Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
How much chaos do you like with your coffee?
Apparently quite a bit.
Organisation slashes forecast for 2019 trade growth amid US-China dispute and Brexit fears
By Larry Elliot @ TheGuardian.com, Oct. 1
The World Trade Organization has warned that the outbreak of tariff wars pose a threat to jobs and living standards as it slashed its forecast for trade growth during 2019.
The Geneva-based WTO said it had more than halved its growth forecast for trade in goods this year from 2.6% to 1.2% after a summer of escalating US-China protectionism, a slowdown in global growth and fears of the impact of a no-deal Brexit.
With the WTO’s ability to resolve trade disputes between its member states under threat, the organisation’s director general, Roberto Azevêdo, said the hostile environment was discouraging firms from spending on new capital [....]
I ran across this because it was retweeted by American Supreme Court lawyer & former Acting Solictor Neal Katyal, whom I follow on Twitter. Tugenhadt is an M.P., Conservative Party. The author, Jitesh Ghadia, is a member of the House of Lords and also Conservative Party, was a member of P.M. Cameron's inner circle...
In a fiery letter to the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said five officials scheduled to testify this week would not be made available until “we obtain further clarity on these matters.”
By Karen De Young @ WashingtonPost.com, Oct. 1
[....] The refusal, in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), described the demand for depositions by five officials who played a role in U.S. relations with Ukraine as “an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly, the distinguished professionals of the Department of State.”
A spokesman for the committee had no immediate comment [.....]
By Jordain Carney @ TheHill.com, Oct. 1
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) defended a whistleblower at the center of the impeachment fight on Tuesday, saying the individual deserves to be "heard out and protected."
“This person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected. We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality," Grassley, who is the chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, said in a statement.
“No one should be making judgments or pronouncements without hearing from the whistleblower first and carefully following up on the facts. Uninformed speculation wielded by politicians or media commentators as a partisan weapon is counterproductive and doesn’t serve the country," [....}
By Thaier Al-Sudani & Haider Kadhim @ Reuters.com, Oct. 1
BAGHDAD - At least one person was killed and 200 wounded in clashes in Iraq on Tuesday as security forces used tear gas, water cannon and live fire to disperse demonstrations over unemployment, corruption and poor public services [....]
By Lesley Clark @ McClatchy.dc.com, Sept. 27
A conservative group plans to launch a series of ads this weekend urging House and Senate Republicans to condemn President Donald Trump for prodding the president of Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
Republicans for the Rule of Law will spend $1 million — its biggest ad buy to date — on a series of TV and digital ads that will target more than 20 members of Congress, including Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Republicans in Congress must condemn this behavior without reservation,” said Republicans for the Rule of Law legal advisor and spokesman Chris Truax. ”It is no longer about whether Republicans believe President Trump or whether they support his policies. It’s about whether they support his admitted abuse of power and his efforts to secure a foreign government’s help in an American election. President Trump sees nothing wrong with his behavior." [....]
Message: you guys should come back home where there is equal mistreatment of all?
By Vivian Sequera @ Reuters.com, Sept. 29
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government accused Peruvian authorities on Sunday of fomenting “xenophobia” against the large Venezuelan exile population after a series of incidents of apparent mistreatment of migrants [....]
By Jordain Carney @ TheHill.com, Sept. 30
[....] "Well under the Senate rules we're required to take it up if the House does go down that path and we'll follow the Senate rules," McConnell said during an interview with CNBC. Pressed on if he was saying the Senate would take action on impeachment, he added: "I would have no choice but to take it up, based on a Senate rule on impeachment." [....]
The discussion was another instance of the president using American diplomacy for potential personal gain..... according to two American officials with knowledge of the call....
Pelosi and her deputies are also looking to protect vulnerable lawmakers.
By Sarah Feris and Andrew Desiderio @ Politico.com, Sept. 29
[....] Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top deputies laid out the strategy during a private conference call Sunday afternoon [....]
Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, who leads House Democrats’ campaign arm, advised the caucus’ most vulnerable members to gauge support and test their message through polling in their respective districts — surveys that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would help fund, according to multiple people on the call. She also said the campaign arm could deploy digital ads in the future.
Bustos also shared the results of the DCCC’s first poll focused on impeachment since Pelosi formalized an inquiry last week. The poll found that 54 percent of likely voters support Democrats’ inquiry, according to a summary obtained by POLITICO.
Top Democrats used Sunday’s conference call to formalize their caucus’ messaging operation on impeachment with more focused talking points. It came after leaders faced blowback from some lawmakers, particularly those from swing districts, over past messaging stumbles [....]