Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Part 171, some of Russian meddling, and related, material from F6 big ones. These posted Saturday, 03/24/18,
covering March 4, 2018, and headed, Gun control arguments: Florida congressman on NRA, GOP
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139537870

The second

Qatar: Kushner company sought investment, Jared backed blockade

AM Joy
3/4/18
Jared Kushner is under scrutiny after the Kushner family company failed to acquire investment from a Qatari entity,
followed by Jared Kushner allegedly supporting a U.S. blockade against Qatar. Joy Reid and her panel discuss.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/qatar-kushner-company-sought-investment-jared-backed-blockade-1176532547582 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7bq-0S8Mbs [with comments]

The fourth, yet another reflection upon the ugly character of the president

Maxine Waters responds to Trump reportedly saying she needs ‘IQ test’

AM Joy
3/4/18
Waters responds to Trump reportedly saying she needs ‘IQ test’
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/maxine-waters-responds-to-trump-reportedly-saying-she-needs-iq-test-1176547907730 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn0qKVMKcJk [with comments]

To stashed March 4, 2018:

Qatar Refused to Invest in Kushner’s Firm. Weeks Later, Jared Backed a Blockade of Qatar.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/weeks-before-blockade-qatar-denied-money-to-kushners-firm.html

Jared Kushner’s Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly From Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-blockade/

Trump’s advisers are gluttons for punishment
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-advisers-are-gluttons-for-punishment/2018/03/02/1a882c5a-1e2e-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html

A Week 'Lost In The West Wing Reality Show'
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/03/590475332/a-week-lost-in-the-west-wing-reality-show

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/de0GdVqWDGPxbaMDFuPiaFw3qv8CM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

‘I don’t envy them’: Hope Hicks and other White House women struggle to defend Trump in the #MeToo era
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-dont-envy-them-hope-hicks-and-women-in-the-white-house-struggle-to-defend-trump-in-the-metoo-era/2018/03/02/cb1e8efe-1d9a-11e8-b2d9-08e748f892c0_story.html

'Off the rails': House Russia probe hits new low
Some House Republicans want to end their Russia investigation soon, even as Democrats insist many crucial questions about Kremlin meddling remain unanswered.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/03/house-russia-investigation-republicans-democrats-434105

Kushner and Carson money mess: Darcy cartoon
http://www.cleveland.com/darcy/index.ssf/2018/03/kushner_carson_swimming_the_sw.html

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dIKTosuCIo8mLVMs6BAz1vIk-w7SM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Putin: Russia will ‘never’ extradite citizens accused by US - AP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/putin-russia-will-never-extradite-citizens-accused-by-us/2018/03/04/39f4e23c-1fc7-11e8-946c-9420060cb7bd_story.html
original https://www.apnews.com/c5180bffb84d424ba11cf3384a665eb5/Putin:-Russia-will-'never'-extradite-citizens-accused-by-US

Devin Nunes Calls Colbert’s Jokes About Him A ‘Danger’ In This Country
The left “attacks people trying to get to the truth,” the congressman told Fox News.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Saturday that Stephen Colbert’s jokes about him are a “danger” in this country.
Colbert traveled to the Capitol on Friday’s episode of “The Late Show” in a spoof mission to tease information out of congressmen about possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. Colbert was armed with his own memo stating: “Devon Nunes is a [redacted].”
Colbert managed to crack a smile from stone-faced Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) when he asked him if he was “jealous” that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) gets to work with Nunes.
“This is the danger that we have in this country,” Nunes said when Fox News’ Neil Cavuto asked how he felt about the jokes.
“The left controls not only the universities in this country, but they also control Hollywood in this country, and the mainstream media, so conservatives in this country are under attack ... they attack people who are trying to get to the truth,” the head of the House Intelligence Committee added.
Check out Nunes’ comments above ( https://youtu.be/D-zEuRgyLuI ), and Colbert’s mission below ( https://youtu.be/JNnRbYj6Rnc ).
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nunes-on-colbert-danger_us_5a9b5d71e4b089ec353af434

Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation
WASHINGTON - George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has hovered on the fringes of international diplomacy for three decades. He was a back-channel negotiator with Syria during the Clinton administration, reinvented himself as an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and last year was a frequent visitor to President Trump’s White House.
Mr. Nader is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
The investigators have also asked about Mr. Nader’s role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration. The focus on Mr. Nader could also prompt an examination of how money from multiple countries has flowed through and influenced Washington during the Trump era.
How much this line of inquiry is connected to Mr. Mueller’s original task of investigating contacts between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia is unclear. The examination of the U.A.E. comes amid a flurry of recent activity by Mr. Mueller.
[...]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html

Mueller Is Now Looking Into Middle Eastern Influence as Part of the Trump Investigation
The special counsel is looking at the White House’s connection to the UAE.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/mueller-is-now-looking-into-middle-eastern-influence-as-part-of-the-trump-investigation/

Mueller team looking into possible United Arab Emirates money into Trump campaign: report
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/04/mueller-team-looking-into-possible-united-arab-emirates-money-into-trump-campaign-report.html

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dif-Y1AE_qrC6pMdLBBbyHgTTNZDM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Nine Notorious Dictators, Nine Shout-Outs From Donald Trump
The president of the United States continues to heap praise on the world's most reviled rulers.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/trump-xi-jinping-dictators/554810/

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/doLqUMJri1NV6vMFHrPcSFHZemfpM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Former Obama chief of staff said top Senate Republican ‘watered down’ pre-election Russia warning
A former chief of staff to president Barack Obama said Sunday that the Senate’s top Republican insisted that a bipartisan appeal for states to step up election security in the face of Russian aggression be “dramatically watered down” before it was issued in advance of the 2016 election.
Denis McDonough said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was single-handedly responsible for downgrading the language in a letter “asking the states to work with us” to better secure election systems in light of intelligence indicating Russia was attempting to interfere in the election. McDonough complained that members of Congress have shown a “stunning lack of urgency about this question,” and he put the blame mostly on Republican leaders in Congress.
“The lack of urgency that we saw from the Republican leadership in 2016, we continue to see to this day today,” he said. “It’s beyond time for Congress to work with the administration, to work with the states, to ensure that our electoral systems are ready to go. This is not a game.”
[...]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/former-obama-chief-of-staff-said-top-senate-republican-watered-down-pre-election-russia-warning/2018/03/04/85b92940-1fd0-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dNWDlb4tTc8UomMa0Cr_HVN-ylO2M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Scoop: Mueller's hit list
Axios has reviewed a Grand Jury subpoena that Robert Mueller's team sent to a witness last month.
What Mueller is asking for:
Mueller is subpoenaing all communications — meaning emails, texts, handwritten notes, etc. — that this witness sent and received regarding the following people:
1. Carter Page
2. Corey Lewandowski
3. Donald J. Trump
4. Hope Hicks
5. Keith Schiller
6. Michael Cohen
7. Paul Manafort
8. Rick Gates
9. Roger Stone
10. Steve Bannon
The subpoena asks for all communications from November 1, 2015, to the present. Notably, Trump announced his campaign for president five months earlier — on June 16, 2015.
Bottom line: In December, the president's lawyer Ty Cobb told me the White House would be free of the Mueller investigation "shortly after the first of the year absent some unforeseen delay." We know very little about what's keeping the investigators so busy, but the breadth of this subpoena means Mueller's team could easily stumble into goodies about Trump's inner circle given so many people are coughing up material. (Cobb didn't respond to a request for comment.)
https://www.axios.com/robert-muller-questions-list-trump-russia-54d00d1c-f008-457c-b304-ee601a98d78c.html

Thugs, Leeches, Shouting and Shoving at Trump Hotel in Panama
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/world/americas/donald-trump-panama-hotel-orestes-fintiklis.html

Toss in this one as the title simply feels to fit the situation with the present administration.

Here’s How You Could Survive Being Sucked Into a Black Hole

And because it's fascinating, which the present suck isn't.