The Trump

[Alexander555]

That's the problem when everything has become a swamp, than you can not drain it anymore. It will just start to stink harder and harder, until a war stops it.

[TerryM]

Caitlin Johnstone on How to Silence RT Forever

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/05/07/how-to-silence-rt-forever/

Should appease everyone - of maybe not.
Terry

[Alexander555]

Mainstream media are fake news until some level. Because they get paid to bring something. No matter from who it comes. As long it's not from the right. But for the rest they have very little problems, fossil fuel kings, monsanto's, war companies..... And they bring the story from their side. And somebody will take it , as long they pay for it. To hell with the planet they all think. And no doubts that many of them are corrupted.

[TerryM]

It's a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

or

unisolationism

Europe's response to Trump's latest sanctions.

https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/economics/europe-s-shakespeare-response-to-iran-sanctions-new-word-unisolationism-MkfmCl_2MU6ccCNwQDEeGA/

Terry

[magnamentis]

It's a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

or

unisolationism

Europe's response to Trump's latest sanctions.

https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/economics/europe-s-shakespeare-response-to-iran-sanctions-new-word-unisolationism-MkfmCl_2MU6ccCNwQDEeGA/

Terry

it's getting about time that europe get's rid of the pink glasses when it comes to the U.S. of A.

the bonus for liberating europe from "adolf" around 70 years ago, not to help them but to help themselves BTW, is more than "agotado" (spent, depleted)

Should anyone ever wonder what drives me so mad about that country, it's the hypocrisy and that one is very very old, nothing new really. The self proclaimed inventors of democracy, what a joke. there is only one real democracy in the world and that's switzerland and even that system got dents and flaws recently.

[TerryM]

Iceland's history of democracy predates the American model by more than a few centuries as I recall.


America was found to be an oligarchy well before the present occupant of the White House took up residence. It's a congenital condition.
Terry

[TerryM]

Support for the Iranian deal had reached an all time high when Trump pulled the plug.


The subsequent attack by Israel against Syria, billed as a defense against Iran, may cause more voters to turn away from the Trump lead Republicans.
The MSM have been peddling it as Israel defending herself, but the NYT got it right when they published that the missiles headed for the occupied Golan Heights were a response to earlier Israeli attacks aimed a Syrian community.

"Iran’s rocket attack against Israel came after what appeared to have been an Israeli missile strike against a village in the Syrian Golan Heights late on Wednesday."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/world/middleeast/israel-iran-syria-military.html

This was buried deep in the body of the article, but after the dust settles other new agencies may correct their leads.

Why the MSM is coming to Donalds rescue in this instance is anyone's guess, but I'd suspect Israeli influence.
It's still too early for anything to show up at FiveThirtyEight, but as of  May 10, the day Trump dumped Iran & Israel bombed Syria the numbers for Trump's approval stood a -7.7%, while likely voters prefered Democrats by a 6.2% edge.
By the 15th of the month newer poll numbers will show whether these actions had any effect on America's voters.
Terry

edit - Serbia/Syria

[etienne]

there is only one real democracy in the world and that's switzerland and even that system got dents and flaws recently.

What's very interesting in the Swiss model is that Ministers are elected as person and not as member of a political party. It means that Switzerland lives all the time with a governement that is a coalition of different parties that didn't decide to work together, but that have been elected together.  On National level, Ministers are elected by the Parliament, and on state/county level, directly by the people. The good side of the system is that no Minister has a majority, so he has to discuss with everybody to get is projects through the legislative process, and if a project fails, it doesn't create a crisis, nobody has to resign, you just have to rewrite the project. The weak point of the system it that changes take a lot of time to change things.
Like in any democracy, you have the problem that people who speak better get more votes, doesn't matter how good they are. I always say that in politics, you have stairs to go up in the middle, and there are elevators on the right and on the left end. Fortunately, elevators are most of the time out of order.

[sidd]

Trump takes on Big Pharma, he might lose this one:

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/05/trump-vows-lower-drug-prices-skeptics-doubt-much-will-change.html

sidd

[Martin Gisser]

[...]
 but the NYT got it right when they published that the missiles headed for the occupied Golan Heights were a response to earlier Israeli attacks aimed a Syrian community.

Iran’s rocket attack against Israel came after what appeared to have been an Israeli missile strike against a village in the Syrian Golan Heights late on Wednesday

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/world/middleeast/israel-iran-syria-military.html

This was buried deep in the body of the article, but after the dust settles other new agencies may correct their leads.

Not that deep: it's in the first half, if not third. And a bit before comes the important point:

Israel has conducted scores of strikes on Iran and its allies inside Syria, rarely acknowledging them publicly. But before Thursday, Iran had not retaliated, seemingly handcuffed while it awaited Mr. Trump’s decision on the nuclear accord.

(my emph.)

[Buddy]

Steve Schmidt (Republican) rips apart Trump and his band of ethically challenged comrades.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/steve-schmidt-kelly-sadler-wh-143020759.html

[TerryM]

Thanks ivica
Fixed to original
Terry

[magnamentis]

there is only one real democracy in the world and that's switzerland and even that system got dents and flaws recently.

What's very interesting in the Swiss model is that Ministers are elected as person and not as member of a political party. It means that Switzerland lives all the time with a governement that is a coalition of different parties that didn't decide to work together, but that have been elected together.  On National level, Ministers are elected by the Parliament, and on state/county level, directly by the people. The good side of the system is that no Minister has a majority, so he has to discuss with everybody to get is projects through the legislative process, and if a project fails, it doesn't create a crisis, nobody has to resign, you just have to rewrite the project. The weak point of the system it that changes take a lot of time to change things.
Like in any democracy, you have the problem that people who speak better get more votes, doesn't matter how good they are. I always say that in politics, you have stairs to go up in the middle, and there are elevators on the right and on the left end. Fortunately, elevators are most of the time out of order.

good analysis including the downside while to be hones, when we started to discuss the slow speed of the system between us we found as many examples when bad decisions were reversed in time because they were not yet implemented like the other way around.

or in other terms, if something is generally good, not improving it fast if it seems appropriate keeps us from making it worse fast as well nevertheless i agree with your point.

to be fair i have to add that the judicature, law enforcement and a few key details of that system are much better in other countries. each county found it's means to get people more or less under control if the feel fit to do so. in switzerland they can put you into custody for quite some time without a lawyer and prolonging without big effort for example and i know quite a few guys who were convicted for things they did not do just because the mistakes they really did were not heavy weight enough to bring them "In-Line" Not saying those were angels, there certainly were mistakes made but not of the kind they were convicted for. but that's a long story, the greatest police force in switzerland is the average citiczen, exactly like every male citizen is a soldier and at a far higher percentage than enywhere else in democratic countries, they're proud to be in the army. basically the opposite of spain where people live and let live and no spaniard would call the police because one is a bit too fast or drives a few meters on a banned road section while under guarantee in switzerland someone will denounce you and you'll get an invitation from the police a few days later when you drive 10 meters into a banned road section to park (for example)  LOL

[sidd]

Must spend more money on drug war: can you hear the fear drums beating ?

https://psmag.com/news/some-officials-worry-a-cocaine-epidemic-is-about-to-hit-the-u-s

sidd

[etienne]

there is only one real democracy in the world and that's switzerland and even that system got dents and flaws recently.

What's very interesting in the Swiss model is that Ministers are elected as person and not as member of a political party. It means that Switzerland lives all the time with a governement that is a coalition of different parties that didn't decide to work together, but that have been elected together.  On National level, Ministers are elected by the Parliament, and on state/county level, directly by the people. The good side of the system is that no Minister has a majority, so he has to discuss with everybody to get is projects through the legislative process, and if a project fails, it doesn't create a crisis, nobody has to resign, you just have to rewrite the project. The weak point of the system is that it take a lot of time to change things.
Like in any democracy, you have the problem that people who speak better get more votes, doesn't matter how good they are. I always say that in politics, you have stairs to go up in the middle, and there are elevators on the right and on the left end. Fortunately, elevators are most of the time out of order.

good analysis including the downside while to be hones, when we started to discuss the slow speed of the system between us we found as many examples when bad decisions were reversed in time because they were not yet implemented like the other way around.

or in other terms, if something is generally good, not improving it fast if it seems appropriate keeps us from making it worse fast as well nevertheless i agree with your point.

to be fair i have to add that the judicature, law enforcement and a few key details of that system are much better in other countries. each county found it's means to get people more or less under control if the feel fit to do so. in switzerland they can put you into custody for quite some time without a lawyer and prolonging without big effort for example and i know quite a few guys who were convicted for things they did not do just because the mistakes they really did were not heavy weight enough to bring them "In-Line" Not saying those were angels, there certainly were mistakes made but not of the kind they were convicted for. but that's a long story, the greatest police force in switzerland is the average citiczen, exactly like every male citizen is a soldier and at a far higher percentage than enywhere else in democratic countries, they're proud to be in the army. basically the opposite of spain where people live and let live and no spaniard would call the police because one is a bit too fast or drives a few meters on a banned road section while under guarantee in switzerland someone will denounce you and you'll get an invitation from the police a few days later when you drive 10 meters into a banned road section to park (for example)  LOL

There is another important thing I forgot about the Swiss model. Since Ministers are elected individually instead of choosen by the president, the president has no real power on them and he is seen more as a coordinator. On the National level, President is a rotating job, each Minister has his or her turn. Locally, it is often the best elected who does the work.

[sidd]

Well, hello there. China flexing muscle ? Or mebbe they just offered to build a bigly Trump Tower in Beijing ?

" “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!” "

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/13/trump-zte-china-sanctions-korea-iran-584244

ZTE was looking to go outta business there forabit. I bet there are huge sighs of relief in that boardroom.

sidd

[sidd]

No evidence ? No problem ! Rendition was good enuf for Bill Clinton, it's good enuf for Trump. Except a court said, "Not so fast!"

" ... Officials believe they lack sufficient useable evidence to try him in court ... "

This one might go to the Supremes.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/387359-trump-administration-struggles-to-deal-with-us-enemy-combatant

sidd

[sidd]

On the ZTE gig i think there might have been a deal done about soybeans. Watch for soy import relaxation from china.

Background: Skip if you are not a commodities/grain nerd.

One in every four beans planted in the USA  goes to china.

" China takes over half of our exports. Essentially, about one of out every four row of beans that U.S. farmers plant go to China. China is a vital export market for U.S. soybeans. "

https://unitedsoybean.org/article/u-s-soybean-exports-to-china-increasing/

China aint buying already:

https://www.reuters.com/article/china-crops/update-2-china-set-to-trim-2018-19-soybean-imports-as-trade-row-boosts-prices-idUSL3N1SH26X

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/china-has-stopped-buying-u-s-soybean-supplies-bunge-ceo-says

Iowa gets whacked. Senator Soybean, Chuck Grassley don't like that.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/05/13/china-soybean-tariff-hits-iowas-economy-hardest-new-report-says/605977002/

But gee, afer falling to the lowest in five weeks, US soybeans jump. In the middle of a grain slump.

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/grains-wheat-falls-to-2-week-low-on-supply-pressure-soybeans-rise

Futures green across the board tonite:

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/grain-and-oilseed/soybean.html

Wonder if someone's brother-in-law was in on the call.

sidd

[Buddy]

If you're going to be a CON MAN in the Oval Office ...... I guess Donnie may as well have a con man as a pastor.  The Trump ClusterF**K continues .....

Trump taps right-wing pastor for US embassy event in Jerusalem

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-taps-right-wing-pastor-us-embassy-event-jerusalem?cid=sm_fb_maddow

[Buddy]

One of the interesting things in psychology to me ...... is how easily some people can be conned.

Donnie is a really good CON MAN.    Donnie is somewhat like a basketball official who ALWAYS makes very DEFINITIVE AND LOUD CALLS.

And officials are TAUGHT to do that.  "Act like you ABSOLUTELY GOT THE CALL RIGHT."  Never show doubt ..... and never apologize.

And many humans are SO EASILY CONNED. They don't do it on purpose.  But they WANT TO BELIEVE what the person is telling them.   So when the person is SO SURE OF THEMSELVES ..... well, it MUST BE TRUE, right?

Here's an article about the "Smallville" actress who was recently arrested for recruiting people into a "sex cult."  The article is written by someone who was recruited by them.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/i-was-recruited-by-allison-mack%e2%80%99s-sex-cult/ar-AAxg1q0?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

It's also why religion has been SO SUCCESSFUL at recruiting people (although ..... over the last few decades religion has been LOSING PEOPLE).  As religion gets "exposed" ..... just as any other con ..... EVENTUALLY people will catch on.  But people CAN and ARE conned all the time.  Traitor Donnie isn't the first con man ..... nor will he be the last.

Always look for the TRUTH ..... Always look for FACTS.  Always look for INDEPENDENT SOURCES.  And always look for "corroborating witnesses or facts."





 

[AbruptSLR]

How many people who voted for Trump in 2016, regret it now:

Title: "Washington Appears to Be Gearing Up for a Third Gulf War"

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/washington-appears-be-gearing-third-gulf-war

[magnamentis]

One of the interesting things in psychology to me ...... is how easily some people can be conned.

Donnie is a really good CON MAN.    

not sure how to put it in short and w. my limited english skills but let me try:

i do not think he is a good "con-man" basically he is a horrible "con-man" he can only "con"
creatures of the same kind like he is and this means he can only "con" narrow minded and at least low level thinking creatures "kind of primates" and they only can be conned so easily by their silver back because
they are so proud that finally one of them (their kind) made it to the oval office.

it's some kind of group dynamic among a group of creatures who's base are creatures who need only 2 things to feel like a man (a person) to be satisfied and a third thing, they need only as long as their life style did not make them incapable to do it.

a) they need a pick-up truck, no matter how old, how dirty that truck is, but a pick-up truck it has to be

b) they need a gun (rifle) in that truck better two guns a handgun and a rifle (per person)

c) they need a good f...k once in a while as long as smoking and drinking did not make them incapable.

last but not least they need to belong to a group, best way to belong reliably to a group is to be low level, ask little, drink smoke and shoot and acclaim to any kind of violence and use of weapons (killings)

to be the leader of that group does not take much more than to be like them and having had the luck to have a bit of excess money to get away with all the side-effects long enough to raise
high enough to become a danger for opponents. (too big to fail until ultimate downfall hits)

i'm sure this can be put better but hope the core message is clear enough and i hope that even though the posts begins with " i do not agree " i very much agree of course with what was meant to say, it's just a word's play nothing more.

[sidd]

Do you really imagine Trump support is confined to these ?

"a) they need a pick-up truck, no matter how old, how dirty that truck is, but a pick-up truck it has to be

b) they need a gun (rifle) in that truck better two guns a handgun and a rifle (per person)

c) they need a good fuck once in a while as long as smoking and drinking did not make them incapable. "

sidd

[TerryM]

Do you really imagine Trump support is confined to these ?

Yes!
And that in a nutshell is why we may well be in for a rude awakening when the votes are counted this November.
Terry

[Buddy]

Magnementis:

I STRONGLY disagree with your assessment  of the makeup of the Trump voters.  No doubt, there are SOME that are as you describe.  But I think you underestimate the effect of an EFFECTIVE con man like Trump.  In fact, I would bet that a look through psychology studies would prove my point:  People can be conned much more easily and effectively than you think.

I happen to think that more and more people will discover the errors of their ways in supporting Trump (the truth isn’t going anywhere ... and it will be discovered).

I again urge people to look at the Stanford “prison study” that was done several decades ago ... as well as other psychology studies.

[Lucy]

I really, really, really, really, suggest watching "The Four Horsemen" (Youtube has it). As so many of us have swallowed The "red pill". It is startling to witness so many systems crashing at exponential speed right before our eyes. I would love some feedback

[sidd]

Hide the evidence. What torture ?

"Senate Intelligence Committee has restricted access to a classified memo that Democratic staff put together, detailing Haspel’s role in advocating for torture and later destroying related evidence. "

See no evil:

"Yet according to Senate sources, few senators have viewed the memo ... "

Cover up:

"special prosecutor John Durham, who looked into CIA activity following 9/11 and ultimately chose not to bring charges."

"Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said, “I have never in my life wished that more classified information could be available to the public,” "

O, thats nice. If you had the guts, you would read the thing into the record on the floor of the senate under the speech and debate clause.

Haspel was grown by Bush the lesser, sheltered by obama, and strengthens in these days of trump.

https://theintercept.com/2018/05/14/haspel-memo-ahead-of-vote-on-gina-haspel-senate-pulls-access-to-damning-classified-memo/

sidd

[magnamentis]

Do you really imagine Trump support is confined to these ?

if you take my post literally (absolute) the answer is no, if you translate it into what is meant, somehow yes and of course it's a generalization, an example and examples always limp in a way.

to make a perfect statement based on a thorough analysis it would be too long to read and BTW who can do that without anything in it that someone else could question or oppose? i can't for sure.

such a statement (mine above) will never survive a serious analysis but in a ways describes the very basic mechanism that finally is split in to an endless number of details and individual factors.

and then i said something about group dynamics if i remember correctly and that is the real point, to belong, tribal behaviour. the pickup truck etc. are only examples, a trial to roughly describe the group in question.

i don't even like all the words i was using, i'm simply angry that something  like that can happen and sometimes the horses go bit through.

this sometimes happens mostly when he did again something horrible or at least unnecessary that has the potential to either kill people directly and/or change the path of events into the direction of war, disruption and ultimately destruction. he is throwing things back for decades.

things were never really good but now they got even worse. many tiny bits of progress were/are bit by bit thrown out of the window without being replaced with anything that's worth it, except for a few egocentric and narrow minded fellows.

[sidd]

Disagreed that Trump was elected because of tribal behaviour.  In my view, he was elected because too many people got screwed for too long, and wound up on the streets or close. So they said screw you to both parties.

There were many tribes that got screwed.

There is a twisting of a Lincoln quote: "you can fool some of the people all the time, and all the prople some of the time, and thats usually enough"

Until it isn't. Eventually, enough people figure out they're getting screwed.

sidd

[Martin Gisser]

What magnamentis said. Exactly my observation. That Trump is a con man is/was blatantly obvious for the world outside Flyover America.

Disagreed that Trump was elected because of tribal behaviour.  In my view, he was elected because too many people got screwed for too long, and wound up on the streets or close. So they said screw you to both parties.

There were many tribes that got screwed.

There is a twisting of a Lincoln quote: "you can fool some of the people all the time, and all the prople some of the time, and thats usually enough"

Until it isn't. Eventually, enough people figure out they're getting screwed.

sidd

And the screwed-over deplorables again voted for more of it -- the harder the better. And they have been doing so ever since Reagan. It is part of a subconscious tribal identity they never will be capable to admit, and instead e.g. blame Hillary. They have been fooled far to long to ever admit it, as it is a hidden part of their tribal identity. It is a psychopathological vicious cycle, with aspects reminding me of borderline personality disorder (self-mutilation) and schizophrenia (hearing voices, failure to understand reality)... yup, that's how crazy the 'Merricans look to civilized Europeans.
E.g. they don't want stinking socialized medicine:

(BTW, Reagan's answer is a lie.)

P.S.:/Edit:
Once I thought it can't get worse than prexy GWB. (Back then I even advised a Somalian family to reunite in Germany, not U.S.A.) Meanwhile I think it will likely get even worse after Trump: The stability of his ratings confirm my tribal-psychopathological theory. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

To paraphrase Heart of Darkness (Apocalypse Now) The madness, the madness...

[Buddy]

Donnie now has Iran teed up and ready to go if he needs to start a conflict ...... which BOTH he and Bibi (Netanyahu).  Remember....both of them are in deep shit.  It also doesn't hurt that Saudi Arabia would LOVE to have the US and/or Israel attack Iran, because the Saudi's NEED HIGH OIL PRICES in order to have Saudi Aramco IPO get to market.

Donnie is stalling about "meeting with Mueller".  He has NO INTENTION OF MEETING WITH MUELLER .....EVER.  But Donnie needs to keep playing his hand as best he can, with whatever he can.  He KNOWS it's not about "the law" (yet) ..... its about the POLITICS and THE PUBLIC, and how that relates to votes in the Senate and House.

So he and his team will be at their LYING AND CONNING BEST in coming weeks and months.  Keep lying ..... and repeat.....and repeat....and repeat.

[Buddy]

Trump calls leakers 'cowards' after aide's remark on McCain

The only cowards I see are:  (1)  The fat ass in the Oval Office that has 5 draft deferments to his name, and (2) the fat ass that lies at every press briefing.  Those are the only cowards I am aware of ..... unless you want to count everyone in Donnie's administration with the ONE EXCEPTION OF General Mattis..... because everyone else is afraid to speak the truth.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-aide-behind-mccain-remark-dealt-internally-184836914--politics.htm

[sidd]

Was this the bribe for Trump flip on ZTE ?

"A billion-dollar resort project being developed in Indonesia by the president's business empire, the Trump Organization, is to receive $500 million from the Chinese government. "

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/44484-with-china-funding-new-trump-resort-project-president-in-clear-violation-of-constitution

sidd

[Martin Gisser]

Was this the bribe for Trump flip on ZTE ?

"A billion-dollar resort project being developed in Indonesia by the president's business empire, the Trump Organization, is to receive $500 million from the Chinese government. "

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/44484-with-china-funding-new-trump-resort-project-president-in-clear-violation-of-constitution

sidd

From the Steele Dossier:

[AbruptSLR]

Kim Jong Un appears to be pressuring Trump to change his tone:

Title: "North Korea threatens to cancel Trump summit"

https://www.axios.com/north-korea-threatens-to-cancel-trump-summit-f9eee700-97b4-4e68-9ccc-68d2745dd701.html

Extract: "North Korea has cancelled talks with South Korea scheduled for Wednesday, and threatened to cancel next month's summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un over joint U.S.-South Korean military drills, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
…
With one month to go before the summit, scheduled for June 12th in Singapore, North Korea appears to be testing the Trump administration's boundaries. Josh Pollack, editor of the non proliferation review, says North Korea objects to Trump's "maximum pressure" stance. "They want to see a change in tone from the US, and so far they’re not seeing it," he says."

[Martin Gisser]

[sidd]

This won't go over well: Iran under the hammer

"The Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on Valiollah Seif, the bank's current governor,"

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/387762-us-adds-head-of-irans-central-bank-to-terrorist-list-imposes-sanctions

sidd

[sidd]

Qatar bails Kushner out:

"Brookfield is a Canadian-based, publicly traded company, but one of its largest shareholders is the Qatar Investment Authority,"

"as part of the buyout, Brookfield would take over the building on Fifth Avenue and invest hundreds of millions of dollars on renovating it."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/388167-kushner-companies-nearing-bailout-deal-with-qatar-linked-firm-report

sidd

[Buddy]

I think that one of the “developing themes” regarding Trump, will be more people speaking out against him.  We have already had Rex Tillerson .... and I expect more in coming weeks as the magnitude of Trumps past actions come to light ..... and the very real DANGER of his presidency becomes more apparent.

I think we can expect more business leaders to become more “full throated” in their concerns.  A tape of Bill Gates is making the rounds, and I think it will prod others to openly question Trumps fitness for office.

It will also be interesting to see what the leaders of Europe will do or say in coming weeks as Trumps unfitness for office becomes more and more apparent.

[AbruptSLR]

Trump's arrogant ignorance leaves Bill Gates stunned and scared:

Title: "Bill Gates: Trump twice asked me the difference between HIV and HPV"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/18/bill-gates-donald-trump-difference-hiv-hpv

Extract: "Bill Gates, the billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, has claimed Donald Trump twice asked him the difference between HIV and HPV and knew a “scary” amount about Gates’s daughter’s looks."

[sidd]

China drops sorghum tariffs, offers 200 billion US$ extra US export to China. This might be part of the ZTE payoff ?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/18/trump-china-talks-congress-554250

sidd

[sidd]

DOJ Inspector General to probe surveillance of Trump campaign:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/388548-rosenstein-asks-doj-watchdog-to-probe-trump-campaign-surveillance

sidd

[AbruptSLR]

Trump has only made matters worse regarding America's trade situation with China:

Title: "Trump is scrambling to justify his trade concessions to China"

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/21/17376056/trump-china-trade-war

Extract: "Critics say the president may have given up too much too quickly to the Chinese in negotiations."

[AbruptSLR]

Here is more evidence that Team Trump appears to be increasing international tensions rather than reducing them:

Title: "Why Trump’s North Korea summit is going off the rails, explained by an expert"

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/21/17376130/north-korea-trump-kim-jong-un-summit-bbc-dad

Extract: "The much-anticipated summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, scheduled for June 12, is in trouble.

After National Security Adviser John Bolton said last week that the US would seek complete and total North Korean nuclear disarmament, North Korea said publicly that it would never accept such an outcome — and threatened to pull out of the meeting if Washington didn’t adjust its expectations.

North Korea experts see this as a long-overdue reckoning. The truth is that the United States and North Korea have long expected diametrically opposed outcomes from the talks — with the US wanting North Korea to give up its nukes and North Korea demanding recognition as a legitimate nuclear power. But neither side was willing to confront the reality of the situation. We’ve just been stumbling toward negotiations with no clear sense of how this yawning gulf could be resolved."

[AbruptSLR]

The linked article provides still more evidence that Team Trump is increasing tension in the world rather than reducing it:

Title: "Mike Pompeo just proved the Trump administration has no plan B for Iran"

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/21/17375760/pompeo-iran-nuclear-deal-sanctions-strategy-speech

Extract: "Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined the administration’s new plan to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — and it turns out it’s basically the same strategy as before, only without the strict restrictions put on Iran by the nuclear deal."

[Buddy]

Anyone who has paid close attention to FACTS.... knows that Donnie has been a con man all his life, and his run for the Oval Office was just his biggest con yet.

A week or two ago I noted how EASILY humans can be conned.  Some people felt that wasn't the case.... that people actually FELT THAT WAY, and weren't actually conned.

Here is an updated piece on "Theranos".  This is a company that, with great fanfare, declared that they were changing the medical test industry..... and that they were able to test for a whole range of diseases and deficiencies with a new testing device that only required just a small amount of blood.  In fact..... George Shultz (former Secretary of State) and Henry Kissinger (former member of the Nixon administration) were sucked in to the Theranos con.

This will show you how easily people were conned by Elizabeth Holmes.  And how Donnie continues his political con to this day.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-theranos-elizabeth-holmes-deception/

Theranos took in at least $900 million dollars of investors money (Betsy chipped in a cool $100 mill).

But I encourage you to WATCH THE CLIP from the 60 minutes piece that just aired.  It is quite "gobsmacking" as to how easily people.....even SMART PEOPLE.... can be conned.  But it takes a good CON ARTIST.  Someone who can "really sell the idea."

People "see" what THEY WANT TO SEE.  People "hear" what THEY WANT TO HEAR.  With Theranos, people wanted to believe that the cost of testing could come down AND the investors could make a killing, even as they helped to bring something very good for society to market.

People who were conned by Donnie, WANTED TO BELIVE THAT TAX CUTS WOULD HELP THE ECONOMY..... THAT GETTING THE IMMIGRANTS OUT WOULD HELP THE US JOB MARKET..... THAT DONNIE WAS GOING TO WORK HARD AND NOT TAKE VACATIONS AND PLAY GOLF.  People WANTED to believe those things, so they were VERY susceptible to being conned.  And conned they were indeed.

Just as Donnie has conned a good chunk of America (and Canada:) ...... Donnie continues the con, just as the CEO strung out her con, even she was questioned about whether her product actually worked.

You will also notice, if you watch the clip, that she and her company used many of the VERY SAME TACTICS that Donnie and his team uses:  Bullying, intimidation, belittling, etc.

Joe Biden was also "conned" by Theranos.  In the short article below, it describes how "the lab was staged" when Biden visited.  Just as Donnie has "staged" many of his con's over the years and decades.  Donnie does this all the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/books/review/bad-blood-john-carreyrou.html

[Buddy]

The CON is starting to unravel ..... BUT .... it will need INSIDE HELP.  That "inside help" needs to come from either people like McMaster and Tillerson that WERE in the administration, OR ..... people that ARE NOW in the administration (Niki Haley or Mattis).  The current head of Homeland Security blew her chance of coming out of this with any measure of integrity ..... when she said yesterday that "she wasn't aware of any intelligence that showed the Russians tried to help Trump."

But I have a feeling that SOMEBODY will be forced to "out" the Wizzard Of Mar a Lago.  Tillerson waded into the pool ..... but only slightly.  McMaster is the one who really needs to do it, as a matter of "duty to country."  And I think he will do so.... but we'll have to wait and see.

[Buddy]

And again ...... for those of you that think that people aren't "conned" by Donnie.  I already mentioned the case of Theranos, the $900 million dollar fraud.

Don't forget THIS that has been in the news as of late:  The Allison Mack sex trafficking case.

http://celebrityinsider.org/nxivm-recruiter-allison-mack-berated-and-destroyed-women-as-she-allegedly-forced-them-into-slavery-148888/

And I won't even mention RELIGION and what a con it can be.  So yes ..... there are a LOT of people "drinking the Trump kool Aid" ..... and Trump knows what he is doing.  He is a good con man ..... and he's trying to save his fat ass.

 

[Buddy]

Trump Cancels June 12 Singapore Summit With North Korea's Kim

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-cancels-june-12-singapore-134723609.html

I guess that means the Nobel Peace Prize is put on hold as well ...... 

[AbruptSLR]

The media should put a fact check at the beginning of each of its stories covering Trump's whack-a-mole pronoucements:

Title: "Trump's torch-it-all strategy"

https://www.axios.com/trump-media-strategy-tweets-fbi-doj-f632c40b-b167-42dd-9389-4d94525c8cf5.html

Extract: "Trump's language is getting darker and more ominous, suggesting the FBI's activities during the 2016 elections were "bigger than Watergate," and yesterday claiming a “criminal deep state” conspiracy to get him. It’s like a gigantic, presidential whack-a-mole, with Trump pounding any new threat as it pops up, leaving nothing to chance.
…
This adapts a classic Trump technique that he used during the campaign: constant, withering criticism combined with brutal belittling, in an effort to create tectonic shifts in voter attitudes."