monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

The trial of Donald Trump's ex-election campaign chief is set to begin, the first to emerge from an inquiry into Russian meddling in the vote.

Paul Manafort faces 18 criminal counts, including bank fraud, and could face up to 30 years in jail if found guilty.

The former political consultant, who ran the Trump campaign for three months, has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors are expected to say that his life of luxury did not match what he had declared on his tax returns.

Before joining Mr Trump's team in summer 2016, Paul Manafort had worked on a number of Republican presidential campaigns, including those of Gerald Ford in the mid-1970s and Ronald Reagan from 1978 to 1980.

As a lobbyist, he developed a reputation for representing the unrepresentable, including former Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos, who was accused of torturing, abducting and killing thousands of opponents.

Mr Manafort took over as chairman of the Trump campaign in May 2016 and aimed to present a more thoughtful candidate, who stuck to scripts instead of ad-libbing in campaign rallies. He was in the hot seat when Mr Trump eventually won the Republican nomination, and organised the Republican convention in July 2016.

But Mr Manafort quickly faced allegations that he had not disclosed millions of dollars he received for consultancy work he carried out in Ukraine for its then pro-Russian president. At the same time, the Republican Party changed the language in its manifesto regarding the conflict in Ukraine, removing anti-Russian sentiment.

Mr Manafort quit Mr Trump's team in August 2016.

More details about Mr Manafort's work in Ukraine and with Russian nationals are expected to emerge in the 69-year-old's trial, which starts on Tuesday.

Court papers allege that he "generated tens of millions of dollars in income" from his work in Ukraine and "engaged in a scheme to hide income from United States authorities".

The charges include:

Five counts of filing false tax returns

Four counts of failure to report foreign bank accounts - prosecutors allege Mr Manafort funnelled millions of dollars through Cyprus, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Seychelles

Nine counts of bank fraud or bank fraud conspiracy - he is alleged to have made false or misleading statements to three different banks to obtain loans

Prosecutors say they will present evidence alleging a senior bank executive helped Mr Manafort get $16m in loans in return for efforts to get him positions on the campaign and in the administration

About 500 pieces of evidence have been submitted by investigators, including luxury watches and pictures of lavish homes, and up to 35 witnesses could be called.

Among them is former Manafort associate Rick Gates, who in February pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and lying to investigators. He has since been co-operating with the investigation into Mr Manafort.

The trial, in Alexandria, Virginia, is expected to last at least three weeks. Mr Manafort denies all charges, and at one point had sought to get them dismissed.

Portland Mayor “created a zone of terror and lawlessness”

Portland’s mayor violated the Constitution by ordering his police officers to stand down, allowing protesters to menace ICE employees over the last six weeks, according to agency employees who sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city Monday.

The Oregon city has been at the forefront of nationwide anti-ICE protests this summer, after Mayor Ted Wheeler encouraged Occupy ICE, saying he supported their cause and didn’t want Portland’s police to interfere with their demonstration.

That left protesters free to shut down the building leased by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, build an encampment on nearby land, and mount a harassment campaign against employees to further the anti-ICE movement’s demands for the federal agency’s abolition.

“When the mayor gave the order that police would not support ICE employees trapped in the facility, he turned the lives of our employees over to an angry mob,” said Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council, which had its lawyer send the cease-and-desist letter.

The cease-and-desist letter says Mr. Wheeler’s stand-down order to city policy “created a zone of terror and lawlessness.” The letter warns of a lawsuit if the mayor’s response isn’t satisfactory.

Last week, in a press conference, Mr. Wheeler said he supported the protesters and their anti-ICE message. That message included pulling down the building’s U.S. flag, carrying anti-riot shields, and even using homemade spike strips to try to damage employees’ cars, one ICE officer said

One ICE employee recounted to The Times the harassment of a disabled Marine veteran who was interning at the office on the first full day of the protests. He was managed to get around the blockade to pick up his daughter but only after his car was scratched and tires slashed. He then was followed to the camp.

The veteran’s initial calls for police assistance were ignored...after he called to report being followed, police told him they were staying out of the matter, the ICE source told The Washington Times.

It's time to get an Attorney General who will charge these punks with federal crimes, eh

I'd say it's time to put Portland Oregon under martial law.

The Electorasl College is an outdated anachronism

At least four of the five times it was called into play to decide an election, the worse candidate won, to the country's detriment,

The EC violates what the rest of the Constitution was designed to do.

It was a product of the horse trading they had to do two hundred years ago to get the smaller less populous states on board which they did by giving them more rights than the other colonies. That's outdated.

The real Nazis weren't afraid of eggs being thrown at them. You guys are cry-babies.

Naah, you're just a bunch of cry-baby wannabe nazis, which is to say: you want to be able to spread your hatred without being pelted with eggs.

And, by definition, anybody who doesn't accept your leftist vision of reality is "spreading hatred

We Canadians are so polite. I just found myself apologizing to my browser for changing my mind.

It appears more awesome than President Trump.