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."

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Trump's Worst Appointment - Jeff Sessions

Jeff Sessions continues to prove he’s Trump’s biggest mistake


Jeff Sessions is a man in search of a banana peel. When he can’t find one to step on, he supplies his own.

Sessions is not a bad man, but he is a bad attorney general, as he demonstrated again Tuesday. 

By writing to Republicans in Congress just hours before he was scheduled to testify that he was open to appointing a special prosecutor to examine former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s email case and the notorious Uranium One deal, Sessions primed the pump for a really big show.
Democrats arrived furious and Republicans gleefully expected an aha moment. Both came away unsatisfied and unhappy.

Unfortunately for Sessions, the old conceit in journalism — that if both sides are angry at your story, you’ve done something right — doesn’t apply to being attorney general. When nobody’s happy, including your boss, you’re failing.
While Democrats and Republicans are angry at Sessions for different reasons, there’s no rule saying both can’t be right.

The litany of things he couldn’t remember or couldn’t discuss seemed calculated to frustrate rather than enlighten. The fact that he thought non-answers to big questions would be good enough reflects how poorly he fits his job.

His faulty judgment has become a calling card, which is why I’ve argued that appointing Sessions was Trump’s biggest personnel mistake; yesterday’s performance did nothing to change my view.

There’s also a new bonus reason: Had Sessions stayed as a senator from Alabama, Roy Moore’s dirty history would have remained a secret instead of a national scandal that could help flip Senate control.

Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from anything related to the 2016 campaign, then tell Trump, led to the enormous cloud over the White House that has distorted the first year of the new presidency.

Consider the alternative. Imagine that Robert Mueller were still in private law practice, and there were no open-ended investigation of everybody connected to the Trump campaign.

Then all of Washington would have to accept the election as settled and deal with Trump as president, not as a piƱata on a short-term lease.

So while Trump erred in naming Sessions, Sessions is responsible for taking the job when he knew he would have to sit out the most important matter before his agency, one that increasingly smells like an extension of the Democrats’ bid to overturn the election.

In that sense, it was especially galling that Sessions refused to answer direct questions about the Russian dossier prepared for Clinton’s campaign, including whether the FBI under Comey paid the author and used the document to request wiretaps on Trump associates. Sessions never gave a reason why he couldn’t answer such important questions.

Then there’s the Uranium One deal, which allowed Russia to gain control of 20 percent of America’s uranium supply. On its face, the 2010 deal made little sense but drew little attention because so little was known of it.

That was by intent, with the role of an FBI informant who blew the whistle on the crimes of an involved Russian company kept secret as the Obama administration, including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, green-lighted the deal.

Soon, a gusher of money flowed the Clintons’ way, with Bill getting a $500,000 speaking gig in Moscow and as much as $145 million going to the Clinton Foundation from parties with a stake in the transaction.

That Mueller was the head of the FBI then, and Rod Rosenstein was the US attorney in Maryland, is not incidental. Both played major roles in a case that now looks like a cover-up, yet they are now deciding the fate of the Trump presidency.
Rosenstein, as Sessions’ deputy, assumed his powers after the recusal and named his friend Mueller special counsel. Neither they nor Comey should be above scrutiny or rules governing conflicts of interest.

In obvious ways, Sessions’ letter saying he was open to a new special counsel for these issues looked like both a tit-for-tat move and a response to Trump’s demands to investigate Clinton.

Those suspicions were raised by Dems, which was both inevitable and pointless. The only test that matters is whether the former administration tried to hide facts that would have killed the uranium deal, whether the former secretary of state gave her approval in exchange for a windfall, and whether the probe of her emails was rigged by the Obama Justice Department.

Yet once again, Sessions quibbled with most of those questions rather than answer them directly, leaving confusion about why he wrote the letter in the first place and whether he actually intends to do anything.

Because of the Moore mess and Trump’s unhappiness with Sessions, the White House has floated the idea that Sessions might want to go back to his Senate seat. The move could simultaneously solve two problems, and though it would be tricky, Sessions’ latest flubs prove it is the best possible outcome.

138 comments:

  1. Has Sessions been signing yearbooks?

    ReplyDelete
  2. If they can't find anyone back there to appoint a Special Council to crucify Hillary let them appointment me to the job of appointing the Special Council.

    I will get the job done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got both the time, and the will.

      Delete
    2. Doug comes to mind.

      I will appoint Doug to be the Special Council to crucify Hillary.

      Delete
    3. Bank fraud specialist Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson wants to appoint a Special Prosecutor.

      The hypocrisy palatable.


      Delete
  3. Jeff Sessions is a man in search of a banana peel.

    Heh, that's funny.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is Jeff Sessions Trump's Gen. George McClellan?
    William F. Marshall
    The old Civil War general had a bad case of "the slows" in using the Union Army. Sessions may be a long lost descendant. More


    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/11/is_jeff_sessions_trumps_gen_george_mcclellan.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, Mr Seaaions does not have a case of the slows.

      He is enforcing the Law.

      A subject you have no experience with. Nor expertise.

      Delete
    2. As a War Criminal and Dead Beat Dad and Liar and Jew hater everyone here would agree you have some legal experience.

      You have experience in violating both the letter and spirit of the law.

      Delete
    3. That you do not have any comprehension of what is entailed in the pursuit of justice is clear.

      Perhaps you should be institutionalized, like your Auntie was.


      160,000 Kurds followed Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson's advice.

      They are now homeless.

      Stand Tall


      Delete
    4. It's true I've never been before a Judge or Jury on anything other than a civil suit that I/my attorney filed myself as plaintiff.

      Now, go back to your mom's basement, psycho shithead.

      Ciao

      Cheers to all you others.

      I didn't realize it was so late/early.

      Jeez, it's after 4am here.

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  5. There is something really wrong with Jack 'rat' Hawkins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your pathologies are showing Robert"Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      You really should seek out a professional mental health provider and get treatment

      Delete
  6. Sessions is not a Dick.

    He's a Eunuch.

    How does he piss?

    ReplyDelete

  7. Mistrial declared in Bob Menendez trial after jury deadlocks


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY WRONG WITH YOU, JACK RAT HAWKINS

      Delete

    2. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
  8. Video:

    Your Honor

    http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/36857409/judge-who-acquitted-saito-of-murder-was-controversial-figure-with-troubled-history

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Rise and Fall of the English Sentence

    The surprising forces influencing the complexity of the language we speak and write.

    BY JULIE SEDIVY
    NOVEMBER 16, 2017

    “[[[When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people [to dissolve the political bands [which have connected them with another]] and [to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station [to which the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them]]], a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires [that they should declare the causes [which impel them to the separation]]].”

    —Declaration of Independence, opening sentence

    An iconic sentence, this. But how did it ever make its way into the world? At 71 words, it is composed of eight separate clauses, each anchored by its own verb, nested within one another in various arrangements. The main clause (a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires …) hangs suspended above a 50-word subordinate clause that must first be unfurled. Like an intricate equation, the sentence exudes a mathematical sophistication, turning its face toward infinitude.

    But that leads to a curious puzzle: Complex sentences are not ubiquitous among the world’s languages. Many languages have little use for them.....


    http://nautil.us/issue/54/the-unspoken/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-english-sentence?utm_source=Nautilus&utm_campaign=70a323b4e0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_11_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc96ec7a9d-70a323b4e0-61378241

    Twitter is destroying our ability to think.

    That, and advertising.

    Of course, here ad folk like Quirk carry a heavy burden in the decline of our language, even though his own personal use of language is often quite eloquent.

    Modern day political ads are another weight dragging our discourse down.

    At least four of our recent Presidents have used "MAGA" for instance, which taken alone certainly carries very little meaning.

    Taken to its extreme this results in the stunted endless and mindless repetitions of someone like Jack Hawkins, of which anyone normal quickly tires.

    Trish certainly tired of Jack. He hectored and pestered and bullied her until she left, one of several here who have done so. Whit, one of the original two creators of this blog, was another. WiO was another. There are others.

    Does anyone know if there is a way to set the computer so that the comments of certain commentators like Jack Hawkins simply do not appear to the reader ?

    If so, please post it.

    It would certainly be a blessing.

    Trish might even still be here.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George Gantz • 6 hours ago
      Thanks for the enlightening article. It provides some deep insights on the complexity of language formation and evolution in relation to cultural context. It makes you wonder where the English language may be headed given the dominant but very new influence of social media. Another open and interesting question is how language affects how one thinks. There is some evidence that excessive use of social media like twitter shortens attention span and reduces the ability to grapple with longer and more challenging texts, but can we say how the language we learn as infants or use regularly as adults influences our conceptual capacities for complex thoughts such as philosophy, theology, russian novelists or writers on Nautilus? (That sentence has 60 word in it - what percentage of readers have the patience to wade through it?)

      Self-reference is a particularly interesting question. We can understand why some languages avoid it, as self-reference introduces the logical phenomenon of logical paradox, a feature explored by Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell and Kurt Godel, among others. What do you do with such statements as "This sentence is false."? The incompleteness theorems of Godel prove that any consistent, self-referential logical system is incomplete -- meaning that there are true statements that cannot be proved. Nor can such a system demonstrate its own consistency. Since we now know that self-reference sits at the heart of consciousness and of quantum physics, then it would seem they are subject to Godellian incompleteness and all that it conveys. I've discussed the implications of this remarkable conclusion in several essays, including "The Empirical Standard of Knowing" and "The Hole at the Center of Creation", both available on Spiral Inquiry. (http://spiralinquiry.org/pu... )

      Delete
    2. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
  10. AL FRANKEN SEX ACCUSATIONS
    KISSED AND GROPED
    NOT FUNNY....DRUDGE


    Did you know Congress has set up a fund for itself to pay off sex harassment claims by the members ?

    At my age I don't startle easily, unless woken suddenly from a snooze, but I was startled when I read this news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
  11. Mystery Aircraft Over USA

    Airliners And F-15s Involved In Bizarre Encounter With Mystery Aircraft Over Oregon

    The FAA, the USAF, and air traffic control recordings all confirm the bizarre event did indeed occur last October.

    BY TYLER ROGOWAYNOVEMBER 15, 2017

    Something quite out of the ordinary occurred in the skies over Oregon on October 25th, 2017. A mystery aircraft was flying in daylight hours among the steady stream of airliners that traverse from south to north, between locales in California and Nevada and cities like Portland and Seattle and beyond. The incident began, at least as best we can tell, around 4:30pm near the California-Oregon border and resulted in multiple pilot eyewitnesses, recorded air traffic control audio, and eventual confirmations from both the FAA and North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) that it did indeed occur.

    The first inklings of the story came to me shortly after the incident occurred from friends of mine in the aviation world. Sparse on details at the time, it sounded like it was probably just another one of the often misconstrued incidents that happen in the skies around the US everyday—ones where aircraft with inoperable radios or transponders stray into areas they shouldn't. And sometimes these occurrences result in local fighter jets paying the wayward aircraft a visit at the direction of NORAD. But days after initially blowing off the incident, it later began to seem that there was indeed more to the story than just than another "NORDO" private aircraft or lackadaisical pilot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I came upon one Reddit thread that was of particular interest that seemed to not only corroborate the strange account, it also added critical details. The post was supposedly penned by a pilot who says they were in the sky over the Northwest in the early evening when the incident occurred, with the post coming shortly after the incident. The entry by Reddit user "Duprass" reads:

      "Just landed in Seattle coming from the bay area. Beginning over Southern Oregon we kept overhearing Seattle Center attempting to track an airplane with no transponder who wasn't talking. A handful of crews were able to track it visually, best they could tell it was between FL350-370 [35,000-37,000 feet], northbound. Nobody close enough to see the type.

      Last we heard it was over the Willamette valley northbound and some fighters, perhaps out of PDX [Portland International Airport], were scrambled to go take a peek. Center had trouble tracking it on primary radar.

      Strange! My theory is they were running drugs to Canada. No news yet, not that I could find.

      **Update 0500z. Called SEA ARTCC. The gentleman I spoke with said that they initially got alerted to the aircraft from Oakland Center who was painting it on primary [illuminating it with radar, but without transponder information]. For whatever reason they couldn't track it themselves on primary, and that's when I overheard them using airline aircraft to track it visually. The last airplane to see it had to descend into Portland and lost sight of it. The fighters were scrambled out of PDX but flew around for a while and did not find it. And that's that."

      Air traffic control audio recorded over at LiveATC.com of Seattle Center Sector 14 is available from the time of the incident and it corroborates much of this information. You can listen to the entire series of exchanges here starting at around the 20 minute mark and through to the first part of the next time interval recording that can be found here.

      The audio is fantastic as it illustrates that there were many communications between various jet crews and Seattle Center whose controllers tried to track the aircraft as it made its way north towards the Willamette Valley. The aircraft was not able to be tracked on radar nor did it show up on crews' digital traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS), but it was clearly there, although never quite close enough to positively identify what its exact type was.

      The back and forth between air traffic control and various airline pilots lasted for roughly half an hour.....

      http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16079/airliners-and-f-15s-involved-in-bizzare-encounter-with-mystery-aircraft-over-oregon

      Delete
    2. The thought flashed before me that it might be Quirk up to something in his ultra-light, but he flies low, not high.

      Delete
    3. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
    4. There's something really wrong with you, rat.

      Delete
    5. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
  12. Watters, on The Five, is pissed, and demanding that the US Taxpayers at least deserve a report identifying on whose behalf these payments are being made from the Sex Harassment Fund.

    This is a very reasonable demand.

    We ought to know the names of those in Congress who have dipped into this fund.

    Better yet, we ought demand the Sex Harassment Fund be de-funded entirely.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My lawyer used to tell me:

      Just never vote for an incumbent, Bob, never vote for an incumbent

      :)

      Delete
    2. William F. Buckley used to say he'd just as soon be ruled by the first 500 names in any phone book as by Congress.

      Delete
    3. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
    4. There's something really wrong with you, rat.

      Delete
    5. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete
  13. A fair deal would be to kick both Moore, if he should win, and Franken out of the Senate.

    It's takes 2/3rds of the Senate to do it, I have read, and hasn't been done in ages, but sounds like a basically fair solution to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Al Frankin says:

      I feel disgusted with myself

      Delete
    2. .

      :o)

      A fair deal?

      Boy, did you just fall off the cabbage truck?

      Moore's not going anywhere if he wins. I wouldn't imagine he can be impeached for things he did before he came to Congress. And while the Senate can choose to not seat him (an insult Alabama in the process), how likely is that to happen? Is McConnell going to give up half of the slim 2 vote majority he has right now in order to keep Moore out? I would be surprised.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Besides, it might not be an issue.

      I just saw a report on a poll that shows Moore starting to slide in Alabama. Women seem to be those leading the turn.

      .

      Delete
    4. AH hem, I didn't say it would happen, I said it would be a fair deal.

      And, the Senate cannot choose not to seat him.

      They have to seat him.

      Then, after they seat him, they can kick him out by a 2/3rds vote.

      What is the name of the cabbage trucking company you work for ?

      Qabbage Trucking, LLC ?

      Trucking cabbage for the greater Detroit area ?

      Delete
    5. The governor of Alabama would name Moore's replacement, if elected, seated and expelled.

      No loss of a seat.

      Losing the election is what will set the GPP back in the Senate.

      Alabama' GOP, in not taking Mr Trump's recommendation of selecting Luther Strange will now cost the GOP a Senate seat.

      Just who is sabotaging the Trump Presidency?

      Delete
    6. You are correct.

      Moore might lose.

      Then Alabama will be represented by a man who favors abortion up to the moment of birth.

      The people of Alabama do not have great choices in this election.

      Delete
    7. I was going to say regarding Franken - "I feel disgusted with myself" - might make a great campaign slogan for Franken.

      After all, it is a wonderfully honest comment and how often are politicians so honest about themselves ?

      This is the kind of forthrightness needed in the greatest deliberative body in the world.

      Delete
    8. Franken, if elected again, could go ahead and try to get rid of the Congressional Sex Molestation Allegation Reimbursement Fund of which we have recently become aware, thus earning some redemption with the Lord, if not the Ladies.

      This country certainly seems totally fucked up at times.

      A slush hush fund for Congressional sex criminals..... jjjjeeeeesUS CHRIST !

      Never vote for an incumbent.

      Delete
  14. The bombshell police report was made a year before Stallone's half-sister Toni-Ann Filiti, threatened him with a lawsuit in 1987, alleging that Stallone raped her and sexually assaulted her for years.

    Although court documents show the actor 'vigorously denied and continues to deny and dispute all claims of wrongdoing', he agreed to give Filiti a lump sum of $2 million, as well as $16,666 a month for the rest of her life.

    His half-sister, whose own mother claimed she was a drug addict, died in 2012 after a battle with lung cancer.

    ReplyDelete


  15. Keystone oil pipeline leaks in South Dakota, as Nebraska weighs XL


    TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) shut part of its Keystone oil pipeline system after a 5,000-barrel leak in South Dakota, the company said on Thursday, four days before neighboring Nebraska was set to decide on the company’s long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline.

    Opponents of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline seized on the spill, saying it highlighted the risks posed by the XL project - which has become a symbol for environmentalists of fossil-fuel pollution and global warming



    ReplyDelete
  16. Tensions have been rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Saudi government blamed Iran for a foiled missile attack near Riyadh on November 4.

    The rocket was fired from neighboring Yemen and was heading towards the Saudi capital before it was shot down.

    ...

    'Today confrontation is the name of the game,' Joseph A. Kechichian, a scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, told the New York Times.

    'This young man, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is not willing to roll over and play dead. If you challenge him, he is saying, he is going to respond.'

    ReplyDelete
  17. Another racist Trump appointee has been outed.




    ADMINISTRATION
    November 16, 2017 - 06:12 PM EST
    DHS official resigns over past racial remarks

    DHS official resigns over past racial remarks
    BY JOHN BOWDEN 3,115
    TWEET SHARE MORE
    The Rev. Jamie Johnson, director of the Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), resigned Thursday night after a CNN report revealed racially disparaging remarks he made during past talk radio appearances.

    In a statement from acting DHS press secretary Tyler Houlton, the agency confirmed that acting Secretary Elaine Duke had accepted Johnson's resignation and condemned his past remarks.

    "His comments made prior to joining the Department of Homeland Security clearly do not reflect the values of DHS and the administration. The Department thanks him for his recent work assisting disaster victims and the interfaith community," Houlton said
    ...

    ... Johnson had made comments disparaging African-Americans and Muslims during several talk radio appearances prior to his April appointment. The radio show appearances ranged from 2008 to 2016.

    On one show, Johnson blamed black Americans for turning "major cities into slums because of laziness, drug use and sexual promiscuity."





    ReplyDelete
  18. .

    Trump is proposing lifting the ban on trophy ivory coming back into this country by hunters, need I say, like his sons.

    Is there anyone more despicable than this man?

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is truly disgusting.

      The answer to your question is:

      Yes, there are people more despicable than The Donald.

      Please do not ask me to name names. I would be typing deep into the night. I can start with Bob Mugabe though.

      Trophies from elephant hunts in Zimbabwe were banned in the U.S. ...
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../trophies-from-elephant-hunts-in-zimbabwe-were-ba...
      14 hours ago - The change applies to elephants shot in Zimbabwe on or after Jan. ... having previously banned it because of several decades of sharp decline.

      African Elephant Numbers Plummet 30 Percent, Great Elephant ...
      https://news.nationalgeographic.com/.../wildlife-african-elephants-population-decrease...
      Aug 31, 2016 - Overall, Zimbabwe's population has dropped 10 percent since 2005. Zambia recorded 20,839 elephants, an 11 percent decline during the past decade. ... The bodies of elephants killed by poachers are left behind in Bouba Ndjidah National Park, in Cameroon.

      Is Trophy Hunting Helping Save African Elephants? - Latest Stories
      https://news.nationalgeographic.com/.../151715-conservation-trophy-hunting-elephan...
      Nov 17, 2015 - Sport hunting in Zimbabwe is big business, with hunters such as David ... Mozambique's elephants declined from an estimated 20,000 to ...

      African elephant numbers plummet during 'worst decline in 25 years ...
      https://www.theguardian.com › Environment › Wildlife
      Sep 25, 2016 - Poaching drives huge 30% decline in Africa's savannah elephants. ... It is the first time in 25 years that the IUCN's African Elephant Status report has reported a continental decline in numbers, with the group attributing the losses in large part to a sharp rise in poaching.

      Elephants at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park in crisis? - Travel ...
      https://travelafricamag.com › Highlights › Destinations
      Jan 14, 2016 - With elephant numbers across Africa declining rapidly under the onslaught of ivory poachers, one national park faces an entirely different ...

      Delete
    2. The Republican Party, the symbol of which is the elephant, should immediately pass legislation reimposing the ban.

      They would be joined by many Democrats, and the legislation could be veto proof.

      This is doable.

      Write your Congressional representatives immediately.

      (My niece was extremely pleased when I informed her that the symbol of the Republican Party was the elephant)

      Delete
    3. The noble Indian elephant is under great pressure as well.

      Elephas maximus (Asian Elephant, Indian Elephant) - IUCN Red List
      www.iucnredlist.org/details/7140/0
      In central India, highly fragmented elephant populations are found in the ..... and fecundity and recruitment may decline (Sukumar et al., 1998; Sukumar, 2003).
      ‎Assessment Information · ‎Geographic Range · ‎Population · ‎Habitat and Ecology

      Asian Elephants: Threats and Solutions
      https://www.amnh.org/.../bio/...elephants.../asian-elephants-threats-and-solutions/
      ... of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and almost entirely from China. ... Habitat fragmentation also divides elephant populations into small, isolated ... to the decline of African elephants than Asian ones over the last few decades.

      Elephant Poaching Statistics – Poaching Facts
      www.poachingfacts.com/poaching-statistics/elephant-poaching-statistics/
      Legal and illegal hunting has taken a great toll on India's elephant populations over the past two centuries. However the Asian elephant's declining numbers can ...

      Delete
    4. Has Trump lifted the ban, or is he just proposing to do so ?

      Is this ban legislation, or Executive Branch policy ?

      In either case, I think the great majority of Americans would favor the ban.

      This is doable.

      Write/call your Congressional delegation.

      Delete
    5. Dumb ass ...

      Why do you always comment on things you know nothing about?

      Another Obama era regulation is in the ash bin of history.

      The people have already spoken, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.


      https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/16/564712084/u-s-lifts-ban-on-importing-elephant-trophies-from-zimbabwe-and-zambia

      Delete
    6. US to allow imports of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe, Zambia

      US to allow some imports of elephant trophies
      Source: CNN

      VIDEO
      US to allow some imports of elephant trophies 01:48
      (CNN)US authorities will remove restrictions on importing African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

      That means Americans will soon be able to hunt the endangered big game, an activity that garnered worldwide attention when a Minnesota dentist took Cecil, perhaps the world's most famous lion, near a wildlife park in Zimbabwe.

      A US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said the move will allow the two African countries to include US sport hunting as part of their management plans for the elephants and allow them to put "much-needed revenue back into conservation."

      Critics, however, note the restrictions were created by the Obama administration in 2014 because the African elephant population had dropped. The animals are listed in the US Endangered Species Act, which requires the US government to protect endangered species in other countries.

      "We can't control what happens in foreign countries, but what we can control is a restriction on imports on parts of the animals," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
      The number of elephants in the wild plummeted 30% overall between 2007 and 2014, despite large scale conservation efforts. In some places it has dropped more than 75% due to ivory poaching.
      In 2016, there were just over 350,000 elephants still alive in the wild, down from millions in the early 20th Century......

      http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/politics/elephant-trophies-us-restrictions-zimbabwe-zambia/index.html

      The assholes that want to do this are claiming the money raised will go to elephant restoration and improve the elephant numbers.

      If you believe this you are an idiot.

      By the way, there is nothing easier than shooting an elephant.

      It is like shooting a barn.

      There is absolutely no sport or skill involved in it.

      Only a true asshole would shoot an elephant these days.

      Delete
    7. There is something really wrong with you, rat.

      Delete
    8. And I will tell you what is wrong with you -

      1) You are a self confessed war criminal
      2) You are a dead beat dad.
      3) You are a liar.
      4) You are an anti-semitic asshole of the first order.
      5) You hector and pester people until many finally leave the blog, just as you did me. Whit an WiO are just two other examples.

      Go back to your rat sewer.

      Delete
    9. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, your pathologies are showing

      A mental health professional may be able to help you, probably can't ...
      But don't give up hope

      Delete

  19. Fox News poll: Obama has higher favorability in Alabama than Trump

    The poll, conducted from Monday to Wednesday and released Thursday, shows Obama with a 52 percent favorability rating in the state, compared to Trump’s 49 percent
    ...

    Trump’s job approval rating in the poll was listed at 52 percent, while 47 percent disapprove of his job performance.

    The same poll showed Democrat Doug Jones leading Republican Roy Moore by 8 points in the Alabama Senate race in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Moore.


    It is a Faux News poll, could well be "fake news" ... but probably not.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The crown prince told the Guardian last month that he wished to “return Saudi Arabia to moderate Islam”, breaking the alliance between Wahhabi clerics and the country’s ruling elite.

    He aimed to end the kingdom’s near total dependence on oil by sweeping away the resistance to change that inhibited the development of a more diverse and open economy.

    Seventy per cent of Saudi Arabia’s population are under the age of 30. Over the next decade at least 5 million Saudis are likely to enter the workforce, posing an enormous problem for a government that does not currently have jobs to offer them.

    The government is planning a new economic zone to be established on 300 miles of the Red Sea coast, in a tourist area that has already been earmarked as a liberal hub akin to Dubai, where male and female bathers are free to mingle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In addition to being handsome this crown prince is brave.

      May Allah bless his endeavors, and guide him along a Judeo/Christian path.

      Delete
    2. I suspect he may have an English mistress or two. May Allah bless them, if they exist, and help them guide the crown prince along a Judeo/Christian/Hindu/Buddhist path.

      Delete
    3. Now now bobbie don't be getting your little wiener in tizzy over that handsome Muzzie hottie.

      You get the itch you best come over to the house. You know your Uncle Hank will scratch it for you

      Delete
    4. There is something really wrong with you, rat.

      Delete
  21. Competing in a bass fishing tournament two years ago, Todd Steele cast his rod from his 21-foot motorboat — unaware that he was being poisoned.

    A thick, green scum coated western Lake Erie. And Steele, a semipro angler, was sickened by it.

    ...

    The AP’s findings underscore what many experts consider a fatal flaw in government policy: Instead of ordering agriculture to stem the flood of nutrients, regulators seek voluntary cooperation, an approach not afforded other big polluters.

    ...

    Do the anti-pollution measures subsidized by the government to the tune of billions of dollars actually work?

    Agriculture Department studies of selected watersheds, based largely on farmer surveys and computer models, credit them with dramatic cutbacks in runoff. One found nitrogen flows from croplands in the Mississippi River watershed to the Gulf of Mexico would be 28 percent higher without those steps being taken.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Well, no point in talking about government subsidies. Trump has ordered them all cut. He's gutted the EPA to the same extent as the state department, over 30%. He's reversed every health and safety rule Obama put in place including those on the coal industry.

      Now, the coal worker are faced with a good news/bad news situation. Sure, they haven't gotten all those jobs Trump promised but while that is a bad thing in and of itself, at least the good thing is that being unemployed means they won't be dying of black lung.

      .

      Delete
  22. https://www.google.com/search?q=elephant+umbrella+stand&rlz=1CAACAO_enUS720US720&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjulbCj0MTXAhXIilQKHeHEBAIQ7AkIxwE&biw=1200&bih=536#imgrc=zjb2DbYSI6OsiM:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had Indian neighbors for a while back ~1980 that elephant stuff like that. I remember coffee table legs and some other stuff.

      Delete
  23. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission next month is planning a vote to kill Obama-era rules demanding fair treatment of web traffic and may decide to vacate the regulations altogether, according to people familiar with the plans.

    ...

    News of the December vote drew immediate reactions.

    “Abandoning bipartisan net neutrality principles threatens to kill the streaming revolution and will hurt businesses, large and small, who are migrating to the cloud at record speeds,” said Chip Pickering, chief executive officer of the Incompas trade group with members including online shopping giant Amazon.com Inc. and video streamer Netflix Inc.

    ...

    Supporters of the rules say they are needed to keep network owners from unfairly squelching rivals and discouraging web startups. Critics say the rules discourage investment while exposing companies to a threat of heavier regulation including pricing mandates, and that marketplace competition will discipline broadband providers.

    ReplyDelete

  24. Parasites They’d Never Seen Before Inside The North Korean Soldier Who Bolted At The DMZ


    In a hail of gunfire, a bold North Korean soldier ran into South Korea Monday at the Joint Security Area at the DMZ. His comrades fired around 40 rounds, five of which hit the defector. He has undergone multiple surgeries to remove the bullets and address infection. The soldier remains unconscious and is on life support in the intensive care unit at a South Korean medical facility, where he is being treated by renowned trauma surgeon Dr. Lee Kook-jong.

    One issue in particular was the presence of several large parasites, the longest of which was 10.5 inches, in the man’s intestines. The parasites complicated the surgery to remove the bullets from the man’s abdomen, the Chosun Ilbo reports.

    “An incredible amount of parasites was found in the stomach of the soldier from the JSA, so we are having trouble treating him,” Lee told reporters. “We’ve never seen anything like it in a Korean person before, and it can bring about tremendous complications and make a prognosis difficult.” The worms were reportedly all inside the man’s small intestine as well.


    “We discovered parasites that are simply not found in people in this country,” he explained, “I haven’t seen them in my 20 years as a doctor except in textbooks.” The parasites were reportedly roundworms, which are common in developing countries like North Korea, where crops are fertilized with human feces.

    “In South Korea, no matter how poor you are, preventive measures are offered so that no such parasites can exist,” he added. North Korean soldiers are believed to be extremely malnourished. It is unclear what North Korean soldiers are eating or the quality of the supplies provided. The discovery of parasites in the man’s gut provides insight into the current state and condition of North Korean troops.


    ReplyDelete
  25. Laura Ingraham is doing a piece about marijuana.

    One of her guests, a black scholar - Horace Cooper - is saying how academic scores are dropping, SAT scores dropping, overall success in life dropping....

    It's the reason Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party candidate for Prez., couldn't identify Allepo when that subject was brought up - "What is an allepo ?" he asked - here's blank pot brained Gary:

    YouTube - what is an allepo ?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOT_BoGpCn4

    Only fools would have voted for this sad cartoon of a man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This does not include Sam who probably didn't see the interview, being in Australia.

      Delete
    2. Even Joe Scarborough at MSMBC was taken aback by brain dead Gary Johnson.

      see video above

      Delete
    3. Personal life[edit]
      Ingraham has previously dated liberal broadcaster Keith Olbermann[35] and former New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli.[36] In April 2005, she announced her engagement to Chicago businessman James V. Reyes, and that she had undergone breast cancer surgery. In May 2005, Ingraham told listeners that her engagement to Reyes was canceled, citing issues regarding her diagnosis with breast cancer.[37]

      She is a convert to Roman Catholicism.[38] She has studied the Russian language[39].

      In May 2008, Ingraham adopted a young girl from Guatemala, whom she has named Maria Caroline.[40] In July 2009 she adopted a 13-month-old boy, Michael Dmitri, and two years later in June 2011 she announced the adoption of her third child, 13-month-old Nikolai Peter. Both of the boys were from Russia.[41]


      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingraham

      Delete
    4. In May 2008, Ingraham adopted a young girl from Guatemala

      Laura is a Live Beat Mom. She adopts kids, and cares for them. Dead Beat Dads abandon their kids and don't care for them.

      Delete
    5. I saw the interview and still voted for him. More a protest vote than anything. I wasn't going to vote for Clinton or Trump. I could've voted for the Greens I s'pose.

      You think Sarah 'Dumbfuck' Palin is Einstein.

      Delete
    6. .

      I did vote for the Greens but that didn't work out too well either.

      I voted for Jill Stein because I agreed with her foreign policy which was similar to what Trump said his was. Of course, I thought she might have meant what she said and I knew Trump was full of it.

      On the economic side, Jill's ideas were batshit crazy; but, having no friends on either side of the aisle she couldn't get any of them passed into law any way so she couldn't really do any harm.

      In voting for her, I smugly took solace in the fact that I voted for neither Trump nor Hillary, well at least until the next day when she filed for a recount with the apparent sole reason of keeping herself in the headlines (well that and costing the states involved a lot of money) once again proving that old truism, they are all dicks.

      Of course, you have dicks and then again you have DICKS.

      .

      Delete
    7. When voting, it's an excellent idea you have there to be able to smugly take solace in something.

      Even 24 hours of smug solace is something real, even if lacking any monetary value.

      May I call you Smugly from time to time ?

      Delete
    8. May I call you Snuggly Smugly, Quirkie ?

      I think it's cute, like you.

      Delete
    9. I was swept off my feet by Sarah, Sam.

      I admit it.

      Delete
    10. She's got a nice set of jugs. That's about it.

      Delete
  26. The Swedes in Minnesota were idiots, on the level of their brothers and sisters in Sweden letting moslems into their country, when they elected Al Frankenstein.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jeff Ross has a hard time keeping his immigration policies straight.

    Compare these two comments made within a week of each other on Comedy Central.

    Here’s Ross talking to Trevor Noah about immigration on “The Daily Show.” Noah said the U.S. cannot have open borders despite liberals favoring amnesty-style policies. Ross didn’t appear to disagree.

    “We do need to look at border security. We need to find a more dignified way for people to come to America” Ross told “The Daily Show” host.

    On the Nov. 16 premiere of “Jeff Ross Roasts the Border: Live from Brownsville, Texas,” the veteran comic reverses course, 180 style.

    Ross says as soon as illegal immigrants step foot in American “they are us.” And, when discussing which illegal immigrants should be allowed in the country he responded, without hesitation:

    “All of them.”

    ReplyDelete
  28. November 16, 2017
    How Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch handed Jeff Sessions a huge present
    By Thomas Lifson

    Politics, it is often said, is hardball. But sometimes even Major League Baseball pitchers lob a slow floater right over the plate, all but offering the other team for a home run for the taking. Something metaphorically like that sort of pitch has come AG Jeff Sessions’s way, thanks to a Department of Justice Inspector General’s Report.

    Richard Pollock of the Daily Caller News Foundation spotted it:


    More than 100,000 convicted felons or other “prohibited persons” tried to buy guns each year during President Barack Obama’s administration by lying on their applications, but the Justice Department only considered prosecuting about 30 to 40 people each year, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.

    The Obama administration may have publicly aligned itself with anti-gun activists, but it consistently turned a blind eye to prosecute known criminals who tried to buy guns.

    A June 2016 Justice Department Inspector General’s report revealed that between 2008 and 2015 the U.S. Attorneys office considered prosecuting “less than 32 people per year” for lying on form 4473, the federal application to buy guns. (snip)

    “People could do what is called, ‘lie and buy,'” explained Lawrence Keane, a senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a nonprofit organization that represents gun manufacturers.

    “But very infrequently is anyone ever prosecuted. What’s the point of making it a crime if you don’t enforce it?” he asked in an interview with TheDCNF.

    There is a simple, if cynical, answer to Keane’s question:

    If the law were properly enforced, there would be fewer incidents of what the gun grabbers call “gun violence.” Fewer incidents to use as propaganda for demanding even more draconian laws limiting the access of law-abiding citizens to firearms through new laws.......

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/11/how_eric_holder_and_loretta_lynch_handed_jeff_sessions_a_huge_present.html#ixzz4yfLqWj3z

    ReplyDelete
  29. A bipartisan group of US senators announced a bill Thursday to improve reporting in the instant background system called the “Fix NICS Act of 2017,” in the wake of the Texas mass shooting perpetrated by a person whose violent criminal record should have prevented him from buying guns.

    Two Senate sources told CNN on Wednesday that a bipartisan group of senators were likely to introduce legislation to ensure states and the federal government upload required background check information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

    ReplyDelete
  30. MbS

    November 17, 2017
    A Game-Changer in the House of Saud?
    By Alex Alexiev

    The dramatic events in Saudi Arabia of the past few days portend a game change in the Middle East not seen in decades. Predictably, the mainstream media, desperate as they are to find something, anything to blame on President Trump, have completely missed it. Instead, they have babbled about the market implications of the arrests of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Co., Saudi Arabia ‘emerging’ as an arms manufacturer, conflict with Hezbollah, palace intrigue, etc. etc. Few have put their finger on the actual events – a palace revolution in Riyadh that could change the Middle East in profound and possibly positive ways. For the logic of what’s taking place in the House of Saud is a revolt against the medieval obscurantism that has been the lifeblood of radical Islam and indeed terrorism since the middle of the 20th century. There is no guarantee that it will succeed, for the forces arrayed against it are formidable, but fundamentally, as with the demise of any long-lasting obscurantism, the more appropriate question to ask is: ‘What took so long?’

    To seasoned observers, what is taking place in Riyadh is not a complete surprise and some inkling of changing attitudes was on hand as far back as the Arab Spring in 2011, when the Saudis appeared to end their longtime support of the Muslim Brotherhood, and take the side of the military in Egypt, quite unlike the Obama administration which remained wedded to the myth that the MB was a ‘moderate’ organization. Three years later, the UAE declared 82 Islamic organizations, including two prominent American ones (CAIR and MAS) long supported by the Saudis, to be terrorist and this past summer came the break with Qatar for its support of radical jihadists in Syria and elsewhere.


    Much more important are the unmistakable signs that the new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, is turning on the reactionary Wahhabi establishment that has long supported radical Islam and terrorism. While his ostensible drive against corruption has received much ink, it has largely escaped notice that caught in the ‘corruption’ purge were senior Wahhabi clerics like Salman al-Awdah, Awad al-Qarni and others. And there is a good reason for their detention, if MbS is serious about “preventing extremism” and “crimes under the name of Islam,” as he has said time and again. It is a fact that the belief system of the dominant Wahhabi ulema is ideologically indistinguishable from that of the ISIS zealots. As an example of the kind of pushback he can expect, no less a figure that the former imam of the key Mecca mosque, Adel al-Kibani, continues to argue publicly that ISIS draws it inspiration from Saudi salafism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nonetheless, MbS has continued and accelerated his assault on Wahhabism. Not only has he promised to do away with the Wahhabi ban on women driving and reined in the religious police, but he has now forced the ‘Shura Council’ a hardline Wahhabi ulema outfit, heretofore, to approve an anti-hate law, apart from setting up a “Hadith Complex” in Medina, tasked with “monitoring interpretations of Islamic teachings used to justify violence or terrorism.”

      None of this would be especially noteworthy, had it not been for the fact that Saudi Arabia had become the main financier and ideological ally of Islamic radicalism for more than 50 years. Wahhabism had allied itself with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood after Gamal Abdel Nasser cracked down on it in the 1960s and began exporting and financing the radical MB ideology of Sayyid Qutb and Wahhabism in the West. As early as the early 1960s, Saudi money and MB functionaries started setting up extremist Muslim Student Associations (MSA) in Europe and the U.S.A. Virtually all radical Islamist organizations existing today stem from those MSAs. By 2002, according to Saudi figures, Riyadh had spent $80 billion in sponsoring Islamic extremism throughout the West and in places like Pakistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. Numerous congressional hearings testify that the U.S. government was well aware of the subversive role played by the Saudis, but neither the George W. Bush administration, nor the Obama administrations did anything about it.

      That’s why the Saudi about-face we may be observing is so crucially important. Apart from the fundamental change inside the Kingdom it portends, it may auger a de facto alliance between the Sunni Arabs, America and Israel against Iran’s proxies, first and foremost, the Hezbollah terrorists. If so, this is one game changer that can contribute much to U.S. security.

      Alex Alexiev is chairman of the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies (cbbss.org) and editor of bulgariaanalytica.org.



      http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/11/a_gamechanger_in_the_house_of_saud.html#ixzz4yfmzZP90

      Delete
    2. The entire piece is pure conjecture

      ... we may be observing ...
      ... or may be not.

      A lot of words ... to say nothing

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to say we ought to support Israel, the Kurds, and el-Sisi in Egypt.

      Now I add MbS.

      Delete
    2. THE NEXT BIG MIDDLE EASTERN WAR

      Saudi Arabia vs. Iran

      November 17, 2017 Daniel Greenfield

      The Syrian Civil War killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Its ripple effects brought terror to Europe and dragged the United States into the fighting. And it’s just the appetizer for the coming war.

      The real war is the one that the Saudis and the Iranians have been maneuvering toward for years. Those maneuvers included everything from Iran’s nuke deal, the fighting in Yemen, the Syrian Civil War, the Iraqi suppression of Kurdish independence, the rise of ISIS, and the Qatari embargo.

      The death toll from the buildup to the Sunni-Shiite regional war is approaching a million. And the war hasn’t even begun yet. It may never become an actual war as we understand it. It’s possible that there will be a hundred little wars exploding across the region. These wars will tear apart more of the region and the talking heads on television will blame global warming or Israeli settlements.


      Those progressive excuses make much more sense to the media than an Islamic religious war.

      And it will almost certainly drag us in.

      Obama’s policies lit the fuse. The withdrawal from Iraq, the Arab Spring, the Iranian Nuke deal and the alliance with the Shiite regime in Baghdad did a great deal to increase Iranian power. When the United States left Iraq, Iran took control. The Arab Spring tore apart the region. And Iran used the opportunity to expand its power over Yemen, Iraq and Syria. The nuke deal signaled that Obama wouldn’t do anything to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power or a regional power. And by outsourcing the fight against ISIS to Shiite terrorist militias, Obama allowed Iran to consolidate control over Iraq and Syria.

      The Saudis and the Iranians are both assembling their coalitions. And they’re coloring outside the lines. Qatar’s billionaire Sunni Islamists are aligned with Iran. That’s why the Saudis slapped an embargo on the terror state. Meanwhile Israel is loosely aligned with the Saudis. That may sound strange, but Israel’s biggest threats, from Iran’s nukes to Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, can be traced back to Tehran.

      The Saudis are no slouches when it comes to funding Islamic terrorists. But Qatar’s fellow Sunni oil tyrannies looked at the way that its allies, the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda variants, were tearing apart entire countries, and decided that the little terror state had become too powerful and dangerous.

      Iran and Qatar aggressively expanded their influence by using Islamist militias to tear down and take over countries. And between them, the two Islamic terror states were transforming the Middle East.

      Delete
    3. And so the Muslim Brotherhood’s coup in Egypt was met with another coup. The Saudis aren’t just hammering Iran’s Shiite Houthi militias in Yemen, they’re also helping Egypt fight Islamists in Libya. The current alignment puts Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood and certain Islamist militias in the same corner.

      Alliances in the Middle East are a turbulent mix of friendships and enmities. It’s why the latest Osama bin Laden documents confirm Al Qaeda’s relationship with Iran. Or why the UAE turned on Hamas and is suddenly friendly to Israel. But such arrangements are typically contextual and inconsistent.

      Iran and Al Qaeda have a loose alliance against America, but Osama bin Laden couldn’t stop Al Qaeda in Iraq from massacring Shiites because the two flavors of Al Qaeda had different contexts and short term goals. Osama bin Laden shared common enemies with Iran, but the future ISIS wanted an Iraqi civil war. And so began the split between the two Al Qaedas.

      That’s why it can be dangerous to read too much into these momentary alignments even as alliances and enmities are consolidating ahead of a possible regional war. And we’re already in the thick of it.

      Iran and Qatar enjoy the support of the left. The Saudi-UAE grouping has some allies on the right. That’s why the media coverage of the Qatari embargo, Iran’s nukes, and the conflicts in Yemen and Egypt, almost universally echo Qatari and Iranian propaganda.

      Obama aligned America with Iran and Qatar. The Arab Spring, Benghazi and the recent Iraqi attacks on the Kurds were all consequences of that disastrous policy. While Trump is hostile to Iran and Qatar, key foreign policy figures in his administration have been sending mixed signals on Iran’s nukes, the Qatari embargo and the Yemeni campaign. Some of this is due to the influence of Obama holdovers.

      As the conflict worsens, the pressure on the United States will grow. Iran continues to escalate the violence. And the Qataris are using their leftist political allies to influence our foreign policy.

      Delete
    4. The crisis has been in the making since Jimmy Carter turned over Iran to Shiite terrorists. Obama just added Iraq and Yemen to the expanding Shiite empire in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. And the Saudis were not about to ignore an Iranian takeover of Yemen in their own backyard.

      But the conflict also predates Obama, Carter and America. The Sunni-Shiite split is ancient. And the patchwork of ethnic and religious differences within Islam carries its own ugly history of violence.

      Middle Eastern wars emerge from a combination of ancient tensions and modern policies. The tensions are the dynamite, but the modern policies light the fuse. The manifest destiny of Islam, its violent expansionism and throbbing xenophobia, are the dynamite. And the dynamite will always be there. But how, where and when it goes off can be shaped by our foreign policy. We could avert the war by making it clear that Iran’s free pass is over. But instead we’re once again sending all the wrong signals.

      Our foreign policy assumes that peace is the natural condition of mankind. But in the Islamic realms of the Middle East, conflict is the natural condition. And the more we try to reform the Middle East, the more explosive it becomes. Instead of managing the inevitable conflicts, we’ve tried to resolve them.

      The instinct in Washington D.C. is to find a non-violent resolution. But that may not be realistic.

      The Shiite coalition gained enormously during the Obama years. And as it continues to press its advantage, it is unrealistic to expect the Sunni powers in the region to accept that. Iran’s expansionism in Yemen is a threat to the Saudis. And if the conflict truly begins anywhere, it will probably be Yemen.

      Iran will inevitably try to drag Israel into it. When Muslims fight Muslims, they need to pretend that they’re really fighting non-Muslims. That’s why Saddam tried to drag Israel into the Gulf War. Meanwhile the fighting in Libya continues. The Muslim Brotherhood hasn’t given up on Egypt. The Sunnis and Shiites will clash again in Iraq. Lebanon is destabilizing. And there’s always Bahrain.

      A regional war won’t look anything like a world war. Instead all the individual conflicts, the sore points and simmering tensions will flare up around the same time. Iran will invest more of its forces into these conflicts. The Saudis and Egyptians will hit harder. Israel will clash with Hezbollah. There will be riots, massacres and terrorist attacks across the region. And eventually the actual powers will collide.

      https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268375/next-big-middle-eastern-war-daniel-greenfield

      Delete
    5. .

      The crisis has been in the making since Jimmy Carter turned over Iran to Shiite terrorists. Obama just added Iraq and Yemen to the expanding Shiite empire in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. And the Saudis were not about to ignore an Iranian takeover of Yemen in their own backyard.

      No. The crisis began when the CIA led a coup that deposed a democratically elected government and installed the Shah.

      .

      Delete

  32. Pentagon Says It's Staying In Syria, Even Though ISIS Appears Defeated


    Little wonder the US is seen as the driving force of Western Imperialism

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/11/17/564620907/pentagon-says-its-staying-in-syria-even-though-isis-appears-defeated

      Delete
    2. Dumb. Western imperialism died long ago. Try Russia/Iran imperialism instead.Even that is a stretch. Syria hardly exists now.

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

      Delete
    4. When did the Congress authorize the occupation of Syria?

      ISIL is defeated, the 13SEP01 AUMF no longer is a legal rationale for a US military presence

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

      Delete
    6. .

      I was referring to the AUMF.

      Obviously, US imperialism is rampant.

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Only the uninformed or the foolish could deny it...

      im·pe·ri·al·ism
      [imĖˆpirēəĖŒlizəm]

      NOUN
      a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force


      .

      Delete
    8. .

      Hungary accuses US of meddling in election"

      Backlash against State Department for planning to fund media projects.

      ---------------

      BUDAPEST — The Hungarian government on Thursday accused the U.S. State Department of interfering in the country’s election campaign.

      The Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned the top American diplomat in Budapest, chargĆ© d’affaires David Kostelancik, after the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announced on November 7 that it would provide up to $700,000 “for projects that increase citizens’ access to objective information about domestic and global issues in Hungary"...


      -------------

      “We think this is a very strange thing, we consider it an unusual step among allies,” JĆ”nos LĆ”zĆ”r, OrbĆ”n’s chief of staff, said at a press conference Thursday, adding that the State Department’s funding plans amount to “interference in the election campaign.”

      “It is unclear what the U.S. State Department’s goal is,” he added...


      .

      Delete
    9. That a really dumb meager meaningless definition of imperialism, Quirk.

      Delete
    10. .

      I went with the simplest I could find in deference to you.

      .

      Delete
  33. It wasn't the Navy, it was Quirk in his Ultra-Light The Sky High Scribbler of Dreams trying to impress his harem -

    http://www.wtsp.com/news/graphic-obscene-skydrawings-spotted-in-okanogan-co/492521457

    ReplyDelete
  34. Al Franken may pull Roy Moore's two chestnuts out of the fire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the way, the 'culture' of Alabama when Roy Moore was growing up had similarities to that of Jane Austin's England.

      Older men chasing after quite younger women wasn't that big a thing.

      Delete
    2. This 'culture' hangs on among some older farts even in odd places like the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan.

      Delete
    3. .

      BobFri Nov 17, 12:22:00 PM EST
      By the way, the 'culture' of Alabama when Roy Moore was growing up had similarities to that of Jane Austin's England.


      So what?

      .

      Delete
    4. only in b00bies world are Moore's and Franken's behavior equivalent. For b00bie Moore's culture excuses his behavior and, as we know, he extends the same leniency to Muslims.

      Delete
    5. Al Franken grabs women's breast when they are sleep, Ash.

      I have no idea what Moore did 40 years ago.

      I find the timing really odd.

      I have zero confidence anyone who hires Gloria Allred - actually it's the other way round - might say.

      Quirk says "so what" ?

      I find it interesting. Time and manners change. And yet keep bunmping into one another again.

      What's a big deal at one time is meaningless in another.

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

      Delete
    7. Ash, just a question I wondered about once.....has anyone ever told you straight to your face that you are a fucking witless wonder gas ?

      Don't know why that popped into my noggin once again, but it just did.

      Thankfully, you are not dangerous, to yourself or others, always a good point in any person.

      You really could use and deserve a truly frightful but unharmful mugging, though.

      That's one difference between you and Quirk.

      Quirk doesn't.

      Delete

    8. What about the other nine teenagers, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson ?

      Delete
    9. The then fourteen year old, who is not represented by Ms Alred, what about his actions with that minor child?

      Delete
    10. Bob likes his girls young just like Roy Moore. Just their culture dontcha know? - where lovin your niece is natural and commonplace.

      Delete
    11. She's my adopted Niece, asshole. She is truly remarkable. She has her Ph.D now, from Max Plank and U of Dresden.

      Her specialty is information flows in the brain, blockages to such flows, and research into ways to remove the blockages.

      She knows five languages, and a smattering of German now too.

      She is out of your league.

      And, she knows the what's the deal with the muzzies in depth and ways you will never know.

      She would help you if she could, but from what I've observed of you, you are beyond current help.

      She is far your superior, and mine too, which is the only thing you and I have in common.

      Piss on yourself, asshole.

      Delete

  35. Hungary accuses US of meddling in election"


    According to Ms Haley, we are instigating a war on Hungary, just as the Russians did to US.

    ReplyDelete
  36. How Sessions can pee:

    Several eunuchs hold him down as a sharp knife severs the penis and testicles in one swift movement.
    A metal or wooden plug is inserted into the wound to stop full closure and leave an aperture for the passage of urine.
    Hot oil is poured over the area and herbs are placed on it to hasten the healing process.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Al Franken: Even Worse Than You Think

    The Minnesota senator has never deserved a place in public life.
    Anyone who has followed the career of Al Franken should be unsurprised to learn that he was a jerk to Leeann Tweeden. Because if you go back to Live from New York, Tom Shales’ brilliant oral history of Saturday Night Live, Franken appears as a lying, drug-abusing (and distributing), jackass.

    A couple choice excerpts—remember, this is an oral history, so they’re from the primary sources:

    Al Franken: There was not as much cocaine as you would think on the premises. Yeah, a number of people got in trouble. But cocaine was used mainly just to stay up. There was a very undisicplined way of writing the show, which was staying up all night on Tuesday. We didn’t have the kind of hours that....


    https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2017/11/al-franken-even-worse-think/



    It’s Official: Dog Owners Live Longer, Healthier Lives

    To study the link between dogs and longevity, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden reviewed national registry records of Swedish men and women, ages 40 to 80. They focused on 3.4 million people who had no history of cardiovascular disease in 2001, and followed their health records—as well as whether they registered as a dog owner—for about 12 years. Dog ownership registries are mandatory in Sweden, and every visit to a hospital is recorded in a national database.

    They found that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease than people who did not report owning a dog, as well as a lower risk of death from other causes. That was true even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, body mass index and socioeconomic status....


    https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2017/11/official-dog-owners-live-longer-healthier-lives/

    Good news.

    Means the muzzies, who wipe their asses with their fingers, and hate dogs, thinking them unclean, are likely to die sooner than Noble Doug, Quirk, and Bob, all of whom love animals and dogs especially.



    ReplyDelete
  38. For the record:

    I think Judge Roy is a self righteous asshole.

    A trait he shares with Ash.

    He is biblically illiterate.

    Another trait he shares with Ash.

    He is a nauseating show off.

    Given his opponent, and the delicately balanced state of affairs in D.C., I would hold my nose and vote for him.

    I don't much like the idea of killing kids when they are about to emerge from the birth canal.

    ReplyDelete
  39. HERE'S A DAMN GOOD QUESTION

    Not that we don't all know the answer.

    Why Are Congress’s Harassment Settlements Secret?
    ALLAHPUNDITPosted at 6:41 pm on November 17, 2017

    The idea of settlements for congressional misconduct being paid secretly with taxpayer money in a republic is absurd. On what planet does a government that makes even a pretense of accountability allow the miscreants in its ranks to engage in malfeasance and stick the public with the bill without even admitting their misdeeds? If I have to pay for Congressman Lech’s grope habit, tell me what he’s up to so that I can vote him out next time. Harvey Weinstein at least had to notify the Weinstein Company when he reached a settlement with someone. Congress ostensibly works for us yet we have no idea what “our employees” are doing with our money to cover up their personal scumbaggery.....

    https://hotair.com/archives/2017/11/17/congresss-harassment-settlements-secret/

    ReplyDelete
  40. An honest Democrat -

    Sitting Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill, responding to Franken allegations, claims bedding 50 women

    Updated 3:34 PM; Posted 9:03 AM
    Bill O'Neill
    Bill O'Neill( File photo)

    By Seth A. Richardson, cleveland.com

    CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill, a Democratic candidate for governor, apparently trying to head off any criticisms from his opponents, revealed what he says are his sexual escapades over the years on a Facebook post.

    A post on O'Neill's official Facebook said he was speaking up "on behalf of all heterosexual males" after allegations against Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken came to light Thursday. O'Neill, a Chagrin Falls native, said he had been "sexually intimate" with "approximately 50 very attractive females."

    O'Neill said he was disappointed by the "national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago" and wanted to focus on the issues like legalizing marijuana and addressing opioid addiction. Over the last several weeks, numerous allegations of predatory sexual behavior against powerful men have come to light.....


    http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2017/11/sitting_supreme_court_justice.html

    I remember a man who claimed he could eat 50 eggs, and did so, too.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Clinton, Sanders Campaign Workers Allege Sex Harassment...

    FL DEM CHAIR OUT AFTER 'CREEPY' REPORT....DRUDGE


    No !

    I refuse to believe it.

    ReplyDelete
  42. E - Cigs HARMFUL!

    http://enlightened-planet.com/turns-e-cigarettes-cause-horrible-incurable-disease-called-popcorn-lung/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I asked my Niece what she could do to enhance the information flows in my noggin.

      'Alas, not much Bob, at your age. Don't smoke ANYTHING, eat right, don't drink, don't do drugs, and ride a bike everywhere, and get a good night's sleep'

      Delete
    2. Popcorn lung sounds like the real shits, definitely something to be avoided.

      Delete
    3. My guess is the diacetyl would cause damage sooner than the tar and gunk in cigaretts.

      Delete
  43. FBI Gave Clinton Investigation 'Special' Status, Email Shows John Solomon, The Hill

    http://thehill.com/homenews/news/360604-fbi-gave-clinton-email-investigation-special-status-deputy-directors-email

    No !

    I refuse to believe it.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Did you know, Ash, that once upon a long ago merrier time there was a great Buddhist influence in Afghanistan ?

    Then the muzz showed up and it's been the hellish shits ever since, particularly for the women.

    Now even the statues of the Buddha have been blown up.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Have Scientists Found A Secret Chord For Happy Songs?

    To match the lyrics of the songs to emotions, the researchers took data from labMT, a crowd-sourced website that rates the emotional valence of words (the degree to which they represent good or bad feelings). The details of when and where the songs originated from were taken from Gracenote, the same database as your music player probably uses to show artists’ information.

    By correlating the valence of words with the type of chord accompanying them, the authors confirmed that major chords were associated more with positive words than minor chords. Unexpectedly, they found that seventh chords—chords with four different notes rather than the usual three—had an even higher association with positive words, even in the case of minor seventh chords. This is in constrast to other studies which have placed the valence of seventh chords between minor and major....


    https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2017/11/scientists-found-secret-chord-happy-songs/

    ReplyDelete
  46. From today's Geller muzz report -

    ** Young Mother Who Converted to Islam Murdered in Hammer Attack After Going Back to
    Western Lifestyle -
    https://p.feedblitz.com/r3.asp?l=145261847&f=26412&c=5853887&u=49293618

    A young mother who converted to Islam was brutally murdered by her husband, who
    barred her from seeing family and friends after she started wearing Western-style
    clothes again, a British court has heard.


    ** Swedish Woman Raped by Refugee Commits Suicide After Prosecutor Claims 'Lack of
    Evidence' - https://p.feedblitz.com/r3.asp?l=145257661&f=26412&c=5853887&u=49293618

    A Swedish woman, sadly, has committed suicide after the prosecutor in her refugee
    rape claim said there wasn't enough evidence -- and so, closed the case without
    fully investigating.


    ** US Troops Taught For Years Child Sex Abuse Is ‘Culturally Accepted’ In
    Afghanistan -
    https://p.feedblitz.com/r3.asp?l=145253539&f=26412&c=5853887&u=49293618

    U.S. troops deploying to Afghanistan were taught for years that child sex abuse is a
    “culturally accepted practice” in the country, and were provided no guidance that it
    constituted a violation of the law and human rights until late 2015.



    ReplyDelete