quote:

Iran’s currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full US sanctions.

Wow! When I was stationed in Tehran 1969-1971, the exchange rate was 75 Rials to the Dollar. Of course, the Shah was still in power there at that time, and we had friendly relations with the country.

flashguy

Joey D 7/30/18



Description

INTERVIEW - JOE DIGENOVA - legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

MUELLER PROBE

>> Rudy Giuliani: Deal to have Trump sit down with Robert Mueller could happen next week (Washington Examiner) -- Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney for Donald Trump, said the president may reach an agreement regarding a meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller this week or next week. “We have negotiations going on with them, we have an outstanding offer to them,” Giuliani said on CBS’ "Face the Nation," declining to describe what that offer entails. However, he said there “is an area of questioning and a group of restrictions on it that we could live with.” Giuliani said it relates “basically to the Russia collusion thing, which we think there’s no evidence and the president didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Maybe this week, maybe next week,” Giuliani said when asked when an interview would be set.

>> Trump publicly accuses Robert Mueller of having conflicts of interest. President Trump pressured special counsel Robert Mueller to release information regarding alleged conflicts of interest. (Washington Examiner) -- "Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend," Trump wrote in a series of tweets Sunday, referring to himself in the third person.

SCOTUS

>> Ruth Bader Ginsburg: I’ve got ‘at least five more years’ *(NY Post) -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said on Sunday that she hopes to stay on the bench for another 5 years. Ginsburg was speaking in Manhattan following the performance of a play about the late Justice Antonin Scalia when she made the estimate. “I’m now 85,” Ginsburg said, according to CNN. “My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To pile on, JALLEN, where was the media outrage over this??

If anyone needed a good laugh today, take a look at this piece from some clown at the NYT named David Leonhardt. These people are hilarious...President Warren and VP Holder? LMAO!

quote:

In the end, it was a lot simpler than it often seemed.

Donald J. Trump, who spent much of the past four years as a historically unpopular president, lost his bid for re-election Tuesday. His approval rating hasn’t approached 50 percent since he took office, and neither did his share of the vote this year.

In an era of deep national anxiety — with stagnant wages, rickety health insurance and aggressive challenges from China and Russia — voters punished an incumbent president who failed on his central promise: “I alone can fix it.”

Since he rode down the Trump Tower escalator to announce his candidacy five years ago, Trump has frequently looked like a man for whom the normal rules of politics did not apply. He won a shocking upset in 2016, which lent him an aura of invincibility. Pundits started to doubt much of what they had previously believed.

But as Trump seethed — and tweeted — in defeat late Tuesday and President-elect Elizabeth Warren celebrated, the arc of the Trump story is starting to make more sense than it has for much of his chaotic presidency…

How Trump Lost Re-election in 2020

Rand Paul says he will support Kavanaugh.


"After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination. No one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee however, must be judged on the totality of their views character and opinions."

Just listen to these howling maniacs of the press in the Oval Office! Disgusting and embarrassing-- you can see the Italian Prime Minister squirm. Trump just glowers at them as they are ushered out.

One day he might just ban them from the White House. But I think he is wise to let them put themselves on display for all to see-- howling and yammering. It sounds like Bedlam. Bring out the hoses! Is there a more hateful group in America?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...nue=18&v=626LhaP3pj8

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Rand Paul says he will support Kavanaugh.

Delay is untenable when the stakes are this high.

Confirm today - Tomorrow never gets here.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
John Hinderaker, Powerline:
Is Donald Trump a foreign policy genius? I assume not. But still: if he were, how would his moves over the last 18 months be different?

If Donald Trump were a genius, he would have sent the mad mullahs pallets stacked with billions of dollars in cash. Because that is what geniuses do. Duh.

Rasmussen Presidential approval at 48% today.

Good news

White House chief of staff John Kelly told staff on Monday that President Trump had asked him to remain in his post through the 2020 election

Mr. Kelly told staff he agreed to the president’s request

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Good news

White House chief of staff John Kelly told staff on Monday that President Trump had asked him to remain in his post through the 2020 election

Mr. Kelly told staff he agreed to the president’s request

What?

What about all those leaked stories about Kelly getting the boot, quitting in disgust, etc?

Well well well. Getting closer. Gonna be a good week.

quote:

What Are the FBI and CIA Hiding?
The agency might have led the bureau down a rabbit hole in the 2016 Trump counterintelligence probe.

Although the FBI’s case officially began July 31, 2016, there had been investigative activity before that date. John Brennan’s CIA might have directed activity in Britain, which could be a problem because of longstanding agreements that the U.S. will not conduct intelligence operations there. It would explain why the FBI continues to stonewall Congress as to the inquiry’s origin.

Author is a retired fbi special agent
https://www.wsj.com/articles/w...ia-hiding-1533078662

President Trump tweet (today):

“FBI Agent Peter Strzok (on the Mueller team) should have recused himself on day one. He was out to STOP THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP. He needed an insurance policy. Those are illegal, improper goals, trying to influence the Election. He should never, ever been allowed to........

.....remain in the FBI while he himself was being investigated. This is a real issue. It won’t go into a Mueller Report because Mueller is going to protect these guys. Mueller has an interest in creating the illusion of objectivity around his investigation.” ALAN DERSHOWITZ....

..This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!

Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for me for a very short time. Why didn’t government tell me that he was under investigation . These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion - a Hoax!

American Spectator
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

Washington

It has been a pretty good week for Donald Trump. The economy is growing faster than anyone on the left or in the middle or among the Never Trumpers believed possible. Inflation is low and employment is at record highs. Moreover, the President and the European Union reached an understanding on trade last week that signals the likely end of a trade war, at least with Europe. Ferocious fires continue to burn out of control on the California countryside, yet no one has had the temerity to blame the fires on the President or even on Melania.

President Trump has been compared to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Benito Mussolini, and, of course, Richard Nixon by his critics. Thus far the President has not been compared to Stalin by them, but one would not expect it. Many of them still have a warm spot in their hearts for Stalin or “Uncle Joe” as FDR was given to calling the vaunted Man of Steel. Over the weekend I am told the President was also compared to a mafia Don by Maureen Dowd, though I have not verified the comparison as I no longer find la Dowd amusing to read. Yet as I go to press, the President has not been blamed for the California fires or even for Leslie Moonves’ problems with women, many of whom have now apparently changed their minds about his good intentions, in some cases after decades of reflection. Good show, Mr. President! Stay out of California and the Moonves business.

Actually, the news about our President gets even better. Apparently Mr. A.G. Sulzberger, the hereditary publisher of the New York Times, had lunch with him in the White House on July 20 — I do hope his presidential advisers were nearby to counsel him on the proper use of his cutlery. At any rate, Sulzberger has informed the American public via an official New York Times edict that he notified the President “that his [the President’s] language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous.” And Sulzberger went on to warn his host that “this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence.” He gave this lecture despite the fact that most of the violence by far has been against Trump supporters and even against Republican office holders, for instance Senator Rand Paul and several congressmen, most notably Congressman Steve Scalise. What planet does Sulzberger inhabit?

There is an aura of the surreal about the world inhabited by this earnest striver, Sulzberger, and of course la Dowd and all the rest of the goody-goodies equating Donald Trump with everything from brutal tyranny to deadly bacterium to poison ivy. They have championed every form of lout from the mild, say illegal immigrants, to the criminal, say rapists and murderers, to authors of genocide, say the aforementioned Stalin, that fat little butterball of a butcher Mao Zedong, and Fidel Castro whose historic funeral ride across progressive Cuba a few years back was interrupted when the vehicle bearing his body — it looked like a forty-year-old jeep — broke down in the countryside and had to be pushed by a few of his yokels to some repair shop for a new set of spark plugs or perhaps a new rubber band.

These last three psychopaths have never, as far as I can tell, been compared to Donald Trump. They have all three been compared to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Jesus, and other exemplars, but never Trump. To the tiny brain of a Hollywoodian or a progressive Democrat or a hamster, all three are towering figures. All the mystery and hocus-pocus that surrounds their aura entrances these simpletons. As was said of their equivalents back in the ancient days of the Russian Revolution by one or the other of the Webbs — I think it was Beatrice: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.”

What is amazing about the Trump critics is not that they exist. They always exist. But that they are so plenteous and have risen to positions of influence even outside Hollywood, the media, and what passes for culture in America today. Oh sure, their views rarely take on much puissance even when they are spotted at work in the fields of commerce, the courts, high tech, medicine and so forth, but it is a little startling to see them running large companies, say Facebook or Google.

All I can say is that the great majority of Americans pay them little attention. The American majority sees that President Trump is effective in boosting the economy and even in handling our foreign policy. Meanwhile Facebook and other dubious enterprises are blowing up. The critics make a lot of noise but they do not in the end matter a lot. What really matters is last quarter’s growth rate of 4.1%.

Link

Building on top of Deqlyn’s post above about the WSJ article.

The story mirrors a theory that has been building in a number of blogs that heavily follow the phony FBI counterintelligence investigation. Common themes run like this:

Donald Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. He had good polling throughout the summer that he could be the REP candidate. 20 Aug 2015 Time magazine’s cover had a picture of Donald Trump with the words “Deal with it”.

Peter Strzok had a December 2015 text to Lisa Page “You get all our oconus lures approved?”.
The word “lures” had been initially redacted by the FBI.

Joseph Mifsud had ties to Western intelligence (U.S. and UK). After Papadopoulos was announced as being on the Trump team, Mifsud started meeting w Papadopoulos. Mifsud talked about the Russians having negative information on Clinton. Mifsud has now disappeared.

Stefan Halper has widely been reported as a long time FBI/CIA source. Halper pursued contact w several Trump campaign personnel. Most notably Carter Page. Halper was given a DoD contract for $280k in Sep 2016. It was bumped up by another $129k in July 2017.

Comey started briefing the Obama administration in spring 2016 about concerns regarding Trump campaign team members and their interaction w Russia. He did not brief Donald Trump on this.

A British newspaper wrote that Robert Hannigan (British GCHQ) came to the U.S. and briefed John Brennan on his concerns of Trump team contacts w Russians (Spring/Summer 2016). Hannigan suddenly announced his resignation on 23 Jan 2017 for personal reasons (right after the Trump inauguration).

Brennan referred the concerns to the FBI. Then Brennan told Harry Reid ( Aug 2016). Reid wrote a letter to Comey about the investigation.

Comey did not report the investigation to the congress “gang of eight” as he was supposed to. He later said it was too “sensitive”.

Bottom line: A lot of activity started before 31 July 2016 and there appears to be a mix of inputs from FBI, CIA and UK intel.

+++LINK+++

Private payrolls boom in July, increasing by 219,000 vs 185,000 estimate: ADP

Jobs in the U.S. increased by 219,000 in July, while economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 185,000.
July's job gains were the best since February, when 241,000 jobs were added.
"The job market is booming, impacted by the deficit-financed tax cuts and increases in government spending," says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics.

Fred Imbert | @foimbert
Published 4 Hours Ago Updated 2 Hours Ago CNBC.com
ADP July payrolls up 219,000
ADP July payrolls up 219,000
3 Hours Ago | 01:27

Private payrolls in the U.S. increased by more than expected last month as companies get a boost from lower corporate taxes, ADP and Moody's Analytics said Wednesday.

Jobs in the U.S. increased by 219,000 in July, while economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 185,000. July's job gains were the best since February, when 241,000 jobs were added. Jobs growth for the previous month was also revised up to 181,000 from 177,000.

"The job market is booming, impacted by the deficit-financed tax cuts and increases in government spending," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, in a statement. "Tariffs have yet to materially impact jobs, but the multinational companies shed jobs last month, signaling the threat."
Unemployment can go into low three-percent range but it's unsustainable, says Moody's Mark Zandi
Unemployment can go into low three-percent range but it's unsustainable, says Moody's Mark Zandi
3 Hours Ago | 02:44

Medium-sized businesses, which employ 50 to 499 people, added the most payrolls in July as they created 119,000. Larger businesses, meanwhile, expanded their payrolls by 48,000. Small businesses, which employ one to 49 people, say payrolls grow by 52,000.

Service-providing companies expanded their payrolls by 177,000, led by gains in education and health services as well as professional services. Education and health services payrolls grew by 48,000 last month, while professional services created 47,000 jobs. Information technology, however, lost 1,000 payrolls in July.

Meanwhile, the goods-producing sector saw payrolls increase by 42,000, led by a 23,000 gain in manufacturing jobs and 17,000 additions in construction.

"The labor market is on a roll with no signs of a slowdown in sight," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. "Nearly every industry posted strong gains and small business hiring picked up."

The job gains come as Corporate America enjoys lower taxes compared to last year. In December, the Trump administration slashed the federal corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.

The gains also come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and some of its biggest trade partners. The U.S. has already slapped tariffs on $34 billion worth in Chinese goods, to which China has retaliated. The U.S. has also placed charges on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union.

The report from ADP and Moody's comes ahead of the U.S. government's monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which is scheduled for release Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Listening to Rush, Trump just called in to talk.

He's hitting the campaign trail and using all the available outlets to get the word out...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Listening to Rush, Trump just called in to talk.

He's hitting the campaign trail and using all the available outlets to get the word out...

It was a good exchange. Trump continues to amaze with his deeds and tactics. His lauding of Rush was not misplaced.

And FWIW I've been listening to Maha Rushie since his days in Sacrapimento. Was able to have my radio on in my shipyard office back in the day.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Listening to Rush, Trump just called in to talk.

Was a very nice gesture.