Oh, and, your writing about what's happening in the Middle East......same thing. I know it's really, really complicated, and, it doesn't get many comments, but, I just want you to know I read it all. It's too complicated for me also (all those names of Syrian towns, cities, and, regions, Wow! Who can keep' em straight? Anyway, it's really, extremely important, what with so many entities involved: Syria, (the gov't, and rebels, both, pro & con Assad,) U.S.A., Russia, Iran, Turkey, Kurds, Iraq, Israel? Saudi Arabia? Now that the end is getting close (Mosul in Iraq, now Raqqa in Syria, liberated) and ISIS, seemingly, on the run.......dangerous times ahead. Everyone wants a "piece" of Syria's riches (mainly oil,) can't see how it ends peacefully.

Sorry for the brown nosing, but, I don't care. I may only understand 1% but, I read 100%.

In the Rose Garden, on Oct 16, Trump said he "could not talk about the case, BUT, he added, I think people have heard my comments in the past."  

Prosecutors claimed Trump was distancing himself in the Rose Garden and that the "but" did not undermine that attempt.  The military judge remarked that there is a vital interest in maintaining confidence in the military justice system.

  Kelly's wading waist-deep into the morass Trump created, achieved the seeming unachievable of topping the indecorousness of Trump.

Puerto Rico has agreed to pay a reported $300 million for the restoration of its power grid to a tiny utility company which is primarily financed by a private equity firm founded and run by a man who contributed large sums of money to President Trump, an investigation conducted by The Daily Beast has found.

Whitefish Energy Holdings, which had a reported staff of only two full-time employees when Hurricane Maria touched down, appears ill-equipped to handle the daunting task of restoring electricity to Puerto Rico's over 3 million residents.

Whitefish has ties to Interior Sec Zinke and others. Whitefish is located in Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Monatana.

Pence had to step in to break the tie vote because two Republicans - Graham and Kennedy - voted with Democrats, against the bill.

USA Today | October 25, 2017
Majority of white Americans feel discriminated against: poll - " majority of white Americans believe discrimination exists against them in the United States, according to a poll released Tuesday. The poll, conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that 55% of whites surveyed believe that 'discrimination against white people exists in the U.S. today.' Of those white Americans surveyed, only a small percentage say they've experienced discrimination firsthand. Among whites, 19% said they've 'been personally discriminated against' because of their race when applying for jobs, while 11% said it occurred when applying to or while at college. Thirteen percent of whites said they experienced discrimination when being considered for equal pay or promotion at work."

USA Today is lucky I'm not their headline writer, because I'd have likely gone with one of the following alternatives:

• "POLL: 55% of white Americans can't find their own ass in broad daylight with both hands, a full-length mirror and a map";

• "POLL: 45% of white Americans are truly embarrassed by these findings, and wish to apologize for what their Uncle Earl said to you at the supermarket yesterday about his Latino neighbors"; or

• "POLL: Majority of white Americans are simply too stupid to even realize how profoundly ignorant they actually are."

The Federal Courthouses post the photos of the President and Vice President in a prominent place inside the main entrance.  I had dreaded seeing photos of Cheeto and Prune Face.  And, guess what?   There were no photos.  Obama's was gone, but no Cheeto.

Bloom's potentially unethical comments are as follows, "Her entire team (entertainment lawyer, criminal lawyer, and several others) approved in advance the statements she and I were going to make. Yet Kathy then during the press conference spontaneously chose to put aside the notes we had worked so hard on together. She said on camera `my notes are by the wayside and it's all off the cuff' and then ad libbed. I was sorry she made that choice..."

A 30-month-plus federal investigation culminated last Friday morning in the arrest of former Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife Katherine, who's the Deputy City Prosecutor, by FBI agents at their Kahala home. This followed their indictment on 20 felony counts by a federal grand jury the previous afternoon.

I've written about this story several times here over the last 20 months or so, because as a longtime veteran of public service myself, the issue of public corruption is a real sore point and very big deal with me. The question now looming over the City and County of Honolulu is how far the federal probe will go.

Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson of San Diego, who's overseeing the investigation, said bluntly at Friday's press conference, "We're not done here." And Paul Delacort, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge in Honolulu, intimated the same:

"'This is far more than a case about a stolen mailbox,' [Delacourt] said. 'This is an ongoing investigation that began following the mistrial of Gerard Puana and subsequent allegations that Honolulu police officers falsified evidence and testimony in that investigation. The investigation thereafter uncovered much more.'"

Local criminal defense attorney Victor Bakke speculated that federal investigators are now seriously scrutinizing City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, who went so far out of his way to cover for his No. 2, Katherine Kealoha, that even those of us not hard-wired to the day-to-day machinations of local law enforcement couldn't help but take notice.

"'The mailbox was just the fuse that lit this,' Bakke said. 'I think Kaneshiro created his own little mess by standing up for Kathy. That turned the spotlight onto him.'"

Kaneshiro's purported influence over local federal law enforcement officials in this case was apparently such that jurisdiction over the investigation was subsequently transferred from the U.S. Attorney's office in Honolulu to its counterpart in San Diego.

From my own personal standpoint, I have to say that last week's events couldn't happen to more deserving people than the Kealohas and Prosecutor Kaneshiro. This was a long time coming, and it's about f---ing time it happened.

It's my considered opinion that the internal issues at HPD are so messed up, entirely new leadership from outside the Hawaiian Islands is likely necessary to clean up the department's rancid old-boy network, and nobody should be promoted to the post of chief who's presently from within HPD itself. That's how bad the present situation is.

Further, given the events of the last four days, if members of the Honolulu Police Commission have any proper sense of administrative decorum, they'd scrap their now-thoroughly tainted current search for a new police chief altogether and restart the process again from scratch. And HPC Chair Max Sword, who's long been one of the people retarding the scene here, should step down altogether and enjoy his just-announced retirement from Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

This could be huge, as long as it remains legal.  No more going out and dealing with the pharmacist who won't give you the drugs you need.  Also, lets face it, one less awkward personal encounter.

republicans are in full pretzel

Jack Kingston (r) just said, explaining something,  just said "it's like that old saying, if you want to make an omelette you have to break some legs"

I rewound three times.  The third was just to laugh.

Btw

"I went to an Ivy League college," "I was a nice student. I did very well. I'm a very intelligent person."

"The Border Patrol agents followed the ambulance on to the hospital. When the hospital discharged the child, Border Patrol agents took the 10-year-old into custody instead of allowing her cousin to take her back to her parents, who are also undocumented, in Laredo."

"Elaine Duke, the advocacy group DreamActivist says Hernandez was told "she has two options; sign voluntary departure or spend up to 3 weeks in detention."

""This current administration wants to send a clear message to all undocumented immigrants -- that if you want to go to [a] hospital, you better think twice about it because you might be deported," he told the magazine."

Link

Plans to disallow state and local taxes, including real estate taxes is still in the works as is the dramatic reduction in maximum contribution to a tax deferred 401k plan.  The current maximum is $18,500 for those under age 50 and $24,000 for those over 50l the proposed for all ages is $2,400.  By getting the taxes up front rather than later, the budget will look better.

Both the 40lk change and the state and local tax deductions have been taken off the table by Trump Tweets, but the Republicans, so far, are keeping them in.  Looks like the estate tax is on the Republican table, big time because family farms. Don't cha know?   In 2017 the estate tax threshold is $5.49 million/individual and $10.98 million for married couples...these amounts need to be exceeded before federal taxes kick in.  

House Republicans are scheduled to hold a hearing next week on legislation that would ban abortion at the first detection of a fetal heartbeat--often something that happens about six weeks into pregnancy, before many women even know they're pregnant.