July 22, 2019

Good bye Art Neville RIP - Sister Rosa

July 14, 2019

There are few remaining native forests but many (and growing in extent) forests in Ireland

and a forest industry.

https://www.forestryfocus.ie/forests-woodland/forests-of-ireland/

July 13, 2019

We hired the author of 'Black Hawk Down' and an illustrator from 'Archer' to adapt the Mueller

report so you'll actually read it

Editor's note

It feels as if nobody read the Mueller report. That's a shame, because it's an important document, depicting possible crimes by a sitting US president.

But not reading it makes sense. As a narrative, the document is a disaster. And at 448 pages, it's too long to grind through. For long stretches, it reads less like a story and more like a terms-of-service agreement. The instinct to click "next" is strong.
And yet, buried within the Mueller report, there is a narrative that reads in parts like a thriller, like a comedy, like a tragedy — and, most important — like an indictment. The facts are compelling, all the more so because they come not from President Donald Trump's critics or "fake news" reports, but from Trump's own handpicked colleagues and associates. The story just needed to be rearranged in a better form.

So we hired Mark Bowden, a journalist and author known for his brilliant works of narrative nonfiction like "Black Hawk Down," "Killing Pablo," and "Hue 1968." Our assignment for him was simple. Use the interviews and facts laid out in the Mueller report (plus those from reliable, fact-checked sources and published firsthand accounts) to do what he does best: Tell a story recounting Mueller's report that's so gripping it will hold your attention (and maybe your congressional representative's). We also hired Chad Hurd, an illustrator from the art department of "Archer." We asked him to draw out scenes from the report to bring them to life.

Here's what Bowden and Hurd gave us … https://www.insider.com/mueller-report-rewritten-trump-russia-mark-bowden-archer-2019-7?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

July 8, 2019

Jared Huffman, north coast CA (CA-2)

Supports impeachment

https://www.needtoimpeach.com/congress/jared-huffman/

Nancy Pelosi

Does not support impeachment

https://www.needtoimpeach.com/congress/nancy-pelosi/

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

Nancy Pelosi did not support the impeachment of GWB.

War crimes were ignored and then the economy was crashed on the way out the door.

Did not get the concept then nor now that the GOP was not going to cooperate on anything.

As Speaker of the House (then and now), is unwilling to initiate formal impeachment investigation(s).

Polls indicate that about 67% of Democratic party voters support impeachment.

The formal investigation is the process that educates the people and Congress (where necessary).

July 7, 2019

Good Idea, Trump Modeling Agency had issues.

Former Models for Donald Trump’s Agency Say They Violated Immigration Rules and Worked Illegally

“It’s like modern-day slavery.”



Republican nominee Donald Trump has placed immigration at the core of his presidential campaign. He has claimed that undocumented immigrants are “taking our jobs” and “taking our money,” pledged to deport them en masse, and vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border. At one point he demanded a ban on Muslims entering the country. Speaking to supporters in Iowa on Saturday, Trump said he would crack down on visitors to the United States who overstay their visas and declared that when any American citizen “loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been violated.” And he is scheduled to give a major address on immigration in Arizona on Wednesday night.

But the mogul’s New York modeling agency, Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with Mother Jones. Financial and immigration records included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump’s agency in the United States without a proper visa.

Foreigners who visit the United States as tourists are generally not permitted to engage in any sort of employment unless they obtain a special visa, a process that typically entails an employer applying for approval on behalf of a prospective employee. Employers risk fines and possible criminal charges for using undocumented labor.

Founded in 1999, Trump Model Management “has risen to the top of the fashion market,” boasts the Trump Organization’s website, and has a name “that symbolizes success.” According to a financial disclosure filed by his campaign in May, Donald Trump earned nearly $2 million from the company, in which he holds an 85 percent stake. Meanwhile, some former Trump models say they barely made any money working for the agency because of the high fees for rent and other expenses that were charged by the company.

more: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/

Models for Donald Trump's 'crooked' modeling agency say they worked in U.S. illegally under conditions that resembled 'modern-day slavery'

Donald Trump's modeling company was a "crooked agency" that put young women into "modern-day slavery" and had them working in the U.S. illegally, former models for the organization claimed in a bombshell report published Tuesday.

Trump Model Management, which was founded by the GOP nominee in 1999, has made its money on foreign models working in the U.S. illegally and under horrible conditions, several former models told Mother Jones magazine.

"Honestly, they are the most crooked agency I've ever worked for," said Rachel Blais, a Canadian-born model who signed with Trump Model Management in 2004 and worked for the company without the proper visa paperwork.

Another woman, identified by the magazine as "Kate," who said the agency never obtained a work visa for her even though she worked for them as a model in the U.S., blasted the mogul for his apparent hypocrisy.

Trump profited from foreign labor, and often illegal workers, while the GOP nominee on the campaign trail bashed immigrants and threatened to "round up" 11 million undocumented immigrants with a "deportation force."

more at: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/models-trump-agency-worked-u-s-illegally-report-article-1.2771769

Trump's modeling agency broke immigration laws, attorneys say

Donald Trump's modeling agency has profited from the very same visa program that the presidential candidate himself has slammed -- and appears to have violated federal law in the process, a CNNMoney investigation has found.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has loudly opposed the practice of U.S. companies using foreign workers instead of Americans -- specifically the highly-skilled workers brought to the United States through the controversial H-1B visa program.

"These are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse," Trump said in a statement on his website, though he backtracked on his position during a recent Republican debate.

While this visa program is best known for bringing over technology workers like engineers and computer programmers, Trump's own modeling agency has used the program for years, federal data shows. That's because federal law surprisingly lumps in fashion models with these other specialized workers -- though it's the only job that doesn't require higher education. (Instead, models must have "distinguished merit and ability.&quot

more at: https://money.cnn.com/2016/03/10/news/trump-model-visas/index.html

June 16, 2019

The Case for Impeachment As presented by North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman

The Case for Impeachment

As presented by North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman

North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman has made no secret of his desire to see the U.S. House of Representatives officially begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. He's been steadfastly outspoken on the subject. His public statements began largely 140 fiery characters at a time on Twitter before, in February of 2018, Huffman co-sponsored the Articles of Impeachment introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee. But in recent weeks, in the wake of the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, amid a slowly growing chorus of House Democrats calling for impeachment, Huffman has been making the national media rounds, interviewed by the likes of CNN, Politico and the Huffington Post.

As Congress mulls the historic step, the Journal caught up with Huffman on June 7. Looking to go beyond the tweets, sound bites and pithy quotes, we asked Huffman, a lawyer by trade, to make his case as to why the House should begin impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States. Here's a transcript of our conversation, which has been minimally edited for clarity.

North Coast Journal: To start, we're going to tap into your lawyerly past and ask you to give us a brief opening argument as to why it's time for the House to start impeachment proceedings.

Jared Huffman: The distinction that you just made is an important one — impeachment proceedings as opposed to just going straight to an impeachment vote. It would be a mistake, I think — and I say this even as someone who favors impeachment — to do what the Republicans did in 1998 and simply take a special counsel's report and rush right to the floor for a vote. That would be a disservice to the process, it would look a lot like a partisan power play and it's not going to happen that way.
What I do believe should happen is we should take these disparate inquiries and subpoena battles and investigations, and wrap them into a coherent context for the American people, because the truth is we are looking into the corruption issues and continuing to look at the counter intelligence stuff with Russia and the follow-up on the Mueller report issues and different things because they could potentially lead to impeachment. That is very much the backdrop to all this. I think bringing it into a coherent context as part of an official impeachment inquiry would help people understand that better.

Remainder of interview at: https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/the-case-for-impeachment/Content?oid=14406632

June 9, 2019

Support for Impeachment Surges Among Democrats but Majority of Americans Still Oppose It

Support for Impeachment Surges Among Democrats but Majority of Americans Still Oppose It

By Daniel Politi
June 02, 201911:24 AM

Democrats are increasingly in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump, with 76 percent saying they support the move to oust the president from office, according to a new CNN poll. That marks a seven-percentage-point increase from April when support for impeachment stood at 69 percent among Democrats, according to the poll conducted by SSRS.

Among Americans as a whole, support for impeachment increased only slightly to 41 percent, up from 37 percent last month. On the opposite end, 54 percent are opposed to impeachment. And despite the slight uptick, it is hardly the highest it has ever been compared to the 47 percent who supported impeachment in September 2018.

The president’s constant soundbite that he is under attack by Democrats appears to be working as 65 percent say he is facing more investigations than any previous president. But that doesn’t mean the public think the investigations are unfair. Almost half of Americans, or 47 percent, say the investigations are justified, while 44 percent say they are not. That is pretty much divided among party lines, with 75 percent of Democrats saying the investigations are justified and 74 percent of Republicans saying they are not justified.

Despite the slight shifts in opinions about impeachment, Trump’s overall approval rating has remained steady and a clear majority continue to disapprove of the president. While 43 percent say they approve of the job Trump is doing in the White House, 52 percent say they disapprove.

The poll comes at a time when Democratic lawmakers are increasingly facing calls from their constituents to begin impeachment proceedings. On Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech to the California Democratic Party State Convention was repeatedly interrupted by cries of “impeach” from the audience.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/impeachment-poll-surges-democrats-trump.html

June 1, 2019

Nancy Pelosi greeted by cries of 'impeach' at California Democratic convention

Source: SF Chronicle

Nancy Pelosi greeted by cries of ‘impeach’ at California Democratic convention


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call Saturday for a country blessed with unity was punctuated with cries of “Impeach!” from the crowd at the California Democratic Party’s convention in San Francisco, highlighting the rifts plaguing even her own party.

Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at the Moscone Center, the San Francisco Democrat pledged to keep the heat on President Trump.

“We will go where the facts lead us. ... President Trump will be held accountable for his actions — in the Congress, in the courts and in the court of public opinion,” she said, while also promising, “We will strive to unify, not divide, our country as we protect and defend it.”

Pelosi has steadfastly insisted on sticking with House inquiries into the Trump administration on several fronts before launching any impeachment proceedings. She has left open the possibility of such proceedings, but has shown little enthusiasm for them.

remainder at link.


Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Nancy-Pelosi-greeted-by-cries-of-impeach-at-13915993.php

May 30, 2019

Mine is Jared Huffman and he is for Trump's impeachment.

From Huffman's website:

Huffman joins House group backing Trump impeachment

Mar 5, 2018 In The News

by Keri Brenner

Marin IJ

Democratic congressman, who has joined as co-sponsor of articles of impeachment against Trump. Huffman, a vocal critic of Trump for many months, said, “Now it’s becoming so compelling and imperative that it feels like the right time (to sign on).”

More at: https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/huffman-joins-house-group-backing-trump-impeachment

May 29, 2019

The real (surprisingly comforting) reason rural America is doomed to decline

From the Washington Post (and it is comforting in a way)

The real (surprisingly comforting) reason rural America is doomed to decline


According to the United States’ original 1950 urban classifications, rural America is crushing it. It’s home to about as many people as urban America, and it’s growing faster. So why do headlines and statistics paint rural areas as perpetually in decline?

Because the contest between rural and urban America is rigged. Official definitions are regularly updated in such a way that rural counties are continually losing their most successful places to urbanization. When a rural county grows, it transmutes into an urban one.


In a way, rural areas serve as urban America’s farm team: All their most promising prospects get called up to the big leagues, leaving the low-density margins populated by an ever-shrinking pool of those who couldn’t qualify.

Remainder of article with lots of charts at:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-real-surprisingly-comforting-reason-rural-america-is-doomed-to-decline/ar-AABQRfs?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=spartandhp