March 30, 2019

Camp Lejeune is still a mess 6 months after Hurricane Florence. Where's the money for repairs?

Source: NBC


Camp Lejeune is still a mess 6 months after Hurricane Florence. Where's the money for repairs?

The Marine Corps' top general says one "negative factor" delaying repairs is the diversion of resources to the military mission at the U.S.-Mexico border.

March 30, 2019, 1:10 PM CDT
By Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — More than six months after Hurricane Florence ravaged North Carolina, hundreds of buildings at Camp Lejeune and two other nearby Marine Corps installations remain frozen in time, with walls still caved in and roofs missing.

The Marines say they need $3.6 billion to repair the damage to more than 900 buildings at Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point caused by the storm and catastrophic flooding in its aftermath. And while they have torn down soggy, moldy walls, put tarps on roofs and moved Marines into trailers, so far they have not received a penny from the federal government to fix the damage.

Now the Marine Corps' top officer is warning that readiness at Camp Lejeune — home to one third of the Corps' total combat power — is degraded and "will continue to degrade given current conditions." In a recent memo to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller cited, among other "negative factors," the diversion of resources to the border, where the Trump administration has sent active-duty troops to patrol and plans to use military funding to pay for a wall.

"Mister Secretary, I am asking for your assistance," wrote Neller in his memo, his second this year requesting that Spencer push Congress to provide more funds. "The hurricane season is only three months away, and we have Marines, Sailors, and civilians working in compromised structures."

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/camp-lejeune-still-mess-6-months-after-hurricane-florence-where-n986456?cid=public-rss_20190330

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SIFUABS

March 24, 2019

Eric Idle: "Dear EU. We made a terrible mistake."

https://twitter.com/EricIdle/status/1108834236411211777



Eric Idle@EricIdle

Dear EU. We made a terrible mistake. We listened to the wrong people. We would much rather be in an alliance with 28 States than alone with the mad fuck Trump. Please can we come back. Yours the sensible party.

March 23, 2019

Number of words from the Mueller report the public has seen: 0

Just sayin'.

March 23, 2019

Barr's letter to the Judiciary Committees

https://twitter.com/ChadSDay/status/1109200698959413248/photo/1

March 21, 2019

House Intelligence Committee confirmed Felix Sater will appear in open hearing Wednesday

Greg Walters@GSW__

House Intelligence Committee just confirmed Felix Sater will appear in an open hearing at 9:30a this coming Wednesday to speak about his business ventures with the Trump Organization and the potential Trump Tower Moscow deal.

7:01 AM - 21 Mar 2019



https://twitter.com/GSW__/status/1108730450250514432

March 18, 2019

Percy Grainger - Irish Tune from County Derry (Piano)

Plus the rarest thing: the youtube comments are decent. And they are right about the voicing.

March 15, 2019

FBI looking at Murdoch operations in Russia

Mark Hosenball and Gleb Bryanski

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, March 9 (Reuters) - An FBI investigation into possible criminal violations by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp of a U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials has expanded to include an examination of the activities of former company holdings in Russia, according to a source close to the investigation.

As part of their inquiry, the FBI will seek to consult with Russian authorities, the source said.

While at this point it is not expected that a special FBI team will go to Russia to pursue the probe, the FBI's representative at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, known as the "legal attache," is likely to be involved, the source said.

The company's activities in Russia are being looked at as part of a broader FBI investigation into possible violations by News Corp of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - an inquiry fueled by allegations that journalists for Murdoch newspapers in Britain for years systematically made questionable payments to public servants, including police and military officials, in return for story tipoffs.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSL2E8E7HJN20120309

March 13, 2019

Exclusive: Lawyer said Michael Cohen could 'sleep well tonight' after speaking to Rudy Giuliani

Source: CNN



Washington (CNN)An attorney who said he was speaking with President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani reassured Michael Cohen in an April 2018 email that Cohen could "sleep well tonight" because he had "friends in high places," according to a copy of an email obtained by CNN.

Two emails -- both dated April 21, 2018, and among documents provided to Congress by the President's former attorney and fixer -- do not specifically mention a pardon. Cohen, in his closed-door congressional testimony, has provided these emails in an effort to corroborate his claim that a pardon was dangled before he decided to cooperate with federal prosecutors, according to sources familiar with his testimony.

But the attorney who wrote those emails, Robert Costello, told CNN that Cohen's interpretation of events is "utter nonsense." Costello said that Cohen asked him to raise the issue of a pardon with Giuliani.

"Does dangled mean that he (Cohen) raised it and I mentioned it to Giuliani, and Giuliani said the President is not going to discuss pardons with anybody? If that's dangling it, that's dangling it for about 15 seconds," said Costello, who has a four-decade long relationship with Giuliani and was exploring potentially representing Cohen. "The first time I kind of danced around the issue because Michael brought it up with me and I told him, 'Look, this is way too premature. ... But if you want me to bring it up, I will bring it up.' And I did."


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/politics/michael-cohen-email-costello/index.html

March 9, 2019

Elizabeth Warren to hold Mississippi town hall moderated by Jake Tapper at Jackson State

Published 11:00 a.m. CT March 8, 2019

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to hold a CNN-televised campaign town hall at Jackson State University on March 18, part of a three-day swing through the South that will include stops in Memphis and Alabama, a source close to the campaign confirmed.

Jake Tapper, CNN chief Washington correspondent, will moderate the Jackson State event. It will begin at 8 p.m. and is open to the public.

She is expected to hold an event in Memphis on March 17 and in an unannounced city in Alabama on March 19, with more stops potentially scheduled between.

Warren is expected to focus on affordable housing and related issues during the campaign tour. A main focus of her campaign to-date is that Washington is co-opted by the wealthy and not serving working families or helping the poor.


https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/03/08/elizabeth-warren-jackson-mississippi-town-hall-jackson-state-jake-tapper-cnn/3102788002/


Right on.

March 8, 2019

One injustice must not follow another. - Adam Schiff

https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1103824742790901760



Adam Schiff@RepAdamSchiff

The statement by Paul Manafort’s lawyer after an already lenient sentence — repeating the President’s mantra of no collusion — was no accident. It was a deliberate appeal for a pardon.

One injustice must not follow another.

5:08 PM - 7 Mar 2019