work by Sandrine Pelissier
Friday, November 30, 2018
'Trump Is Compromised By Russia'
NY Times: Trump Is Compromised by Russia - Michael Cohen's latest plea is proof. By Michelle Goldberg
Speaking to reporters before flying to Argentina on Thursday, Trump justified his pursuit of a Moscow project this way: “There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?” This could be read as a confession of motive. In the 2016 campaign, Russia wanted to humiliate Hillary Clinton and delegitimize America’s election. Trump wanted help building his brand.
Liar, Traitor, Resign
NY Times: What Cohen’s Deal Means for Trump - We can expect even bigger bombshells — and White House threats against Mueller — in the coming weeks. By Barry Berke, Noah Bookbinder and Norman Eisen - Mr. Berke is co-chairman of the litigation department at Kramer Levin Naftalis and Frankel. Mr. Bookbinder is executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Mr. Eisen is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The disclosures in Mr. Cohen’s criminal information filing provide valuable detail on one piece of Mr. Mueller’s puzzle: They reveal that Mr. Cohen, the Trump Organization and Mr. Trump himself continued to pursue a Russia-related development deal into the summer of 2016 — long after Mr. Trump had essentially clinched the Republican nomination. Not only does that contradict what Mr. Cohen said in congressional testimony, but it also puts the lie to the president’s claims that he had no dealings with Russia during his candidacy.
The Turning Point
NY Times: Cohen Lied. Here’s Why It Matters. With Michael Cohen’s latest deal, the special counsel shows he is unafraid of crossing Donald Trump’s red lines on Russia. By The Editorial Board - The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.
When all is said and done, the April raids by federal prosecutors targeting Michael Cohen’s office and other premises in Manhattan may be seen as a turning point for Donald Trump’s presidency.
Traitor
NY Times: How a Lawyer, a Felon and a Russian General Chased a Moscow Trump Tower Deal By Mike McIntire, Megan Twohey and Mark Mazzetti
When Donald J. Trump took a run at building a tower in Moscow in the middle of his 2016 presidential campaign, it was the high point of a decades-long effort to plant the “Trump” flag there.
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are -85 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.
CNN: G20 summit; Deutsche Bank raids; Oil in focus By Ivana Kottasová
CNN: G20 summit; Deutsche Bank raids; Oil in focus By Ivana Kottasová
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Fluid
Obviously with Cohen pleading guilty to lying to Congress, the day will be a very fluid news day. It appears we are very much on the verge of something huge. The forces are at play. Trump is writhing and doing all he can to end the investigation, and Mueller is hot on his trail. I personally believe justice will prevail and if it does not, America is no more.
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 9:30 a.m. ET DOW futures are +5 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open in the flat area.
CNN: The Great Oil Crash of 2018: What's really happening By Matt Egan, CNN Business
CNN: The Great Oil Crash of 2018: What's really happening By Matt Egan, CNN Business
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Probity
Guardian UK: Barack Obama lambasts Trump over legal troubles - Ex-president defends probity of his administration and laments rise of ‘politics based on hatred’ under successor
“Not only did I not get indicted, nobody in my administration got indicted,” the former president said at an event in Houston on Tuesday, “which by the way was the only administration in modern history that that can be said about. In fact, nobody came close to being indicted, partly because the people who joined us were there for the right reasons. We were there to serve.”
Screwy
Guardian UK: Trump officials accused of using deadly wildfires to boost logging - Interior secretary Ryan Zinke says he hopes new laws will end environmental reviews and allow ‘thinning’ of forests
Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, said that he hoped new legislation would allow for the “thinning” of forests to help prevent wildfires. He said he was confident Congress would soon pass a new farm bill that would remove environmental reviews for the removal of trees and brush, as well as the building of roads through federal forests.
Treason And Traitors
NY Times: Manafort’s Lawyer Said to Brief Trump Attorneys on What He Told Mueller By Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere and Maggie Haberman
A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel, according to one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers and two other people familiar with the conversations.
The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago...
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +156 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Economy health check; GM and Trump; Cost of Brexit By Charles Riley
CNN: Economy health check; GM and Trump; Cost of Brexit By Charles Riley
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Meeting
Guardian UK:
Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy - Exclusive: Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published
A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers.
Deplorable
NY Times: Maybe They’re Just Bad People - Not all Trump support is ideological. By Michelle Goldberg
Steve Bannon, a quasi-fascist with delusions of grandeur, makes more sense to me than Anthony Scaramucci, a political cipher who likes to be on TV. I don’t think I’m alone. Consider all the energy spent trying to figure out Ivanka Trump’s true beliefs, when she’s shown that what she believes most is that she’s entitled to power and prestige.
Manafort
NY Times: Manafort Breached Plea Deal by Repeatedly Lying, Mueller Says By Sharon LaFraniere
...repeatedly lied to federal investigators in breach of a plea agreement he signed two months ago, the special counsel’s office said in a court filing late on Monday.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are -90 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.
CNN: Trump on trade; Brexit jitters; End of the soup wars By Charles Riley
CNN: Trump on trade; Brexit jitters; End of the soup wars By Charles Riley
Monday, November 26, 2018
Repair Time
NY Times: A Chance to Repair America’s Image Abroad - Democrats can use their new power in the House to check the Trump administration’s recklessness and advance their own foreign policies. By Ben Rhodes and Jake Sullivan - Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Sullivan were senior national security officials in the Obama administration.
For two years, President Trump has upended expectations for how America acts in the world, picking fights with allies, shredding international agreements, devaluing human rights, cozying up to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and outsourcing much of our Middle East policy to Saudi Arabia. Now he is about to face a Democratic majority in the House.
Out Of Sight, Not Out Of Reality
NY Times: Trump Administration’s Strategy on Climate: Try to Bury Its Own Scientific Report By Coral Davenport
The administration is widely expected to discount or ignore the report’s detailed findings of the economic strain caused by climate change, even as it continues to cut environmental regulations, while opponents use it to mount legal attacks against the very administration that issued the report.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +250 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Cyber Monday; GM overhaul; Ghosn ousted, again By Charles Riley
CNN: Cyber Monday; GM overhaul; Ghosn ousted, again By Charles Riley
Fascinating
didyouknowfacts.com: This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State by Matt Gilligan
Friday, November 23, 2018
Saved
Somebody has some explaining to do.
Quartz: A Saudi prince helped save Trump from bankruptcy—twice By Max de Haldevang
Quartz: A Saudi prince helped save Trump from bankruptcy—twice By Max de Haldevang
The Heart Of It
Vox:How California conservatives became the intellectual engine of Trumpism - The California GOP got wiped out in the midterms. But the heart of California-style conservatism is stronger than ever. By Jane Coaston
California conservatives also have the mentality, and the unanimity, of a people under threat.
Down
The Atlantic: Mueller and a Blue House Could Bring Down Trump - But the president’s supporters won’t make it easy.
Moreover, due to a 2015 rule change pushed through by House Republicans, most House committees can now issue subpoenas on the authority of the chairperson alone, including three of the committees most likely to go after Trump: Oversight, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs.
Second, Congress has the power to draw the results of any investigation into the harsh light of public scrutiny
New Government Climate Change Report
The Daily Beast: Speed Read: The Government Climate Change Report Trump Will Hate - The 1,656-page government report is the most frightening one yet on climate change's devastating effects. by Tanya Basu
3. CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY MAKING US SICKER
5. SAY GOODBYE TO ACCESS TO CLEAN AIR AND WATER
6. WE’RE AT A CRISIS POINT
global change.gov: FOURTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States
3. CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY MAKING US SICKER
5. SAY GOODBYE TO ACCESS TO CLEAN AIR AND WATER
6. WE’RE AT A CRISIS POINT
global change.gov: FOURTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States
Too Late Or Not
Salon: Can we save loved ones from Fox News? “I don’t know if it’s too late or not” - Jen Senko, director of “The Brainwashing of My Dad,” on surviving those Fox News-fueled holiday gatherings by Chauncey DeVega
On a given day that approximately 3 million people -- mostly older and almost exclusively white --watch Fox programming. That's more than CNN and MSNBC combined.
In Violation Of Federal Records Rules
Guardian UK:
Trump insists daughter Ivanka's private email use for work was 'very innocent' - President also employed his routine response to criticism, calling the controversy ‘fake news’
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Ivanka Trump sent “hundreds” of emails from her personal account to cabinet officials and White House aides, as well as to personal assistants. As many as 100 such mails pertained to government business, the paper said. Scores more related to scheduling.
“Many” such exchanges could have been “in violation of federal records rules”, the paper said.
Cut Through The BS
NY Times: US media must 'get smarter' to tackle Trump, says Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton has criticised the US media over its coverage of Donald Trump, calling on the press to “get smarter” about holding to account a president who is a master of diversion and distraction.
Fire
NY Times: The Beginning of the End of America’s Best Idea - The story told by the recent wildfires is grim, a portent of nature altered and convulsive. By Timothy Egan
California used to have distinct fire seasons. Now the storms of flame and smoke are year-round, and all of the nation’s most populous state is a fire zone. One in eight Americans lives in a land that could turn catastrophic on any given day.
Covering His Backside
NY Times: Rebuffing C.I.A., Trump Says It Only Has ‘Feelings’ About Khashoggi Killing By Emily Cochrane
Mr. Trump’s dispute with his own intelligence agencies over the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, trailed him into the holiday weekend. The president doubled down on his insistence that an alliance with Saudi Arabia, sweetened by low oil prices and billions in investment, had more value than repercussions for any culpability in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi.
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are -171 and the price of oil per barrel is significantly down. The market is poised to open significantly lower. The market will also be open for shorter hours today.
CNN: Oil down again; Black Friday; Ghosn out By Mark Thompson
CNN: Oil down again; Black Friday; Ghosn out By Mark Thompson
Thursday, November 22, 2018
What To Avoid
Guardian UK:
Let's give thanks to Trump – at least now we know how not to do politics by Richard Wolffe - We should all be grateful for a reality star whose presidency has given us the clearest idea of what we should avoid in leadership
Let us give thanks for Trump loading the supreme court with a beer-loving nominee while also forcing the chief justice to rebuke him for politicizing the courts. It takes a lot to trigger John Roberts, but Trump managed to do so with a few half-baked thoughts on the “Obama judge” who blocked his even less-baked policy on asylum seekers.
BBL
Be back later, heading out to do a Thanksgiving 5K! Wish me luck. I'm power walking it, not running.
Trump's Screwy World
NY Times: Chief Justice Defends Judicial Independence After Trump Attacks ‘Obama Judge’ By Adam Liptak
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” he said in a statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Our Food
Scientific American: The Foreigners at Your Thanksgiving Table - Many of the "American" foods we love came from parts of the world President Trump has vilified By Thomas C. Hart
Wheat was originally domesticated by the inhabitants of Syria, Turkey and Iraq roughly 11,000 years ago.
Loyal To Oil
NY Times: In Extraordinary Statement, Trump Stands With Saudis Despite Khashoggi Killing by Mark Landler
President Trump defied the nation’s intelligence agencies and a growing body of evidence on Tuesday to declare his unswerving loyalty to Saudi Arabia, asserting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s culpability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi might never be known.
Warning
NY Times: Stock Market’s Slide Is Flashing a Warning About the Economy - Stock market information on a Tokyo street Wednesday. Asian markets ended the day largely positive. by Matt Phillips
The stock market’s struggles may seem incongruous against the backdrop of strong economic growth. But stocks often act as an early warning system, picking up subtle changes before they appear in the economic data.
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are +145 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Zuckerberg stands firm; Stocks look to bounce back; Ghosn not gone By Charles Riley
CNN: Zuckerberg stands firm; Stocks look to bounce back; Ghosn not gone By Charles Riley
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
'The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs'
trailer - film by the Coen Brothers done in several vignettes. You must, must, must watch this if you have Netflix. This film is brilliant and it is utterly and completely relevant to the present.
Scam Time
The Daily Beast: Trump Fans Sink Savings Into ‘Iraqi Dinar’ Scam - The president’s true believers are convinced he’s going to make them millionaires with Iraqi currency. by Will Sommer
Like other investors in the incredibly long-shot dinar scheme, Kotseos hopes that Trump and the Iraqi government will somehow “revalue” or “RV” the currency, boosting its current value of less than $0.001 to $3 or $4.
Nichols
Salon: Conservative Tom Nichols on leaving the GOP: “The Republican Party is not capable of healing itself” - Author and lifelong conservative offers a midterm warning: “Donald Trump saved the Democrats from themselves” by Chauncey DeVega
But I think the people in the conservative blogosphere, media and others who are the enablers, the shields and professional "Trumpsplainers," are saying things they must know to be false.
They know them to be untruths. They know they are advocating for things they’ve spent their whole lives advocating against until now. Those are the people I have a harder time with. A small number of Trumpsplainers may really be converts. But as a group Trump's defenders have made decisions that ultimately are between them and their consciences.
Worthless
The Palmer Report: Donald Trump has clearly given up on life by Bill Palmer
His official duties as “President” of the United States literally consisted of looking at a tree and eating.
Trump May Not Circumvent Congress
Guardian UK: 'He may not rewrite immigration laws': Trump's asylum ban blocked by federal judge - Court issues temporary policy ban and says US president may not circumvent congress
The president issued a proclamation on 9 November declaring that anyone who crossed the southern border between official ports of entry would be ineligible for asylum. As the first of several caravans of migrants arrived at the US-Mexico border, Donald Trump said a ban was necessary to stop a national security threat.
For A Second
NY Times: For a Second There, We Stopped Talking About Trump - What else does the Democrats’ new House majority portend? By Gail Collins and Bret Stephens
I’m also buoyed by the fact that it was a better night for the moderate wing of the Democratic Party than it was for more progressive candidates. It’s important that Democrats digest that as they begin to consider the presidential field.
Krugman's Latest
NY Times: The New Economy and the Trump Rump - Why we went from regional divide to political chasm. By Paul Krugman
Amazon’s headquarters criteria perfectly illustrate the forces behind that divergence. Businesses in the new economy want access to large pools of highly educated workers, which can be found only in big, rich metropolitan areas. And the location decisions of companies like Amazon draw even more high-skill workers to those areas.
In other words, there’s a cumulative, self-reinforcing process at work that is, in effect, dividing America into two economies. And this economic division is reflected in political division.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET the DOW is -393 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to fall off the cliff.
CNN: Carlos Ghosn fallout; Bitcoin plunges; Soup wars By Charles Riley
CNN: Carlos Ghosn fallout; Bitcoin plunges; Soup wars By Charles Riley
Monday, November 19, 2018
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