August 1, 2017

Russia Military Exercise? - Hummmmm

Russia being aggressive? - Has NATO concerned...


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/world/europe/russia-military-exercise-zapad-west.html?action=click&contentCollection=DealBook&module=Trending&version=Full&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

August 1, 2017

Skybridge/Mooch Sale on track - Schumer wants to Block Chinese Deals

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-01/skybridge-sale-on-track-after-scaramucci-loses-white-house-job

The SkyBridge sale is under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency committee that vets sales of American companies to foreign buyers to protect national security.

To understand this deal you have to digest the Chinese Co. that wants to acquire Skybridge -


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-26/hna-the-curious-company-worrying-china-and-u-s-quicktake-q-a

As George Takei would say "Oh, my!"

July 29, 2017

Like nails on a chalkboard - funny you should bring this up -

I have had some here at DU bring my spelling mistakes to my attention..forget the substance of what I posted...alas, my reply is always, most of the time, tks...other times, bigger fish to fry... ho hum - I am truly not trying to be mean -

I use..... or - or , way too much..or not enuf..(lol)

Now, a funny story, I had a disagreement w/then boyfriend (mid 80s), hubby today - we were visiting friends in VA - I left him there, and drove home to Mass.....(long story), anyway (see, I didn't use anyways), he wrote me a letter from VA (he had decided to stay on for a short while). Sort things out, and on and on..blah blah blah....you know what I did? I used a red pen, on the letter, to correct everything he wrote, and sent it back to him..to this day, we laugh our asses off, he likes to tell that story - I wish I still had the letter. He said when he got it, he ripped it into shreds... we are 34 years tog...

Be well...

July 28, 2017

My two cents - Heller (NV) and Capito (WV) have NO cover -

If we have a Democratic candidate to run against either of these Senators, get thee to the pulpit..NOW!
Strike NOW - and keep pounding the message - Make ACA Better -

I wonder how much FUN Capito is having now????

Heller is just a coward....

Kudo's to Mccain..(don't forget, Lindsey voted yea)

July 27, 2017

Scaramucci - nice Fed. Tax Break If you can get it

- Agreement to sell firm came before he joined administration
- Ex-government ethics chief says deal probably doesn’t qualify

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-25/scaramucci-is-said-to-seek-federal-tax-break-on-skybridge-sale

Wheelin' an' dealin' - what a chump..can you do the Fandango - oopsie - SkyBridge buyers: a politically connected Chinese conglomerate, and a little-known investment company linked to a Venezuelan-born banker known for close ties to the Hugo Chavez regime.


Anthony Scaramucci wants to put off a tax bill that could reach millions of dollars on the pending sale of his stake in SkyBridge Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. But the incoming White House communications director might have a problem.


The sale was announced before he became a government employee, and that could make him ineligible for a tax break that’s designed to let investors serve in government without getting hit with massive tax penalties, experts say.

They are all paid by us, and they are only looking out for themselves..pay taxes..nope..

July 20, 2017

Democracy In Chains - riveting - and I only read the reviews

Of course the Author has her critics..and you should read them as well - you decide with everything we know right now....will make you pause....(I am not selling this book - only bringing the concept to you) I will bet, too, you already know this material..we are living thru it -

A DU member last night who started this discussion needs to be commended....and I understand that publishers sell books -

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533763/democracy-in-chains-by-nancy-maclean/9781101980965

....snip....

“[A] vibrant intellectual history of the radical right . . .” – The Atlantic
 
“This sixty-year campaign to make libertarianism mainstream and eventually take the government itself is at the heart of Democracy in Chains. . . . If you’re worried about what all this means for America’s future, you should be” – NPR
 
“Riveting” – O, The Oprah Magazine (Top 20 Books to Read This Summer)

An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, and change the Constitution.

Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance.

You decide what to make of all this.....be well all..and tks to very smart DU members....

July 18, 2017

Who can, and How can, the ACA be made to work for the American people

With all the goings on about the ACA bad, where is the conversation as to What should be done to fix it?

Where are the people to have the discussion and solve the problem, once and for all? Is it a minor tweek? - Is it the Insurance companies? Is it Big Pharma?

Just me thinking out loud...the solution is above my paygrade, and seems to me we have been paying the wrong people in congress for 8+ years to find the answers...

April 30, 2017

OMG - I WILL SEND HIM funds or just meet him on the road -

comes through Phoenix..will research his route...hopefully be able to hand him support...

This is unbelievable - you are not going to believe this - MY HUSBAND (we met after his ride 5/83), in 1982-83 rode for a reason..his Mom died of a massive heartache at the age of 48...started in Ashland Mass. ended down Hollywood Blvd..10 months eight days - he kept a journal - one horse, one man, and the help of the good people across this country..anyone, anyone who knows this story was a part of it..

Hubby's route - RT 20 thru Mass.thru NY, Rip Van Winkle bridge -I should go get the book gathering dust in the closet - for the exact - but you can visualize his RT thru NY towards PA - into VA - RT11 - held up in Winchester for 6 weeks...so many stories...good people - Amish replaced shoes on horse...pastures, food, shelter - all along the way...Texarkana to Van Horn TX - wind storms etc etc etc...west on RT10 thru Phoenix..to LA,,average 20-24 miles a day.....

Cliff, riding for a noble cause, will need your help - that will be up to you (I have just heard of this thru this article) - find his route....be there....(I wonder if he will have people with him?)- my hubby only had the good people of this country....along the way....oh, the newspapers and local TV reporters met hubby along the way..we have all the articles..hubby is now 63 yrs old...

Cliff Leaves tomorrow from CA...need to follow and we will be there.....(I am going to call the AZ Republic Newspaper, so they are sure to be aware and report)

April 14, 2017

Don Benton nominee for Selective Service System - OMG

...snip.....

Late Monday night, when many Americans were in bed, President Donald Trump quietly announced his intention to nominate former Washington state senator Don Benton (R) to be director of the Selective Service System, which operates the nation’s military draft.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/don-benton-draft-board_us_58ef89d7e4b0b9e98489e9a0?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

A man without military service and a checkered past - according to the story..

As GWB Ethics guy, Painter says, “If this administration doesn’t understand the difference between disposing of hazardous waste and determining the fate of young men’s lives, then they’ve got bigger problems to deal with than this one nominee,” he said.

March 20, 2017

Fiona Hill - In depth article at the Daily Beast -

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/18/one-trump-aide-who-knows-all-about-putin.html

...snip

Fiona Hill, the dual British-American citizen and former national intelligence officer with the U.S. National Intelligence Council, was recently named the White House's senior director for Europe and Russia. She is therefore the most influential Putinologist on a National Security Council that badly needs them.

Fiona Hill co-wrote a book on Putin as well....

She also co-wrote and article for the Brookings Institute - Oct. 6, 2016

https://www.brookings.edu/research/dealing-with-a-simmering-ukraine-russia-conflict/

The February 2015 Minsk II settlement that was to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region has yet to be implemented -

If Russian efforts succeed, and sanctions are lifted without any significant progress having been made in implementing the Minsk II security provisions, Western credibility will be undermined.

The Kremlin will feel emboldened to act in a similar fashion elsewhere in the post-Soviet space. Even without further military interventions, there are a range of other troubling actions Russia could undertake: increased violations of European air and sea space; state-sponsored hacking of European politicians, political parties, and Kremlin critics during the 2017 election cycle; cyberattacks against institutions and critical infrastructure; and the encouragement of political violence by fringe groups in vulnerable states with disaffected minority groups, like the Baltic states.

It will thus be important for the new U.S. administration to maintain parallel support for sanctions and the Minsk II process, in coordination with the EU, to make clear that Russian actions do have a cost.

Additionally, the administration should push back against the Moscow narrative that Kyiv is solely at fault for Minsk’s failed implementation....

Sound familiar....Fiona Hill - The Daily Beast article asks the question - how is she advising drumpf?