Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

[I kid you not! I am having a hard time they actually named their bill this. They do not abbreviate it in the bill, but so obvious!]

[United States Fair And Reciprocal Tariff Act (FART Act)]



Fair And Reciprocal Tariff Act [FART Act]

Axios has obtained a leaked draft of a Trump administration bill — ordered by the president himself — that would declare America’s abandonment of fundamental World Trade Organization rules.

Why it matters: The draft legislation is stunning. The bill essentially provides Trump a license to raise U.S. tariffs at will, without congressional consent and international rules be damned.

The details: The bill, titled the "United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act," would give Trump unilateral power to ignore the two most basic principles of the WTO and negotiate one-on-one with any country:

…

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

If true, TFF ...

 

[Michael Scally MD]

· President Trump tweeted on Saturday that King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia will raise oil production by 'maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels'

· The White House sent out a statement saying Saudi Arabia agreed to raise output if needed but that no specific amount was pledged.

· Saudi Arabia acknowledged the call but did not confirm agreeing to the request

· Last week, Saudi Arabia was one of several countries that agreed to boost production by a combined 700,000 to one million barrels per day

· Oil prices in the US have rise due to all imports of Iranian oil being cut as well as civil unrest in Venezuela and Libya, two other large oil producers

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Finlandization. Noun. The process whereby a country is induced to favor, or refrain from opposing, the interests of a more powerful country, despite not being politically allied to it.

It is entirely fitting that the Trump-Putin summit will occur in https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-and-putin-will-meet-july-16-in-helsinki-washington-and-moscow-announce/2018/06/28/93043146-7ac3-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html?utm_term=.0531ce13d906 (Helsinki). Plucky Finland, which had fought the Red Army to a draw in 1940, thereafter accepted a quasi-vassal role. It remained a free-market democracy, but it entered into a “treaty of friendship” with the Soviet Union, compromising its principles and even its sovereignty so as not to provoke the bear next door.

President Trump, for reasons we can only guess at, seems bent on the Finlandization of Europe — and even the United States. It is an unlikely development because, whereas Finland was much weaker than Russia, the United States is much stronger. Yet Trump — who was elected with Russian help and continues to question the consensus judgment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia interfered in the election — appears determined to subordinate U.S. foreign policy to the Kremlin’s imperatives.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen stated that he will "put family and country first" over any allegiance to Trump in his first interview since the FBI raided his home and offices in April with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

Why it matters: Cohen has long been Trump's fix-it man, and he is the only person on earth intertwined in Trump’s professional, political, personal, legal and family life. Cohen has also been in the spotlight thanks to both Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and a federal investigation of his business dealings, prompting speculation that he may cooperate with authorities.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen stated that he will "put family and country first" over any allegiance to Trump in his first interview since the FBI raided his home and offices in April with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

Why it matters: Cohen has long been Trump's fix-it man, and he is the only person on earth intertwined in Trump’s professional, political, personal, legal and family life. Cohen has also been in the spotlight thanks to both Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and a federal investigation of his business dealings, prompting speculation that he may cooperate with authorities.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[ergomaniac]

'Everyone wants to move to North Korea'?
Why don't you move there first?
You'll get a lot of customers. Famine lowers Testosterone, studies say.

I'm sure you're aware of this by now....
but the tweet clearly says "move on from north korea"
on from... not to... on from.
because no one is moving to north korea. or out of it.
on from...

and in the 25th thousand 9 hundred and fourth post, you said 13,000 posts have been made.

I just hope youre paying more attention to the "fake" news than this.

 

[ergomaniac]

I'm sure you're aware of this by now....
but the tweet clearly says "move on from north korea"
on from... not to... on from.
because no one is moving to north korea. or out of it.
on from...

and in the in 25th thousand 9 hundred and fourth post, you said 13,000 posts have been made.

I just hope youre paying more attention to the "fake" news than this.

and I just want thank that guy. the one with the 12,500 posts in this thread. @Michael Scally MD .
someone is paying attention and trying to learn more.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

DRIBBLING DISCOURSE
https://claytoonz.com/2018/07/02/dribbling-discourse/

LeBron watch is over and King James is headed for Los Angeles. Of course he’s not going to the Clippers.

LeBron James is a divisive figure, even though he’s never done anything bad other than win games, fail to win other games, and exercise his options in free agency. We could point at his politics, but hatred for him started before he even joined the NBA when he was a high school player and we didn’t know if he even had any political opinions. The guy even married his high school sweetheart and together they have three kids. What a horrible person.

James was popular in high school. So much so, that many of his high school games were moved to a college arena in his hometown of Akron, Ohio so it could seat more fans. ESPN2 broadcast one of his high school games, and Time Warner offered many of those games on pay-per-view. He was one of the most hyped high school prospects of all time. He was the first overall pick by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 draft.

He was faulted for not winning a championship with Cleveland and in 2013, he chose to leave for the Miami Heat. ESPN aired a special for his announcement. Cleveland fans burned his jerseys. The owner of the Cavs published an open letter criticizing James for leaving. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson both criticized him for not staying in Cleveland to win a championship as “The Guy,” as he’d be playing with two other superstars, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. “Taking my talents to South Beach” became a mocking phrase. James won two NBA championships with the Heat.

In 2014, all was forgiven in Cleveland as James rejoined the Cavaliers. The rest of the nation, not so much. His critics fumed when he succeeded and celebrated when he failed. He finally brought the NBA title to Cleveland, which was the first professional championship for that city in 52 years. Despite all the hype, James did not become the highest paid player in the league until 2016.

Now, it seems Magic Johnson has forgiven him as he helped sign him to the Lakers, the second most valuable team in the NBA. His contract is reportedly for $154 million, paid over a span of four years.

Over the past few years, James has taken an interest in causes and politics. He’s a huge contributor to charity, even using the The Decision, the show that announced his selection of Miami, to raise $2.5 million for the Boys & Girls Club.

He’s taken on such issues as war in Darfur, the Trayvon Martin Case, Donald Sterling’s racist comments, the Michael Brown verdict, and the death of Eric Garner. He’s donated and raised money for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

His home was vandalized with racist graffiti, to which conservatives gave a “womp womp” to. He criticized the racist march in Charlottesville. He said, “It’s sad what’s going on in Charlottesville. Is this the direction our country is heading? Make America Great Again huh?” He later called Donald Trump a “bum” for rescinding a White House invitation to Steph Curry. Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham said he should, “shut up and dribble.”

Yesterday, social media blew up over James’ decision to join the Lakers. Though I didn’t read any comments on his race, it seemed those who had the strongest negative opinions were white conservatives. I wonder why.

I don’t watch much basketball and to me, nobody will ever surpass Michael Jordan. But we’re a nation that debates sports and that’s something we should never become angry about. We’re all partisans. Which is what politics has become. We care less about policy and more about team branding. Donald Trump voters don’t even know what they stand for anymore.

I have never hated LeBron because he never gave me a reason. I have rooted for and against him. But I have always rooted against Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the team she plays for.

If I had a diner, I’d much rather serve LeBron James than Sanders. Is LeBron overpaid for dribbling a basketball? Probably. Is Sanders overpaid for dribbling lies? Most definitely.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Cohen all but said he’d be a cooperating witness, and made clear he’s not taking any bullet, as he once said, for Trump. (“To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty.”) In criticizing the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, he suggested he knows quite a bit more than what has publicly been revealed. He opined that it demonstrated “poor judgment” by those involved.

Most ominous for Trump were Cohen’s high praise of prosecutors, his selection of a new lawyer (“a highly regarded former federal prosecutor who once led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan — the very same office currently conducting the criminal investigation of Cohen”) and his impending decision to end a joint defense deal with Trump.

This is not a man who sounds as though he has no legal liability, or that he is mounting a defense resting on prosecutorial excess. This is a man desperate to remain in the good graces of prosecutors — who hold his fate and that of his family in their hands. And here’s the kicker: Even if Trump decided to pardon Cohen (a move that would set off impeachment talk), Cohen almost certainly has state criminal charges to worry about. Trump cannot pardon him for those. Cohen has zero incentive to stick by Trump at the expense of his own freedom and his family’s well-being.

 

[Michael Scally MD]