KPN
KPN's JournalUS interest rate cut fails to impress Trump
The US central bank has cut interest rates for the first time since 2008 but not won over President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump, who had demanded a big rate cut, was unimpressed with the Federal Reserve's 0.25 percentage point cut that took the federal funds target range to 2-2.25%.
In a tweet, the president scorned Fed chair Jerome Powell, saying: "As usual, Powell let us down."
The main stock market indexes on Wall Street all closed more than 1% lower.
Analysts cited uncertainty over how many rate cuts the market should expect.
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[link:https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49183329|
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The depths of this moron's idiocy never fail to amaze me. Buttigieg was exactly right, "Like a rooster [this moron] thinks he caused the sun to rise."
Anyone who doesn't vote straight D up and down the ticket in 2020 is officially now my enemy.
Fox Taps Another Ex-WH Staffer - Hires Former Trump White House Spokesman Raj Shah
Former White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah has joined Fox Corporation as a senior vice president, forming yet another link between President Donald Trumps administration and the conservative media empire.
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[Shah] follows in the footsteps of former White House communications director Hope Hicks, who joined Fox Corp. in October to run their public relations department.
Both Shah and Hicks report to Viet Dinh, chief legal and policy officer of Fox Corp.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/raj-shah-fox-corporation-trump_n_5d345190e4b020cd9944c4ee
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Not saying it is, but shouldn't this be an ethics violation? Not that it would really mean anything with this tRump cabal.
Can Trump's Hard-Core Fans Be Deradicalized?
When the president spews racism or violence, true believers respond with more. Experts say it resembles something like a cult or totalitarianism.
President Donald Trumps rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week made scholars of fascism sit bolt upright. ... Trump has long stoked bigoted grievances among his followers, but the Greenville rally saw him act as a more overt radicalizer than ever before. And with a portion of Trumps fanbase now openly clamoring for the physical removal of several prominent Democrats of color, experts are questioning whether the country can repair the damageeven if Trump loses in 2020.
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Its possible very little will bother his most devoted fans, Janja Lalich, a professor studying cults and totalitarian leadership, said. Theres this intense devotion and the inability to question or criticize or doubt. ... They seem to be in a state of what we call cognitive dissonance, where what they believe doesnt match reality. People in that state tend to cling to their beliefs over reality. They dig themselves even deeper. I think the things we see at the rallies, where people get into these cheers and adore everything he says, is very typical of what we see in run-of-the-mill cults. Theres what we might call blind obedience or blind followership.
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Mary Beth Altier, an assistant professor at New York University specializing in radicalization, cautioned that some Trump supporters might act out should his rallies stop. While people saying these things is awful and they may radicalize other people, if we quash their ability to say them, my research shows they may become more violent because they cant express those grievances. Its a catch-22, she said.
And even if Trump leaves office, its no guarantee that Trumpism will end. I think its only going to intensify, Neiwert said, citing fears that Trump would not lead a peaceful transition.
Its a concern Lalich shares. I think he can still remain their leader. He doesnt need to have office, she said. Hes already threatened that its going to be rigged and that his people will rise up. I think thats not going to change very much because he has reawakened such hatred in this country.
[link:https://www.thedailybeast.com/can-trumps-hard-core-fans-be-deradicalized?ref=scroll|
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Wonderful!
How Mueller's hunt for a Russia-Trump conspiracy came up short
This story made my blood boil.
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No criminal conspiracy was documented, according to Barr. But tantalizing court statements by members of Muellers team and evidence disclosed in various prosecutions by the special counsel had suggested on several occasions during the 22-month investigation that a different conclusion had been possible. ... the words did not establish are commonly used in national security cases as language merely ruling out a chargeable offense. It doesnt mean a subject is innocent. It means investigators didnt find enough evidence to charge a crime, Montoya said.
When Muellers report is released - with parts blacked out by Barr to protect certain sensitive information - it is unclear how harsh a light it will shine on the contacts between Trump campaign figures and Russians. Those making contacts included the presidents son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and campaign figures Manafort, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos. ... Mueller and U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia employed hacking and propaganda to sow division in the United States, harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trumps candidacy.
Perhaps no avenue of inquiry appeared more promising on the question of conspiracy than Muellers pursuit of longtime Trump political adviser Roger Stone ... But when Mueller indicted Stone in January, the seven criminal counts did not refer to conspiring with Russians and there was no allegation of close ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange .Mueller questioned more than a half dozen Stone associates to establish if he had acted as a go-between for the campaign with Wikileaks. Stone associates who spoke to Reuters suggested Stone was struggling to make contact with Assange rather than having an inside track.
Randy Credico, a New York comedian associated with Stone who appeared before Muellers grand jury, is a case in point. Text messages seen by Reuters show Stone sought to use Credico as an intermediary with Assange and urged Credico to feed WikiLeaks anti-Clinton research. Credico told Reuters he never made good on the request.
More at:
[link:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-conspiracy-analysis/how-muellers-hunt-for-a-russia-trump-conspiracy-came-up-short-idUSKCN1RQ0A7|
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I'm not convinced this interpretation of where we stand is correct. But that's irrelevant. We clearly need a higher legal standard when it comes to election campaigns and elected officials -- especially for the President/Commander in Chief. The checks and balances of our Constitution alone obviously do not always work. This should be a priority when we once again control both the executive and legislative branches. And we will.
Just called my entire Congressional delegation in DC
to express my deep concern after hearing tRumps comments and Barrs testimony this morning that we are watching live in real time an ongoing coup of the US Government that Rs intend to make permanent.
I expressed my support to each of them and assurance that I would have their back. But also expressed my concern that I am not hearing the alarm being sounded by Democrats in Congress at a time when our nation is at dire risk.
I hope others will take the time to do the same. They need to hear both our deep concern and assurances that we have their back.
I wonder. Do any elected Democratic Congressionals Read DU?
Do they see and hear the enormous sense of urgency being expressed here today?
Does anyone with a meaningful role get the enormity of the very real risk we now face? The urgency of need for effective action? The angst so many of us currently feel? Do they get it?
Beto O'Rourke's secret membership in America's oldest hacking group -- I like this!
The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsofts Windows. Its also known for inventing the word hacktivism to describe human-rights-driven security work.
There is no indication that ORourke ever engaged in the edgiest sorts of hacking activity, such as breaking into computers or writing code that enabled others to do so. But his membership in the group could explain his approach to politics better than anything on his resume. His background in hacking circles has repeatedly informed his strategy as he explored and subverted established procedures in technology, the media and government.
Theres just this profound value in being able to be apart from the system and look at it critically and have fun while youre doing it, ORourke said. I think of the Cult of the Dead Cow as a great example of that.
An ex-hacker running for national office would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. But that was before two national elections sent people from other nontraditional backgrounds to the White House and Congress, many of them vowing to blow up the status quo.
Much more at:
[link:https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-beto-orourke/
Good read. There's actually some real positives in this sort of background from my perspective. Personally, I believe this is more likely to help than hurt him. Beto certainly has a good chance. I like him, but still have some reservations about his purported views re: economic issues. But he is in the running as far as I'm concerned.
Banks weigh whether to embrace or avoid Ocasio-Cortez
Richard Hunt, chief executive of the Consumer Bankers Association, said he had not encountered a lawmaker like Ocasio-Cortez in more than 20 years in Washington. She has the ability to influence unlike a lot of other freshmen.
An economics major and self-confessed science nerd, Ocasio-Cortez campaigned on issues that put her at odds with the financial industry, including separating commercial and investment banking, breaking up large banks, and forgiving student debt. Central to her campaign has been the rejection of corporate campaign dollars, closing off a traditional avenue for industry access and influence on Capitol Hill. Now lobbyists fear that her enlarged platform will help the first-term junior lawmaker push her ideas into the mainstream and are trying to figure out how best to respond.
Several lobbyists told Reuters they believed they could isolate Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives on the financial services committee by building coalitions with moderate Democrats, such as fellow New York Representative Gregory Meeks, and centrist Republicans.
[link:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-aoc/banks-weigh-whether-to-embrace-or-avoid-progressive-firebrand-ocasio-cortez-idUSKCN1PV27N|
"Trump's crisis powers are a Pandora's box"
An American president has wide latitude in deciding what is an emergency, which then gives him a vast array of powers. The Brennan Center for Justice identified 136 areas where a U.S. leader could act outside the normal scope of authority in such a situation. Trump could divert government funds for a wall, rather than being stuck because Congress is refusing to provide the $5.7 billion he wants.
A crisis could be used to serve other parts of his agenda. Trump regularly accuses media outlets including CNN and some online platforms of bias against him and Republicans in general. A threat of war, state of peril or other emergency would allow the president to suspend or amend regulations for wire communications entities, or shut down or take control of such facilities.
A cyber war with China, foreign interference in U.S. elections, or even the airing of an interview with someone like WikiLeaks Julian Assange could provide a pretext to target CNN or MSNBC, according to Timothy Edgar, an attorney and former national security official. ...
[link:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-breakingviews/breakingviews-trumps-crisis-powers-are-a-pandoras-box-idUSKCN1P32IG|
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How far will this madman and GOP enablers go?
Many American Revolutionaries were much younger than you might think
when they declared independence from Britain
Some of America's Founding Father's were shockingly young when the colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776. Some were older, like Thomas Jefferson who was 33, John Hancock who was 39, or Benjamin Franklin who was 70. Others were shockingly young even teenagers. James Monroe, for example, was 18 and Alexander Hamilton was 21.
All Things Liberty compiled a list of the ages of famous people at the start of the American Revolution.
[link:http://www.businessinsider.com/youngest-actors-in-american-revolution-fourth-of-july-independence-2018-6#nathan-hale-21-16|
Experience or youth? In normal times, I'd go with experience. These aren't normal times.
It's time to back our youth.
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Member since: Tue Mar 25, 2014, 01:18 PMNumber of posts: 15,642