monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Congressman Introduces Bill to Get the U.S. Out of the UN

The legislation has been introduced in Congress for decades. However, the current president’s publicly expressed hostility to globalism and his oft-stated support for U.S. sovereignty make the issue especially salient right now. In Congress and in the administration, as well as among everyday Americans, anti-UN sentiment is surging. Even some Democrats are fed up with the UN’s criticism of Israel. Advocates of the measure are urging Americans to contact their representatives, senators, and the White House in support.

The American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2019 (H.R. 204) was introduced by Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) right as the new Congress was getting started. “One of my first priorities in this new Congress was to make sure this bill was reintroduced,” said Rogers, who serves as the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “The United Nations is a disaster and our country bankrolls over 20 percent of its annual budget.”

A low-key SCOTUS term is good news for the estimated 800,000 DREAMers in the US

The administration is challenging rulings that are blocking Trump from rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. Lower court judges have said the administration’s explanation – that DACA is illegal – isn’t adequate.



A decision not to hear the case this term would be a blow to the administration, which had contended the case was especially urgent. The government took the unusual step of turning to the Supreme Court even before a federal appeals court had ruled. The administration said it wanted a “timely and definitive resolution of the dispute this term.”



The Supreme Court also took no action Friday on a list of other major cases, suggesting the justices will take a low profile in Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s first term. Those cases include a Trump administration bid to ban most transgender people from serving in the military and appeals testing whether federal law bars job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Supreme Court Hints It Won't Hear Trump's DACA Appeal This Term
—Bloomberg

US President Donald Trump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a second summit by the end of February, the White House says.

The announcement came after Mr Trump met top North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-chol at the White House.

He had been expected to deliver a letter from Kim Jong-un to Mr Trump.

Little progress has been made on denuclearisation since their historic summit in Singapore last June. No venue has been announced for the new summit.

Speculation is mounting that it could be held in Vietnam.

I really get the feeling that the N Koreans/Chinese are setting the agenda and Trump is just reacting to events.

US President Donald Trump has hit back over a news report that he directed his then personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress.

Buzzfeed News said Mr Trump had instructed Cohen to lie about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen was convicted over the case last month.

Mr Trump said the lawyer was lying about the Moscow project to "reduce his jail time".

The office of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller also disputed the report.

A spokesman for Mr Mueller - who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election and whether Trump campaign figures were complicit - said Buzzfeed's "description of specific statements" and "characterisation of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate".

Democratic politicians say they will investigate Buzzfeed's allegations.

Buzzfeed says its report is based on testimony from two unnamed law enforcement officials investigating the matter.

The story alleges Mr Trump received 10 personal updates from Cohen about a plan to build the Moscow tower at a time when Mr Trump denied having any business ties to Russia.

Quote:

President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.

Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.
... ... ...

Buzzfeed

NRA TV likens Colin Kaepernick to Satan.

This Stinchfield dude sounds like a delightful fellow.

Quote:

But it's OK to take nursing infants away from asylum seeking women and place them in 'tender age shelters'

That was Obama's policy.

FBI Bruce Ohr TESTIFIES: FBI Tried to Bring Down Trump

No longer can the FBI pretend they were unaware until later, because Ohr testified he had shared details of his contacts with Steele with the FBI prior to the election.

It is just typical we have a president who threatens a person's family members because he has revenge against that person.

We also have a president who feels it is ok to let a combat zone know when members of congress are going on commercial flights to that combat zone out of revenge for an act which probably made him feel slighted.

He is such a crook,

I honestly can't understand Mitch McConnel and Pelosi and other leaders of congress not getting rid of him.

As for the stupid shutdown, Mitch McConnel needs to pass the pass bill which was already agreed to, send it Trump, let Trump veto it and then override it and open the government. (heard that somewhere..)

I disgusted with the whole Washington and won't be satisfied until firstly the government reopens and then Trump is gone. Just my thoughts/whatever they are worth.

What makes you think you got any business enterin any sorta beauty contest even fo oldah women??)

Why, chile, when ah was bone, mah body was blessed by MOTHAH NACHAH!!!

Right.... An as you got oldah, yo FACE was CURSED by FATHAH TIME!!!!!

A Belarusian model who said she had evidence of Russian collusion with Donald Trump's election campaign is now in Russian police custody.

Nastya Rybka (real name Anastasia Vashukevich) was detained at Moscow's main airport after being deported from Thailand for soliciting.

Her lawyer posted a video on Instagram which, he says, shows her arrest.

A woman resembling her and looking sedated struggles as four men push her into a wheelchair, then carry her.

The video clip posted by lawyer Dmitry Zatsarinsky has now been tweeted by Russian broadcasters and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny.

Mr Zatsarinsky said Rybka, 27, had planned to get a connecting flight to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, but had been seized and dragged from the transit zone on to Russian territory, then whisked away to a police station.

He called the Russian action "an international scandal".

A Russian interior ministry statement, quoted by Russian media, says Rybka and three others detained with her at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport are accused of "luring into prostitution and practising it". The crime can be punished with up to six years' jail.

Among the four held is Alexander Kirillov, a Belarusian self-styled sex guru, who was in custody with her in Thailand.

They spent nine months in custody before a Thai court handed them a suspended 18-month sentence for soliciting and running an illegal "sex training course". Thailand deported them on Thursday, taking account of their time spent in custody.

They and five others - both Belarusians and Russians - pleaded guilty, after which they were deported.

While in custody, Rybka and Kirillov sought help from the US embassy, fearing extradition to Russia.

Rybka said she had evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election campaign, allegedly obtained through an acquaintance with Russian billionaire industrialist Oleg Deripaska.

Mr Deripaska denied the allegations and successfully sued both her and Kirillov.

Mr Deripaska is on the list of Russian oligarchs and politicians subject to US sanctions for alleged "malign activities" around the world.

I really get the feeling that the N Koreans/Chinese are setting the agenda and Trump is just reacting to events.

The big Pence news this week was that Mother — er, Karen Pence — has taken a job teaching at a school that bans gay students and requires employees to declare that God does not believe in same-sex marriage.

It was a reminder that Pence spent most of his political career running against gay rights. It’s part of a larger opposition to all sex outside of traditional wedlock. In Indiana, Pence tried to drive Planned Parenthood clinics out of business. In one county, that left no free services providing testing for H.I.V. and it helped trigger an epidemic.

But hey, the Second Couple feel strongly about this, as a matter of faith. I’m sure they share their convictions with all their colleagues, neighbors and their good friend the thrice-married president. Maybe, while they’re sharing, Donald entertains them with stories about how he used to encourage New York City tabloids to run headlines about his adulterous relationships, and his fantastic ability to grab women by their private parts.

Just saying.