Aug 292022
 

Yesterday, I went to see Virgil, arriving about 11:00 am and staying until visitation was over at 3:30.We enjoyed each other’s company, and Virgil returns all greetings. This facility is ony about 35 miles away, mostly on the nterstateand Sundat traffic isn’t bad, so it was not difficult going or coming back. There was a rainstorm on the way back … some of it was heavy, but all of it was brief. They say in Colorado if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes, but I think it’s more accurate to say move 5 miles. I’ve known a co-worker to have dry weather at home, while the weather is dry at th e workplace, and still not be able to get to work because, inbetween, there was impassible snow. But I digress. I got home safely, but found myself fresh out of energy.  I did just manage to place a grocery delivery order and that was about it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Dangers of Trump-Prosecution Syndrome (opinion)
Quote – The legal process that the case is following illustrates the procedures in American jurisprudence that help to insure that prosecutors proceed methodically and fairly…. Legal experts and former Justice Department officials told me that, based on the publicly known evidence, prosecuting Trump for mishandling classified documents appears simpler than bringing criminal charges against him for his role in the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol. [Stephen] Gillers[, a professor of legal ethics at New York University,] [said] that, fairly or unfairly, prosecuting a former President requires meeting a higher legal and political threshold. “It has to be one-hundred-per-cent irresistible as a matter of law,” he said. “There can be no fact, no event, no piece of evidence that could support any room for ambiguity.”
Click through for full article. I was thinking myself even before i started reading that the insurrection was far more obviously harmful but much harder to prove his criminal intent, whereas the mishandling of documents is easier to prove, but possibly harder to generate interest in. (The dates of his speaking with Putin, sending something in writing to Putin – delivered, I believe, by Rand Paul – and the daytes of our highest and most qualified agents starting to die off could possibly be coincidental – though I would not believe that for an instant.) I do think he should be charged for both, if for no other reason, because then the coase would not necessarily be tried in the federal district in which the crime was committed – since they are different.

The New York Times – Captured, Killed or Compromised: C.I.A. Admits to Losing Dozens of Informants
Quote – The message, in an unusual top secret cable, said that the C.I.A.’s counterintelligence mission center had looked at dozens of cases in the last several years involving foreign informants who had been killed, arrested or most likely compromised. Although brief, the cable laid out the specific number of agents executed by rival intelligence agencies — a closely held detail that counterintelligence officials typically do not share in such cables. The cable highlighted the struggle the spy agency is having as it works to recruit spies around the world in difficult operating environments. In recent years, adversarial intelligence services in countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been hunting down the C.I.A.’s sources and in some cases turning them into double agents.
Click through – it is not paywalled, but is a gift link, so you will be able to read it in full with the possible exception of Lona – though she is good with VPNs. These events, not this specific article is what I was referring to in my comment on the other short take.

Food For Thought

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Aug 162022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Why Donald Trump’s possible violation of the Espionage Act must be prosecuted

Meidas Touch – Navy Vet REACTS to Trump’s Acts of Espionage

The Lincoln Project – Peril

Robert Reich – Why Does Krysten Sinema Want to Keep This Tax Loophole Open? [What has happened is that it was replaced by a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. That is not as good as closing the loophole, but at least it hits corporations rather than normal people. It was John Hickenlooper’s idea and CPR is very proid of that but I’m unimpressed. It is approximately the same amount of money coming in.)

Brent Terhune – They stormed Mar-a-Lago

Beau – Let’s talk about Pennsylvania, Perry, and subpoenas….

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Aug 152022
 

Yesterday, I finally got to see Virgil. He had a new haircut and is looking good. I unfortunately had to leave early, but I didn’t feel terribly bad about that because this facility has a 7 and a half hour visiting day, and the longest anywhere else is six hours – the last one had only a 3 hour partial day, and I stayed long enough to exceed that. The reason for my leaving was a pain which I have always called a stitch in the side, but in looking ut up, I see that a side stitch is abdominal, and mine is not that – it is definitely above my waist. It is connected to the diaphragm somehow, because a deep breath temporarily worsens it. But it’s not exercise related – unless moving a couple of small tables is considered exercise – I certainly wouldn’t consider it so. It requires noticeable effort for me because of my miscellaneous mobility issues, but exercise? No. Whatever it is, it responded to ice and compression. A couple of other aches were also acting up, though not as badly, so after sending the weekly email I took a break.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Conversation – Faced with a rise of extremism within its ranks, the US military has clamped down on racist speech, including retweets and likes
Quote – A blue ribbon committee called the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group was quickly commissioned in April 2021 to evaluate the extent of the problem. The group found about 100 substantiated cases of extremism in the U.S. armed forces in 2021. The latest instance occurred in July 2022, when Francis Harker, a National Guard member with white supremacist connections, was sentenced to four years in prison for planning an anti-government attack on police. Harker, who carried a picture saying “there is no God but Hitler,” was planning to attack police officers in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with Molotov cocktails and semi-automatic rifles.
Click through for story. It has always been necessary for anyone serving in the military -an anyone employed by the Government in any way – to limit heir use of free speech. Back in the day, however, the concern was that someone might mistake personal views for government policy. Now the concern is that worng use of free speech could get spmeone killed – or the government overthrown. Of course the military must clamp down. Hate speech IMO is not part of appropriate free speech.

Demoocratic Underground (Our 5 Eyes Program Has Been Compromised.)
Quote – Some of the documents retrieved [from Mar-a-Lago] were revealed to be SIGINT intelligence which is what 5 eyes falls under. Donald Trump is a threat to our national security and needs to be indicted sooner rather than later. The International press is shocked at this scandal unlike some of the press in the US.
CLick through for the short article, and/”or here for the background on FYEV

Food For Thought

 

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