A federal judge with deep, longstanding connections to the national
security apparatus assailed Special Counsel Robert Mueller during a
court hearing Friday, declaring that the real purpose of the anti-Russia
investigation was to generate material that would lead to Trump’s
“prosecution or impeachment.”
Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III was hearing a motion brought by
the attorney for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, seeking
the dismissal of his indictment for bank fraud on the grounds that such
charges were outside the scope of Mueller’s investigative authority.
Defense attorney Kevin Downing argued that because the allegations
against Manafort relate to actions many years before the 2016 elections,
at a time when Manafort had no relationship with Donald Trump, Mueller
had no basis for investigation.
Ellis eagerly embraced this argument, telling prosecutor Michael
Dreeben, “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud. You
really care about what information he might give you about Mr. Trump and
what might lead to his impeachment or prosecution.”
-- Patrick Martin, "Judge says special counsel Mueller seeks to oust Trump" (WSWS).
Monday, May 07, 2018
A note to our readers
Hey --
We didn't make Sunday. It's Monday.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
And what did we come up with?
See you next week.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
We didn't make Sunday. It's Monday.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
- Truest statement of the week
- Editorial: When do they leave?
- TV: Killing the genre one axe blade at a time
- From The TESR Test Kitchen
- Read a book?
- Does she have a booger in her nose?
- This edition's playlist
- Highlights
See you next week.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: When do they leave?
"American troops are still in Iraq on the 15th anniversary of an
invasion, the pretext for which was the entirely trumped-up claim that
America’s iconic foe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Joseph Giglio (WELLESLEY TOWNSMAN) observes.
May 12th, Iraq is set to yet again hold elections.
The western press is acting like this really says something.
Does it?
If so, what?
We don't see any thing in the coverage suggesting that this election means US troops leave.
It's now 15 years and counting and US troops are still on Iraqi soil.
What's the point when they leave? What are the markers that say it's time to go? All this time later, no one seems to know.
Kevin Baron (DEFENSE ONE) notes:
The fact is there’s no known mission end for Iraq, yet. Top commanders, waiting to be told by Washington to get bigger or smaller, just keep going. And that’s the worry of Americans back home, who largely marked the invasion’s 15th anniversary — if they noted it at all — by wondering what the U.S. is still doing there, and how long it’ll last.
As Joshua Keating (SLATE) noted several weeks ago, there are no plans for US troops to leave. This is the world we're living in now? We're okay with that? A peace movement is needed now more than ever.
May 12th, Iraq is set to yet again hold elections.
The western press is acting like this really says something.
Does it?
If so, what?
We don't see any thing in the coverage suggesting that this election means US troops leave.
It's now 15 years and counting and US troops are still on Iraqi soil.
What's the point when they leave? What are the markers that say it's time to go? All this time later, no one seems to know.
Kevin Baron (DEFENSE ONE) notes:
The fact is there’s no known mission end for Iraq, yet. Top commanders, waiting to be told by Washington to get bigger or smaller, just keep going. And that’s the worry of Americans back home, who largely marked the invasion’s 15th anniversary — if they noted it at all — by wondering what the U.S. is still doing there, and how long it’ll last.
As Joshua Keating (SLATE) noted several weeks ago, there are no plans for US troops to leave. This is the world we're living in now? We're okay with that? A peace movement is needed now more than ever.
TV: Killing the genre one axe blade at a time
THE CROSSING started airing on ABC last month and, thus far, the ratings have been underwhelming. While it's true that the show's promotion made it appear to be like A&E's failed series THE RETURNED and ABC's failed series RESURRECTION, the reality was it had more in common with NBC's beloved but cancelled series THE EVENT since no one was coming back from the dead. Instead, you had people coming back from the future. Well people and evolved beings (Apex).
But maybe part of the reason THE CROSSING didn't debut well had to do with THE EVENT and with SENSE8 and with . . . Since LOST left the air, a lot of syfy, horror and adventures shows have left the air. While some, like ORPHAN BLACK, won praise and multiple seasons, many were gone in the blink of an eye. NETFLIX was, for example, considering grabbing THE EVENT after NBC axed it but, in the end, NETFLIX passed. It did air SENSE8 but then axed the show despite public outcry (the streaming service announced, in the face of the backlash, that they would greenlight a movie to wrap the story up).
It can be a little hard to keep trying new shows of a genre that keeps getting the axe.
Since LOST left the airwaves, for example, some of the genre shows cancelled include: DARK MATTER, 12 MONKEYS, PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD, BEING HUMAN, MERLIN, ALPHAS, BELIEVE, SINBAD, STRANDED, GHOST MINE, METAL HURLANT CHRONICLES, THE ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS, HELIX, WAREHOUSE 13, BITTEN, HUNTER, DEFIANCE, GALAVANT, AMERICAN GOTHIC, EXTANT, ZOO, MINORITY REPORT, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, SCREAM QUEENS, SLEEPY HOLLOW, WAYWARD PINES, GRIM, HEROES REBORN, YOU, ME AND THE APOCALYPSE, CONTINUUM, DAMIEN, DOMINION, HEMLOCK GROVE, DRACULA, THE PATH, RECTIFY, STICHERS, THE STRAIN, ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND, UNDER THE DOME, THE VAMPIRE DIARES, ALMOST HUMAN, LOST GIRL, INCORPORATED, ALCATRAZ, FRINGE, . . .
That's a lot of programs.
And there's really been no rescuing these programs.
NETFLIX hasn't rushed up to grab any of them -- the way they saw fit to rescue ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. HULU hasn't thrown out a safety line. The shows are on and gone in most cases. And a lot of them were quality programs.
Like THE ORIGINALS which THE CW is axing (its currently airing its final season), SENSE8, CORPORATION, ALPHAS, DRACULA and EXTANT. Viewers tune in, they support the shows, and yet the networks keep axing them.
Into this environment, it's hard to imagine any show doing well.
THE CROSSING stars Steve Zahn as Sheriff Jude Ellis. Jude worked in California and left after a pressure play at work that did not go well. He's relocated to the northwest. Things get shaky when bodies start floating to the coastline. Most are dead but a little under fifty are alive including a child named Leah.
Jude's attempting to figure out what's going on when Agent Emma Ren (Sandrine Holt) tells him Homeland Security has taken jurisdiction. The short story? These people who washed ashore are from the future. They are also not the first group to show up. In 2008, an earlier group came through.
Reese (Natalie Martines) came through with the second group. Reese has superhuman strength, hearing powers, healing powers, a little bit of everything because she's Apex.
Apex, according to the "Commons" -- the people who came back from the future, have invented a disease to take out the ordinary humans. 180 years from now, the Apex controls the earth.
Reese discovered Leah in the future when Leah was a baby and refused to kill her. She raised Leah in secret until her superiors found out. At which point, she and Leah traveled back to the past but while she's able to get Leah almost to the surface, she then sinks to what would have been her own death had she not been an Apex.
The first group did not land at the bottom of the ocean when they traveled back in time. Instead, they landed in the middle of the road. At night. Marshall was just a kid, in the backseat of the family car, his father driving, when the group appeared on the road and Marshall's father swerved to avoid hitting them. The car went off the road and then off the cliff. Marshall's mother died in the crash.
Now an adult (played by Tommy Bastow), Marshall encounters Hannah at the county fair. Hannah's one of the Commons who came back with the second group. She's snuck out of the relocation/refugee camp Homeland Security has set up. She sees Marshall and he's the face in the photo of a locket she had. She is taken back to the camp. But Marshall's felt a connection and, not only that, his suppressed memories of that 2008 event come back.
Oh, and Homeland Security? They've got no record of the camp because Agent Emma Ren reports to a man who was . . . part of the first group who returned from the future.
There's a lot going on here and so much of it is fresh and unusual.
We think audiences would really enjoy the show if they gave it a chance (you can catch up on HULU if you've missed it thus far). But, again, we can understand why some might be leery after having invested so much in so many programs that quickly disappear regardless of quality or fan devotion.
But maybe part of the reason THE CROSSING didn't debut well had to do with THE EVENT and with SENSE8 and with . . . Since LOST left the air, a lot of syfy, horror and adventures shows have left the air. While some, like ORPHAN BLACK, won praise and multiple seasons, many were gone in the blink of an eye. NETFLIX was, for example, considering grabbing THE EVENT after NBC axed it but, in the end, NETFLIX passed. It did air SENSE8 but then axed the show despite public outcry (the streaming service announced, in the face of the backlash, that they would greenlight a movie to wrap the story up).
It can be a little hard to keep trying new shows of a genre that keeps getting the axe.
Since LOST left the airwaves, for example, some of the genre shows cancelled include: DARK MATTER, 12 MONKEYS, PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD, BEING HUMAN, MERLIN, ALPHAS, BELIEVE, SINBAD, STRANDED, GHOST MINE, METAL HURLANT CHRONICLES, THE ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS, HELIX, WAREHOUSE 13, BITTEN, HUNTER, DEFIANCE, GALAVANT, AMERICAN GOTHIC, EXTANT, ZOO, MINORITY REPORT, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, SCREAM QUEENS, SLEEPY HOLLOW, WAYWARD PINES, GRIM, HEROES REBORN, YOU, ME AND THE APOCALYPSE, CONTINUUM, DAMIEN, DOMINION, HEMLOCK GROVE, DRACULA, THE PATH, RECTIFY, STICHERS, THE STRAIN, ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND, UNDER THE DOME, THE VAMPIRE DIARES, ALMOST HUMAN, LOST GIRL, INCORPORATED, ALCATRAZ, FRINGE, . . .
That's a lot of programs.
And there's really been no rescuing these programs.
NETFLIX hasn't rushed up to grab any of them -- the way they saw fit to rescue ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. HULU hasn't thrown out a safety line. The shows are on and gone in most cases. And a lot of them were quality programs.
Like THE ORIGINALS which THE CW is axing (its currently airing its final season), SENSE8, CORPORATION, ALPHAS, DRACULA and EXTANT. Viewers tune in, they support the shows, and yet the networks keep axing them.
Into this environment, it's hard to imagine any show doing well.
THE CROSSING stars Steve Zahn as Sheriff Jude Ellis. Jude worked in California and left after a pressure play at work that did not go well. He's relocated to the northwest. Things get shaky when bodies start floating to the coastline. Most are dead but a little under fifty are alive including a child named Leah.
Jude's attempting to figure out what's going on when Agent Emma Ren (Sandrine Holt) tells him Homeland Security has taken jurisdiction. The short story? These people who washed ashore are from the future. They are also not the first group to show up. In 2008, an earlier group came through.
Reese (Natalie Martines) came through with the second group. Reese has superhuman strength, hearing powers, healing powers, a little bit of everything because she's Apex.
Apex, according to the "Commons" -- the people who came back from the future, have invented a disease to take out the ordinary humans. 180 years from now, the Apex controls the earth.
Reese discovered Leah in the future when Leah was a baby and refused to kill her. She raised Leah in secret until her superiors found out. At which point, she and Leah traveled back to the past but while she's able to get Leah almost to the surface, she then sinks to what would have been her own death had she not been an Apex.
The first group did not land at the bottom of the ocean when they traveled back in time. Instead, they landed in the middle of the road. At night. Marshall was just a kid, in the backseat of the family car, his father driving, when the group appeared on the road and Marshall's father swerved to avoid hitting them. The car went off the road and then off the cliff. Marshall's mother died in the crash.
Now an adult (played by Tommy Bastow), Marshall encounters Hannah at the county fair. Hannah's one of the Commons who came back with the second group. She's snuck out of the relocation/refugee camp Homeland Security has set up. She sees Marshall and he's the face in the photo of a locket she had. She is taken back to the camp. But Marshall's felt a connection and, not only that, his suppressed memories of that 2008 event come back.
Oh, and Homeland Security? They've got no record of the camp because Agent Emma Ren reports to a man who was . . . part of the first group who returned from the future.
There's a lot going on here and so much of it is fresh and unusual.
We think audiences would really enjoy the show if they gave it a chance (you can catch up on HULU if you've missed it thus far). But, again, we can understand why some might be leery after having invested so much in so many programs that quickly disappear regardless of quality or fan devotion.
From The TESR Test Kitchen
Coca Cola Cherry Zero.
That's all we need to say.
Coca Cola Cherry Zero.
One of the best diet drinks ever.
The only real question is: Why can't Coca Cola get this product in every store? And where's the 32 ounce version?
That's all we need to say.
Coca Cola Cherry Zero.
One of the best diet drinks ever.
The only real question is: Why can't Coca Cola get this product in every store? And where's the 32 ounce version?
Read a book?
Readers have e-mailed us asking for more book coverage at community sites. We've passed this request on.
So far, the book coverage includes:
"barbara ehrenreich's 'natural causes'" -- Rebecca.
"Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook" -- Trina.
"IN SEARCH OF OUR MOTHERS' GARDENS" -- Elaine.
"Blackfish City" -- Marcia.
"THE CHICKEN CHRONICLES by Alice Walker" -- Ruth.
"Harry Belafonte" -- Mike.
"THE SAME RIVER TWICE (Alice Walker)" -- Isaiah.
"Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield" -- Marcia.
"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.
"Conversations with Toni Morrison" -- Marcia.
"Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream" -- Ann.
"He Ran All The Way" -- Trina.
And we'll also note Ann's "How a book store could stay alive in today's economy" about the book business.
We'll try to update this feature regularly.
"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.
"Conversations with Toni Morrison" -- Marcia.
"Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream" -- Ann.
"He Ran All The Way" -- Trina.
And we'll also note Ann's "How a book store could stay alive in today's economy" about the book business.
We'll try to update this feature regularly.
Does she have a booger in her nose?
With all that make up she's piled on, you'd think she'd have taken the time to check her nostrils?
Looks to us like that's a booger in her right nostril.
The best way to defeat the NRA is to vote for candidates who don’t take their money. Register to vote at http://www.NoRANow.org . #NoRA #Vote
Looks to us like that's a booger in her right nostril.
This edition's playlist
1) Tori Amos' NATIVE INVADERS.
2) Sam Smith's THE THRILL OF IT ALL.
3) Diana Ross' DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION.
4) Jefferson Airplane's VOLUNTEERS.
5) Ben Folds Five's LIVE.
6) Alicia Keys' HERE.
7) Aretha Franklin's ARETHA SINGS THE GREAT DIVA CLASSICS.
8) Sam Smith's IN THE LONELY HOUR DROWNING SHADOW EDITION.
9) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.
10) Ben Harper's BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN.
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"6 days until Iraq holds elections" -- the most requested highlight by readers of this site.
THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "First Slut," "The Mother of all G-Men" and "The Scope of the Investigation" -- Isaiah serves up three new comics.
"6 days until Iraq holds elections" -- the most requested highlight by readers of this site.
THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "First Slut," "The Mother of all G-Men" and "The Scope of the Investigation" -- Isaiah serves up three new comics.
"What the heck John Kerry?" -- a good question from Betty.
"Hillary Teaches Children" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.
"The Originals (SPOILERS!)" and "QUANTICO, THE ORIGINALS and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR" -- Marcia and Stan cover TV.
"Haim, Liam Payne, Stevie Nicks, Lianne Le Havas, Cher and Leon Bridges" -- Kat covers music.
"Eggplant Stew in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers a new recipe.
"At least a judge wasn't afraid to reign Mueller in," "More bad news for Mueller," "Music and zombies," "Calling a slut a slut -- it's not that difficult," "Does James Comey ever shut up?," "Shut 'em down already," "Work at USA TODAY and write any lie you want" and "Way too many leaks" -- Mueller and Comey coverage.
"barbara ehrenreich's 'natural causes'" -- Rebecca reviews a new book.
"Neanderthals II" and "Birds" -- Kat and Betty cover science.
"A few thoughts on the Tonys" -- Elaine on the Tony nominations.
"amy goodman and other disasters" and "NPR hates Black people" -- media watch coverage.
"Alyssa and her armed bodyguards," "THIS JUST IN! CELEBRITY LIVES MATTER!," "She's got other things -- who knows what?" and "THIS JUST IN! ALYSSA HAS DEEP THOUGHTS!" -- Cedric and Wally continue to document Alyssa Milano's nonsense.