Sunday, 31 March 2019

From the Guardian in the Uk two must read pieces

Enough collusion talk. It's time to focus on Trump's corruption

If there is a silver lining to the confusion and disappointment of Russiagate, it is that we can now pay attention to the real fleecing

Sun 31 Mar 2019 11.00 BST Last modified on Sun 31 Mar 2019 13.22 BST

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‘Real malfeasance is boring and obvious: sleaze your way into power and line your pockets while you have it. The Trump family is perfectly capable of that.’ Photograph: Alba Vigaray/EPA

It’s a fortunate thing for Donald Trump that the Democrats, and much of the media, spent the past two years focused on the narrow question of whether his 2016 campaign actively colluded with Russian agents to hack his opponents’ emails. Were it not for this singular obsession, we might have come to appreciate the full scope of graft, influence peddling and petty theft that has made this the most crooked administration in US history.
One doesn’t have to go to Moscow to see it; pick almost any country in the world. Take my former home, Panama, famous for its canal and secret banks. Towering over the Panama City skyline is a 70 story hotel-casino shaped like a sailboat formerly known as the Trump Ocean Club. Trump had gifted it to his daughter Ivanka as her first real estate deal, which court records show earned Trump between $30m and $50m. Ivanka Trump put in charge of its sales a Brazilian financier, whom a Reuters investigation identified as an admitted money launderer with ties to Russian organized crime, who would later be arrested for fraud and forgery.
A Global Witness report turned up evidence the hotel project was being used to launder “proceeds from Colombian cartels’ narcotics trafficking”. When the hotel’s owners decided the Trump name was bad, even for business this shady, and ended their contract with his organization, Trump’s lawyers asked Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela to intervene on Trump’s behalf.
In an erratic first term characterized by organizational chaos and constant turnover, the most consistent feature of the Trump presidency has been his use of office for personal enrichment. The Argentinian press reported that Trump asked President Mauricio Macri to resolve construction delays for a Trump building in Buenos Aires; both presidents denied the report, but construction resumed within days their call.
In India, Trump made licensing deals for buildings owned by Mangal Prabhat Lodha, a lawmaker and the vice-president of the ruling party, the BJP. Lodha’s partners met with Trump shortly after his election to discuss “US-India relations”. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has leveraged his somehow accepted position as acting secretary of state to win investments from the Chinese and Qatari governments in his own real estate business.
Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump has won licensing deals for her clothing line in China, which her father had labelled a currency manipulator before warming to president Xi, coincidentally just after the Chinese government approved trademarks for his and Ivanka Trump’s companies.
For legal scholars, the question of what to make of these gross conflicts of interest is a technical one: do they violate the constitution’s so-called emoluments clause, barring presidents from accepting “any present, emolument, office, or title” from foreign states? Constitutional originalists argue that emoluments, as the framers envisioned, had a narrow definition that do not include licensing fees for fashion companies and hotel-casinos, which is as tautological a defense as the fact that Trump has not been named a duke of the Habsburg Empire.
But there’s a simpler term for this: public corruption. It’s broader than hacking, and it’s well documented, if not nearly as breathlessly discussed on cable news.
The activist group Public Citizen collected records of over $15m Trump raked in from government agencies and political organizations such as the Pentagon, National Security Council, Republican National Committee and taxpayer dollars, which were spent money on everything from Trump restaurants to golf carts at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s hotels have become an easy conduit for money from lobbyists both foreign and domestic. The Trump family business has earned a quarter million dollars in hotel fees from the Saudi government alone, another state Trump railed against on the campaign trail and made nice with once in office.
The big money comes from commercial tenants in Trump properties, which Forbes has estimated earns the president $175m a year, and include a Chinese state bank which rents a $2m office space in New York’s Trump Tower. Despite a much-hyped trade war with China, Trump is famously indebted to Chinese state banks, and two days after the Trump Organization received a $500m loan from the Chinese government, Trump announced he would lift sanctions against a Chinese telecom business. His tariffs also selectively excluded the country’s apparel industry, from which his daughter’s company imports its clothes.
Perhaps what has made these ongoing grifts so easy to overlook is that they are so unimaginative. There’s no grand conspiracy, no chalkboard linking spymasters to sleeper agents. What made Russiagate so seductive as the alpha and omega of Trump’s malfeasance was its promise that his very presence in office was illegitimate, that his misdeeds could be blamed on shadowy foreign forces rather than the country’s existing prejudices and mistrusts they exploited.
The Trump campaign’s defense was one of uncharacteristic humility: that it was too disorganized to carry out a conspiracy of the ages, and it’s a plausible argument. Real malfeasance is boring and obvious: sleaze your way into power and line your pockets while you have it. The Trump family is perfectly capable of that. It sees the presidency simply as a vehicle to extract maximum rents. If there is a silver lining to Russiagate’s anticlimactic conclusion, it should be to free up some attention for the real fleecing that’s going on, one that Congress has, until recently, been too distracted to stop.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/30/swamp-monster-monopoly-man-congress-protest

'Cause-play': swamp monsters and unicorns take on Congress

Humorously absurd characters have been appearing in the background of congressional hearings for Trump nominees

Luke O'Neil

@lukeoneil47

Sun 31 Mar 2019 06.00 BST Last modified on Sun 31 Mar 2019 06.01 BST

A Clean Water Action activist at a Senate committee nomination hearing for former energy lobbyist David Bernhardt to be interior secretary on Capitol Hill in Washington, 28 March 2019. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Some unlikely protesters have been gracing the confirmation hearings of nominees for top government posts during Donald Trump’s time in office.
This week, the Senate energy and natural resources committee held a confirmation hearing for David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who has been serving as the acting interior secretary since the resignation of Ryan Zinke in January. And as the committee pressed him on his lobbying record Thursday, a protester in the gallery highlighted the contradiction inherent in his nomination by dawning a swamp creature mask.

“Trump campaigned hard on the idea of ‘draining the swamp.’ As we know, he’s done the exact opposite – and Bernhardt might be the most blatant example of that,” Greenpeace tweeted, taking credit for the protest.
The sight of such a horrific swamp creature in the Senate, at least of the fantastical kind, isn’t an every day occurrence, but it’s the latest example of what has become a trend of late: satirical protest through the placement of humorously absurd characters in the background of hearings.

Earlier this month a protest er dressed as Marie Antoinette glanced over the shoulder of the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross. The group American Family Voices, like many others, took umbrage with comments Ross and others in the administration had made during the government shutdown that seemed to echo Antoinette’s infamous dismissal of the living conditions of average people.

It’s a tactic that has since migrated into state legislative hearings more recently as well. This week activists from the group the Better Path Coalition sat in on a hearing in the Pennsylvania house to protest climate-change denying state lawmakers.
“We’re myths. Climate change isn’t,” they explained.

Ian Madrigal, whose given name is Amanda Werner, was among the most notable to pull off such a “cause-play” stunt in October of 2017 when they appeared as the Monopoly character Rich Uncle Pennybags at a hearing in front of the Senate banking committee on the Equifax data breach and again in December of 2018 for a hearing with the Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
In April of last year they returned, this time as a “Russian troll” complete with bright blue troll wig during an appearance by the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in front of the commerce and judiciary committees.
“I think one reason I’ve taken the approach of kind of making a spectacle of myself is to actually steal away the spotlight from these lawmakers who want to grandstand in these hearings, and then not pass any meaningful legislation,” Madrigal has said.
“So hopefully by stealing their spotlight, I’m putting more pressure on them from their constituents to actually do their jobs.”

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Saturday, 30 March 2019

Thank you Germany

Thank you Germany

well it has been Germany's turn to lead the way for the Readers today.

So a big thank you to them.

We were in Frankfurt maybe 10 years ago, at hotel achat in Offenbach and we took a trip to the Terra Coat Army museum in Weilburg . The food was great and the people so nice too.

My last holiday was in 2013 and Malta, before Arthritis and Bypass pain became a shadow. I'm afraid if I took a plane and my pain kicked off, then I'd be kicked off the plane. So its easier not to bother. My small daughter nags me to catch a train and go somewhere. I just travel in my mind and write all these stories, over 2000 pieces of writing now.

Maybe in the Future I'll return to great counties and people, Germany and Malta.

My aunt in Killarney Kerry had some great German friends, something to do with the Crane Factory. If I remember rightly they had a child that died and was buried in Ireland, I believe she looked after the grave. This all happen in the1980s I think. The point being the Germans are very warm hearted people, just like my aunt was.

So thank you Germany for passing by and reading my stuff. I doubt if I'll ever make any actual money from my writing. But writing is good for my spirits. Its nice to shade in the map of the world as new people and places discover my writing. Sadly no Media people, yet...

The Bad Housewife

The Bad Housewife ©

Michael Casey

Now as you know I am a Hausfrau, my German readers will appreciate that word, so at least one word in today’s story will strike a cord with somebody. The rest may be total pants, which used to be Jon the Hippy’s favourite word about 30 years ago, before he became rich and successful. Jon taught me to ride a bike, after a fashion and to appreciate alcohol, though I never drunk more than 2 pints at a time. So what has this got to do with alcohol? Well let me go and have a drink then I’ll tell you, you can go and have a drink yourselves and then come back to the screen. Is that a deal?

Well I had a snack so my stomach feels better now, and much fatter too, you are all so unkind, Lech, Boris and Gregorgi have not returned but I’ll resume without them. I sure they are busy with the still in Warley Woods, listening to me is not a priority for them at the moment. 1000 litres of fresh Woods Own Vodka is much more important. That’s what they call it, as a marketing device, though they sell it in old plastic bottles. English Vodka would not sound as nice, so they call it Woods Own Vodka. It would be poured down the drain if the Police and Excise ever found it. Luckily it’s on Sgt.Mulholland’s patch so it is safe. He gets a bottle from the first tasting, in a glass bottle too, 2 litres as well. It’s all about Community Relations after all, and Sgt. Mulholland is descended from generations of Kerry Potcheen makers after all.

The point being if you are a Bad Housewife you can easily become a good alcoholic, as you are home alone, and a nip here and a nip there in between chores easily amounts to alcoholism. I must go and make another snack now. It’s supposed to be better if you have smaller meals instead of big ones. It’s better for digestion, is that why I’m still so fat, you lot are so cruel, I’m going to sulk.

I sulked for 3 days, did you miss me, did you even notice? Ok I’m lying, the date is on my talks, so I cannot trick you. Back to the plot. If you don’t have a plot then you will get lost. So a plot is a good idea, or a pencil and the back of an envelope. What’s this got to do with being a Bad Housewife? Well if you have a list then you can work your way through it, or as my mother used to say, throw salt at it, and it will keep. You will procrastinate forever if you don’t have a list. You can chip away at the list and bit by bit the hausfrau’s chores are done. Though chores really is an American word, errands is more English I suppose, bits and pieces is a kind of word an old lady called Louise might use. Or I’m just going to the shops, any requests? Is what I say most of all, and the girls always answer CHOCOLATE.

So a good housewife will have a plan, and by having a shopping list you save money and don’t buy rubbish, or that’s the theory. In my case I buy all the offers and try and save money that way. However some things are just too heavy for me, having it delivered by a man in a van is always a good option. Try carrying bags up a very steep hill after your breastbone has been split, even now 4 years on it hurts if I do that. So I have to live within my limitations, and budget, like any good housewife. Yes maybe I should get a donkey, literally and figuratively, to share my burden.

A good housewife has a plan for all occasions, and eggs in reserve. You can make a meal with eggs. Fried egg, scrambled egg, hard boiled egg, French toast,just add bread to the egg. That’s 4 different things and flavours. If you have some mushrooms left over you can make a mushroom omelette, add any left over cheese, or any bits of meat, it turns into a Spanish omelette. You can even add left over potatoes. A housewife can save the pennies and feed her pigs. That’s what we call our girls, our little pigs. What do you call your own kids?

I won’t repeat what I just heard hurled from the other side of the screen, but I did laugh. Being a Hausfrau is a busy life, a different life, I stumbled into it myself. It has meant I’ve spent 10 times more time with my girls than the average dad. If you always wanted a family, then having Time with your kids is great, even if you never have enough money to do all you’d wish you could do. Am I a bad housewife? I won’t answer that, I hope I’m a good dad, and only you can say if I’m a better writer.

Friday, 29 March 2019

The Hiss in my Head

The Hiss in my Head (c)

By

Michael Casey

As you know Tinnitus came visiting a few months ago, this is a "HISS" in my ears, a bit like static or a naughty little brother, that won't go away. I've discovered that Taylor Swift helps me sleep. I put her music on and have it in the background as I try to sleep. I did try just radio, but there are far too many adverts. You can get an App with all the radio stations so that is great, but for the purposes of SLEEP I need something special. Simon and Garfunkel works as does Fleetwood Mac.

The Music drowns the little brother, don't be tempted to do this in real life, no matter how much your patience is tempted, I'm speaking in Metaphors, rather like the Queen who talks in riddles apparently. The hiss has to drown, the hiss has to be drown, God save the Queen. It really is bad if you cannot sleep because of this permanent hiss in your ears. Lately even with music playing it can take hours to get to sleep, and then I still awake like a Vampire every 2 hours, or at 7am so I can wake the girls up for school. Yes it's a strange existence, which may explain the writing, or did you think that already?

In actual fact 90% of the writing is done on the hoof, I get the idea and go. Sometimes there is a little planning, or I think "now there's an idea for a story" such as today I've been impressed by something, so I may write about it at a later date. What? Well you'll just have to wait and see. I also met a nice lady today by the name of Janet, so maybe she'll stumble over this, and be surprised. I once was on TV talking about chips to Tony Maycock, it was 1977, and a girl I worked with was so surprised she nearly gave birth. It's Michael on Tv she screamed, she was very pregnant at the time. Where I worked at that time everybody was pregnant, all except Pauline who was really nice. Though I visited later and then she was pregnant. The "code" for the office was rather unique too, you can work that out for yourselves.

Tinnitus is not fun, it's more of a curse, now that I've had it for a while, which is too long, I really understand it. At night there are no background noises just the static in your head. The past few nights I've not been able to sleep at all, or so it seems. So as dawn breaks you are just so exhausted that you fall asleep. And then you have deep sleep,except that you wake up 2 hours later, or 1 hour later. No wonder my hair is getting whiter, but still so very very soft. My daughter said tonight I look more like Einstein, so I put my tongue out, just like him in that famous photo. My GFR is 32 now, go Google what that means. It's not good.

As we have a good view of the stars form the new house, I open the curtains at night if it is not too cold and stargaze. It takes my mind off the hiss and I try and spot the Plough and the W thing as the stars rotate past my bedroom window. If there are clouds passing by at night you can almost imagine shapes and forms as they drift past and put their tongue out at me as me and my HISS lie together.

I have to charge the old devices so I have enough Noise Maskers to last the night. I have a couple of small radios with 3watt speakers, so just in case my music machines die I still have another, like relay racers of fresh horses to get the good news from Aix to Ghent. Or from wake to sleep, via music with Vampire Awakenings every 2 hours or less.

So now you understand why I need to have naps on occasion, because I'm just a useless machine that is falling apart, I'm talking about my body now. Though I'm sure some may find me ridiculously attractive, or is that just the Korean girl who works in the MORTUARY.

Thursday, 28 March 2019

List of Wordpress readers

Some of my readers by Country

Views by Country

is it 60 countries, count for yourself just on my WordPress, and more countries on my Blogger

* United Kingdom
* United States
* Poland
* Germany
* South Korea
* France
* Czech Republic
* Canada
* Israel
* Nigeria
* Italy
* Spain
* India
* Austria
* Mexico
* Egypt
* South Africa
* Hong Kong SAR China
* Brazil
* Ukraine
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* Vietnam
* Pakistan
* Taiwan
* Senegal
* Ireland
* Denmark
* Uzbekistan
* Turkey
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Palestinian Territories
* Iraq
* Argentina
* Algeria
* Ecuador
* Japan
* Georgia
* Indonesia
* United Arab Emirates
* Netherlands
* European Union
* Greece
* Portugal
* Peru
* Estonia
* Dominican Republic
* Bulgaria
* Norway
* Libya
* Slovakia
* Switzerland
* Malaysia
* Morocco
* Costa Rica
* Kazakhstan
* Guatemala
* Sudan
* Romania

and on this Butcher Baker Undertaker site

Poland
United States
United Kingdom
Portugal
Germany
France
Ukraine
Russia
Unknown Region
Belgium

there may be a few countries missing such as Australia and New Zealand

https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B00571G0YC?
now please all buy a book, so I can pay for my daughters education…