Steve Thomas

The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/02/texas-border-wall-private/ “He built a privately funded border wall. It's already at risk of falling down if not fixed. Trump supporters funded a private border wall on the banks of the Rio Grande, helping the builder secure $1.7 billion in federal contracts. Now the "Lamborghini” of border walls is in danger of falling into the river if nothing is done, experts say.” by Jeremy Schwartz and Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica July 2, 20205 AM “Tommy Fisher billed his new privately funded border wall as the future of deterrence, a quick-to-build steel fortress that spans 3 miles in one of the busiest Border Patrol sectors. Unlike a generation of wall builders before him, he said he figured out how to build a structure directly on the banks of the Rio Grande, a risky but potentially game-changing step when it came to the nation’s border wall system. Fisher has leveraged his self-described “Lamborghini” of walls to win more than $1.7 billion worth of federal contracts in Arizona. But his showcase piece is showing signs of runoff erosion and, if it’s not fixed, could be in danger of falling into the Rio Grande, according to engineers and hydrologists who reviewed photos of the wall for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. It never should have been built so close to the river, they say. Just months after going up, they said, photos reveal a series of gashes and gullies at various points along the structure where rainwater runoff has scoured the sandy loam beneath the foundation.” “The Mission private wall project, Fisher’s second following a similar undertaking outside El Paso, is a little known but crucial part of the effort to help President Donald Trump meet his campaign promise to build 450 miles of “big, beautiful wall” by the end of 2020. For the administration, Texas remains the biggest challenge. That’s because the Rio Grande has served as a natural divider, and, unlike other states, most land abutting it is privately owned.” "Fisher’s strategy was years in the making. Soon after the 2016 election, he became a frequent guest on Fox News, where he caught the attention of Trump. Last year, The Washington Post reported that the president “latch(ed) on” to Fisher’s claims of speed and quality and “aggressively pushed” for the firm in conversations with top Homeland Security officials. But Fisher’s border wall business got off to a rocky start, despite paying a lobbying firm tens of thousands of dollars to push for contracts. In 2017, the firm, founded in 1952 and best known for large highway projects, had its wall prototype rejected by the Department of Homeland Security. It later attempted to join an elite group of preapproved border wall bidders, but it was again turned down by the Army Corps of Engineers, which said it failed to meet its requirements or obtain the necessary regulatory approvals. In response, Fisher sued the department and was added to the list of preapproved bidders thanks to White House pressure, administration officials told the Post last year. Fisher was also aided by a close relationship with freshman U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who advocated for the company with Trump and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Fisher and family members donated at least $24,000 during Cramer’s victorious 2018 bid, according to campaign finance records. Cramer’s spokesperson did not return emails for comment." Keep your eyes out for corruption involving Bannon’s Build the Wall Project and Fischer Construction of North Dakota. Steve Thomas

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/21/judge-denies-trumps-bid-for-a-stay-of-subpoena-in-manhattan-das-tax-records-case.html “A federal judge on Friday denied President’s Donald Trump’s bid to temporarily block a ruling allowing a subpoena for his tax returns and other financial records. The ruling came a day after the judge rejected Trump’s latest attempt to stop the Manhattan District Attorney’s office from enforcing a subpoena issued to his accounting firm. Trump’s lawyers on Thursday had filed a request for an emergency stay pending an appeal of that ruling. But Judge Victor Marrero wrote in his order Friday that Trump “has not demonstrated that he will suffer irreparable harm.”” Steve Thomas

Steve Bannon jokes about going to St. Tropez in the south of France on his new million dollar yacht using the Wall money. https://twitter.com/i/status/1296820737521717248 Steve Thomas

Tommy, You might ask and see if anyone has a copy of Larry Sneed's book, No More Silence. Ask them if they could copy or scan the paragraph of Sneed's interview with Roy Westphal where Westphal talks about the use of informants and the cooperation or lack thereof between the FBI and the Dallas Police Criminal Intelligence Division. In essence, what Westphal said was that the FBI had their informants, and the DPD had theirs, and there wasn't much sharing going on. Steve Thomas

Bill, I was living just outside of Glenwood Springs when the Storm King Mountain fire hit. Pretty scary stuff. Steve Thomas

California severely short on firefighting crews after COVID-19 lockdown at prison camps By Ryan Sabalow and Jason Pohl July 04, 2020 05:00 AM , Updated July 06, 2020 02:34 PM https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article243977827.html “This week, state prison officials announced they had placed 12 of the state’s 43 inmate fire camps on lockdown due to a massive outbreak at a Northern California prison in Lassen County that serves as the training center for fire crews. Until the lockdown lifts, only 30 of the state’s 77 inmate crews are available to fight a wildfire in the north state, prison officials said.” Steve Thomas

I believe Leavelle lied to me when I asked him back in 2003 who was the Secret Service agent who was present during Oswald's first interrogation on 11/22/63. Steve Thomas

Kolfager had bigger things in mind with respect to the donor list. From The Daily Beast: "Kolfage’s pitch to the Republican consultant, who does digital fundraising for Republican candidates, suggests that Kolfage was seeking to rent the list to other vendors that work with political campaigns, rather than to the campaigns directly. That’s a common arrangement for digital fundraising vendors, but it makes it difficult to track down which, or how many, campaigns have rented the We Build The Wall list. But at least one political candidate appears to have done so. The Daily Beast reported last year that Kris Kobac—the former Kansas Secretary of State, and We Build The Wall general counsel—sent a fundraising email to that list asking for donations to his ultimately failed 2020 Senate campaign. Legal experts told The Daily Beast at the time that that solicitation almost certainly violated federal campaign finance laws, either by failing to disclose that the campaign had paid for its use of the list, or by constituting an illegal in-kind contribution from the nonprofit to the campaign. The ethics watchdog group Common Cause subsequently filed legal complaints against both Kobach’s campaign and We Build The Wall over the fundraising appeal." Steve Thomas

"Former top Trump White House aide Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday morning by U.S. Postal Service agents, and will be indicted on two charges of criminal fraud. The maximum penalties, MSNBC reports, is 20 years for each charge. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/they-deliver-critics-celebrates-sweet-irony-of-steve-bannon-being-arrested-by-us-postal-service-agents/ Steve Thomas

Feds charge ex-Trump official Steve Bannon with criminal fraud in crowd-funded border wall campaign https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/feds-charge-ex-trump-official-steve-bannon-with-criminal-fraud-in-crowd-funded-border-wall-campaign/ “As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,” said acting SDNY U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. “As for Bannon’s role in the scheme, SDNY alleges that funneled “over $1 million from We Build the Wall” into a nonprofit organization that he personally controlled. According to SDNY, Bannon then used at least some of that money “to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars” in his own personal expenses.” Steve Thomas

Donald Trump is not going to accept the results of the election, because all those satanic cannibals rigged it. Steve Thomas

Pete, You asked an interesting question. The last anybody saw of Oswald, he was running down the street with the gun in his hand. Nobody saw him put the gun in his jacket pocket. Callaway’s affidavit: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth339021/m1/1/?q=Callaway Said he saw the gun in the hand of a running man he later identified as Oswald. He did not say he saw Oswald put it in his pocket. Sam Guinyard’s statement to the police: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth340305/m1/1/?q=Guinyard: Said he saw a man running down the street with a gun in his hand. He did not say he saw the man put the gun in his pocket. I got curious to know if the witnesses were shown the actual jacket the day of Tippit's killing. In their WC testimony, neither Ted Callaway nor Sam Guinyard speak of being taken up to the fourth floor and being shown the actual jacket. Detective Jim Leavelle said they were. Ted Callway’s WC testimony” http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/callaway1.htm Mr. BALL. Did he have the same clothes on in the lineup--did the man have the same clothes? Mr. CALLAWAY. He had the same trousers and shirt, but he didn't have his jacket on. He had ditched his jacket. Mr. BALL. What kind--when you talked to the police officers before you saw this man, did you give them a description of the clothing he had on? Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir. Mr. BALL. What did you tell them you saw? Mr. CALLAWAY. I told them he had some dark trousers and a light tannish gray windbreaker jacket, and I told him that he was fair complexion, dark hair. Mr. BALL. I have a jacket here Commission's Exhibit No. 162. Does this look anything like the jacket that the man had on that you saw across the street with a gun? Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes; it sure does. Yes, that is the same type jacket. Actually, I thought it had a little more tan to it. How would Ted Callaway know Oswald had ditched his jacket unless someone had told him so? Callaway described the jacket to police, but doesn’t say anything about being taken up to the fourth floor to identify the jacket itself. Mr. BALL. Did he have the same clothes on in the lineup--did the man have the same clothes? Mr. CALLAWAY. He had the same trousers and shirt, but he didn't have his jacket on. He had ditched his jacket. Mr. BALL. What kind--when you talked to the police officers before you saw this man, did you give them a description of the clothing he had on? Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir. Mr. BALL. What did you tell them you saw? Mr. CALLAWAY. I told them he had some dark trousers and a light tannish gray windbreaker jacket, and I told him that he was fair complexion, dark hair. Sam Guinyard’s WC testimony: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/guinyard1.htm Guinyard said he saw a brown shirt in Oak Cliff and again down at the courthouse, (presumably the shirt he was wearing during the lineup), but doesn’t say anything about being shown a jacket. Jim Leavelle’s WC testimony: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/leave_j1.htm Mr. LEAVELLE. Well, I--Mr. Graves and I took Helen back home and after we dropped her off we stopped by this carlot, 501 East Jefferson, and talked with the manager or owner of that and found out that he was the one that had seen the man running. He had heard the shots and seen the man running, from the scene of the shooting and the colored porter there also had heard it, and they had gone to the scene and they said, each of them said, that they thought they might be able to identify the man that they saw running; they heard the shots and they ran outside and saw him running down the sidewalk across the street from the lot with the gun in his hand. Mr. BALL. Did you also show them a jacket? Mr. LEAVELLE. Yes; I took them to the fourth floor and asked them to look at a jacket which---- Mr. BALL. I show you Commission Exhibit 162. Does that look anything like the jacket? Mr. LEAVELLE. It looks like the jacket that I showed them; yes. Mr. BALL. Do you know what Callaway said when he saw the jacket? Mr. LEAVELLE. He said this was definitely the jacket or one exactly like it. Mr. BALL. Do you know what Guinyard said? Mr. LEAVELLE. He said it was also the same type jacket. Just as aside, I liked this part of Sam Guinyard's WC testimony: Mr. GUINYARD. Yes--four men--handcuffed together. Mr. BALL. What did you say? Mr. GUINYARD. They was handcuffed together. Mr. BALL. They was handcuffed? Mr. GUINYARD. Yes; all four of them. Mr. BALL. Were they of different sizes? Mr. GUINYARD. Well, they was pretty close together--there wasn't much difference in size. Mr. BALL. In height--they were about the same? Mr. GUINYARD. About the same. Mr. BALL. Were they all about the same color? Mr. GUINYARD. No, sir; they wasn't all about the same color. Mr. BALL. All about the same color? Mr. GUINYARD. No, sir; they wasn't all about the same color. (You said you saw a white guy running down the street. Here's a brown guy and a white guy. Which is the one you saw?) Steve Thomas

Suitcases. I think every person in America should send Donald Trump one suitcase. Steve Thomas

Trump is now saying that God is talking to him. I have no doubt that Trump hears voices in his head, but I kinda sorta don't think it's God. Steve Thomas.

Irregular Periods and Horrible Headaches: How Tear Gas Is Making Portland Sick https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ay5mn/an-endless-barrage-of-tear-gas-is-making-portland-sick?utm_source=digg "PORTLAND, Oregon — For many of the past 78 nights, clouds of tear gas have wafted through downtown Portland and its surrounding neighborhoods. Local cops and federal officers have recently turned Portland into the biggest test case for sustained exposure to tear gas, possibly in American history. They’ve repeatedly doused parts of the city in gas and other riot-control munitions since protests over the police killing of George Floyd began in late May. The city was gassed so heavily in July that clouds showed up on the Federal Aviation Administration’s radar, according to The Nation. The use of chemical weapons, like tear gas, was initially banned in international warfare by the Geneva Protocol in 1925 and then again by the United Nations’ 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention — which the United States signed. The compound is composed of chemicals like chloroacetophenone and chlorobenzylidene malononitrile that are designed to irritate the mouth, nose, and throat. In the last two months alone, a number of U.S. cities have moved to limit or ban the use of tear gas. But many police departments are still allowed to use the substance. Since the protests began in late May, protesters in more than 100 cities have been tear gassed. And the effects can be severe. The Centers for Disease Control states on its website that exposure to large amounts of gas or “long-lasting exposure” can lead to blindness, respiratory failure, and even death. Steve Thomas

Tommy, No policeman that I am aware of ever made this assertion about a "note". I once wrote an essay asking the question, "How did the police first learn that Oswald lived at 1026 N. Beckley?" You can read it here if you'd like: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/2331-how-did-the-police-first-learn-of-1026-n-beckley/ Steve Thomas

Cliff, I've always said, it's not too bad when you talk to yourself. And, it's even not too bad when you start answering yourself. It's when you start ignoring yourself that you have a problem. "What did you say?" "I'm not talking to you." Steve Thomas

Joe, I think the more cynical historians will tell you that's what wars are for - to take the domestic pressure off (and cull the population, if you want to get really cynical). Look at Hitler or Japan in the 1930's. Steve Thomas

David, Thank you, but I was referring to the note supposedly found in his shirt pocket. The bus transfer was, but no note listing 1026 N. Beckley that I am aware of. Steve Thomas

David, Do you remember who was supposed to have said this? Steve Thomas

I wish I had this gift of doublespeak, but I just don't. White House Chief of Staff is explaining why we can't have vote-by-mail, because there is widespread fraud going on. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-says-lack-of-evidence-of-mail-in-voting-fraud-is-the-definition-of-fraud?ref=home “But there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” Tapper added after Meadows reiterated his concern with voter rolls. “There’s no evidence that there’s not either. That’s the definition of fraud, Jake,” the chief of staff shot back, causing the CNN anchor to do a double-take." Steve Thomas

Oh my. https://twitter.com/jayfeely/status/1294744576629014531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Jay Feely @jayfeely·18h "Had the distinct honor to play golf today with @POTUS and be his partner! Truly enjoyed talking about our families, politics and his earnest desires for our great country. he’s still got game." “Trump faced criticism over the weekend after he played golf while his brother was dying on Saturday.” "It was not immediately clear if the president planned to spend another day playing golf on Sunday. Asked if Trump’s campaigning schedule has changed this week, Senior Advisor Jason Miller said, “I don’t have any changes at the moment.” https://t.co/zeWI15PMfu pic.twitter.com/aMCAfDWsxE " Steve Thomas

Some of America’s billionaires have been illegally profiting off the pandemic while Rome burns: Clinton economist Published on August 16, 2020 By Robert Reich https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/some-of-americas-billionaires-have-been-illegally-profiting-off-the-while-rome-burns-clinton-economist/ “Since the start of the pandemic, American billionaires have been cleaning up. As more than 50 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance, billionaires became $637 billion richer. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has ballooned 59 percent. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’s, 39 percent. Walmart’s Walton family has added $25 billion. Big drug company CEOs and their major investors are doing nicely, too. Since the start of the pandemic, Big Pharma has raised prices on over 250 prescription drugs, 61 of which are being used to treat Covid-19. This much is clear: Trump and his Republican enablers won’t provide $600 per week to tens of millions of Americans who need the money to survive the pandemic, because Trump and the GOP believe the money undermines incentives to work. Yet Trump has no problem letting billionaires illegally profit off the pandemic. He thinks that as long as they buoy the stock market, they’re helping the American economy. That’s pure rubbish. The stock market is not America. The richest 1 percent of Americans own half the value of all shares of stock held by American households. The richest 10 percent owns 92 percent. For years now, stock prices have risen largely because profits have been siphoned from the wages of ordinary workers. In the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, stock prices are almost back to where they were before the pandemic began. Big corporations and major investors are doing fine. Billionaires are doing better than ever. But most Americans are sinking fast.” Steve Thomas

Douglas, There has always been a struggle between labor and capital. This plague has just shined a spotlight on that struggle. I have always said that it is not a case of the rich and the poor. The rich are rich, because the poor are poor. Our planet only has a finite amount of resources, and would not support all 4.5 billion of us living the lifestyles of the "rich and famous". Steve Thomas

I have spent hours and hours and hours poring over Invoices of Property seized from Lee Harvey Oswald, reading the after-action reports from the police officers who arrested him, and examining the contents of his wallet. No such piece of paper exists. That being the case; either the Johnsons lied to us, or the police lied to them. If the Johnsons were lying, it's a lie they maintained for more than 15 years, with no motive for doing so. If the police lied to them, you have to ask why. How did the police learn of 1026 N. Beckley, and who directed them there? Steve Thomas