monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Obama administration whistleblower found dead of reported gunshot wound

Afterward, Obama publicly lashed out out DHS for having failed to “connect the dots.” But as noted by Haney, it was Obama’s own actions that had made it near impossible for federal officials to connect any dots anymore.

“Just before that Christmas Day attack, in early November 2009, I was ordered by my superiors at the Department of Homeland Security to delete or modify several hundred records of individuals tied to designated Islamist terror groups like Hamas from the important federal database, the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS),” he explained. “These types of records are the basis for any ability to ‘connect dots.'”

But according to Obama, the records were essentially racist, as they’d been accrued through what he believed to have been racial profiling.

And so as the years continued, more and more information was slowly scrubbed.

In few places has the effect been felt more powerfully than in the sprawling 9th Circuit, which covers California and eight other states. Because of Trump's success in filling vacancies, the San Francisco-based circuit, long dominated by Democratic appointees, has suddenly shifted to the right, with an even more pronounced tilt expected in the years ahead.

did anyone ever challenge the phrase "Well regulated"

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Bernie Sanders is a much better fit for that position [similar to Stalin] Bernie believes in a Socialist paradise in which everyone behaves as prescribed (or else !)

You really ought not to say such silly things. Sanders' political ideas differ little from exists here in Canada or what exists in most northern European nations. And it doesn't take much thought to recognize that your claim or formula has zero application there.

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Trump believes in Individual freedom and enterprise.

Please cease being so obtuse.

Law is designed to protect the identity of whistleblowers intentkionally, so they will have no fear of dire consequences for outing the misdeeds or potential misdeeds of powerful corrupt people. Trump of course doesn't gover a **** about the law, he just publicly destroys those who dare to expose his misdeeds. It was amply documented that what the whistleblower said was in fact true. Trying to keep his identity secret was not a coverup, but the law. Judicial Watch is not an unbiased witness. Their rightist bent is well known.

I'm not aware of any law protecting the identity of this so called whistle blower. Can you be specific about it?

Really Dirty Photos of Adam Schiff in Gay Drug Den Allegedly Surface

According to the FBI, Attorney General Bill Barr is wondering why Congressman Adam Schiff paid at least 16 separate visits to Ed Buck’s apartment, which was a known drug den. Plus, AG Barr supposedly has some questions about the photographs of Adam Schiff that were seized by the FBI in Ed Buck’s apartment, which depict Adam Schiff inside Ed Buck’s known drug den, allegedly doing some… really gross stuff. Allegedly.

The Nordic model comprises the economic and social policies as well as typical cultural practices common to the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).[1] This includes a comprehensive welfare state and multi-level collective bargaining,[2] with a high percentage of the workforce unionised and a large percentage of the population employed by the public sector (roughly 30% of the work force).[3] The Nordic model began to gain attention after World War II.[4][5]

The three Scandinavian countries are monarchies, while Finland and Iceland have been republics since the 20th century. Currently, the Nordic countries are described as being highly democratic and all have a unicameral form of governance and use proportional representation in their electoral systems. Although there are significant differences among the Nordic countries,[6] they all have some common traits. These include support for a universalist welfare state aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy and promoting social mobility; a corporatist system involving a tripartite arrangement where representatives of labour and employers negotiate wages and labour market policy mediated by the government;[7] and a commitment to private ownership (with some caveats) within a mixed economy.[8]

As of 2018, all of the Nordic countries rank highly on the inequality-adjusted HDI and the Global Peace Index. In 2019, all five of the Nordic countries ranked in the top 10 on the World Happiness Report.[9]

[Sanders' proposals go] beyond anything that could be either enacted her or tolerated by the American people.

I'm not aware of any law protecting the identity of this so called whistle blower. Can you be specific about it?

Start here

The family of Harry Dunn has urged the government to refuse the extradition of Julian Assange until the US returns the suspect in his death back to the UK.

Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger accused the US of "hypocrisy" in seeking Assange's extradition, despite rejecting the return of Anne Sacoolas.

She is suspected of causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving.

The family said the foreign secretary told them he is "reviewing all options".

The 19-year-old's parents have called on Dominic Raab and the government to refuse any further extradition requests by the US - including that of the Wikileaks co-founder - after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected extraditing Sacoolas, last month.

Russia has flatly denied allegations that it is spreading disinformation about the new coronavirus outbreak on social media.

US officials said Russian-linked accounts were making unfounded claims that America started the outbreak.

Thousands of profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were peddling the theory, the officials said.

Responding to the allegations on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry dismissed them as "fake".

"This is a deliberately false story," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russia's Tass news agency.

A US daredevil pilot has been killed during an attempted launch of a homemade rocket in the Californian desert.

"Mad" Mike Hughes, 64, crash-landed his steam-powered rocket shortly after take-off near Barstow on Saturday.

A video on social media shows a rocket being fired into the sky before plummeting to the ground nearby.

Hughes was well-known for his belief that the Earth was flat. He hoped to prove his theory by going to space.

Saturday's launch was reportedly filmed as part of Homemade Astronauts, a new TV series about amateur rocket makers to be aired on the US Science Channel. The project had to be carried out on a tight budget.

With the help of his partner Waldo Stakes, Hughes was trying to reach an altitude of 5,000ft (1,525m) while riding his steam-powered rocket, according to Space.com.

In the video of the launch, a parachute can be seen trailing behind the rocket, apparently deployed too early, seconds after take-off.

In a tweet, the Science Channel said Hughes had died pursuing his dream.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said its officers were called to a rocket launch event at around 14:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Saturday.

The sheriff's office said "a man was pronounced deceased after the rocket crashed in the open desert". Hughes' publicist confirmed to US media outlets that it was the pilot who had been killed.

Darren Shuster, a former representative for Hughes, told TMZ the daredevil was "one-of-a-kind".

"When God made Mike he broke the mould. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn't have gone out any other way! RIP" he said.

Mad Mike and his assistants built the homemade rocket in his backyard, spending around $18,000 (£14,000).

The rocket uses steam ejected through a nozzle for propulsion.

The daredevil, who lived in Apple Valley, made headlines internationally when he announced his intention to prove his theory that the Earth was flat.

In March last year, Hughes managed an altitude of 1,870ft (570m) before deploying his parachutes and landing with a bump.

Speaking afterwards, Hughes said: "Am I glad I did it? Yeah, I guess. I'll feel it in the morning. I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight."

He set a Guinness World Record in 2002 for the longest limousine jump - over 31 metres (103 ft) in a Lincoln Town Car stretched limo.

Your continuing claims that social democracies of that sort are bound to fail inevitably or that they manifest Stalinist tendencies of the sort we were speaking of arise as a consequence only of your ideology. The north of Norway isn't marked by a string of Gulags and crime rates are one of the lowest in the world. Educational institutions and healthcare systems in all those nations rank superior to what you have in the US. Levels of incarceration are far lower than in the US. Suggesting that these states are failing is a silliness you can't let go of because your ideology does not permit a different conclusion.

But let's return to the original point... My claim that Trump manifests behaviors which are profoundly redolent of Stalinist modes of "leadership".

I posted video clips of Trump encouraging his followers to kick the **** out of protesters.

I posted a clip of Trump bragging about how he will move to seek vengeance against anyone who he deems an enemy ("I'll get them back 15 times as hard")

There are thousands of examples now of Trump demonizing (and attempting to do damage to) any media entity which criticizes him. The 1st Amendment, to him, is un-American, and a free press are "the enemy". He encourages his fans to scream at reporters. He propagandizes all non-right wing media as purveyors of fake news and constantly encourages his base to think that true.

He is purging any and all individuals throughout government who do not support him unquestioningly.

He publicly slanders any court or court official or justice official who speak against something he's done and he is filling the JD with yes men.

He is ripping apart your intelligence communities so as to ensure that no one working in this sphere will produce any finding which he finds inconvenient for his electoral purposes.

He attacks any individual in any sphere using personal slanders and graceless insults where they contest him and he encourages his fans to behave accordingly.

He consistently demonstrates an affinity for the world's worst, most tyrannical and anti-democratic leaders. The leaders of democratic nations are the one's he has insults for unless they, like Johnson, manifest characteristics similar to his own set of pathologies.

He bullies everyone around him.

He's using his office to increase his personal wealth.

Not one of those things is true of Sanders. Not one.

But as to what Americans will tolerate, policy-wise, I don't see evidence this is actually a particular concern of yours. Your certainties lie in what you deem as legitimate political ideas and policies. The popular will is not very important to you.

Beyond that your breathless series of exaggerated overstatements of various alleged Trump actions systematically ignores the obvious fact that in most of the listed areas Trump is merely adding a Republican counterforce to a long list of Democrat actions taken during the eight years of President Obama.

Obama is purging any and all individuals throughout government who do not support him unquestioningly.

Obama publicly slanders any court or court official or justice official who speak against something he's done and he is filling the JD with yes men.

Obama's State of the Union address: Criticism of the Supreme Court campaign finance ruling

There are thousands of examples now of Obama demonizing (and attempting to do damage to) any media entity which criticizes him.

Obama consistently demonstrates an affinity for the world's worst, most tyrannical and anti-democratic leaders. The leaders of democratic nations are the one's he has insults for unless they, like Johnson, manifest characteristics similar to his own set of pathologies.

Obama's using his office to increase his personal wealth.

You have grossly - and deceptively- distorted my earlier comments on the very capitalist economies ands extensive. fairly effective social welfare programs of the Nordic countries.

What do you think of the comments of Rep. Maxine Brown urging her listeners to physically disrupt any gathering of Republicans or alleged Trump supporters?