zaphod reborn

Article 5 of the NATO mutual defense treaty has been invoked once - to attack Al Qaeda in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attack on the U.S.  While it is acceptable for Trump to use proper diplomatic channels to focus on NATO contributors who are not on track to meet their 2024 goals, attacking NATO is counterproductive and clearly at the bidding of Putin who wants to create divisiveness. 

1 hour ago, Beats56 said:

Can't Watch TV? ? Come on that's crazy.

Do you comprehend that there may be severe pyschological consequences from watching the international attention generated by the media?  You don't know how the boys will react.  There could be tremendous feelings of guilt, depression or stress for the boys.  It's better to let them be evaluated, let the media attention die down, and then allow them to watch TV, but probably avoid too much news coverage.

2 hours ago, whatsupdoc said:

As I understood, 9 judges at the supreme court is not a given (apparently there used to be more in the past). The next (Democratic) president might appoint additional judges (if he/she has the backing of the senate).

That would be fun!

Yes, court packing is possible, but 9 justices was established by the Judiciary Act of 1869.  Changing a law that has been on the books for 150 years is not easy.  The number of justices had been set by legislation in 1789 and again in 1802, prior to that.

I know nothing about this film and will never see it.  But I love this song - having seen both Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) play in Bangkok.

4 hours ago, sweatalot said:

sounds like a not uncommon error in (self) diagnosis. Suffered from angina pectoris and took it for heartburn

Quote

His wife, Wassana Jinla, told police that her husband had been suffering from stomach acidity but he had stopped seeing doctors recently.

It wasn't self-diagnosis.  He had a chronic condition.  It could be angina petroris, bleeding ulcer, or cancer and he probably decided against further medical treatment, as often occurs in Thailand, due to the unaffordable medical costs (you don't get all medical services free - surgery has quite a cost even at a government hospital).

52 minutes ago, riclag said:

Presidents pick'em . The Senate  approves them!. If they don't get approved ,then the President chooses another... It's in our laws (C). It's worked for over 200 + years!!

Except that McConnell broke the system in 2016 by refusing to allow the Senate to hold confirmation hearings and a vote on Garland and imposing the nuclear option for the Gorsuch nomination so that confirmation only required a simple majority (usually 50 in favor, rather than 60).  Obama could have challenged McConnell in court, and, according to Dershowitz, would have won on Constitutional grounds.  However, Obama was a wimp, and Gorsuch was the result.

RIP.  He probably had internal bleeding from an ulcer or cancer and his stomach acid was causing him unbearable pain.

Just now, pegman said:

Trump thinks this is his "Stay out of jail judge" pick.

Exactly, and he is probably miscalculating on this single-issue litmus test.  Kavanaugh was involved in the Ken Starr investigation of Clinton's BJ and the perjury charge which arose from that.  Each time the issue of criminal charges has arisen in the last 50 years, the OLC has issued guidance to the DOJ on handling of the charges.  The prior Presidents (Nixon and Clinton) had relatively minor charges, obstruction of justice and perjury.  When Nixon was ordered by SCOTUS to release tapes there would have been much more serious criminal charges, but Nixon resigned shortly thereafter and was given a full pardon by Ford, so no criminal charges arose.  Kavanaugh opined that Clinton's perjury charge didn't outweigh the importance of his executive branch duties, so he could only be impeached, and not indicted.

Trump's crimes are a whole other animal.  He will be charged with a conspiracy to bribe, launder money, and commit fraud to circumvent campaign finance laws.  He also will be found to have been compromised by Russian influence, due to the massive amount of money laundering he was doing for Russian oligarchs. SCOTUS would have a difficult time either requiring impeachment prior to indictment, or allowing Trump to pardon himself and his co-conspirators, which includes his sons, Kushner, Manafort, and Stone.

Frankly, Kavanaugh was the most qualified selection on Trump's final four, so I don't object to his confirmation.  Elections have consequences, even if the electoral system was tilted in Trump's favor by Comey and the Russians. 

On 7/4/2018 at 11:04 AM, Topdoc said:

zaphod reborn wrote:  "Putin flexing his muscles prior to his summit with Trump.  Trump will be best served by eating at McDonalds in Helsinki, as he is the ultimate witness in Putin's election tampering scheme."

 

Wow! Talk about jumping to conclusions. 

Well, I guess my conclusion was correct.  https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1046379-uk-counter-terrorism-chief-says-two-people-in-wiltshire-poisoned-with-novichok-nerve-agent/

That's the problem with social media.  We've lost the ability to rationally and logically connect the dots, instead shouting out "fake news" and "conspiracy theory" when we are too lazy to take in all the news sources and think for ourselves.

12 hours ago, neeray said:

McDonals is absolutely the most advisable food for trump on this trip with “buddy”. I think he should enjoy multiple double cheeseburgers dripping in grease, morning, noon, dinner and before bed snack. Some greasy, well salted fries would go well with the burgers. And lots of Coke. 

In case you didn't know, Trump prefers eating at fast food restaurants to lower his risk of being poisoned.  He has been running a Russian-styled organized crime ring for most of his life, and knows from Putin how crime family members who no longer have value are eliminated.

Putin flexing his muscles prior to his summit with Trump.  Trump will be best served by eating at McDonalds in Helsinki, as he is the ultimate witness in Putin's election tampering scheme.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"I am not a villain of this story and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way."

Cohen is a monster and a villain, and if he claims he isn't, it is only because in relative terms, Trump, Trump's clan and campaign staff were much worse monsters.  Only one audio tape of Cohen in his "work mode" has been aired and it proves that his license to practice law should have been yanked by the NY State Bar Association years ago.  There are presumably thousands of these audio recordings which have now been turned over to the SDNY US Attorney's Office.  Cohen is toast, but it will be interesting to see if he will honestly fess up to his shenanigans while he was attempting to get Putin's blessing to develop the Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign and his work for Trump which mostly consisted of laundering Russian money through purchase of Trump condos by Russian oligarchs.

8 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

All 9 individuals on Trump's list are infinity qualified although the name Mike Lee is head and shoulders above the rest. 

Trump only has a 1 issue litmus test: get me off the impending Russiagate charges.  He doesn't care about anything else.  The presidency has always been about him, not America.

The Hawaii AG should not have relied on religious discrimination to overturn the ban, as the 3rd rewrite of the ban had removed the religious test (Indonesia , SA not included, Venezuela and N. Korea included).  They should have tested the  sufficiency of the "national security" justification, which is a Congressional creation, and is also used as presidential authority for the imposition of tarriffs.

Not much of a peace plan without Palestinian participation.