PastaJoe

Trump's business transactions may be the actual genesis of Putin's hold over Trump. Given Trump's refusal to release information such as tax returns, it is entirely appropriate for the investigation to look into the Russian financing that Fredo Jr. previously has said existed.

John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Similar to what Ted Kennedy had. We need adult Republican voices now more than ever to counter Trump. A real shame.

Was a great writer on SNL, and now on his own show his takes on Trump are some of the best on television.

Adam Sandler's been mailing it in for years. Standup is Tig Notaro.

Then: Now, an attempt to eat healthier:

To be fair, you shouldn't ask until after we get to see the Trumps spend 11 hours answering all related questions before Congress.

I never realized that the Russians have former Soviet counter-intelligence officers running their adoption agencies. Good thing Don Jr. uncovered this plot to infiltrate the U.S. with baby Manchurian Candidates.

The Republicans in Congress should pass the "Trump's Russian Entanglements Are Seemingly Obvious Nothingburgers" bill, aka the TREASON Act.

Donald Trump says he is “not a big believer in global warming.” He has called it “a total hoax,” “bull ****” and “pseudoscience.” But he is also trying to build a sea wall designed to protect one of his golf courses from “global warming and its effects.” The New York billionaire is applying for permission to erect a coastal protection works to prevent erosion at his seaside golf resort, Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland, in County Clare. A permit application for the wall, filed by Trump International Golf Links Ireland and reviewed by POLITICO, explicitly cites global warming and its consequences — increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century — as a chief justification for building the structure. The zoning application raises further questions about how the billionaire developer would confront a risk he has publicly minimized but that has been identified as a defining challenge of this era by world leaders, global industry and the American military. His public disavowal of climate science at the same time he moves to secure his own holdings against the effects of climate change also illustrates the conflict between his political rhetoric and the realities of running a business with seaside assets in the 21st century. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course-223436

Trump said during the campaign that if I voted for Hillary, I'd be stuck with a criminal president under constant federal investigation from day one. Turns out he was right. I voted for Hillary and I'm stuck with a criminal president under constant federal investigation since day one.

Trump: "Many Americans, but not me, are concerned that Russia influenced the election by releasing hacked data." Putin: "We didn't do anything." Trump: "I knew the intelligence agencies were wrong! Thank you for confirming my suspicions."

It's reported that Trump brought up the Russian election interference twice. "Thank you, president Putin". And at the end, "Thank you again".

Trump cabinet excites collectors of Beanie Babies, POGs, and typewriters: DOE Rick Perry at coal plant: "Heres a little economics lesson: supply and demand. You put the supply out there and the demand will follow." https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mic.com/articles/amp/181603/rick-perry-has-no-idea-how-economics-works

Car sales continue to sputter. The three major U.S. automakers all reported sharp declines in June sales compared to a year ago. U.S. vehicle sales have lagged behind 2016 levels every month this year. If that performance continues, this year will mark the first since 2009 that industrywide sales declined. http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/03/news/companies/june-car-sales/index.html Well that certainly isn't making America great again. Time for Trump to make another hollow promise like the one to Carrier employees who are still losing their jobs.

I bought Sony earbuds with a cord for my iPhone, which is a 6s I got last month instead of a 7 because I didn't want the wireless. $18 at Target, they sound fine, good base, and are long enough to use when mowing lawn.

My son moved to Boston last year for a job after college. He thinks it's a great city, but can't stand the Boston sports fans. Went to a Cavs-Celtics playoff game and enjoyed watching their fans go crazy over losing. He found a Bills backers bar to watch games at. Went to the Pats game and said they have a great stadium complex. Boston has a good public transportation system, he works downtown and takes the train. Of course the housing costs are ridiculous, he pays over $2000 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment.

Like father like daughter, Ivanka is trying to deny the truth of her own words. Can't any of his conflict of interest "advisors" be honest? Ivanka Trump must answer questions in a lawsuit over whether her company ripped off a rival's shoe design, as a judge rejected her claim that she's too busy as a "high-ranking government official" in the White House to sit for a deposition. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan on Friday said Trump must spend two hours responding to questions about the design of a shoe sold by her company. "Ms. Trump's public statements regarding active and comprehensive brand management lead to a reasonable inference that the shoe at issue would not have been released without her approval," Forrest said in a three-page order. "In such a situation, a deposition is appropriate." Aquazzura Italia SRL sued Trump, her company IT Collection LLC and shoemaker Marc Fisher Holdings, claiming they illegally copied its pricey Wild Thing shoe in designing the Ivanka Trump Hettie model. Aquazzura wants to question Ivanka Trump before a trial, but her legal team asked Forrest to rule she doesnt have to testify. Trump, whose White House title is Assistant to the President of the United States, is too important and busy to testify, her lawyer, Darren Saunders, argued in a June 16 letter to the judge. "I had no involvement in the conception, design, production or sale of the Hettie Shoe," Trump said June 16 in a declaration filed with the court. "My involvement was strictly limited to the final sign-off of each seasons line after it was first reviewed and approved by the companys design team." Trumps lawyers offered Abigail Klem, IT Collections president, to answer Aquazzuras questions. In her ruling, Forrest noted Trumps competing professional obligations, limiting the deposition to two hours and ordering it be held in Washington. Forrest also extended deadlines in the case so Trump will have until the end of October to give her testimony. Aquazzuras lawyers cited a 2012 interview with Footwear News in arguing that Trump shouldnt be permitted to minimize her role as a shoe designer. "Individually, I focus not only on brand position and the direction of any given collection, but also on the individual product," Trump told the trade publication. "Theres not a shoe I'm not intimately involved in designing." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-23/ivanka-trump-must-answer-questions-in-wild-thing-shoe-suit

Not hilarious and not the exact same issues. It was an unprecedented level of interference in 2016 by Russia to get their preferred candidate elected, whose campaign had an unprecedented number of advisors with ties to Russia and didn't disclose all their meetings and attempts to bypass normal communication methods, thus leading to lying to Congress, firing only after it became public, recusals, and a president in denial. Not exactly the same by a long stretch. But of course you know that.

Trump promised the American public, "We're going to have insurance for everybody.... Everybody's going to be taken care of." He vowed his health care policy would offer "lower premiums" with "much lower deductibles." And perhaps most importantly, Trump swore, over and over again, in writing and in public remarks, that he would never cut Medicaid. And yet yesterday Trump threw his support behind a Senate GOP bill that won't cover everybody, would increase consumer costs, and cuts Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars. This is a profound betrayal to those Americans who actually believed Trump's assurances, and voted for him because they expected the Republican to honor his word. What's the White House's explanation for the presidential perfidy? Trump's budget director recently questioned the importance of the Medicaid promise, which probably won't offer much comfort to families poised to suffer. What's more, it's not just Trump. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) recently said, before he knew about his party's plans to gut Medicaid, "We cannot pull the rug out from under states like Nevada that expanded Medicaid." Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has made similar comments, as have other GOP senators. https://www.google.com/amp/www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-and-health-care-promises-made-promises-broken/amp

Exactly, Trump's witch hunt claims are really reaching. Trump: Mueller-Comey friendship is bothersome. Mueller: Trump-Putin friendship is bothersome.