Kim — Not Trump — Was Right About Summit Snag, Says State Department
The president claimed Thursday that he had walked away from negotiations in Hanoi after Kim Jong Un demanded that all sanctions against the nation be lifted.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that,” Trump said.
“We had to walk away from that.”
But Pyongyang representatives called a late-night news conference later that day to correct Trump’s statements, saying that Kim wanted only economic sanctions imposed since 2016 lifted — and not any concerning weapons.
In exchange, Kim offered to shut down the nation’s main nuclear complex — and was prepared to offer in writing a permanent halt to the nation’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, according to his officials.
North Korea’s account of the sanction issue was accurate, a State Department official said Friday in a briefing to the media.
The Associated Press reported that Kim had sought the lifting of only United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed since March 2016 — not sanctions going back decades.
The concession would have removed sanctions on a range of goods, but not weapons.
Kim’s position was no surprise, the official said, because it had been brought up repeatedly in lower-level talks.
But Trump and his negotiators decided lifting the sanctions posed from 2016 onward was too much.
So lifting sanctions that mostly hurt the people of the country and not the government was too much for the Duce.
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Why is this supposed to be her fault?
None of the complaints allege misconduct by her.
Harassment and retaliation claims during Kamala Harris’ time as California’s top cop led to $1.1 million in settlements
The California Department of Justice paid more than $1.1 million to settle claims with employees who alleged they were sexually harassed or retaliated against by co-workers during the tenure of then-state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris from 2011 to 2017, according to documents obtained by The Times.
The cases, which were disclosed this week in response to a California Public Records Act request, come weeks after Harris launched her presidential bid, bringing new scrutiny to her record.
The incidents included allegations that DOJ employees sexually harassed and retaliated against co-workers, including claims involving inappropriate touching and cases in which workers felt uncomfortable with the comments and actions of others.
The story gives a lot of detail.
Harassment and retaliation claims during Kamala Harris’ time as California’s top cop led to $1.1 million in settlements
The California Department of Justice paid more than $1.1 million to settle claims with employees who alleged they were sexually harassed or retaliated against by co-workers during the tenure of then-state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris from 2011 to 2017, according to documents obtained by The Times.
The cases, which were disclosed this week in response to a California Public Records Act request, come weeks after Harris launched her presidential bid, bringing new scrutiny to her record.
The incidents included allegations that DOJ employees sexually harassed and retaliated against co-workers, including claims involving inappropriate touching and cases in which workers felt uncomfortable with the comments and actions of others.
The story gives a lot of detail.
Vicious GOP slanders and attacks on Ilhan Omar
Rep. Ilhan Omar blasted again for what critics call anti-Semitism
Her actual position on the power of the pro-Israel lobby in the US and the nature of Israel as a Jewish State is not all that far from the views of many on the left, including notably some Jews on the left.
Poster tying Rep. Ilhan Omar to 9/11 attack sparks angry confrontation in W.Va. Capitol
A display in the West Virginia statehouse equating Rep. Ilhan Omar to al-Qaida terrorists behind the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, sparked a confrontation between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Friday, according to NBC News.
One person was physically injured and another resigned as a result of the incident that centered on the freshman Minnesota Democrat, NBC reported.
An image of the poster that caused the confrontation was shared on social media by Democratic Del. Mike Pushkin. It shows an image of the World Trade Center just after terrorists hit the second tower with a civilian airliner.
"'Never forget' – you said ... " reads the caption above the image of the burning towers.
"I am the proof – you have forgotten" reads the next caption below an image of Omar, who is Muslim.
(((Mike Pushkin))) on Twitter
"No wonder why I am on the 'Hitlist' of a domestic terrorist and 'Assassinate Ilhan Omar' is written on my local gas stations," Omar tweeted with a link to the NBC story.
Her actual position on the power of the pro-Israel lobby in the US and the nature of Israel as a Jewish State is not all that far from the views of many on the left, including notably some Jews on the left.
Poster tying Rep. Ilhan Omar to 9/11 attack sparks angry confrontation in W.Va. Capitol
A display in the West Virginia statehouse equating Rep. Ilhan Omar to al-Qaida terrorists behind the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, sparked a confrontation between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Friday, according to NBC News.
One person was physically injured and another resigned as a result of the incident that centered on the freshman Minnesota Democrat, NBC reported.
An image of the poster that caused the confrontation was shared on social media by Democratic Del. Mike Pushkin. It shows an image of the World Trade Center just after terrorists hit the second tower with a civilian airliner.
"'Never forget' – you said ... " reads the caption above the image of the burning towers.
"I am the proof – you have forgotten" reads the next caption below an image of Omar, who is Muslim.
(((Mike Pushkin))) on Twitter
"No wonder why I am on the 'Hitlist' of a domestic terrorist and 'Assassinate Ilhan Omar' is written on my local gas stations," Omar tweeted with a link to the NBC story.
Sanders has always been vulnerable to this kind of attack
And so is AOC.
5 things Bernie Sanders doesn't want you to know about socialism
The attack does two things.
First, it accurately paints Bernie as perhaps more sympathetic to outright Communism than a democratic socialist should ever have been.
Second, it tells the time-honored and ludicrous lie that progressive advances in the taming of capitalism, this time those in the Bernie/AOC agenda, are socialism and major, destructive, and dangerous steps onto a slippery slope to the destruction of the American economy.
5 things Bernie Sanders doesn't want you to know about socialism
The attack does two things.
First, it accurately paints Bernie as perhaps more sympathetic to outright Communism than a democratic socialist should ever have been.
Second, it tells the time-honored and ludicrous lie that progressive advances in the taming of capitalism, this time those in the Bernie/AOC agenda, are socialism and major, destructive, and dangerous steps onto a slippery slope to the destruction of the American economy.
Complete racist horseshit
Right here on Crooks and Liars.
Eddie Glaude: 'White Fragility Does Not Equal White Innocence'
Pretty much the only thing that does not offend and disgust me in this piece about the Meadows/Tlaib exchange during the Cohen testimony Wednesday is her surprise at the revelation of that bizarre friendship between Meadows and Elijah Cummings.
And even there I am offended at her description of that friendship as "upsetting to many".
[Yup. Old white guys can be offended, too. And it happens a lot.]
Eddie Glaude: 'White Fragility Does Not Equal White Innocence'
Pretty much the only thing that does not offend and disgust me in this piece about the Meadows/Tlaib exchange during the Cohen testimony Wednesday is her surprise at the revelation of that bizarre friendship between Meadows and Elijah Cummings.
And even there I am offended at her description of that friendship as "upsetting to many".
[Yup. Old white guys can be offended, too. And it happens a lot.]
Friday, March 1, 2019
What if doctoring becomes a low paying job?
Medicare for All creates the risk Republican starvation of the program would force down incomes of doctors, medical researchers, consumers of medical technology, or even producers of innovative medical technology.
And then the quality of care received by Americans would slip.
Possibly tumble off a cliff.
Torries do their level best to starve the NHS in Britain.
And then the quality of care received by Americans would slip.
Possibly tumble off a cliff.
Torries do their level best to starve the NHS in Britain.
Yes and No
Meadows, Tlaib Cool Down After Fiery Exchange Over Racism At Cohen Hearing
During the House Oversight Committee's hearing to take testimony from President Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, Meadows brought Lynne Patton, an African-American woman who works in the Trump administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to refute Cohen's allegations of Trump's racist behavior.
Tlaib, a freshman, was one of the last lawmakers to question Cohen and used part of her time to admonish Meadows for doing so.
"Just because someone has a person of color — a black person working for them does not mean they aren't racist," she said Wednesday.
Quite so.
"And it is insensitive that some would even say — the fact that someone would actually use a prop — a black woman — in this chamber, in this committee is alone, racist in itself."
Both charges are wrong.
Meadows subsequently absurdly cited his colored nieces (?) as proof he is not himself a racist.
And Tlaib insisted she had not called him a racist, giving two reasons in this order, that she had called the act racist and that she had said "someone" and not used his name.
That second reason is absurd and undermines the first, that she had called the act, not its perpetrator, racist.
It seems at least she understood herself to call "someone" a racist.
And just who might that have been?
BTW, though everyone who used it was pretty clearly a racist, the ludicrous birther bullshit that O was not, or was probably not, or was possibly not a natural born American citizen eligible for the office was not racist in itself.
It just wasn't.
But "racist" is so ugly a word and so damaging a charge, some people love to use it as a club.
During the House Oversight Committee's hearing to take testimony from President Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, Meadows brought Lynne Patton, an African-American woman who works in the Trump administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to refute Cohen's allegations of Trump's racist behavior.
Tlaib, a freshman, was one of the last lawmakers to question Cohen and used part of her time to admonish Meadows for doing so.
"Just because someone has a person of color — a black person working for them does not mean they aren't racist," she said Wednesday.
Quite so.
"And it is insensitive that some would even say — the fact that someone would actually use a prop — a black woman — in this chamber, in this committee is alone, racist in itself."
Both charges are wrong.
Meadows subsequently absurdly cited his colored nieces (?) as proof he is not himself a racist.
And Tlaib insisted she had not called him a racist, giving two reasons in this order, that she had called the act racist and that she had said "someone" and not used his name.
That second reason is absurd and undermines the first, that she had called the act, not its perpetrator, racist.
It seems at least she understood herself to call "someone" a racist.
And just who might that have been?
BTW, though everyone who used it was pretty clearly a racist, the ludicrous birther bullshit that O was not, or was probably not, or was possibly not a natural born American citizen eligible for the office was not racist in itself.
It just wasn't.
But "racist" is so ugly a word and so damaging a charge, some people love to use it as a club.
Why not a law saying they cannot sell in America for more than they charge in any developed country where they charge least?
Americans ready to crack down on drug prices that force some to skip doses
Large majorities of Americans from both major parties support steps to control prescription drug costs such as showing prices in ads, removing barriers to generics and letting patients get less expensive drugs from Canada, a new poll shows.
By a 9-to-1 ratio, Republicans, Democrats and independents favor making drug companies show list prices in their advertising, says a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Highly advertised medicines such as Humira, for arthritis, cost tens of thousands of dollars a year, even after discounts.
Although Republicans tend to frown on government control over commerce, 8 in 10 Republican respondents said they support giving negotiating power to the $700 billion Medicare program in order to lower drug prices for seniors.
More than 70 percent of all respondents back importing drugs from Canada and capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs.
More than 80 percent said they favor making it easier for less expensive generics to compete with brand-name drugs.
Large majorities of Americans from both major parties support steps to control prescription drug costs such as showing prices in ads, removing barriers to generics and letting patients get less expensive drugs from Canada, a new poll shows.
By a 9-to-1 ratio, Republicans, Democrats and independents favor making drug companies show list prices in their advertising, says a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Highly advertised medicines such as Humira, for arthritis, cost tens of thousands of dollars a year, even after discounts.
Although Republicans tend to frown on government control over commerce, 8 in 10 Republican respondents said they support giving negotiating power to the $700 billion Medicare program in order to lower drug prices for seniors.
More than 70 percent of all respondents back importing drugs from Canada and capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs.
More than 80 percent said they favor making it easier for less expensive generics to compete with brand-name drugs.
The kid was arrested for allegedly stealing a poster, according to other reports
See this at Wikipedia.
Otto Warmbier's family rebukes Trump, says Kim Jong Un is responsible for son's death
After a second summit with Kim in Vietnam, President Trump said Thursday he does not hold the North Korean dictator responsible for Warmbier's death.
"He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word," Trump said during a news conference, also claiming Kim "felt very badly.
But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later."
. . . .
During his Thursday news conference in Vietnam, Trump told reporters he believed Kim's denial in part because it would not be in Kim's interest for Warmbier to wind up in a coma.
"I don't think that the top leadership knew about it," Trump said.
"I don't believe that he (Kim) would have allowed that to happen."
Trump's whitewash ignored the tight control that Kim maintains over his country's internal affairs as its supreme leader, particularly when it comes to sensitive matters such as the imprisonment of an American citizen.
. . . .
Kim oversees one of the world's most repressive regimes, one that human rights groups say includes concentration camps, starvation and carries out medical experimentation on human subjects.
The UN estimates that North Korea has 80,000 to 120,000 people in its gulags.
Otto Warmbier was a University of Virginia student when he was detained in January 2016 during a brief sightseeing tour of the reclusive state.
He was held captive by the North Korean regime for over a year, before being released back to the US in June 2017.
Then 22 years old, Warmbier returned home to Ohio in a vegetative state -- blind, deaf, and having sustained severe brain damage from his time in detention.
He died on June 19, 2017, days after the Trump administration had secured his return.
. . . .
Trump's whitewash ignored the tight control that Kim maintains over his country's internal affairs as its supreme leader, particularly when it comes to sensitive matters such as the imprisonment of an American citizen.
Kim oversees one of the world's most repressive regimes, one that human rights groups say includes concentration camps, starvation and carries out medical experimentation on human subjects.
The UN estimates that North Korea has 80,000 to 120,000 people in its gulags.
Otto Warmbier's family rebukes Trump, says Kim Jong Un is responsible for son's death
After a second summit with Kim in Vietnam, President Trump said Thursday he does not hold the North Korean dictator responsible for Warmbier's death.
"He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word," Trump said during a news conference, also claiming Kim "felt very badly.
But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later."
. . . .
During his Thursday news conference in Vietnam, Trump told reporters he believed Kim's denial in part because it would not be in Kim's interest for Warmbier to wind up in a coma.
"I don't think that the top leadership knew about it," Trump said.
"I don't believe that he (Kim) would have allowed that to happen."
Trump's whitewash ignored the tight control that Kim maintains over his country's internal affairs as its supreme leader, particularly when it comes to sensitive matters such as the imprisonment of an American citizen.
. . . .
Kim oversees one of the world's most repressive regimes, one that human rights groups say includes concentration camps, starvation and carries out medical experimentation on human subjects.
The UN estimates that North Korea has 80,000 to 120,000 people in its gulags.
Otto Warmbier was a University of Virginia student when he was detained in January 2016 during a brief sightseeing tour of the reclusive state.
He was held captive by the North Korean regime for over a year, before being released back to the US in June 2017.
Then 22 years old, Warmbier returned home to Ohio in a vegetative state -- blind, deaf, and having sustained severe brain damage from his time in detention.
He died on June 19, 2017, days after the Trump administration had secured his return.
. . . .
Trump's whitewash ignored the tight control that Kim maintains over his country's internal affairs as its supreme leader, particularly when it comes to sensitive matters such as the imprisonment of an American citizen.
Kim oversees one of the world's most repressive regimes, one that human rights groups say includes concentration camps, starvation and carries out medical experimentation on human subjects.
The UN estimates that North Korea has 80,000 to 120,000 people in its gulags.
Kushner too great a risk for clearance
Reportedly this is legal.
Why?
The CIA in particular flat refused to sign off on clearances for Kushner and others.
So Trump overruled them.
The Jared Kushner security clearance story reveals Donald Trump's two biggest flaws
The President reportedly ordered his then-chief of staff John Kelly to secure a top-secret security clearance for his son-in-law Jared Kushner, ignoring the objections of the intelligence community and of Kelly himself.
"It is not known precisely what factors led to the problems with Mr. Kushner's security clearance," read the Times report.
"Officials had raised questions about his own and his family's real estate business's ties to foreign governments and investors, and about initially unreported contacts he had with foreigners.
The issue also generated criticism of Mr. Trump for having two family members serve in official capacities in the West Wing."
In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!
Stop and think about this for a second: The President of the United States overrode concerns expressed, according to The New York Times, by intelligence officials, his chief of staff and his White House counsel, to push for a top-secret security clearance for his son-in-law, who, not for nothing, he had endowed with such a broad portfolio that Kushner was referred to as the "Secretary of Everything" in the early days of Trump's White House.
Why?
The CIA in particular flat refused to sign off on clearances for Kushner and others.
So Trump overruled them.
The Jared Kushner security clearance story reveals Donald Trump's two biggest flaws
The President reportedly ordered his then-chief of staff John Kelly to secure a top-secret security clearance for his son-in-law Jared Kushner, ignoring the objections of the intelligence community and of Kelly himself.
"It is not known precisely what factors led to the problems with Mr. Kushner's security clearance," read the Times report.
"Officials had raised questions about his own and his family's real estate business's ties to foreign governments and investors, and about initially unreported contacts he had with foreigners.
The issue also generated criticism of Mr. Trump for having two family members serve in official capacities in the West Wing."
In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!
Stop and think about this for a second: The President of the United States overrode concerns expressed, according to The New York Times, by intelligence officials, his chief of staff and his White House counsel, to push for a top-secret security clearance for his son-in-law, who, not for nothing, he had endowed with such a broad portfolio that Kushner was referred to as the "Secretary of Everything" in the early days of Trump's White House.
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