Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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35 thoughts on “Hurricane Hawaii”
ny times update: Hawaii Braces for a Rare Encounter With a Hurricane
First came an errant alert that a ballistic missile was headed for Hawaii. Then 50 inches of rain were recorded in one day on Kauai, flooding parts of the island. Next a slow-motion eruption of the Kilauea volcano ravaged parts of the Big Island. Now the state is facing its latest potential calamity: A Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 120 miles an hour.
“I boarded up my chicken coop and boarded up my house and prepared for the oncoming, next disaster,” said Stefani Hinkle, a farmer and performer who lives near a major fissure in the volcanic eruption. Ms. Hinkle spent Wednesday night quaking in bed as the outer bands of Hurricane Lane blew wind and rain sideways into her house.
“I had several dreams,” she said, “about the ocean god joining the fire goddess.”
[…continues…]
and from usa today: As Hurricane Lane approaches Hawaii, Kilauea volcano simmers down
[…]
Volcanoes are notoriously unpredictable, but experts say they don’t get activated by changes in the air pressure from an incoming storm, as has been speculated.
“The forces that drive eruptions aren’t usually at the surface. Eruptions are driven by forces much deeper, whether or not magma is actually moving toward the surface,’’ said Janine Krippner, a volcanologist at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia. “So because those are quite deep, it’s unlikely they’re going to be affected by something above the surface like air pressure.’’
On the other hand, an active volcano could have an effect on a major storm, exacerbating it to a certain extent. That was the case when Tropical Cyclone Flossie slammed into Hawaii in 2013, as particles spewed out by Kilauea contributed to intensify a lightning storm.
“The physics does allow for more smaller droplets to form and get blown higher in the storm, which promotes lightning as it gets above the freezing level, rather than raining out,’’ said Steven Businger, a professor and chair of the atmospheric sciences department at the University of Hawaii.
[…continues…]
the next storm abrewing? monsoon Manafort raining on the twit parade.
While there has (appropriately) been a lot of attention paid to the conclusion of the first Paul Manafort trial, Rachel Maddow pointed out that his second trial could potentially do great damage to the Trump presidency.
According to Maddow, not only does the next chapter in the Manafort saga revolve around the former Trump campaign manager’s work as a foreign agent, but it’s telling that the special counsel has held onto the case tightly, even while handing off other cases.
“We do not know if the president has anything to worry about,” the MSNBC host said. “But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsel’s office.”
Maddow said:
In the next trial for Manafort, he is going on trial for being an unregistered agent of a foreign power while he was running Donald Trump’s campaign to become president. His co-defendant for some of the charges that he’s about to face in his next trial is his Russian-speaking, Soviet-born, longtime business partner who the FBI says is linked to Russian intelligence and who is believed by prosecutors to have fled to Moscow ahead of him being charged alonside Paul Manafort with some of the felony charges that have led to this next trial that Manafort is about face. Old bank fraud and tax fraud charges back in the day? Okay. But being a secret foreign agent running a presidential campaign and committing felonies in cahootz with your Russian-speaking, Russian military intelligence-linked business partner as recently as this year? That’s going to be a different kind of case. And we don’t know if the president has anything to worry about in terms of what may come out in that second trial of Paul Manafort, or if the president has anything to worry about if Manafort, in fact, decides to change his mind and start cooperating with prosecutors in order to lessen his prison time and the pending charges against him. We do not know if the president has anything to worry about. But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsel’s office, that the special counsel’s office has held onto to prosecute itself with its own personnel.
Kathleen Williams is the Democratic nominee taking on one of the wealthiest members of Congress for the state’s sole House seat, which the GOP has held for nearly three decades
It’s 90 minutes before daylight on a late summer day when Kathleen Williams loads up her camper truck with signs and stickers and hits the campaign trail, today a 200-mile drive across southern Montana to Crow Fair, one of the largest Native American powwows in North America.
For Williams, the 57-year-old Democratic nominee for Montana’s lone congressional seat, the Crow Indian Reservation just north of Wyoming is unfamiliar territory. She’s driven 35,000 miles all over the state stumping for votes this year, many in this truck but most in her electric hybrid car, with her dog Danni, a spring-loaded german wirehaired pointer and the star of Williams’ first campaign ad.
[…]
She is running against the Republican Greg Gianforte, one of the wealthiest members of Congress. She has a camper truck. He has a private jet and near-unlimited resources to self-fund his campaigns.
Beyond the funding gap, she’s running for a seat held for nearly three decades by Republicans, against a solid glass ceiling that has only been breached once in Montana history. And yet, she’s rarely described as a long shot.
Montana sent the first woman ever to Congress, but it hasn’t sent another since. Jeannette Rankin, a Missoula suffragette and pacifist, was elected to the US House in 1916 – four years before the 19th amendment giving American women the right to vote.
Rankin’s Republican primary opponent, Eldon Jacob Crull, was so devastated by unceasing taunts about getting beaten by a woman that he took his own life.
“Jacob Crull of Roundup, Montana, swallowed muriatic acid on the steps of an undertaking establishment here early today,” the New York Times reported. “‘I’m heartbroken,’ was all he could say.”
After Rankin, women were mostly shut out from top-tier elected offices in Montana and to some degree across the Rocky Mountain west, where no woman has been elected to the US Senate.
Montana has elected one female governor, Republican Judy Martz, who served a disastrous term from 2001-2005 marked by tone-deafness on issues affecting women. She once joked to a crowd of hundreds in her home town: “My husband has never battered me, but then again I’ve never given him a reason to.”
[….continues…]
Any guesses as to whether SFB will send FEMA to Hawaii? If you start with he does not seem to think HI is a state or even territory of the US, there is doubt.
BlueB… it’s not that SFB doesn’t know that Hawaii is a state… it’s that he does know… and he knows it’s where Obama was born and raised. That fact alone means Hawaii is fucked.
RR – ah a better view of the situation. Or rather a serious view.
Displaced Puerto Ricans Face Dire Situations As FEMA Housing Aid Nears Its End
bbc:
US Republican Senator John McCain will no longer be continuing treatment for his brain cancer, his family has announced.
Mr McCain, 81, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last summer and had been undergoing treatment since July 2017.
He left Washington to be with his family in Arizona, though he has still been a vocal political figure.
He has, at times, been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump.
His family said in a statement shared with US media: “Last year, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious.”
“In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict.
“With his usual strength of will, he has chosen to discontinue medical treatment.”
[…continues…]
also from bbc:
The Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, has been given legal immunity from prosecution, US media report.
He had been summoned to give evidence to prosecutors earlier this year in the ongoing investigation into Mr Trump’s longtime former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to handling hush money for Mr Trump’s alleged lovers, in violation of campaign finance laws.
something oddly familiar about this face
nbc news:
The longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, was given immunity by federal prosecutors in New York during the course of the Michael Cohen investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The news was first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.
Weisselberg is “Executive 1” on page 17 of the criminal information filed by prosecutors in the Michael Cohen case, a person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
According to prosecutors, Cohen sent an invoice to Executive 1, meaning Weisselberg, for “Payment for services rendered for the month of January and February, 2017,” a payment that was really meant to reimburse Cohen for a payment to Stormy Daniels.
Weisselberg then sent the invoice to another Trump Organization executive via e-mail directing him to “Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put ‘retainer for the months of January and February 2017’ in the description.”
[…]
Michael Cohen mentioned Weisselberg’s name several times on a recorded phone conversation between Trump and Cohen about a payment to kill a story about Trump’s alleged relationship with Playboy model Karen McDougal. The tape was seized during the FBI’s April raid on Cohen’s residence and office, and was released to the media by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis.
On the tape, recorded two months before the 2016 presidential election, Cohen mentions that he has spoken to Weisselberg about setting up a corporation to process the payment.
“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info regarding our friend David,” says Cohen, “so that — I’m going to do that right away. I have spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.”
“David” is apparently David Pecker, a Trump friend who is the chairman and CEO of American Media and publisher of the National Enquirer, which had agreed to purchase McDougal’s story.
Pat, I see it as the face of a child confronting mom after knowingly letting her down.
flatus, good point; however the worried/frightened eyes and the pursed mouth are also reminiscent of mikey… and the greying hair growing greyer
John Kerry: McCain shows us what ‘grace and grit really mean’
Wow! Someone on Lawrence O’Donnell last night mentioned Weisselberg… and said (paraphrasing) that if he started spilling the beans, trump and his organization would be in serious trouble.
The proverbial wheels are coming off the bus fast and furiously now. I just made a mountain of popcorn!
I hope the Hawaiian hurricane brings rain to Northern California We could use a break from the fires and all the smoke around here
McCain has reached the finale of his career. I had hoped he would show up to vote against the SCoUS nominee before ending his time. Although he was almost always a solid R vote, he broke free and did the good thing last year. His presence was good for politics. It is a shame he should go this way. A salute to him.
Duncan Hunter just said it was all his wife’s fault she cooked the books
Melanoma let this be a lesson to you
good advice about resigning. now’s the time for the twit to negotiate getting to keep tower and mal an ego as well as immunity from tax fraud et al. not bad bargain if he just goes way (and takes pence with him).
the hill:
Martin London, a lawyer who represented former Vice President Spiro Agnew, said that President Trump should resign from office to keep federal prosecutors from prosecuting his family.
“It’s only going to get worse,” London said Friday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“We already have everybody, you know — the rats are leaving the ship. He’s lost [Richard] Gates, [George] Papadopoulos, [Michael] Cohen, [Michael] Flynn, now [David] Pecker,” London said. “He’ll probably lose others from the Trump Organization.”
[…]
London represented Agnew, who served as vice president under President Nixon. Agnew resigned while in office in 1973 under legal pressure over a bribery scandal 10 months before Nixon stepped down.
“We don’t know a quarter of what’s in the pocket of the prosecutor,” London said of Mueller.
“If he has any interest at all in not only saving his skin, but the skin of his child, his children, his son-in-law, his grandchildren, his daughter — this is a time when he’s got to seriously think about that,” London said, referring to Trump. “Now, is he capable of that, of serious thinking? Frankly, I doubt it.”
London said Trump should ponder his advice because his current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who he also labeled a “clown,” isn’t going to get him anywhere.
“He’s going to be advised by people like clown Giuliani and people who don’t know that truth is truth, then he’s not going to get anywhere,” he said. “The national interest is what drove the Agnew resignation.”
That woman is one hell of a cook….
The Huntah
Dear Duncan
Ah knows how you feel, Boy…..I’m married, too, and when my wife tells me that we have enough to go to see a movie, I figure she knows what she’s doing even though I know the electric is due, the pantry is bare, my tank is on Empty, AT&T called about the phone, and the first of the month is scant days away.
Like Hemingway said, the bill always comes due.
So, stiff upper lip, Old Sport, grab something and hang on.
Oh, and thoughts and prayers…….
Sincerely,
Mr Average American
but, sturge, $600 bucks for a bunny’s airplane ticket? rabbit fur coats don’t even cost that much. now if by the family bunny they meant one from hef’s hatch… the twit paid 150,000 for his to fly away.
from an op ed Arizona republic azcentral:
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham made a great case for impeaching President Donald Trump.
In 1999.
Graham, who was arguing at the time for impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton, said:
“You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic. If this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Because impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
If it was then, it should be now. Right?
Graham’s 1999 remarks have become a popular bit of archival tape. The video has popped up in various forms on several broadcasts and the internet.
Standard for Impeachment by Lindsey Graham
Country Music has become Hank n’ Cline’s Monster.
Tomorrow is Bernstein’s 100th Birthday. I don’t think Lennie would be offended if we played his Kaddisch as we enter the Sabbath upon which the anniversary of his birth falls
Watching Duncan Hunter’s eyebrows dance as he tries to explain this away.
Feel the Bern(stein)
Kaddish is the prayer said in the worship service to praise G!D. It is perfectly appropriate to say Kaddish for Mr Bernstein.
Text of the Kaddish
The following includes the half and complete kaddish as according to Wiki. I have altered 36 to conform to Reform practice, as it is by far the largest movement in Judaism.
1
May His great namea be exalted and sanctifiedb. Yitgaddal veyitqaddash shmeh rabba
יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא
2
in the world which He created according to His will! Beʻalma di vra khir’uteh
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ
3
May He establish His kingdom veyamlikh malkhuteh
וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ
4
and may His salvation blossom and His anointed be near.ad [veyatzmaḥ purqaneh viqarev (qetz) meshiḥeh]
וְיַצְמַח פֻּרְקָנֵהּ וִיקָרֵב(קיץ) מְשִׁיחֵהּ
5
during your lifetime and during your days beḥayekhon uvyomekhon
בְּחַיֵּיכוֹן וּבְיוֹמֵיכוֹן
6
and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel, uvḥaye dekhol [bet] yisrael
וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל [בֵּית] יִשְׂרָאֵל
7
speedily and very soon! And say, Amen.a beʻagala uvizman qariv veʼimru amen
בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
The next two lines are recited by the congregation and then the leader:
8
May His great name be blessed yehe shmeh rabba mevarakh
יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ
9
for ever, and to all eternity! leʻalam ulʻalme ʻalmaya
לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא
10
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, Yitbarakh veyishtabbaḥ veyitpaar veyitromam
יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרוֹמַם
11
extolled and honoured, adored and lauded veyitnasse veyithaddar veyitʻalleh veyithallal
וְיִתְנַשֵּׂא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל
12
be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,a shmeh dequdsha berikh hu.
שְׁמֵהּ דְקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא.
13
above and beyond all the blessings, leʻella (lʻella mikkol) min kol birkhata
לְעֵלָּא (לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל) מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא
15
that are uttered in the world! And say, Amen.a daamiran beʻalma veʼimru amen
דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
The half kaddish ends here.
Here the “complete kaddish” includes:
16 eMay the prayers and supplications Titqabbal tzelotehon uvaʻutehon
תִּתְקַבַּל צְלוֹתְהוֹן וּבָעוּתְהוֹן
17
of all Israel d’khol bet yisrael
דְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
18
be accepted by their Father who is in Heaven; And say, Amen.a qodam avuhon di bishmayya, vʼimru amen
קֳדָם אֲבוּהוֹן דִּי בִשְׁמַיָּא וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
Here the “kaddish of the rabbis” (including the kaddish after a siyum) includes:
19
To Israel, to the Rabbis and their disciples ʻal yisrael veʻal rabbanan veʻal talmidehon
עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל רַבָּנָן וְעַל תַּלְמִידֵיהוֹן
20
to the disciples of their disciples, v’ʻal kol talmidey talmidehon
וְעַל כָּל תַּלְמִידֵי תַלְמִידֵיהוֹן.
21
and to all those who engage in the study of the Torah veʻal kol man deʻos’qin b’orayta
וְעַל כָּל מָאן דְּעָסְקִין בְּאוֹרַיְתָא.
22
in this [holy]z place or in any other place, di b’atra [qadisha] haden vedi bekhol atar v’atar
דִּי בְאַתְרָא [קַדִישָא] הָדֵין וְדִי בְּכָל אֲתַר וַאֲתַר.
23
may there come abundant peace, y’he lehon ul’khon sh’lama rabba
יְהֵא לְהוֹן וּלְכוֹן שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא
24
grace, lovingkindness and compassion, long life hinna v’ḥisda v’raḥamey v’ḥayye arikhe
חִנָּא וְחִסְדָּא וְרַחֲמֵי וְחַיֵּי אֲרִיכֵי
32
relief and salvationd verevaḥ vehatzala
וְרֵוַח וְהַצָּלָה
33
for us and for all his people [upon us and upon all] Israel; and say, Amen.a lanu ulkhol ʻammo [ʻalainu v’al kol] yisrael v’ʼimru amen
לָנוּ וּלְכָל עַמּוֹ [עׇלֵינוּ וְעַל כׇּל] יִשְֹרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
34 fMay He who makes peace in His high places ʻoseh shalom bimromav עוֹשֶֹה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו,
35
grant [in his mercy]g peace upon us hu [berakhamav] yaʻase shalom ʻalenu הוּא [בְּרַחֲמָיו] יַעֲשֶֹה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ,
36
and upon all [his nation]h Israel; and all the world, and we say, Amen.a v’ʻal kol [ammo] yisra’el, v’ʼimru amen וְעַל כָּל [עַמּוֹ] יִשְֹרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
dunkin’ hunter blames the babe. Whadda louse, man, whadda louse. he almost makes me ashamed to be male, even to be human. Whadda louse.
Lock him up. Lock ’em all up. Deport the baseturds.
Thank you, XR.
Samuel Pisar’s very personal narrative during the symphony coupled with a German orchestra and youth choir totally make this performance. The Holocaust was part of my youth and I have made it part of my life. Never AgainNevernevernever never
ny times: Kremlin Sources Go Quiet, Leaving C.I.A. in the Dark About Putin’s Plans for Midterms
In 2016, American intelligence agencies delivered urgent and explicit warnings about Russia’s intentions to try to tip the American presidential election — and a detailed assessment of the operation afterward — thanks in large part to informants close to President Vladimir V. Putin and in the Kremlin who provided crucial details.
But two years later, the vital Kremlin informants have largely gone silent, leaving the C.I.A. and other spy agencies in the dark about precisely what Mr. Putin’s intentions are for November’s midterm elections, according to American officials familiar with the intelligence.
The officials do not believe the sources have been compromised or killed. Instead, they have concluded they have gone to ground amid more aggressive counterintelligence by Moscow, including efforts to kill spies, like the poisoning in March in Britain of a former Russian intelligence officer that utilized a rare Russian-made nerve agent.
Current and former officials also said the expulsion of American intelligence officers from Moscow has hurt collection efforts. And officials also raised the possibility that the outing of an F.B.I. informant under scrutiny by the House intelligence committee — an
examination encouraged by President Trump — has had a chilling effect on intelligence collection.
Technology companies and political campaigns in recent weeks have detected a plethora of political interference efforts originating overseas, including hacks of Republican think tanks and fake liberal grass-roots organizations created on Facebook. Senior intelligence officials, including Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, have warned that Russians are intent on subverting American democratic institutions.
But American intelligence agencies have not been able to say precisely what are Mr. Putin’s intentions: He could be trying to tilt the midterm elections, simply sow chaos or generally undermine trust in the democratic process.
The officials, seeking to protect methods of collection from Russia, would not provide details about lost sources, but acknowledged the degradation in the information collected from Russia. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal classified information. A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined to comment.
[….goes into detail for several paragraphs….]
The United States still should have a clear view of Mr. Putin’s strategies and intention to interfere in Democratic elections, said Michael Carpenter, a Russia expert and former Obama administration official. He pointed to fake social media accounts created as part of Russian intelligence operations that have drummed up support for white nationalists and the Black Lives Matter movement, and have supported far right, far left and pro-Russian candidates in the United States and in Europe.
“Clearly Russia is playing both sides of controversial issues precisely to sow chaos. But that said it is not just chaos, there are certain candidates Russia prefers to see in office,” said Mr. Carpenter, now at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. “The Russians are trying to support anti-establishment and pro-Russian candidates, not just in the U.S. but everywhere.”
Still, there is little doubt about the crucial nature of informants, said Seth G. Jones, who leads the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a policy research organization.
“It is essential to have sources coming from inside the government. It was during the Cold War and it is today,” Mr. Jones said. “There are multiple ways to collect intelligence against your adversary, in this case the Russian government. But sources can provide you things you might not otherwise get, like documents, intelligence assessments.”
Sources can provide photographs of Russian documents and intelligence that are hard to intercept electronically, and that can help the United States figure out what Russia is targeting, not just with its election meddling but with its attempts to infiltrate financial systems, the power grid and other critical infrastructure, Mr. Jones said.
The full reasons the sources have gone silent are not known. But current and former officials also said the exposure of sources inside the United States has also complicated matters.
This year, the identity of an F.B.I. informant, Stefan Halper, became public after House lawmakers sought information on him and the White House allowed the information to be shared. Mr. Halper, an American academic based in Britain, had been sent to talk to Trump campaign advisers who were under F.B.I. scrutiny for their ties to Russia.
Current American officials said there is no direct evidence that the exposure of Mr. Halper has been cited by overseas informants as a source of concern.
But the officials said that some allies have cited the exposure of the informant and other intelligence leaks in curbing some of the intelligence they share. And former spies believe that, long-term, the exposure will hurt overseas collection.
“Publicizing sources is really bad for the business,” Mr. Sipher said. “The only thing we can offer people is that we will do anything in our power to protect them. And anything that wears away at that trust, hurts.”
Pat, I understand that he is registered at a precinct in Queens. I’ll let you know if he requests an absentee ballot.
Hurricane Lane hits Hawaii. (National Hurricane Center)
ny times update: Hawaii Braces for a Rare Encounter With a Hurricane
First came an errant alert that a ballistic missile was headed for Hawaii. Then 50 inches of rain were recorded in one day on Kauai, flooding parts of the island. Next a slow-motion eruption of the Kilauea volcano ravaged parts of the Big Island. Now the state is facing its latest potential calamity: A Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 120 miles an hour.
“I boarded up my chicken coop and boarded up my house and prepared for the oncoming, next disaster,” said Stefani Hinkle, a farmer and performer who lives near a major fissure in the volcanic eruption. Ms. Hinkle spent Wednesday night quaking in bed as the outer bands of Hurricane Lane blew wind and rain sideways into her house.
“I had several dreams,” she said, “about the ocean god joining the fire goddess.”
[…continues…]
and from usa today: As Hurricane Lane approaches Hawaii, Kilauea volcano simmers down
[…]
Volcanoes are notoriously unpredictable, but experts say they don’t get activated by changes in the air pressure from an incoming storm, as has been speculated.
“The forces that drive eruptions aren’t usually at the surface. Eruptions are driven by forces much deeper, whether or not magma is actually moving toward the surface,’’ said Janine Krippner, a volcanologist at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia. “So because those are quite deep, it’s unlikely they’re going to be affected by something above the surface like air pressure.’’
On the other hand, an active volcano could have an effect on a major storm, exacerbating it to a certain extent. That was the case when Tropical Cyclone Flossie slammed into Hawaii in 2013, as particles spewed out by Kilauea contributed to intensify a lightning storm.
“The physics does allow for more smaller droplets to form and get blown higher in the storm, which promotes lightning as it gets above the freezing level, rather than raining out,’’ said Steven Businger, a professor and chair of the atmospheric sciences department at the University of Hawaii.
[…continues…]
the next storm abrewing? monsoon Manafort raining on the twit parade.
politicususa quotes Rachel Maddow :
While there has (appropriately) been a lot of attention paid to the conclusion of the first Paul Manafort trial, Rachel Maddow pointed out that his second trial could potentially do great damage to the Trump presidency.
According to Maddow, not only does the next chapter in the Manafort saga revolve around the former Trump campaign manager’s work as a foreign agent, but it’s telling that the special counsel has held onto the case tightly, even while handing off other cases.
“We do not know if the president has anything to worry about,” the MSNBC host said. “But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsel’s office.”
Maddow said:
In the next trial for Manafort, he is going on trial for being an unregistered agent of a foreign power while he was running Donald Trump’s campaign to become president. His co-defendant for some of the charges that he’s about to face in his next trial is his Russian-speaking, Soviet-born, longtime business partner who the FBI says is linked to Russian intelligence and who is believed by prosecutors to have fled to Moscow ahead of him being charged alonside Paul Manafort with some of the felony charges that have led to this next trial that Manafort is about face. Old bank fraud and tax fraud charges back in the day? Okay. But being a secret foreign agent running a presidential campaign and committing felonies in cahootz with your Russian-speaking, Russian military intelligence-linked business partner as recently as this year? That’s going to be a different kind of case. And we don’t know if the president has anything to worry about in terms of what may come out in that second trial of Paul Manafort, or if the president has anything to worry about if Manafort, in fact, decides to change his mind and start cooperating with prosecutors in order to lessen his prison time and the pending charges against him. We do not know if the president has anything to worry about. But the Manafort case is the one case that is actually being tried by the special counsel’s office, that the special counsel’s office has held onto to prosecute itself with its own personnel.
the guardian:
Kathleen Williams is the Democratic nominee taking on one of the wealthiest members of Congress for the state’s sole House seat, which the GOP has held for nearly three decades
It’s 90 minutes before daylight on a late summer day when Kathleen Williams loads up her camper truck with signs and stickers and hits the campaign trail, today a 200-mile drive across southern Montana to Crow Fair, one of the largest Native American powwows in North America.
For Williams, the 57-year-old Democratic nominee for Montana’s lone congressional seat, the Crow Indian Reservation just north of Wyoming is unfamiliar territory. She’s driven 35,000 miles all over the state stumping for votes this year, many in this truck but most in her electric hybrid car, with her dog Danni, a spring-loaded german wirehaired pointer and the star of Williams’ first campaign ad.
[…]
She is running against the Republican Greg Gianforte, one of the wealthiest members of Congress. She has a camper truck. He has a private jet and near-unlimited resources to self-fund his campaigns.
Beyond the funding gap, she’s running for a seat held for nearly three decades by Republicans, against a solid glass ceiling that has only been breached once in Montana history. And yet, she’s rarely described as a long shot.
Montana sent the first woman ever to Congress, but it hasn’t sent another since. Jeannette Rankin, a Missoula suffragette and pacifist, was elected to the US House in 1916 – four years before the 19th amendment giving American women the right to vote.
Rankin’s Republican primary opponent, Eldon Jacob Crull, was so devastated by unceasing taunts about getting beaten by a woman that he took his own life.
“Jacob Crull of Roundup, Montana, swallowed muriatic acid on the steps of an undertaking establishment here early today,” the New York Times reported. “‘I’m heartbroken,’ was all he could say.”
After Rankin, women were mostly shut out from top-tier elected offices in Montana and to some degree across the Rocky Mountain west, where no woman has been elected to the US Senate.
Montana has elected one female governor, Republican Judy Martz, who served a disastrous term from 2001-2005 marked by tone-deafness on issues affecting women. She once joked to a crowd of hundreds in her home town: “My husband has never battered me, but then again I’ve never given him a reason to.”
[….continues…]
Any guesses as to whether SFB will send FEMA to Hawaii? If you start with he does not seem to think HI is a state or even territory of the US, there is doubt.
BlueB… it’s not that SFB doesn’t know that Hawaii is a state… it’s that he does know… and he knows it’s where Obama was born and raised. That fact alone means Hawaii is fucked.
RR – ah a better view of the situation. Or rather a serious view.
meanwhile
huffpo reports:
Displaced Puerto Ricans Face Dire Situations As FEMA Housing Aid Nears Its End
bbc:
US Republican Senator John McCain will no longer be continuing treatment for his brain cancer, his family has announced.
Mr McCain, 81, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last summer and had been undergoing treatment since July 2017.
He left Washington to be with his family in Arizona, though he has still been a vocal political figure.
He has, at times, been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump.
His family said in a statement shared with US media: “Last year, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious.”
“In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict.
“With his usual strength of will, he has chosen to discontinue medical treatment.”
[…continues…]
also from bbc:
The Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, has been given legal immunity from prosecution, US media report.
He had been summoned to give evidence to prosecutors earlier this year in the ongoing investigation into Mr Trump’s longtime former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to handling hush money for Mr Trump’s alleged lovers, in violation of campaign finance laws.
something oddly familiar about this face
nbc news:
The longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, was given immunity by federal prosecutors in New York during the course of the Michael Cohen investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The news was first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.
Weisselberg is “Executive 1” on page 17 of the criminal information filed by prosecutors in the Michael Cohen case, a person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
According to prosecutors, Cohen sent an invoice to Executive 1, meaning Weisselberg, for “Payment for services rendered for the month of January and February, 2017,” a payment that was really meant to reimburse Cohen for a payment to Stormy Daniels.
Weisselberg then sent the invoice to another Trump Organization executive via e-mail directing him to “Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put ‘retainer for the months of January and February 2017’ in the description.”
[…]
Michael Cohen mentioned Weisselberg’s name several times on a recorded phone conversation between Trump and Cohen about a payment to kill a story about Trump’s alleged relationship with Playboy model Karen McDougal. The tape was seized during the FBI’s April raid on Cohen’s residence and office, and was released to the media by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis.
On the tape, recorded two months before the 2016 presidential election, Cohen mentions that he has spoken to Weisselberg about setting up a corporation to process the payment.
“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info regarding our friend David,” says Cohen, “so that — I’m going to do that right away. I have spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.”
“David” is apparently David Pecker, a Trump friend who is the chairman and CEO of American Media and publisher of the National Enquirer, which had agreed to purchase McDougal’s story.
Pat, I see it as the face of a child confronting mom after knowingly letting her down.
flatus, good point; however the worried/frightened eyes and the pursed mouth are also reminiscent of mikey… and the greying hair growing greyer
John Kerry: McCain shows us what ‘grace and grit really mean’
Wow! Someone on Lawrence O’Donnell last night mentioned Weisselberg… and said (paraphrasing) that if he started spilling the beans, trump and his organization would be in serious trouble.
The proverbial wheels are coming off the bus fast and furiously now. I just made a mountain of popcorn!
I hope the Hawaiian hurricane brings rain to Northern California We could use a break from the fires and all the smoke around here
Hurricane Lane will make it’s closest approach to Hawaii tonight, Saturday; catastrophic flooding occurring with up to 40 inches or rain possible…
McCain has reached the finale of his career. I had hoped he would show up to vote against the SCoUS nominee before ending his time. Although he was almost always a solid R vote, he broke free and did the good thing last year. His presence was good for politics. It is a shame he should go this way. A salute to him.
Duncan Hunter just said it was all his wife’s fault she cooked the books
Melanoma let this be a lesson to you
good advice about resigning. now’s the time for the twit to negotiate getting to keep tower and mal an ego as well as immunity from tax fraud et al. not bad bargain if he just goes way (and takes pence with him).
the hill:
Martin London, a lawyer who represented former Vice President Spiro Agnew, said that President Trump should resign from office to keep federal prosecutors from prosecuting his family.
“It’s only going to get worse,” London said Friday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“We already have everybody, you know — the rats are leaving the ship. He’s lost [Richard] Gates, [George] Papadopoulos, [Michael] Cohen, [Michael] Flynn, now [David] Pecker,” London said. “He’ll probably lose others from the Trump Organization.”
[…]
London represented Agnew, who served as vice president under President Nixon. Agnew resigned while in office in 1973 under legal pressure over a bribery scandal 10 months before Nixon stepped down.
“We don’t know a quarter of what’s in the pocket of the prosecutor,” London said of Mueller.
“If he has any interest at all in not only saving his skin, but the skin of his child, his children, his son-in-law, his grandchildren, his daughter — this is a time when he’s got to seriously think about that,” London said, referring to Trump. “Now, is he capable of that, of serious thinking? Frankly, I doubt it.”
London said Trump should ponder his advice because his current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who he also labeled a “clown,” isn’t going to get him anywhere.
“He’s going to be advised by people like clown Giuliani and people who don’t know that truth is truth, then he’s not going to get anywhere,” he said. “The national interest is what drove the Agnew resignation.”
That woman is one hell of a cook….
The Huntah
Dear Duncan
Ah knows how you feel, Boy…..I’m married, too, and when my wife tells me that we have enough to go to see a movie, I figure she knows what she’s doing even though I know the electric is due, the pantry is bare, my tank is on Empty, AT&T called about the phone, and the first of the month is scant days away.
Like Hemingway said, the bill always comes due.
So, stiff upper lip, Old Sport, grab something and hang on.
Oh, and thoughts and prayers…….
Sincerely,
Mr Average American
but, sturge, $600 bucks for a bunny’s airplane ticket? rabbit fur coats don’t even cost that much. now if by the family bunny they meant one from hef’s hatch… the twit paid 150,000 for his to fly away.
from an op ed Arizona republic azcentral:
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham made a great case for impeaching President Donald Trump.
In 1999.
Graham, who was arguing at the time for impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton, said:
“You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic. If this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Because impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
If it was then, it should be now. Right?
Graham’s 1999 remarks have become a popular bit of archival tape. The video has popped up in various forms on several broadcasts and the internet.
Standard for Impeachment by Lindsey Graham
Country Music has become Hank n’ Cline’s Monster.
Tomorrow is Bernstein’s 100th Birthday. I don’t think Lennie would be offended if we played his Kaddisch as we enter the Sabbath upon which the anniversary of his birth falls
Watching Duncan Hunter’s eyebrows dance as he tries to explain this away.
Feel the Bern(stein)
Kaddish is the prayer said in the worship service to praise G!D. It is perfectly appropriate to say Kaddish for Mr Bernstein.
Text of the Kaddish
The following includes the half and complete kaddish as according to Wiki. I have altered 36 to conform to Reform practice, as it is by far the largest movement in Judaism.
#
English translation
Transliteration
Aramaic / Hebrew
1
May His great namea be exalted and sanctifiedb.
Yitgaddal veyitqaddash shmeh rabba
יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא
2
in the world which He created according to His will!
Beʻalma di vra khir’uteh
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ
3
May He establish His kingdom
veyamlikh malkhuteh
וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ
4
and may His salvation blossom and His anointed be near.ad
[veyatzmaḥ purqaneh viqarev (qetz) meshiḥeh]
וְיַצְמַח פֻּרְקָנֵהּ וִיקָרֵב(קיץ) מְשִׁיחֵהּ
5
during your lifetime and during your days
beḥayekhon uvyomekhon
בְּחַיֵּיכוֹן וּבְיוֹמֵיכוֹן
6
and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel,
uvḥaye dekhol [bet] yisrael
וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל [בֵּית] יִשְׂרָאֵל
7
speedily and very soon! And say, Amen.a
beʻagala uvizman qariv veʼimru amen
בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
The next two lines are recited by the congregation and then the leader:
8
May His great name be blessed
yehe shmeh rabba mevarakh
יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ
9
for ever, and to all eternity!
leʻalam ulʻalme ʻalmaya
לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא
10
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted,
Yitbarakh veyishtabbaḥ veyitpaar veyitromam
יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרוֹמַם
11
extolled and honoured, adored and lauded
veyitnasse veyithaddar veyitʻalleh veyithallal
וְיִתְנַשֵּׂא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל
12
be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,a
shmeh dequdsha berikh hu.
שְׁמֵהּ דְקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא.
13
above and beyond all the blessings,
leʻella (lʻella mikkol) min kol birkhata
לְעֵלָּא (לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל) מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא
14
hymns, praises and consolations
veshirata tushbeḥata veneḥemata
וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא
15
that are uttered in the world! And say, Amen.a
daamiran beʻalma veʼimru amen
דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
The half kaddish ends here.
Here the “complete kaddish” includes:
16
eMay the prayers and supplications
Titqabbal tzelotehon uvaʻutehon
תִּתְקַבַּל צְלוֹתְהוֹן וּבָעוּתְהוֹן
17
of all Israel
d’khol bet yisrael
דְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
18
be accepted by their Father who is in Heaven; And say, Amen.a
qodam avuhon di bishmayya, vʼimru amen
קֳדָם אֲבוּהוֹן דִּי בִשְׁמַיָּא וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
Here the “kaddish of the rabbis” (including the kaddish after a siyum) includes:
19
To Israel, to the Rabbis and their disciples
ʻal yisrael veʻal rabbanan veʻal talmidehon
עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל רַבָּנָן וְעַל תַּלְמִידֵיהוֹן
20
to the disciples of their disciples,
v’ʻal kol talmidey talmidehon
וְעַל כָּל תַּלְמִידֵי תַלְמִידֵיהוֹן.
21
and to all those who engage in the study of the Torah
veʻal kol man deʻos’qin b’orayta
וְעַל כָּל מָאן דְּעָסְקִין בְּאוֹרַיְתָא.
22
in this [holy]z place or in any other place,
di b’atra [qadisha] haden vedi bekhol atar v’atar
דִּי בְאַתְרָא [קַדִישָא] הָדֵין וְדִי בְּכָל אֲתַר וַאֲתַר.
23
may there come abundant peace,
y’he lehon ul’khon sh’lama rabba
יְהֵא לְהוֹן וּלְכוֹן שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא
24
grace, lovingkindness and compassion, long life
hinna v’ḥisda v’raḥamey v’ḥayye arikhe
חִנָּא וְחִסְדָּא וְרַחֲמֵי וְחַיֵּי אֲרִיכֵי
25
ample sustenance and salvation
um’zone r’viḥe ufurqana
וּמְזוֹנֵי רְוִיחֵי וּפוְּרְקָנָא
26
from the Father who is in heaven (and earth);
min qodam avuhon di vishmayya [v’ʼarʻa]e
מִן קֳדָם אֲבוּהוּן דְבִשְׁמַיָּא [וְאַרְעָא]
27
and say, Amen.a
v’ʼimru amen
וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
All variants but the half kaddish conclude:
28
fMay there be abundant peace from heaven,
Yehe shelama rabba min shemayya
יְהֵא שְׁלָמָה רַבָּא מִן שְׁמַיָּא,
29
[and] [good] life
[ve]hayyim [tovim]
[וְ]חַיִּים [טוֹבִים]
30
satisfaction, help, comfort, refuge,
vesava vishuʻa veneḥama veshezava
וְשָֹבָע וִישׁוּעָה וְנֶחָמָה וְשֵׁיזָבָה
31
healing, redemption, forgiveness, atonement,
urfuʼa ugʼulla usliha v’khappara
וּרְפוּאָה וּגְאֻלָּה וּסְלִיחָה וְכַפָּרָה,
32
relief and salvationd
verevaḥ vehatzala
וְרֵוַח וְהַצָּלָה
33
for us and for all his people [upon us and upon all] Israel; and say, Amen.a
lanu ulkhol ʻammo [ʻalainu v’al kol] yisrael v’ʼimru amen
לָנוּ וּלְכָל עַמּוֹ [עׇלֵינוּ וְעַל כׇּל] יִשְֹרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
34
fMay He who makes peace in His high places
ʻoseh shalom bimromav
עוֹשֶֹה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו,
35
grant [in his mercy]g peace upon us
hu [berakhamav] yaʻase shalom ʻalenu
הוּא [בְּרַחֲמָיו] יַעֲשֶֹה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ,
36
and upon all [his nation]h Israel; and all the world, and we say, Amen.a
v’ʻal kol [ammo] yisra’el, v’ʼimru amen
וְעַל כָּל [עַמּוֹ] יִשְֹרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
dunkin’ hunter blames the babe. Whadda louse, man, whadda louse. he almost makes me ashamed to be male, even to be human. Whadda louse.
Lock him up. Lock ’em all up. Deport the baseturds.
Thank you, XR.
Samuel Pisar’s very personal narrative during the symphony coupled with a German orchestra and youth choir totally make this performance. The Holocaust was part of my youth and I have made it part of my life. Never Again Never
nevernever neverny times: Kremlin Sources Go Quiet, Leaving C.I.A. in the Dark About Putin’s Plans for Midterms
In 2016, American intelligence agencies delivered urgent and explicit warnings about Russia’s intentions to try to tip the American presidential election — and a detailed assessment of the operation afterward — thanks in large part to informants close to President Vladimir V. Putin and in the Kremlin who provided crucial details.
But two years later, the vital Kremlin informants have largely gone silent, leaving the C.I.A. and other spy agencies in the dark about precisely what Mr. Putin’s intentions are for November’s midterm elections, according to American officials familiar with the intelligence.
The officials do not believe the sources have been compromised or killed. Instead, they have concluded they have gone to ground amid more aggressive counterintelligence by Moscow, including efforts to kill spies, like the poisoning in March in Britain of a former Russian intelligence officer that utilized a rare Russian-made nerve agent.
Current and former officials also said the expulsion of American intelligence officers from Moscow has hurt collection efforts. And officials also raised the possibility that the outing of an F.B.I. informant under scrutiny by the House intelligence committee — an
examination encouraged by President Trump — has had a chilling effect on intelligence collection.
Technology companies and political campaigns in recent weeks have detected a plethora of political interference efforts originating overseas, including hacks of Republican think tanks and fake liberal grass-roots organizations created on Facebook. Senior intelligence officials, including Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, have warned that Russians are intent on subverting American democratic institutions.
But American intelligence agencies have not been able to say precisely what are Mr. Putin’s intentions: He could be trying to tilt the midterm elections, simply sow chaos or generally undermine trust in the democratic process.
The officials, seeking to protect methods of collection from Russia, would not provide details about lost sources, but acknowledged the degradation in the information collected from Russia. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal classified information. A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined to comment.
[….goes into detail for several paragraphs….]
The United States still should have a clear view of Mr. Putin’s strategies and intention to interfere in Democratic elections, said Michael Carpenter, a Russia expert and former Obama administration official. He pointed to fake social media accounts created as part of Russian intelligence operations that have drummed up support for white nationalists and the Black Lives Matter movement, and have supported far right, far left and pro-Russian candidates in the United States and in Europe.
“Clearly Russia is playing both sides of controversial issues precisely to sow chaos. But that said it is not just chaos, there are certain candidates Russia prefers to see in office,” said Mr. Carpenter, now at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. “The Russians are trying to support anti-establishment and pro-Russian candidates, not just in the U.S. but everywhere.”
Still, there is little doubt about the crucial nature of informants, said Seth G. Jones, who leads the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a policy research organization.
“It is essential to have sources coming from inside the government. It was during the Cold War and it is today,” Mr. Jones said. “There are multiple ways to collect intelligence against your adversary, in this case the Russian government. But sources can provide you things you might not otherwise get, like documents, intelligence assessments.”
Sources can provide photographs of Russian documents and intelligence that are hard to intercept electronically, and that can help the United States figure out what Russia is targeting, not just with its election meddling but with its attempts to infiltrate financial systems, the power grid and other critical infrastructure, Mr. Jones said.
The full reasons the sources have gone silent are not known. But current and former officials also said the exposure of sources inside the United States has also complicated matters.
This year, the identity of an F.B.I. informant, Stefan Halper, became public after House lawmakers sought information on him and the White House allowed the information to be shared. Mr. Halper, an American academic based in Britain, had been sent to talk to Trump campaign advisers who were under F.B.I. scrutiny for their ties to Russia.
Current American officials said there is no direct evidence that the exposure of Mr. Halper has been cited by overseas informants as a source of concern.
But the officials said that some allies have cited the exposure of the informant and other intelligence leaks in curbing some of the intelligence they share. And former spies believe that, long-term, the exposure will hurt overseas collection.
“Publicizing sources is really bad for the business,” Mr. Sipher said. “The only thing we can offer people is that we will do anything in our power to protect them. And anything that wears away at that trust, hurts.”
Pat, I understand that he is registered at a precinct in Queens. I’ll let you know if he requests an absentee ballot.