19 minutes ago, Juliajms said:

^ This whole thing is already so ugly.  It's clearly going to get worse. I only hope that the people who deserve jail get it, but I also won't be surprised if the mask totally slips from the Republicans and they try to subvert justice entirely.

 

They already ARE trying. That's the tragic part.

It’s starting to look like Vekselberg, AT&T and Novartis we’re paying someone close to Cohen — Cohen *himself* wasn’t worth $4.5M — for more than mere “access.” If it was a high executive official, such bribery would’ve been an impeachable offense. SDNY has its hands full.

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 9, 2018

11 hours ago, Vee said:

Financial records reviewed by NYT show Cohen used the LLC for activities that went far beyond what was publicly known. Transactions totaling at least $4,400,000 flowed through the LLC starting shortly before Trump was elected and continuing to Jan. ‘18. https://t.co/vPGxPk5Hdt

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 9, 2018

 

Didn't I tell you 'bout those LLCs??!

On 5/6/2018 at 1:06 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

I read that NYT article on Cohen.  He is definitely Mob-adjacent.  The depth and breadth of his connections to the Italian and Russian mobs is astounding.

I have a feeling that if Mueller's team does a deep dive into those LLCs, they may uncover a whole lot of signs of money laundering.

 

BUMP!

21 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

 

Only 6 decades? You mean that there's actually been someone worse than Trump?  

trying to leave out the cretins who protected slavery.  Oh wait.....

17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

I'd still say W was nearly as bad if not worse, although that will likely change soon enough. It's just he had a less awful personality.

 

16 hours ago, Juliajms said:

Right. I think it depends on the criteria we're using to evaluate.  More people are dead because of W and those around him.  We set Iraq on fire under his regime when they basically did nothing to us. Some estimates put the number of dead around 1 million, if you count lack of food and medicine due to the war.

 

Very true.

At least with Trump(and his entire administration including Pruitt and the "I was just following orders for torture" Gina Haspel)  the world is getting a real sense of who America is as the so called "responsible leadership". Obama could have reshaped our role and image but in some ways he couldn't. I believe he realized his role as the first black president and had he varied too far of the so called "establishment" presidential role, he would have been impeached. whether he broke a law or not. The hatred and resentment for him was that high.

 

The US is an imperialistic empire. As much as Russia may have interfered in our election, the real culprits are the Saudi's and Israeli's. Their politicking has led us to break the Iran deal plus Trump's desire to undo everything Obama did. The Iran deal had it's flaws but it is the one positive I can point to in his foreign policy strategy for the middle east. Israel wants the unrest as do the Saudi's. And it also benefits Russia.  Trump is following the Bush Jr. Middle East playbook now. Next coming - war with Iran. Count on it.

I wonder whether the other countries, (the rest who are remaining within the agreement) will decide to complain that the U.S. is now in violation of the Iran Nuclear Deal to the United Nations now that the U.S. has pulled out?

 

2 hours ago, JaneAusten said:

The US is an imperialistic empire. As much as Russia may have interfered in our election, the real culprits are the Saudi's and Israeli's. Their politicking has led us to break the Iran deal plus Trump's desire to undo everything Obama did.

Not a very capable one lately.  I wonder if anyone in this administration can even articulate the plan. I doubt it since I don't believe there is one.

 

I don't really think it's the fault of the Saudi's or the Israeli's. How can we blame other countries for decisions made by our own bad government?  They lobbied for what they believe is in their own best interests. That's what foreign governments do. The buck stops in DC as far as I can see.  If you believe that we would have a different government if not for Russian interference, then I would say some of the blame goes to them as well.

The U.S. has been an imperialistic country for over a century, it's just that, over the last few decades that imperialistic grip has become weaker for a number of reasons- one of them being that other countries, once on the margins have gotten stronger.

 

China, a country whose empire had faded centuries ago (before America existed) and was considered a poor backward country by Western standards, has come in from the margins to become a superpower. 

 

Japan (also an empire that once practiced imperialism all over the Northeast Asia) and Germany, shed their post WWII infamy and are highly successful economies that are at the top of the global financial hierarchy.

 

The U.S., no longer able to build its economy on slavery, child labor and other forms of legally sanctioned exploitation (although there is still prison labor) has found its revenue streams have fallen, as it would when you have to pay an actual wage.

 

As for The Saudis and the Israelis.

Crown Prince MbS and Benjamin Netanyahu are each contributing to instability in the Middle East which is threatening to spread into other parts of the world. 

The kingdom of S.A. and the Israeli governments have now become strange bedfellows in their enmity with Iran. From what I've read it seems both governments are looking toward the possibility of war with Iran because they are relying on their ally, the United States to help them fight any battle.  With the U.S. extracting itself from the agreement with Iran, this is one step closer to becoming a realistic possibility, especially with a loose cannon like John Bolton at the helm.

 

Also Netanyahu likely needs to put fear in the hearts of Israel citizens to detract away from yet another corruption trial, just in case the people were finally ready to toss him out on his keyster. As we see from Trump supporters, fear works wonders.

 

By the way, it's going to be interesting to find out who paid Black Cube to go after the two Obama officials (through their spouses which is pretty heinous).

 

Speaking of corruption and fear...

 

Russia also stands to benefit and who says their election tampering is over?  There's always the midterms. It's a possibility that they've perfected their approach, especially with the current administration which tends to be very compliant toward Russian oligarchs.

 

The Trump administration's only plan (as far as I can see) is to keep riding the wave of kakistocracy and line their pockets full of cash.  A kind of"Get Rich or Get Impeached While Trying" plan. 

Reading about Novartis and AT&T throwing millions of dollars that likely ended up in one of Cohen's shady LLCs with no reasonable or sensible explanation, tells much of the story of what this administration's plan is.

Edited May 9, 20187 yr by DramatistDreamer

13 minutes ago, Juliajms said:

Not a very capable one lately.  I wonder if anyone in this administration can even articulate the plan. I doubt it since I don't believe there is one.

 

I don't really think it's the fault of the Saudi's or the Israeli's. How can we blame other countries for decisions made by our own bad government?  They lobbied for what they believe is in their own best interests. That's what foreign governments do. The buck stops in DC as far as I can see.  If you believe that we would have a different government if not for Russian interference, then I would say some of the blame goes to them as well.

I should have been clearer I was talking specifically about the Iran deal.

 

At the end of the day of course you are correct. Lobbyists are allowed, foreign influence. I'm forever conflicted about the Saudi's. They are the worst human rights abusers in the middle east, were the main funders of the terrorists behind 9/11, yet somehow are still the US's greatest ally in the middle east outside of Israel. And Netanyahu who has been trying to peddle the idea that Iran is in violation of the agreement was also the one behind the lie about the WMD's in Iraq. We choose to listen versus verify because it just confirms what those in influential roles want to happen anyway.

Lord help us.

 

This is definitely not making the news and I was just mentioning the exploitation of prison labor.

 

 

BREAKING - Work Stoppage at Largest Maximum Security Prison in the U.S.

C-Block prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary launched a non-violent work stoppage to demand an end to prison slavery. Prison administrators transported prisoners refusing to work to an unknown location pic.twitter.com/FOf46EE3nz

— Central Ohio IWOC (@CentralOhioIWOC) May 8, 2018

28 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

This is definitely not making the news and I was just mentioning the exploitation of prison labor.

 

 

Private prisons are big business. Slavery ain't gone it's just been moved into the prison industrial complex.

2 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

Private prisons are big business. Slavery ain't gone it's just been moved into the prison industrial complex.

 

Precisely.

 

 

On another note, Golan Heights is trending and I'm afraid to look.  It's all happening fast, folks.

3 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Precisely.

 

 

On another note, Golan Heights is trending and I'm afraid to look.  It's all happening fast, folks.

 

Is it terrible for me to say I don't trust Israel. Not saying they staged this but the timing of Iran shooting rockets at Israeli troops seems suspect.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golan-heights-air-raid-sirens-today-live-updates-2018-05-09/