Rebane's Ruminations
February 2017
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[Many apologies for having closed the 12feb17 sandbox without opening a new one – I really did mean to do that instantly, but somehow it fell through the crack with all the other debates going on below my subsequent posts.  Mea culpa.  That said, all I ask is that if there's a recent topical post on a given subject/issue, then please enter your relevant comments into its comment stream.  Much grass.  gjr]

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335 responses to “Sandbox – 16feb17”

  1. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    From Axios News…seems to be a good source for accurate news bits,
    Behind the curtain: How Trump works
    “Trump’s F-35 Calls Came With a Surprise: Rival CEO Was Listening,” by Bloomberg’s Anthony Capaccio: “Days before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump made two surprise calls to the Air Force general managing the Pentagon’s largest weapons program, the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 jet. [In the room for] one of those calls was Dennis Muilenburg — the CEO of Lockheed’s chief rival, Boeing Co. …
    “Muilenburg, whose company makes a [competing] fighter jet, was in the president-elect’s New York office for a meeting during the second call. He appeared caught off-guard but heard at least Trump’s end of the call.”
    Axios behind the scenes: This is part of Trump’s casual M.O. We talked to people who had the surreal experience of being in his Trump Tower office, then having him interrupt to take a call about an unrelated personnel matter — sometimes very sensitive. One visitor got up to step out, and Trump motioned for him to stay. But it got so awkward that the guest stepped out anyway.

    Like

  2. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    Another Axios news bit sampling,
    Top talker
    “Spies Keep Intelligence From Trump” — Wall Street Journal, top of front page, by Shane Harris and Carol Lee:
    “U.S. intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from … Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised”:
    “The officials’ decision … underscores the deep mistrust that has developed between the intelligence community and the president.”
    “In some of these cases, … officials have decided not to show Mr. Trump the sources and methods that the intelligence agencies use to collect information.”
    “The intelligence agencies have been told to dramatically pare down the president’s daily intelligence briefing, both the number of topics and how much information is described under each topic,”
    “[O]fficials said the decision to avoid revealing sources and methods with Mr. Trump stems in large part from the president’s repeated expressions of admiration for … Putin and his call during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of … Hillary Clinton.”
    The conversation … On “Morning Joe,” Scarborough dismisses the story as

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  3. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    “WikiLeaks promoter Donald Trump now makes โ€˜low-life leakersโ€™ his enemy” – hmm, can you say ‘double standard?

    Like

  4. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Thank you Dr. Rebane for allowing louts such as moi the privilege and honor to comment here. You truly are a humanitarian. Thank you again for the service you provide for fun and for free to the high and the low.
    Uh no. Those STEM students really blew it this time. Time to send them to reeducation camps to get their minds right.
    http://heatst.com/culture-wars/harvard-computer-science-students-in-trouble-for-dating-app-with-only-two-genders/
    Wonder what a biologist would say……..
    https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1027557467378290/?type=3&theater

    Like

  5. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: BradC | 16 February 2017 at 10:08 AM
    This may be the only thing you’ve written in the last six weeks that even hints at being correct.
    Keep reaching for the stars Brad!

    Like

  6. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    @Vlad (Putin) – #ะกะดะตะปะฐั‚ัŒะะผะตั€ะธะบัƒะฒะตะปะธะบะพะนะกะฝะพะฒะฐ!โ€ (#MakeAmericaGreatAgain)

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  7. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Almost correct Brad. But, let’s clear up one thing.
    “and his call during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of … Hillary Clinton.”
    1) This “call to continue hacking” was in reference to our Justice and State Departments searching for and unable to find 30,000 Sec of State Clinton’s e-mails (possible clasified information) that went missing. This “call to continue hacking” was not about John Podesta or Wikileaks.
    2) Here are the exact words of Trump. 50 seconds long. Hear the words. Then Goggle “Trump asks Russia to hack Hillary’s e-mails” or something like than and read what the NYT, Politico, CNBC, etc have to say. That is why I fondly named the siren song the ‘opiate of the masses’.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gNa2B5zHfbQ
    3). It was, “Yo Russia, if you have Hillary’s MISSING e-mails, help us out and turn them over. Lord knows nobody in the Obama Administration can find them. Trump is a funny guy.
    Brad, become a free thinker. You have so much potential. Oh yeah, what you heard:
    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/27/trump-hope-russia-finds-the-30000-emails-that-are-missing.html
    http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-calls-russia-help-find-missing-clinton-emails-n617946
    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282
    Opiate for the masses.

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  8. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Oh yeah. At the time of the tape (7/2016), Hillary’s personal server had been since decommissioned and had not been in service for a spell. You cannot continue hacking a server that no longer exists. State Department stuff which the FBI stated that was a 99% chance that 4 different outside “actors” had been in there.
    What I am saying is let’s have an honest dialogue, whether we disagree or not. Obliviously I reject your premise that Trump called for Putin to continue hacking Hillary’s private server to find the missing e-mails that are sole property of the United States of America.

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  9. George Rebane Avatar

    BillT 1113am – Another excellent try Mr Tozer, which I also presented some months ago. Unfortunately due to clinical aspects of the Left’s neurology, such logic is totally incomprehensible to them. This goes a long way to explain why the two sides are so far apart and meaningful communication today approaches the impossible. Nevertheless, we must continue the effort.

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  10. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Paul Emery is getting his poll kicked really good today.

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  11. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Trump’s presser was a great ass kicker.

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  12. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    This Russia obsession will never go away. I have finally accepted the fact.
    I feel this is the first time in my lifetime we have the opportunity to rethink our relations with Russia and take a new look at our foreign policy on a broader basis. It’s always been the Red Scare and the Soviets are Enemy Numero Uno. That may be the case and no one is so naive to think they have anything but their own self interests in mind. As Chamberlain taught us, the policy of appeasement has historically failed.
    No, what I am saying is we have a clean slate with Trump to start a national dialogue and revisit the issue. Plus, when we rebuild our military, we will be even in a greater position to negotiate. Right now we have the stronger hand, much stronger. After all, Russia’s GDP is about the size of CA…or less….with nuclear weapons.
    That is why the 90 year Kissinger got excited. Having Europe, America, and Russia reassessing their military roles and perhaps scaling back on more aggressive postures between the three powers. Never know. But, in this current Red Scare political climate, any talk of anything but thestatus quo with Russia is a non-starter. Not the time. Heck, its plumb anti-American to tell NATO to pay what they said they would and agreed to.
    This, too, I have accepted.

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  13. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Todd did you check out the links I sent you that survey all the polls ? Yes or no did you check it The fact is Trump has historically low polling support numbers By far the lowest in recorded history Even Rasmussen poll is very low at this point of his presidency though it does show some support for Trump. Better look Further if you were looking for a gotcha

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  14. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Trump up ten.

    Like

  15. ScenesFromTheApocalypse Avatar
    ScenesFromTheApocalypse

    BillT @ 12:25: “This Russia obsession will never go away.”
    It’s odd, isn’t it. When even the Green Libertarians are beating the drums to go to war, you know something is up. Oceania was at war with Eurasia; therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia.
    Heck, there really isn’t even much to fight over at this point. After Bush’s mostly uncalled for war and badly run post-war plus Obama’s 26,000 bombs in 2016 alone, it isn’t like you can hammer the Russians on having a aggressive foreign policy.
    It’s funny how the retractions will disappear into the memory hole.
    https://i.redd.it/tat1x0g7b7gy.png

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  16. George Rebane Avatar

    Scenes 1248pm – Does that mean that all those over-the-top prognostications of Trump administration’s future by our leftleaners will now be withdrawn? … Naaah!

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  17. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    BillT, GeorgeR – not sure what, exactly, you are referring to…is it this quote from the WSJ (considered a credible source), “[O]fficials said the decision to avoid revealing sources and methods with Mr. Trump stems in large part from the president’s repeated expressions of admiration for … Putin and his call during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of … Hillary Clinton.”?
    Maybe the confusion is due to Trump who is constantly spewing all kinds of stuff,
    https://www.wired.com/2017/01/timeline-trumps-strange-contradictory-statements-russian-hacking/

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  18. George Rebane Avatar

    BradC 1254pm – It might come as a surprise, but as does the NYT, the WSJ also publishes reports which later turn out to not be true. The FBI’s response to the ‘Russian contacts’ imbroglio is a case in point – see Scenes’ 1248pm link.
    And that you are still beating the dead horse of Trump’s “call … for Russia to continue hacking (Hillary’s) emails” is now getting comical.

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  19. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    GeorgeR, I was informing the group of today’s Axios news blurbs. I did not make any of it up. BillT hooked into the ‘hacking’ bit. I am trying to understand why he is arguing with me, why you are defending him, and providing additional info in the ‘Wired’ link to show that maybe there is more to BillT’s CNBC, NBC, and Politio links.
    The ‘Trump Hacking Stuff’ is all over the news but, if you wish to focus on me, that is your right, of course!
    That said, it is not as if, on this here site, no one on the other side of the fence has ever obsessed on any one subject.

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  20. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Trump said the WSJ article was “fake news” as he gets the daily briefing. The Intel community backed that up today too.

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  21. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Trump is so delusional he doesn’t even know the recent history of the Electoral College. Another Trump lie
    President Trump on Thursday falsely claimed he had the biggest Electoral College win since former President Ronald Reagan. in 2012, former President Obama received 332 electoral votes, and in 2008 he won 365 electoral votes.
    Former President Bill Clinton also received more electoral votes than Trump during both of his elections, as did former President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

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  22. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Oh Brad. Despite repeated requests from the FBI to look at the DNC server to see who hacked their server, all of those requests were denied. No one from our Intel ever was allowed to do a forensic examination of the DNC server.
    The server was examined by a 3rd party, Crowdfight. Hmm. A company that was formed by a 100 million grant from Google. One of its two co-founders is a Ukrainian patriot with strong anti-Russian passions.
    Brad, I submit to you there had been no Russian hacks that our Intel/FBI could verify firsthand. We just got to take a third party’s word for it. Do your own research if you are so inclined.
    Funny, CNN never uestioned or reported that Joe Biden’s younger son was appointed chairmanship on the board…..of Ukraine’s largest oil company.
    Funny, the media was not foaming at the mouth when the Obama Administration needed the Sec of State’s approval (HRC) to personally sign off on a deal that gave Russia 20% of the United State’s known uranium reserves. It only cost the foreign company a few million dollar donation to the Clinton Foundation’s Bubba subsidiary, which the Clinton Foundation failed to disclosed. When wasWolf Blitzer?? Where was the investigations? Where were you, Brad C??
    Excuse me if I think this feigned outrage of yours is built on a deception. Not a peep as Obama was bip bopping along. You are being used as a puppet. You dance to their song. Sad. Common story, yet still sad.
    https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/798251573658400/?type=3&theater

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  23. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    PS Brad. Yes, I have been too personal with you about your posts. In the future I will dispute the merits of your posts, not the poster. Me bad, me so lib-like lately. Here is a peace offering.
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1806341042963415&set=a.1446789625585227.1073741827.100007626107714&type=3&theater

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  24. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Scenes @ 12:48.
    Hmmm. Didn’t the Democrat lawmakers just yesterday say “we are under attack”, that this is like Pearl Harbor and 9/11…if not bigger!!! Nuke the Mo-Fo’s now and impeach Trump! He is going down. Two week max and he is gone!!!! Turning Blue, blue, blue.
    Yawn. They are excitable souls, emotionally unbalanced and very unstable. Perhaps we should investigate Little Dick’s Senate Intelligence Committee. That would really get their heads exploding. They would look like Di-Fi on a good day. Follow the stink.

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  25. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    If you look at the R EC totals since Bush One in 1992, I think Trump was talking about the R’s. So no lie.

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  26. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Wrong Todd Trump lied or is ignorant Take your choice
    Trump is third from the bottom, since Reagan The only weaker wins were (let me clear my throat) Bush in 2000 and 2004
    Obama (two times) Clinton (two times) and HW Bush all had more votes. Nothing to brag about. The man is delusional and has a bad memory. He’s repeated this many times when he gets into his bravado.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_Electoral_College_margin

    Like

  27. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Poor ol’ PE must have got an overdose of bad poll today. Rasmussen 55% positive for Trump and 80% of all voters agree he is doing what he promised ( 97% R – 68% D ). I heard there is auto injector for poll head overdoses PE. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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  28. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Todd
    In fact out of 56 elections Trump is 10 from the bottom, #46. You should do your homework before opening your mouth. Kinda embarrassing.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_Electoral_College_margin

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  29. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Todd, just heard that Trump called on someone with an accent at today’s press confab. The reporter answered “I’m from the BBC.” Trump answered, “That’s another beauty.” Too funny, I can’t stop laughing.

    Like

  30. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Well, she did commit the unforgivable sin. Cultural appropriation is a big no-no. Caught in their own snare, again. They are boxed in and can’t worm their way out of it. Talk about arrested development.
    Wait a cotton pickin’ second. If the DJ was born in South African, won’t that made her an African American?
    http://heatst.com/culture-wars/south-africas-rachel-dolezal-this-white-girl-dj-is-black-and-proud/

    Like

  31. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Paul, 426, are political landslides measured only by their distance from a dead heat (50%), or does the distance from what you and your friends were telling everyone to expect count?
    “Wrong Todd Trump lied or is ignorant Take your choice?”
    While Todd may be as often wrong as you are, Paul, there are multiple other possibilities that you have not imagined. That could be a flaw of your imagination, knowledge or your BDS/TDS blinding you to the possibilities (with inclusive ORs intended).

    Like

  32. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Paul Emery you need to read what I wrote. You are in the ozones.

    Like

  33. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    80% Don? What poll did that come from? Link please. Rassy is the only poll he’s doing well in. Even that is historically low for three weeks into a Presidency.

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  34. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Todd
    You have to listen to what Trump said and has been saying since the election. Here’s a link for you with some background
    https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+brtagging+electorial+votes&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

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  35. BradC Avatar
    BradC

    BillT – this is what we have to do to sift through all the info coming at us.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYAQ-ZZtEU

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  36. George Rebane Avatar

    BradC 112pm – That the Russian hacked emails are in the news today makes no never mind. However, there many aspects to that topic and citing that they are in the news doesn’t say anything. Stating a specific point like ‘Trump encouraged Russia to hack Hillary’s emails’ is specific (however wrong it may be).
    What exactly is your point at this late date about the emails?
    BTW, that today something makes the news has about as much credibility as Pravda during Stalin’s reign. Journalists rate below lawyers and politicians in the public eye. That says a lot for an industry that is almost uniformly leftwing.

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  37. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Gregory,
    Don’t you think it’s a little odd that he’s bragging about his “massive electoral victory” when in reality he’s 10th from the bottom out of 56 elections?

    Like

  38. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Flynn might be in a little trouble here-lying to the FBI
    “Former national security adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that countryโ€™s ambassador to the United States before President Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former U.S. officials said.”
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/flynn-in-fbi-interview-denied-discussing-sanctions-with-russian-ambassador/2017/02/16/e3e1e16a-f3d5-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?utm_term=.694ada2f2ecc

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  39. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    current and former U.S. official said.” Podesta, Clinton, Holder, Rice and on and on, that’s your former U.S. officials. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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  40. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Oh Paul Emery, you really are unhinged. Who cares that he exaggerated anything as mundane as something so easily provable, the EC. I gave you my view, you don’t accept it that’s is your problem. You are really out there foaming at the mouth now.

    Like

  41. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Is it only me, but is the loudest sniveling and bitching in the crooked media coming from people who were shown in the emails to have been co-conspirators with madam liar liar pantsuits on fire? Please ok this article massa , here are the questions in advance mam, yes we will screw comrade bernnie, too many to chose from. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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  42. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Is it just me or is the media making the story all about the media? Nothing to see there, except the MSM looks like they just got smashed with the ugly stick. Best not to look that way until your dinner is fully digested.

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  43. Walt Avatar

    Remember when a certain “ECO” billionaire bought up plenty of cheap coal stock?
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/16/promise-kept-donald-trump-overturns-obama-rule-killing-mining-jobs/
    So much for the prediction of our LIBS here that “coal is dead”.
    This is where I say,,, I TOLD ya’ so.

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  44. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    This is so not funny, not! :). Come on folks, this is serious! Not!
    http://www.mediaite.com/online/chuck-todd-donald-trumps-delegitimization-of-press-un-american-not-a-laughing-matter/
    What did Trump say today? Oh yeah, “that’s another beauty”, with rolling eyes I imagine. That Trump has a way of articulating what we have been already thinking….for years.

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  45. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Evening Walt. Look what those CA looney Lefties are doing now. This will go over like a screen door on a submarine in Nevada City.
    http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-california-lawmaker-raises-possibility-1487276964-htmlstory.html

    Like