Here is a list of News Blogs ordered by Most Commented, posted by members. A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned. Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about others. Click here to post a blog.
William Barr - dishonest unpatiotic AG
Today in USA Today
Perhaps Barr is very confused about his job. It is not to protect a criminal with lies of his own, but to allocate personnel to investigate crimes.
In response to:
Nancy Pelosi: AG Barr 'lied to Congress,' that's a crime
Maureen Groppe and Bart Jansen
USA TODAY•May 2, 2019
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Attorney General William Barr "lied to Congress" during a hearing – an act that was not a technicality but a crime.
"If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime," Pelosi told reporters.
Asked if Barr should go to jail, Pelosi said the House Judiciary Committee "will act upon how we will proceed."
At an April 4 House subcommittee hearing, Barr was questioned about media reports that some officials in special counsel Robert Mueller's office were "frustrated" with his handling of the investigation report.
"Do you know what they are referencing with that?" Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., asked.
"No, I don't," Barr replied.
On Wednesday, however, the Department of Justice made public a letter Mueller sent to Barr on March 27 that expressed concerns with the way the attorney general had characterized the special counsel's findings.
Barr was grilled about his answer to Crist by Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Wednesday.
He said that when he discussed Mueller's letter with the special counsel, the concern was about media coverage, not the contents of a four-page summary the attorney general had released describing the special counsel's conclusions.
In a statement, Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec called Pelosi's comments a "baseless attack on the attorney general" and said it was "reckless, irresponsible and false.”
The disclosure of Mueller's letter prompted calls Wednesday for Barr's resignation from lawmakers including Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who is head of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee, also said Barr should resign
Pelosi's remarks came on a day of intensifying tensions as Barr made good on his threat to skip a hearing on the Mueller report.
After Barr refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said that if Barr doesn't cooperate with the panel, his “moment of accountability will come soon enough.”
“And I think that probably applies,” Pelosi said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Barr shouldn't be attorney general if he believes, as he testified Thursday, that presidents can stop investigations that are based on false allegations.
"My god," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "What president doesn't believe that they're not being falsely accused?"
Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that a president doesn't have to allow an investigation to run its course "if it was a groundless proceeding, if it was based on false allegations."
"The president could terminate that proceeding, and it would not be a corrupt intent because he was being falsely accused and he would be worried about the impact on his administration," Barr said.
Schumer wrote Barr on Thursday to ask if he stands by that statement.
"If those views are truly your views," Schumer wrote, "you do not deserve to be attorney general."
Nancy Pelosi: AG Barr 'lied to Congress,' that's a crime
Maureen Groppe and Bart Jansen
USA TODAY•May 2, 2019
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Attorney General William Barr "lied to Congress" during a hearing – an act that was not a technicality but a crime.
"If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime," Pelosi told reporters.
Asked if Barr should go to jail, Pelosi said the House Judiciary Committee "will act upon how we will proceed."
At an April 4 House subcommittee hearing, Barr was questioned about media reports that some officials in special counsel Robert Mueller's office were "frustrated" with his handling of the investigation report.
"Do you know what they are referencing with that?" Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., asked.
"No, I don't," Barr replied.
On Wednesday, however, the Department of Justice made public a letter Mueller sent to Barr on March 27 that expressed concerns with the way the attorney general had characterized the special counsel's findings.
Barr was grilled about his answer to Crist by Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Wednesday.
He said that when he discussed Mueller's letter with the special counsel, the concern was about media coverage, not the contents of a four-page summary the attorney general had released describing the special counsel's conclusions.
In a statement, Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec called Pelosi's comments a "baseless attack on the attorney general" and said it was "reckless, irresponsible and false.”
The disclosure of Mueller's letter prompted calls Wednesday for Barr's resignation from lawmakers including Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who is head of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee, also said Barr should resign
Pelosi's remarks came on a day of intensifying tensions as Barr made good on his threat to skip a hearing on the Mueller report.
After Barr refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said that if Barr doesn't cooperate with the panel, his “moment of accountability will come soon enough.”
“And I think that probably applies,” Pelosi said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Barr shouldn't be attorney general if he believes, as he testified Thursday, that presidents can stop investigations that are based on false allegations.
"My god," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "What president doesn't believe that they're not being falsely accused?"
Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that a president doesn't have to allow an investigation to run its course "if it was a groundless proceeding, if it was based on false allegations."
"The president could terminate that proceeding, and it would not be a corrupt intent because he was being falsely accused and he would be worried about the impact on his administration," Barr said.
Schumer wrote Barr on Thursday to ask if he stands by that statement.
"If those views are truly your views," Schumer wrote, "you do not deserve to be attorney general."
Perhaps Barr is very confused about his job. It is not to protect a criminal with lies of his own, but to allocate personnel to investigate crimes.
Jeff Sessions is out...
It's official, according to President Twitter, Jeff Sessions is out and Matthew G. Whitaker is in. Temporarily, that is.
Fiona is currently a hurricane...
Yesterday, Fiona was a tropical storm with winds around 50 miles per hour headed on a course to the Caribbean islands. During the night it intensified and is currently 85 miles per hour winds crossing Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic/Haiti, expected to turn north and move over Bahamas, intensify again and cross Bermuda while moving into the Atlantic Ocean.
Except for increased rain, the east coast of the US won't feel any tropical storm winds.
The map below provided by the National Hurricane Center updates every 4 hours until the storm dissipates.
Except for increased rain, the east coast of the US won't feel any tropical storm winds.
The map below provided by the National Hurricane Center updates every 4 hours until the storm dissipates.
Breaking News ! GA vote Officially Reaffirmed. Biden wins !
Moments ago from The New York Times;
In response to:
BREAKING NEWS
Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia was reaffirmed after the state finished its recount of nearly five million ballots with few meaningful vote changes.
Thursday, November 19, 2020 7:41 PM EST
The Trump campaign had asked Georgia’s secretary of state for a full hand recount one week after Election Day.
The audit of roughly five million votes was completed late Wednesday.
BREAKING NEWS
Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia was reaffirmed after the state finished its recount of nearly five million ballots with few meaningful vote changes.
Thursday, November 19, 2020 7:41 PM EST
The Trump campaign had asked Georgia’s secretary of state for a full hand recount one week after Election Day.
The audit of roughly five million votes was completed late Wednesday.
Republicans FINALLY admit, that Trump conspired with the Russians
Today from Salon;
(continued in my next comment below)
In response to:
Four years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians"
Terry H. Schwadron
Salon August 22, 2020, 7:29 AM EDT
It's a red-letter, if sad, day on the hypocrisy beat when after three years a Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee comes out with a 1,000-page report finding there was a whole lot of direct contact between the Trump 2016 campaign with Russian intelligence operators.
You know, the opposite of what Donald Trump has argued forcefully over and over again is a hoax.
Even Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the new committee chairman, says while it does not represent "collusion" — a conclusion that prompted Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to say Rubio was not reading the same report he did — he did acknowledge a whole lot of interaction between Team Trump and Team Russia.
Of course, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III also would not put the "collusion" label on myriad interactions with Russians, for different reasons, to avoid a political conclusion. That allowed Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and supporters of the president, including the convicted Roger Stone and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, to repeat that lack of labeling as a launch point to investigate the investigators.
But the Intelligence Committee did "painted a stark portrait of a Trump campaign eager to accept help from a foreign power in 2016, and a candidate closely involved in the effort," said NBC News.
Here's a link to the report itself, which highlighted some previously unreported evidence, including three allegations of potentially compromising material relating to Trump's private trips to Russia that were unconnected to the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, at which Rubio took aim once again.
The committee found that Trump's team knew ahead of time that emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian intelligence agents would appear in Wikileaks, and worked with Wikileaks to produce an "October surprise" toward winning that election.
Trump repeatedly has denied this, and has denied discussing the emails with Stone, who worked with Wikileaks. He lied to Mueller and to us, and has whined about it for four years. Now, Trump says he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again before November and we worry that not enough has been done to forestall new election interference.
The findings
Specifically, the committee said it found evidence that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may have been connected to the Russian operation to steal and leak Democratic emails. If that had been proven in court, it would have constituted "collusion," by any definition, but no such charge ever was brought. Manafort was convicted of fraud and tax charges unrelated to Russia.
Still, the report insisted that the Trump transition exposed itself to Russian influence, naming names and labeling the operatives as intelligence agents. "Russian and other countries took advantage of the Transition Team's inexperience, transparent opposition to Obama administration policies and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia…"
After three years of investigation, the committee "laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian government officials and other Russians, including some with ties to the country's intelligence services," said The New York Times.
According to the report, among other things, Russian spies worked to blame it all on Ukrainian officials and spies, identifying Manafort business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer.....
Four years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians"
Terry H. Schwadron
Salon August 22, 2020, 7:29 AM EDT
It's a red-letter, if sad, day on the hypocrisy beat when after three years a Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee comes out with a 1,000-page report finding there was a whole lot of direct contact between the Trump 2016 campaign with Russian intelligence operators.
You know, the opposite of what Donald Trump has argued forcefully over and over again is a hoax.
Even Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the new committee chairman, says while it does not represent "collusion" — a conclusion that prompted Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to say Rubio was not reading the same report he did — he did acknowledge a whole lot of interaction between Team Trump and Team Russia.
Of course, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III also would not put the "collusion" label on myriad interactions with Russians, for different reasons, to avoid a political conclusion. That allowed Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and supporters of the president, including the convicted Roger Stone and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, to repeat that lack of labeling as a launch point to investigate the investigators.
But the Intelligence Committee did "painted a stark portrait of a Trump campaign eager to accept help from a foreign power in 2016, and a candidate closely involved in the effort," said NBC News.
Here's a link to the report itself, which highlighted some previously unreported evidence, including three allegations of potentially compromising material relating to Trump's private trips to Russia that were unconnected to the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, at which Rubio took aim once again.
The committee found that Trump's team knew ahead of time that emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian intelligence agents would appear in Wikileaks, and worked with Wikileaks to produce an "October surprise" toward winning that election.
Trump repeatedly has denied this, and has denied discussing the emails with Stone, who worked with Wikileaks. He lied to Mueller and to us, and has whined about it for four years. Now, Trump says he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again before November and we worry that not enough has been done to forestall new election interference.
The findings
Specifically, the committee said it found evidence that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may have been connected to the Russian operation to steal and leak Democratic emails. If that had been proven in court, it would have constituted "collusion," by any definition, but no such charge ever was brought. Manafort was convicted of fraud and tax charges unrelated to Russia.
Still, the report insisted that the Trump transition exposed itself to Russian influence, naming names and labeling the operatives as intelligence agents. "Russian and other countries took advantage of the Transition Team's inexperience, transparent opposition to Obama administration policies and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia…"
After three years of investigation, the committee "laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian government officials and other Russians, including some with ties to the country's intelligence services," said The New York Times.
According to the report, among other things, Russian spies worked to blame it all on Ukrainian officials and spies, identifying Manafort business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer.....
(continued in my next comment below)
Trump whining again.
The first presidential debate is hosted by FOX News on Tuesday.
That's right, the station with his weekly visit with 'FOX & Friends' and also his lunatic buddy, Hannity.
So, get this;
Trump is now complaining already, that it won't be fair, because the host "is controlled by the radical left."
That he will only ask tough questions of Trump and not Biden.
Did he forget that it is FOX News ??
If it's not going to be fair, it will likely be unfair to Biden, but you don't see or hear him whining.
What I would like to see, is Judge Napolitano,
(you know, the only judge on FOX, that isn't inebriated.)
have him ask the questions. Because I doubt he would tolerate any b.s.
However, in one sense, part of Trump's statement may be true.
Questions that are simple to the rest of us, probably will seem too tough compared
with identifying a drawing of a lion, or a giraffe.
That's right, the station with his weekly visit with 'FOX & Friends' and also his lunatic buddy, Hannity.
So, get this;
Trump is now complaining already, that it won't be fair, because the host "is controlled by the radical left."
That he will only ask tough questions of Trump and not Biden.
Did he forget that it is FOX News ??
If it's not going to be fair, it will likely be unfair to Biden, but you don't see or hear him whining.
What I would like to see, is Judge Napolitano,
(you know, the only judge on FOX, that isn't inebriated.)
have him ask the questions. Because I doubt he would tolerate any b.s.
However, in one sense, part of Trump's statement may be true.
Questions that are simple to the rest of us, probably will seem too tough compared
with identifying a drawing of a lion, or a giraffe.
Batman & Robin
No, this isn't about a comic book 
It's also not about a TV show.
It also has little to do with any Wuhan virus source.
The truth is, that some people refer to me as Batman.
No, not because I wear a black cape.
It has a lot more to do with, that I have batted leadoff on lots of baseball & softball teams.
I often have the highest batting average on my teams.
Thus, some people call me batman. OK, enough on the reason for that part of the blog title.
In reality this blog has more to do with Robin.
And it's not because a previous girlfriend's name is Robin, even though that's true.
It has to do with a current house 'guest'.
On my front door porch light a robin has built a nest.
She very tolerant of me going in & out of the house.
When I open the front door, she flies to a nearbry small tree and gives me a "chirp chirp".
It's not an aggressive nor angry expression. It's more like a "hello".
She's never flown at me, or made any angry, nor aggressive moves.
It's like she understands, that we share this property.
There was one across the street at my neighbor's house last year, that used to attack the couple who live there and their dog. Since they knocked that nest down, mine might even be the same bird.
Whenever I go in or out of the house, I talk low and gentle to her.
i.e. "Hello moma bird. How are you today ?"
When I do, she stops chirping and tilts her head, as if she is listening and trying to understand what I'm saying. If I walk to my car in the driveway, she will often follow and then fly into a tree near the car and chirp.
If I come back home later, she is often in the nest and we look eye to eye to each other, sometimes for a minute or so, perhaps 2 feet from each other and she doesn't fly at all until I open the front door. That happened again moments ago.
I went out today to check out the tulips & hyacinths I planted (they are doing great) and to inspect the veggies I planted. Spinach, radishes and leaf lettuce were all up last week. Today I noticed that scallions are now coming up.
For the first time, I also saw papa robin today. He flew into a tall tree and just watched me go into the house. Looking in the direction of the nest, while she was in the short tree more nearby me,
No chirping from him. I'm guessing if I made a move towards the nest, I might have been attacked by him.
The enforcer robin. I wouldn't be right to attack Batman.
(Not my photo)
It's also not about a TV show.
It also has little to do with any Wuhan virus source.
The truth is, that some people refer to me as Batman.
No, not because I wear a black cape.
It has a lot more to do with, that I have batted leadoff on lots of baseball & softball teams.
I often have the highest batting average on my teams.
Thus, some people call me batman. OK, enough on the reason for that part of the blog title.
In reality this blog has more to do with Robin.
And it's not because a previous girlfriend's name is Robin, even though that's true.
It has to do with a current house 'guest'.
On my front door porch light a robin has built a nest.
She very tolerant of me going in & out of the house.
When I open the front door, she flies to a nearbry small tree and gives me a "chirp chirp".
It's not an aggressive nor angry expression. It's more like a "hello".
She's never flown at me, or made any angry, nor aggressive moves.
It's like she understands, that we share this property.
There was one across the street at my neighbor's house last year, that used to attack the couple who live there and their dog. Since they knocked that nest down, mine might even be the same bird.
Whenever I go in or out of the house, I talk low and gentle to her.
i.e. "Hello moma bird. How are you today ?"
When I do, she stops chirping and tilts her head, as if she is listening and trying to understand what I'm saying. If I walk to my car in the driveway, she will often follow and then fly into a tree near the car and chirp.
If I come back home later, she is often in the nest and we look eye to eye to each other, sometimes for a minute or so, perhaps 2 feet from each other and she doesn't fly at all until I open the front door. That happened again moments ago.
I went out today to check out the tulips & hyacinths I planted (they are doing great) and to inspect the veggies I planted. Spinach, radishes and leaf lettuce were all up last week. Today I noticed that scallions are now coming up.
For the first time, I also saw papa robin today. He flew into a tall tree and just watched me go into the house. Looking in the direction of the nest, while she was in the short tree more nearby me,
No chirping from him. I'm guessing if I made a move towards the nest, I might have been attacked by him.
The enforcer robin. I wouldn't be right to attack Batman.
(Not my photo)
Kentucky experiences highest spike in new Covid-19 cases after lockdown protests
Yesterday in The Hill;
In response to:
Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after protests against lockdown
This comes after a Louisville church filed a lawsuit against the state’s stay-at-home orders.
By Alexandra Kelley
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced in a press conference Sunday that 273 new cases of COVID-19 had emerged, the highest Beshear has announced so far. This brings the current state case count to 2,960, per the Kentucky Department of Health. And 148 fatalities have been reported.
In response to this figure, Beshear determined that the state will not reopen economic sectors or relax restrictions until there is a downward trajectory of reported cases for 14 days, in accordance with White House guidelines.
“We’re still in the midst of the fight,” Beshear said.
This comes after protests surged in Frankfort last week against Beshear’s restrictions, disrupting an evening news conference. The Lexington Herald-Leader noted that about 100 Kentuckians joined the protest, arguing that businesses needed to reopen after more than 500,000 Kentuckians filed for unemployment in March.
Local outlets report that at least 13 percent, or roughly 385, of COVID-19 cases have been recorded in nursing home residents. Beshear also told reporters Sunday that 33 additional residents have tested positive for the virus, as well as eight nursing home staffers.
Beshear noted that the state will need to increase testing and obtain more personal protective equipment (PPE) even if case numbers decline.
This follows news that Pastor Jack Roberts of the Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville filed a lawsuit against Beshear, claiming that enforcing a stay-at-home order on Easter violates the constitutional right to religious freedom. The church argued for Kentucky to allow in-person Christian services provided social distancing and hygienic rules are observed.
Beshear’s office put out a press release stating that anyone attending an in-person religious service during the coronavirus pandemic will be notified that it is a misdemeanor violation.
Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after protests against lockdown
This comes after a Louisville church filed a lawsuit against the state’s stay-at-home orders.
By Alexandra Kelley
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced in a press conference Sunday that 273 new cases of COVID-19 had emerged, the highest Beshear has announced so far. This brings the current state case count to 2,960, per the Kentucky Department of Health. And 148 fatalities have been reported.
In response to this figure, Beshear determined that the state will not reopen economic sectors or relax restrictions until there is a downward trajectory of reported cases for 14 days, in accordance with White House guidelines.
“We’re still in the midst of the fight,” Beshear said.
This comes after protests surged in Frankfort last week against Beshear’s restrictions, disrupting an evening news conference. The Lexington Herald-Leader noted that about 100 Kentuckians joined the protest, arguing that businesses needed to reopen after more than 500,000 Kentuckians filed for unemployment in March.
Local outlets report that at least 13 percent, or roughly 385, of COVID-19 cases have been recorded in nursing home residents. Beshear also told reporters Sunday that 33 additional residents have tested positive for the virus, as well as eight nursing home staffers.
Beshear noted that the state will need to increase testing and obtain more personal protective equipment (PPE) even if case numbers decline.
This follows news that Pastor Jack Roberts of the Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville filed a lawsuit against Beshear, claiming that enforcing a stay-at-home order on Easter violates the constitutional right to religious freedom. The church argued for Kentucky to allow in-person Christian services provided social distancing and hygienic rules are observed.
Beshear’s office put out a press release stating that anyone attending an in-person religious service during the coronavirus pandemic will be notified that it is a misdemeanor violation.
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