COMMENT: I was just reading your post, Universal Basic Income, and I feel the need to respond. I have always worked, always found whatever work I could. I have worked on market stalls and also on installation of Active Directory in a government institution. I managed to graduate with honours from uni. I am now retirement age. I brought my children up single handed and have never had any wealth but I have to point out that people who are living in poverty don’t automatically become criminal. There’s so much talk about playing the system, but we have to ask why so many people need support. It’s because industry has disappeared and we have developed a class system where the difference between haves and have nots has widened. I live in UK and it’s an industrial wasteland, we had jobs to go around not all that long ago but now there are none for the majority, except in self-policing call centres. It isn’t due to population increase alone, there is nothing for us. Closing the pits was a mistake. There’s no significant increase of carbon and when it becomes Cold which it will in a few years, we’ll be scratching for surface coal to cook and be warm, trees will be decimated. We import things that we used to make, steel, textiles etc, and we gave away our ship building and our fishing waters. Governments are using surveillance to protect themselves from our scrutiny of them, and putting the blame on the people for everything they have done wrong. I know this is simplistic but this is my perspective.
K
REPLY: I place most of the blame on Socialism. The unions became greedy and abused their power. New York City was once the major port. They chased all the shipping out to other ports who were more competitive. Today, no ships go to New York City. Then add the greed of politicians. Before World War II, yes the woman stayed home and raised the kids and managed the house. I knew European men who married Eastern European girls when the wall came down and they retained those old values and did not understand they were expected to go out and work. Taxes kept increasing so today, women lost the right to stay home and raise the kids. It now takes TWO incomes to do what one used to do prewar. In Europe, you pay unbelievable taxes not just on income, then 20% VAT on average. Taxes lower the standard of living for you will NEVER get your money’s worth in service in return.
As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If you create a network with social services, there will ALWAYS be people who game the system. Prisons have plenty of doctors for Medicare fraud in the USA submitting bills for people that did not exist.
Julius Caesar also confronted the abuse of welfare rolls in ancient Rome. He conducted a census and found that out of 320,000 pretend people getting free bread, only 150,000 were real.
“Caesar changed the old method of registering voters: he made
the City landlords help him to complete the list, street by street,
and reduced from 320,000 to 150,00 the number of
householders who might draw free grain. To do away with the
nuisance of having to summon everyone for enrolment
periodically, he made the praetors keep their register up to date
by replacing the names of the dead men with those of others
not yet listed.”
(Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Julius Caesar 41,3)
(Penguin Classics ed., translation by Robert Graves)
Therefore, people have been gaming the system for thousands of years. It is just part of human nature.
Alan Dershowitz appears with two panel members of the ‘Tick-Tock-Boom club’ to discuss the potential of Robert Mueller’s testimony.
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On the issue of the May 16th, 2017, Mueller trip to the White House raised by ‘tick-tock’ chairman Greg Jarrett, his emphasis is on the wrong syllable.
If Mueller does appear before congress the substance of Mueller’s White House visit should be ignored, and his status within the visit should be the focus. Not to beat a dead horse, but the purpose of Rosenstein taking Mueller to the White House had nothing to do with Mueller as a candidate for FBI Director.
Congress needs to skip the BS, and get right to the heart of the issue. Here is five Minutes of rapid fire questions for Mueller on this subject:
♦On May 16, 2017, were you applying to become FBI Director?
♦Why did you go to the White House?
♦When did Rod Rosenstein contact you about going to the White House?
♦When did Rod Rosenstein first contact you about becoming special counsel?
♦Did you speak to any members of the DOJ or FBI prior to going to the White House?
♦Were there conversations about a possible ‘special counsel position’ prior to May 16th, 2017?
♦Were you aware President Trump was under investigation prior to your conversation of May 16th, with President Trump?
♦Were you aware of the nature of the investigation, prior to May 16, 2017?
♦Were you aware of the possibility of being appointed ‘special counsel’?
♦Did you take any recording devices into the Oval Office meeting?
♦Did you own the cell phone you left in the Oval Office on May 16, 2017?
♦Between the afternoon Oval Office meeting and the next day announcement to the Gang-of-Eight by Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe, when exactly did you agree to become special counsel?
♦How did Rod Rosenstein contact you between May 16, 2017 and early morning May 17, 2017, about becoming special counsel?
♦Did you immediately agree to become special counsel when asked?
♦How much time transpired between Rosenstein asking you to become special counsel and your acceptance of the position?
See where this line of questioning goes?
The dynamic here is pretty damned obvious.
There was less than 24 hours between the time Mueller and Rosenstein were in the Oval Office (May 16th), and the time Rosenstein told the Gang-of-Eight that Mueller was appointed Special Counsel (May 17th).
That’s not a lot of time for discussion and contemplation by Mueller. Yet, Rosenstein confirmed Mueller’s appointment to the Gang-of-Eight less than 24 hours after the oval office meeting.
So it stands to reason the first contact about the position happened prior to the May 16th Oval Office meeting. If accurate, Mueller was aware Trump was under investigation, AND Mueller was aware he could be special counsel to take over the investigation prior to the Oval Office meeting.
I’ll bet you a dozen donuts the entire purpose of the Oval Office meeting with Mueller was part of the FBI investigation…. and Mueller’s cell phone wasn’t actually Mueller’s cell phone… it was an FBI phone set up so that McCabe’s investigators could listen to the conversation with the target of the investigation, President Trump.
Occam’s Razor – A former FBI Director… meeting with the president of the United States… in the oval office…. in the middle of one of the more consequential time-periods in history… immediately after the firing of the former FBI Director… with family and a network of friends curious as to the outcome…. who is also communicating with the Deputy Attorney General… doesn’t *accidentally* leave his cell phone in the Oval Office.
That background allows people to absorb the intent and motivations of the Special Counsel investigation. How many people even know Robert Mueller interviewed President Donald Trump six days after the FBI launched a criminal “obstruction of justice” investigation, and ten months after the FBI launched the counterintelligence investigation….
..The May 16, 2017, Mueller meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office.
The Mueller Report shows there never was a Trump Russia-Collusion-Conspiracy case to begin with; and with the report showing how most of Mueller’s investigative time was spent gathering evidence for an ‘obstruction case’; and with new revelations from Andrew McCabe, John Dowd and Mueller officials overlayed on the previous Strzok/Page texts; we can now clearly reconcile the May 16th, 2017, meeting between President Trump, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller. Here’s how…
FBI Director James Comey was fired on Tuesday May 9th, 2017. According to his own admissions (NBC and CBS), Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe immediately began a criminal ‘obstruction’ investigation the next day, Wednesday May 10th; and he immediately enlisted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
These McCabe statements line up with with text message conversations between FBI lawyer Lisa Page and FBI agent Peter Strzok – (same dates 5/9 and 5/10):
It now appears that important redaction is “POTUS” or “TRUMP”. [Yes, this is evidence that some unknown DOJ officials redacted information from these texts that would have pointed directly to the intents of the DOJ and FBI. [WARNING: Don’t get hung on it.]
The next day, Thursday May 11th, 2017, Andrew McCabe testifies to congress. With the Comey firing fresh in the headlines, Senator Marco Rubio asked McCabe: “has the dismissal of Mr. Comey in any way impeded, interrupted, stopped, or negatively impacted any of the work, any investigation, or any ongoing projects at the Federal Bureau of Investigation?”
McCabe responded: “So there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. Quite simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.”
However, again referencing his own admissions, on Friday May 12th McCabe met with DAG Rod Rosenstein to discuss the issues, referencing the criminal ‘obstruction’ case McCabe had opened just two days before. According to McCabe:
… “[Rosenstein] asked for my thoughts about whether we needed a special counsel to oversee the Russia case. I said I thought it would help the investigation’s credibility. Later that day, I went to see Rosenstein again. This is the gist of what I said: I feel strongly that the investigation would be best served by having a special counsel.” (link)
Recap: Tuesday: Comey Fired; Wednesday: McCabe starts criminal ‘obstruction’ case; Thursday: McCabe testifies to congress “no effort to impede”; Friday: McCabe and Rosenstein discuss appointing a Special Counsel.
After the weekend, Monday May 15th, McCabe states he and Rosenstein conferred again about the Special Counsel approach. McCabe: “I brought the matter up with him again after the weekend.”
Now, overlaying what we know now that we did not know in 2018, to include the John Dowd interview and McCabe admissions, a very clear picture emerges.
On Tuesday May 16th, Rod Rosenstein takes Robert Mueller to the White House to talk with the target of the ‘obstruction’ criminal investigation, Donald Trump, under the ruse of bringing Mueller in for a meeting about becoming FBI Director.
Knowing McCabe launched a criminal obstruction investigation six days earlier (May 10th); and knowing Mueller was ineligible for the position of FBI Director; this “meeting” looks entirely different.
This meeting looks like an opportunity to gather evidence for the obstruction case.
Heck, perhaps this meeting was even recorded as part of the FBI investigation.
Remember the Rosenstein ‘wear a wire‘ debates? Well, did Rosenstein need to actually wear a wire, or did soon-to-be appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller just carry the recording device into an undercover deposition?… Consider:
WASHINGTON – Andrew McCabe, the disgraced former acting FBI director, reveals in his new book that Robert Mueller temporarily left his cell phone behind after a meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office and that the phone “later had to be retrieved.”
McCabe did not explain why he included the detail in his book.
McCabe says that Mueller left the phone behind after Trump had interviewed Mueller as a potential candidate to replace James Comey as FBI director. The interview reportedly took place in the Oval Office just one day before Mueller had been appointed special counsel in the so-called Russia collusion case. (more)
Oh, I think I know why McCabe included the detail in his book… leverage.
In combination with the ‘wear a wire’ comments, McCabe’s stealth book note is a shot across the bow to Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller. Only the insider ‘small group’ would understand what McCabe is threatening. It’s a get out of jail free card that McCabe played to escape the clutches of the 2018 DC criminal referral.
McCabe telling Rosenstein: Don’t try to put yourself of a pedestal and act like you were not a direct participant in the investigation of President Trump; remember the May 16th, operation? And, guess what…. it looks like it worked.
[This would explain why DC U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu dropped the case against McCabe?]
The next day, Wednesday May 17th, 2017, Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe go to brief the congressional “Gang-of-Eight”: Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, ¹Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner.
… […] “On the afternoon of May 17, Rosenstein and I sat at the end of a long conference table in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol. We were there to brief the so-called Gang of Eight—the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Rosenstein had, I knew, made a decision to appoint a special counsel in the Russia case.”
[…] “After reminding the committee of how the investigation began, I told them of additional steps we had taken. Then Rod took over and announced that he had appointed a special counsel to pursue the Russia investigation, and that the special counsel was Robert Mueller.” (link)
Immediately following this May 17, 2017, Go8 briefing, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein notified the public of the special counsel appointment.
According to President Trump’s Attorney John Dowd, the White House was stunned by the decision. [Link] Coincidentally, AG Jeff Sessions was in the oval office for unrelated business when White House counsel Don McGahn came in and informed the group. Jeff Sessions immediately offered his resignation, and Sessions’ chief-of-staff Jody Hunt went back to the Main Justice office to ask Rosenstein what the hell was going on.
Now, with hindsight and full understanding of exactly what the purposes and intents were for Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to bring Robert Mueller to the White House, revisit this video from June 2017:
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The DOJ (Rosenstein) and FBI (McCabe) activity in coordination with the Robert Mueller team was always about the obstruction case from day one; heck, from even before Robert Mueller was appointed.
The totality of all primary effort has always been to protect the ruse of the Russia investigation by throwing out nonsense Russian indictments and keeping Manafort, Flynn and Papadopoulos (the original spygate targets) under control…. while the focus was on building the obstruction case against President Trump. Remember what FBI Agent Peter Strzok said:
…”you and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there.”
Mueller’s investigative ‘small group’ were the people inside Main Justice (DOJ) and FBI headquarters who redacted the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages, and removed messages and communication antithetical to their goals.
As Devin Nunes outlined recently the Mueller team also kept key documents and information away from congress; stalled any effort to expose the unlawful aspects of “SpyGate’ and the fraudulent foundation behind the Carter Page FISA application; and undermined any adverse discoveries in the leak investigations (James Wolfe) writ large.
This investigative small group didn’t change when Mueller arrived, they just retooled the focus of their effort based on new leadership and new objectives. Those who created the Trump-Russia collusion/conspiracy case of 2016, evolved into creating the Trump obstructing justice case of 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Everything Mueller and Rosenstein were doing in late 2017 and throughout 2018 was intended to drag-out the Russia conspiracy narrative as long as possible, even though there was no actual Trump-Russia investigation taking place. The goal for the “small group” was to bury the risk by Democrats winning the 2018 mid-terms.
It was always the “obstruction” investigation that could lead to the desired result by Mueller’s team of taking down President Trump through evidence that would help Pelosi and Nadler achieve impeachment . The “obstruction case” was the entirety of the case they were trying to make from May 2017 through to March 2019.
All of the hostile DOJ and FBI action toward the people within the targeting of the investigation: Targeting Michael Flynn and Mike Flynn Jr; Paul Manafort’s early morning no-knock FBI raid; Michael Cohen’s FBI office raid; Roger Stone’s FBI and SWAT team raid; etc… All of it, was designed to provoke President Trump into taking action that would further fuel the ‘obstruction‘ case. It was all BAIT.
[¹] Now we know why House Speaker Paul Ryan moved to sideline Devin Nunes under the cloud of an ethics investigation.
Due to the size of the field, the first Democrat presidential primary debate takes place over two nights: tonight Wednesday, June 26, and Thursday, June 27, in Miami.
NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo are hosting the debate and hold exclusive rights to broadcast from 9pm EST to 11 p.m EST on both nights.
The moderators for the debate are: NBC News’ Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd; MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, and Telemundo’s José Diaz-Balart.
The candidates for the first night are: Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro; Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas; Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City; Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey; Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; and Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
If you are a communist, socialist, communal activist; or if your hobbies include sitting around a campfire picking parasites off your friends; then grab your sustainable algae cakes and consider this an open discussion thread.
Or if you are just looking for a laugh by watching Moonbats howl, well, that’s OK too.
Chopper pressers are the best pressers. As President Trump departs the White House en route to Osaka Japan for the G20 summit, the president delivers answers questions from the press pool on current events. [Video and Partial Rough Transcript]
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[partial rough transcript] President Trump – “I spoke with Nancy Pelosi and we had some conversations having to do with the bill for humanitarian aide at the border for the children. We’re moving along very well with the bipartisan bill in the senate, spoke to a lot of people and we’re doing very well, we’re very far along. The House is getting it together with the Senate to get something done. It’s humanitarian aide it’s very important, and I think a lot of people are starting to realize I was right when I said there was a the crisis at the border, it wasn’t a manufactured crisis.”
“I’m heading to Japan, Osaka, and were going to be meeting with a lot of people from different countries many of whom have been taking advantage of the United States, but not so much anymore, in fact not at all anymore.”
[In response to inaud. Q]: “The Mueller things never stops, there was no collusion … it never ends it goes on and on … the criminal activity was on the other side …. With the insurance policy by Strzok and his lover Page … At what point does it end? It’s a disgrace. No obstruction! No collusion! Now the democrats want a do over. They had a do over in the House, that didn’t work, we had a do over in the Senate, that didn’t work.”
Q: Who will you be meeting with at G20?
A: “I’m meeting with Russia, I’m meeting with China, I’m meeting with many countries … We’re meeting with China, just so you know China has been paying us billion sand billions of dollars, before I got here they never paid us 10 cents.
Q on Iran
A: Iran can do whatever they want, it’s fine, I have plenty of time. Iran is in economic distress, they’re in an economic disaster right now. Whatever they want is fine with me, I have all the time in the world. They could solve it quickly or they could solve it 10 years right now .. In the meantime they have very strong sanctions and they deserve those sanctions, they have to do what’s right for their people, but I don’t think they care for their people. They’re selfish and they’re stupid.
Q: Will you be meeting with Kim Jong Un?
A: I’ll be meeting with, uh, a lot of other people, not quite him, but I may be speaking to him in a different form. I’ll be going to South Korea after G20 and I’ll be there for about a day, we have a lot of meetings planned with a lot of different countries.
In the dynamic of President Trump confronting Chairman Xi over Chinese trade and manufacturing practices there are critical members of the U.S. team, each with a role to play. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are the most important members.
Secretary Ross explains the position of the U.S. team as they head to the G20. WATCH:
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As we discussed yesterday, Chinese anxiety is off-the-charts. When China gets into this high-anxiety disposition, they immediately -predictably- drop the Panda mask, and lash-out with Red Dragon antagonisms. This is happening right now.
“There are some inappropriate activities underway by the Chinese. They must cease. If they do, if we make some redressing of the trade imbalance, then that’s a reasonable deal for both parties.” ~ Secretary Wilbur Ross
In previous administrations the economic/trade teams were filled with think-tank wonks and esoteric public officials. Their response to the Red Dragon was always from a position of inherent fear combined with political evaluations. This is the historic frame-of-reference for Beijing, a view of inherent weakness. This history also contributes to why China is perplexed by the Trump administration.
In the Trump administration the economic/trade teams are directed by dragon-slayers from the private sector. Business giants, billionaires, who are familiar with the granular details of negotiation and comfortable with adversarial battles where billions of dollars can make or break a deal. There is no position of structural fear or political ramification at the apex level of business dealing. The fights are on the merits of the position(s).
As President Trump has moved from negotiation to confrontation, Beijing’s leadership is starting to realize their opponent isn’t their typical weak U.S. government negotiators; nor is it the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who will cut the ‘deal’ for their Wall Street clients and DC lobbyists regardless of Main Street’s best interests.
As a direct consequence, the team around Chairman Xi have a much more difficult time trying to outwit the U.S. delegation. President Trump has brought “killers” from the U.S. corporate and business community, into the battle – to fight on behalf of America.
Megan Rapinoe is the co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team and a rabid hater of President Trump. Ms. Rapinoe refuses to sing the U.S. national anthem; kneels during ceremonies to make her hatred for America visible; and grabs every microphone to tell the media about her politics in an effort to increase her resistance credentials.
The age-old axiom is: ‘be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it”. Today, President Trump brilliantly responded to Ms. Rapinoe. First, by calling out her arrogance in declaring victory before she even played the World Cup matches; and secondly, by inviting the entire team to the White House “win or lose”.
The pressure is now upon Ms. Rapinoe. That pressure overlays a preexisting, unstable and tenuous psychological condition related to her tribal self-identification and commercial aspirations. This dynamic is a recipe for implosion. It will not end well for her.
President Trump calls in to Maria Bartiromo for an extensive interview on multiple subjects. The president discusses his perspective on Mueller testifying; the state of the economy; the upcoming G20 talks with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and the status of the trade negotiations; the status of tariffs; and the U.S-Mexico border issues.
On China, President Trump doesn’t sound like he’s willing to make any concessions or retreat on any tariffs. “They want to make a deal more than I do”, he said.
President Trump signs an executive order designed to let patients see pricing information up front — before receiving health care services. Doctors, hospitals, and other providers would not only reveal their pricing in advance, but the now-secret amounts insurance companies pay them for those services. Could this TrumpCare transparency revolution trigger the reform that Republicans have been promising for years, or will it — as critics claim — create a “race to the top” sparking higher prices to consumers? Bill Whittle Now comes to you 20 times each month thanks to the Members who believe in free markets, rule of law, and individual liberty as the secret recipe for a happy society. They do their part by funding these messages, and they enjoy a private, Members-only forum where reasoned thought, civil dialogue and lots of laughter rule. Join us today at https://BillWhittle.com/register/
QUESTION: Hi Martin,
I have been reading your blog for about 5yrs now.
Do you think that the Alabama “anti-abortion” bill could be one of the fundamentals hurling the USA towards the massive civil unrest that is Socrates model is predicting? The Alabama bill passing seems similar to events leading up to the US Civil war in the timeframe of 1830-1861 in which states were passing laws/court rulings that forced the Supreme Court to make decisions (i.e. Dredd Scott and others) that ultimately lead to secession and war.
thanks!
FB
ANSWER: Not this one issue. It is accumulative and illustrates the differences culturally within the United States on a regional basis. Clearly, what the culture is in California has a polar opposite view in Alabama.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 