I agree with you Kätzchen. For a long time my favorite pick was Kamala Harris. I still think she would be a good choice, but Susan Rice hands down has the most experience working in the White House and is best qualified, has a very good working relationship with Biden (they actually worked on things together, not just in the same administration), and as you say she has a lot of international experience.

Also, if I were asked who is the first person I would want in the situation room in a crisis - no matter what their position was - I would choose Susan Rice hands down.

The only thing we will have to hear the Repugs yelling about how she misled the country about Benghazi. Ugh, of course, it isn't true, but we are likely to hear it. I don't think it would sink his candidacy though.

I'm sure he will get the pick right. He knows all about the vetting process and what it takes to be a good VP.

So, I notice that Trump wished Ghislaine Maxwell "well".

I suspect he knows full well that if she or her lawyer sniff even a whiff of "distancing" ( the only social distancing that Donald knows. ) she will open a floodgate of information about him, so repulsive that even his most ardent supporters will drown in her "incontinence".

~
 

He is friends with a female pedophile. She is just as corrupt as her b/f. birds of a feather ! I bet trump will exonerate her once shes convicted.

BEWARE MR. TRUMP. TIME NEVER RUNS OUT ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

A German court on Thursday convicted a 93-year-old former SS private of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp, where he served as a guard in the final months of the Second World War. He was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Bruno Dey was convicted of 5,232 counts of accessory to murder by the Hamburg state court, news agency dpa reported. That is equal to the number of people believed to have been killed at Stutthof during his service there in 1944 and 1945. He also was convicted of one count of accessory to attempted murder.

“How could you get used to the horror?” presiding judge Anne Meier-Goering asked as she announced the verdict.

The trial opened in October. Because of Dey’s age, court sessions were limited to two, two-hour sessions a week. Additional precautions also were taken to keep the case going through the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a closing statement earlier this week, the wheelchair-bound German retiree apologized for his role in the Nazis’ machinery of destruction, saying “it must never be repeated.”

“Today, I want to apologize to all of the people who went through this hellish insanity,” Dey told the court.

For at least two decades, every trial of a former Nazi has been dubbed “likely Germany’s last.” But just last week, another ex-guard at Stutthof was charged at age 95. A special prosecutors’ office that investigates Nazi-era crimes has more than a dozen ongoing investigations.

That’s due in part to a precedent established in 2011 with the conviction of former Ohio auto worker John Demjanjuk as an accessory to murder on allegations that he served as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in German-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk, who steadfastly denied the allegations, died before his appeal could be heard.

German courts had previously required prosecutors to justify charges by presenting evidence of a former guard’s participation in a specific killing, often next to impossible given the circumstances of the crimes committed at Nazi death camps.

However, prosecutors successfully argued during Demjanjuk’s trial in Munich that guarding a camp whose only purpose was murder was enough for an accessory conviction.

A federal court subsequently upheld the 2015 conviction of former Auschwitz guard Oskar Groening, solidifying the precedent.

The Dey case extends the argument to apply to a guard at a concentration camp that did not exist for the sole purpose of extermination.

Prosecutors argued that as a Stutthof guard from August 1944 to April 1945, Dey – though “no ardent worshipper of Nazi ideology” – aided all the killings that took place there during that period as a “small wheel in the machinery of murder.”

Dey gave wide-ranging statements to investigators about his service, saying that he was deemed unfit for combat in the regular Germany army in 1944 so was drafted into an SS guard detachment and sent to the camp near Danzig, now the Polish city of Gdansk.

Incarcerated there included political prisoners, accused criminals, people suspected of homosexual activity and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

From mid-1944, when Dey was posted there, tens of thousands of Jews from ghettos in the Baltics and from Auschwitz filled the camp along with thousands of Polish civilians swept up in the brutal Nazi suppression of the Warsaw uprising.

More than 60,000 people were killed there by being given lethal injections of gasoline or phenol directly to their hearts, shot or starved. Others were forced outside in winter without clothing until they died of exposure, or were put to death in a gas chamber.

Dey told the court that as a trained baker’s apprentice, he attempted to get sent to an army kitchen or bakery when he learned he’d been assigned to Stutthof.

Dey acknowledged hearing screams from the camp’s gas chambers and watching as corpses were taken to be burned.

Tr**p just did the right thing for the first time in my memory - he called off the Republican national convention. He won't get to announce his candidacy in front of a (smaller than wished-for?) screaming crowd full of delegates. The convention was to be held in an arena in Jacksonville, FL. But, as the BBC noted, Florida has become "a new epicenter for the coronavirus".

I wonder what brought on Tr**p's suddenly enlightened self-interest? I don't believe for a minute that his only impetus was the health of the people who might attend. Possibly, the lesson was learned from the rally that didn't have the huge crowd he wanted. I'm sure the RNC has a bevy of bean counters calculating the results of cancelling the convention's effect on the projected vote count.

Sorry, I meant, accept the nomination.

https://lawandcrime.com/legal-analys...kIq7CnN-yFajEs

This made me ill this early AM

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says anyone who got a $1,200 stimulus check the first time is likely to get one again for the same amou
 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that there was a high likelihood of another round of cash payments for Americans.

He said they'd likely go to the same people as before, for the same amount.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Thursday ordered the release of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer from prison, saying the government retaliated against him for planning to release a book critical of Trump before November’s election.

Michael Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said during a telephone conference.

Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement by 2 p.m. on Friday.

Tensions flared on Capitol Hill this week when a Republican lawmaker challenged Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on issues of crime and policing in an unusual — and decidedly personal — confrontation on the Capitol steps.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) was coming down the steps on the east side of the Capitol on Monday, having just voted, when he approached Ocasio-Cortez, who was ascending into the building to cast a vote of her own.

In a brief but heated exchange, which was overheard by a reporter, Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez she was "disgusting" for recently suggesting that poverty and unemployment are driving a spike in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

"You are out of your freaking mind," Yoho told her.

Ocasio-Cortez shot back, telling Yoho he was being "rude."

The two then parted ways. Ocasio-Cortez headed into the building, while Yoho, joined by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), began descending toward the House office buildings. A few steps down, Yoho offered a parting thought to no one in particular.

"Fucking bitch," he said.

Ocasio-Cortez, a liberal firebrand and social media sensation, is no stranger to attacks from the right. But shortly after the exchange, she said it was the first time since she arrived in Congress that another lawmaker has challenged her so aggressively. "That kind of confrontation hasn't ever happened to me — ever," she said. "I've never had that kind of abrupt, disgusting kind of disrespect levied at me."

Approached a few hours later, Yoho declined to discuss any aspect of the exchange. "No comment," he said.

Williams, who was in a position to hear the entire back-and-forth, said he wasn't paying it any mind.

"I was actually thinking, as I was walking down the stairs, I was thinking about some issues I've got in my district that need to get done," Williams said. "I don't know what their topic was. There's always a topic, isn't there?"

An apology??
 

A day after he reportedly called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch” after confronting her outside the Capitol, Florida congressman Ted Yoho, a Republican, offered an absurd apology on the House floor Wednesday.

“I rise to apologize for the abrupt manner of the conversation I had with my colleague from New York,” Yoho began. He was off to a decent enough start, though calling the conversation “abrupt” does not exactly align with the description of the “brief but heated exchange” that appeared in The Hill Tuesday. Nor does it align with AOC’s own description of the “virulent harassment,”

Yoho then seemed to confirm the profane quote attributed to him, but said, “The offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleagues, and if they were constructed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding.” In other words: I said it, but I said it so she couldn’t hear it.

The “apology” only got worse from there. After becoming briefly emotional while remembering his time as a young adult on food stamps — “I know the face of poverty, and for a time it was mine” — Yoho committed to conducting himself “from a place of passion and understanding.”

Then he offered this gem: “I cannot apologize for my passion, or for loving my God, my family, and my country.” He did not explain what any of that has to with accosting a congresswoman and calling her a “bitch.”

Feds Sending Tactical Team to Seattle, Expanding Presence Beyond Portland..
 

The Trump administration, which has pledged to use the full force of the government to protect federal property, expanded that effort Thursday by sending a team of tactical border officers to stand by for duty in Seattle.
The deployment to Seattle came on the same day that the inspector general of the Justice Department announced an investigation into tactics used by the federal agents in Portland and in front of Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., in early June.

The Special Response Team being deployed is similar to the tactical teams currently operating in Portland, Oregon, where local officials have vehemently objected to their efforts to subdue street protests. Seattle officials have also said they do not want federal agents sent to target protesters.Seattle’s mayor, Jenny Durkan, said in an interview that she spoke earlier Thursday with Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security. She said he had assured her that the administration had no plans to deploy a surge of agents to Seattle and would not do so without communicating with the city. She had not been alerted to plans to position the tactical team but said that the department may be distinguishing between an active deployment and agents who are on standby.

Durkan said she made it clear that the city did not need the help of federal agents. “Any deployment here would, in my view, undermine public safety,” Durkan said.

Barron Trump's School Not Resuming Classes Like Normal This Fall Despite Trump's Push to Reopen..
 

Despite President Donald Trump's push to have schools reopen their classrooms in the fall, his son Barron Trump won't be sitting in class full-time anytime soon. The private St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Maryland — which the 14-year-old began attending after moving to Washington, D.C. — announced this week that while a final decision has yet to be made, it is planning not to fully reopen its campus in the fall because of novel coronavirus concerns. The school shut down and switched to online learning in the spring.

In a letter to parents this week, St. Andrew's said it is preparing either to continue with online classes or to implement a hybrid plan for the next school year, which would use both e-learning and in-person classes by allowing groups of its students to return to campus in cycles, along with social distancing."We are hopeful that public health conditions will support our implementation of the hybrid model in the fall," the school's letter says.

~
 

(((((( Homoe))))))) I missed your posts ~ welcome back :)

Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's powerful response:

She has "thrown men out of bars" for their language? I'd like to hear that story.

Thanks ~Ocean

Seattle-area protests: Live update Saturday, July 25...
 

Police declare "riot," deploy flash-bang grenades and using pepper spray on protesters in the Capitol Hill area.

Seattle Police Department officers used bikes to block off the intersection at East Pine Street and 11th Avenue, the same location where protesters and police stood in days of tense standoffs a month prior, and are advancing west against the protest crowd on East Pine Street and making arrests.

Ted Yoho resigns from a Christian non-profit's board after verbally attacking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez..
 

Republican Rep. Ted Yoho on Saturday resigned from the board of the Christian anti-poverty organization Bread for the World days after he verbally attacked Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The non-profit announced that it "sought [Yoho's] resignation" after determining that his "recent actions and words as reported in the media are not reflective of the ethical standards expected of members of our Board of Directors" and "the values of respect and compassion that Jesus calls on us to exhibit every day."

The organization said it hoped to reaffirm "our commitment to coming alongside women and people of color, nationally and globally, as they continue to lead us to a more racially inclusive and equitable world."

Idiots....
 

Marco Rubio and Dan Sullivan were each trying to honor Mr. Lewis on social media when they mistakenly posted photos of Mr. Cummings, a Black congressman who died in October.

“It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with John Lewis a genuine & historic American hero,” Mr. Rubio said in a tweet last Saturday afternoon. “May the Lord grant him eternal peace.”

Except the photo Mr. Rubio posted was not of Mr. Lewis, but of another congressman: Representative Elijah E. Cummings, who died in October. Mr. Rubio also used the photo of himself with Mr. Cummings as his Twitter profile picture for a brief time.

Mr. Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, also memorialized Mr. Lewis with a photo of Mr. Cummings. In the picture he posted to his Facebook account, Mr. Sullivan is standing beside Mr. Cummings in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

“Congressman Lewis’ courage and principled leadership helped guide America through one of the most challenging periods in its history, calling our country to live up to its ideals with justice and equality for all people regardless of color and creed,” Mr. Sullivan wrote.

idiot.....
 

Controversial Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called slavery the nation’s “necessary evil” in a new interview published Sunday. The senator told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that slavery was the evil ”upon which the union was built.” He made the stunning comment while discussing how slavery should be taught in schools.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.” Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” Instead of portraying America as “an irredeemably corrupt, rotten and racist country,” the nation should be viewed “as an imperfect and flawed land, but the greatest and noblest country in the history of mankind,” he added.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/tom-c...042323619.html

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Sunday that the next round of coronavirus relief will include $1,200 stimulus payments to Americans and the Trump administration will lengthen the federal eviction moratorium.

“There’s a $1,200 check coming, that’s going to be part of the new package,” Kudlow said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/26/kudl...oratorium.html

Talk about backpedaling....
 

Tom Cotton Cries ‘Fake News’ When ‘Fox & Friends’ Directly Quotes Him on Slavery.

The hosts of Fox & Friends waited until the final moments of their interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to bring up the comments he made about slavery and The New York Times’ ‘1619 Project’ over the weekend. Cotton used the opportunity to accuse them of spreading “fake news.” “Senator Tom Cotton, you’re in the eye of the storm, you like to take on red-hot issues, including ‘The 1619 Project,’” Brian Kilmeade said as the senator smiled awkwardly. He then quoted directly at length from Cotton’s interview with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

After reading that quote aloud, all Kilmeade had to say was, “Some say that was insensitive.”

“Well, that is fake news, Brian,” Cotton replied, chuckling uncomfortably. “That is not what I said.”

“What I said is that many Founders believed that only with the Union and the Constitution could we put slavery on the path to its ultimate extinction,” the senator continued. He did not clarify whether he believed Fox or his local newspaper actually misquoted him at any point or if or if they were just cleaning up the comments after the fact. “Of course slavery is an evil institution,” Cotton added, “in all its forms, at all times, in America’s past or around the world today.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tom-co...avery?ref=home

Mitch McConnell unveils $1 trillion pandemic aid package to criticisms from other Republicans and Democrats..
 

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Monday released their counter-proposal on another coronavirus stimulus package, a roughly $1 trillion package that includes another round of direct checks to millions of Americans, more help for small businesses and money to help reopen schools.

Almost immediately, it was criticized by conservative lawmakers as misguided and expensive and by Democrats as a ridiculously late effort that falls short of the nation's needs to weather the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected nearly 4.3 million Americans and killed more than 147,000.

I'm surprised you're dragging your feet Mitch with Amy McGrath hot on your heels!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mitch-mcc...212312403.html

Washington — Attorney General William Barr will testify Tuesday in what is likely to be a contentious hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. His appearance comes as the Justice Department faces scrutiny over its handling of cases involving allies of President Trump and its response to civil unrest across the country.

His testimony before the committee's 40 members kicks off at 10 a.m. and marks his first time appearing before the Democrat-led panel. The Judiciary Committee has been increasingly focused on possible politicization of the Justice Department under Barr's tenure following episodes involving Michael Flynn, Mr. Trump 's former national security adviser, and Roger Stone, his longtime ally, as well as the dismissal of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in the Southern District of New York.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...ary-committee/

VIEW FROM THE NORTH
(Please don't get mad at the opinion. You can ignore us but it really is just impossible for Canadians to ignore the USA)


The U.S. is burning – and Donald Trump is the gleeful arsonist-in-chief

It’s impossible to watch what is taking place south of the border and not wonder if we are witnessing the historic and irrevocable fracturing of a once-great nation – a tectonic rupture from which it is incapable of recovering.

The United States is a country racked by racial inequality and bigotry, dealing with a plague made worse by the gross mismanagement of the federal government, while being led by a dangerous huckster who believes he can benefit from the mayhem and destruction we are witnessing.

President Donald Trump is a political arsonist who sets fires and then tries to convince the public he is the only person capable of putting them out.

Gary Mason G&M

Twitter gives Trump Jr. a tweet timeout for pandemic misinfo..
 

~~
Unfortunately it was only for 12 hours.





https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wire...meout-72032992

Until I am able to locate and post the ad......
 

GOP Group Argues ‘Trump Stooge’ Susan Collins Must Leave Office. The Republican senator from Maine has made excuses for Trump, which the Lincoln Project uses against her in a new ad.

A conservative group trying to prevent President Donald Trump from being reelected, goes after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a new attack ad. In the 76-second spot released online Wednesday, the group calls Collins a “Trump stooge” who is controlled by the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It slams the senator — who has attempted to portray herself as a moderate but voted to acquit Trump during his impeachment trial — for never standing up to the president.

“She makes excuses for corruption, for criminality, for cruelty, all while pretending she’s worried, concerned,” says the voiceover in the video.

“Maine deserves a leader, not a Trump stooge,” the narrator concludes. “It’s time for Collins to go.”

Not only a stooge but also a.......
 

Collins was elected to the United States Senate in the 1996 senate election. You do the math!

These are the 10 best airlines to fly during the coronavirus pandemic...
 

In teasing out which airlines might be best to fly with in 2020, travel site The Points Guy is back with their airline ranking this year with slight modifications in methodology to include booking flexibility, health policies and plane cleanliness.

Weighing all metrics, The Points Guy ranked Delta first with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue following closely behind. Budget carrier Spirit Airlines came in last.

On the ticketing flexibility front, Southwest ranked highest, which Mayerowitz said was to be expected given the airline’s history of flexibility. “Southwest has always been the best, pandemic or not, basically they are letting you cancel change do whatever you want with tickets,” he said.
On the other end of the spectrum, Frontier received low marks for its policy that set a deadline of 90 days to reschedule any bookings.

When it comes to how airlines are addressing the health issues at hand, Delta and JetBlue were standouts, while American and United got dinged for packing in passengers. “American and United were both blocking seats at one point, but still selling full planes,” Mayerowitz explained.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/t...124934999.html

Besame, mine too just as soon as that next stimulus check arrives...:flying:

Big Tech CEOs tell Congress they do not stifle competition...
 

The bosses of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google have fended off accusations that their companies stifle competition, under intense questioning from politicians who have been investigating Big Tech’s market dominance.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple sometimes struggled to answer questions about their business practices even as they provided data highlighting how competitive their markets are and the value of their innovation and essential services to consumers.

sidebar: And right after denying that, all four mentioned they had bridges to sell....

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/comp...on/ar-BB17jf38

Tempers flew........
 

Lawmakers slammed US Rep. Jim Jordan at Wednesday's antitrust hearing after he repeatedly interrupted a colleague who criticized his questions alleging Google's anti-conservative bias.

When it was Jordan's turn to speak, he grilled Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai about the company's alleged bias toward certain candidates during presidential elections. Jordan pointed to a email prior to the 2016 election, leaked to Fox News, in which a Google executive indicated a desire to drive up the turnout of Latinx voters. Jordan then asked Pichai to "assure Americans" that Google wouldn't do anything with its features to help Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, beat President Donald Trump in November's presidential election. Pichai disputed Jordan's allegations, and responded that Google's work regarding the 2020 election is "fully nonpartisan."

After Jordan's time ended, the next lawmaker in line to ask questions, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, took a jab at Jordan and told tech executives, "I'd like to redirect your attention to antitrust law rather than fringe conspiracy theories." Jordan immediately interrupted Scanlon, repeating his claims about the previously leaked emails. Lawmakers in the room lashed out at the Ohio congressman, telling him his time had expired. The House subommittee Chairman David Cicilline repeatedly banged his gavel in an attempt to get Jordan to stop. Jordan continued, insisting he needed a chance to respond to Scanlon's comments.

More of Jordan's rambling........
 

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has successfully twisted a public health concern into a conservative conspiracy theory — but not the one of the dozens of COVID-19 conspiracies one might expect.

During a Wednesday hearing with the country's four biggest technology companies, Jordan used his questioning time to claim Google tried to help Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) was up next, and started her questioning by saying she would pivot from "fringe conspiracy theories" to anti-trust questions. Chaos predictably ensued.

"We have the email, there is no fringe—" Jordan interrupted before committee chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) cut him off. "Put your mask on," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) chimed in. Jordan then used Raskin's request to pivot to a favorite conspiracy: "You want to talk about masks? Why would the deputy secretary of the treasury unmask Michael Flynn's name?"

Herman Cain, 2012 GOP Presidential Candidate And Businessman, Dies At Age 74..
 

His website confirmed the news Thursday morning.


Cain reportedly learned that he tested positive for COVID-19 on June 29. He was hospitalized two days later after developing “serious” symptoms, according to a statement shared on his Twitter account at the time. His diagnosis came less than two weeks after he attended President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

FEC commissioner to Trump: 'No. You don't have the power to move the election'..
 

Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Commissioner Ellen Weintraub flatly stated on Thursday that the executive branch does not have the power to delay a presidential election after President Trump stirred an uproar by raising the idea in an early morning tweet.

“No, Mr. President. No,” Weintraub said in a statement shared on Twitter. "You don't have the power to move the election. Nor should it be moved." "States and localities are asking you and Congress for funds so they can properly run the safe and secure elections all Americans want," she added. "Why don't you work on that?"