DC will be a lonely place for the next couple of weeks…..all the spineless slugs are home schmoozing donors out of their cash,,,,Foggy Bottom ought to be a silent place with the exception of the MSM and their rush to drive the news.
It is Christmas week and readership will be down from normal and since I have 40 drafts in waiting….I have decided to spend this week posting the drafts I have written…..some are timely and some are a bit out of date……but of course there is NO rest for the Professor’s Classroom…..that will be on Monday as usual.
Not to worry I will be keeping an eye on the news and if there is anything important I shall suspend my “dump of drafts” to make it known for my readers and visitors.
Please enjoy and I look forward to those brave souls that will visit and comment….and for that I am forever grateful.
Sunday and I feel I need tom do some writing on those dark moments in history…..the US has ours like the Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee, My Lai, Kent State, etc but since I have so many UK readers I wanted to see their dark moments in their history.
Every country has them but in this case are they the darkest days of English history?
I read an article of some of those dark times…..but according to my readers are these the best examples of dark moments?
According to the article these are the top 10 moments of darkness….
10. The Peterloo Massacre
On August 16, 1819, a large crowd of 60,000 working class people gathered in St. Peter’s Field (now St. Peter’s Square) in Manchester to advocate for parliamentary representation at a time when only the rich, land-owning elite were allowed to vote. According to contemporary reports, the protesters were, by and large, orderly and disciplined, dressed in their best outfits, carrying around banners that said things like “Universal Suffrage” and “Equal Representation.” In exchange, the magistrates sent in the cavalry who immediately started cutting people down with sabers and stomping them to death.
An estimated 14 to 18 people were killed during the massacre while another 600 to 650 were injured. The government sided with the local magistrates and their priority then became to crack down on those trying to spread word of the Peterloo Massacre, as it became known, under the charge of sedition. The organizers were arrested, as were journalists, particularly those from the radical publication the Manchester Observer.
Even in modern times, the government has had issues properly addressing what really happened at St. Peter’s Field. Up until recently, the only reminder of what occurred on that spot was a blue plaque that simply said that the military dispersed a crowd of 60,000, carefully omitting the word “massacre.” It wasn’t until 2007 that a new, truthful plaque took its place.
Saturday and hopefully you got to watch the documentary on the life of Gertrude Bell….a fascinating woman that the world has all but forgotten….Bell leads off this series that I have on the strong women in the early 20th century and the Middle East.
I read her biography back in college and found her to be someone that the whole world needs to get to know…..so I would like to help….
Gertrude Bell was a British writer, archaeologist and political officer best known for helping to establish modern Iraq after World War I.
Gertrude Bell was born on July 14, 1868, in Durham, England. She studied history at Oxford and embarked on a career as a writer, traveler and archaeologist. Fluent in Persian and Arabic, Bell worked for the British government in Cairo during World War I. She contributed to the construction of the Iraqi state in 1921, as well as the National Museum of Iraq. Bell died in Baghdad on July 12, 1926.
Once more we are confronted with the old question: What is it that turns certain specimens of the most insular people into natural internationalists? Bell was born into a family of ironmasters in the north of England, liberal and free-trade in their politics, and though the family firm had its vicissitudes, she never had to be concerned about money. Her life pre-1914 (the war is the only watershed that matters in considering her generation) was spent partly in doing things young girls don’t normally do, such as Alpine mountaineering and desert archaeology, and partly in adopting causes one might not expect, such as that of the Anti-Suffrage League. As it happened, the First World War involved so many women on the “home front” that it made the post-1918 extension of the franchise almost automatic. The war also forced Bell to realize that she would probably never lose her virginity, which she simultaneously wanted, and dreaded, to be rid of. Her beau ideal lay in a shallow grave on the Dardanelles: She had missed her opportunity and wouldn’t settle for a lesser lover. It’s usually men who volunteer to go off on a desert mission at this point, but by late 1915 Gertrude was in Cairo as the first woman officer (known as “Major Miss Bell”) ever to be employed by British military intelligence.
I recently wrote a review of a documentary, “Queen of the Desert” and provided a link to watch and this site wanted credit card info….I am sorry for that…..and I want to rectify that….I found the documentary on You Tube……..hopefully it will be watchable by all those that would like and no credit card info should be needed.
Just take Senator Lindsey Graham…..his undying support for the president was not so much back in 1998 and the impeachment of Bill Clinton…..
Now is the time to stop telling the American people that it is for them that these people pretend to care……it is all about the Party and the ideology of stupid.
Just goes to show just how “principles” are in short supply in our nation’s capital and our Congress.
When will these old farts realize that everything they say is now on line and can be used…..
If anyone thought this would be a fair trial in the Senate then you would be mistaken….this is going to be a replay of the Clinton impeachment…..another circus to go down in history.
I thought is if nothing was done then let there be testimony….but so far that is not happening…so in my mind there is something to hide by the president.
I have always stated that I thought that politicians were our biggest hypocrites….nice to be proven right….every now and then.
I have ceased trying to find anything worthwhile on the boob tube…..I mean if you can come up with an idea like searching for ghosts and never find one and still last 10+ seasons then all is lost for quality programming….so I am searching for something I can search for and never find and then sell it to the those children in charge of programming in mainstream channels.
Speaking of looking for stuff……try the supermarket…..
I am always looking for one of those cool reports that I think my readers would appreciate for the weekends….I failed so I thought I would give you a look at the cool stuff I found in local supermarkets…
First, remember that can thing your grandma had on the stove for bacon grease? No need anymore for your can go to your local store and buy a can of bacon grease.
Let’s go over to the frozen food section.
I went to check the prices of shrimp for my wife and daughter love shrimp I could not eat such things….but while looking for the best price I found something that we all should try.
They say it taste like chicken…..I do not believe it!
Have you found anything interesting that could be considered to be unusual?
Yes Irene the president has been impeached by the House of Representatives….instead of whining about the outcome of the House vote why not look forward to the trial in the US Senate, where the president will most likely be acquitted (acquittal does not mean not guilty).
The Impeachment process in the House is done….the Senate now awaits the articles so they can set up a date for them trial to begin.
So what now has been asked…..
– The Democratic-controlled House voted almost entirely along party lines Wednesday night to make Donald Trump the first Republican president in US history to be impeached—and analysts don’t expect things to get any less partisan in the weeks to come. Trump will go on trial in the Senate next year, but the timing is now unclear: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Wednesday’s vote that Democrats are considering holding off on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate because they are concerned that the trial will not be a fair one. More:
The next steps. Before the process can move to the Senate, the House needs to appoint impeachment managers to present the case. Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler are seen as likely candidates. Rep. Justin Amash, an independent who left the Republican Party and voted for impeachment, may also be included to “confer some bipartisan credibility on the Democrats’ case,” the Guardian reports.
Acquittal expected. With Republicans holding 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate and a two-thirds supermajority required to remove Trump from office, an acquittal is widely expected—a conviction would require 20 Republican senators to switch sides. But the process is likely to “further aggravate the political and cultural fault lines in the country” that Trump’s presidency “has brought into dramatic relief,” the New York Times reports.
Support for a delay. Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer says he has taken the idea of a delay to every member of House leadership and there has been a lot of interest, including from Pelosi, Politico reports. “As long as we have the articles of impeachment under our control, we have an opportunity to prevent a travesty,” he says.
Trial negotiations. In a look at how a Senate trial would work, the Washington Postnotes that a majority of senators will have to agree on rules for a trial, which are not set out in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants a speedy trial with no witnesses called, though he may reach a compromise with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to avoid a public battle. After rules are agreed upon and a trial begins, senators, including those currently on the campaign trail, will work six days a week.
Trump’s legacy. Trump has downplayed the importance of impeachment, arguing that his opponents are the ones who look bad, but historians say the stain on his legacy will be permanent, the AP reports. “It’ll be impossible to look back at this presidency and not discuss impeachment. It is permanently tied to his record,” says Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer. “Ukraine will be his Watergate. Ukraine will be his Lewinsky.” Rice University presidential historian Douglas Brinkley agrees that impeachment is a “medallion of shame,” but notes that the impeachment will “look smaller” if Trump wins the election this year and becomes the first impeached president to be re-elected.
The talking point after the vote was that the House should withhold the articles from the Senate until the Spring of 2020…..considering the worthlessness of Mitch then I agree with this idea….even some conservs are feeling this would be a good idea as well and worth considering…..
It is beginning to dawn on Democrats that the moment they send articles of impeachment for Donald Trump to the Senate, they will have lost all of their leverage.
So they shouldn’t do it.
At least not yet, especially in light of the recent comments by Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham.
McConnell has said that he intends to work in “total coordination” with the White House and that “I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.” He adds: “There’s no chance the president will be removed from office.”
Graham is, if you can believe it, even less subtle. “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,” he said over the weekend at Doha Forum in Qatar. “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here . . . I will do everything I can to make it die quickly.”
I think that the Dems will fair better if they delay and give them time to make the rounds and make their case for the trial…it will give them time to frame the conversation and not let the president and his sycophants do it for them.
Then there is the chance that a debate about censure will come out of the flames of the impeachment……
Censure?
And the Old Professor will explain that in the next in the series here on IST.
The next post in this series will be coming in January 2020….when the Congress returns to DC to go back to work(?)……so the trial will get lots of lip service…..just something the media demands that is why they ask the same questions over and over and expect a different answer……now that is sanity!
It is December and the last Dem debate before the primaries and caucuses begin and we are off to pick the next Dem candidate to get the nomination and the privilege of taking on Trump for the presidency.
The first thing that the viewer would notice is it looked more like a GOP debate stage….all white…with the exception of Andrew Yang.
This time only 7 of the Dem candidates that will participate……
A narrowed field of seven Democratic candidates qualified for the final debate of the year—and the first question at the Los Angeles debate to nobody’s surprise, was on the impeachment of President Trump 24 hours earlier. Judy Woodruff asked how the candidates would move the country forward after the highly partisan vote. Three of the candidates—Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar—will serve as jurors in Trump’s Senate trial. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, and Tom Steyer are also taking part in the PBS/Politico debate. Some highlights:
Warren called Trump “the most corrupt president in living memory,” while Klobuchar accused the president of starting a “global Watergate” with his actions in Ukraine, the Guardian reports. Trump is “dumbing down the presidency beyond what I even thought he would do,” said Biden, who promised to “restore the integrity of the presidency.”
Asked about America’s strong economy, candidates stressed that things are far from ideal for many millions of Americans, the AP reports. “The middle class is getting killed,” said Biden. “This economy is not working for most of us,” Buttigieg said. Warren said the economy is working for the “wealthy and well connected but no one else.”
Warren, asked about economists who say her proposed new taxes would stifle the economy, was applauded when she said: “Oh, they’re just wrong.” Steyer agreed that billionaires like himself should pay more taxes, though he argued that the Democrats should nominate somebody with a record of building wealth, the Washington Post reports. Buttigieg called Warren’s wealth tax proposal “extreme.”
On climate change, Steyer—who is getting a lot more speaking time than in previous debates—promised to declare an emergency on his first day office. After Steyer told Buttigieg he should ” prioritize this higher,” the South Bend, Indiana, said the issue was already hitting home for him. “I live right by the river,” he said. “My neighborhood flooded.”
Warren, asked how she would close the Guantanamo Bay detention center—which costs more than $13 million per inmate per year to operate—called it an “embarrassment” and promised to close it, but did not explain how.
Yang, asked about being the only candidate of color present, said he missed Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. “It’s both an honor and disappointment to be the lone candidate of color on the stage tonight. I miss Kamala, I miss Cory,” he said, though he predicted that Booker will be back. When Sanders was asked about racial inequality, moderators had to ask him to return to the question about he tried to say more about climate change. He argued that the two issues are related.
On China, Yang said he had family in Hong Kong and warned about Beijing’s use of facial recognition technology. Steyer described China as a “frenemy,” while Biden said: “We have to be firm. We don’t have to go to war,” the Post reports.
Sanders said it is important for the US to support Israel, “but we must be pro-Palestinian as well,” CBS reports. In Israel right now, “we have leadership under Netanyahu who has recently … been indicted for bribery, who, in my view, is a racist,” he said.
When the candidates were asked about Barack Obama’s recent remarks about “old men” failing to “get out of the way,” former VP Biden quipped that his former boss probably wasn’t talking about him. The 78-year-old said he wasn’t planning to commit to serving a single term.
Another big line for Warren: When told that she would be the oldest president even inaugurated, she said: “I’d also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated.”
In what may have been the night’s most anticipated clash, Buttigieg and Warren tangled over campaign funding, with Warren targeting Buttigieg’s high-dollar fundraisers, including a recent one in a California “wine cave.” “I do not sell access to my time,” she told Buttigieg, who accused her of issuing “purity tests” that she can’t pass herself, reports the New York Times. “I have never even been to a wine cave. I have been to the wind cave in South Dakota,” Klobuchar said.
Sanders said Biden and Buttigieg were competing to see who could get donations from the most billionaires—and Biden is winning.
Klobuchar also targeted Buttigieg, noting that he had lost a statewide race in Indiana by 20 points. “We should have someone at the top of the ticket who has actually won,” the senator said. “Try building a coalition to win re-election with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence’s Indiana,” the mayor countered.
A tough question for Biden: He was asked about reports that the government was lying to the public for years about the “unwinnable” war in Afghanistan. He said that from the start, he was against the troop surge and had argued with Obama and Pentagon officials, the Guardian reports. Former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod confirmed in a tweet that Biden was telling the truth. Buttigieg said that when he left Afghanistan years ago, he thought he was “one of the last troops, turning out the lights.”
Sanders, asked about transgender rights, pivoted again and started talking about Medicare, the Times notes. Warren said that in the White House, she would read out the names of murdered transgender women so the nation can “confront a particular vulnerability.”
Biden raised his voice during a clash with Sanders over Medicare for All, which he called unrealistic. “Whoa guys, hey,” Klobuchar interjected as the debate turned into a shouting match
The final question appeared to take the candidates by surprise: They were asked if there was somebody on stage they wanted to apologize to or give a gift to. Yang, the first candidate to answer, said “Wow” and paused before saying he wanted to give everybody a copy of his book. “I can give out any one of four books that I wrote,” said Sanders. Warren said she would ask for forgiveness. “I get a little worked up,” she said. Steyer said he wanted to give the gift of “teamwork.”
In closing statement, Sanders and Warren promised to tackle income inequality. Biden said he had the best chance of defeating Trump. “Who can help elect Democrats to the United States Senate in states like North Carolina and Georgia?” he asked. Steyer said he would “break the corporate stranglehold” and fight climate change.
My thoughts on the debate…..Warren looked strong as well as Amy….still not impressed with Biden or Buttigeig and the lack of diversity on the stage was troublesome.
Finally, my candidate was not on the stage so I have no pony in this race…..
I was unimpressed by any on the stage….there was onky one progressive up there the rest are just shades of progressive…..basically the rest were nothing but centrists slap fighting…..what did the voter learn?
On policy…not a damn thing! On quick repartee a couple of the candidates had time to practice this and it showed.
The evening showed that the thought that one must be either dunce or rogue holds true…..plenty of dunces and one rogue….The tagline of this debate should have been…..”Everything is gonna be all white”.
Nothing substantive was brought forward…..lots of cutesy one liners but nothing else.
Be thankful you have me to sit through the most boring evening I can never get back….but now you know what happened and who did what…..and did not have to injure yourself in the process.
There has been a mash up against Turkey and its invasion of Syria.
For decades there has been a bill on the books condemning Turkey for the genocide of the Armenian people (1915-1926) and for many decades the US has refused to recognize the operation as a genocide…..but those days are falling by the wayside.
But before I go any further there needs to be a history lesson since there are very few survivors left alive…..
But for those that read my stuff then let the history show you the way…..
On the eve of World War I, there were two million Armenians in the declining Ottoman Empire. By 1922, there were fewer than 400,000. In all, 1.5 million Armenians were killed and another half million found shelter abroad after what is now considered the Armenian Genocide.
While WWI raged, the Young Turk government implemented a policy of Pan Turkism in order to save the remains of the weakened Ottoman Empire. Pan Turkism envisioned the establishment of a mega-Turkish Empire including all Turkic-speaking populations of the Caucasus and Central Asia extending to China. It also intended to Turkify all ethnic minorities of the empire. The Armenians were the main obstacle standing in the way of Pan Turkism. Although the elimination of Armenians from Western Armenia, or what is now Eastern Turkey, was planned as early as 1911, the Young Turk government found WWI to be the most suitable opportunity for implementation.
Now I feel that I must help those poor souls that do notm read understand this situation….
Now that all that history and background has been laid ….onto the meat of this post…..
In the wake of two votes last week in the US House and Senate to recognise the massacres as genocide – a long-awaited symbolic victory for Armenians – Turkey’s authoritarian president Recip Tayyip Erdogan threatened to shut down Incirlik air base, which is based in Turkey and hosts US nuclear warheads..
Turkey is butt hurt and has gone to their favorite American, Trump, to stop this recognition from happening…..and like a dutiful puppy he did all, he could to make the master happy….
The Trump administration has said it does not consider the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 to be a genocide, contradicting a unanimous vote by the US Senate.
The historic vote last week incensed Turkey, which has always denied that the killings amounted to a genocide.
Turkey’s foreign ministry on Friday summoned the US ambassador to express its anger over the vote, accusing the US of “politicising history”.
Armenia says 1.5 million were killed in an effort to wipe out the ethnic group.
The killings took place in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern-day Turkey.
Just like there are deniers of the Holocaust….we will always have those that will turn a blind eye to the systematic killing of a ethnic group……pathetic and cowardly to look the other way in the facfe of evidence.
But I am not surprised because that is what Americans do…..ignore evidence and make shit up to cover their beliefs.
This could be another post about our daily dose of gun violence….but it is not…it is about American troops killing other Americans……
In the past it has been SEALs and Marines killing a Green Beret that was scandalous enough..l..but the Navy and the Marines have once again made the news….but this time they are accused of killing an American contractor….
Two Marine Raiders and a Navy corpsman have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, and other offenses in connection with the death of a Lockheed Martin contractor, who died following a reported fist fight in Iraq, according to Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.
Todd South of Military Times first reported on Monday that two Marines and one sailor face general courts-martial for Rodriguez’s death: Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Draher, Gunnery Sgt. Joshua Negron, and Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet.
