Maru Kitteh
Maru Kitteh's JournalRyan sought to weaken Trump, and he did.
I believe this bill may have been pushed by Ryan, not because he expected it to become law, but because he knew it would weaken Trump. Hear me out.
I absolutely think Ryan expected that he would be able to get it out of the House, and that it would go on to die a messy death in the Senate. He did himself some some serious damage with this miscalculation by having it die on his own doorstep - BUT - I also think Ryan always knew it would never make it to the Oval Office desk.
This bill was touted, not just by the media, but Trump's own people as a terrific test of his amazing awesome superhuman powers of "The Art of Making the Deal!"TM.
Trump, already weakening fast under the weight of the fallout from his poor impulse control, now looks like an amateur, a patsy, a dope and a complete fraud . . because of course, he is all of those things. But for Trump, the damage goes much deeper than this one bill. The carefully crafted mythology of his prowess as a singular force, a master of negotiation - is now in tatters on floor. He has been exposed as a man who really has no special skills applicable to the complicated demands of governance.
A weak Trump is beneficial to Ryan.
In the short term, Ryan got more fertilizer on himself than he intended, to be sure, but I think the long-term damage to Trump, his weakness now exposed, is far greater.
Chaos in South Korea follows impeachment of President - Russia, China stand to gain
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/10/asia/us-south-korea-impeachment-impact/index.htmlProtests erupt in South Korea after impeachment - How South Korea's political turmoil could upend ties with the US
(CNN)The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye will usher in new leadership that could take a vastly different approach to South Korea-US relations.
Will the next leader in Seoul agree with the United States on key issues including North Korea and the placement of a US-built missile defense system on South Korean soil? Or will South Korea favor a shift? Will it seek closer relations with China, its largest trading partner?
State Department spokesman Mark Toner characterized Park's ouster as a "domestic issue on which the United States takes no position." He also stressed the close US ties with South Korea as "a linchpin of regional stability and security."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to arrive in Seoul next week.
What comes next
With Park's ouster, South Korea will hold a snap election within 60 days in what is guaranteed be a campaign frenzy. Opinion polls so far show the left-leaning Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in 2012, as the front-runner.
Liberals in South Korea typically favor a more conciliatory approach with Pyongyang, and many oppose the US missile defense system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which is designed to intercept incoming missiles, conceivably from North Korea.
<snip>
"If progressives take power, I do think issues like THAAD and North Korea policy could be on the table, which would have huge consequences for the US right now," said David Kang, director of the University of Southern California's Korean Studies Institute.
After nine years of conservative leadership and a scandal-marred Park presidency, South Korea may be signaling it's ready for a change. The conservatives lost their majority in a shock defeat in parliamentary elections last year. New leadership in Seoul could mark a shift on two key issues in US and South Korea relations -- the missile defense system and the position on North Korea.
THAAD and China: It's complicated
The first pieces of the THAAD defense system arrived this week in South Korea. The project has been fiercely opposed by China and Russia as a threat to their security.
More at link above
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So much facepalm in this situation right now. State department remains dark and quiet in the face of this crisis. Tillerson will be traveling into this mess with global implications deliberately leaving the American press behind.
Hmmm. Chaos, Russia, Tillerson and a complete lack of transparency? What could go wrong?
Nazi medal-wearing Gorka proclaims: "No persecution based on skin color" in US
First of all, a refresher, this is who we are talking about:
Did Gorka Really Wear A Medal Linked To Nazi Ally To Trump Inaugural Ball?
During an interview with Fox News broadcast from one of President Trump's inaugural balls, soon-to-be White House aide Sebastian Gorka wore a medal that some Hungarian news outlets and scholars identified with Miklós Horthy, the anti-Semitic World War II-era leader whose regime witnessed the murder of some 600,000 Hungarian Jews.
Gorka’s choice of dress, a black braided jacket known as a "bocskai" adorned with two medals, wouldn't necessarily catch the eye of an American viewer. But some Hungarians who came across the interview interpreted the getup as a nod to the knightly order of merit Horthy founded in 1920, the Order of Vitéz. Right-wing Hungarian media in particular fixated on what it saw as Gorka's callback to a resurgent native icon of the far-right.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sebastian-gorka-inauguration-medal-order-vitez-horthy
And, oh look. Here he is again. Whitesplaining. He's an immigrant, so therefore there is no racism or bigotry in the United States.
According to White House aide Sebastian Gorka, persistent racial disparities in the U.S. can be attributed to a “dependency culture” created by the Democratic Party.
“Today I do not see, as a nation, systemic persecution based on skin color,” he said in an interview with the Center for Investigative Reporting’s “Reveal” podcast that aired Thursday.
Gorka, a London-born Hungarian who moved to the U.S. in 2008, argued that Democrats devote too much attention to identity politics and the historical roots of inequality.
<snip>
Leston argued that the “inequities that have been built into American culture are still there” and that the U.S. economy was built on the genocide of Native Americans and centuries of chattel slavery.
“What I’m saying is in the structure of America, white supremacy is built in,” Leston said.
Gorka disagreed, saying he had a different perspective as an immigrant.
“As someone who consciously chose to be a citizen of this great nation I wholeheartedly reject your assertion that white supremacism is some foundational element of our society,” he said. “Historically it existed but my issue is this: how are you helping bridge divisions by using phrases like white supremacism? Because white supremacism is a conscious decision. It’s the individual who is denying the other their civil rights. Today I do not see, as a nation, systemic persecution based on skin color.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sebastian-gorka-united-states-no-systemic-racism-white-supremacy
Drug that halts Alzheimers, removes amyloid plaques on the horizon
I know the Telegraph is a conservative news source but they had the best article I saw on the drug. The article is from September of 2016, but I missed it at that time. I have also included a link below to clinical trials now underway.
Please, please, let this be the one. The suffering this disease wreaks upon families and lives . . It would be so good to see it end.
Patients treated with the highest dose of aducanumab saw an almost complete clearance of the amyloid plaques which prevent brain cells communicating
Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
The first drug that can prevent Alzheimer’s disease is finally on the horizon after scientists proved they can clear the sticky plaques from the brain which cause dementia and halt mental decline.
Hailed as the "best news" in dementia research for 25 years, the breakthrough is said to be a potential "game changer" for people with Alzheimer’s.
Scientists said they were amazed to find that patients treated with the highest dose of the antibody drug aducanumab experienced an almost complete clearance of the amyloid plaques that prevent brain cells communicating, leading to irreversible memory loss and cognitive decline.
Crucially they also found that after six months of the treatment, patients stopped deteriorating compared with those taking a placebo, suggesting that their dementia had been halted.
Much more at link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/01/alzheimers-new-drug-that-halts-mental-decline-is-best-news-for-d/
Link to clinical trials: https://www.aducanumabclinicaltrials.com/
Final update for those who gave to the Corey Baker GoFundMe campaign
I received this communication from a detective in the Richmond Police Department this morning. Funds will be returned to those who gave. I am hurt and saddened that members of our community were taken advantage of, but I am very happy those people will have their funds returned.
DU is a community with a warm and open heart. I hope we will always remain so. While vigilance is always advisable, the shame of being cheated lies with the one who did the cheating. I believe we should thank all those who were kind enough to give for their open spirit, and be happy that their gift is coming back to them.
Rep. Devin Nunes in testy presser - Tells media "What if we investigate YOU!"
I don't have a link yet, watched on CNN.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R) California, House Intel Chair gave a very testy news presser today. Tried mightily to avoid talking about Jeff Sessions at all, tried to call it a "disagreement" between some Senators and Jeff Sessions and basically they should get together and hug it out.
He started out fairly even but kind of lost it progressively. I don't think he slept much last night. 
When asked about the order to preserve documents related to Russia, he pointedly told the press "I suggest you go camp outside their houses and hound them with those questions!"
And then questioned about whether it was appropriate for Beauregard, as a campaign official in a public office to be in contact with the Russians he really flared up.
"I'm sure some of YOU are in contact with the Russian Embassy, be careful what you wish for! Do you want us to conduct an ivestigation into YOU because you were in contact with the Russian Embassy?"
These people are terrified; a bunch of cornered vipers.
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