows them will rank better than a country such as Canada.

      The argument should be shifted to where it belongs, conservation.

      Delete
    3. Only 3.34% of China's forests remain intact.

      Destruction of the world's forests accounts for about 10 percent of the world's global warming emissions.

      China likes to show statistics on how they are regrowing so-called forests and at the same time cuts more than half of the timber shipped anywhere in the world all destined for China.

      Delete
    4. China will clear cut 1000 acres of a native forest, regrow a 2000 acre rubber plantation, and call it reforestation.

      Delete
    5. For comparison, Canada is 40% forest

      Brazil 60%

      USA 33%

      Finland 74.2%

      The UK is the worst in Europe.

      Delete
    6. India is a lot warmer than China, hence the difference.

      Both countries have massive problems.

      I'd go bonkers living in their cities.

      It looks to me like it is incumbent upon Ash, if he is to be a good world citizen, as he surely wishes to be, and not destroy the earth through global warming, to start riding a bike.

      Delete
  2. The idea of any of the trees in our National Forests being shipped to China makes me want to throw up.

    Fortunately these days we have the principle of sustainable yield so that no more wood product is going out of the National Forests than is growing there each year.

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    1. And Trump's a fool if he thinks the Chinese are going to solve the problem of North Korea for him.

      IMHO

      Delete

    2. Finally, Robert recognizes reality.

      Mr Trump is a fool.

      That quote is definitely 'savable'

      Delete
  3. YOU’RE FIRED, PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD
    President Trump cleans up more of Obama’s mess.
    June 2, 2017 Matthew Vadum

    ....This, of course, is complete nonsense.

    "Trump is not quitting the Paris accord,” writes Eugene Kontorovich, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. “The United States was never in it in the first place."

    According to Kontorovich, an expert in constitutional and international law, what Trump should have said at his press availability was that “the United States never properly joined the accord: It is a treaty that requires the advice and consent of the Senate. Instead, President Barack Obama choose to ‘adopt’ it with an executive order last September.”

    In other words, the president is merely declaring that, notwithstanding the actions of his kinglike predecessor, the United States no longer considers itself bound by this international pact that Obama unconstitutionally foisted on the country in the absence of proper ratification by the U.S. Senate.

    But Sargent tries to dazzle and distract his readers by waving all sorts of officialdom in their faces.

    As CNN reports this morning, the deal stipulates that countries can’t withdraw until three years after the deal took hold, plus a one-year notice period, which means even if Trump pulls us out, that won’t take effect until late in 2020. It’s possible that Trump could pull us out in only one year, by withdrawing the United State from the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty to combat global warming that provides the Paris deal’s underpinnings. But that would be a truly drastic step — it was signed by former Republican president George H.W. Bush and overwhelmingly ratified by both parties in the Senate. So it’s likely several years will pass before our exit is formal.

    Again, the U.S. cannot withdraw from something to which it is not a party. This remains true despite non-lawyer Trump’s infelicitous use of the verb “withdraw” during the presser yesterday.

    Sargent warns that “if the blowback is severe enough, Trump could come under great pressure to reverse his decision.” Of course, there will be no serious blowback, at least none in the United States. Americans don’t care about the phony global warming issue. Only left-wingers and corrupt crony capitalists care.

    With President Trump’s courageous decision to extend his middle finger to the cultish global warming crowd, he has placed the country back on track for impressive economic growth.

    Unless, of course, lawmakers from his own party undermine him.


    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/266878/youre-fired-paris-climate-accord-matthew-vadum

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  4. This was a fight we didn't need. Trump has enough problems and enough enemies.

    Where is the upside?

    ReplyDelete
  5. If you are a leader, you don't strengthen your enemies and weaken your friends.

    If Trump wanted a change in outcome, all he had to do was put the decision where it belongs, in The Senate.

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    1. It would not pass and Trump could use the refusal as a point to negotiate from.

      Climate change is a religion. Which leader of either a corporation or government is going to jump in to support Trump? No blue state Republican is going to support him.

      He made himself look to be a parody of his already discredited image.

      Delete
  6. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for calm in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, joking that any bad weather encountered around the globe could now be blamed on ‘American imperialism’.

    Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Russian president said the panic surrounding Trump’s decision has been blown way out of proportion, noting that there is still time before the agreement, which was signed in 2015, goes into effect.

    "Don't worry, be happy," Putin said in English.

    “This agreement [the Paris Agreement on climate change] has not yet even come in effect. It will come into effect in 2021. So we still have time. If we all work constructively, we can agree on something,” he said.

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  7. .

    Who Says Being ‘Exceptional is Always a Good Thing?

    1. DougThu Jun 01, 08:02:00 PM EDT
    "I don't think Trump has the intellectual range"

    Does anyone here know someone personally as deluded as Quirk regarding his intellectual grasp?


    Just as Cro Magnon man eventually won out over Neanderthals, it is very possible that Trump is slightly more advanced on the evolutionary scale than the Twins. However, even Dumberer and Dumbest must realize that Trump isn’t the brightest bulb on the tree.

    With Bob it’s a simple proposition. He has simply never learned to think. He simply emotes, usually in a most disagreeable way.

    With Doug, as evident from…

    1. DougThu Jun 01, 09:51:00 PM EDT
    "He will have no one to blame except himself."

    Deuce and Quirk hold the MSM/Democrat Cabal harmless. In Spite of Reality.

    DougThu Jun 01, 09:53:00 PM EDT
    How could Bill de Blasio be wrong???


    his brain patterns are even simpler, centralized in the brain stem and barely north of instinctual, he struggles to get past monosyllabic response and like an EB Charles Foster Caine seems fixated on one simple phrase, not Rosebud but MSM. The political is all that matters to ol' Doug. Practicality? Common Sense? Self-interest? Meaningless terms to old Doug.

    To the casual observer, there is little doubt that Trump is dumb as a rock and is driven by negative pathologies. Yet, the brain patterns of the Twins, instinctual and simplistic to the nth degree, support his every move.

    Example:

    In other words, the president is merely declaring that, notwithstanding the actions of his kinglike predecessor, the United States no longer considers itself bound by this international pact that Obama unconstitutionally In other words, the president is merely declaring that, notwithstanding the actions of his kinglike predecessor, the United States no longer considers itself bound by this international pact that Obama unconstitutionally foisted on the country in the absence of proper ratification by the U.S. Senate.in the absence of proper ratification by the U.S. Senate.

    The distinction between ‘treaty’ and ‘agreement’ in today’s hyper-politicized US where we go to war over euphemisms and lies at the whim of the president without Congressional approval and where the majority if they don’t like a long standing rule as is the case with the ‘nuclear option’ can simply change it, make both sides of the argument easy to argue; however, the point I wish to make is with the term “foisted on the country.”

    {...}

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    1. {...}

      Foisted on the country?

      What pathetic clap trap. Ignore the usual suspects, the majority of scientists, doctors, business leaders, the media, others. What little polling that has been done shows the vast majority of American people favor staying in the accord. Most corporate leaders favor staying in it including those from the Coal sector and Big Oil companies like Exxon and Chevron. States and cities have vowed to move on with or without Trump. California already shares carbon capture agreements with Quebec and is just starting talks with China about the same thing. The mayor of Pittsburgh has asked Trump to stop using his city as an example or an excuse when pushing his anti-Accord bull. Trump's own daughter, who I believe most people would agree is a step up on the evolutionary scale from her father, rejects his move.

      Trump proves himself to be exceptional. In fact, the entire world with the exception of the Trumpkins seems to be opposed to his views. The Paris Accord even ignoring its basis in climate change is the wave of the future. Countries are pursuing its goals over and above its effects on the climate because it is smart, it helps improve health and safety and the quality of life, it creates jobs in expanding sectors rather than trying to save them in dying ones, and if it knocks some off rising temperatures so much the better.

      The US should be the leader in this worldwide movement. Instead, Trump cedes that leadership to China and to others. He assigns America to the back of the bus and we are left sucking the hind tit. The move will weaken the US position in the world. While Trump insults our traditional allies, China will be shortly signing a major trade deal with the EU.

      Trump’s decision was absurd based on economic, environmental, and political grounds. In the end, it will damage job growth. He is the modern day misguided Luddite. Yet, the Twins applaud and shout “Thank you, sir, may I have another.”

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      Just saw the first half hour of a presser with Spicer and Pruitt before turning it off.

      In the words of Hillary Clinton, it was a 'nothing-burger'.

      :0)

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      These guys are either felony stupid or cynical liars.

      While the administration denies and rejects everything associated with previous administration policies, Pruitt argues one reason for rejecting the Paris Accord is that the US has made such significant progress without it and in doing so ignores the fact that Trump has either turned back or promised to turn back all the policies that brought about that progress in the previous two administrations, fuel-economy rules, programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives, health and safety regulations, and environmental and water rules associated with the dying coal industry, among others.

      Hypocrisy, cynicism, or both?

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      When asked what Trump's views on climate change where, Spicer said, I haven't had a change to discuss it with him.

      Right.

      .

      Delete
    5. .

      Pruitt says the Accords would commit the US to a 26-27% decrease in CO2 emissions. Yesterday, the administration was talking about a 17-18% decrease. It seems to grow daily like Topsy or WiO's Syrian war dead. Somebody better check the daily talking points.

      .

      Delete

    6. Hypocrisy, cynicism, or both?


      Hypocrisy, cynicism ... both

      Delete
  8. .

    Speaking of batshit crazy...

    Kathy Griffen has lawyered up and says "Trump is messing with the wrong redhead."

    Good lord.

    .

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Griffen pulls a bonehead move.

      Most of the civilized world calls her on it.

      Trump criticizes her.

      Media organizations and advertisers tell here shes not needed.

      And no she blames Trump for the whole mess.

      Crazy.

      Kind of like Doug blaming the MSM for actually printing Trump's own quoted words.

      .

      Delete
  9. .

    President Donald Trump will decide whether to invoke his presidential powers to block former FBI Director James Comey from giving congressional testimony next week, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Friday.

    Comey, fired by Trump last month, is due to testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in both an open session and behind closed doors. The hearings could add to problems facing the president over probes into alleged Russian meddling in last year's U.S. election and potential collusion by his campaign.

    In an interview with ABC News, Conway appeared to indicate that the president would allow Comey to testify, saying, "We'll be watching with the rest of the world when Director Comey testifies."
    But asked directly whether Trump would use executive privilege to prevent Comey from speaking with lawmakers, Conway added: "The president will make that decision."


    Either way Trump decides, it should be interesting.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump could use "executive privilege" to prevent Comey from testifying? Really? You've got to be kidding me...

      ...that would really make him KING TRUMP.

      Delete
    2. and Bob and Doug Sheeple would bray "Melania, now THERE's a First Lady!"

      Delete
    3. .

      Hard to say.

      Trump may have waived his 'executive privilege' by all the tweeting he has done on the Comey matter.

      We will have to see if he even decides to assert it.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      IMO, Melania is the best thing about this presidency.

      The foreign trip they just finished points out all here best qualities.

      She's beautiful and her English is a little stilted. So what? I think the first is a wonderful asset and the second is unimportant. the lady does speak 5 friggin languages and she used them to advantage on the trip.

      She used her warmth. I think the only time the Pope smiled during the trip was when he was talking to her. She showed her fondness for children and it was obvious in her interaction with them. She was poised and confident and certainly didn't seem the least bit awed in the presence of foreign leaders. She seemed assertive and confident without being obnoxious.

      IMO, she represented the US to the world in a much better light than did her husband.

      .

      Delete
    5. Melania also appears to have contempt for The Donald.

      Delete
    6. .

      Good judgment. Another point in her favor.

      .

      Delete
  10. .

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has begun returning copies of a voluminous 2014 Senate report about the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation program to Congress, complying with the demand of a top Republican senator who has criticized the report for being shoddy and excessively critical of the C.I.A.

    The Trump administration’s move, described by multiple congressional officials, raises the possibility that copies of the 6,700-page report could be locked in Senate vaults for good — exempt from laws requiring that government records eventually become public. The C.I.A., the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the C.I.A.’s inspector general have returned their copies of the report, the officials said.

    The report is the result of a yearslong investigation into the C.I.A. program by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, telling the story of how — in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — the C.I.A. began capturing terrorism suspects and interrogating them in secret prisons beyond the reach of the American judicial and military legal systems. The central conclusion of the report is that the spy agency’s interrogation methods — including waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other kinds of torture — were far more brutal and less effective than the C.I.A. described to policy makers, Congress and the public...


    Does this surprise anyone?

    .

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  11. Quirk can play Homo Sapiens to my Cro Magnon if he wishes.

    What the illiterate dumb shit doesn't realize is that if he chooses this option he is ceding me the larger, quicker brain.

    I call it Devo in Detroit.

    Or, Idaho For Ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back in Cro Magnon days one actually had to be bright, strong, and quick to survive.

      Nowadays all one has to do is whine and bray like a Democrat.

      Delete
    2. When Quirk gets in those fantastic groves where he can seemingly do anything, like when he fought off all the Swiss Guards while stealing the Vatican Wine Cellar blind, and making off with the stash in The Pope Mobile, I think he is flashing back to his repressed Cro Magmon genetic heritage.

      Delete
    3. .

      Having a larger brain means nothing if all you use of it are the brain stem and the hypothalamus.

      People with encephalitis have larger brains too but I wouldn't want to be one.

      So do whales. If I ever need and ocean route from the equator to the arctic, I'll give you a call.

      .

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

      Delete
    5. His obvious lust for and extreme jealousy over Melania is related to this. It is a return to the former more competitive Cro Magnon ways, washed thin now by the urban homo sapiens inheritance

      Delete
    6. Very poor reply, Quirk.

      But, it's all you got, so go for it.

      I'm going to go get my mail, myself.

      Delete
    7. .

      As they say, I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers.

      Though hers might still be stained with caviar.

      .

      Delete
    8. .

      Though I would prefer someone a little younger and a little more rounded.

      Perhaps, a Kally Couco.

      Love to watch her move around with those low riding sweat pants she wears on Big Bang theory.

      Mmm.

      .

      Delete
    9. .

      Very poor reply, Quirk.

      You only say that because you have inadequate brain function to appreciate its intrinsic truth and beauty.

      You have progressed to the point where you can eat and shit and run away. A good start but hardly adequate.

      .

      .

      Delete

    10. Running away is Robert "Draft dodger" Peterson's greatest asset.

      He runs from personal responsibility whenever the opportunity avails itself to him.

      Delete
    11. Abandoning his own daughter is Jack "Daughter Abandonment" Hawkins greatest accomplishment.

      She is, as WiO stated, much better without him.

      You'd think he could have kicked in a hundred a month, though.

      But that was too much to ask of sicko rat'sasshole, liar, self confessed war criminal, no cattle, not even a hat, and Jew hater. He needs help. Nearly everyone here has given a diagnosis of his sickness. He needs to go check himself in somewhere.

      Since the Bar's asshole is back with his little game, it's

      Ciao

      And cheers ! and best to all you others !

      Delete

    12. You do not even remember the story, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      You're memory is gone, as is your credibility on any subject other than your slipper pissing cat and, of course, your enema regimen.

      Delete

    13. Even with his diminished mental capacity, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson still knows enough to run away.

      So, so funny, his inability to ...

      Stand and Fight !

      He'd never make it in the NRA.

      Delete
    14. Man, I thought Bob was man, but now evidence prove he is mouse

      Delete
  12. Paris Accords and Kyoto Protocol Share Striking Similarities

    Following the left’s meltdown over President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, the discussion surrounding the saga echoes the same talking points surrounding the debate over the Kyoto Protocol in the early 2000s.

    At the beginning of the Bush administration, President Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol for reasons similar to President Trump’s. Predictably, the world and the American left protested over the president’s decision to pursue U.S. economic growth.

    Here are the top 3 similarities between the two deals:

    China and India Got Great Deals

    The Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in the 1990s, exempted China and India from their requirements. This was one of the main reasons the Bush administration cited for its withdrawal, according to The New York Times: “Mr. Bush said, with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell at his side. ‘’Yet China was entirely exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto protocol. India and Germany are among the top emitters. Yet India was also exempt from Kyoto.’”

    A congressional report found that participation from the Chinese and Indians in the Paris Accords was largely symbolic, calling it “political theater.” The Paris Accords would have imposed uneven and unfair economic restrictions on the west, compared with China. “China stands to gain from participation in the Paris Agreement by pushing the U.S. and EU to make economically costly emissions reductions,” Further, the report found that the Accords would make no meaningful impact on the carbon emissions of China and India, the world’s two most populous countries.

    The International Community Criticized the U.S. for Leaving Both Treaties

    When President Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol, the international community reacted swiftly and harshly. Italy’s Environment Minister Willer Bordon called the withdrawal “extremely grave.” The European Union’s Environment Commissioner at the time, Margot Wallstroem, discussed economic measures the global community could take to punish the United States for the withdrawal.

    Similarly, world leaders attacked Trump after his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Accords. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he was “disappointed” in the president’s decision. “The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, had harsher words to share on Wednesday, informing members at a student conference that ‘Europe’s duty is to say … The Americans can’t just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn’t know the details,'” according to The Atlantic.

    But the International Community Didn’t Live Up to Its Kyoto Standards

    “Under the Kyoto protocol most developed nations – including Canada, Australia, Austria, Spain, Japan and others – never got close to reaching their individual target for cutting or slowing their emissions,” The Guardian reported in 2012.

    The congressional report on the Paris Accords wrote: “Kyoto was legally binding and countries still failed to comply. Non-binding targets in the Paris Agreement will not produce any greater confidence that countries will comply.”

    Despite the international community’s moral posturing on the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accords, they failed to live up to emissions standards in an agreement that had included enforcement standards. How could the Paris Accords, a non-binding agreement, guarantee greater conformity?


    http://ntknetwork.com/paris-accords-and-kyoto-protocol-share-striking-similarities/

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Following the left’s meltdown over President Trump’s decision...

      That's like saying all Trump's problems are caused by the MSM.

      Sure, the left. And much of the right, most Americans, Governors and mayors around the country, multinationals, many major corporations (all that have spoken up), many industries including oil and coal, the usual suspects (scientists, physicians, environmental groups, etc.), Trump's own Secretaries of Energy and State, members of his study groups (Elon Musk just resigned), and pretty much the rest of the world.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      'Pittsburgh not Paris' rally to be held by Trumpkins

      "As you know, the President has been under siege from the mainstream media and the Democrats, especially now that he put American jobs first by withdrawing from the Paris Accord. Therefore, we are organizing a group to demonstrate our support for President Trump and his fearless leadership," the invitation reads, according to Politico...

      The rally’s name stems from the President’s speech in which he said: "I was elected by voters of Pittsburgh, not Paris. I promised I would exit or renegotiate any deal which fails to serve U.S. interests..."


      Uncertain whether the mayor of Pittsburgh, who yesterday asked Trump to stop using Pittsburgh as and excuse for his decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, will be invited.

      .

      Delete

    3. It may just be that Mr Trump has been listening to Bernie Sanders ....


      Feb 28, 2017 - Sanders tells supporters after Trump speech: 'Continue the fight' ... Posted by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders ... only then can we create the political revolution that will turn this country around,"


      The "Make America Great Again" campaign never ends ... for an Emasculated President.


      Delete
  14. Replies
    1. One difference is they did not immediately get distributed to the Media.

      Delete
  15. The Associated Press reported Friday that the former FBI director’s inquiry will absorb a federal criminal investigation into Paul Manafort, the taciturn political operative who led Trump’s campaign last summer. Manafort resigned in August amid media reports about his previous work with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and other Kremlin-aligned parties in the country. He was succeeded by former Breitbart publisher Steve Bannon, who now serves as Trump’s chief strategist in the White House.

    Manafort is under scrutiny as part of the sprawling federal investigation into Russian electoral interference, which began last July. But the AP reported Trump’s former campaign chairman has been under investigation by the Justice Department since the collapse of Yanukovych’s presidency during the Euromaidan protests in 2014. Manafort has not registered as a lobbyist for foreign interests, as might have been required by federal law.

    The report follows similar accounts earlier on Friday that Mueller had also taken charge of an ongoing federal grand-jury investigation into Michael Flynn, a retired lieutenant general who briefly served as Trump’s national-security adviser. Trump fired Flynn in February after media reports revealed Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and top White House officials about his phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December.

    According to Reuters, the federal grand-jury investigation in eastern Virginia is probing Flynn’s lobbying work on behalf of Turkish businessmen. Federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas in the case in recent months, suggesting the investigation is beyond its preliminary stages. Flynn formally registered as a lobbyist for foreign interests after his departure from the Trump administration. Flynn, Manafort, and Trump have denied any wrongdoing in the sprawling Russia investigation and related cases; Trump himself described the probe as a “witch hunt” in May.

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    1. The AP suggested obstruction-of-justice inquiries could become part of the Russia investigation if Mueller chooses to pursue them. In an interview with AP reporters, Rosenstein said he would recuse himself if Mueller took that path, citing his role in Comey’s ouster. “I’ve talked with Director Mueller about this,” Rosenstein told the news organizations. “He’s going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if there’s a need from me to recuse I will.”

      Absorbing the Flynn and Manafort investigations gives Mueller both practical and strategic advantages. While neither probe may directly relate to the core Russia inquiry, Mueller’s oversight of them avoids any complications that might arise from having two separate Justice Department investigations of the same person. If either of those inquiries results in criminal charges, Mueller would also be positioned to use the threat of prosecution as leverage against both men to extract testimony on Russia. Flynn previously offered to testify before Congress and the FBI in exchange for immunity, suggesting he could be interested in making a deal.

      Delete
    2. That could bode ill politically for President Trump, who is struggling to regain control over his presidency’s trajectory as the Russia investigation consumes more attention in Washington. The capital’s fixation will likely intensify next week when Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in an open hearing on June 8—the former FBI director’s first public remarks since his dramatic ouster last month.


      Delete

    3. Donald J Trump, the Emasculated President, 135 days in.

      Delete

  16. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has vowed the city will honor the Paris climate accord after President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. would withdraw.

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  17. In a conference room near his office last Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan gave conservative activists some unwelcome news: He wanted the Senate, House and White House on the same page before a tax reform bill was introduced, according to people present — and that would likely be after Labor Day.

    Senate Republicans are also nowhere near a solution on health care legislation, according to senators and several people familiar with their talks. "I don't see a comprehensive health care plan this year," Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said Thursday in a local TV interview.

    As for the promised $1 trillion infrastructure plan, the president's aides have begun talking about shaping a proposal, but that is "a ways off," one senior White House official said.

    In other words, as the special prosecutor probe into potential Russian collusion heats up, White House officials fear it could be a long, hot summer — with few tangible accomplishments to tout.

    And they worry how an antsy president, who wants things done immediately and has a rudimentary understanding of the legislative process, will handle it — particularly if the investigation dominates news media coverage.

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    1. “We’re going to do all these things by Sept. 30? Give me a break. We’re going to cut taxes, pass health care, set aside sequestration?” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.

      Trump has agreed in meetings with advisers to spend the summer focusing on the legislative agenda — traveling to push a health care agenda in June, and for tax reform in July and August, according to a senior White House official. This person said the campaign is slated for the "upper Midwest states."


      the campaign is slated for the "upper Midwest states."



      "Continue the fight only then can we create the political revolution that will turn this country around," - Bernie Sanders

      Donald Trump is channeling Bernie Sanders.

      Delete

  18. according to several people in the administration, there is widespread disagreement on what a final tax plan will look like. Administration officials continue to make conflicting public statements — and the administration could be hobbled by a difficult spending and shutdown fight that will likely come to a head on Capitol Hill late this summer or in early fall.

    Conservatives meanwhile are quickly lowering their expectations on the robust accomplishments they had predicted before Trump took office — with a Republican House and Senate in his corner. And they see time ticking off the clock before the midterm elections, particularly with the president's low approval ratings.

    "People are anxious and worried things won't get done," said Matt Schlapp, a conservative activist.
    "The agenda needs to get done this year. I don't see how it gets any easier. It's kind of put-up-or-shut-up time."


    Ryan made clear to the conservatives at last Monday’s meeting that substantive legislation needed to move this year, according to one person present, or it would be difficult to make it happen.

    "It's the most disappointing nothingness that anyone could have imagined,"
    said one conservative activist close to the administration.

    "Everyone expected a flurry of activity, and there's nothing anyone can point to."




    Nothing ... except the Emasculated President.

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    Replies

    1. "When you talk to a member or their staff these days, you hear about Russia,"
      the activist said.

      "The Russia stuff is really starting to distract people. I didn't think that two or three months ago. Before, I think everyone thought this was the less version of Benghazi.
      They don't feel that way anymore."


      http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/02/donald-trump-russia-congress-239079

      Delete

  19. As for "US Interests" in Venezuela, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson told us the US had none, what a fool.

    Goldman Sachs, for its part, seems to be counting on something like this.

    It recently bought $2.8 billion worth of bonds that had been issued by Venezuela's state oil company for the bargain basement price of $865 million.
    ... this looks a lot like a bet that the Chavistas will be around for a lot longer — and might even make that more likely considering that Caracas says the government used $300 million of this money to buy weapons.



    Goldman Sucks, their former executives permeate the Trump Administration.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Goldman Sucks funds the arms purchases of the Socialists of Venezuela, just as Mr Trump arms the Wahhabi extremists in Saudi Arabia.

      Not "Fake News", but reality.

      It's not every socialist government that pays its Wall Street creditors in full while it watches its own people go without food. The Chavista regime is an exception, though, because it needs dollars to buy people's loyalty, and the only way it can accomplish that is by selling oil overseas.

      But here's the catch: If Venezuela defaults on its debt, then investors would most likely seize its oil shipments as a form of payment. That'd destroy the government's ability to borrow without improving the government's cash balances.

      It's such a bad idea that even the Chavistas don't want to do it.



      They'd rather use Goldman Sucks money to purchase tear gas and bullets to secure their own political power as proxies for "US Interests".

      Delete

    2. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

      Theodore Roosevelt

      Delete
  20. Cost of Green Jobs:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=cost+per+green+job&rlz=1CAACAO_enUS720US720&oq=cost+per+green+job&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.11447j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The dates of Doug's links, from the top down

      May 9, 2013
      Nov 2, 2012
      May 7, 2009
      May 10, 2013
      May 8, 2013
      May 9, 2013


      It is now 2017, Doug.
      Your data points are more than a little dated.

      Delete
  21. Nothing but rat shit all over the cage in here today.

    No wonder so few people around.

    Guy is crazy.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hey genius General Jack Ass another Memorial Day has come and gone and ISIS is still in Iraq you joke ha ha.

      You get out of the prediction market now cause you are the butt of all jokes Genius General.

      Delete

    2. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you know your IP address gives proof to your identity, don't you ?

      You truly are the fool of the Elephant Bar.

      Delete
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  23. Hey film fans all is not lost -

    June 2, 2017
    Politically Incorrect Hollywood: Some Films to see
    By Armando Simon

    Although at times it feels---quite correctly---like one is swamped with Politically Correct propaganda in the movies and television and magazines, a number of films have been made over the years that buck the trend. Unfortunately, many of them have not been well-publicized and/or not as patronized by conservatives as they should have been. By comparison, every time Hanoi Jane, Michael Moore, or Oliver Stone make a movie, liberals trample themselves over in a mad stampede to support their propaganda movies; conservatives, on the other hand, when they hear of a movie that might be putting up a fight against the totalitarians, often stay at home scratching their rear ends, complaining that Hollywood doesn’t make enough movies that support their viewpoints---and then wait until the movie comes out at Redbox or Netflix.

    So here is a list of movies that you might want to watch:


    Red Family

    Although Kim Ki-duk did not direct this film, he wrote and produced it and it still came out great....

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/06/politically_incorrect_hollywood_some_films_to_see.html

    They all sound interesting and serious too.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Red Family

      Katyn

      Hail, Caesar !

      Pawn Sacrifice

      An American Carol

      Gone Girl

      Archangel

      Red Dawn (1984)

      Monty Python's Life Of Brian :)

      Top Secret !

      Night Crossing

      Absence of Malice

      Cooking With Stella

      Mao's Last Dancer

      Seven Years In Tibet

      The Interview

      Topaz

      Atlas Shrugged (Part 1)

      Mission To Moscow

      The Journey

      And, finally, that family classic:

      Quirk Moves To Idaho

      PLUS numerous listed Documentaries

      Delete
    2. Here are the Documentaries:

      Fantastic Lies

      Chuck Norris vs Communism

      Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

      The Red Chapel

      Michael Moore Hates America

      Russian Revolution In Color

      Delete
    3. So don't say you are bored and have nothing to do.

      Delete
    4. Although it may appear from the list above that the number of films challenging the Politically Correct dogma is large, keep in mind that these films came out over a period of decades and were mostly ignored by the leftist media, in order to sabotage them (to underscore my point: how many of these films have you heard of before?) In contrast to this scarcity, we are inundated with anti-Nazi films, as if the Third Reich was still a contemporary threat.

      As a review of the above films will reveal, most of them involve the subject of Marxism. If you, the reader, ask what is the possible relevance to today’s events, let me point to the antifas mobs wearing read stars and hammer and sickle emblems. And, also, to some of the college professors who created the antifas.

      Armando Simón is a retired college professor and is the author of A Cuban from Kansas, The U and The Only Red Star I Liked Was a Starfish.


      Delete
    5. Quirk Moves To Idaho is subtitled And Gets A Life

      Delete

    6. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, wasting bandwidth, with dribble.

      Delete
  24. June 2, 2017
    An avalanche of pullouts from the Paris Climate Agreement?
    By Monica Showalter

    The screeching brouhaha over President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement could, at first glance, be called a global episode of Trump Derangement Syndrome. But with the intensity of the rage, it seems to be more than that. Former United Nations has-been and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson called the U.S. a "rogue state." France's President Emmanuel Macron offered "refuge" to America's climate scientists, as if these people were actually in danger of losing tenure or maybe a grant, not to mention an imaginary knock on the door at midnight. Former Obama "mind meld" Ben Rhodes calls it "moral wreckage," adding: "The rest of the world will watch in horror." Billionaire greenie Tom Steyer calls Trump's act "a traitorous act of war."

    We know they've gone off the deep end.


    Obama's legacy is at stake, for one. The concept of Euro-centric one-world governance is on the line, too. The promise of enforced socialism through greenie virtue-signaling has got to be smarting as well.

    But I sense that the howls coming out may be premised on the fear of a mass pullout from the Paris Climate Accord now that President Trump has kicked the first brick out of the wall. The U.S. pullout may make the whole structure come tumbling down, and take with it Europe's claimed right to act as the world's global governing body.

    It's probably painful, given that President Trump has upbraided them on their deadbeat defense contributions to NATO, and the European Union itself has suffered a blow to prestige because so few of its members bother to observe their monetary quotas.

    There are already signs it's happening. Japan has declined to sign on to a group statement condemning President Trump, perhaps figuring that securing its own security against the monsters threatening it from North Korea might be more important than joining Europe's middle finger to President Trump.

    A Japanese government official says Japan has decided not to join Germany, France and Italy in expressing regret over the decision by President Donald Trump's to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

    The official, who declined to be identified by name or affiliation and requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the decision, said that Japan chose to issue its own statement, not as part of the group. He declined to give a reason or confirm if any of the three countries had invited Japan to sign a joint statement.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Other satraps and officials keep letting the cat out of the bag by expressing fears (or false confidence) that other nations won't follow the lead of the U.S. and pull out as well. There's a "whistling past the graveyard" feel to many of these statements:

      Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Paris accord "was, and still is a very important goal to achieve."

      He stressed all EU nations are sticking together to make the deal work and expressed his doubts that any country around the world would follow Trump's lead. "I hope that the number is zero," Ratas said.

      Others are ful of suspicious protestations:

      In their statement released Friday, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls climate change "the great existentialist threat of our time" and that the U.S. withdrawal weakens the Paris accord.

      However, he said it does not "trigger its demise."

      These denials suggest that there is a fear that the U.S.'s withdrawal from the agreement will trigger an avalanche of exits. After all, no one wants to be bossed around by petty Eurocrats with no serious claim to rule anyone.

      Meanwhile, this comes against a backdrop of ongoing climate skepticism. Officials from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Australia, and the oil-rich Arab states have openly questioned global warming in the past. While any pullout depends on who gets elected to office, the reality is there that many officials want nothing to do with this economy-killing pact. As for China and India, sure, they want the pact – so long as they never have to produce any results.

      This portends weak global support for the Paris Accord – and there may be other pullouts.

      So, far from "not leading" on the world stage as President Obama bitterly claimed, President Trump is leading the world globally – out of the hands of it petty, unelected bureaucracies.

      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/an_avalanche_of_pullouts_from_the_paris_climate_agreement.html

      Delete
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      Delete

    3. More empty air from the American Stinker and Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson,

      Neither China nor India, the major polluters of the planet are going to withdraw from the Paris Accords.
      The US, under the leadership of Mr Trump, has allied itself with Assad in Syria and the Noriegas, in Nicaragua, when the subject is Climate Change.

      That's Global Leadership, Trump Style

      Delete
  25. What was Rumi’s ‘secret’?
    By KIMBERLY WINSTON Religion News Service
    First Published Jun 02 2017 09:39AM


    ....In a twist worthy of the finest poets, "Rumi's Secret" is also framed in the geopolitical landscape of our time. While visiting Aleppo, Syria, Gooch had a chance encounter with a young carpet seller named Sebastian, a Rumi enthusiast who could quote the poet from memory. In perfect English, he likened Rumi to Walt Whitman and William Shakespeare because "he never tells his secret."

    That meeting took place on March 18, 2011, the same day the Syrian uprising began. When Gooch finished the manuscript, he tried to find Sebastian in the now devastated and starving Syria, but no trace of him remained.

    The book has been generally well-received, with critics praising both Gooch's legwork and his familiarity with Rumi's works. Some reviewers found the book "dry" or "simplified," but, as Azadeh Moaveni writes in a New York Times review, "there is certainly great value to books that add nuance to hateful, caricatured views of Islam."

    Some scholars have painted Rumi and Shams' relationship as one of carnal, not platonic, love. Readers hoping this book will reveal that as Rumi's "secret" will come away disappointed. Instead, Gooch believes Rumi's secret was to find the face of God in true friendship. But the core nature of Rumi's friendship with Shams and several other men will always be veiled.

    "Secret, or 'serr' in Persian, was one of Rumi's favorite words," Gooch said. "I believe it had different dimensions for him. His relationship with Shams of Tabriz will always remain somewhat mysterious, and his poetry … always devolves into silence before statements about God."


    http://www.sltrib.com/home/5358878-155/what-was-rumis-secret?fullpage=1

    ReplyDelete
  26. Germany: Muslim migrants kill another Muslim migrant for smoking during Ramadan

    JUNE 2, 2017 3:56 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

    Smoking during Ramadan is forbidden, but killing someone who is smoking during Ramadan is pleasing to Allah.

    What will these “Arab nationals” be like in five or ten years, when they’re out on the streets in Germany (and don’t kid yourself, they will be)? Will they be loyal and productive citizens of the Federal Republic? Germany is staking its future on the hope that they and others like them will be. How wise a bet is that? We shall soon see. In fact, we are already seeing, in this incident and others.



    “Kurdish Refugee Killed by Arabs in Germany for Smoking during Ramadan,” BasNews, June 2, 2017:

    ERBIL — A group of Arab nationals reportedly killed a Kurdish refugee in Germany’s Oldenburg on Thursday over refusing to fast during Ramadan.

    Social media activists published graphic photographs showing a man covered in blood with emergency personnel attempting to save him.

    A Syrian Kurdish refugee resided in Germany, stated on his Facebook account that a group of Arab men stabbed Abed Hannan Yaghoub to death after they found him smoking cigarette and refusing to fast as it is Ramadan, the Muslim’s holy month during which they avoid eating, drinking and smoking in daytime….

    BasNews has learned that one more suspect is still at large.

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/06/germany-muslim-migrants-kill-another-muslim-migrant-for-smoking-during-ramadan

    Sad it was a Kurdish refugee.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Muslims are Muslims, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you have told us there are no 'good ones'.

      Why the change, "Draft Dodger" ?

      Delete

  27. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Uses Voice Changer To Call Law Firm Suing DNC - Forgets To Disable Caller ID

    There was a hilarious filing with the court today in the lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee - in which Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a defendant...

    Attorney Elizabeth Lee Beck's office received a call just before 5PM on Thursday from an individual who was apparently using a 'robotic and genderless' voice changing device, sniffing around with questions about the DNC lawsuit filed over cheating in the 2016 election. The suit - based on documents released by hacker Guccifer 2.0, claims that the DNC colluded with Sec. Hillary Clinton's campaign 'to perpetrate a fraud on the public.' (see more here)

    After a brief chat with the law firm's secretary, the 'mysterious' voice-masking caller concluded the call with an 'Okey dokey.'

    And whose number showed up when the law firm turned around and googled the number from the caller ID? Why, who else but Debbie Wasserman Schultz' Aventura office!

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-01/debbie-wasserman-schultz-uses-voice-changer-call-law-firm-suing-dnc-forgets-disable-

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Firm involved in DNC lawsuit got ‘voice changer’ call from Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ office
      POSTED AT 5:21 PM ON JUNE 2, 2017 BY JOHN SEXTON

      This is a very strange story. A law firm which represents Bernie Sanders supporters in a class-action lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee (and against former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz) received a call asking about the case. The caller’s voice was disguised, but when the firm checked the number on caller ID, it came up as one of Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ offices. From the court filing:

      At 4:54 p.m. today, an individual called our law office from “305-936-5724.” See attached photo of the caller I.D.

      The caller refused to identify himself/herself, but asked my secretary about the Wilding et al. v. DNC et al. lawsuit. My secretary stated that it sounded like the caller was using a voice changer, because the voice sounded robotic and genderless — along the lines of the voice changers used when television show interviews are kept anonymous. The caller concluded with “Okey dokey,” after my secretary gave the caller public information about the case.

      After the call ended, a simple Google search of the phone number “305-936-5724” shows that it is the phone number for Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ Aventura office….
      The filing contains an image of the caller ID showing the phone number and a link to a contact page for Wasserman Schultz’ office with the same number. So, at least at first glance, it appears the call did come from her office.

      An attorney for the firm told the Observer, “I’ve never encountered a situation quite like this in my practice, but I have seen situations where one party has made unsolicited contact with lawyers on the other side.” He continued, “In such situation, I believe it is a lawyer’s responsibility, as officer of the court, to make prompt notification to the court of any unsolicited communications received, which is what we did in this case.” The Observer story goes on to note that Wasserman Schulz has denied responsibility for the call in a response by her attorneys:

      On June 2, attorneys representing Wasseman Schultz filed a response, denying the call was made from Wasserman Schultz’s office and that they have referred the U.S. Capitol Police to investigate possible fraud in someone trying to impersonate Wasserman Schultz’s office.
      I don’t know anything about spoofing phone numbers but it does strike me as odd that someone would make the effort to disguise their voice electronically and then apparently forget about the caller ID. If you wanted to make an anonymous call, wouldn’t it be better to hide the phone number and talk like a normal person? In this case, the voice changer just seems to draw attention to the call. Also, if you’re trying to pump the law firm receptionist for inside information, the voice changer seems like a bad choice.

      Then again, it never pays to overlook gross incompetence as an explanation. If someone from Wasserman Schulz’ office was going to make an inappropriate call about a lawsuit, this seems about how I would expect it to go.

      http://hotair.com/archives/2017/06/02/firm-involved-dnc-lawsuit-got-voice-changer-call-debbie-wasserman-schultz-office/

      That's really funny. Why not use a phone booth, or a throw-a-way phone from Wal-Mart ? And one would have to be a moron to think a legal secretary is going to give info to anyone.

      Delete
    2. Hey, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, I notice you have not commented upon the US Interests in maintaining the Socialist Regime in Venezuela.

      Why not?

      "US Interests" now control their oil output, is that not a major deal?
      Of much more import than old movies, your enema regime, or the cat pissing on your slippers.

      Must be why you have ignored the facts concerning US foreign policy, focusing upon the "Fake News" that you consider so important.

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

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    1. Really, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, the money interests, those that permeate the Trump Administration, You know, the bankers from Wall Street, from Goldman Sucks that now control Venezuela's oil industry output.

      That is the major asset of Venezuela, don't you know, Robert "Draft dodger" Peterson.
      It is now, thanks to the billions of dollars that "US Interests" have paid to the Socialists who are large and in charge, a US National Interest.

      And will remain so, thanks to the weapons the Socialists can buy, with that Goldman Sucks money.

      The Socialists, now proxies for "US Interests", guarantee their hold on power, in Venezuela.
      They have US on their side.

      Delete

    2. Just as the Wahhabi Muslims in Saudi Arabia, have US on their side.

      Why do US Interests, under the Trump Administration, coincide with those of Socialist Dictators and Radical Muslims?



      Delete

  29. Why do US Interests, under the Trump Administration, coincide with those of Socialist Dictators and Radical Muslims?


    Answer US that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

    ReplyDelete


  30. WASHINGTON — With the Senate set to return to work next week, pessimism is spreading among Republicans over their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

    North Carolina Senator Richard Burr told a local television news station Friday that he sees little hope of the Senate passing a health-care bill this year — comments that come just a week after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he doesn't yet see enough support to do so.


    Senators are far apart on a series of issues and time is running out, leading members to be skeptical of a chance of passage, according to multiple Senate aides.

    "I don't know how we get to 50 (votes) at the moment. But that's the goal," McConnell told Reuters in an interview last week.
    ....



    "I think it's unlikely we will get a health care bill," Burr told WXII 12 on Thursday, adding that the House-passed health care bill arrived to the Senate "dead on arrival."

    "It's not a good plan," he said of the House plan

    ...

    Time is running short for the Senate, however. Any health care bill must pass the Senate and again the House before October 1, when the budget reconciliation they are using for the bill so they only need 50 votes instead of 60, expires. Congress will be out of town for six weeks before October 1, leaving little time for legislative maneuvering.


    The Emasculated President ...

    Went to DC to drain the swamp, got bit in the ass by an alligator, instead.

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