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Voila! from the New York Times: Olympic Surfing Comes To A ‘Poisoned’ Paradise. Remember the atomic bomb tests involving Polynesia? Last one by France in 1994! not 1954!
Boy! Folks!! the NT Times closed those comments quick!! typical nuclear power power to suppress news about nuclear issues. This is all a crime against humanity from day one of the whole nuclear bomb thing, which evolved into nuclear power and is still going on today in over 400 countries perpetrating nuclear power on their people around the world 🌎 And some countries are dumb enough to try to build more nuclear plants☄️🔥
It’s hard to believe that in 2024 Tahiti is still a colony of France and the article also says that there are 20 similar arrangements with the United States, United Kingdom, and France around the world: in other words colonies (protectorates, territories) that still exist in 2024. Plus it’s still hard to believe also, but France had the nerve to explode its last nuclear test in 1994!!! not 1954. And be aware Donald Trump wants to resume nuclear testing for the United States — don’t let that get buried in the bullshit.
And this is such a typical paragraph about this suppression of nuclear ☢️ information from this New York Times article Relative to the France-produced Olympics of 2024:
“The declassified documents hold further surprises. One map shows that the highest radiation reading recorded on the entire island of Tahiti was in Teahupo’o, the village that is hosting the Olympic surfing event. Yet when a version of that map was published in the 2006 report, the reading from Teahupo’o was omitted.”
Disgusting! The world needs to be rearranged
& not by the bankers, or the weapons sellers, or the powerful mad geniuses wanting to take & totemize Everything for themselves and their possession.
We have another big firestorm distracting America, involving the ever-unapologetic Donald Trump.
This time it is over a poorly communicated condolence call to the wife of a black soldier killed in battle
in Niger three weeks ago, on October 4 2017.
The Late Sgt. La David Johnson Killed In Niger[/caption]
Trump finally telephoned the wife of La David Johnson of
Miami, Florida, twelve days after the soldier died, making the call October 16th. Johnson’s widow was riding
to the airport to meet the body of her late husband when the President’s call came into the cellphone
of Master Sergeant Neil, the military service member assigned to her. Mrs. Johnson states that
she asked “Neil to put his phone on speaker” so the other people in the car could hear what would
be said. Accompanying her in the car were Florida Congresswoman and friend of the family, Frederica Wilson,
Sgt. Johnson’s aunt and uncle, ‘who raised him [La David Johnson] after his mother died when
he was a small child,’ Sgt. Neil, plus the driver.
Remember non-millennials, this is 2017. Utilizing the speakerphone option is very common today,
especially if you’re not a fan of developing a brain cancer. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump insensitively
told the aggrieved pregnant Mrs. Johnson ““you know that this could happen when you signed
up for it… but it still hurts.” These words caused additional hurt and anger in Mrs. Johnson “at his tone of
voice and how he said it.” Mrs. Johnson stated in an ABC ‘Good Morning America’ interview
with George Stephanopoulus on Monday morning October 23. (Congresswoman Wilson said
that the tone sounded almost like that of someone making a joke.)
Congresswoman Wilson also stated that Myeshia Johnson cried throughout the phonecall.
Mrs. Johnson in the Oct. 23 interview, stated that she did not say anything to the President, she ‘listened.’
This seems to belie the claim from Trump that they had “a very nice conversation.” Conversation
means two people conversing, talking. Conversation.
““And when she [Myeshia Johnson] hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, ‘He didn’t even
remember his name.’ That’s the hurting part,” Wilson said. “It was horrible. It was insensitive. It
was absolutely crazy.””
“Trump on Wednesday 10-18-17 claimed Wilson’s account was “totally fabricated,” and claimed he had “proof.”
“What was the proof, Mr. President?” a reporter asked Trump.
“Let her make her statement again and you’ll find out,” he replied, and, pressed again,
repeated, “Let her make her statement again and you’ll find out.”
Cowanda Jones-Johnson, Johnson’s aunt, told the Washington Post on Wednesday that
Trump “did disrespect” Sgt. Johnson, Myeshia Johnson, herself and her husband. Asked whether
Wilson’s account of Trump’s conversation with Myeshia Johnson was accurate, Jones-Johnson said, “Yes.””*
So Trump, the pathological liar, reflexively reacts to such claims by lying, saying:
““I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who sounded like a lovely woman.
Did not say what the congresswoman said, and most people aren’t too surprised to hear that.””
A normal person would have shut up and not falsely tweeted about this unfortunate episode, but not Donald Trump.
Instead, this President goes on the offensive, tweeting ‘The Fake News is going crazy with wacky
Congresswoman Wilson (D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!’
[capitalized SECRETLY is Trump’s tweeted case].
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson Called ‘Empty Barrell’ by General John Kelly[/caption]
A normal person would have called the widow back, out of respect for her and her husband, who had made
the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and softened the blow, apologized for his insensitive communication
with her, made it right. Instead he tweets/calls the Congresswoman ‘wacky’ to degrade her, capitalizes the
word SECRETLY in his tweet, and calls HER a liar! Again, this is 2017 and many people would have put that
condolence call on speakerphone to better diffuse the pain of what might be said, amongst several intimate loved ones.
Meanwhile, we now know that several people were listening in to the call on the other side of the conversation,
physically situated nearby Donald Trump on this ‘very personal call.’
Now as an Emergency Room (ER) doctor, I know how difficult it is to tell members of a family that their loved one
did not survive the emergency that brought them to the ER. In fact, after 45 years in the ER, I eventually
determined that of all the things I had to do, this act was the most stressful, terrible responsibility I had to perform.
However, I had to this in person, usually in a ‘family room’ where anguished loved ones were waiting in various stages
of hope for word on the status of the patient. In person, I had to deliver the news of the fate of a human being – –
that had died. Obviously, this stresses the soul of all people concerned. But in person, being a professional,
I learned to deliver this news in as empathetic a way as was possible, listening to the survivors’ words and
sensing their feelings. Leaving a few beats between what I said initially, and how anyone in the room reacted.
Mainly helping those involved understand what had happened, consoling them. Very occasionally I did
lose it myself, despite all my experience in trying to be a professional rock for the grieving family.
Doing this via telephone is more difficult. Especially if you are lacking in empathy in the first place, like
our apparently ill-prepared President. But maybe he became too nervous and could not say the right thing?
Maybe Mrs. Johnson’s crying dissembled his thoughts so that he forgot to mention La David Johnson’s name?
Or did he just do this job perfunctorily, poorly, not getting everything together in front of himself, so he
would say the right thing? Was there any racism involved? Does he have difficulty
relating to other-than-straight-white people fawning at his feet and praising him to the sky???
Bad as this all was, then we have General Kelly coming out to clean up the mess.
He did very well for a few minutes on October 19 2017, relating his experiences with his two soldier sons, one
who died while proudly serving America in the military. “He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he
was killed,” in 2010, Kelly volunteered. Kelly’s other son is serving active duty now.
But then out comes his reasons for being in the White House, supporting Trump.
He berates Congresswoman Wilson as an ‘empty barrel’ making so much noise – never mentioning her by name.
Also claiming (erroneously, we have discovered after fact checking) that she heinously claimed
responsibility for garnering the funds for an FBI building erected in her Florida district.
He was “stunned” by such self-aggrandizing behavior, he revealed. (Here is a link to a video
of General Kelly’s speech – from the Lawrence O’Donnell show Oct. 19 2017:)
And his now famous quote from October 19, 2017 [stunned!! Again]: “It stuns me
that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me.
I would have thought that was sacred.”**
We can see that the General is hypocritical and tone deaf. Other people were listening in the room
where Trump was speaking on the other end of the telephone line. Speakerphone mode is a common
option used in our current social media world, to help share experiences, and, in this case, share imminent pain.
After Kelly’s un-sacred remark about notification-of-soldier-death phonecalls, he subsequently threw in how
he thought that Gold Star soldiers and women were amongst what “this country used to hold
sacred,” as they were in his Boston Catholic childhood white world of the 1950’s, when husband-beaten wives
would go to confession and be told by the priest that despite their husband’s abusive behavior
there could be no divorce – as same-generation, same-home-town-Boston boy Lawrence O’Donnell
related that very October 19th night on his 10 o’clock show on MSNBC (check above link). For all of
Kelly’s words about women being sacred, and being respected, Kelly then disrespected the black
Congresswoman, misremembering what she said in her speech in 2015 (aired on the Joy Reid show in the
8-9 PM slot on MSNBC October 20, 2017), 3 minutes plus of which you can view / check via this link:
General Kelly accused Congresswoman Wilson of something she never said,
calling her an ‘empty barrel,’ not respecting her enough to
mention her name. Of course, we have to ask how much racism is in Kelly’s heart, how
much misogyny governs his behavior, and how does he get it so wrong re what he actually
remembers of Congresswoman Wilson’s speech commemorating the erection of the FBI building.
In which she thanked John Boehner for so quickly facilitating getting the logistics together for naming the
building after two deceased FBI agents. Congresswoman Wilson made no mention about
herself having anything to do with the funding for erecting the building, as you can hear
when you listen to her speech. (She states that she was not a Congressperson in 2009, when
the funding had actually been secured.)
Then Sarah Huckabee Sanders, current White House Press Secretary, carries out more
insulting insensitive anti-democratic B.S. stating that it would be ‘highly inappropriate’
to dispute what a “4-Star marine General” claims. Patriotic angered members of the
Press and the common citizenry are taking exception to such an extreme point of view.
Which is obviously highly inappropriate in its wrong right, but perhaps not for those
who see military officers as the highest infallible form of mankind, even if they now
are working for the government in the role of a civilian servant.
Then we have to wonder how these four young men died in Niger, and what they were
doing there. Two were Green Berets: Bryan Black, 35; and Dustin Wright, 29.
Sergeant La David Johnson was 25; Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson was 39.
It may have been related to a political act that several diplomats have called
‘incomprehensible.’ In the latest edition of the Travel or Muslim Ban of September 2017,
the nation of Chad was added to the prohibited countries list. Chad is a large country in
Sub-Saharan Africa bordering Niger on the east, which has been relied upon by both the
USA and France, as a staunch ally in the fight against Isis and Islamic militants in Central Africa.
Niger Lies Between Chad On The East & Mali On The West[/caption]
Once the news arrived that the Trump administration was in the act of banning Chad citizens from
entering the USA, Chad began withdrawing their well-trained soldiers from Niger in the
last week of September. The battle in which the four soldiers were killed occurred
on October 4 2017. President Trump had not reached out to any of the families of
the four fallen soldiers until the beginning of the past week of October 16 2017,
nor had mentioned anything about it to the press or the citizens of the USA, though
it was the most serious military killing episode of his administration’s existence.
Chad is ruled by a dictator, according to Rachel Maddow (see below – link to her show of October 19 2017).
Oil is one of Chad’s great resources, and Maddow mentioned that a $74 Billion fine
was levied upon EXXON for not paying agreed-upon royalties/taxes within the last two years.
She could not discover exactly how the dispute was settled, or if it has been settled entirely,
but it might have upset EXXON and its former CEO Rex Tillerson, who is now the
Secretary of State of our country, heading our pitifully undermanned State Department.
Could this have led to the Chad inclusion in the Travel/Muslim Ban? Was it all a rookie mistake
on the part of the Trump administration? If so, is it impossible to admit to any mistake, or
ever apologize, if you are a member of the Trump administration, following the behavior
of our stubborn un-empathetic President?
As Oliver Hardy would commonly say to Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy): ‘This is a fine mess you’ve gotten
me into!” Trump sends out Kelly to clean up his mess, and true to form, lying for a liar, the
General shows his true colors, both negative and positive, and digs the hole deeper and deeper,
with the nauseating assistance of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and an embarrassing crew
of psychological/ideological (?logical??) misfit sycophants populating OUR White House.
You would think the Trump administration would have quit being stupid here, but no.
At 5:30 AM Monday morning October 23 Trump has to tweet out: ‘I had a very respectful
conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from
beginning, without hesitation!’ which he has to know he did NOT do. But there he is,
pathologically lying. He can’t stop himself! Has to put that exclamation point there, after
the word ‘hesitation!’
During Mrs. Johnson’s ABC morning interview a few hours later, Mrs. Johnson stated
Congresswoman Wilson’s statement about Trump’s phonecall was “100% correct.” That
Trump did not know her husband’s name until about halfway through the call, he was finally
“stumbling” to say it.
Can we figure out what is going on here? Is this the typical misogyny we have to endure,
living like an infective virus inside the soul of our President? Is this the typical bullying of
an arrogant white man and his General old-school surrogate, of two black women, whom
they think they can outflank with the bluster of white privilege discrediting Congresswoman
Wilson and Mrs. Johnson in the eyes and minds of supportive white people, like those
who populate Trump’s ‘base?’ What he says being ‘truth’ to them; what the black women say
being inconsequential and unreliable?
Notice also that Trump has reverted to his perverted namecall-game, now capitalizing
the word Wacky when referring to Congresswoman Wilson in his newer tweets
referring to her, so that the three-word moniker has that alliterative
sound deploying those three ‘w’s. Wacky Congresswoman Wilson. Has a distinct
tang to it, doesn’t it? Great for the high school bully in the schoolyard, but not
for someone who is supposed to be behaving as our President.
P.S. Even with all this, the right things to do would be for both Trump and Kelly to call
widow Johnson, and Congresswoman Wilson, respectively, to apologize and correct
any misunderstanding, confess that each man made a mistake, resurrect whatever integrity
is resurrectable from this obscene episode. This could be done privately, without any
big bluster or public relations to-do, out of respect for a fallen American soldier, his family,
and a dedicated Congresswoman. It would be the right thing to do, don’t you think?
Additional information: We have 800 troops in Niger currently, more than in any country
in western Africa. Most Congresspeople, including Senators Lindsey Graham and
John McCain, were not aware of this, had not been informed of such military deployment.
Africom, our command center for Africa, is located right on site: in
Stuttgart, Germany.
General Joseph Dunford Discusses Niger; States Wife Of Sgt La David Johnson Not Being Able To View Body Is “Family Decision”[/caption]
General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his
hour-long session with the press at the Pentagon yesterday, October 23, related that
though Mrs. Wilson in her morning ABC interview complained about not being allowed
to see her husband’s body locked into its casket, Dunford stated of her viewing of it:
“It’s the family’s decision.”
We’ll see what the actual story on that is, possibly, in the next few days.
Surfers up reel early going politically crazy…
Good rant Nick.
Donald Trump Has Been Mad-Crazy About FBI’s James Comey ‘Showboating’ On TV Amping-Up Russia Investigation[/caption]
However, right now, it’s Donald in the White House (WH) mad-angry at James Comey
for intensifying Russian FBI probe, Comey getting DAILY briefings last 3 weeks
instead of weekly, asking acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (RR) for
more fundage for probe, while also telling members of Congress about this.
Trump getting so crazy he summons recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions
and Rosenstein into his office to advise him on firing Comey – who testified
in the last month that he could not rule out investigating Trump in his Russia/FBI probe.
Acting Attorney General Vexedly Talked About Resigning After Trump Pretended Firing FBI’s Comey Was HIS Idea[/caption]
Story is Trump asked Rosenstein to write up what he ended up writing up about
Hillary Clinton-email-saga-screw-up, which Trump presented to the world, along
with his sophomoric self-exonerating letter saying Comey told him three times
he wasn’t under investigation (Lie Lie Lie? unlikely Comey would reveal anything
about an ongoing investigation. See Trump’s tripsicle contentions about this tonight in Interview
with Lester Holt NBC Evening News Anchor.). Then everybody lying about the story, following
Sorry Vice President Spews Out Partyline As He’s Told, Repeatedly Lying That James Comey’s Firing Wasn’t About The FBI Russia Investigation, Along With Other Kowtowing White Housers[/caption]
the party line, including lying Pence himself, doing it several times in public, and
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the latest upgrade to Sean Spicer, come WH spokeswoman,
the lie going (yesterday, 5-10-17) that ROSENSTEIN CAME TO HIM/Trump with the idea.
Rosenstein talking last night (5-10-17) about resigning, he is so pissed off that everyone
could now blame HIM for coming up with the idea. Washington Post article published last
evening with many co-authors who spoke to people at the FBI who are ANGRY (~75% lead co-author said)
or Fearful (~25%) of what der Fuhrer has done/might do to them, but mostly really angry
and they will do their probing with even more ire and dedication henceforth.
Supposedly Recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions Approves (Sez Trump) Comey Firing Because It Was About Hillary Clinton Being Treated Unfairly Not Russia Investigation[/caption]
And Sessions had recused himself from the Russian probe yet he – it is being said – reportedly
involved himself in the Comey firing, approving it, but Trump probably thinking the ridiculous
10-&-7-months–ago-email story should cover anything about Sessions violating his own recusal.
Fired Attorney General Sally Yates Performed Expertly & Graciously 5-8-17 On Pres. Trump’s TV, Enraging Him So Much He Precipitously Fires James Comey[/caption]
Trump also crazed by Sally Yates performing on TV so well, and authentically, on Monday that that
was the day he would work himself up to fire Comey. He also may have been nutsoed by Comey
being on television and in the public eye so much. In the interview with Lester Holt Trump calls
him a “showboat” and a “grandstander.”
James Comey “a showboat and a grandstander’ Jealous Donald Trump Tells NBC’s Lester Holt Usurping Trump’s Star Status on TV[/caption]
Never forget the Donald’s tumoraceous monster ego.
Also, Comey did hint that he was beginning to find indications of possible collusion.
Trump The Schoolyard Bully Taunts Senator Chuck Schumer in ‘Cryin’ Schumer’ Tweet Miscalculating Gravity Of His Impulsive Firing Of FBI’s James Comey[/caption]
Plus, Trump is such a mafioso that he ungraciously sophomorically taunts out a tweet at ‘Cryin’ Schumer’
like the schoolyard bully he is.
The class of an ass.
The hoodlum in him then does not graciously summon Comey to his office to diplomatically tell him
he is fired. He sends out his bodyguard to deliver the news like a true Don and is so arrogant and
uncivil that he doesn’t even care to find out where Comey could be when his hit man leaves with
the horsehead notification – for Comey is in LA delivering a speech to FBI employees there, where
he first discovers eye-ing a TV in the background announcing that he is fired, which he initially thinks is a joke.
Trump throwing away a dedicated head of the FBI like he’s a piece of sh*t.
Which enrages people in the FBI. Listen to their responses all over the media and on the internet. Most
have Trump in their sights now, as they know what he’s done, and that he is probably guilty of all charges
you could imagine, including treason, and they are now really going to get him. Trump bit the wrong rabid dog.
Comey is freer to comment on Trump now. He has been invited on Tuesday to testify as a citizen about Trump
behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee. He has not as yet accepted the invitation.
Michael Flynn, Disgraced Fired Head Of NSA, Approved By Trump Administration Despite Being Unregistered Foreign Agent[/caption]
Plus, Michael Flynn didn’t comply with requests for documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee, so a
subpoena was sent out to him from the committee yesterday.
The noose is getting tighter. Apparently, Trump the bully, has no one in the White House who can
reach any sensible area in Trump’s brain when he is raging, screaming at the TV, and OH, not letting in reporters
or Democrats to the Oval Office but joking around with the two Sergeys of Russia yesterday, fawning on them
but not allowing any American photographer in the room. USA media having to go to Tass the Russian
propaganda outlet to get photos of Trump palling around with these two men like happy gangsters.
Trump & The Two Russian Sergeys Guffawing Together In The Oval Office, No American Photographers Allowed To Be Present[/caption]
Someone bringing up that Trump never should have done this, because Russians like these are notorious
for doing their natural duty as spies and maybe planting some type of bugging device now in the Oval Office.
Donald acts like this with the Russians who have hacked our elections, laughing with them, while excluding
everyone else. Something wrong there, Nickie?
Oh, and then Trump being so blind he has who with him yesterday by the fireside as the forest fire is beginning
to burn out of control and people are comparing what is happening to Richard Nixon’s Watergate?
Why, Nixon’s evil Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger: the American responsible for more deaths than anyone
else in our history (perhaps excluding the World Wars): 4 million Asians during the Vietnam war.
And look who’s in the White House After Pres. Trump Fires The FBI Director Investigating His Administration: Henry Kissinger! Mass Murderer Responsible For Deaths of 4 Million Asians[/caption]
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump was within his rights to fire Comey. Many Republicans
and Trump supporters drink the kool-aid that he fired Comey for treating poor Hillary, who he dearly loves, unfairly.
But now all these facts are coming out, swinging the narrative off the lie-track that our liar-in-chief has railroaded
into his surrogates’ mouths. Pence complied with the party line. Too many Republicans believe the baloney. But
as the FBI digs in deeper, this will lead to the revelation of what Trump knows he has done, along with his confederates,
and that is why he is now going more and more crazy as he expresses himself and our nation
over the ledge of impeachment which is waiting for him and all the lemmings following him….
Here’s the link to the video (~2 minutes in length). You’ll never forget it! No Donald Trump in it either!!
NBC’s Lester Holt Interviewed Pres. Trump; Asks Specifics Of Claim Comey Told Him 3 Times He Was Not Under Investigation[/caption]
FYI – Trump now in the interview with Lester Holt states he was going to fire Comey all along. Yet he and the White House
put out the story yesterday that acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein HAD COME TO HIM with the idea.
That is why Donald Trump is President and Liar-in-Chief, making all his subordinates shell out the same lie all day long
yesterday, and this evening it will be a different lie/story. Who can keep up with all his lies? He can’t. When liars lie
they can’t remember which lie they lied last. But as Huey Lewis and the News said way back in 1981 ‘Sooner or Later,
Some Of My Lies Are True.’ But which ones?….
‘(Sooner Or Later) Some Of My Lies Are True’ – from Huey Lewis & The News first album[/caption]
Sally Yates Warned White House About Mike Flynn’s Underlying Conduct Being Problematic In & Of Itself[/caption]
For many Americans it has been a tortuous nightmare since the campaign, election, and onset of the Trump
administration has beset our country. Meanwhile Trump supporters seem very happy and faithful to their hero,
97 or 98% of those who say they voted for him, still supporting him overall. So far he has been very adept
at diverting the investigation into his people being possibly involved with the Russian interference in our election.
In fact, he has tweeted many of his supporters into delusion concerning the veracity of the entire
Russian-hacking-attack-on-our-country story.
However, I did listen to much of the Sally Yates Senate Judiciary committee hearing yesterday May 8 2017 afternoon
and I was gratefully impressed by the opening acknowledging statements of both Senators Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. So please allow me to present these opening statements
for you now. Perhaps they will pull up the shades high enough to illuminate the facts of what
the Senate Judiciary Committee has discovered so far, for the benefit of all of us Americans:
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Discussed Russian Toolbox Used In Hacking USA Elections[/caption]
Opening Remarks of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime
and Terrorism May 8, 2017 [A select few key Sally Yates remarks follow this statement]
Thank you Chairman Graham, for the important work this subcommittee is doing under your
leadership investigating the threat of Russian interference in our elections. In January, America’s
intelligence community disclosed that the Russian government, on the orders of Vladimir Putin,
engaged in an election influence campaign throughout 2016.
In March, FBI Director Comey confirmed that, and I quote him here, “the FBI, as part of [its]
counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in
the 2016 election, and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals
associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was
any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.” The FBI and the intelligence
community’s work is, appropriately, taking place outside the public eye. Our inquiry serves
broader aims: to give a thorough public accounting of the known facts, to pose the questions
that still need answers, and to help us determine how best to protect the integrity and proper
functioning of our government.
At this subcommittee’s first hearing, on March 15, we heard from expert witnesses about
the Russian toolbox for interfering in the politics of other countries. Now we can ask, which
of these tools were used against us by the Russians in 2016? Here’s a checklist.
Propaganda, fake news, trolls and bots: As Clint Watts told the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence in March, Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik in the lead-up
to the election “churned out manipulated truths, false news stories and conspiracies,” providing
a weaponized fake news effort openly supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy, “while consistently
offering negative coverage of Secretary Clinton.” This was, to again quote Watts, “a deliberate,
well organized, well resourced, well funded, wide ranging effort” by Russia, using trolls and bots
to amplify its messages, particularly across social media. These facts are not disputed by any
serious person, so this is a yes on the checklist.
Hacking and theft of political information: Throughout 2015 and 2016, Russian intelligence
services and state-sponsored hackers conducted cyber operations against U.S. political
targets including state and local election boards, penetrating networks, probing for
vulnerabilities, and stealing private information and emails. Attribution of these crimes
to Russian actors was confirmed in our last hearing, and by many other sources.
So this is another yes
Timed leaks of damaging material: Russian intelligence fronts, cut-outs, and
sympathetic organizations like Guccifer 2.0, DCLeaks.com, and Wikileaks then
time the release of stolen victim data to maximize its political effect, manipulate
public opinion, and thereby influence the outcome of an election. Longtime Trump
associate Roger Stone admits to having interacted with Guccifer 2.0, and he
foreshadowed releases of stolen data on Twitter in August and October 2016.
Timing can matter: on October 7, just hours after the damaging “Access Hollywood”
tapes of Donald Trump’s offensive comments were made public, Wikileaks began
publishing emails stolen from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta. So yes again.
Assassination and political violence: Last October, Russian military intelligence
reportedly conspired to assassinate the then-prime minister of Montenegro as part
of a coup attempt.
In 2004, former Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yushchenko was disfigured when
he was poisoned in a suspected assassination attempt by Russian agents.
Vladimir Putin Leads Cyberattack on Elections in USA, France….Next…Follow the Trail of Dead Russians…[/caption]
Russian opposition figures are routinely the targets of state-directed political
violence: Vladimir Kara-Murza has survived two recent poisonings, while Boris Nemtsov
was brazenly murdered near the Kremlin in 2015. Thankfully, we have no evidence of
that happening here.
[As Clinton Watts previously testified: “Follow the trail of dead Russians…” my added note]
Investment control in key economic sectors: We learned from Heather Conley’s testimony
in our last hearing that the Kremlin playbook seeks to manipulate other countries through
economic penetration, heavily investing in critical sectors of the target country’s economy
to create political leverage. Putin’s petro-politics uses Russia’s control of natural gas to
create political pressure. But no as to that tactic here, so far.
Shady business and financial ties: Russia exploits the dark shadows of economic and
political systems. FBI Director Comey testified last week that the United States is
becoming the last big haven for shell corporations, where the opacity of the corporate
form allows the concealment of criminal funds, and can allow foreign money to
directly and indirectly influence our political system. Since the Citizens United decision,
we’ve seen unprecedented dark money flow in our elections from 501(c)(4) organizations.
We don’t know who’s behind that dark money, or what they’re demanding in return.
Felix Sater pitched business ideas to Donald Trump “on a constant basis.” Sen. Whitehouse states Sater’s family has links to Russian organized crime.[/caption]
Using shell corporations and other devices, Russia establishes illicit financial relationships
to develop leverage against prominent figures, through the carrot of continued bribery or the
stick of threatened disclosure. How about here? Well we know that President Trump himself
has long pursued business deals in Russia. He is reported to have done or sought to do
business there since the mid-1990s. As he chased deals in Russia throughout the 2000s,
he deputized a colorful character named Felix Sater to develop real-estate projects there
under the Trump name. Sater’s family has links to Russian organized crime, and Felix himself
has had difficulties with the law. Sater said in a 2008 deposition that he would pitch
business ideas directly to Trump and his team “on a constant basis.” As recently as 2010,
Sater had a Trump Organization business card and an office in Trump Tower.
Donald Trump Jr. said in September 2008 that he’d made half a dozen trips to the country
in the preceding 18 months, noting that Russian investors were heavily involved in Trump’s
New York real estate projects. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,” he said. One
Trump property in mid-town Manhattan had become, within a few years of opening, “a prominent
depository of Russian money,” according to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek. So here there
are still big questions. Of course, President Trump could clarify questions by releasing his business
and personal tax returns.
Corrupting and compromising politicians: In testimony before the Judiciary Committee last
Wednesday, Director Comey acknowledged that financial leverage has been exploited by
Russian intelligence “over many decades.” Back to the days of Joe Alsop, they use
kompromat, or compromising material, to pressure and manipulate targeted individuals
with the prospect of damaging disclosures. Has Russia compromised, corrupted, cultivated,
or exerted improper influence on individuals associated with President Trump, his administration,
his transition team, his campaign, or his businesses? Another big question mark. We know that
President Trump has had in his orbit a number of very Russia-friendly figures.
Michael Flynn Led The Cry To ‘Lock Her Up’ re Hillary Clinton Boomeranged By His Own Karma[/caption]
In August 2015, Trump first met informally with Michael Flynn, who as director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency [DIA] had developed strong professional relationships with Russian military intelligence.
In December of that year, Flynn traveled to Moscow for a paid speaking appearance at an anniversary
gala for RT, where he was briefly seated next to Vladimir Putin — quite a seat for a retired American general.
Two months after that trip, Flynn was reportedly serving as an informal national security advisor to Trump.
Trump identified a little-known energy investor named Carter Page as one of his foreign policy advisors.
In late March 2016, Page told Bloomberg Politics that friends and associates had been hurt by U.S. sanctions
against Russia, and that “there’s a lot of excitement in terms of the possibilities for creating a better situation.”
On April 27, 2016, Trump and several of his advisors, including Jeff Sessions, met Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s
ambassador to the United States before a campaign speech. The speech, which was hosted by the Center
for the National Interest, had been arranged by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kislyak attended the Trump
Republican convention, and he told the Washington Post that he had multiple contacts with the Trump
campaign both before and after the election. (In the days after the November election, Russia’s deputy
foreign minister confirmed that his government had communicated with the Trump team during the campaign.)
And we know Michael Flynn spoke with Ambassador Kislyak on December 29, the same day President Obama
announced punitive sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. Trump transition and
administration officials thereafter made false statements to the media and the public about the content of
Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak, apparently as a result of Flynn having misled them. This eventually led
President Trump to ask for Flynn’s resignation, something I’m hoping Ms. Yates can shed some light on in
her testimony today. The President and his administration have yet to take responsibility for or explain these
and other troubling Russia links, dismissing facts as “fake news,” and downplaying the significance of individuals
involved. More than 100 days into the Trump administration and nearly two years since he declared his candidacy
for President, only one person has been held accountable for improper contacts with Russia: Michael Flynn. Even
then, the Trump administration has maintained that Flynn’s illicit communications with the ambassador were not,
in fact, improper – – he simply lost the confidence of the president.
We need a more thorough accounting of the facts. Many years ago, an 18-minute gap transfixed the
country and got everybody’s attention in another investigation. In this case, we have an 18- day gap
between the notification of the White House that a senior official had potentially been compromised
and action taken against that senior official’s role. At best, the Trump administration has displayed
serious errors of judgment. At worst, these irregularities may reflect errors of compromise or corruption
at the hands of Russian intelligence. My sincere hope is that this hearing and those to come will help us to find out.
During the May 8 2017 hearing, Whitehouse asked former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates about
her concerns about Flynn’s conduct.
Sally Yates Warned White House of Michael Flynn’s Vulnerability To Blackmail Because of Lying To Members of Trump Staff[/caption]
“To state the obvious, you don’t want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians,” answered Yates.
“This was a matter of some urgency.” Yates also suggested that Flynn’s conduct was a legal issue even
without making misrepresentations to the White House and the
public. “The underlying conduct that General Flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself,” she said.
Again, the classified information upon which she based this statement also forbid her to give further depth to her claim.
Interview with Chris Hayes ‘All In’ TV show 5-8-17
President Trump Denies Knowing About NSA Director Flynn Working As A Foreign Agent, But Stated He’d Look Into It on 2-20-17[/caption]
Find http://www.msnbc.com/all …..look for 5-8-17 show segment, 8 minutes long, with Senator Whitehouse.
Incidentally at 4:24 into the segment now-President Trump is seen on Feb 10, 2017, denying knowing about
Flynn’s foreign agent work – though his Transition Team officially was notified Nov 18 2016 by Congress in writing
about Flynn’s working as an unregistered foreign agent; plus Flynn’s lawyers had also notified the White House twice
of Flynn’s paid foreign agent activity before Feb 10 2017.
Russian Ambassador Had Multiple Conversations With Michael Flynn About Sanctions Against Russia Being Relaxed[/caption]
Remember Sally Yates testified that she visited the White House urgently Jan 26 AND Jan 27, plus spoke on the
phone again, to the White House lawyer Don McGahn about General Flynn’s illegal activities, and the risk that
the Russians had recorded his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. This information then putting Flynn
as chief of the National Security Agency (NSA) at the mercy of Russian blackmail, because he lied about these
phone conversations, possibly to the FBI when interviewed by them on January 24, 2017, in addition to lying
to the Vice President and others in the administration. If the latter narrative is indeed true.
VP Pence Denied on March 9 2017 That He Only Found Out “Today” About Michael Flynn Being A Foreign Agent Though Congress Notified His Transition Team November 18, 2016 That Flynn Was Working As A Foreign Agent[/caption]
Of course, all this story could be false if Trump confederates had cooperated with the Russians during the campaign and
thereafter, and Flynn and Vice President Pence and everyone in the White House had lied and are continuing to lie about
the entire scandal. Remember also that knowing the above facts and dates, Vice President Pence said twice to FOX TV’s
Bret Baier in a March 9 2017 interview that “today” was the first he was hearing about Flynn working as a foreign agent.
Which has to be impossible, with him being the head of the Transition Team.
Here is some very interesting discussion/information now from yesterday’s Chris Hayes [CH] All In show 5-8-17:
Edited notes from segment with Malcolm Nance (MSNBC Terrorist Expert) [MV]
Author: ‘The Plot To Hack America’
Matt Miller – served in Justice Department under Eric Holder – AG Obama Administration
MM: Were they ever going to fire Michael Flynn, if it didn’t become public? [reported by the Washington Post]
…MV: He [Flynn] could be a turned asset of Russia
CH: That’s going very far…
MV: But why would you pick up a phone five times on the same day we’re kicking out [25] Russian spies?
Was he directed by the President? [?] Apparently not.
…MV: This was a hair-on-fire intelligence breach, no matter how you look at it. When I worked
at the NSA if this happened, everyone on my floor got repolygraphed; everyone was considered
an accomplice.
….We need to re-clear everyone
Terrorism Expert Malcolm Vance Posits Goodfellas Attitude In Trump White House To Sally Yates’ Flynn Warning[/caption]
….MV: But they have this Goodfellas sort of attitude towards everything she [Sally Yates] was bringing
to them. Not just, “What’re you doing, nosing around in our business? What’s it to YOU!? You’re justice,
why are you here in our White House? And that’s sort of understandable, that she would come in there.
But a good White House counsel who’s really looking out for the interests of the United States would
say “This is a crisis meeting we’re having.”
CH: While you’re protecting your client [The President]…
…MM: This gets to what we don’t know what happened in the White House. We don’t know whether
they went to the President and the President said “You know what, I don’t care. I want to keep him anyway.”
MV: Yeah, this is a loyalist White House. This is a group of people – again the Goodfellas analogy.
They don’t care! So long as it’s all Cosa Nostra* amongst us.
*Sicilian Mafia; Cosa Nostra actually translates to Our Thing
This is a bit more insightful than what you will hear on most media outlets.
Now, Senator Graham’s opening statement to the 58-17 Judiciary Committee hearing to end this post:
Senator Lindsey Graham Chairman of Judiciary Committee Concerned About Russian Hacking Of USA Election[/caption]
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-SOUTH CAROLINA: “The hearing will come to order, thank you
all for coming. Here’s sort of the order of the day. I’ll give a brief opening statement along
with Senator Whitehouse, then we’ll have Senator Grassley and Feinstein follow some
questioning and it’ll be seven minute rounds initially and we’ll try to do a second round
of five minutes. To both of the witnesses, thank you for coming.
I’ll try to make this as reasonably short as possible and if you need a break, please let us
know. So people wonder what are we doing and what are we trying to accomplish? In January,
the intelligence community unanimously said that the Russians through their intelligence services
tried to interfere in the 2016 American presidential election, that it was the Russians who hacked
Podesta’s e-mails.
It was the Russians who broke into the Democratic National Committee and it was Russians who
helped empower WikiLeaks. No evidence that the Russians changed voting tallies, how people
were influenced by what happened only they know and God knows but I think every American
should be concerned about what the Russians did. From my point of view, there’s no doubt
in my mind it was the Russians involved in all the things I just described, not some 400 pound
guy sitting on a bed or any other country.
Russia is up to no good when it comes to democracies all over the world. Dismembering the Ukraine,
the Baltics are always under siege by Russian interference, so why? We want to learn what the Russians
did, we want to find a way to stop them because they’re apparently not going to stop until somebody
makes them. The hearing that was held last week with Director Comey asked a question, is it fair to say
that Russian government still involved in American politics and he said yes.
So I want House members and Senators to know it was the presidential campaign in 2016, it could be
our campaigns next. I don’t know what happened in France but somebody hacked into Mr. Macron’s
account and we’ll see who that may have been but this is sort of what Russia does to try to undermine
democracy. So what are we trying to accomplish here?
To validate the findings of the intelligence committee as much as possible and to come up with a course
of action as a nation bipartisan in nature because it was the Democratic Party of 2016 were the victims,
could be the Republican Party of the future. When one party’s attacked, all of us should feel an attack.
It should be an Article 5 agreement between both major parties — all major parties, that when a foreign
power interferes in our election, it doesn’t matter who they targeted, we’re all in the same boat.
Secondly, the unmasking the 702 program. Quite frankly, when I got involved in this investigation, I
didn’t know much about it. Director Comey said the 702 program, which allows warrants for intelligence
gathering and a vital intelligence tool, I’ve learned to bid about unmasking and what I’ve learned is disturbing.
So I don’t know exactly all the details, what goes into unmasking an American citizen, being incidentally
surveilled when they involved with a foreign agent. I’d like to know more and I want to make sure that that
unmasking can never be used as a political weapon in our democracy, so I am all for hitting the enemy
before they hit us, intelligence gatherings essential.
But I do believe we need to take a look at the procedures involved in 702, particularly how unmasking is
requested, who can request it and what can — what — what limitations exist, if any, on how the information
can be used. So that’s why we’re here.
We’re here to find out all things Russia and the witnesses are determined by the evidence and nothing else.
And the 702 reauthorization will come before the Congress fairly soon and I, for one, have a lot of
questions I didn’t have before.
I’ve enjoyed doing this with Senator Whitehouse, Senator Feinstein and Grassley have been terrific.
Let it be said that the chairman and ranking member of this subcommittee have allowed us to do
our job, have empowered us and have been hands-on and it’s much appreciated.
And with that, I’ll recognize Senator Whitehouse.”
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4668829/senator-lindsey-graham
When all is said and done, and sooner rather than later, an independent special prosecutor who
is above question about his or her integrity must be chosen to properly un-partisanly investigate
the Russian attack on our elections and country. Sally Yates, anyone?
P.S. Tuesday Night Massacre!! Now Trump fires the man investigating him and his people
Trump Suddenly Fires FBI Director Comey Investigating His Administration re Russian Attack on USA Elections[/caption]
concerning the Russian Attack On Our Elections: James Comey Fired as head of FBI!
How can Donald Trump dare do this? “This is Nixonian.” “This should send a chill down the spine of every American.”
are some early comments on this OUTRAGE! Trump claims he fired Comey because he treated Hillary Clinton
unfairly in 2016. Special Prosecutor NOW! or Impeachment!?!! What do you think? Nausea rising across our nation…
It’s been thirty years today April 26, 2016 that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
occurred. Life expectancy in Russia and Byelorus has dropped by 20 years since
the disaster. But 60% of the radionuclides spewed out of the damaged reactor
landed OUTSIDE the USSR, mostly in Europe. More than a million people have
died prematurely thanks to Chernobyl.
Now that the government shutdown is over, $24 billion dollars of taxpayer money wasted, the Tea-Party-led Republicans have decided they will not co-operate with their Congressional brethren and sisters about passing an immigration law, a jobs bill, anything that President Obama champions. We know that there has been a concerted effort from day one of Obama’s first presidency to ensure that his time in office as America’s first(?)** black chief executive would be contested, hopefully to the point of abject failure.
‘Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues.’ - Confucius -
Mankind has the power to create and destroy everything on Earth; Krakatoa 1883 explosion loudest unamplified sound ever heard on Earth; Depleted Uranium killing our soldiers, damaging genes, malformed babies USA & Iraq, Afghanistan; Trans Pacific Partnership corporate wedge to subvert national laws & regulation
As we watch the ocean and the blue sky, planning for the future, full of faith that it will be there for us, we have to be a little wary today. “Before the specialization of the disciplines that accompanied the Industrial Revolution, one of the dominant strains of Western culture was a concern for the limits of responsible action. And these limits were defined primarily by the human place, below the angels and above the animals, in the hierarchy of created things. To act in violation of these limits is to invite consequences that cannot be controlled, and may not be survived.’ – Wendell Berry
Here are 4 subjects from our latest Feb 25 2012 newsletter:
1) Is My Orange Juice ‘Fresh’ and Untainted?
2) Fukushima Groundwaters Massively Contaminated, Running
Out Into Pacific Ocean
3) Agent Orange Corn For YOU & YOUR FAMILY!
4) BPA in Your Plastic Bottles, But Surprisingly High
Concentrations From Your CANS & Canned Food!
