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 |
170 German officials involved in searches of bank offices
Probe stems from Panama Papers, not role in Danske laundering
By Kara Scanell, Pamela Brown and Erica Orden @ CNN.com, Updated 11:06 AM ET, November 29
[....] Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty Thursday to making false statements to Congress about the Russia investigation in a charge brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Cohen had previously said talks about the Moscow project had ended in January 2016 just prior to the Iowa caucuses.
Cohen waived his right to an indictment when he appeared in a New York federal court.
"In truth and in fact, and as Cohen well knew, Cohen's representations about the Moscow Project he made to (House and Senate intelligence committees) were false and misleading," Mueller's office said in a court filing."Cohen made the false statements to ... give the false impression that the Moscow Project ended before 'the Iowa caucus and....the very first primary,' in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations," the filing adds.
Trump responded to Cohen's admission at the White House Thursday, calling his former lawyer "very weak.""He's a weak person," Trump said before departing for Buenos Aires, Argentina. "He was convicted with a fairly long-term sentence with things unrelated to the Trump Organization," Trump said, citing Cohen's legal issues with mortgages and the IRS [....]
By Nancy Cook & Daniel Lippman @ Politico.com, Nov. 27
Jared Kushner is pushing to install an ally as director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, a move that would place his stamp on a little-known but influential office that shapes some of President Donald Trump’s biggest agenda items.
The front-runner to take the job is Brooke Rollins, an assistant to the president and former top aide to then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry who has worked closely with Kushner on his prison reform legislation.
While the appointment is not final, Rollins’ ascension at the DPC would give Kushner a foothold in an often unsung corner of the White House, which coordinates policy areas including education, transportation, housing, labor and health care. Over the past two years, the council has developed changes to the Affordable Care Act, crafted an executive order on welfare reform and played a key role in several legislative debates such as the farm bill, prison reform and an effort to rein in drug prices [....]
By Agence France Presse via Yahoo News, Nov. 28
Washington - A day after President Donald Trump's latest attack on the US central bank, Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell hinted that the key lending rate would move higher but said there was no preset course.
Powell said in a speech in New York that interest rates remained "low by historical standards" and still provided stimulus to the economy. But he said the Fed's gradual increases balanced the risks between raising too much and not enough. He also said the central bank did not see "dangerous excesses" in stock markets, with the financial system now "substantially more resilient" than it was before the 2008 financial crisis.
Trump on Tuesday again blasted his hand-picked chief of the US central bank, saying he was "not even a little bit happy" with his selection of Powell [....]
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was elected Democratic Caucus chairman Wednesday, defeating Rep. Barbara Lee for the No. 5 leadership post in a 123-113 vote.
Jeffries, 48, has been in Congress for only six years but is already often mentioned by younger members as a future party leader.
He was a lead architect of House Democrats’ messaging strategy during the campaign as co-chair of the caucus’ communications committee. He’s also notched several bipartisan wins, including a prison reform bill that overwhelmingly passed the House and is backed by President Donald Trump.
Lee, 72, is a twenty-year incumbent and former chairwoman of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Twitter laughing that Chomsky called Chinese "faux Marxists" - who knew?
Yet still, China seems to be winning with its abhorrent recipe for success.
MBS was too, except for a little slip-up.
By Richard Gonzales @ NPR.org, Nov. 27
A large decline in illegal immigration from Mexico means fewer unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S., and those already here are likely to be long-term residents, according to a new study.
What does President Trump’s recent nomination of retired Army General John Abizaid to become the next U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia signify? Next to nothing -- and arguably quite a lot.