Steve Thomas

#IStandWithRingo https://twitter.com/hashtag/IStandWithRingo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Steve Thomas

Joe, The WC testimony of Bob Edwards, who was with Fischer: Mr. BELIN - If you said four, you mean the affidavit-maybe we'd better introduce it into the record as Edward's Deposition Exhibit A. Where do you think the shots came from? Mr. EDWARDS - I have no idea. Mr. BELIN - In the affidavit you stated that the shots seemed to come from the building there. Did you really say that or not? Mr. EDWARDS - No; I didn't say that. Mr. BELIN - All right, anything else you can think of? Mr. EDWARDS - No. Mr. BELIN - I want to thank you for coming down here. Steve Thomas

Trump’s vaccine chief picks his own former employer—where he still holds millions worth of stock—for $2.1 billion deal Published 29 mins ago on July 31, 2020 By Common Dreams “The White House on Friday awarded a record-breaking $2.1 billion contract for development of a Covid-19 vaccine, raising questions about a former pharmaceutical executive’s involvement in the administration’s decision. The deal is for 100 million doses of a vaccine manufactured by Sanofi, a French drug maker, and its British partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a former GSK executive, is head of the White House’s Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s program to develop and disburse an effective coronavirus vaccine. Slaoui’s connection to his former company has been the focus of concern from advocacy groups and politicians skeptical of his claims of neutrality. “It is a huge conflict of interest for the White House’s new vaccine czar to own $10 million of stock in a company receiving government funding to develop a Covid-19 vaccine,” Warren tweeted. “Dr. Slaoui should divest immediately.” As Common Dreams reported, the former executive’s refusal to relinquish his shares in the company made the process of awarding a contract a “sham,” in the words of former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub.” The corruption is just staggering. Steve Thomas

Richard, Quite possible. Steve Thomas

How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air” By Katherine Eban July 30, 2020 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/how-jared-kushners-secret-testing-plan-went-poof-into-thin-air#intcid=recommendations_vf-trending-legacy_0760f35a-1889-469b-9aed-f3eac48c0654_popular4-1 "Against that background, the prospect of launching a large-scale national plan was losing favor, said one public health expert in frequent contact with the White House’s official coronavirus task force. Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert. That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said. On April 27, Trump stepped to a podium in the Rose Garden, flanked by members of his coronavirus task force and leaders of America’s big commercial testing laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, and finally announced a testing plan: It bore almost no resemblance to the one that had been forged in late March, and shifted the problem of diagnostic testing almost entirely to individual states." Steve Thomas

Richard, If this is a picture taken in front of the TSBD; based on what Fischer told the WC he did after the shooting, I don't think it's Fischer. He and Bob Edwards were standing on Houston watching the parade. After the shooting, they ran up the grassy knoll and looked around the railroad yards. They then went back to the office. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/fischer.htm “Mr. BELIN - All right. When you went back there, did you walk by the front of the Texas School Book Depository Building? Mr. FISCHER - No; when we went back, we came we went back the same way we came. We went straight across Elm and then up to Houston on the south side of Elm, and then crossed. Mr. FISCHER - Well, as I said, we went up to the fourth floor to our office. Uh---I stayed there for 5 or 10 minutes. Bob had left. And then I went next door in the purchasing department where they've got a radio. About that time a deputy from the sheriff's office came up and asked me if I was Ronald Fischer, and I said, "Yes ;" and he said that Sheriff Decker wanted to see me in his office right now. Mr. BELIN - About what time was this now? Mr. FISCHER - This was at--oh--1 o'clock on or about 1 o'clock. Mr. BELIN - You then went to Sheriff Decker's office? Mr. FISCHER - I went to Decker's office and--uh--Bob Edwards was in there. He looked up--and he had given them my name and told them--at least, this is what he told me that he told them that we had both been standing there together and had seen this man in the window...“ When he testified, Edwards never came to explain how he came to be in Decker's office when Fischer was brought in. I'd say if it was either of these two, the young man was was probably Bob Edwards. Steve Thomas

Joe, Based on the badge over his left shirt pocket, the shoulder patch on his left bicep, the non-blue color of his uniform, and the papers sticking out of right shirt pocket, I'm going to guess and say that he might be a Deputy Constable working for Robie Love. Constable Duties & Responsibilities https://www.co.walker.tx.us/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=110 Although the constable is considered a local precinct officer, his territorial jurisdiction, like that of sheriff, extends to the entire county. He is entitled to serve civil process in those counties contiguous to his own, and with a warrant, to make arrests beyond the limit of his county. Civil court actions in the state of Texas begin with the service of different types of citations, writs, or subpoenas. The county or state charges various fees for such documents, and for legal service thereof to a defendant or witness in a civil suit. Deputy sheriffs, municipal police officers, constables, and private process servers are authorized to serve these civil papers. Steve Thomas

Joe, You know, that's something I've never understood. Everybody keeps talking about how we need an infrastructure plan. Our roads and bridges and airports and dykes need fixing. And here we have millions of people who need work and are just looking for something to do. Why not put the two together? It seems like it would be a win/win situation for everybody. I guess we need to build more aircraft carriers and D-35 fighter jets though. Steve Thomas

Sam Brodey Spencer Ackerman Asawin Suebsaeng Updated Jul. 30, 2020 11:04PM ET / Published Jul. 30, 2020 4:52PM ET https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-goes-into-hyperdrive-to-delegitimize-the-electionhes-terrified-of-losing?ref=home "...Harvard Law figure Alan Dershowitz, a member of the defense team during Trump’s impeachment trial, said, “The answer is clear: only Congress can change the date of the election. A president doesn't have the authority… Of course, any citizen has the right to ask Congress to make a change, but I can’t imagine that they would do that.” But others close to the president kept the door propped conspicuously open. Testifying on Thursday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an attorney, said about presidential authority to delay an election, “In the end, the Department of Justice, others will make that determination.” Ah yes. William Barr gets to decide. Others? What others? Steve Thomas

With his actions this morning, Donald Trump has announced to the world that he is going to lose this election. Winners don't seek to cancel, or delay an election. Only losers do. He has also announced to his acolytes that they are on their own. Who is going to hitch their star to someone who publicly announces he is is going to lose? What do you do when the ship deserts the sinking rats? Steve Thomas

Donald Trump’s Weak, Self-Defeating Call for Delaying the Election By Dan McLaughlin National Review July 30, 2020 10:31 AM https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/donald-trumps-weak-self-defeating-call-for-delaying-the-election/ “If I were, say, a Republican senator running for re-election right now, I’d be furious. One lesson of past campaigns is that the head of the ticket is supposed to play all the way to the whistle to keep the bottom from dropping out of down-ticket turnout. Bob Dole, for all his flaws as a national candidate, understood that and ran himself into the ground the closing weeks of 1996, doing nothing to save his own failing ticket but salvaging Republican control of Congress. If Trump is already focused in July on making excuses for losing, that is a very bad omen for Republicans in November.” Steve Thomas

Ron, In North Carolina, they opened up the process for people to request mail-in ballots. Requests from Republican voters rose by 20%. Requests from Democratic voters rose by 600%. Donald Trump is headed for the worst defeat in American history, and he knows it. He will do everything in his power to cancel the election, or somehow declare it invalid. Steve Thomas

Did you guys all set your watches yet? On Wednesday, at a speech in Midland, Texas, President Donald Trump railed against former Vice President Joe Biden for his “impossible” plan to neutralize carbon emissions by “2:30.” https://twitter.com/i/status/1288576935967121408 Steve Thomas

Gene, According to DeMohrenschildt, it was George Bouhe who was smitten with her. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/demohr_g.htm Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. They already moved to Dallas. We already had moved them--had taken Marina away from her husband. And she already had returned back to her husband. Mr. JENNER. All right. Now, you say you had already taken Marina away from her husband. Tell us how that occurred. Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. In the meantime, George Bouhe became completely disgusted with Lee. Mr. JENNER. Why? Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Because I don't know exactly why--because he liked Marina very much. Mr. JENNER. Bouhe? Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Bouhe he is an elderly man. Mr. JENNER. Yes, I appreciate that. Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. He wanted--almost like a daughter, you see. To him she was a poor girl whose father was an ex-officer, and she needed help. And he really gave. her money. He would give her $30, $40, I think, all at once. Steve Thomas

How can we have sunk so low? We've gone from JFK and Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama to a President who recommends injecting bleach into your body, brags about being able to repeat five words in a row, and is promoting a witch doctor? What the #$%^ happened? Steve Thomas

‘Nobody likes me’: Trump bemoans the fact that Dr Fauci is more trusted than he is https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/nobody-likes-me-trump-bemoans-the-fact-that-dr-fauci-is-more-trusted-than-he-is/ “He’s got this high approval rating,” said Trump. “Why don’t I have a high approval rating?” He added that “Nobody likes me. It could only be my personality. I don’t know.” #WhyIDontLikeTrump https://twitter.com/search?q=%23WhyIDontLikeTrump Is now the #1 Trending topic on Twitter as of 07/29/2020 Steve Thomas

Joe, You might be interested in reading this: Back in the (Great) Game: The Revenge of Eurasian Land Powers By Pepe Escobar 2008 https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/29/back-in-the-great-game-the-revenge-of-eurasian-land-powers/ I personally learned a lot. Steve Thomas

Gene, Thank you. This makes the battle for the Eurasian land mass even more interesting for me. Steve Thomas

Trump and Trump Jr. praise doctor who says diseases are caused by "evil deposits from the spirit husband" https://boingboing.net/2020/07/28/trump-and-trump-jr-praise-doc.html Trump and Junior are urging their social media followers to heed the Covid-19 advice of Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Houston pediatrician who has determined that many diseases are caused by sex with demons and/or alien DNA. The Daily Beast reported that Dr. Immanuel "praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren’t necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus." From The Daily Beast: In sermons posted on YouTube and articles on her website, Immanuel claims that medical issues like endometriosis, cysts, infertility, and impotence are caused by sex with “spirit husbands” and “spirit wives”—a phenomenon Immanuel describes essentially as witches and demons having sex with people in a dreamworld. “They are responsible for serious gynecological problems,” Immanuel said. “We call them all kinds of names—endometriosis, we call them molar pregnancies, we call them fibroids, we call them cysts, but most of them are evil deposits from the spirit husband,” Immanuel said of the medical issues in a 2013 sermon. “They are responsible for miscarriages, impotence—men that can’t get it up.” ooooooooooookay Steve Thomas

Gene, I used to live in that neck of the woods, and I know about the towns in western Colorado paved with uranium mill tailings. That's why I had sort of an interest in George DeMohrenschildt's comings and goings in Rangely. When I read that D.H. Byrd sold his interests in Byrd Oil and used the money to found Byrd Uranium, my ears perked up. Steve Thomas

Jim. Over the course of time, I've been really surprised to learn that these White Russian guys were not just oil industry people, they all seemed to be "petroleum engineers" and geologists. They were the guys who find the oil. Along the way I learned that uranium deposits are often found alongside large oil fields. And off we go... Steve Thomas

Ron, Doyle and Gedney’s arrest record: "These men were taken off a train boxcar in the rail yards right after President Kennedy was shot," https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth190292/m1/1/?q=Gedney William Chambers: “When questioned regarding the circumstances of their arrest, the three individuals indicated that they were on a freight car sleeping when they were wakened by officers with different colored uniforms than the ones worn by the officers who drove them down to the station. I would like to point out that it was Sheriff's Deputies who flooded the railroad yards immediately following the assassination. Steve Thomas

Trump Announced, Then Canceled, a Yankees Pitch. Both Came as a Surprise. The president’s announcement that he would pitch at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 15 startled the team’s officials, who had not scheduled such an event. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/27/us/politics/trump-yankees-fauci.html President Donald Trump invited himself to Yankee Stadium to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, and it did not go well for him, according to a new report in The New York Times. “An hour before Dr. Anthony S. Fauci threw the first pitch at the season opener between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals, President Trump stood on the briefing room stage at the White House and declared that he, too, had been invited to throw out his own opening pitch,” the newspaper reported. “There was one problem: Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff,” The Times explained. “But Mr. Trump had been so annoyed by Dr. Fauci’s turn in the limelight, an official familiar with his reaction said, that he had directed his aides to call Yankees officials and make good on a longtime standing offer from Mr. Levine to throw out an opening pitch. But no date was ever finalized.” Steve Thomas

ken olin @kenolin1 "Trump’s wall goes down in high winds. The amount of money @realDonaldTrump has wasted in the past three and a half years is breathtaking. The man is a living, breathing bankruptcy." https://twitter.com/i/status/1287673492972793856 Steve Thomas

https://www.nbc12.com/2020/07/25/protests-continue-richmond-unlawful-assembly-declared-dump-truck-set-fire/ RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Police Chief Gerald Smith addressed overnight riots in Richmond during a press conference on Sunday. Both city officials thanked peaceful protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement and detested violence and arson fires started by some in the crowd. Stoney said there were reports of white supremacists in the crowds who incited the violence. “There were white supremacists marching under the banner of Black Lives Matter, an attempt to undermine an otherwise overwhelmingly peaceful movement toward social justice,” Stoney said. “We’ve spoken on many occasions about those who’ve chosen a more violent route to express their discontent and what that does for the overall movement toward social justice.” Steve Thomas