Buffalo_Gal

People have gone back and forth the last few years wondering if she was in on it. Her retirement at this time is "curious," to say the least.

Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday full of laughter, joy, great food, friends & family, and a bit of Christmas cheer. ? ? ?

I like his tie. If that suit was bespoke (which I would expect the President to do), I'd ask for my money back if I were him.

China to lower import tariffs on frozen pork, avocados from January 1 China will lower tariffs on products ranging from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors next year as Beijing looks to boost imports amid a slowing economy and a trade war with the United States. Next year, China will implement temporary import tariffs, which are lower than the most-favored-nation tariffs, on more than 850 products, the finance ministry said on Monday. That compared with 706 products that were taxed at temporary rates in 2019. </snip>

Schumer warns? Oh noooooos! Schumer warns. He could probably get Mitt, but he might lose a few Ds... I do not think the numbers add up for Chuckie no matter how he tries.

Hmmmm but I thought that the FBI acted appropriately?

Boy, Trump is really in Putin's pocket. How did I miss that the new defense bill Trump signed last week calls for sanctions on any company participating on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (the one being laid from Russia to Germany in the Baltic to avoid paying billions to the Ukraine in transit fees)? On Saturday, Allseas, a Swiss construction company, suspended pipelaying work ahead of those sanctions.

Van Drew left the Democratic party due to calls telling him that they would make sure he was never elected to any office as a Democrat again. (1:40)

Tough noogies for the Dems that there is a 9-0 1993 Supreme Court decision reinforcing the Senate has complete control of any impeachment trial.

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Ah the NYT ... spinning, spinning, always spinning... They do not state in this article that the reason Durham released a statement because the media was trying to create a false narrative on what the Horowitz report found. Just because the OIG found "no bias" (because no one confessed to him or wrote down "I have bias") and stated that an inquiry has a very low bar to be opened, that does not mean things were a-ok. Shesh Quite the opposite when everyone named in the Horowitz report was handed over to Durham. The whole article smacked Durham around for daring to cut off the DNC and "msm" (BIRM) narrative in its tracks. In the final third of the article (of course, after the lede and introductory paragraphs ) lists his background, his straight-shooter status, his legal wins, etc. Durham Surprises Even Allies With Statement on F.B.I.’s Trump Case The federal prosecutor leading a review of the origins of the Russia inquiry has a reputation for keeping his mouth shut. At a sensitive moment, he didn’t. Mr. Horowitz had found that the F.B.I. acted appropriately in opening the inquiry in 2016 into whether the Trump campaign wittingly or unwittingly helped Russia influence the election in Donald J. Trump’s favor. In response, Mr. Durham, whose report is not expected to be complete for months, released a caveat-laden rebuttal: “Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the inspector general that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the F.B.I. case was opened.” </snip> The inspector general’s report makes no substantive reference to Mr. Durham’s investigation. But before the report’s release, Mr. Durham got into a sharp dispute with Mr. Horowitz’s team over a footnote in a draft of the report that seemed to imply that Mr. Durham agreed with all of Mr. Horowitz’s conclusions, which he did not, according to people familiar with the matter. The footnote did not appear in the final version of the report. </snip> The potential explosiveness of Mr. Durham’s mission was further underscored by the disclosure that he was examining the role of John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, in how the intelligence community assessed Russia’s 2016 election interference. </snip>

Everyone who thinks Ukraine is a nuthing burger for Hillary, Obama, the Dems, Biden, etc should watch this. All about the money laundering, gas trading, etc. He names names and calls it "high treason" for the Ukraine (hint: it ain't very legal for US citizens either). Dark money, indeed. text transcript

HUD estimates 2.7 percent rise in U.S. homelessness due to California housing crisis Secretary Ben Carson said that if it weren't for the state's 16.4 percent increase in 2019, the U.S. would have experienced a decrease. An estimate of annual homelessness in the U.S. released Friday by the federal government shows that the number of people living on the streets increased 2.7 percent this year over last because of crisis-level housing issues in California. The nation's most populous state experienced a 16.4 percent increase in homelessness in 2019, the report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development said, even though voters approved a $4 billion affordable housing bond more than a year ago, and Los Angeles passed its own $1.2 billion housing bond in 2016. L.A. has been slow to spend its money on shelters because of neighborhood opposition, and the state's largest coastal cities have long experienced housing prices and rents that exceed the budgets of many families. In November, San Francisco voters approved $600 million in bonds for affordable housing. </snip>

Went to see Star Wars... I liked it a whooooole lot more than I expected to. The first 2/3 was a pretty darned good movie and included decently done homages.

Poop 10-5

Allen would have been crucified for those last three throws.

DNC raises qualification thresholds again for January debate The escalating thresholds have resulted in fewer candidates qualifying for the debate stage. </snip> The new benchmarks, announced by the DNC on Friday, require candidates to have 225,000 unique donors, as well as show 5 percent or more support in at least four national or single-state polls in early voting states Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Candidates could also qualify by reaching 7 percent or more support in two single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. </snip>