It's another Pope Francis Christmas, Charlie Brown

A beautiful grace note from Hillary

{UCRdem} --

Before this year ends, I want to thank you again for your support of our campaign. While we didn't achieve the outcome we sought, I'm proud of the vision and values we fought for and the nearly 66 million people who voted for them.

I believe it is our responsibility to keep doing our part to build a better, stronger, and fairer future for our country and the world.

The holidays are a time to be thankful for our blessings. So let us rejoice in this season and look forward with renewed hope and determination.

I wish you and your family health, happiness, and continued strength for the New Year and the work ahead.

I look forward to staying in touch in 2017. Onward!

With deep appreciation and warm wishes, I am,

Yours,

Hillary
.........................................

She is one classy lady!

Evacuation Of East Aleppo Brought To A Halt After One Day

Source: NPR

Thousands of civilians and fighters have already been evacuated from the rebel-held enclave: Some 3,000 civilians were evacuated in the first few convoys, along with more than 40 wounded people, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday.

The aid group anticipated it would take days to fully evacuate east Aleppo.

But on Friday, efforts were halted, NPR's Alison Meuse reports.

"The World Health Organization Syria rep Elizabeth Hoff says her staff were told to leave the evacuation area south of the city 'without explanation.' Hoff is in Aleppo and was addressing reporters at a new conference in Geneva," Alison says.

There are conflicting claims over how many people have been evacuated so far from eastern Aleppo, and how many remain.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/16/505819841/evacuation-of-east-aleppo-brought-to-a-halt

Evacuation Of Aleppo Underway As Second Cease-Fire Takes Hold

Source: NPR

After years of devastating war, days of increasing desperation and the collapse of one cease-fire, evacuations are underway in besieged eastern Aleppo.

Live images on Syrian state TV showed ambulances entering the rebel-held enclave on Thursday morning to evacuate the wounded. Aid groups confirm that evacuations have begun despite reports of a brief burst of gunfire targeting ambulances.

NPR's Alison Meuse reports from Beirut that the Red Cross and Red Crescent have entered the small section of the city where rebel forces have made their last stand. The International Committee of the Red Cross describes evacuations as "underway," and The Guardian reports that multiple sources say the first wave of buses has left the rebel-held territory.

The evacuated residents are headed toward the northern rebel-held countryside, Alison reports.

Read more: http://www.wbur.org/npr/505659925/evacuation-of-aleppo-underway-as-ceasefire-takes-hold

Trump Names Top Michigan Official to Senior G.O.P. Committee Post

NPR: Israel's Right Wing Expects Boost From A Trump Presidency

strange story, from this morning:
......................
December 12, 20164:21 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
DANIEL ESTRIN


Israeli activists who lobbied Israeli-Americans to vote for Donald Trump gather around a boardroom table to celebrate his victory. Israel's right wing anticipates that a Trump administration will not pressure Israel regarding settlements.

(snip)

A guest of honor at the boardroom party was Yossi Dagan, the leader of the Shomron Regional Council, an Israeli settlement council in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"I think the last eight years... have been a catastrophe," he told the gathering, referring to pressures placed on settlement building during Obama's tenure.

For years, the U.S. has criticized Israeli settlement construction in lands where the Palestinians want to establish an independent state, calling it "corrosive to the cause of peace."

But Dagan, the settler leader, expects Trump to take a different approach: one that does not pressure Israel regarding settlements.

more: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/12/12/504428491/israels-right-wing-expects-boost-from-a-trump-presidency

NPR: 4 US senators - Reed, Schumer (D), McCain, Graham (R) - call for election investigation

heard this last night. This is getting real!
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"Sen. Jack Reed Wants To Examine Claims Of Russian Cyberattacks"
December 11, 20165:18 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island was one of four senators to write a letter calling for a further look into the CIA's conclusion that Russia tried to help the election of Donald Trump.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This weekend, we're following news of President-elect Donald Trump's emerging Cabinet and the CIA's claim that Russia interfered in U.S. elections in favor of Donald Trump. Seven Democratic U.S. senators signed a letter yesterday saying they want some of this new information declassified. Donald Trump speaking to Fox News says he does not believe it and that Democrats are just trying to make excuses for their losses.

{snip}

MARTIN: As of this morning, though, Democrats are not the only ones expressing concern. Two Republicans - John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - joined New York Democrat and incoming Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Rhode Island's Jack Reed on a separate statement saying that the CIA's reports of Russian interference should be taken seriously.

Senator John McCain told CBS he was baffled by the president-elect's response. Senator McCain said he wants a special committee to investigate alleged Russian interference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN MCCAIN: It's going to require congressional involvement. It's going to require in-depth and - by the way, the Russians have interfered in a lot of other elections. The Russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information.

{snip}

REED: Well, the intelligence community has done a careful assessment of the facts, and they have reached with a high sense of confidence a conclusion that there was penetration of both the Democratic organization and the Republican organization but that it appears that only information detrimental to the Democratic candidate was released, raising questions of, one, the motivation of the Russians - also questions of going forward, of the integrity of our campaign system not just in this past election but future elections.

So these are serious questions that have to be looked at closely. I'm very pleased that Chairman McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham recognize this and are taking a leadership role along with Senator Schumer. But this is a question of significant importance not just for the moment but for the future of the country and our democratic process.

more: http://www.npr.org/2016/12/11/505187932/sen-jack-reed-wants-to-examine-claims-of-russian-cyberattacks
.....................

Whoa.

Reuters: Stein to pursue Pennsylvania recount petition in federal court

Green Party candidate Jill Stein late Saturday vowed to bring her fight for a recount of votes cast in Pennsylvania in the U.S. presidential election to federal court, after a state judge ordered her campaign to post a $1 million bond.

{snip}

“The judge’s outrageous demand that voters pay such an exorbitant figure is a shameful, unacceptable barrier to democratic participation,” Stein said in a statement. "No voter in America should be forced to pay thousands of dollars to know if her or his vote was counted."

Stein said she planned to announce "the next step" in the recount effort on Monday at a previously scheduled news conference at Trump Tower in New York City.

She said recounts already under way in some Pennsylvania counties would continue. The state's election commission had approved recounts in 75 precincts where voters requested one, but refused to allow a full forensic audit of voting machines.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-recount-pennsylvania-idUSKBN13T00L

Wisconsin 4-month run-up: Clinton leads by 6 points ... until Nov. 8:

Here's a shot of RCP's aggregate of polls (about 20, listed at the link), showing Clinton consistently leading Trump by around 6-7 points from August until the last poll on Nov. 6 -- including both Comey letters, which don't seem to have moved the needle perceptibly:

JFK: "Fidel Castro is part of the legacy of Bolivar"

JFK:

On an earlier trip through Latin America, I became familiar with the hopes and burdens which characterize this tide of Latin nationalism. Fidel Castro is part of the legacy of Bolivar, who led his men over the Andes Mountains, vowing "war to the death" against Spanish rule, saying "Where a goat can pass, so can an army."

Castro is also part of the frustration of that earlier revolution which won its war against Spain but left largely untouched the indigenous feudal order. "To serve a revolution is to plow the sea," Bolívar said in despair as he lived to see the failure of his efforts at social reform.

-- from: Speech at a Democratic dinner, San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 15, 1958, in John F. Kennedy, The Strategy of Peace, 1960, pp. 167-68