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NEW CONTENT MOVED TO MIDDLEBORO REVIEW 2

Toyota

Since the Dilly, Dally, Delay & Stall Law Firms are adding their billable hours, the Toyota U.S.A. and Route 44 Toyota posts have been separated here:

Route 44 Toyota Sold Me A Lemon



Showing posts with label American Taliban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Taliban. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2019

RSN: John Kiriakou | The American Taliban Meets American Politics




Reader Supported News
25 May 19

Thank You From an Out of Work Journalist
Dear RSN: I just made a modest contribution, because I believe in what you're doing. I would love to do more, but I am one of the thousands of journalists who lost their jobs in the last decade, and I have tried mightily and not found a way to make a sustainable living since. We are in the same boat - so I understand your struggle. In addition, I am 60+ and nobody's hiring in my age category unless I want to be a Walmart greeter. So thank you for your work. I truly appreciate it.
Sharon, RSN Reader-Supporter
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Reader Supported News
25 May 19
It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News


RSN: John Kiriakou | The American Taliban Meets American Politics 
John Kiriakou. (photo: The Washington Post)
John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
Kiriakou writes: "Remember John Walker Lindh? The media called him the American Taliban. Lindh was arrested in northern Afghanistan in November 2001."
READ MORE





Friday, March 8, 2019

Jeffrey Toobin | The Supreme Court Is Quietly Changing the Status of Religion in American Life



Reader Supported News
08 March 19

Fighting Budgets a Thousand Times Ours
Each Day we face the challenge of rebutting, challenging falsehoods promulgated by organizations with budgets a thousand times the size of RSN's budget. Koch, Murdoch, the NRA you name it we confront it.
We make a difference. You actually make it happen.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
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Reader Supported News
07 March 19
It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News

Sure, I'll make a donation!

Jeffrey Toobin | The Supreme Court Is Quietly Changing the Status of Religion in American Life 
In recent years, conservatives have contrived ways to obtain government money for religious entities, and the Supreme Court has been more sympathetic to the lawyers representing them. (photo: Mark Wilson/Getty)
Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker
Toobin writes: "Donald Trump may be imperilled by the ever-growing number of investigations into various avenues of his conduct, but his agenda continues apace at the Supreme Court."
READ MORE


Senator Bernie Sanders. (photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters)
Senator Bernie Sanders. (photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Sanders, Harris, Warren Defend Ilhan Omar Amid Controversy Over Israel Comments
Caroline Kelly and Gregory Krieg, CNN
Excerpt: "Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday defended Rep. Ilhan Omar against the backlash to her comments slamming pro-Israel groups and politicians, which have been called anti-Semitic."
READ MORE

Border Patrol officer. (photo: No More Deaths)
Border Patrol officer. (photo: No More Deaths)

US Border Patrol New Guidelines Explicitly Target Central American Migrants: Report
teleSUR 
Excerpt: "New Border Patrol's guidelines in the United States explicitly ask its agents to target Spanish speakers and migrants from Latin America in carrying out a Trump administration program requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico and not enter the U.S., according to memos obtained by The Associated Press Thursday."
READ MORE

Representative Steve King. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty)
Representative Steve King. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty)

Far-Right, White Supremacist Group Identity Evropa Worked the Phones to Keep Steve King in Office
Colin Kalmbacher, Law and Crime
Kalmbacher writes: "Far-right, white supremacist group Identity Evropa, which has been designated as a hate group, worked feverishly to keep Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) in office, according to internal chat logs released Wednesday by an independent media organization."
READ MORE

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Pushes. (photo: Jason Redmond/Getty)
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Pushes. (photo: Jason Redmond/Getty)

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: Medicare for All Will Lower Costs and Expand Healthcare Coverage to Everyone
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "More than 100 Democratic lawmakers are co-sponsoring a new House bill to dramatically revamp healthcare in the United States by creating a Medicare-for-all system funded by the federal government."
READ MORE

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at the White House on March 6. (photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at the White House on March 6. (photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Wilbur Ross Broke Law, Violated Constitution in Census Decision, Judge Rules
Fred Barbash, The Washington Post
Barbash writes: "Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted in 'bad faith,' broke several laws and violated the constitutional underpinning of representative democracy when he added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, a federal judge ruled Wednesday."
READ MORE

The original Allensworth, now a park and very small town, was an experiment in self-determination started by a military retiree. (photo: Barbara Davidson/Getty)
The original Allensworth, now a park and very small town, was an experiment in self-determination started by a military retiree. (photo: Barbara Davidson/Getty)

Dried Out: Big Ag Threatens Clean Water in Rural California
Judith Lewis Mernit, Guardian UK
Mernit writes: "Allensworth is not unique among rural communities in California. Nor is it so different from thousands of other rural communities, from New Mexico to Missouri to Alabama, where attempts to treat water to state and federal drinking water standards have run up against a fundamental absence of infrastructure and community."
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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

American Taliban, When do you STOP believing GOP Horse Manure?



link.



Over the weekend, Jared Kushner was credited with negotiating a $110 billion arms deal to the Saudis, the largest arms deal in U.S. history:
The deal was finalized in part thanks to the direct involvement of Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser. He shocked a high-level Saudi delegation earlier this month when he personally called Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and asked if she would cut the price of a sophisticated missile detection system, according to a source with knowledge of the call.
Pressured to finalize a massive $100-plus billion arms deal in the two weeks leading up to Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, Kushner hoped to maneuver a discount on Lockheed's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system during the Saudis' visit to the White House on May 1 -- a request that Hewson said she would look into at the time.
Coincidentally, the Saudis have also agreed to donate a whopping $100 million to the recently announced women's fund inspired by Jared Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump:
The World Bank plans to announce Sunday at an event with Ivanka Trump, the U.S. president’s daughter and senior White House adviser, that Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have pledged $100 million collectively toward a fund for women who own or want to start businesses, according to people familiar with the announcement.
You know what would advance women in Saudi Arabia? Rights. Actual rights guaranteeing their protection and equality.
The Wall Street Journal is quick to note that Ivanka Trump doesn’t personally solicit these donations, but it can’t be helped when they magically follow her around:
Ms. Trump has made the promotion of women entrepreneurs a signature part of her focus since her father’s inauguration in January. She has advocated for issues such as paid family leave, though the issue has gained little traction in Congress. While she had proposed the idea of the World Bank fund, Ms. Trump doesn’t control it or raise money for it, one person familiar with the plans said.
A $100 million donation is quite the kick-starter for a vaguely defined fund, right? Vanity Fair questioned the fund's intent last month when it first came to light:
Others disputed that characterization. A White House official stressed to The Washington Post that while Ivanka helped inspire the idea, she will not be involved in soliciting funds. “This is not a White House fund. This is not something that she will have any authority over in any way,” the official said. The initiative was first mentioned publicly by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the panel, though a Trump administration official credited Ivanka for raising the idea during a meeting with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
The donations and the White House are not tied. Definitely not. No way! It is a total coincidence the $100 million donation is being made the same weekend a $110 billion arms deal is announced. And never mind that Ivanka Trump is traveling to Saudi Arabia in her official capacity as an ‘assistant to the president of the United States.’ 
Let’s recall Donald Trump’s reaction when it came to the Saudis donating to the Clinton Foundation. From October 2016:
When Chris Wallace asked Clinton about reports of conflicts of interest at the foundation, she responded, "I'm thrilled to talk about the Clinton Foundation because it is a world renowned charity and I'm so proud of the work that it does."
Trump shot in that it's a "criminal enterprise."
"Saudi Arabia given $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women's rights? These are people that push gays off business, off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly and yet you take their money," Trump said. "So I'd like to ask you right now why don't you give back the money that you've taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so horribly?
If true, this is egregious and potentially illegal, according to multiple ethics and legal experts. “If the donation would be a quid pro quo bribe, then asking for it is certainly solicitation of a bribe, which is every bit as criminal as the bribe itself,” Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe tells me via email. “But I started that sentence with ‘if’ because I don’t have enough facts about the donation request to opine on the ultimate bribe issue.” Nevertheless, he says:

At the very least, though, a donation is a “present,” which – if made by a foreign government or an agent of such a government or an entity controlled by it – is expressly banned by the text of the Foreign Emoluments Clause with respect to anyone holding “any Office of Profit or Trust” under the United States. Whether it counts as an “emolument” becomes irrelevant if it’s a “present,” which any donation would at least be.
Tribe explains, “Even if the First Daughter and Assistant to the President somehow manages to create formal distance between herself and that version of the Clinton Foundation, which of course her father denounced endlessly during the campaign, the hypocrisy of the move is jaw-dropping.” He adds, “Such contributions would surely constitute a financial benefit to … her brand, and her family’s brand even if she is unable to spend a penny of the contributions themselves. As such, soliciting such contributions violates at least the spirit of the Foreign Emoluments Clause.”
Even more explicitly, the Office of Government Ethics rules, former Republican ethics counsel Richard Painter tells me, “prohibit use of official position to solicit for ANY charity or other private entity.” The OGE guidelines specifically state: “Executive branch employees are subject to restrictions on the gifts that they may accept from sources outside the Government. Unless an exception applies, executive branch employees may not accept gifts that are given because of their official positions or that come from certain interested sources.” The rationale for this is obvious (except to Trump). “Even if a gift is from a person or organization that has no official dealings with the employee’s agency, accepting a gift offered because of the employee’s official position may create an appearance of using public office for private gain,” the OGE guidelines explain. “Moreover, if an employee receives a payment from an outside source in some circumstances, the public may believe that the employee is serving two masters or is distracted by outside activities.”
Sunday, May 21, 2017 · 9:57:07 AM EDT · Jen Hayden
White House spokesman Sean Spicer is touting the massive donation, which totally has nothing to do with the White House. Here’s the link to his tweet promoting the donation, but there’s a screenshot below because it seems likely the tweet will disappear in the near future. Note the preceding tweet touting the record arms deal.





Sean Spicer promotes Saudi Arabia donation to Ivanka Trump Fund

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/21/1664578/-On-same-weekend-as-record-breaking-arms-deal-Saudis-announced-100-million-donation-to-Ivanka-fund



link.


Earlier this year, the GOP had a chance to prove that it could fund 
veterans' health…

HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/republicans-va-funding_b_5395698.html

It's an ugly sight to see
An American Taliban's
hypocrisy





The president’s daughter brought her message of female…
WASHINGTONPOST.COM


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ivanka-trump-meets-with-saudi-women-leaders-as-some-activists-remain-critical/2017/05/21/9406c4ee-3e08-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_ivanka-9am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.8534ff3499ca






Sunday, March 12, 2017

This Scathing Rebuke Of Political Illiterates Is Beautiful...et al




 link.
Donald Trump is a dangerous, egomaniacal idiot, and his appointees range from…

AMERICANNEWSX.COM


This epistle is by Kit Thornton:
Let’s get rid of a few bits of dreck, for the sake of mental hygiene:
1) Women don’t answer to you, or to the government for having sex, and being forced to have a child is not a fit punishment for what you perceive as promiscuity. Leave other people’s genitals alone.
2) If you are using phrases like “Confronting the culture to advance God’s kingdom,” you’re the American Taliban, a threat to the Republic, and a disgrace to Christianity. I am not only disinterested in your blather, I consider you a serious threat to a well-ordered, peaceful society. If you are pushing this nonsense onto children, you are a moral leper.
3) At this point in the “debate,” if you can’t cite SEVERAL peer-reviewed articles in legitimate scientific journals I’m not interested in your “contrarian” opinion about climate change. The science is as in as science ever is – catastrophic climate change is happening, we’re causing it, and it’s going to be a very serious problem, even if we do something about it. What we’re talking about now is whether it’s going to be catastrophic or apocalyptic. Go flatten your Earth or something.
4) Donald Trump is a dangerous, egomaniacal idiot, and his appointees range from incompetent to terrifying. If you are still supporting him at this point, you are no friend of the Republic.
5) It simply isn’t possible to cut taxes, increase spending and decrease the debt or restrain the deficit. This should be obvious to anyone who can handle simple addition and subtraction, but somehow the idea that slashing government revenues will lead to explosive economic growth WILL. NOT. DIE. Mostly because it casts a vaguely intellectual veneer over what is actually sheer selfishness.
6) Private charities are not sufficient to help the poor. If you think they are, look at any place on this planet that does not provide sufficient public assistance. There was a time when we believed that the proper way of helping the poor was private charity and religious works – read Dickens for a tour of that golden age.
7) Censorship is the refuge of the intellectually and culturally inferior. Only the weak fear being exposed to material they disapprove of. And claiming your prudishness and fragility is for the sake of the children is contemptible. Hiding behind kids because you can’t cope with modern life is despicable.
8) Again, and finally, leave other people’s genitals alone. Other people’s sex lives are none of your concern, and you don’t get to treat them like second-class citizens because you are “uncomfortable.” News flash – other people aren’t in the world to see to your comfort. If you can’t cope, if you can’t deal with people who are different from you, don’t blame others for your inability to adult.
9) The only reason we don’t have a functioning health-care system is that unlike every other advanced nation we believe in the “right” of rich douchebags to charge as much as, and more than, the market will bear. We believe in allowing insurance companies to build huge, bloated empires at the expense of the sick and desperate. And we believe that some people (namely, rich people) are more “deserving” of health care than others. It’s just plain, unvarnished, smells-like-what-it-is greed.
If you’d like to see more from Kit Thornton, you can visit his blog here.



link.
There is no grand strategy, there is no plan. There is just chaos.

THEDAILYBANTER.COM

Bannon knows exactly what he's doing.


 link.
I feel the need to drop a little truth on y'all. So buckle up... 
I'm about to be politically…

HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

Read This Before You Say Anything Else About ‘Taking Back America’


I feel the need to drop a little truth on y’all. So buckle up... I’m about to be politically incorrect.
We don’t need to take America back. No one stole it. It’s right here... you’re sitting in it. Chillax.
Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall, and we’re not going to deport millions of people and break up families. If you think either one is a good idea, you’re not smart and probably not a person I want to hang out with.
We don’t live in a democracy. Technically we are a Federal Republic. But in reality, we are ruled by an oligarchy. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Reading will do you good. You probably need to do more of it.
FoxNews, CNN and MSNBC have an agenda and are not “fair and balanced” or in any way unbiased. I’ll reiterate... read more. Read newspapers (even online ones). Read lots of opinions and sources and then (stay with me here), THINK! Form your own opinion based on as many facts as your can brain can tolerate.

Speaking of facts... there actually is a difference between facts, opinions and propaganda.
 You should learn the difference. (Another opportunity to show off your mad reading skills.)
Science is real. We know things because of science. Don’t be afraid of it. You have an iPhone and Facebook because of science. It’s your friend.
Global warming or “climate change” as the cool kids call it IS REAL. Anyone who tells you it’s not real is not a smart person and probably should not be dressing themselves or caring for children.
Racism exists. And you are probably a little racist and should work on that. Seriously.
“American Christians are not under attack. ... No one is trying to take your bible away from you.”
American Christians are not under attack. We are not being persecuted. We wield so much power in this country that politicians pretend to be Christian just so we will vote for them. No one is trying to take your bible away from you. The gay people are not destroying our families — we don’t need any help from them, thank you. We do a fine job of that by ourselves. So stop saying we are persecuted. You sound stupid.
Poor people need help. If you’re not helping them but complaining about how the government helps them with your money you are not a nice person.
Be nice to the people who teach your children. Don’t send them nasty emails or yell at them. Their job is 10,000 times harder than your stupid job. You are not a professional educator so just shut your mouth and be thankful someone is willing to teach your offspring.
You don’t know what Common Core is. You think you do, but you don’t unless you’re a teacher. So stop complaining about math problem memes on Facebook. You can’t do the math anyway.
ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States. We do not need to rebuild our military. Our military is the strongest, scariest, most badass killing machine the world has ever seen. So stop being afraid and stop letting politicians and pundits scare you.
Guns do in fact kill people. That’s what they are designed to do. If you feel you need a gun to protect yourself in America, you are probably living in the wrong neighborhood and should move before you go out and buy a gun. There are like a billion places to live where you won’t need a gun, or even need to lock your front door.
If you do own a gun, then make sure you know how to use it really, really, really well. Seriously... get some training because you still don’t know how to record stuff with your DVR. Go to the gun range and shoot the thing a lot. Learn how to clean it properly and be able to disassemble it and reassemble it with your eyes closed. It’s a freaking gun and it deserves that level of care, proficiency and respect. And for God’s sake, keep it locked up and away from your kids.
If you are even a little bit unhinged or pissed off... you shouldn’t have a gun. And the Founding Fathers would totally agree with me.
Stop being suspicious of American Muslims. The guy sitting next to you in the cubicle at work is probably more of a threat to you than any Muslim since he has to listen to your uninformed ranting day after day.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and all the rest are ENTERTAINERS! Stop getting your opinions from them. (Here’s where that reading thing can really be an advantage.)
Stop sharing Facebook memes that tell me to share or else Jesus won’t bless me with a laundry basket full of cash. That’s not how prayer works. And I don’t want money delivered (even from God) in a laundry basket. Nobody ever washes those things out and they just keep putting nasty dirty clothes in them. Yuck!
We are the United States of America, and we can afford to... house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for Starbucks and a bucket of KFC.
Unless you can trace your family line back to someone who made deerskin pants look stylish and could field dress a buffalo, you are a descendent of an immigrant. Please stop saying that immigrants are ruining our country. Such comments are like a giant verbal burrito stuffed with historical ignorance, latent racism and xenophobia, all wrapped in a fascist tortilla.
That’s all for now. I feel better.
LaMonte is an author, missionary, and business consultant who lives Chicago, Illinois. When he is not writing science fiction novels or helping his clients, you can find him serving the people along the Amazon River in Brazil. You can learn more about his work at www.lamontemfowler.com.
A version of this post originally appeared on LamonteMFowler.com.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lamonte-m-fowler/read-this-before-you-taking-back-america_b_9348420.html


TRUMPCARE! TRUMPCARE! TRUMPCARE!
Presented by Dirty Energy Koch Sock Puppet Paul Ryan!

 link.
What were Republicans thinking? Were they even thinking?

NYTIMES.COM