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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Sessions And Russians

Daily News: Congress investigating another possible meeting between AG Jeff Sessions and Russian ambassador

Word

Axios: Clinton: "hard not to" believe Trumpworld colluded with Russia

God Help Us

Reuters: Trump planning to pull U.S. out of Paris climate deal: source

US Under Him

The Hill: Ex-Russia ambassador: ‘The Russians are laughing’ at US By Mark Hensch

Impeach

Newsweek: Will Trump Be Impeached or Resign? As Support for His Removal Soars, Approval Rating Plunges By Chris Riotta
Trump's approval rating sits at 39.2%. Meanwhile, 43% of the public now supports impeachment

Rolling And A Tumbling

The Hill: Poll: Trump's job approval numbers falling in Michigan By Rebecca Savransky
Just 12 percent of respondents gave the president a positive job rating, down from 18 percent in the February poll.

Response

  Bone headed move from Kathy Griffin indeed, however what is noticeable is that it elicited an immediate response from Trump where the actual murders in Portland, well that took Trump a while to get around to responding.

NBC News: President Trump Scolds Kathy Griffin: She ‘Should Be Ashamed’ by Kalhan Rosenblatt and Erik Ortiz

Divorced From Reality

The Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, on Trump pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement
"historic mistake which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality.”

Digby's Latest

Salon: What scandal? GOP’s national security hawks go limp faced with Donald Trump - Same Republicans who were outraged over Hillary Clinton's emails now barely notice widening Trump-Russia scandal by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - National Trust For Historic Preservation Raises Millions To Demolish Trump’s Boyhood Home

The Onion: National Trust For Historic Preservation Raises Millions To Demolish Trump’s Boyhood Home

Moon Frost

Science Daily: Frost on moon's surface: New evidence
summary - Scientists using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have identified bright areas in craters near the moon's south pole that are cold enough to have frost present on the surface.

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Raul Dufy

Rachel Maddow - Civil Rights Protections Wither Under Trump, Sessions

MTP Daily - White House in Crisis Mode As Russia Probe Inches Closer To Trump

'Covfefe'

The Palmer Report: Merriam-Webster and Urban Dictionary troll Donald Trump over his “covfefe” tweet

Charmed

Guardian UK: Jared Kushner's charmed life is about to come to a screeching halt - Now that he is ensnared in an FBI investigation, his life in the coming months and maybe years will be a study in misery by Walter Shapiro

Global Warming - Trump

Guardian UK: Trump to deliver verdict on Paris climate deal as world fears US pullout - The president has reportedly made his decision on the landmark climate deal, as exasperated world leaders get ready to move on with or without the US

No Thanks

NY Times: As Trump Weighs Shake-Up, He Faces Recruiting Challenge By PETER BAKER and MAGGIE HABERMAN

Bombing

NY Times: Kabul Bombing Kills at Least 80, Shaking City Center By MUJIB MASHAL and FAHIM ABEDMAY

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. It is 57 degrees and cloudy rainy here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a sunny day with temperatures in the 70s this afternoon. Yes you read that correctly and hopefully I read that correctly as well. We might see the sun today.

  At 8:15 a.m ET DOW futures are +30 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

  The noise continues to evolve over Trump's links to Russia. Trump's right hand man/son-in-law Kushner is under great suspicion as the go to guy with these strange connections. The entire mess appears to be hinging on Trump's need for Russian investment and more than likely a host of peripheral activities as well including his obligations to his Russian handlers. Meanwhile Trump is going about the business of ruining connections with Europe of all places. I believe the man is crazy.

CNN: U.K. election jitters; Exxon climate vote; Futures flat by Ivana Kottasová

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Plunge

Raw Story: Right-wing polls show Trump’s plunging approval ratings

Home Alone

CNN: Trump, home all alone

Kathy Griffin Beheads Donald Trump

  Personally, I don't think this is the way to go. From here on out Kathy will have this hung around her neck as it were. It will rally Trump supporters and cast the left as brutal etc etc.

Hope

Hope Hick's Statement on President Trump
"President Trump has a magnetic personality and exudes positive energy, which is infectious to those around him. He has an unparalleled ability to communicate with people, whether he is speaking to a room of three or an arena of 30,000. He has built great relationships throughout his life and treats everyone with respect. He is brilliant with a great sense of humor … and an amazing ability to make people feel special and aspire to be more than even they thought possible."

David Brooks' Latest

NY Times: The Politics of Clan: The Adventures of Jared Kushner

Attorney Too

ABC News: Russia investigation expands to include Donald Trump's personal attorney By Brian Ross and Matthew Mosk

Eat

Salon: Republican congressman won’t say if all Americans are entitled to eat - Rep. Adrian Smith can't bring himself to admit that people should have a right to eat by Matthew Rozsa

The Onion - City Terrorized But Unimpressed By Serial Killer Who Just Shoots Victims

The Onion: City Terrorized But Unimpressed By Serial Killer Who Just Shoots Victims

Detection

Science Daily: The brain detects disease in others even before it breaks out
summary - The human brain is much better than previously thought at discovering and avoiding disease, a new study reports. Our sense of vision and smell alone are enough to make us aware that someone has a disease even before it breaks out. And not only aware – we also act upon the information and avoid sick people.

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Raul Dufy

MSNBC Live - Was Kushner Working As A Double Agent?

Intel Kushner

The Palmer Report: Potential Russian asset Jared Kushner has been receiving classified intel before it gets to Donald Trump

McCain Tries To Hold Down The Fort

Guardian UK: John McCain urges allies to stand by Trump's US during 'troubled times' - Arizona senior senator says reputation of US suffered during early months of Trump administration as scandals hit White House
“We are going through a rough period,” McCain said. “We really are, and for me to tell you that we aren’t, politically, is not fair. But we’ve gone through other troubled times. I can remember the Watergate scandal and how it brought down a president. I’m not suggesting that’s going to happen to this president, but we are in a scandal and every few days another shoe drops from this centipede, and we’ve got to get through that.”

Global Warming - US Coral Reefs

Guardian UK: Scientists warn US coral reefs are on course to disappear within decades - New Noaa research shows that strict conservation measures in Hawaii have not spared corals from a warming ocean in one of its most prized bays

Watch

NY Times: Four Senators to Watch in the Trump-Russia Investigation

Why Oh Why

NY Times: Investigation Turns to Kushner’s Motives in Meeting With a Putin Ally By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, MARK MAZZETTI and MAGGIE HABERMAN
That has raised questions about why he (Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov) was meeting with Mr. Kushner at a crucial moment in the presidential transition, according to current and former officials familiar with the investigations.

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 57 degrees and cloudy here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts temperatures in the 60s this afternoon, clouds, and probably rain. We are in for a mostly rainy week, only a few breaks of sunshine. It's chilly here, I have on long sleeves and a jacket.

  At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -24 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open modestly lower.

  I'm watching MSNBC as I type and the story is still revolving around Kushner's attempt to make back channel connections with Russia and Kushner's motivations. This story has a lot of fire in it. We also see that Germany is calling on Europe to splinter away from the US. It is simply stunning to me that a man like Trump has the power to affect these types of massive changes. This is a disaster.

CNN: Airlines in focus; Euro takes a hit; U.S. futures flat by Ivana Kottasová

Monday, May 29, 2017

Narrowcast

NY Times: ‘Narrowcast’ Trump? Republicans Seek Formula to Keep House Majority By JEREMY W. PETERS

Unravels

Salon: As Donald Trump unravels, so do Fox’s ratings Network slips behind MSNBC, CNN in key demo during prime time by Eric Boehlert

Germany

BBC: German leaders step up attacks on Trump

What You Need To Know To Survive In 'The United States of Russia'

MSNBC - Was Kushner Working As A Double Agent?

As Good As It Gets

  Lots of info here on the mood of Washington, it's deep. It's ugly too.

The Atlantic: How Trump Is Torturing Capitol Hill - As Republicans in Congress try to fend off the flurry of scandals, they are haunted by a question: Is this as good as it’s going to get? by Molly Ball

Digby's Latest

Salon: After Trump’s disastrous vacation, Angela Merkel warns: The world has no leader - If the president's trip to Saudi Arabia and Israel was farcical, his European stop left the world order shaken by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - 2" x 2" Vegetarian Section Granted On Backyard Grill

The Onion: 2" x 2" Vegetarian Section Granted On Backyard Grill

Exotic Jupiter

Science Daily: Juno mission to Jupiter delivers first science results - King of the planets even more exotic than expected
summary - NASA's Juno mission is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about Jupiter specifically, and gas giants in general, according to a pair of Science papers released today. The Juno spacecraft has been in orbit around Jupiter since July 2016, passing within 3,000 miles of the equatorial cloudtops.

Agent

Raw Story: MSNBC host stunned when spy catcher insists Jared Kushner is ‘absolutely’ a Russian agent

Have An Excellent Memorial Day

work by Raul Dufy

AM Joy - Kushner May Have Sought Russian Back Channel For Loans

The Presidential Twitter Wars

The Palmer Report: The best replies last night after Donald Trump began blocking people on Twitter for making fun of him By Bill Palmer

McCain

  How are McCain's words going to sit with an apparently divided GOP. When I read GOP troll comments about Trump-Russia, they all think what's the problem. They like Russia now.

Guardian UK: Vladimir Putin is a bigger threat than Isis, John McCain says - Republican also says he is concerned by reports Jared Kushner discussed setting up a secret communications channel between Moscow and Trump’s team
McCain said that while Isis “can do terrible things and I worry a lot about what is happening with the Muslim faith ... but it’s the Russians who tried to destroy the fundamental of democracy and that is to change the outcome of an American election”.

Charles M. Blow's Latest

NY Times: Donald Trump: The Gateway Degenerate by Charles M. Blow
...Gianforte’s assault is a glaring display of toxic masculinity in an environment made particularly toxic by the man in the White House and his media bullying. But more telling and more ominous is the degree to which Republicans no longer seem to care...

Kushner

  I wrote the following comment on the Kushner article linked below at the NYT website -

  What exactly is this very strange Trump, Kushner, Bannon triumvirate up to anyhow? What is it? It seems like they are treating the globe and America like it’s some kind of massive shady self wealth infusing real estate deal using suspicious treasonous espionage activity with Russia, of all places. Is this what we have, the presidency is a private company seeking investors with one qualification, they got big bank, to expand a Trump brand name globally and if you’re not in on the action, you’re a loser. Where in the heck does working for the benefit of the American people fit into this thing?

NY Times: Jared Kushner’s Role Is Tested as Russia Case Grows By GLENN THRUSH, MAGGIE HABERMAN and SHARON LaFRANIERE

Patience

  Does this quote still hold up in the ear of false information, internet trolls, and vicious politics.

A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. - Moliere

The Market Is Closed On Memorial Day

  Good morning. It is 55 degrees and raining here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts rain and temperatures in the 60s this afternoon. The longer range forecast shows a week of rain with just a few breaks and temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Could this be the pattern of the rest of the Summer, it could be - lots of rain, and lots of rain. Given the effects of global warming, it seems like a possibility. It is lush out there, the green is very strong and the trees are growing and growing. Maybe this part of the country turns into a light rain forest, less humidity, milder temperatures, and lots of rain.

  The market is closed on Memorial Day and will reopen on Tuesday.

  What can we say. The country is feeling the effects of a man who has little organization, runs around in a chaotic way creating mayhem and mischief. The President of the United States is the emperor with no clothes on. The instability, lack of direction, lack of meaningful intent, lack of basic human kindness, I mean this mess is just plain old ugly. The GOP must step up already. Look boys, and it is mostly white guys, get somebody in the White House to read this  man the riot act and impose a little direction and civility to this thing. This is a major disaster.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Have An Excellent Weekend

  Enjoy the weekend, see you bright and early Monday morning.

work by Paul SĂ©rusier

Kushner

NY Times: Kushner Talked to Russian Envoy About Creating Secret Channel With Kremlin By MAGGIE HABERMAN, MARK MAZZETTI and MATT APUZZO

Falling To Pieces Fast

NY Times: Russian Once Tied to Trump Aide Seeks Immunity to Cooperate With Congress

Whoa

CNN: Washington Post: Kushner proposed secret communication channel with Kremlin

Bright Guy

Vanity Fair: As Trump’s Problems Mount, Breitbart’s Numbers Are Cratering - A media business based on attack has been much less successful when forced to defend. by Tina Nguyen

Hillary Rodham's Student Speech At Wellesley In 1969

  excerpt

Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner - Trump 'Complete Disaster'

Reuters: Boehner: Trump has been 'complete disaster'

Upgrade

Newsweek: Experts Upgrade Donald Trump's Impeachment Odds as Russian Investigation Looms By Chris Riotta

John Tweets

John Clease Tweets -
 
  "I'm beginning to think that in America, a Conservative Christian is one who thinks the Beatitudes are a Chinese hoax"

Playing Gypsy Jazz Rhythm Guitar

  Nicely done.

Seth Myers - Greg Gianforte, Trump And The First Amendment

Danger

Spiegel: A Danger to the World - It's Time to Get Rid of Donald Trump - Donald Trump has transformed the United States into a laughing stock and he is a danger to the world. He must be removed from the White House before things get even worse.

The Young Girl And The Snake

  Someone posted this on Raw Story and it's good.
A young girl was trudging along a mountain path, trying to reach her grandmother's house. It was bitter cold, and the wind cut like a knife. When she was within sight of her destination, she heard a rustle at her feet.

Looking down, she saw a snake. Before she could move, the snake spoke to her. He said, "I am about to die. It is too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food in these mountains, and I am starving. Please put me under your coat and take me with you."

"No," replied the girl. "I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite me, and your bite is poisonous."

"No, no," said the snake. "If you help me, you will be my best friend. I will treat you differently."

The little girl sat down on a rock for a moment to rest and think things over. She looked at the beautiful markings on the snake and had to admit that it was the most beautiful snake she had ever seen.

Suddenly, she said, "I believe you. I will save you. All living things deserve to be treated with kindness."

The little girl reached over, put the snake gently under her coat and proceeded toward her grandmother's house.

Within a moment, she felt a sharp pain in her side. The snake had bitten her.

"How could you do this to me?" she cried. "You promised that you would not bite me, and I trusted you!"

"You knew what I was when you picked me up," hissed the snake as he slithered away.

Aaron Nevins

Salon: GOP strategist admits he colluded with Russian hackers to hurt Hillary Clinton, Democrats - It’s bigger than Trump by Sophia Tesfaye

Bogus Journey

Salon: Donald’s bogus journey: President Trump’s behavior at NATO summit makes a bad trip even worse - It would have been easy for Trump to provide our allies a little reassurance. Instead, he confirmed their fears by Gary Legum

The Onion - ‘The Onion’ Invites Republican Candidate Greg Gianforte To Physically Assault Our Entire Editorial Staff

The Onion: ‘The Onion’ Invites Republican Candidate Greg Gianforte To Physically Assault Our Entire Editorial Staff

Reading

Science Daily: Amazingly flexible: Learning to read in your 30s profoundly transforms the brain
Reading is such a modern cultural invention that there is no specific area in the brain dedicated to it. Scientists have found that learning to read as an adult reconfigures evolutionarily ancient brain structures hitherto assigned to different skills. These findings were obtained in a large-scale study in India in which completely illiterate women learned how to read and write for six months.

We Shall See

HuffPo: The Death Rattle Of The Trump Presidency Has Begun - The end began when the adults took over the investigation.

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Catherine Nolan

Morning Joe - 'My Party Is Going Straight To Hell'

Chris Matthews - Kushner Under FBI Scrutiny In Russia Probe

Sick

The Palmer Report: Greg Gianforte wins Montana election, but Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell just got body slammed

Trump Diehards Stay Loyal In Montana's 'White Man's Country'

Trump Praises Gianforte - Of Course

Guardian UK: Trump hails 'great win in Montana' for candidate who body-slammed Guardian reporter

NATO Speech

NY Times: In NATO Speech, Trump Is Vague About Mutual Defense Pledge By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, MARK LANDLER and JAMES KANTER

Krugman's Latest

NY Times: It’s All About Trump’s Contempt by Paul Krugman

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. It is 55 degrees and rainy cloudy here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a rainy day with temperatures in the low 60s this afternoon. The weekend on the other hand looks like it's going to be good, temperatures in the 70s and sunshine. That's great.

  At 9:20 a.m. ET the DOW is -11 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open modestly lower.

  We see that Montana elected a violent psycho Gianforte for their Congressperson. Admittedly most of the votes were sent in early, regardless, this is disgusting. We also see that Kushner is officially on the radar of the FBI. We pretty much knew this last week, but now it's official.

CNN: Trump at G7; Amazon and Google near $1,000; U.S. data by Ivana Kottasová

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Scrutiny

NBC News: Jared Kushner Now Under FBI Scrutiny in Russia Probe, Say Officials by Ken Dilanian, Peter Alexander and Courtney Kube

New Lows

The Hill: Trump, Pence hit new lows in Fox poll By John Bowden

Hall Of Fame

NY Times: The Republican Hypocrisy Hall of Fame by Nicholas Kristof

Sessions

CNN: Jeff Sessions just added even more smoke to the Trump-Russia story Anchor Muted Background By Chris Cillizza

Ban Upheld

CNBC: Federal appeals court upholds block on Trump's travel ban

Ethical

NY Times: The White House’s Aversion to Ethical Scrutiny By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Advice

Brain Pickings: James Baldwin’s Advice on Writing

Seth Myers - Trump's Cruel Budget Breaks His Campaign Promises

'Malignant Reality'

Salon: Psychiatrist Bandy Lee: “We have an obligation to speak about Donald Trump’s mental health issues … our survival as a species may be at stake” - "Malignant reality is taking hold" in American politics, says shrink who held conference on Trump's mental health by Chauncey DeVega

The Onion - Homesick Trump Stays Up All Night On Phone With Automated Mar-A-Lago Reservations Line

The Onion: Homesick Trump Stays Up All Night On Phone With Automated Mar-A-Lago Reservations Line

Street Gangs

Science Daily: Street gangs, crime serve as deviant leisure activities for youths
summary - Street gang membership, criminal activities provide deviant leisure activities for at-risk youths, suggests a new study.

Morning Joe - Joe Blasts Gianforte

Brian Williams - Sen. Chris Murphy - Feels Like The Walls Are Closing In On Trump

Gianforte

The Palmer Report: Montana newspaper rescinds endorsement of “deplorable” Greg Gianforte after he body slams reporter

Flynn

Guardian UK: House intelligence committee will also subpoena Flynn, top Democrat says - Committee will join Senate counterpart as part of investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign and Russia to influence 2016 election

Charged

Guardian UK: Republican candidate charged with assault after 'body-slamming' Guardian reporter - Audio of Greg Gianforte attacking Ben Jacobs corroborated by Fox News journalists in the room, who described candidate ‘slamming him to the ground’

Charles M. Blow's Latest

NY Times: The Flynn Affair

Impeach

NY Times: To Impeach or Not to Impeach by Thomas B. Edsall
...Given the current composition of the House, 25 Republicans would have to join the 193 Democrats to impeach Trump...

Influence

NY Times: Top Russian Officials Discussed How to Influence Trump Aides Last Summer By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO
...discussing how to exert influence over Donald J. Trump through his advisers...

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Hakim Al Akel

I have some early morning special events today, I'll be back around noon-ish. Keep the faith.



Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Violation

Vanity Fair: The Trump Organization Is Flirting with a Major Constitutional Violation - The president’s businesses aren’t tracking the foreign cash pouring into his hotels after all. by Emily Jane Fox

Good

  This is how we rid ourselves of the pestilence of fake news, take away the funding.

HuffPo: Advertisers Pull Ads From Sean Hannity’s Fox News Show

Scam

  Upstate NY residents, beware of scam phone number 518-487-2145. Starts out with a plucky young woman saying Hi, pure scam bs.

Oh The Horror


Shrinking

  Shocker...

Five Thirty Eight: Donald Trump’s Base Is Shrinking By Nate Silver

Global Warming Ya Idiot

NY Times: The Pope’s Gifts to Trump Send Some Clear Messages By MARK LANDLER and JASON HOROWITZMAY

MSNBC Is On The Rise

  Trump-Russia means big ratings.

LA Times: Trump-Russia story is a threat to Fox News' ratings dominance
(MSNBC) led by “The Rachel Maddow Show,” (is) now the No. 1 show in cable news with an average nightly viewership of 2.9 million viewers last week...

Peace Trump

  Looks like Trump has had a complete spiritual rebirth after having met the Pope. Trump is now all in on pursuing peace in the world, as long as it includes tax cuts for billionaires and serious cuts in social spending for the poor including food stamps, oh and as long as the war machine gets a huge boost. Treason is optional.

BBC: Trump 'determined to pursue peace' after Pope meeting

Besieged

  I have not been following the Hannity story about Rich because let's face it, anything that Hannity gets his hands on is going to turn out to be another sordid mess. However if he is feeling some heat for offering another sordid mess, then that might be for the best. America would be much better off if Hannity's fate went the way of O'Reilly's.

Salon: Sean Hannity calls himself the victim as evidence emerges that Seth Rich was not the WikiLeaks source - Besieged by "liberal fascism," Hannity has been on a tear since Rich's family asked him to drop the conspiracy VIDEO - by Taylor Link

The Onion - Rural Working-Class Archbishops Come Out In Droves To Welcome Trump To Vatican

The Onion: Rural Working-Class Archbishops Come Out In Droves To Welcome Trump To Vatican

Synestia

Science Daily: New type of planetary object proposed: Synestia
summary - There's something new to look for in the heavens, and it's called a 'synestia,' according to planetary scientists. A synestia, they propose, would be a huge, spinning, donut-shaped mass of hot, vaporized rock, formed as planet-sized objects smash into each other.

Chris Matthews - Reagan - Trump Needs To Be Removed From Office

  Somehow I missed this, but the sentiment is mine as well. This is from Tuesday night.

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Camille Pissaro

Brian Williams - Fmr. CIA Boss Brennan - Russians Can Lead Americans To Treason

Cruelty

NBC News: Hillary Clinton: Trump Budget Shows ‘Unimaginable’ Cruelty

Only Nine

  The GOP has stepped into it but good with healthcare.

Axios: New GOP fear: nine months of failure

Suborn

The Palmer Report: How a single word from former CIA Director John Brennan has changed everything about Trump-Russia By Bill Palmer

Over The Top

  The man is unfortunately losing it. He's so wound up with the plaque of being impossibly partisan and hateful that he is moving into crazy land. A lot of what I hear from FOX seems crazy, but here we are talking about he's hallucinating, it's pathological.

Guardian UK: Sean Hannity and the conspiracy theory that was too much even for Fox News - The news channel has told its Trump-boosting host to stop insinuating that a Democrat was killed for passing emails to WikiLeaks. But that hasn’t prevented him tweeting about it …

Three Arrested

Guardian UK: Manchester bombing: three arrested in south Manchester – live updates - Manchester police say three men held in connection with bombing

Potential Wider Plot

NY Times: Salman Abedi, Manchester Bomber, Most Likely Had Help, Officials Say By KATRIN BENNHOLD, STEPHEN CASTLE and NOUR YOUSSEF
“It seems likely — possible — that he wasn’t doing this on his own,” Britain’s home secretary, Amber Rudd, said on Wednesday.

Misery

NY Times: Trump’s Budget Doesn’t Make Sense By MAYA MACGUINEAS
Exaggerated growth assumptions in presidential budgets are an age-old tradition, but this budget takes it to new levels, assuming we reach 3 percent growth, a full percentage point above what the Congressional Budget Office forecasts.

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is cloudy and 59 degrees here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a cloudy day with temperatures in the 70s this afternoon. Hey it looks like we are in for a very nice looking weekend with some sunshine and perfect temperatures.

  At 9:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are +12 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open modestly higher.

  We got to see the vicious quality of Trump's hideous budget yesterday. The irony of course being that the people who voted for this monstrosity of a president will indeed be among those most adversely affected. When we talk about things like cutting food stamps, recall that it is white poverty in areas like Kentucky and West Virginia that rely on food stamps to exist and who also utilize this benefit more than anyone else.

CNN: China debt downgrade; U.K. terror; Nintendo gains by Ivana Kottasová

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Third World

The Intellectualist: Study By MIT Economist: U.S. Has Regressed To A Third-World Nation For Most Of Its Citizens

'She's Got to Be Somewhere'

David Crosby - the old boy's still got it.

Three


How The World Views Trump Now

BBC: Melania's 'slap' and other weird Trump trip moments

Trump-Russia

Raw Story: This is why RussiaGate will inevitably destroy the Trump presidency

Chart


Colbert - Trump's Israel Visit Aims To Promote Lasting 'Peach'

Charles M. Blow's Latest

NY Times: Blood in the Water by Charles M. Blow
It isn’t possible Pence knew nothing. I believe Pence is a liar like his boss.

Ties

NY Times: Former C.I.A. Chief Tells of Concern Over Possible Russia Ties to Trump Campaign By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Believe It Or Not

Salon: 10 incredibly fake facts Trump supporters think are true - Facts are not the way to Make America Great Again by Michael Hayne, Alternet
10. Trump is honest and trustworthy

The Onion - Officials Struggling To Condense Trump’s Intelligence Briefing Down To One Word

The Onion: Officials Struggling To Condense Trump’s Intelligence Briefing Down To One Word

Graecopithecus Freybergi

Science Daily: 7.2-million-year-old pre-human remains found in the Balkans - New hypothesis about the origin of humankind suggests oldest hominin lived in Europe
summary - Scientists analyzing 7.2 million-year-old fossils uncovered in modern-day Greece and Bulgaria suggest a new hypothesis about the origins of humankind, placing it in the Eastern Mediterranean and not -- as customarily assumed -- in Africa, and earlier than currently accepted. The researchers conclude that Graecopithecus freybergi represents the first pre-humans to exist following the split from the last chimpanzee-human common ancestor.

Impeach


Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Picasso

Endless Trump Scandal

Axios: Copying Clinton, Trump builds scandal war room

MSNBC - Why Did Michael Flynn Take the Fifth?

Another Horrible Trump Day

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump’s no good very bad horrible day just got even worse for him

More Trump Garbage And Disaster

Guardian UK: Trump's budget: major slashes to social programs – but $1.6bn for the wall - Millions of people stand to lose Medicaid access, alongside cuts to welfare and food stamps, under a proposed budget that still has numerous hurdles to jump

Eight-Year-Old Saffie Rose Roussos

Guardian UK: Second Manchester bomb victim named as eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos - ‘Beautiful little girl’ was at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester with her mother and sister when the explosion happened

David Brooks' Latest

NY Times: The Alienated Mind
The events of the past four months have demonstrated that Donald Trump is not going to solve the problem he was elected to address; neither the underlying economic and social ruptures nor the alienation that emerges from them.

Manchester

NY Times: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Manchester Concert Attack; Toll Rises to 22 By CEYLAN YEGINSU and STEVEN ERLANGER
...an attack that appeared to have targeted adolescents and their families.

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 57 degrees and somewhat sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a mostly cloudy day with temperatures in the 70s this afternoon. The longer range forecast for the week is mild, temperatures in the 60s and 70s during the day and a mix of rain and sun. It's been a very rainy Spring in these parts.

  At 9:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are +41 and the price of oil per barrel is slightly lower. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

  I've had the good fortune of being completely and utterly out of touch with the news over the past three days. Checking in briefly right now, we see there's been a bombing in England. I'm sorry to see this because as we know, these incidents tend to make people gravitate towards the tough talking reactionaries in society, meaning it all ends in further disaster.

CNN: Investors keep calm; Trump's budget; Take-Two tumbles by Alanna Petroff

Friday, May 19, 2017

Have An Excellent Weekend

  I will be taking an extended weekend, see you bright and early Tuesday morning.

work by Paul SĂ©rusier

Impeachment

CNN: Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment By Evan Perez

KaBoom

Washington Post: Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say

Fire

Bloomberg: Flynn's Turkey Connection Is the Case Worth Pursuing - The Trump investigation so far has been all smoke, no fire. Here's a spark. by Noah Feldman

Features

Salon: 12 Features of white working-class Trump voters confirm depressed and traumatized multitudes voted for him - A nationwide survey reveals the sorry state of middle America by Steven Rosenfeld

The Onion - Hundreds Of Miniature Sean Hannitys Burst From Roger Ailes’ Corpse

The Onion: Hundreds Of Miniature Sean Hannitys Burst From Roger Ailes’ Corpse

2007 OR10

Science Daily: Moon orbits third largest dwarf planet in our solar system
summary - Astronomers have uncovered a moon orbiting the third largest dwarf planet, 2007 OR10, in the frigid outskirts of our solar system called the Kuiper Belt.

Seth Myers - Donald Trump Warned Us About Himself

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Picasso

Rachel Maddow - False Denials From Mike Pence Continue To Stack Up

Bonkers

  I saw this, I like conservative Rick Wilson lately, he's turned his ire and intelligence on Trump - fine with me.

The Palmer Report: Rick Wilson goes on MSNBC, talks about Donald Trump going “ripshit bonkers”

Swallowable

Guardian UK: Swallowable gastric balloon could help the obese lose weight without surgery - Although not a replacement for bariatric surgery, temporary balloon could be used as early intervention or for those who do not want, or cannot have, surgery

Trump-Russia

Guardian UK: Russia special counsel: short-term gain for Trump comes with long-term risks - Though the threat is apparent, experts said the Trump administration also saw some immediate benefits as it avoids an independent investigation

'Witch Hunt'

NY Times: Trump, Citing ‘a Witch Hunt,’ Denies Any Collusion With Russia By MARK LANDLER

Comey Trump

NY Times: Comey, Unsettled by Trump, Is Said to Have Wanted Him Kept at a Distance By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. It is 66 degrees and sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a partly cloudy day with temperatures in the 70s this afternoon. We had quite the thunderstorms last night and considering the temperatures suddenly jumped into the 90s for two days, it was expected. The wind was allegedly gusting up to 60MPH.

  At 7:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +27 and the price of oil per barrel is up. At this time, the market is poised to open modestly higher.

  I was reading through a recent interview with Tony Schwartz the co-author 'Art Of The Deal'. I think I finally got one of Tony's main points. This is that Trump is not about right or wrong, Trump is about winning and losing. This clicks, this fits, and this explains a lot of very strange behavior. The winning that Trump is interested in, is his own winning. He is the winner, right. Tony also believes that Trump is in a meltdown. This seems plausible given Trump's odd paranoia and endless conflicting statements. One thing we can easily say is that the Trump presidency is severely wounded, this thing is a mess and the sense that the country is under a dark miserable cloud continues.

CNN: Stocks look perky; Trump travels to Saudi Arabia; Deere earnings by Alanna Petroff

Thursday, May 18, 2017

'Air'

music by Jim Sande

Skepticism

Washington Post: New polling shows a sharp increase in skepticism about Trump’s relationship to Russia By Philip Bump

New Polling

Monmouth University: Does Trump-Russia Relationship Pose Security Threat? Public Split - President’s job approval moves decidedly downward
“Trump has been losing support in the places that matter most..."

Apart

The Atlantic: The Trump Presidency Falls Apart - After an extraordinary 10 days, the tenure of the chief executive may have deteriorated beyond his ability to repair it. by David A. Graham

Likely

The Hill: Why Trump will likely resign as Mueller pursues 'Putingate'

He's Out

NPR: Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz To Leave Office At The End Of June

The Damage

WSJ: Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat - U.S. officials diverge over extent of damage from Trump’s conversation with Russians

Time


Let's

Impeach Trump Now

Delusional

Washington Post: Trump is totally delusional about what’s happening to him right now by Greg Sargent

Going Down

Reuters: Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources

Get Out

Salon: White House staffers are planning their exit strategies from a scandal-plagued administration: report - Plagued by scandals, White House staffers are reportedly looking for a way out by Matthew Rozsa
Republican operatives who have regular contact with the White House describe the mood among staffers as “going through the stages of grief” and that their mood has “moved to angry.”

The Onion - Crowd Shocked After Unhinged Trump Dangles Baby From Truman Balcony

The Onion: Crowd Shocked After Unhinged Trump Dangles Baby From Truman Balcony

The Striatum

Science Daily: Region in brain found to be associated with fear of uncertain future - Findings could lead to new ways to identify, treat individuals at risk for anxiety disorders
summary - People who struggle to cope with uncertainty or the ambiguity of potential future threats may have an unusually large striatum, an area of the brain already associated with general anxiety disorder, according to research.

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Otto Dix

Brian Williams - Fmr. GOP Rep. David Jolly - 'Donald Trump Is Done'

Got Your Resume

Palmer Report: Turn out the lights: Donald Trump’s senior White House staffers have begun circulating resumes

Chicago Tribue: Trump frustrated with White House staff – and for some, the feeling is mutual

Trexit

Guardian UK: Trexit? Online gamblers bet on early end to Trump presidency - Internet’s political stock market sees record volumes on contracts focused on whether Trump will be impeached while Ladbrokes has that as odds-on

Mueller

Guardian UK: Former FBI head Robert Mueller to oversee Trump-Russia investigation

In Your Narcissistic Face Trump

NY Times: How Trump Learned About the Special Counsel on Russia By THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Flood

NY Times: Trying Not to Drown in a Flood of Major Breaking News By LIAM STACK

They Knew

NY Times: Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and MARK MAZZETTI

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 79 degrees and sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts sunshine and temperatures in the 90s this afternoon. It looks like we are heading into a really sweet period weather-wise with temperatures in the 70s and sunshine over the weekend. I finally broke out the shorts.

  At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -77 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

  Roger Ailes has passed away and the news has temporarily shifted to Ailes. I am somewhat split on his death as I was abhorred by his political activity and believe that he has brought great misery to the country through FOX News. Meanwhile we have a Special Prosecutor at last and hopefully Trump will be ejected sooner rather than later. Ailes in a sense is responsible for the hopelessly unstable, miserable, and almost repulsive president that we all presently unfortunately have to endure.

CNN: Investors take a breather; Cisco looks sick; Walmart earnings by Alanna Petroff

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Mueller

The Palmer Report: Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the best news for the Resistance, and the worst for Donald Trump

On Twitter

Rogue POTUS Staff‏ @RoguePOTUSStaff 1h1 hour ago

POTUS shell shocked and angry. Rosenstein a "traitor." Staff trying to show him this could be an advantage b/c it could slow things down.

The Borowitz Report - F.B.I. To Special-Order A Pair Of Tiny Handcuffs

New Yorker: F.B.I. to Special-Order a Pair of Tiny Handcuffs

Robert Mueller

The Daily Beast: Justice Department Hands Trump-Russia Probe to Special Counsel - In a surprise move on Wednesday, the Department of Justice named a special counsel for the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Testify

NY Times: Comey Memo Fallout: Senate Committee Invites Comey to Testify

Kasich - 'I Told You So'

We Understand


Commentary On Trump-Russia

  I’ve been thinking about Trump-Russia and I’ve had a few new ideas. This is purely conjecture, this is not anything that I’ve read or found from other sources. This is simply me trying to put together one plus one.

  We start with last year’s campaign. I had been thinking through one quality that I found in Trump’s stump speech that was hit over and over. This was the quality that Trump was beyond the pale, he was offensive beyond belief. I could not recall a campaigner who was so offensive to not only those things in politics that I appreciate but also offensive to my notion about how a campaigner ought to conduct their campaign. And let's especially not forget about how that offensiveness was so pointed and directed at Clinton, the conspiracies, the emails, the illness, all these made up offensive attacks.

  We know that there is the allegation that Trump colluded with the Russians to gain the upper hand. We know that there is the allegation that Trump campaign aides colluded with Russians for that same upper hand. We know about some of the methods employed, from fake news, to website trolls, to obnoxious talking heads with a tight script.

  Let’s take the former and the latter and add them together. By that I mean let’s add Trump’s obnoxious campaign message which was so cutting and impugning to Clinton and her supporters and combine it with the allegation of Russian collusion.

  What do we get when we add these two together? Well we might get a Russian intelligence psychological talking point abstract which was handed to Trump during or prior to the beginning of the campaign. Trump then learns these essential psychological talking points and then repeats them myriad times through 2016. Think about it. It was an effective campaign, Trump ultimately won. Why were his words so bitter and biting and obnoxious. Now you might say that this is Trump, this is how he is. But think about it again. How smart is Trump? If you threw a baby and a gold bar into a pool and Trump had to get one or the other, what would he get. I digress but the point is Trump apparently reads an article and then wants to make that policy. We are talking about a very thin minded human being, forget about thin skinned, he is that indeed, but thin minded. How did Trump, Trump now, come up with such a brutally devastating campaign message? I do not believe for one instant that he came up with it on his own. It was too impugning, too divisive, too effective. No, I suggest that Trump had been working in collusion with Russia for a while and that he got those talking points from Russian intelligence who came up with the psychological warfare on Clinton and her supporters. Hey, maybe I need a tin foil hat, I’m ready for one at this point, but I also do not say this as fact, it’s my notion based on what I am reading and seeing.

The Onion - Laptop Really Getting Off From Having Both USB Ports Stuffed

The Onion: Laptop Really Getting Off From Having Both USB Ports Stuffed

Barrier

Science Daily: NASA's Van Allen Probes spot human-made barrier shrouding Earth
summary - Humans have long been shaping Earth's landscape, but now scientists know that we also can shape our near-space environment with radio communications, which have been found to interact with particles in space.

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Yamaguchi Kayo

Brian Williams - Watergate Prosecutor - Well On Our Way To Trump Impeachment

Hell Is Frozen

The Palmer Report: Hell freezes over: Fox News co-host says Republicans should apologize to Hillary Clinton By Bill Palmer

Rip Off

Guardian UK: Was Legally Blonde the inspiration for Donald Trump's latest speech? The president gave a speech on Saturday, in which he appeared to borrow lines from the film’s protagonist, Elle Woods. But it’s not quite Melania ripping off Michelle

Urged

Guardian UK: Donald Trump reportedly urged Comey to drop Michael Flynn investigation - Comey memos show president asked the former FBI director to ‘let go’ investigation, and House Republicans have called for a release of any documents

Get Out While You Can

NY Times: Free Advice to Trump Aides: Quit While You Can By MICHELLE GOLDBERG
They are allowing themselves to be permanently tarnished through their association with a man whose name is destined to become the root of a political epithet signifying disgrace, like McCarthyite or Nixonian.

They aren’t just selling out their country. They’re selling out themselves.

Obstruction Of Justice

NY Times: Did Mr. Trump Obstruct Justice? By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
...it is hard not to see the outlines of an attempt by Mr. Trump to quash a criminal investigation that could reach into the highest levels of his campaign and administration.

Prison

  What a POS.

CNN: Report: Trump told Comey to consider imprisoning reporters who publish leaks by Dylan Byers

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. It is a very pleasant 64 degrees and it is sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a hot sunny day with temperatures in the 90s this afternoon. Hey it's going to be a hot one. This will be the hottest day yet of the year.

  At 9:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are -154 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to severely tumble at the bell.

  As you know the turmoil surrounding Trump continued full force last night with the revelation of Comey's notes on Trump's interest in obstructing justice. Trump is in deep doo doo and we saw this coming a mile away. unfortunately Trump's inept miserable presidency is rattling the crap out of the market.

CNN: Trump worries hit stocks; Laptop ban in focus; Target earnings by Alanna Petroff

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Crack

NY Magazine: Trump’s Protective Republican Wall in Congress Cracks By Jonathan Chait

Subpoena

NBC News: Feds Subpoena Records for $3.5M Mystery Mortgage on Manafort’s Home by Tom Winter and Kenzi Abou-Sabe

‘Fahrenheit 11/9’

Variety: Michael Moore, Harvey Weinstein Reteam for Trump Documentary ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’

Uncle

NY Times: Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

Israel

NY Times: Israel Said to Be Source of Secret Intelligence Trump Gave to Russians By ADAM GOLDMAN, MATTHEW ROSENBERG, MATT APUZZO and ERIC SCHMITT

Rachel Maddow - Senate Intel Accessing Financial Data In Trump-Russia Probe

Horrifying

USA Today: Donald Trump's Russia blunder is horrifying

Colbert - 'Stephen's Monologue Gets Declassified'

The List

The right is crazy and paranoid.

Market Watch: Opinion: All the terrible things Hillary Clinton has done — in one big list

Not A Secret Anymore

The Atlantic: The Terrible Cost of Trump's Disclosures - The consequences of the president’s reported divulgence of top-secret codeword information to the Russians are only beginning. by Eliot A. Cohen

The Onion - Russian Officials Scrambling As Plan To Delegitimize Western Democracy Moving Way Faster Than Intended

The Onion: Russian Officials Scrambling As Plan To Delegitimize Western Democracy Moving Way Faster Than Intended

Mars

Science Daily: How hard did it rain on Mars? New study reveals how changes in Martian rainfall shaped the planet
summary - Heavy rain on Mars reshaped the planet's impact craters and carved out river-like channels in its surface billions of years ago, according to a new study. Scientists show that changes in the atmosphere on Mars made it rain harder and harder, which had a similar effect on the planet's surface as we see on Earth.

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Yamaguchi Kayo

Rachel Maddow - Scarce Precedent For Trump's Reported Leak To Russians

Brian Williams - Flashback - Candidate Trump Blasted Clinton Over Classified Info

On The Money

Malcolm Nance tweets - Trump Lies Pattern™ is like a Russian Active Measure: Decieve, Disrupt, Deny, Divert and Dare. Followed by making counter accusations.

Trump

The Palmer Report: Based on Donald Trump’s own words, I think he’s been giving classified info to Russia since March By Bill Palmer

Kansas Is Out Of Money - The Result Of GOP Trump Style Tax Cuts

Guardian UK: 'We are a cautionary tale': Kansas feels the pain of massive Trump-style tax cuts - In 2012, Kansas did what Donald Trump wants to do: it introduced huge tax cuts to try to boost growth. Today, the state is out of money – and residents are angry

Defiant Man-Baby

Guardian UK: Trump: I shared information with Russia and I had 'absolute right' to do so - President defiant over sharing information with Russian officials - Politicians and intelligence officials concerned information put sources at risk
“As president, I wanted to share with Russia which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety...Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against Isis and terrorism.”

Reacting

NY Times: Right and Left React to Trump’s Sharing Classified Information With Russia, and More By ANNA DUBENKO

David Brooks' Latest

NY Times: When the World Is Led by a Child by David Brooks
His inability to focus his attention makes it hard for him to learn and master facts. He is ill informed about his own policies and tramples his own talking points. It makes it hard to control his mouth.

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 63 days and sunny here in the upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts a sunny day with temperatures in the 70s this afternoon. Enjoy it, this is a perfect day, perfect temperatures, sunshine, nice. Get out, look at the world, it's paradise.

  At 9:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are +48 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

  Well now we've seen it all, but the best way that I have to express Trump world is simply this; he is not fit to lead. It's time to end this experiment in bizarre governance and unbearable ignorance, get rid of the horrible man-baby, and get an actual savvy person in there. Right now, we are in trouble.

CNN: Trump and Russia; Buffett dumps Fox; Microsoft summit by Ivana Kottasová

Monday, May 15, 2017

He Must Go - Impeachment, Anything

The Washington Post: Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador

Uh Oh

  Allegedly Trump is trying to get him fired.

MSNBC: Lawrence O’Donnell’s Future At MSNBC Is Unclear - As his contract nears its end, a renewal doesn’t appear to be on the horizon for “The Last Word” host.

Furious

Palmer Report: Good news for the Resistance: James Comey is “furious” at Donald Trump

WTF Indeed

  Is there some kind of strange thing going on in the inner circle with daughters? WTF! Do these guys actually think about how this looks to the rest of the world. Nope, not a concern in the world.

Palmer Report: WTF? Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen slammed for posting photo of his daughter in lingerie

Krugman's Latest

NY Times: The Priming of Mr. Donald Trump

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver - Comey

Fake

Salon: Donald Trump’s aides are resorting to fake news so that he hears what he wants to hear - The White House won't give the president any bad news because they're afraid of how he'd react by Matthew Rozsa

The Onion - Mob Of Rowdy Mothers Bum-Rush Botanical Garden

The Onion: Mob Of Rowdy Mothers Bum-Rush Botanical Garden

THC

Science Daily: Cannabis reverses aging processes in the brain, study suggests - Researchers restore the memory performance of Methuselah mice to a juvenile stage
summary - Memory performance decreases with increasing age. Cannabis can reverse these ageing processes in the brain. This was shown in mice by scientists at the University of Bonn with their colleagues at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel). Old animals were able to regress to the state of two-month-old mice with a prolonged low-dose treatment with a cannabis active ingredient. This opens up new options, for instance, when it comes to treating dementia.

Gossip

  Watch the video.

Mediaite.com: Mika and Joe: Kellyanne Conway Secretly Hates Donald Trump ‘Doing This For The Money’ by Jon Levine

In Florida

Reuters: Moscow on the Beach - Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings By Nathan Layne, Ned Parker, Svetlana Reiter, Stephen Grey and Ryan McNeill

Have An Excellent Monday

work by Richard Nixon

AM Joy - Harvard’s Laurence Tribe - Impeach Trump Now

29% Approval

NBC News: NBC/WSJ Poll: Just 29 Percent Approve of Trump’s Firing of James Comey by Mark Murray

What He Wants

Axios: Why Trump can't get Congress to do what he wants

Just Your Day To Day Chaos

Guardian UK: Comey, chaos … crisis? Trump enters new territory after most explosive week yet - Trump’s decision to fire James Comey stunned Washington, upset the bureau, and brought Russia back into focus. How much more can Republicans take?

Putin On Piano

Just imagine - Putin on piano, Trump on upright, and Le Pen on drums...

Charles M. Blow's Latest

NY Times: Trump’s Madness Invites Mutiny
He is insecure, paranoid and brittle, jostling between egomania and narcissism, intoxicated with a power beyond his meager comprehension and indulging in it beyond the point of abuse.

Threats And Hubris

NY Times: Senators Voice Concerns About Trump’s Threat of Taped Conversations By JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH and NIRAJ CHOKSHI

Applause

NY Times: G.O.P. Senators, Pulling Away From Trump, Have ‘a Lot Less Fear of Him’ By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 53 degrees and mostly sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley, the forecast predicts clouds, maybe even rain, and temperatures in the 60s this afternoon. The longer range forecast has temperatures up around 90 on Wednesday and Thursday along with sunshine. It could be a hot week. The sunshine, if it happens, will be welcome as it's been a very rainy Spring.

  At 9:05 a.m. ET DOW futures are +48 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

  The bizarre and dangerous spectacle of the Trump administration continues. People are still scratching their heads over the obvious intention to shut down the Russia-Trump investigation with Comey's firing. Our poor country, we are in the hands of a nut. Allegedly Trump is taping everything and the tapes are supposed to get turned over. It's chaos.

CNN: Russia and Saudi talk oil; Ransomware attack; China data by Ivana Kottasová