If you have stumbled on to my website and read some of my postings, I want to say thank you for your interest. I do not post often, and I try to research as well as possible my topics.
Your comments are always of interest. You can also click on “like” if you feel I have done a good job of explaining the topic at hand. The last posting was a comparison between two ex-presidents, Bolsonaro and Trump, and I did not have much good to say about either of them.
I could use some feedback to know how best to continue.
Attention Patriotic Americans: Donald Trump needs you to pay for his legal fees. The Patriot Legal Fund is a charity solely devoted to paying Trump and others legal fees.
He has an incredible track record of losing trial cases, so this requires extra cash to fund the appeals. So, if your initial reaction is, you’ve got to be kidding, that’s exactly right.
His legal problems are something he brought on himself. And Trump has been skirting the law for decades. It took a long time for the law to catch up with him.
Recently, he tried to move the Stormy Daniels hush money case to federal court. So, trying to connect hush money payments to his official duties of president failed.
Trump will have his day (or really months) in court, to defend the accusations against him. He has already siphoned off millions of dollars from the Save America superpac to hire the best lawyers in the country to defend him.
No one should break the law, and pressure government officials to find roughly 11,000 votes to change the election results in Georgia. No one should take then and hide classified documents. Obstruction of justice is a real crime.
So, do not send money to this fund. Let him pay for his own legal defense.
Hunter Biden broke the law in 2018 and 2019, by not filing taxes. He broke the law again in 2018 by failing to acknowledge he was using illegal drugs at the time he applied for a gun permit. Obviously, if he had filled out the form honestly, the application would have been rejected and it would be headline news that he was addicted to drugs.
Biden reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to plead guilty to the late filings of taxes, and DOJ would drop gun application after he had been on probation for 2 years. Biden has paid all the money he owes including interest and fines.
So, the two parties, DOJ and Biden came to the court house, thinking the hearing will be perfunctory as agreement had been reached, and the judge just had to sign off on it. Judge Noreika would not sign off on it, because it would make her the arbitrator of the terms of an agreement which she had no involvement in creating. In her words, it would plop her in the middle of this case.
Earlier in the hearing, the Judge asked about the future investigations of Hunter Biden and in particular about a failure to register as a foreign agent. The specific law is called FARA, Foreign Agents Registration Act. This sparked some confusion as the sides differed, but after a brief recess, DOJ and Biden’s team came to an agreement that additional charges could be brought.
Judge Noreika asked DOJ and Biden to submit briefs addressing her concerns within 30 days. Hunter Biden entered a plea of not guilty on all charges. The hearing was dismissed. No one is sure how long the Hunter Biden saga will drag on. The New York Post headline, “Stunned onlookers gasp as Hunter Biden’s Sweetheart Plea Deal Crumbles.”
I believe the deal will ultimately approved by the Judge Noreika, with some additions to the plea agreement which minimize the role of the judge as arbitrator of the agreement. I also believe that FARA violation charges will be resolved with another out of court settlement or simply dropped by DOJ.
Many Republicans want the plea deal tossed out by the judge. Without a plea agreement, this case would go to court and drag on for years. They view it as a sweetheart deal, giving special privileges to Hunter Biden. Representative Jason Smith, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, submitted an Amicus Brief (Friends of the court) hoping to sway the judge to reject the deal, which would result in a court case, and keep the issues going through next years. The brief focuses on IRS whistleblower testimony to Congress, suggesting inappropriate and possibly biased investigation. The whistleblower testimony was not brought up during the hearing by the judge.
The DOJ has offered to allow David Weiss, Federal Prosecutor in Delaware, who has lead this case since it began, to testify in Congress. However, now that the deal is in limbo, I am sure DOJ will postpone any testimony.
Many subpoenas will be issued for testimony from DOJ officials involved in this case, from House Committees, because of politics. Officials can not comment on ongoing investigations. House members will be upset, and claim DOJ is stone-walling their investigation.
In my prior blog, I began with Steve Bannon. I did not explain how We Build the Wall began, and how the others became involved. This second part ties up a few loose ends.
Brian Kolfage is a war hero. He lost both legs and an arm in the Iraqi war, serving in the Air Force.
We Build the Wall founder Kolfage has been sentence to 51 months in prison for his part in the scam. Timothy Shea partnered with Kolfage, and is described as a Colorado business man. He skimmed $350,000. He went to court and got 63 months sentence.
Trump had complained that he couldn’t get funding from Congress to build the wall, so Brian Kolfage thought of a charity to raise one billion dollars to build a wall. It started in December 2018 and was an instant success on GoFundMe, with 9 million dollars raised in the first 3 days. The problem was there was no way to transfer the money to the federal government to help “Trump’s wall.”
Some sections of a border barrier were built by We Build the Wall on private lands, but the nonprofit is now defunct.
Kolfage decided to form a 501(c)4 corporation in January 2019. This is where Andrew Badolato and Steve Bannon join in the effort. Oh, the sweet smell of money. As provided below, Steve Bannon headed the advisory board. Some sections of a border barrier were built by We Build the Wall on private lands, but the nonprofit is now defunct.
The Advisory Board is provided in the above link. No one on the Advisory Board has been charged with skimming money from the charity, except Steve Bannon. But this could change as Bannon’s trial date nears. The current Attorney General of Kansas was on the board.
I could not find any biographical information on Andrew Badolato. I suspect his role was less as he received the lowest sentence of 3 years.
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The initial blog had a picture of Steve Bannon, arrested in Aug 2020, and the yacht Lady May owned by billionaire Guo Wengui (AKA Miles Guo, Han Wan Kwok) an exile from China. Lady May is a beautiful 152 ft yacht.
Now the Bannon-Guo connection, from Wikipedia:
G News is a website owned by Guo Media – a company associated with Guo – operating in collaboration with Steve Bannon, a former executive chairman of Breitbart News and former advisor to the Trump administration.[70][71] Guo Media paid Bannon $1 million in exchange for consulting services from August 2018 to August 2019,[72] and Bannon has an office in Guo Media’s headquarters.[15] Both Guo and Bannon are regularly featured in G News videos that criticize the Chinese government.[71] Guo and Bannon later co-founded GTV Media Group in 2020,[73] which operates the Chinese video website GTV.[74]
In August 2020, when Steve Bannon was arrested, Guo responded that the charges were “fabricated” and claimed that they were part of a plan by the Chinese Communist Party to “take Mr. Bannon down” [11]” Sure. See Wikipedia link:
Guo was arrested on March 15, 2023 in New York by Federal authorities, for conspiracy to defraud his online followers out of more than $1 billion.[83][84] These included $452 million in unregistered offering and $150 million in loans for GTV, in addition to $250 million for membership programmes and $262 million for the Himalaya Exchange cryptocurrency project.[85]
So, as I understand it, it was a cryptocurrency scam.
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Guo is bankrupt. His 152′ boat went up for auction. Herb Chambers, 81 years old, is the new owner. Herb Chambers became rich by working hard, selling cars.
He still works, going to work in his helicopter. So Bannon and Guo are headed for trial, Herb Chambers can be tooling around Dorchester Bay in the Lady May. If he has time.
Steve Bannon is smart. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has a master’s degree in national security from Georgetown University. He has been an investment banker and held high positions in numerous companies.
He developed a strategy to get Trump elected, focusing on very emotional issues likely to get Republicans pumped up enough to vote for Trump. About a third of Americans don’t vote.
One theme was that the elites in Washington don’t care about working families. And of course that illegal Mexicans are taking jobs from good Americans, so we need to build a really high wall. And Trump added a twist, in that it wasn’t going to cost taxpayers a cent as Mexico was going to build it for us. Trump said this repeatedly, with intense conviction.
In addition to being smart, Bannon is corrupt. He is a grifter. Trump fired him as the Chief Strategist in the White House in August 2017. After this, Bannon was involved in many conservative organizations and was even a consultant to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and his son.
I have no idea what advice Bannon gave to Bolsonaro, but after losing the Brazilian election on October 31, 2022, he did not concede the election and cast doubt whether the election machines accurately recorded the votes. There was no evidence of faulty election machines, and the federal electoral court on June 30, 2023 barred Bolsonaro from running for president until 2030 for discrediting the election process:
Bannon promoted the “We Build the Wall” movement. The idea was that if Democrats in Congress would not fund Trump’s wall, then Steve Bannon and other Republicans would. A total of 25 million dollars was raised.
It was a scam. Some of the money was used, but the organizers were taking substantial sums for their own personal use. The donors were die-hard conservatives, who would without a second thought, send money to help build the wall. The organization was ripping off Trump’s MAGA supporters.
In August 2020, Steve Bannon was arrested on board the Lady May, owned by Guo Wengui, a billionaire and one of the top 10 on China’s most wanted list. We will get to Guo Wengui in Part 2 of this blog. Also a bit about the Lady May. It is no longer owned by Mr. Wengui.
Based on evidence presented to a grand jury, Bannon and three others were indicted on defrauding donors. The three others are Andrew Badolato, Brian Kolfage and Timothy Shea. Badolato and Kolfage pled guilty and have been sentenced to 36 and 51 months on April 26, 2023. Shea pled not guilty and was sentenced to 63 months in prison on July 25, 2023.
Steve Bannon was able to avoid a trial because Trump gave him a pardon on his last day in office. This didn’t work. While charges were dropped in Federal Court, Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg charged Bannon with money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud donors on September 8, 2022.
Prior to his pardon, he was accused of stealing over one million dollars. Per the link below, “if convicted on the top charge, he faces a maximum 5 to 15 years in prison, according to Bragg.”
Given Shea conviction, there is no chance of a plea bargain. It is expected to go to trial in 2024.
Bannon has been convicted for a failure to appear at the Jan 6 Congressional Hearing on October 21, 2022 and has been sentenced to four months in jail and pay a fine of $6500. He was allowed to be free on bond until the appeals are complete.
The link below gives more details of Steve Bannon. Per the link below, ‘In his memoir, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner recalled having an abrasive relationship with Bannon and two occasions in which Bannon threatened him, including one in which he threatened to ‘break Kushner in half’ after he accused Bannon of leaking to the press.[272][273] Also in his memoir Kushner writes “Bannon single-handedly caused more problems for me than anyone else in my time in Washington. He probably leaked and lied about me more than everyone else combined. He played dirty and dragged me into the mud of the Russia investigation”.’
So, Donald Trump and Steve Bannon will be in Manhattan to face charges in 2024. Trump is facing criminal charges on the Stormy Daniels Hush Money case and Bannon on the Build the Wall fraud scheme.
What was going through Trump’s head when he pardoned Bannon, knowing he ripped off his followers and leaked lies about his son in law to the press. I can only believe that Bannon had a lot of ammunition to use against Trump.
Part 2 will be shorter, as I will discuss the fall of Guo Wengui, a close associate of Steve Bannon.
We are learning many reasons why the OceanGate submarine was not safe enough to go 13,000 ft below the sea to view the Titanic. Of course, there was little problem sending cameras and strobe lights down to these depths. In fact, advances in robotics now make it possible to explore extremely challenging environments.
I feel the same way about exploration of Mars. I really loved the latest headline from NASA, “The Ingenuity Phones Home” which of course, is about receiving communications from the Ingenuity helicopter, after a communications black out, because the helicopter communicates with the Perseverance Rover, which was behind a hill, and couldn’t receive communications. All that changed on June 28, and I am hoping for more images from the Martian surface.
Pictured above is Sara Langberg, an aeromechanical engineer at AeroViroment, and a member of the team which designed the Ingenuity helicopter.
“I’m honored and humbled to be a part of it,” said Langberg. “Hardware that I designed and built with my own hands is going to touch the surface of Mars and that’s just mind-boggling.”
Mars is not a place to be colonized. This is a ridiculous notion. Locking up six astronauts for two years and submitting them to unhealthy conditions (weightlessness and radiation) makes no sense. I want real research not headlines.
Mars is a planet to be explored. Send the robots, rovers, helicopters, and other devices with thousands of sensors.
By the way, Elon Musk isn’t going. Neither is Mr. “Multi-planet Species” Neil deGrasse Tyson. They are not taking a chance on their health. They are not subjecting themselves to 2 years of confinement.
I have commented on this topic before, and nothing really has changed my opinion.
This will be the last year of this blog site. In the remaining months, I will look for stories which receive less attention by the media. I’ve got a few topics already begun.
If there is a particular issue of interest, I would like to know. I can’t guarantee that I will be able to prepare a blog on each topic.
There are also the like button, to tell me it is a topic of interest.
I love to travel. I’ve done a lot of it, for business and pleasure.
I am forgetful. It is much easier traveling with my wife, as she is mindful of the stuff I forget. It is also very nice to travel with family who bring extra stuff.
Many people cite health and safety reasons for staying at home. I think exploring the world keeps you young. Well most of the world. Don’t go to Libya right now. See US State Department warnings:
“Terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Libya. Violent extremist activity in Libya remains high, and extremist groups have made threats against U.S. government officials and citizens. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, hotels, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and government facilities.”
Covers a lot. If you do go to Libya, it is important to dress down. Of course, in two seconds, folks will know you are not from there. But, if thieves have to chose between a well dressed tourist, and a dirty tee-shirt guy, they will go for the former any day of the week. Tripoli has some really good seafood, but I still recommend letting things cool off for a while. The US consulate has been shut down since 2014, usually not a good sign for safety conscience people.
Documents like visas are important. I’ve learned from experience. Credit cards are super important. An unlocked cellphone is very nice for foreign travel.
For any travel, a positive attitude is important. If you are in a plane about to crash, don’t start talking how it was a mistake to go on the super cheap airlines (“yeah I knew there was a catch”) and instead, talk about how having seats way in the back means that you have nothing to fear. Of course, this works only if you actually have seats way in the back.
People who value comfort have problems traveling from a place with good weather to one with bad weather. This is a negative travel gradient. For example, when I went from Miami to Boston in December, there was a 50 degree change, from 75 degrees to 20 degrees F, definitely going in the wrong way comfort-wise. But visiting family and good food (I made some of it) made up for this, and I hated to leave.
That’s about it. Travel is good and staying home isn’t.
Ukraine’s President Zelensky has often stated that if Russian aggression does not stop at Ukraine, more countries will be invaded or will become Russian puppets because they fear the military presence of Russia. I agree, and it is the smaller and more unstable countries to go first. It will not necessarily be countries that lie on their borders. There are a number of smaller countries in Africa, which for the right price can be bought off.
Transnistria is a region on the southeastern border of Moldova. It is a breakaway state from Moldova, occupying a narrow strip of land on the Moldova-Ukraine border. Its capital is Tirispol. The Council of Europe considers the territory to be under military occupation by Russia. It is internationally recognized as a part of Moldova, but it is independent in many aspects. Per Wikipedia:
“Transnistria is an unrecognised but de facto independent presidential republic with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, currency, and vehicle registration. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. After a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies that seek to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities.”
It was created by a ceasefire agreement in 1992, the first year with Yeltsin in office. It is a ceasefire agreement designed to end the violence broke out in 1990. The population of Transnistria is divided, with 29% Russian, 29% Moldovan and 23% Ukrainian. It has a higher percentage of Russians than the rest of Moldova.
Per Wikipedia:
The language laws presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non-Moldovan population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Moldovan (Romanian). … Some described the language laws as “discriminatory” and criticized their rapid implementation. Others, on the contrary, complained the laws were not followed.
My concerns that Russia would use unrecognized Transnistria region to attack Ukraine appears to quickly becoming a reality. Putin is using a standard ploy of posing as the defender of Transnistria instead of the invader. This was exactly the same pretext as used a year ago. Russia had to invade the Dunbas region, to defend the populace against the Ukrainian “nazis.”
The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who wants her country to join the European Union, accused Moscow this month (February 2023) of planning a coup to topple Moldova’s leadership. Moscow denied the allegation. “The Kremlin’s attempts to bring violence to Moldova will not work. Our main goal is the security of citizens and the state. (The Guardian)
What has maintained the peace between Transnistria and Moldova, is the Joint Control Commission, which included both Moldova and Russian troops as a peacekeeping force. Of course, Putin wants to invade Transnistria and control it, and the ceasefire agreement is in his way. Transnistria will be critical to attacking Odesa and controlling the Black Sea ports.
The headline in Reuters, February 24, 2023 read, “Russia told the West on Friday that it would view as an attack on itself any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria region, one day after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning an invasion.”
So, Russia now is setting the stage for invading Transnistria (note minor spelling differences) on the absurd pretext of protecting its peacekeeping force of perhaps 1700 troops.
It is a terrible development as Russia is set on expanding the conflict, really just like President Zelensky said he would. Romania is strongly allied with Moldova, in its support of Ukraine. Romania has been part of NATO since 2004.
This small sliver of the breakaway state of Transnistria looks to become a red hot point of contention with Russia acting like they own it.
National Transportation Safety Board does a slow through job of investigation accidents. In the case of Norfolk Southern accident in Ohio, the cause of the accident was so plain to engineers, that they issued a preliminary report and provided a hearing on the accident.
NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Homendy stated during a press conference that this derailment was 100% preventable, and the cause was an overheated wheel bearing. She said:
“We call things accidents. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable,” she said. “So our hearts are with you know, that the NTSB has one goal and that is safety and ensuring that this never happens again.”
My last post was about how politicians duck important questions to peddle their own agenda. NTSB is just the opposite and I really like this agency. I also give high marks to the EPA who were onsite hours after the accident.
National Public Radio reports on the spill of vinyl chorides:
“There were no reported fatalities or injuries caused directly by the derailment, and responders were able to mitigate the fire within two days. But rising temperatures in one tank car carrying vinyl chloride — a toxic chemical that grows especially volatile at high temperatures — prompted concerns of an uncontrolled explosion. To prevent that, responders evacuated residents of the immediate area and performed a “release and burn” of five tank cars’ worth of the chemical, some 115,580 gallons.”
The plastic placards marking cars with hazardous materials have also been identified as an area of concern by both Buttigieg and NTSB officials. The fire following the derailment melted the plastic placards, making it difficult for first responders to discern which trains contained dangerous chemicals.”
The overheating warning came too late for the train to safely stop. In the preliminary report, NTSB finds no fault of the operator. The heat sensors probably need to be placed closer together. The increases in temperature of wheel bearings instead of just the temperature estimates should also trigger warnings.
There is also the accusation from Democrats that a rollback in regulations during the Trump administration, could have prevented this accident. The NTSB stated that this is not true as follows:
“The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars.”
Nice. NTSB is just stating facts. But, the Department of Transportation is likely to make stricter regulations on this more dangerous trains.
There is a lot more work to be done, by the various federal agencies. Many local water wells need to be tested. Norfolk Southern is cooperating and working with residents to test their water. I like the fact that the various agencies are staffed by professional career specialists who do not descend into the political fray.
On October 24, 2022, Alina Habba joined MAGA, Inc. Per Bloomberg News:
“One of former President Donald Trump’s top lawyers has taken on a role as senior adviser for his new political action committee, pressing his MAGA message even as she defends him in a series of high-stakes lawsuits. Alina Habba, who represents Trump in the suit filed by New York’s attorney general over his asset valuations, has joined the MAGA Inc. team as it spends millions on ads to support Trump’s endorsed candidates in key midterm races.”
The above screenshot of Alina Habba is from NewsMax, where she was being interviewed by Sean Spicer. Sean Spicer has written several books since leaving the White House, all of which I assume are very favorable to Trump. She has an office close to Trump’s golf course and resort in Bedminister, NJ. Very convenient.
Attorney Habba filed a civil lawsuit for Donald Trump and on January 19, 2023, Judge Middlebrooks ordered sanctions against Trump and Habba totaling $938,000. In my last posting, I summarized many of the Judge’s comments. They were not kind to Ms. Habba. Thus, Alina Habba got her 15 minutes of fame, appearing on Fox News, sending Twitter messages, etc. And for Donald Trump, it’s just another day at the office, or really running for President.
In the week that followed, two lawsuits against NY Attorney General Letitia James as filed by Alina Habba were withdrawn. Why? First, I assume that these lawsuits had zero chance of winning in court, because Trump would never allow a lawsuit that even had a one in a million chance of winning, to be withdrawn. It wasn’t every going to great news coverage, because it would remind people that AG James is suing Trump for a hefty 250 million dollars and her case is proceeding well.
Attorney Habba is worried about being disbarred, plain and simple. Sean Hannity isn’t about to invite her back to explain why she lost in court. Neither will Sean Spicer at NewsMax. When her conspiracy case got so obliterated by Judge Middlebrooks, there isn’t much to say unless you want to blame the entire legal system. They tend to be interested in facts over allegations. Trump can go on, and blame it all on the judge.
The judge added that Mr. Trump’s use of the courts had helped to undermine the public’s confidence in them. “A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm,”
The four lawyers which were initially sanctioned by Judge Middlebrooks are: Alina Habba, Michael T. Madaio, Peter Ticktin and Jamie Alan Sasson, were assessed $50,000 penalties, plus $16,000 to cover the legal fees paid by one of the defendants. I believe these sanctions are being appealed.
One of the other lawyers sanctioned by Judge Middlebrooks is Peter Ticktin, whose law office is in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Tinkin is 76 years old, and was a classmate of Donald Trump at the New York Military Academy. See link:
Peter Ticktin even wrote a book documenting his love of Trump: What Makes Trump Tick: My Years with Donald Trump from New York Military Academy to the Present.
Finally, I can understand how those in the legal profession are tempted to use their power of persuasion to enter into politics. I mean they have years of experience in advocacy and oratory. The difference in court, you have opposing counsel, always there to check your facts And of course, a judge to examine both sides of an issue.
There are discipline ethic boards for attorneys, such as Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and perhaps Alina Habba, who went way too far, for their clients.
People involved in the violence of January 6 need to go to jail. I don’t ever want our Capital police to be afraid of a mob. One death of a police officer and over 150 people injured. Unfortunately, some of those who stormed the Capital, were thinking they were patriots and doing something in the national interest. A patriot does not break the law and threaten police. There have been 884 individuals arrested. There is a constitutional right to assemble and protest, but violence can never be condoned.
People involved in the planning of the storming of the Capital and other activities aimed at illegal actions to overturn our elections, need to be tried and go to jail. I hope the efforts of the Department of Justice will result in convictions of the top echelons in the Trump campaign organizers.
Those individuals who think subpoenas for documents and testimony are optional, will need time to rethink their decision behind bars. That includes Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon. I’d like to see more convictions.
Others will suffer the consequences of making false claims in court by actions taken by Dominion voting machines. This includes Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. These are civil cases, which are tough to prove. Rudy Giuliani’s law license has been suspended in New York, and similar proceedings are occurring in Washington.
Whether Donald Trump or his closest allies will be charged with crimes, remains to be seen. The latest scandal is the apparent erasing of text messages by the Secret Service, and likely connected to the leadership in Homeland Security. Obstruction of justice is a criminal offense.
New laws need to be enacted, so there is not the slightest doubt that State legislatures can never override the outcome of elections. Claims of election fraud are always serious, and the courts are the proper place to address any irregularities. After the Safe Harbor date of December 8 has passed, lawsuits which challenge the results are frivolous
Within new laws, the role of the Vice President on January 6 should be made absolutely clear, his role is strictly ceremonial.
New laws will not be enough. The electorate needs to help clean house. Yes, “Drain the Swamp” if you like the phrase. I have a long list of Senators and Congress representatives who I’d like to see gone after their election.
The January 6 committee has shown us so clearly that Donald Trump did not care at all for the orderly transition of government or respect for decision of the electorate. Mike Pence did what every Vice President has done. He stood at inauguration day with President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The White House was an open door to people who had no respect for the rule of law. The President sat there on December 18, while “outside advisors” (aka, the crazies) suggested he fire his entire staff, and direct the military to seize voting machines. This was simply to stop the next administration from being sworn in on Jan 20. His actions immediately after this meeting, was to tell everyone to come to the Capital on January 6, because “it’s going to be wild.”
The message was clear, that although the electorate had spoken, Trump had no reservations on breaking the law, so he could stay in power. This is by definition a planned coup. He nearly fired the acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen, because he would not sign a memo to be sent to Georgia, filled with false statements on election fraud.
Trump and his supporters encouraged a riot that they knew would be violent. This was brought out so clearly in the hearing as Trump’s security detail wanted metal detectors to protect the president, but he did not, as he said these were “his people.” He targeted his own vice president in his speech on January 6.
A good first step, would be the “firing” by the electorate on election day of the coup supporters, namely Rep. Pat Gosar, Senator Ted Cruz, Rep. Jody Hice, Rep. Josh Hawley. Rep Mo Brooks, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Scott Perry and Rep. Louis Gohmert.
Of course, it is not who is voted out, but who comes in to replace this group of election deniers. We need senators and representatives who strongly believe we settle our differences at the ballot box.
The dissolution of the USSR from November 1988 to December 1991 created 15 recognized new republics, including Russia and Ukraine. The only way to understand modern Russian history, is to start in 1985, with the election of Mikhail Gorbachev and his efforts to liberalize the USSR including free speech and the right to assembly. From 1986 to 1987, open protests to the Soviet rule occurred in Latvia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and other Republics. Independence occurred first in the Balkan states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). By 1988, Gorbachev was losing control in both the Baltic and Caucasus states. January 22, 1989 is independence day for Ukraine.
Chechnya independence from Russia and a more liberal government has failed. Today, Ramzan Kadyrov is Russia’s puppet leader in Chechnya. He fought on the side of Russia in the second Chechen war. He is currently a Lieutenant General in Russia’s military. He has become rich, with the help of Russia. He owns a Lamborghini Reventón, one of only 20 sold. He supports Putin, and sends Chechen military whenever Putin wants – to Syria, Georgia and now Ukraine. Kadyrov stated that his troops were not injured in Ukraine. It is very likely that many have died in combat.
Per Wikipedia:
“Kadyrov rules the Chechen Republic through despotism and repression. Over the years, he has come under criticism from international organisations for a wide array of human rights abuses under his watch, with Human Rights Watch calling the forced disappearances and torture so widespread they constituted crimes against humanity. During his tenure, he has advocated restricting the public lives of women, and led anti-gay purges in the Republic. Ramzan Kadyrov has been frequently accused of involvement in the kidnapping, assassination, and torture of human rights activists, critics, and their relatives, within both Chechnya as well as in other regions of the Russian Federation and abroad, through the political use of police and military forces. He publicly denies these accusations.”
How Ramzan Kadyrov came to power
Chechnya sought independence along with the other republics while Gorbachev was in power, but things went horribly wrong. Chechnya declared its independence in November 1991. Perhaps a bit too late, as Boris Yeltsin took office in July 1991 and was against Chechnya’s independence.
Ramzan Kadyrov fought with his father Akhmad, during the first Chechen war (1994 to August 1996) against Russia. They won independence with the peace treaty in 1997, during the time Boris Yeltsin was President.
Following their victory, Chechnya had a weak government, which failed to unite the country. They lapsed into a failed state. Chechen warlords had been steadily increasing abductions and raids into other parts of the Northern Caucasus. In place of the devastated economic structure, kidnapping emerged as the principal source of income countrywide, procuring over $200 million during the three-year independence of Chechnya. (See Wikipedia link)
Russia invaded Chechnya for a second time in August 1999. This began a 10 year war for control of Chechnya, largely conducted during Putin’s regime. The initial phase ended quickly with the direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000. According to Wikipedia:
But by the autumn of 1999, Akhmad Kadyrov – a leading figure in the resistance movement – decided to abandon the insurgency and offered his support to the Russian federal forces in the Second Chechen War. Aslan Maskhadov immediately fired him from the Chief Mufti chair, although this decree was never accepted by Akhmad Kadyrov, who abdicated himself a few months later due to his civilian chairman career. According to James Hughes, Akhmad Kadyrov’s U-turn may have been motivated partly by personal ambition and partly by a concern with the desperate condition of the Chechen population, and was also driven by a fear of the growing sectarian Wahhabi influence on the insurgency.[6]
Akhmad became Putin’s administrative leader in Chechnya during the time of the insurgency. In May 2004, he was assassinated by Chechen Islamists. His son, Ramzan, was too young to be president. The Ukrainian Constitution required the president to be at least 30 years old. In 2007, Ramzan became president.
Ramzan’s Wealth, paid for by Putin
Foreign aid is usually given to governments to help its people. In the case of Chechnya, it goes straight into Ramzan Kadyrov’s pocket. According to Wikipedia:
“The Russian Federation funnels money to the Kadyrov family. The distinction between the Chechen government and Kadyrov are blurred.[23] In 2015, Chechnya received around 57 billion roubles a year from Moscow (about £550m).[23] The family gets money through the Akhmad Kadyrov Fund, a non-transparent foundation headed by Kadyrov’s mother, Ayman.[23]
In 2011, the foundation (which describes itself as a charity) funded Kadyrov’s lavish 35-year birthday party, which featured celebrities such as Seal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vanessa-Mae and Hilary Swank.[261][23] Journalists have been targeted by Kadyrov’s regime for reporting on his opulence.[262]
Kadyrov is a noted collector of sports cars. He owns a Lamborghini Reventón, one of only 20 sold.[263][264] He is known for his extensive collection of Chechen daggers.[265][266] When journalist Marianna Maksimovskaya asked him where the money for the live-televised celebration was coming from, he reportedly laughed and said “Allah gives it to us”, before adding: “I don’t know, it comes from somewhere.” Kadyrov has also been linked to the ownership of a private jet.
Kadyrov’s family members own luxurious real estate in Moscow. Two of his wives own property valued at $8 million in total, which is more than twice Kadyrov’s declared salary since 2008.”
In Support of Putin’s War
His latest claim is that he is in Ukraine, fighting along side of the Russians. See link from the Guardian. Of course, he just wants to impress Putin, rather than do what is in the best interest for Ukraine. He will undoubtedly be sending more Chechens to fight along side the Russian troops.
I can only sympathize with the poor Chechens who have been sent to fight in Ukraine on the side of the invading army.
See much more information in the links provided below.
Oh no, this question again. It is very convenient to blame the current administration. Or Opec.
Sometimes in polite company, it is bad to know too much. “I paid $40 to fill up my tank, so don’t you think it’s too much?” Ok, the correct answer is “yes, you poor dear,.” even though I know better. People compare what it cost to fill up a gas tank now verses a week ago. No one compares what it cost to fill up a tank now compared to 2013 or 2014. Or the price of gasoline in 1981.
A recent Facebook post compared economic measures from October 2020 to October 2021, and showed almost everything improving, such as higher salaries, lower unemployment, and higher stock market prices which for many Americans mean their retirement plans are gaining value.
No question about it- the price of gas at the pump has risen significantly from October 2020 to today. In October 2020, gasoline on average was $2.248/gallon and in October 2021, the cost was $3.384/gallon, a gain of 51%.
A 50% change in gasoline prices isn’t that unusual. Gas prices dropped in half during the economic crisis which began in 2008. What really drove the economic crisis was new forms of lending, which allowed people to buy homes, without adequate income or assets. Gasoline prices dropped nearly in half from around 2014 to 2016 as offshore drilling and fracking became commercially viable. Improved drilling technology allowed offshore gas and oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico to be drilled in much deeper water, and highly deviated or horizontal wells became common. Subsea completions allowed for more rapid development, and reduced the front end expense.
It took just 3 years following the 2008 housing crash for gasoline prices to get in the $3.80 to $4.00/gallon. The declining prices from 2012 to 2016 were due to increased oil prices due to fracking and deep water drilling Fracking really dried up in 2016 due to low oil prices. The companies involved in fracking can postpone the completion of wells to cut costs. This is a desperate measure because they don’t get the benefit of new production. Offshore developments are on a much longer timeframe, from discovery to initial production from 5 years or more, so they do not react as quickly to lower oil prices.
These boom to bust and back to boom cycles will continue. Nobody in 2016 was complaining that oil prices had dipped below $2.00/gallon except the oil industry, which needed to make large investments to maintain their supply of oil. It was the cheapest oil had been in 8 years, during a couple of months at the worst moments of the housing crash. Or the lowest gas had been since 2005.
We haven’t defeated Covid but travel and businesses are returning to normal. If I remove the 2007 to 2008 housing bubble, the 2008 to 2009 housing crash/recession, and the Covid-19 economic crash and early recovery, the trend become a bit clearer.
So, the first upward trendline goes from 2002 when gas cost about $1.20/gallon to 2014, when it hit about $4.00/gallon. From 2014 to 2016, technology increased production and the oil glut simply reset the trendline back to $2.00/gallon by 2016, then we were back on the same trendline.
In fact, it is very rational to believe oil prices should go up with time over the long run, because the worldwide supply of oil is limited. It is increasingly more expensive to find more oil. Economic turmoil seems to temporarily reverse the upward trend. I know world leaders are gathered in Glasgow to cut fossil fuels consumption. So, should alternative fuels become more popular, then oil prices should go down. At present, the electric vehicles account for 1.7% of all cars sold, so we have a long ways to go.
Oil prices will be influenced by many factors including the policies of OPEC and the global economy. It seems anything above about $60/barrel for crude oil, results in increased fracking for oil and gas. We are now around $83/barrel.
So, I understand the higher prices are painful. But, longer term prices will result in more production, and people choosing either buying EV’s or fuel efficient cars. This can, in the long term, reverse the trend.
The graph above starts at 1993. If I go back to 1981, gasoline cost $3.88/gallon after adjusting for inflation. So are gasoline prices too high? They are really pretty much on the same trend as pre-Covid. Will we hit a peak, then a decline as more production comes on line? Maybe not. Added production may lower the slope of the trendline, or in other words, slow the pace of increases.
In general, gasoline prices increase when oil prices go up, but it is not always in synch. I will discuss oil prices and production in the next blog.
On July 31, 2021 there were 78,433 new Covid-19 cases based on the 7-day average. I use the 7 day average because it tends to smooth out the data. Presumably, for some states, when the daily data hasn’t been completely tallied, the state simply doesn’t report the daily data until the next day. On June 24, 2021, things look good with 11,662 new cases using 7 day averaging. A six fold increase in about 40 days. What happened? The delta variant for one. A slowing vaccination rate for another.
More opening up, relaxed masking regulations, and just people getting out and around for another. I was in a very crowded Miami airport. Although I was wearing a mask. I took it off to get a snack. Masks don’t really offer much protection to oneself as much as to cut down the chance of transmission to others. This is the logic of requiring everyone to wear a mask indoors.
As a country, I don’t think our goal should be some arbitrary value of % vaccinated, like 70 to 80%. It should be zero new cases, and we will see zero hospitalizations and zero deaths. That’s the long term goal, because the rest of the world is far behind in getting vaccinated.
It is well documented that the Delta variant is much more contagious. Fully vaccinated people can be infected with this variant, but getting vaccinated is still incredibly important, as it reduces the chance of hospitalization and improves the chance of recovery.
Nobody ever claimed that vaccines were perfect. The take away message from the surge in new cases is everyone should get vaccinate. There is a small group of people who have allergic reactions to vaccines. They need to consult their doctors prior to being vaccinated.
I live in Florida, and the trend on new cases is definitely bad. The more reliable values are the 7 day average which show 15,818 new cases. I suspect the daily number is really two days of data. The lowest was June 18 with 1499 new cases (7-day avg), so an astounding 10 times increase in around 43 days.
I’ve seen similar increases in many other states including Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas. I have not seen dramatic increases in Covid deaths, but usually these increases show up weeks after the new cases spike.
What to do? Get vaccinated for one. Accept for now tighter regulations regarding masking. Avoid large indoor gatherings where some may be unvaccinated.
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