Saturday, December 30, 2017

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Friday, December 29, 2017

Chit Chat from the Prez at his Golf Club in West Palm Beach

Hours after he accused the Chinese of secretly shipping oil to North Korea, Mr. Trump explicitly said for the first time that he has “been soft” on China on trade in the hopes that its leaders will pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
He hinted that his patience may soon end, however, signaling his frustration with the reported oil shipments.
“Oil is going into North Korea. That wasn’t my deal!” he exclaimed, raising the possibility of aggressive trade actions against China. “If they don’t help us with North Korea, then I do what I’ve always said I want to do.”
Despite saying that when he visited China in November, President Xi Jinping “treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China,” Mr. Trump said that “they have to help us much more.”
“We have a nuclear menace out there, which is no good for China,” he said.
 
Mr. Trump gave the interview in the Grill Room at Trump International Golf Club after he ate lunch with his playing partners, including his son Eric and the pro golfer Jim Herman. No aides were present for the interview, and the president sat alone with a New York Times reporter at a large round table as club members chatted and ate lunch nearby. A few times, members and friends — including a longtime supporter, Christopher Ruddy, the president and chief executive of the conservative website and TV company Newsmax — came by to speak with Mr. Trump.
Noting that he had given Mr. Herman $50,000 years ago when he worked at the president’s New Jersey golf club and was trying to make the PGA Tour, Mr. Trump asked him how much he made playing on the professional circuit.
“It’s like $3 million,” Mr. Herman said.
“Which to him is like making a billion because he doesn’t spend anything,” Mr. Trump joked. “Ain’t that a great story?”
 
“Like Joe Manchin,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the Democratic senator from West Virginia. He said Mr. Manchin and other Democrats claimed to be centrists but refused to negotiate on health care or taxes.
“He talks. But he doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t do,” Mr. Trump said. “‘Hey, let’s get together, let’s do bipartisan.’ I say, ‘Good, let’s go.’ Then you don’t hear from him again.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Trump said he still hoped Democrats will work with him on bipartisan legislation in the coming year to overhaul health care, improve the country’s crumbling infrastructure and help young immigrants brought to the country as children.
Mr. Trump disputed reports that suggested he does not have a detailed understanding of legislation, saying, “I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A. I know the details of health care better than most, better than most.”
Later, he added that he knows more about “the big bills” debated in the Congress “than any president that’s ever been in office.”
 
The president also spoke at length about the special election this month in Alabama, where Roy S. Moore, the Republican candidate, lost to a Democrat after being accused of sexual misconduct with young girls, including a minor, when he was in his 30s.
Mr. Trump said that he supported Mr. Moore’s opponent in the Republican primary race because he knew Mr. Moore would lose in the general election. And he insisted that he endorsed Mr. Moore later only because “I feel that I have to endorse Republicans as the head of the party.”
Mr. Trump repeated his assertion that Democrats invented the Russia allegations “as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election.” He said that “everybody knows” his associates did not collude with the Russians, even as he insisted that the “real stories” are about Democrats who worked with Russians during the 2016 campaign.
“There’s been no collusion. But I think he’s going to be fair,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Mueller.
In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers have seized on anti-Trump texts sent by an F.B.I. investigator who was removed from Mr. Mueller’s team as evidence of political bias. At a hearing this month, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, said that “the public trust in this whole thing is gone.”
Although Mr. Trump said he believes Mr. Mueller will treat him fairly, Mr. Trump raised questions about how the special counsel had dealt with the lobbyist Tony Podesta. Mr. Podesta is the brother of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, and Tony Podesta is under investigation for work his firm, the Podesta Group, did on behalf of a client referred to it in 2012 by Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman.
“Whatever happened to Podesta?” Mr. Trump said. “They closed their firm, they left in disgrace, the whole thing, and now you never heard of anything.”
Mr. Trump tried to put distance between himself and Mr. Manafort, who was indicted in October. The president said that Mr. Manafort — whom he called “very nice man” and “an honorable person” — had spent more time working for other candidates and presidents than for him.
“Paul only worked for me for a few months,” Mr. Trump said. “Paul worked for Ronald Reagan. His firm worked for John McCain, worked for Bob Dole, worked for many Republicans for far longer than he worked for me. And you’re talking about what Paul was many years ago before I ever heard of him. He worked for me for — what was it, three and a half months?”
Mr. Trump said it was “too bad” that Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump did not directly answer a question about whether he thought that Eric H. Holder Jr., President Barack Obama’s first attorney general, was more loyal than Mr. Sessions had been.
“I don’t want to get into loyalty, but I will tell you that, I will say this: Holder protected President Obama. Totally protected him,” Mr. Trump said. He added: “When you look at the things that they did, and Holder protected the president. And I have great respect for that, I’ll be honest.”
Mr. Trump said he believes members of the news media will eventually cover him more favorably because they are profiting from the interest in his presidency and thus will want him re-elected.
“Another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes,” Mr. Trump said, then invoked one of his preferred insults. “Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times.”

He added: “So they basically have to let me win. And eventually, probably six months before the election, they’ll be loving me because they’re saying, ‘Please, please, don’t lose Donald Trump.’ O.K.”
After the interview, Mr. Trump walked out of the Grill Room, stopping briefly to speak to guests. He then showed off a plaque that listed the club’s golf champions, including several years in which Mr. Trump had won its annual tournament. Asked how far he was hitting balls off the tee these days, Mr. Trump, who will turn 72 next year, was modest. “Gets shorter every year,” he said.
 
Thanx NY Times

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Merry Christmas

             Under the tree  the gifts enthrall ,
    But the nicest present of  them all
Is filling our thoughts  with those who care ,
Wanting our Christmas to share

Merry Christmas  to all
Shadow   & Witchy

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Over 100 countries defy Trump, vote for Jerusalem U.N. resolution

Thomson Reuters          December  21st 2017 
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - More than 120 countries defied President Donald Trump on Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favor. A total of 128 countries backed the resolution, which is non-binding, nine voted against and 35 abstained. Twenty-one countries did not cast a vote.

Trump's threat appeared to have some impact, with more countries abstaining and rejecting theresolution than usually associated with Palestinian-related resolutions. A spokesman for Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the vote "a victory for Palestine" but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the vote.

Nevertheless, Washington found itself isolated on the world stage as many of its Western and Arab allies voted for the measure.

French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said in a statement: "The resolution adopted today only confirms relevant international law provisions on Jerusalem. This vote must not divide or exclude."

Earlier this month, Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy by announcing the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would move its embassy there.

Ahead of Thursday's vote, the United States said it was "singled out for attack" at the United Nations over Jerusalem, which holds Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites.

“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, told the 193-member General Assembly.

"We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations, and so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit,” she said.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who were furious over Trump’s move. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the full city.

The vote was called at the request of Arab and Muslim countries. The United States, backing its ally Israel, vetoed the resolution on Monday in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.

The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem."

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the United States it could not buy Turkey's support in Thursday's vote.

"Mr. Trump, you cannot buy Turkey's democratic will with your dollars," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

Among the countries that abstained on Thursday were Australia, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan.

Australian U.N. Ambassador Gillian Bird said Australia wanted to see the United States continue to play a leadership role in brokering peace and abstained from the vote because, "We do not wish to see any party isolated from the process."


"There is much in this resolution with which we agree," Bird told the General Assembly after the vote. "We do not, however, consider that this further resolution...helps bring the parties back to the negotiating table." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Alistair Bell .

Some one please explain to me what's going on with   Donald  tRUMp's hair .....HeHe

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Official Navy video of UFO


 
Retired Cmdr. David Fravor spent 18 years as a Navy pilot, but nothing prepared him for what he witnessed during a routine training mission on Nov. 14, 2004.

"I can tell you, I think it was not from this world," Fravor told ABC News. "I'm not crazy, haven't been drinking. It was — after 18 years of flying, I've seen pretty much about everything that I can see in that realm, and this was nothing close."

Obtained by ABC News An unidentified flying object shown in a photo first obtained by the New York Times.

Fravor's stunning retelling of his encounter off the California coast with what appeared to be a 40-foot-long wingless object that flew at incredible speeds in an erratic pattern comes as the Pentagon revealed the existence of a secret program to investigate sightings of UFOs.
The program was shut down in 2012 because of other budget priorities, according to the Pentagon.
"I have never seen anything in my life, in my history of flying that has the performance, the acceleration — keep in mind this thing had no wings," Fravor said.
He recalled flying his F/A-18 fighter on a training mission on a beautiful Southern California day 13 years ago when things started to get strange.
Controllers on one of the Navy ships on the water below reported objects that were dropping out of the sky from 80,000 feet and going "straight back up," Fravor said.


"So we're thinking, OK, this is going to be interesting," he said.
As they were looking around for the object that appeared on the radar, another aviator spotted something. "I was like, 'Dude, do you see that?'" Fravor recalled saying.
“We look down, we see a white disturbance in the water, like something's under the surface, and the waves are breaking over, but we see next to it, and it's flying around, and it's this little white Tic Tac, and it's moving around — left, right, forward, back, just random," he said.
The object didn't display the rotor wash typical of a helicopter or jet wash from a plane, he said.
The planes flew lower to investigate the object, which started to mirror their movements before disappearing, Fravor said. "As we start to cut across, it rapidly accelerates, climbs past our altitude and disappears," Fravor recalled.
"When it started to near us, as we started to descend towards it coming up, it was flying in the elongated way, so it's [like] a Tic Tac, with the roundish end going in the forward direction ... I don't know what it is. I don't know what I saw. I just know it was really impressive, really fast, and I would like to fly it," he said.
The disturbance in the water also vanished with object, he remembered.
"So we turned around — we couldn't have been more than about a couple miles away — and there's no white water at all in the ocean," Fravor said. "It's just blue."
At that point, they decided to return to complete the training exercise when they were told the object or something similar reappeared.
"And the controller comes up and says, 'Sir, you're not going to believe this. That thing is at your half point,' which is our hold point," Fravor added. "And I'm like, 'Oh, great.'"
Another plane that launched from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz around the same time had its radar jammed and was able to pick up the object on an infrared channel.
"He gets close enough to see a couple of objects come out of the bottom, and then all of a sudden it takes off and goes right off the side of the screen and, like, takes off," Fravor said.
He recalled that the speed of the object, which he said had no exhaust trail in infrared scanning, was stunning.
"No aircraft that we know of can fly at those speeds, maneuver like that and looks like that," ABC News contributor and former Marine Col. Stephen Ganyard said.
Fravor said there is no rational explanation for what they saw that day.
"I don't know if it was alien life, but I will say that in an infinite universe, with multiple galaxies that we know of, that if we're the only planet with life, it's a pretty lonely universe."
There was no further investigation into the incident, he said.
"You know, you see a lot of interesting things," Fravor said. "But to show up on something that's a 40-foot-long white Tic Tac with no wings that can move, really, in any random direction that it wants and go from hovering over the ocean to mirroring us to accelerating to the point where it just disappears — like, poof, then it was gone."

Monday, December 18, 2017

Christmas From the Dark Side

 
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Be good----or else!!!!

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Cartoon by my Grandson Jake

 
 
 
 Jake is the comedian in our family. He's got a million jokes.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Why Black Alabamians voted for Doug Jones

 
 
Black voters typically vote overwhelmingly Democratic: they cast ballots for Hillary Clinton nationwide by a 89% to 8% margin in the 2016 presidential race, and even broader margins for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
But black voters made up 29% of the vote in Alabama in Tuesday's election — a larger-than-expected share more comparable to the composition of the electorate in a presidential race for Obama than an off-year special election. Exit polls also revealed a gender gap that worked in favor of Jones, with women voting for the Democrat with a 57% to 41% margin.
Jones was named the winner Tuesday night, but the margin remained neck-and-neck for the entirety of election night. Leading up to the special election to fill now-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' former seat, national figures from both parties had stepped up support for both candidates.
Despite accusations against Moore that involved sexual abuse from many years ago, President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee had pledged their support for the Republican candidate last week.
Trump called Jones and graciously congratulated him but I wonder if he was gritting his teeth and making an obscene gesture as he did it.

Friday, December 08, 2017

Thursday, December 07, 2017

Flash back - 3 Exerpts from an essay by my grandson Sam

 



BY SAMUEL MAHOOD: Edited for publication

"If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
Some might say, "I wouldn't have married, she cost me a fortune." Or, perhaps," I should have followed my hunch and bought that property or taken that job."
Well, at eighteen years old, I haven't had enough experience to say any of those things. My life is just beginning and as corny as it may sound, if I could change one thing, I would go back to my childhood and enjoy, appreciate and linger over every moment. Growing up, you want to  become an adult so badly, you wish your time away.
 Now I'm an adult I'd like to re-live some of the priceless moments of my childhood that passed so quickly. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the responsibilities of adulthood and feel privileged to be part of such a wonderful family. But sometimes I have flashbacks of childhood experiences and wish I could go back to those moments."

"As far back as I can remember, I felt left out when I heard my parents talking about important, adult things. I wanted to grow up, be ultra wealthy and have a nice home, a hot wife and fast cars. This was my dream even before I knew how to use the toilet standing up.
 I took for granted playing hockey in the street with my best friend and my brother, pretending it was the Stanley Cup finals. Sleep-overs were great. I could stay up half the night with my friends and watch  the Leafs play hockey right through the third period. Playing restricted, adult, video games with my best friend Dan was awesome too; games my parents did not think I was ready for. Sorry Mom. Man, I loved the end of the week - pay-day!  A whopping two bucks! No hidden zeros. For a kid, it was a lottery. I could buy two packs of hockey cards or some candy. Holidays, trips and family events are all a happy blur.
Becoming a teen was a confusing time. I was growing and changing. High school was scary for me, and exciting too. Joining the football team and later, organizing a slo-pitch softball team was gratifying and fun. Meeting girls was nerve wracking but exciting too. It was a very significant time in my life."

"I wouldn't change a thing in my life. But I would like to go back and slow time down. I would appreciate and enjoy every moment to the fullest because you can't call them back. You live the rest of your life with the memories of those times and the influence they had on your life.
I'm very fortunate to  have such a big, loving and caring family. I would like to take a few lines to thank them all for everything they have done for me. You guys raised me, put me through school, loved me and kept me on the right track. Thank you to my parents for getting me up and ready for school each day and being there when I got home to ask about my day. Thank you Gunny and Guppa for always being there for me and my brother and for coming to all our silly Christmas plays and more importantly our graduations. Thank you Jake for being my true best friend and willing to hang out with me no matter what kind of mood I was in. I love you all so very much and I enjoy the flashbacks I have of all of us.
Whether anyone reads this or not is not important. I just wanted to write my thoughts down. Maybe someone will enjoy reading it. I will leave you with one thought, one question. If you could change one event in your life, What would it be??"

There was more to Sam's essay.  I Just touched on the points that formed the basis for his writing. It's holds a lesson for us all. Don't hurry through life without registering small significant details, without enjoying the moment you are in, without memorizing the smiles and words of the people who love you unconditionally. Get through the bad moments but linger as long as you can in the happy ones or the peacefully contented ones. Linger as long as  you can in your youth because it is gone in the blink of an eye and you have the rest of your life to embrace the memories or regret them.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Donald Trump Jr. asked Russian lawyer for info on Clinton Foundation

NBC News    KEN DILANIAN AND NATASHA LEBEDEVA     Dec 5th 2017 

Donald Trump Jr. asked a Russian lawyer at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting whether she had evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation, the lawyer told the Senate Judiciary Committee in answers to written questions obtained exclusively by NBC News.

The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, told the committee that she didn't have any such evidence, and that she believes Trump misunderstood the nature of the meeting after receiving emails from a music promoter promising incriminating information on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump's Democratic opponent.

Once it became apparent that she did not have meaningful information about Clinton, Trump seemed to lose interest, Veselnitskaya said, and the meeting petered out.

"Today, I understand why it took place to begin with and why it ended so quickly with a feeling of mutual disappointment and time wasted," Veselnitskaya wrote. "The answer lies in the roguish letters of Mr. Goldstone."

She was referring to Rob Goldstone, a music promoter who worked for the Agalarov family. They are Russian oligarchs with Kremlin connections who had business and social ties to the Trump family. Goldstone's emails to Trump Jr. arranging the meeting on behalf of the Agalarovs called Veselnitskaya a "Russian government lawyer" who had dirt on Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to help Trump. Goldstone has since said he exaggerated.

In her 51-page statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Veselnitskaya said she did not work for the Russian government and was not carrying any messages from government officials. She said her motive was to get the Trump team to examine what she argues is a fraud that led the U.S. to impose sanctions on Russia known as the Magnitsky Act.

Her ultimate goal was a congressional investigation into that matter, she said. She has long argued that U.S.-born hedge fund investor Bill Browder lied about the circumstances of the death of his accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian jail, and that the U.S. government imposed Magnitsky Act sanctions on Russia, which are named after the accountant, based on a fraud. Browder and American officials dismiss that allegation, calling it part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Veselnitskaya said there was no discussion at the Trump Tower meeting of hacked or leaked emails, social media campaigns or any of the other main aspects of Russian interference in the U.S. election. Previously, she told NBC News she had raised the issue of potential questionable contributions to Clinton's campaign by Americans accused in Russia of tax evasion.

Though some may see her answers as self-serving, Veselnitskaya's written answers reinforced what has long been understood about the Trump Tower meeting: that Donald Trump Jr. accepted it on the promise of incriminating information about Clinton that he had been told was coming from the Russian government. And he asked Veselnitskaya directly whether she had it, according to her written answers. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also in attendance, as were a Russian lobbyist, a Russian businessman and a translator.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and the House and Senate investigating committees continue to look into the Trump Tower meeting, according to multiple officials familiar with the probes.

Veselnitskaya insists they will find nothing that isn't already known. She says she wishes the meeting had never happened.

"Now that I know the kind of apocalyptic Hollywood scenario that a private conversation between a lawyer and a businessman can be turned into, I very much regret that the desire to bring the truth to the [Congress] has thrown the U.S. president's family, as well as Mrs. Clinton, into the whirlwind of mutual political accusations and fueled the fire of the morbid, completely groundless hatred for Russia," Veselnitskaya wrote.

In another noteworthy aspect of her answers, Veselnitskaya acknowledged that she worked with Glenn Simpson, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, in an investigation of Browder, whose campaign led Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act.

At the time he was working on that case, Simpson and his firm, Fusion GPS, were also working with former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele on the infamous Trump dossier.

But Veselnitskaya says she had no idea about that, confirming testimony Simpson has provided to House and Senate investigators.

Some Republicans have suggested that Simpson's work on behalf of a Russian client investigating the premise of the Magnitsky Act means the dossier could be tainted by Russian disinformation, but no evidence has surfaced to buttress that allegation.

Veselnitskaya called those allegations "unsubstantiated and outrageous insinuations."

A lawyer for Trump Jr. declined to comment, but referred NBC News to the statement his client released in September, which said Trump Jr. wanted to "hear (the Russians) out" if they had information concerning Clinton's "fitness, character or qualifications."

Sunday, December 03, 2017

For Aunt Jeannie

This what it says 
Scientists sent signal to Aliens on Super  Earth
humans just tried to contact intelligent aliens . On October 16 , 17  , 2017 , and  on the 18th a team of scientists sent a message to aliens . They sent the message via radio waves  and transmitted it 19 times . This helps ensure that all the information reaches it's destination . What's in the message ?

Aunt Jeannie , NASA is reaching out  to the Aliens  , if they get a response  , I  hope  the crazy man is not in office  playing President  , if so we are in trouble  .
We thought you would like these  .
Love you very much .
Jonny and Chris 
Wrote by Jonny

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Tampa serial killer suspect used same gun in 4 killings, police say

Howell Emanuel Donaldson 111  booking mugshot .
By Edmund DeMarche, Travis Fedschun | Fox News

The suspect in the serial killings spanning a 51-day period that terrorized a Tampa neighborhood used the same gun in four killings, but had "no apparent motive," the city's top law enforcement official said Wednesday.

The suspect, 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson III, admitted he owned the gun that was turned over to police Tuesday and that cracked the case, but did not admit to the killings, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said at a news conference.

"He was cooperative, but did not tell us why he was doing this," he said.

Howell E. Donaldson III seen in a mugshot released Wednesday.  (Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office)
Donaldson was arrested at a McDonald's in Ybor City based on a tip given to Tampa police after he brought the loaded gun to his job at the restaurant and asked a co-worker to hold it. The employee then told her manager about the gun, who alerted a Tampa police officer at a table in the restaurant, according to an arrest report. 

When Donaldson returned to the McDonald's, police were waiting for him and took him into custody. Dugan praised the tip from the employee on Wednesday. 

"The person who called us, I cannot thank them enough for standing up and doing the right thing and saying 'this doesn't seem right, why does this person have a gun in a bag?'" Dugan told reporters. 

Bryan Llenas shares latest details of the Seminole Heights investigation.Video
Tampa police believe one person behind four murders

The police chief said the gun, a .40-caliber Glock, was the missing evidence authorities needed to connect the killings to the images previously released from surveillance video of the suspect leaving the area. 

"The gun is what we needed," Dugan said at a news conference surrounded by family members of the victims.

Donaldson told investigators he was unfamiliar with the Seminole Heights neighborhood where the shootings occurred. He then asked for an attorney, but arrest records don't list one and the police chief said he didn't know if he had a lawyer yet.

Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, center, along with Mayor Bob Buckhorn, right, announce that they intend to charge Howell Emanuel Donaldson, 24, with four counts of first degree murder in connection with the Seminole Heights homicides, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. Police detained the man earlier Tuesday after a tip that he had a gun at a McDonald's. Four people have been killed in the neighborhood since Oct. 9.  (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, center, along with Mayor Bob Buckhorn, right, announce that they intend to charge Howell Emanuel Donaldson, 24, with four counts of first degree murder in connection with the Seminole Heights homicides, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, in Tampa, Fla.  (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
"I don't think he wanted to get caught," Dugan said, adding that Donaldson gave the gun to his co-worker at McDonald's for "safe keeping." He allegedly told the co-worker that he wanted to leave the state, FOX 13 Tampa reported. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and ATF analyzed the fired cartridge casings in all four murder scenes, and determined the casings were fired from the same firearm: a Glock .40-caliber handgun, according to the affidavit.

A search of Donaldson's cellphone found location data that indicated three days of recorded times and activities corresponding with the first three shootings on Oct. 9, Oct. 11 and Oct. 19, FOX 13 reported, citing the arrest report.

Law enforcement agents investigate a fatal shooting in the Seminole Heights neighborhood in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.  Police searched the neighborhood after a person was shot dead, possibly by a serial killer. Spokesman Steve Hegarty said detectives can't immediately say whether the shooting is related to last month's 10-day spree where three people were slain, but officers are treating it like it is.  (Jones, Octavio/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Law enforcement agents investigate a fatal shooting in the Seminole Heights neighborhood in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.  (Jones, Octavio/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Donaldson agreed to allow authorities to search his car and they found a suspected blood stain on clothing, the affidavit said.

"You know, 51 days ago I said this was a struggle between good and evil, well now, goodness has won,"  Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said.

Donaldson had a brief stint at St. John's University in New York, where he was a walk-on player in the 2011-12 season for the Red Storm basketball team, school sources told The New York Post. He did not play in any games, according to the newspaper.

Residents in working-class Seminole Heights have been on edge since Oct. 9, when 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell was shot to death. Two days later, 32-year-old Monica Hoffa was slain. And on Oct. 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was killed after taking the wrong bus home from his new job.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday that he was happy "no one else got hurt," adding that his heart went out to "these poor families" who lost loved ones.

The latest victim to be gunned down was remembered by family and friends Saturday for his passion for helping others. Ronald Felton, 60, was shot dead Nov. 14 as he was walking to volunteer at a food pantry in Seminole Heights.

"If you knew him, you seen his caring service. He was the Superman of service,” one man said at Felton's memorial service, FOX 13 reported. “I was the supervisor at the food bank, but he was the one in charge."

All of the October victims were either getting on or off a city bus, or were at a bus stop when they were shot dead, police said. 


Dugan said the department had received more than 5,000 tips. He thanked those who called in the tip that led to Donaldson's arrest.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reveal how Harry proposed during BBC interview

GIBSON JOHNS, AOL.COM       November  27th 2017 
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed new details about their relationship -- including how Harry proposed to the "Suits" actress -- in their sit-down interview with the BBC on Monday, their first since announcing their engagement.

Speaking with Mishal Hussein, Markle and Harry appeared completely at ease and totally in love as they talked about the low-key proposal just hours after sharing their exciting news with the world.

"It happened a few weeks ago," Harry started about his proposal. "Earlier this month here at our cottage on just a standard, typical night for us."

"Just a cozy night," Markle interjected with a smile. "What were we doing? Just roasting chicken? Trying to roast a chicken. And it was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet, and natural and very romantic ... he got on one knee!"

"Yes!" Markle responded enthusiastically when asked if it was an "instant" yes from her. "As a matter of fact, I would barely let you finish proposing. I was like, 'Can I say yes now?'"

"She didn't even let me finish," Harry said, laughing. "Then there were hugs and I had the ring in my finger and I was like, 'Can I give you the ring?' And she was like, 'Oh, yes! The ring!' So, no, it was a really nice moment; it was just the two of us and I think I managed to catch her by surprise, as well. 

As for the ring itself, it was reportedly designed by Harry, along with Cleave and Company, Court Jewellers and Medallists to the queen. It's on a gold band and features a cushion diamond from Botswana, along with two outside stones from the "personal collection" of Princess Diana. 

The couple first met back in July of 2016 on a blind date at a private members club through mutual friends. They went on two back-to-back dates before going camping together in Botswana a few months into their relationship. Markle called their first five or six months together "amazing" because their romance hadn't become public knowledge yet.

Before going on a date with Harry, though, Markle had one question for her friend: "Is he nice?"

"If he wasn't kind, it didn't seem like it would make sense," she said. 

After a highly successful first two dates, the couple "never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other." Neither knew much about the other before they met, which Markle considers a blessing.

"Everything I know about him, I've learned through him," she said with a smile.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

'Do you think they'll get the president?': Kushner is reportedly worried as the Russia investigation heats up

MMMMM
Business Insider      SONAM SHETH         November 22nd 2017 
White House senior adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is said to be increasingly worried about the size and scope of the Russia investigation.
Kushner reportedly asked a friend whether the probe would grow big enough to "get the president."
Trump is under investigation for obstruction-of-justice related to James Comey's firing as FBI director and for his role in crafting a misleading statement his son, Donald Trump Jr., released when it emerged he met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer and lobbyist at Trump Tower in June 2016.
Kushner is a central figure in both those events.

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, is worried about the widening scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Vanity Fair reported. 

As part of his investigation, Mueller is looking into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the election in his favor. 

Mueller's office issued the first indictments in October, charging former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates, with 12 counts related to money laundering, financial crimes, and their work as foreign agents. 

After the indictments against Gates and Manafort were unsealed, Kushner reportedly asked a friend, "Do you think they'll get the president?"

Trump is said to be under investigation for obstruction of justice, stemming from his decision to fire James Comey as FBI director in May. 

The White House initially said Trump fired Comey because of the way he handled the FBI's investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server to conduct government business. Later, however, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that "this Russia thing" had been a factor in his decision.

He also reportedly told two high-ranking Russian officials that firing "nut job" Comey had taken "great pressure" off of him. The alleged conversation took place in the Oval Office one day after Comey was dismissed. 

In addition to building an obstruction-of-justice case against Trump, Mueller is also reportedly looking into the president's role in drafting an initially misleading statement his son, Donald Trump Jr., issued in response to reports in July that he met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer at Trump Tower in June 2016.

The statement had to be amended several times, after it emerged that Trump Jr. took the meeting when he was promised dirt on then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
Kushner's role takes center stage

Kushner was a key player during both events. He attended the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, along with Manafort and Trump Jr., and he "pushed" Trump to fire Comey, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He was also with Trump in Bedminster during a weekend in early May, when Trump put together a draft letter laying out all the reasons he wanted to fire Comey. Though the letter was never ultimately sent after White House counsel Don McGahn strongly advised against it, Trump fired Comey days later. The letter is now in Mueller's possession. 

Concerns about the Russia investigation and Kushner are not one-sided. Two Republicans who have spoken with Trump recently told Vanity Fair that he has been "frustrated" with Kushner's advice, including when he pushed the president to dismiss Comey. 

Trump has been "pressuring" Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, to leave Washington, DC and return to New York to avoid negative press coverage, one source close to Kushner told Vanity Fair. 


But it's unlikely he will leave the spotlight any time soon, particularly as he becomes an increasingly critical figure in the Russia investigation.

Sunday, November 19, 2017


It is the first time a coffee-derived biofuel will be used on London's public transport system  
              
Waste coffee grounds will be used to help power some of London's buses from Monday, it has been revealed.
A biofuel created by blending oil extracted from coffee waste with diesel is to be added to the public transport fuel supply.
Technology firm bio-bean says it has produced enough coffee oil to power one bus for a year.
Transport for London (TfL) has increasingly turned to using biofuels to reduce transport emissions
Biofuel made using waste products such as cooking oil and tallow from meat processing is already used in many of the capital's 9,500 buses. However, this is thought to be the first time a coffee-derived biofuel has been added to London's public transport system.
 
Barista
About 55 million cups of coffee are drunk in the UK per day, the British Coffee Association says
 
Londoners create 200,000 tons of coffee waste a year, according to bio-bean. The company takes the used grounds from coffee shops and instant coffee factories, and extracts oil from it in its factory.
This is then processed into a blended B20 biofuel. Buses can be powered using the fuel without the need for modification.
 

More than two billion passenger trips are made on buses each year in London
 
Will buses be run on coffee in future?
The firm believes it would take just over 2.55 million cups of coffee to create the enough biofuel to run a London bus for a year once the oil has been blended with diesel. Six-thousand litres of coffee oil have been produced so far.
"It's a great example of what can be done when we start to reimagine waste as an untapped resource," bio-bean founder Arthur Kay said.
A report from the University of Manchester suggests that renewed emphasis be placed on developing waste.... "In the UK we produce 16 million tons every year, enough to double our current biofuel supplies. A third of that waste is called green waste, a quarter of it is agricultural straw".
The authors believe there is great scope for expansion in the use of unavoidable waste, such as used cooking oil, forest and sawmill residues, the dregs from whisky manufacture, even oils from sewage are possible bio-fuel.
In the future it is possible that we will be able to convert all waste products, including plastic into bio-fuels. Cheap transportation fuel, no carbon emissions and no garbage dumps. It's a win-win.
What a beautiful world.

Friday, November 17, 2017

World’s first head transplant is “imminent”

 This post was suggested by my grandson Jacob
 
Never too far away from making headlines, the controversial neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero is back with claims that the world’s first head transplant is “imminent”, after Chinese scientists successfully carried out the first head transplant on a human corpse.
He revealed the news at a press conference in Vienna on Friday morning. Professor Canavero claims the feat was carried out during an 18-hour operation at Harbin Medical University in China, during which a team of surgeons successfully severed then reconnected the spinal cord, nerves, and blood vessels in the spine and neck.

The operation was led by Dr Xiaoping Ren, a surgeon who has previously transplanted the head of a monkey and numerous rodents. Harbin Medical University is expected to write a full report on the operation within the next few days.
“The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done," Canavero told the crowd, according to the Telegraph. "A full head swap between brain-dead organ donors is the next stage. And that is the final step for the formal head transplant for a medical condition which is imminent.”

In a phone interview today, Canavero told USA Today that the operation will take place in China because the scientific establishment and authorities of Europe and the US were unwilling to support the contentious surgery.
"The Americans did not understand,” he said. "Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to restore China to greatness. He wants to make it the sole superpower in the world. I believe he is doing it.”

The eccentric Italian's plans to pull off the first live human head transplant have been surrounded and fueled with controversy. Back in 2015, he estimated that the operation would be done and dusted by 2017, however that’s looking unlikely considering the recent rate of developments.
Even though Canavero has spent the past few year writing scientific studies on the feat, massive doubts are continuing to be cast onto the scientific legitimacy of his big promises. Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at Langone Medical Center of New York University, said Canavero was “out of his mind”.

Speaking about head transplant surgery, neuroscientist Dean Burnett said: “When someone makes an extreme claim, my rule of thumb is this: If they haven’t provided robust scientific evidence, but they have done a TED talk, alarm bells should be ringing.”

First head transplant successfully carried out on live monkey
WARNING: Graphic picture. 


The first head transplant on a primate has been carried out by scientists in China 

Dr Sergio Canavero  carried out the first head transplant on a monkey ahead of plans to attempt the controversial procedure on a human by the end of next year.
Professor  Canavero, Director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group and researchers at Harbin Medical University in China posted pictures of the creature whose head appears to have been grafted onto the body of another animal.
Stitches can clearly be seen surrounding the neck, which looked to be entirely severed.
"The plan for the first human head transplant is on schedule, towards its expected date of realization, Christmas 2017. “

According to Prof Canavero, the team led by Xiaoping Ren, connected the blood supply to prove that the animal could survive without suffering brain injury. They have not yet attempted to join the spinal cords so if the animal survived it would be completely paralysed.
“The monkey fully survived the procedure without any neurological injury of whatever kind,” says Prof Canavero, but said it was  kept alive for only 20 hours after the procedure for ethical reasons.


The picture claimed to be the first monkey head transplant

Ren has also tested some experiments on human corpses.
“We’ve done a pilot study testing some ideas about how to prevent injury,” he said.
The experiments are reported in a set of seven papers which are due to be published in the journals Surgery and CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics. The papers also claim to have shown that spine fusion technology developed by Canavero ‘has a strong rationale’ and works in mice allowing them to recover motor function. The team claims that crucial nerve fibers regrew.

A press release ahead of the publication said: “A full monkey head transplant has been successfully accomplished by Prof Ren’s group in China with the goal of testing cross-circulation and hypothermia as an effective neuroprotective strategy.
“The first studies on human cadavers have already begun in China and will be expanded shortly.
"The plan for the first human head transplant is on schedule, towards its expected date of realization, Christmas 2017. “
Canavero shocked the world last year when he said that he would be ready to transplant a human head within two years. He wants the first patient to be 31-year-old Russian, Valery Spriridonov, who has a genetic muscle-wasting disease.


 
Spriridonov, the Russian patient, will only be able to receive a new body in Russia, which will require a commitment from Russian authorities.
It is claimed that initial talks with Russian surgeons have already taken place and the team are hoping to approach Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for finance.
In the meantime, Vietnam has offered itself to host future head transplants.
“I would say we have plenty of data to go on,” said Prof Canavero. “It’s important that people stop thinking this is impossible. This is absolutely possible and we’re working towards it.”

Prof Sergio Canavero

However the fact that the team has press released their work before it has been published an peer reviewed has left some scientists anxious about the validity of their claims.
“It’s science through public relations,” Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University School of Medicine told New Scientist.
“When it gets published in a peer-reviewed journal I’ll be interested. I think the rest of it is BS.”

Thomas Cochrane, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School’s Centre for Bioethics, also told the magazine Canavero’s press release was unorthodox. “It’s frowned upon for good reason,” he said.
“It generates excitement before excitement is warranted. It distracts people from actual work that everyone can agree has a valid foundation. As far as I can tell, that operation has mostly been about publicity rather than the production of good science.”
“If the so-called head transplant works, this is going to open up a whole new science of spinal cord trauma reconstruction,” says Michael Sarr, editor of the journal Surgery and a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “
We are most interested in spinal cord reconstruction using head transplantation as a proof of principle. Our journal does not necessarily support head transplantation because of multiple ethical issues and multiple considerations of informed consent and the possibility of negative consequences of a head transplant.”
I can see a cornucopia of ethical problems with this process . Add to this, a certain amount of shock and awe that we can actually do this. Is it a good thing? Is it a step toward immortality? Will someone take this knowledge and use for evil purposes? Of course they will. They always do.