monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Frankly I see little evidence that contemporary elites know much of classical literature.

It isn't me blath, I been afk.

The president-elect’s favorable comments about President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the conclusion of United States intelligence officials that Moscow acted to help Mr. Trump’s campaign have focused attention on Mr. Trump’s business interests in Russia. Asked about the issue at his news conference last week, Mr. Trump was emphatic on one point: “I have no dealings with Russia.” And he repeated, “I have no deals that could happen in Russia because we’ve stayed away.”

...Mr. Trump repeatedly sought business in Russia as far back as 1987, when he traveled there to explore building a hotel. He applied for his trademark in the country as early as 1996. And his children and associates have appeared in Moscow over and over in search of joint ventures, meeting with developers and government officials.

As the Russian market opened up in the post-Soviet era, Mr. Trump and his partners pursued Russians who were newly flush with cash to buy apartments in Trump Towers in New York and Florida...

Seeking deals in Russia became part of a broader strategy to expand the Trump brand worldwide. By the mid-2000s, Mr. Trump was transitioning to mostly licensing his name to hotel, condominium and commercial towers rather than building or investing in real estate himself. He discovered that his name was especially attractive in developing countries where the rising rich aspired to the type of ritzy glamour he personified.

For Trump, Russia is the emerging market worth investing in currently, however in caveat into the high-end sector he counts on his international experience in the market. Trump said: “The emerging world in general attributes such brand premium to real estate that we are looking all over the place, primarily Russia. ...
[...]
If he were to choose his top A-list for investments in the emerging world, Trump said his firm would choose China and Russia. “Given what I’ve seen in Russia’s real estate market as of late relative to some of the emerging markets, the country seems to have a lot more natural strength, especially in the high-end sector where people focus on price per square-meter,” he said.

“In Russia, I really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world. Unlike other countries in the world, this country has five major cities where people would at least be happy being close to living in the metro.

“In Russia, if one has made money anywhere in the country, you would want your place in Moscow.”
[...]
However, to a certain degree, some US investors have had concerns over Russia. “Well, that’s happening, too. After spending half a dozen trips to Russia in the last 18 months, several buyers have been attracted to our projects there and everything associated therewith.

... ... ...

Speaking at a 2008 Manhattan real estate conference, [Trump's kid] confessed to fears of doing business in Russia, saying there is “an issue of ‘Will I ever see my money back out of that deal or can I actually trust the person I am doing the deal with?’”

When asked about Mr. Trump’s claim that he had “stayed away” from Russia, Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said it was a fair characterization given that none of the development opportunities ever materialized.

With Tape Excerpts Making Daily Headlines, Netanyahu Launches Pathetic Attack on Media
He was the speaker on the tapes, he's the suspct and it was the attorney general who decided to launch investigations, but for Netanyahu, the media is to blame.

Does this sound familiar?
He was the speaker on the tapes, he's the suspct and it was the attorney general who decided to launch investigations, but for Netanyahu, the media is to blame.

This is the way authoritarians behave.

Scott Clement reports on a new Washington Post/ABC News poll showing that 74 percent of Americans think Trump should release his tax returns, and 41 percent say they care about it a lot. But Trump said no one cares about this but the media! Is it possible he wasn’t telling the truth? Nah.

Left wing thugs are planning to sabotage President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities. An umbrella organization, #DisruptJ20, also known as the DC Counter-Inaugural Welcoming Committee, describes its mission as “building the framework needed for mass protests to shut down the inauguration of Donald Trump and planning widespread direct actions to make that happen.”

A related group calling itself the “Anti-Capitalist & Anti-Fascist Bloc” is seeking to mobilize thousands of comrades, in its own words, “to disrupt Trump’s inauguration....It warns those people coming to Washington to celebrate the peaceful transfer of power in this country to expect instead to “find the inaugural ceremonies reduced to a total clusterfuck” That could well include property damage and attempts to goad the police into confrontations that the organizers of the disruptive protests would gleefully exploit.

Obamacare is popular unless you call it "Obamacare." If you call it Kynect, its negatives drop. If you call it the Affordable Care Act, its negatives drop. If you ask about the actual things it does, virtually every provision is popular among Democrats and Republicans alike. Even Obamacare's taxes on the rich, which are fairly modest, are popular. Aside from the individual mandate, the only truly unpopular part of Obamacare is the name "Obamacare." (And even that's only unpopular among Republicans.)

Bikers from all over the country are headed to DC for the Trump inauguration. They vow to stop any protesters who use violence. The 1st amendment guarantees the right to PEACEFULLY assemble. It DOES NOT guarantee the right to riot or vandalize property.