So we are on the downside of the week whoosing into the weekend with less than 2 weeks until Christmas. The days will undoubtedly pass quickly for the next few weeks. When my Winnie was diagnosed with diabetes last September, his hind legs were affected making walking difficult — he was walking on his hocks, rather than his toes like a healthy cat. I am please to say that he is back to walking on his toes more often. He will back at the vet’s this afternoon for followup blood work. That won’t be an easy trip as it is pouring cats and dogs and he does not like “dogs”. I hope everyone is having a great day!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 6:03(average 6:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?
TC’s took me 4:45 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes
AlterNet — For over six hours on Friday, former FBI Director James Comey participated in a voluntary, transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. Republicans are enjoying the last few weeks of their House majority, and seem determined to use every ounce of power they have left before it goes away in January. But if their goal was to use Friday’s testimony to undermine Robert Mueller’s probe, they surely left Capitol Hill disappointed.
As committee Republicans fixated on Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Steele Dossier and text messages between two FBI agents accused of expressing bias against Donald Trump, Comey turned the proceeding into a defense of the special counsel’s investigation and the integrity of the Department of Justice. No wonder President Trump launched into yet another Twitter tirade on Sunday morning, labeling Comey’s testimony “so untruthful!” while complaining that this “whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!”
Leakin’ James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful! This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2018
With all of the news happening this past week, reviewing a 235-page transcript was probably not at the top of a lot of people’s to-do lists. With that in mind, here are 10 takeaways that are worth a second look.
7. As has been the case for two years, Republicans on the Oversight and Judiciary Committee used their time with Comey to try and undermine the Russia probe. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., incoming oversight chairman, gave Comey a chance to define the threat posed by Russia. “The aim of the Russian effort in 2016 was to destabilize, undermine, damage our democracy,” Comey told the committees. “That was their overwhelming goal. And so you have a foreign nation that is attacking the United States of America in an effort to undermine that which is essentially us, our democratic process. So that’s a very serious threat. And understanding whether any Americans were part of that effort is incredibly important because the threat of those Americans by virtue of their alliance with the Russians would pose to our country.”
8. Cummings followed up by asking what would happen if the special counsel’s investigation was impeded or ended prematurely. “Well, in my opinion, it would undermine our national security by not holding accountable people who might have been involved in either the Russians or people who worked with them, first,” Comey responded. “And second, it would send an absolutely appalling message about the rule of law in this country of ours. … The Russians’ goal was for everyone in the world to have doubt about the nature and credibility of the American democracy, to dirty it up so it’s not a shining city on the hill. So their attack had implications for that, the role of the American democratic experiment. And if someone were to order it stopped, the investigation into that, it would have a similar effect.”
These are but 2 of the revelations from James Comey’s interview with the House Oversight and Judiciary committees behind closed doors on 07 December 2018. Click through for the others. If you want to peruse the transcript you can HERE.
The Globe and Mail — The context of the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou – a dangerous move by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in its intensifying conflict with China – matters enormously. The United States requested that Canada arrest Ms. Meng in the Vancouver airport en route to Mexico from Hong Kong, and then extradite her to the United States. Such a move is almost a U.S. declaration of war on China’s business community. Nearly unprecedented, it puts American business people travelling abroad at much greater risk of such actions by other countries. …
Quite transparently, the U.S. action against Ms. Meng really seems to be part of the Trump administration’s broader attempt to undermine China’s economy by imposing tariffs, closing Western markets to Chinese high-technology exports and blocking Chinese purchases of U.S. and European technology companies. One can say, without exaggeration, that this is part of an economic war on China – and a reckless one at that.
Huawei is one of China’s most important technology companies and therefore a prime target in the Trump administration’s effort to slow or stop China’s advance into several high-technology sectors. America’s motivations in this economic war are partly commercial – to protect and favour laggard U.S. companies – and partly geopolitical. They certainly have nothing to do with upholding the international rule of law.
The U.S. appears to be trying to target Huawei especially because of the company’s success in marketing cutting-edge 5G technologies globally. The U.S. claims the company poses a specific security risk through hidden surveillance capabilities in its hardware and software. Yet the U.S. government has provided no evidence for this claim. …
…UN Security Council Resolution 2231 calls on all countries to drop sanctions on Iran as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. Yet the United States. – and only the United States – now rejects the Security Council’s role in such matters. The Trump administration, not Huawei or China, is today’s greatest threat to the international rule of law, and therefore to global peace. [emphasis mine]
Click through for further details. I don’t know how much coverage this is getting in the US, but in Canada it is getting a lot of coverage. I have a great deal of disdain for the pernicious ham handed Trump who has no regard for the rule of law except for how to break it when he said
“If I think it’s good for the country, if I think it’s good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made – which is a very important thing – what’s good for national security – I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary,” …
For Trump, his foreign relations is all transactional — what do I get out of this through what does the country get out of it. He wants the title of the great deal maker at somebody else’s expense, in this case Canada and two of her citizens.
I want to say to him, “Stay the hell out of Canadian affairs!”
This video from CTV News. Additional material from The Globe and Mail, The Globe and Mail (2) and this second video from CTV News.(which refuses to embed)
Trump is a great threat to world peace.
YouTube — This is Part 3 of an ABC (Australian Broadcast Company) programme examining the Trump Russia relationship. Some of this is ‘old hat’ while other parts may be new information. Sarah Ferguson, the interviewer, talks with various people involved with Trump.
Hopefully you have had a chance to watch the previous two videos. Did you learn more about Trump’s shenanigans? Between these videos and reading “The Making of Donald Trump” by David Cay Johnston, Trump is a con man, fraudster, and definitely not deserving of holding the highest elected office in the land, let alone being competent to do the job. He is in it for the money opportunities even though they are not allowed and for the personal recognition/glory.
My Universe
8 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 13 December 2018”
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Sea lions 7:27 [6:19] You must be careful what you say around sea lions!
Ribbon 6:14 [5:48]
Petition to protect whistleblowers by not appointing/confirming Barr
AlterNet – Yes. I thought Elijah Cummings handled his questions beautifully, and Comey must have been very grateful to him for giving him the chance to say what he did. And, of course, the 235-page transcript is the reason why Comey did not want it to be secret in the first place. Can you imagine what Republicans would have done with leaking this and that if they had been allowed to make it secret?
Globe & Mail – “Yet the U.S. government has provided no evidence for this claim. …” Can you imagine Trump ever providing the least scrap of evidence for anything? His idea of evidence is “Because I said so, that’s why.” To answer your question, it has gotten some coverage here, but I’m sure nothing like what it is getting in Canada, where more people understand the difference between reality and delusion.
YouTube. Again, will watch and possibly get back.
Universe – Which is why it is so important to be aware what is and isn’t toxic to cats. The ASPCA I know has a good chart, and I know it’s not the only one. Poinsettias are poisonous to cats, as are “Easter lilies” and everything else in the onion family.
Whatever the glitch is in posting, it doesn’t seem to have affected comments. Of course i poste,d my comment to find that out – I should have just checked your comment, where it works also I’ve noticed many times that the rules are not the same for a blog post as they are for a comment post.
AN: Good article. Glad to read that Mr. Comey handled the line of questioning professionally, (as he has done in the past).
GM: I agree, he (US) needs to butt out of this. dt can’t even handle politics here, let alone elsewhere. Yes, he is also a threat for world peace. How sad.
YT: Half way through……what we knew all along, he’s a dangerous sick cad, not only to us here, but also to the the world.
MU: So true!!! I know mine likes messing in the dirt, and leaves the plant intact, but I do monitor her destruction. lol
Good news about your Winnie! Has anyone heard from TC, and how is he doing? Hope good! Thank you for your post, Lynn.
5:55 (average: 6:19) Did you know that on land a group like this is called a colony, but together at sea it is called a raft?
4:11 (average 5:48)
Alternet: Kudos to James Comey, and kudos to Elijah Cummings. Together they formed a solid block of integrity no scheming Republican could ever put a dent in. Comey resisted being heard behind closed doors and while he lost his case in court, the proceeding were transcribed, which is good enough. As Drumpf’s hysterical reaction shows, Comey never once faltered. In their despair, the Republicans want to have another go at Comey before Democrats take over the commission. They were never ones to learn. Good for Comey’s Christmas book sales. I trust the hearing on the 17th will be transcribed too.
GM: It is hard to understand why Justin Trudeau agreed to have Ms Meng arrested during a stopover in Canada, but I assume he was left no other choice given existing agreements with the US. It is typical for an American commenter to think of this in terms what this could do to Americans first[“Nearly unprecedented, it puts American business people travelling abroad at much greater risk of such actions by other countries.”] while China has already arrested two Canadians in retaliation. By having Canada oblige him, Drumpf has put Canada and its people in a terrible spot. When will enough be enough for Trudeau?
ABC: Thanks for the Four Corners program on the Drumpf-Russia relationship. It may have given American viewers some new insight into Drumpf and his politics, or not; it will have made it quite clear that the rest of the world is quite aware of what kind of man Drumpf is and how him being in Putin’s pocket is a threat to all of us.
MU: That cat looks like it had the time of its life. Well, of at least one of the nine of its life.
Good luck with taking Winnie to the vet again. Just remember it’s been all very worthwhile.
Signed the petition Joanne listed.
AN:James Comey was very professional.
GM: Why is it that tRump has to stick his nose into other country affairs? He certainly should have much better things to do with his time playing leader of the U.S. but as we have found out the past two years he does nothing except create huge problems here and all around the world.
ABC: Interesting program. Thanks you.Currently we are also fining out, it seems pUtin is getting sick of tRumps current military threats. We shall see how their great.friendship ends.
MU: Poor cat. Trying to hide out from the scene. Cute
Glad to hear that Winnie is doing better. Hope his health continues improving. Good luck at his next appointment.
To date, Nike has pretty much left my plants alone – at least WRT major damage.
But he does love to hunt for bugs in the Boston ferns after bringing them in from a summer hiatus outside.
(So far, he’s missed one that keeps flying around. But I’ll give him some time to do his dirty work. He seems to really enjoy his work!)