They Shall Not Grow Old

It starts tomorrow in a number of places.

Most highly recommended.

Concord Management is, Apparently, a Front for Russian Spooks

The Special Counsel’s office said in a court filing Wednesday that 1,000 sensitive files handed over during discovery to defense lawyers for the Russian company Concord Management—which is charged with financing interference efforts in the 2016 presidential election—were subsequently altered and released online “as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. political system.” The filing comes as part of Mueller’s effort to continue to restrict access to documents in the case against Concord, which has asked the court to allow it to share thousands of sensitive digital documents with company officers in Russia.

Mueller cited an October 2018 breach of the protective order placed on the discovery process where a newly created, Russia-linked Twitter account @HackingRedstone tweeted out: “We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!” The tweet included a link to a page that Mueller says included sensitive discovery documents that were structured in such a way that made it clear they were obtained after the Russia investigation had begun (and were not hacked before) and were not hacked from U.S. government computers. That leaves the defense team for Concord as the likely leak because the documents were only accessible under very narrow parameters, namely at the U.S. law offices of the firm representing Concord in the matter, Reed Smith LLP.

Mueller isn't accusing the defense lawyers from leaking the documents, but who else could have done it? Mueller is running the most airtight investigation in modern political history.

Unless the leak came from higher up in the DoJ, which would then implicate Matt Whatzizface, the guy Trump temporarily put in to replace Sessions.

Leaking sensitive documents does not make a judge happy. The judge already has made known her displeasure at the antics of the defense lawyers. Pissing off the judge is a high-risk move. It might create grounds for an appeal. It can also get one sanctions by the Bar.

More Heads Will Roll Soon

Directly contradicting President Donald Trump, U.S. intelligence agencies told Congress on Tuesday that North Korea is unlikely to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, that the Islamic State group remains a threat and that the Iran nuclear deal is working. The chiefs made no mention of a crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border for which Trump has considered declaring a national emergency.

Their analysis stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s almost singular focus on security gaps at the border as the biggest threat facing the United States.

Once it becomes clear to Presidente Bone Spurs that they pretty much think that he is full of shit, don't be surprised if he pushes some of them out the door.

Because to Trump, loyalty to Trump trumps the truth.

Make Your Reservations for the Last Helicopter from the American Embassy in Kabul

US and Taliban negotiators have agreed on a draft framework for a peace deal seeking to put an end to the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan, Washington's top negotiator has said.

US negotiators held six days of talks with the Taliban in Qatar last week.

The Afghan president has made a new call for direct talks with the Islamist group, but they have so far refused, dismissing the government as "puppets".

And so it goes, in a direction that has been obvious for over a decade.

The current government may last, for a time. But it will fall, eventually. If the incumbent Afghani leaders have learned the lesson of Najibullah Ahmadzai, they will not wait around to hand over the keys.

Another Wealthy Putz With No Political Experience Wants to be President

The former CEO of coffee chain Starbucks has said he is "seriously considering" running for president.

Howard Schultz, who stepped down as the firm's boss last year, says he is considering running as a centrist independent candidate in 2020.

Yeah, we've seen how well businessmen with no political experience have done as president since the dawn of the 20th Century (Hoover and Trump). The presidency is not the place to do an apprenticeship in politics.

An independent president will also have zero political clout on Capitol Hill. Such a president would have no claim of loyalty on any of the senators or representatives.

Besides that, third-party candidates have only ensured that the party candidate closer to them ideologically loses. Ross Perot cost GHW Bush his second term. Ralph Nader[1] cost Al Gore the presidency.

This is a pure vanity project by yet another ultra-rich clown.[2] If these guys are so smart, then why aren't they out finding a cure for cancer, or figuring a way to establish human settlements on Mars? Maybe he could take on desertification and deforestation.

But he won't. Those things would be hard. Schultz probably figures that all he has to do is spread a few billion around; he can hire enough people and buy enough good press to win. It worked for Trump. it worked for Bloomberg when he got the NYC Council to toss out term limits.

Schultz is a bored retiree. He should take up fly fishing or scrapbooking.
_____________________
[1] May his name forever be an obscenity.
[2] This is probably the better argument for going back to 1960s-70s level of taxation.

DJT = Slow Learner

Two days after the record-long shutdown ended, the White House made clear Sunday that President Donald Trump is prepared to shutter the government again without a border wall deal from Congress.

The shutdown that ended last Friday got Trump nothing, other than signs of Republican defections in Congress and declining poll numbers. Given that Trump has said that he's willing to shut down the government again (ie, take the mantle of), it will only be die-hard Fox News addicts who will buy that Trump won't be responsible.

The lower his polling goes, the more likely it will be that he will draw a primary challenger.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

Bell P-63 King Cobra:

Time to Ditch WhatsApp?

Facebook plans to integrate its messaging services on Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.

I suppose that this is good for Zuckerberg and Facebleech, but it's probably not good for anyone who uses WhatsApp for secure communications.

But then again, I have little trust of FB, to the point that I suspect that the "ten year challenge" is a disguised way to improve their facial recognition algorithms.

Trump is a Pervert

Yesterday, Trump told some really sicko lies. One was a bondage fantasy straight out of some X-rated porn mag:

Human traffickers — the victims are women and children. Maybe to a lesser extent, believe or not, children. Women are tied up. They’re bound. Duct tape put around their faces, around their mouths. In many cases, they can’t even breathe. They’re put in the backs of cars or vans or trucks. They don’t go through your port of entry. They make a right turn going very quickly. They go into the desert areas, or whatever areas you can look at. And as soon as there’s no protection, they make a left or a right into the United States of America. There’s nobody to catch them. There’s nobody to find them.

They can’t come through the port, because if they come through the port, people will see four women sitting in a van with tape around their face and around their mouth. Can’t have that.

No surprise... It's not true.

“Either he’s watching action films or he’s watching some other type of movie that involves handcuffs and tape over people’s mouths. But in neither case is it based in any reality of what individuals helping trafficking victims see,” said Lori Cohen, director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sanctuary for Families, a New York service provider for sex trafficking victims.

“His depiction of human trafficking is practically unrecognizable to those of us who have spent decades in the trenches combating these abuses,” said Martina Vandenberg, president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center.

“I have never had a case where someone’s mouth was taped up and they were brought across the border in the way the president described. Could it ever happen? Of course. But I’ve worked hundreds of human trafficking cases, and what the president describes, that’s just not what my life looks like in this work,” said Bridgette Carr, director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School.

This is one of Trump's big lies and he keeps repeating it.

He is one sick puppy.

Caturday

"Obey you??"

Feel Free to Photoshop Trump's Head Onto This

He'd probably like it as it makes him look thinner.

Being an Armed Robber Is a Hazardous Occupation

At the end of November, two critters put on their masked and attempted to rob a used-car dealer in Prospect, CT. One of the customers took exception to being robbed, shooting one robber dead.

The other critter fled. He was recently arrested on a bunch of charges.

The living criminal is 56. The dead one was 44. 56 is pretty old for living the Critter Life. Chances are he'll be in his eighties when he gets out. Assuming that he's found guilty or pleads out.

Trump is Barfing on the TeeVee

I turned on the TV to find Trump barfing one of his word-association screeds.

I gather that he's sort of caved on the government shutdown. He was losing and losing badly. I guess the plan is to get legislation to him quickly before the little voices on the TV begin yelling at him. It's worth noting that the deal Trump is announcing is pretty much the same thing that he had initially agreed to six weeks ago, before the people on Fox yelled at him. So Federal worker were out for nearly five weeks for no goddamned good reason.

But then he got into some sort of incomprehensible crap about human-trafficking and how smugglers are driving vans of women across the open desert. He said that human trafficking is the worst that it's been in human history.

Oh, really? Has he ever heard of slavery? The importation of slaves into the U.S. was outlawed in 1808. Nobody knows for sure, because slavers didn't keep good records, but something over 50,000 slaves were imported into the U.S. between 1808 and the beginning of the Civil War. Importing slaves was made a death-penalty, but only one slave-ship captain was hung and that was after the war had begun.

It takes a goodly amount of willful ignorance to pretend to not know of that infamous chapter of American history. But acknowledging any of that would upset the "noble cause" loons that make up a good portion of Trump's base.

Why did Trump cave? Maybe because LGA shut down due to a shortage of controllers? Possibly the real possibility of the airlines being grounded got to him?

Nobody knows. But since Trump has a very long history of going back on his word, nothing is done until he pick up his crayon and signs the bill.

Because It's Friday

Connecticut Valley RR:

Dear White Guys: Nobody "Owes" You Sex

A Colorado man who raged online about his virginity threatened to kill “as many girls as I see,” leading police to fear he was targeting a nearby Women’s March event.

[Asswipe], 27, was arrested Saturday after writing a long Facebook diatribe about being a virgin and wanting to become “the next mass shooter.” [Asswipe] told police he was just venting, but he was already on probation from a 2018 conviction for stalking and making a repeated communication of domestic violence.

Asswipe apparently is one of those guys who, however unintentionally, uses his personality as a method of birth control. My guess would be that he approaches any potential dating situation with a sense of entitlement.

Nobody, not even Matthew McConaughey or Sean Connery, is entitled to sex.

Pelosi Wasn't "Bluffing", Morons

The maneuvering began last week when Pelosi sent a letter to Trump suggesting that he either deliver the speech in writing or postpone it until after the partial government shutdown is resolved, citing security concerns. But she stopped short of denying him the forum. Now the White House, in essence, is calling her bluff.

A "bluff" is when you make a statement, a bet, a threat on which you can't make good. But if you can make good on it, it's not a bluff.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she will block President Trump from delivering the State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government reopens, rejecting the president’s demand to deliver the speech on Jan. 29.

In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said she would not move forward with the legislative steps needed for the address to take place.

It was Trump who was bluffing, saying he'd speechify from the House chamber anyway. But he can't do that, which he finally conceded.

They Shall Not Grow Old Earns a Wider Release

Warner Bros. Pictures is widening the front for Peter Jackson’s widely acclaimed World War I documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old.” The studio will expand the release of the film to 500 theatres across 150 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada, beginning on Friday, February 1, 2019, with special pre-shows the evening before.The reasoning is pretty clear. On Monday, for the "event showing", it was the #4 movie nationwide. For a documentary, the movie is a serious hit.

I say this with no reservations whatsoever: If you haven't eeen it, go see it.

White Privilege: None Call It Terrorism

Greece [NY] Police arrested 20-year-old [Asswipe-1] of Gates, 18-year-old [Asswipe-2] of East Rochester, 19-year-old [Asswipe-3] of Greece, and a 16-year-old [Asswipe] Odyssey Academy student.

The young men are accused of targeting Holy Islamberg, a rural community in the Catskills just four hours away.

All four asswipes are being charged with weapons and conspiracy offenses..

You can bet your ass if four idiots from Islamberg were arrested for plotting to shoot up some town, they'd have been hit with terrorism in a matter of picoseconds.

Kompromat, Bribery or Naivety?

The World Anti-Doping Agency straddled the wide gulf between vindication and capitulation Tuesday, agreeing to keep Russia’s anti-doping operation in business after receiving much-sought-after lab data that could be used to prosecute hundreds of cheaters.

It is beyond dispute that the Russians ran a state-directed doping regime. If WADA seriously believes that the data that they got from the Russians is trustworthy, then they are dumber than they look.

They Shall Not Grow Old

I have just returned from seeing it.

Unless you are completely dead to history and to the point that of all the wars of the last five hundred years, the First World War and its aftermath did more to shape the world we are in than any other, this is a must-see.

Scrooge McDonalds Serves Up a Nothing Burger

President Donald Trump sought to break the government shutdown impasse Saturday, offering to extend protections for young people brought to the country illegally as children, if Democrats give him $5.7 billion for his long-promised border wall. But Democrats dismissed the offer as non-starter, calling on Trump to re-open the government first.

It was Trump who first tried to yank protection for the Dreamers, because protectng the Dreams was an Obama thing and if there is one certainty with Trump, whatever Obama was for, Trump is against-- which is the reflexive nay-saying of an unrepentant toddler.

Last year, Trump offered to extend temporary protection for the Dreamers for his full $25 billion for the Ignoble Wall of Trump. The Democrats countered with being willing to fund the IWoT if Trump would agree to a path to citizenship for the Dreamers. That smacked too much of amnesty for the Republicans, so the deal died.

Trump seems to be wholly unwilling to climb down from his figure of $5.7 billion, a number he couldn't get to when the Republicans controlled the House of Representatives. He's not getting $5.7 billion for his IWoT; Trump's been trading his claim to be a master negotiator to that of a hostage-taker.

Oh, sure, Republicans and their fellow-travelers bleat that the Democrats are to blame for the shutdown. But remember this:

"I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country. So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it." -- Trump, 12/11/18

Trump's a real estate guy. He ought to know that not budging from the asking price only works if the other party has to make a deal. The Democrats don't have to make one, since the blame for the shutdown rests with Trump, as he said in his own words.

Unfit to Sail, Unfit to Fight

Between a crew that was not properly trained to operate the ship's equipment and equipment that didn't function, the USS Fitzgerald was a disaster waiting to happen.

The unstated fact is that the Navy has too few ships to meet the commitments that the admirals say they can fill. That's why ships are putting to see with critical safety and navigation equipment that is broken. That's why thy're sailing with crews that haven't been properly trained.

Somebody needs to say "we can't do this, boss." Hanging a few lieutenants out to dry won't fix a damned thing.

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

Boeing 720:

The 720 was a variant of the 707 that was designed for shorter range and shorter runways. It was pretty much a short-term solution to the problem of bringing jet service to airports with runways that were good for piston-engined airliners, at least until the 727s and 737s were introduced.

Caturday

You're so vain....

Warm Up the Impeachment Engines

President* Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.
...
The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.

Trump's assertion that this is nothing more than another Cohen lie is as false as they come. As the story said, it wasn't Cohen that first raised the point that Rump suborned perjury.

This is as impeachable as it gets.

Update: The Special Counsel's office says that the story "is not accurate." Which, as any decent pettifogger will point out, is a long way away from saying that "it is not true."

Because It's Friday

A documentary about the end of steam in Canada:

Delusional Donnie

House Democrats refused to participate in a Tuesday afternoon meeting with President* Donald Trump, dashing the White House’s long-shot hopes of convincing moderates to circumvent their leaders and reach a grand bargain to reopen the government.

The House Democrats know what Trump refuses to admit: That they are now the majority party in the House because Trump did his best to make the mid-term election about him and he lost, bigly. So what incentive do they have to go around their leaders to talk to Trump?

Maybe he planned to serve them room-temperature/rotting hamberders?

Here's the original tweet deleted by Donald Trump #hamberders 😂 screenshot a motherfuker ✌️ pic.twitter.com/USVXY59Ynq

— PrettyTonyGlobal (@PrettyTGlobal) January 16, 2019

On another note, the White House Mess (where the staff eats) is run by the Navy. They're not on shutdown. So Trump could have given the Clemson players some decent food. But if there has been a president wh has had less class and grace than Trump, his name eludes my mind.

Powerless King

Republican Rep. Steve King will be blocked from committee assignments for the next two years after lamenting that white supremacy and white nationalism have become offensive terms.

King is done in the House. With no committee assignments and being a member of the minority party, nobody in the House will give a cockroach-fuck what King wants. In all probability, any attempts that he makes to intervene on behalf of his constituents will be ignored.

He has, effectively, been removed from the House of Representatives. If he cared about his constituents, he'd resign.

Trump, uncharacteristically, has been keeping his mouth shut. He says that he knows nothing about it. That, of course, is a lie. Trump watches about eight hours of TV a day. He knows what are the hot stories. He’s probably the sole news junkie in the country who doesn't know what King said.

Trump's silence stems not from ignorance, but from his racism. He's been dancing with the American Nazis ever since he grabbed the reins of the "birther movement". Unlike some other Republicans, Trump uses an air horn, not a dog whistle.

Ten and One Hundred Years Ago

100 years ago, the Great Molasses Flood happened in Boston. The dead ranged from two ten year-old childen to a 78 year-old messenger.

Ten years ago, the "Miracle on the Hudson" happened when the pilots of USAir flight 1549 ditched the airplane in the Hudson River after both engines were shelled from ingesting geese. There were no fatalities, other than the geese.

I suspect that the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, has probably been somewhat uncomfortable with the "hero pilot" appellation. For one thing, the days of "the captain is a god" have long passed for all American (and most Western) airlines. The pilots are a team. Jeffrey Skiles, the First Officer, deserves as much credit as Sullenberger. So do the flight attendants, who got everyone out alive. In fact, the person who suffered the worst injury was a flight attendant. (Sullenberger recognizes this and mentions them almost every time he can.)

The fact that nobody died also has a lot to do with the captains of the ferries and other boats that went to the floating airplane and got everyone off the airplanes wings and the rafts. It was a cold day; without those rescues, people would have died of hypothermia.

There were a lot of people who responded to save lives that day.

The Closs Case

All I have to say about the Closs case is that it's too bad that Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

Deadlock

Trump has been, in essence, claiming that he has a mandate to build his Great Wall of Trump because he won the 2016 election.

The Democrats are claiming, in essence, that they have a mandate to block Trump's edifice complex because they took the House of Representatives in the 2018 election.

Both sides have valid points.

So, where do we go from here? Trump is going to have to back off his inflexible demand for $5.7 billion. The Democrats are going to have to give him something, but since Trump has spurned smaller offers without climbing down from his initial demand, there's little reason for Democrats to budge.

Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has pulled his head into his shell.

And so it goes.

Yep, You Can Place a Heavy Bet: Trump Worked for Russia

President* Donald Trump avoided directly answering when asked whether he currently is or has ever worked for Russia after a published report said law enforcement officials, concerned about his behavior after he fired FBI Director James Comey in 2017, had begun investigating that possibility.

Trump said it was the “most insulting” question he’d ever been asked.

"How dare you ask me that question, I've never been so insulted in my life" is textbook evasion. It almost always seems that when someone goes down that route, the answer to the question, eventually, is "yes."

Your Sunday Morning Rotor Noise

Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane water bombers:

"Thank You, I'll Be Flying This Route All Week. Try the Peanuts and Don't Forget to Tip Your Flight Attendant."

For many, tipping workers such as waitstaff, hairdressers or taxi drivers is expected. But one airline is asking passengers to tip their individual flight attendants, too.

When passengers on budget carrier Frontier Airlines buy in-flight food or drinks, they'll now find a space on their payment tablet to leave a tip for the flight attendant that served them. This change was effective Jan. 1. Previously, any tips were pooled.

Flight attendants are, first and foremost, there for safety. The number of FAs on a flight are dictated by Federal regulations. Even private flights need FAs if there are enough people on board.

Which means, by regulation, FAs are not there primarily to serve coffee and cater to passengers. They're not supposed to be working for tips.

So, fuck Frontier and all the greed-headed boobs who are running that airline.

Caturday

Chip is content on a cold winter's eve:

"Border-Lying Personality Disorder"

Colbert's opening credits last night.

Heh. Heh. Heh.

Because It's Friday

"Tracks to the Trenches:"

Many of the trench railways used the Decauville system of prefabricated tracks in 600mm gauge. Gas-powered locomotives were preferred, as steam locomotives caught the eye of the observers in the Boche observation balloons; attention that was soon followed by artilery fire.

Is Your Area Recovering From a Natural Disaster? Trump Says: "Fuck You."

President* Donald Trump has been briefed on a plan that would use the Army Corps of Engineers and a portion of $13.9 billion of Army Corps funding to build 315 miles of barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the briefing.

The money was set aside to fund projects all over the country including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico through fiscal year 2020, but the checks have not been written yet and, under an emergency declaration, the president could take the money from these civil works projects and use it to build the border wall, said officials familiar with the briefing and two congressional sources.

So Trump is going to take money that has been allocated to deal with real crises so that he can deal with his fantasy crisis.

For the sake of argument, say I'm president in 2025. I declare a national health care emergency, cancel the rest of the F-35 program and reallocate the money for Medicare for all. What's to stop me? Trump would have already set the precedent that all a president has to do is declare a national emergency and he can assume near-dictatorial spending powers.

The Republicans in the Senate, presumably, are aware of this. Trump, by discussing using dictatorial powers, is slowly poisoning the jury for his impeachment trial. There may still be enough GOP senators who are more loyal to their country, to the Constitution, then they are to Trump, for a conviction. These sort of shenanigans are making that more possible.

I say this: If you are for what Trump plans to do, then you should relocate to a place where such things are the norm. Like Russia or North Korea.

By the way, consider this: It is not inconceivable that the officers who would carry out such an order may be prosecuted for obeying an illegal order. "We were just following orders" has not been a valid defense since 1945.

"They Shall Not Grow Old"

They Shall Not Grow Old is a documentary about World War One by Peter Jackson It the States, it has had a theater showing on December 17th and 27th.

It will be shown again on January 21st.

I plan to see it.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous?
Just blow your nose, and dry your tears,
We'll all be back in a few short years,
Hinky, dinky, parlez-vous.

They were more correct than they knew.

ABC-TV: Stuck in the '90s.

So far, ABC has "news specials" on the Bobbits (happened in 1993), the death of JFK, Jr. (1999) and Linda Tripp's betrayal of Monica Lewinsky (1996).

What the fuck, ABC? Why are you guys poaching on the History Channel's turf? What's next: Two hours on the last days of Judge Crater?

Shorter Trump: "zOMG!!1! Illegal Aliens Are Coming to Kill Us in Our Bedz!!1!" And More

As I guessed, Trump's speech was pretty much fact-free. Border crossings are at a nearly historic low.

Contrary to Trump's lies, most drugs are smuggled through (or bribed through) ports of entry, not hauled on foot over the border. Fentanyl is shipped in from China. Illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes on a per capita basis than American citizens (and most of those crimes are nonviolent offenses).

So, pretty much any way you slice it, Trump sent his time lying and blowing his racist steam-whistle.

On another note: Postal rates are going up on the 27th. Firs-class stamps are going up five cents (10%). But if you routinely send out stuff over an ounce, the additional postage is dropping from 2.1¢ to 15¢

Build the Wall and Make Canada Pay for It!

A comment made by BadTux deserves to be emphasized:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered only six immigrants at ports of entry on the U.S-Mexico border in the first half of fiscal year 2018 whose names were on a federal government list of known or suspected terrorists, according to CBP data provided to Congress in May 2018 and obtained by NBC News.
...
On the northern border, CBP stopped 91 people listed in the database, including 41 who were not American citizens or residents.

So, fifteen times as many possible terrorists attempted to cross our northern land border (with Canada) than tried to cross our southern land border (with Mexico).

So why are Trump and the Right so focused on securing the southern border while ignoring a greater threat to the north?

Two obvious answers come to mind: Trump and his supporters are uninformed (and resistant to being informed) and/or racism.

Oh, and speaking of racism:

The four major networks have not had a consistent policy when it comes to airing presidential addresses on immigration. They aired President George W. Bush’s prime-time address on immigration in 2006, but did not air one by President Barack Obama in 2014.

Trump's TV Address Tomorrow Night

All major networks on Monday confirmed that they will air President Trump's Oval Office address on the government shutdown live, after some initial uncertainty over how the organizations would handle the speech.

I don't know what to make of it. It could range from "I resign, effective noon tomorrow" to "I am declaring martial law, suspending the Constitution and dissolving the Congress."

What I am more sure of is that, as of Wednesday morning, censure and lawsuits, if not impeachment, will be under way. What I am certain of is that damn near every word that is spoken by Trump in his speech will be a lie, including the articles, the conjunctions, and the punctuation that appears in the transcripts.

But whichever happens, count on me not to watch. I don't need to be reminded that the voters of this nation elected that ignorant and amoral buffoon.

Syria: Trump Bangs a Uey

U.S. troops will not leave northeastern Syria until Islamic State militants are defeated and American-allied Kurdish fighters are protected, a top White House aide said Sunday, signaling a pause to a withdrawal abruptly announced last month and initially expected to be completed within weeks.

While U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said there is now no timetable, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to withdrawing U.S. troops, though the president said “we won’t be finally pulled out until ISIS is gone.”

That is a full reversal from Trump's declaration of twelve days ago that ISIS was defeated and that all American troops in Syria are coming home "now", a proclamation that Trump made after talking to his fellow autocrat, Turkish president Erdogan.

Of course, Trump's never going to admit that he reversed himself. But he sure as shit did.

The Candidate of Wall Street?

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, is reaching out to Wall Street executives to gauge potential support if she were to run for president in 2020, CNBC has learned.

Gillibrand has personally been working the phones and calling senior executives at Wall Street firms in recent weeks to see whether they would back her campaign if she jumps into the race, according to two senior business leaders who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Oh, Gillibrand's staffers may say that she'll rely on small donors, but passing the hat around the banksters just opens her up to be creamed by Warren and Sanders.

But Wall Street shouldn't think that they can buy her. Gillibrand's pretty much a political turncoat; she will change her positions at the drop of a hat.

(H/T)

Your Sunday Morning JetProp Noise

Lockheed P-3C

If Trump Does This; Then It's Time to Impeach Him

But when asked whether he had considered using emergency presidential powers to bypass congressional approval of funding, Mr Trump said he had.

"I may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly. That's another way of doing it."

The Congress appropriates money and decides on what to spend it. The President doesn't have that authority under the Constitution. When there has been a true national emergency, the Congress can move very quickly.

If Trump declares a "national emergency" to get around a political dispute, then that would be the action of an autocrat. If the Right supports Trump for doing that, then we all will know that the Right's devotion to the Constitution depends on who is the president at the time (just like their devotion to reducing Federal deficits).

If Trump does try to invoke a national emergency because he can't get his way, he should be impeached, convicted and removed from office forthwith. Everyone who would then oppose an impeachment/conviction would show that they are loyal to Trump and not to the nation.

Man Who Has Never Earned a Paycheck Thinks They're Not Important

When he was asked about the government workers who don’t know when their next paycheck will arrive, he had no difficulty imagining that they loved him and what he was doing. “This really does have a higher purpose than next week’s pay,” Trump said. Putting himself in their shoes for a moment, he said, “I think they’d say, ‘Mr. President, keep going. This is far more important.’ ”

While some landlords and banks may be willing to cut government workers some slack for now, that won't last. They're not going to be able to take IOUs to the grocery store or the gas station.

Trump has never worked for anyone else in his life. He has no idea what it is like to be a paycheck or three from being broke.

More than that, Trump regards anyone who does work for a paycheck as a disposable, interchangable chump. He triples that disregard for government workers. Sooner or later, you're going to see the workers on furlough getting other jobs and those who are working without pay instituting wildcat slowdowns and sickouts.

So this may be a good time to revise your travel plans to either not go or drive.

Bye, Herb

Herb Kelleher has died. He was 87.

You can read the obits at the links to get a lot of details about his life. If you fly any, you'll know the differences between Southwest and its competitors (especially that they don't charge for checking two bags).

I have been on a few of their competitors. Some of their employees have all of the cheerfulness and politeness of convicts out on work-release. In contrast, on my many trips on SWA, I have only come across one employee (a gate agent at BWI) who seemed to be having a bad day. I now only fly their competition for transcontinental flights and for flight to places where either SWA doesn't go or they don't go there when I need to fly.

All of that can be traced back to Herb Kelleher. I hope they don't lose hi spirit.

Caturday

Bella

It's always fun to try and get a decent photo of a black cat.

Because It's Friday

Making Steam the Royal Navy way:

Oh, the Humanity; Doughnut Ed.

A Krispy Kreme truck caught fire, so the krispy kremes became krispy kritters:

The cops, of course, were goofing around. Going along with the gag, Krispy Kreme gave the cops 20 dozen free doughnuts.

1932: Massacre of Cops

87 years ago, the Young brothers, in Brookline, MO, killed six cops who had come to arrest them. The brothers fled to Texas and died in a shootout with cops there.

A "docudrama" was released in 2018, but from the ratings, it apparently sucks.

Tarawa

"With the Marines at Tarawa", which won an Oscar in 1945:

Tarawa was one of the most brutal battles fought by Americans in the war, given that the battle was fought over a small, heavily fortified island (under 400 acres) in three days.

It might have been a loss if the Japanese commander, Rear Admiral Shibazaki, hadn't been killed by shellfire in the opening hours of the battle. Between the death of Shibazaki and the disruption of Japanese internal communications by the pre-invasion bombardment, the Japanese did not mount a night counterattack on the first day, when the Marines still had smallish beachheads.

PETCO: Your CEO Can Go and Eat a Bag of Dicks

I went to a local Petco to buy a bag of cat food. There was a guy at the register who was buyng a big bag of Purina-something dog food. The clerk informed the customer that, come May, Petco won't be carrying Purina dog food because the food has too many artificial ingredients to suit the CEO's sensibilities (my take on it).

Slick move, guys. You know who carries Purina? Most other pet stores and, of course Wal-Mart. There is a super-Wally-Woild about three miles from that one Petco. Target's just up the street.

News flash, Mister CEO: Not everyone can afford pricey all-natural holistic food for their critters. So your plan is to encourage your customers who buy cheaper grades of pet food to go shop elsewhere; people coming in to buy a $15 or so bag of dry dog food are not going to buy a $35 dollar bag of yuppie-grade dog food.

But hey, if you want to send some of your customers elsewhere because your sensibilities are offended, knock yerself out.