August 25, 2017


News and Views


THIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER RUSSIAN NAME. I DO WONDER WHY SO MANY OF TRUMP’S PEOPLE ARE RUSSIAN OR EASTERN EUROPEAN? THIS QUOTE ABOUT GORKA ILLUSTRATES WHY I WAS RIGHT TO DISTRUST HIM: “WHEN TRUMP WON THE ELECTION LAST YEAR, GORKA TOLD FOX NEWS THAT “THE ALPHA MALES ARE BACK.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/controversial-trump-adviser-sebastian-gorka-002300885.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=dd114874-7083-393e-8bf1-0ac1f74868c1&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Controversial Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka Reportedly Resigns
HuffPost
Jessica Schulberg
August 25, 2017

VIEW PHOTOS -- WASHINGTON ― Sebastian Gorka, a controversial adviser to President Donald Trump, is leaving the White House after months of criticism about his ties to far-right foreign political groups and his description of Islam as an inherently violent religion.

WASHINGTON ― Sebastian Gorka, a controversial adviser to President Donald Trump, is leaving the White House after months of criticism about his ties to far-right foreign political groups and his description of Islam as an inherently violent religion.

Gorka resigned his post Friday, according to The Federalist, which cited his resignation letter and multiple people familiar with the decision.

“[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA* promise are ― for now ― ascendant within the White House,” Gorka wrote in a letter obtained by the outlet. “As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People’s House.”

Gorka’s official title at the White House was deputy assistant to the president, but it was never clear what his actual duties entailed. He regularly appeared on television as a vociferous defender of Trump’s national security agenda and worldview. But he reportedly wasn’t able to get security clearance that would have allowed him to sit in on the most high-level national security meetings or read classified information.

Gorka was closely aligned with Steve Bannon, who served as Trump’s chief strategist until he left the administration in August. Like Bannon, Gorka expressed a dark view of Islam. The FBI used to employ Gorka to teach courses on terrorism, but the Daily Beast reported that the agency stopped working with him after he told students that all Muslims adhere to Sharia law and will eventually be radicalized.

“Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again,’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months. This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week,” Gorka continued in his resignation letter. “The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost.”

Before joining the White House, Gorka was an obscure far-right fringe character. He promoted himself as an authority on counterterrorism, but national security experts mocked his credentials and refuted his characterization of Islam as a path toward violent radicalism. Most terrorism experts and academic say terrorists become radicalized through a combination of factors ― poverty, poor governance, lack of opportunity, foreign intervention and religious ideology, for example ― but Gorka argues that Islam is the driving force. He does not speak Arabic and has spent little time in the Middle East.

Gorka joined the Trump campaign in 2015 as a paid adviser. Since then, he has celebrated Trump’s frequent warnings about the threat of “radical Islamic terrorism” and accused the Obama administration of being hamstrung by political correctness. When Trump won the election last year, Gorka told Fox News that “the alpha males are back.”

Gorka wore a medal signifying membership in the Vitezi Rend, a Hungarian group that collaborated with the Nazis in World War II, when he attended Trump’s inaugural ball in January, LobeLog reported. Members of the group told the Forward that Gorka is a member of the Vitezi Rend, but Gorka has said the medal belonged to his father and that he wears it in memory of his father’s anti-communist efforts in Hungary.

The Vitezi Rend debacle prompted reporters to dive into Gorka’s past. Gorka, who was born in Britain to Hungarian parents, founded a political party in Hungary in 2007. The party’s members were politicians who had previously belonged to Jobbik, a party that has espoused anti-immigration, anti-Semitic and homophobic positions, the Forward reported. Gorka expressed support for an anti-Semitic Hungarian militia called the Magyar Garda in August 2007, the Forward found. The European Court of Human Rights accused the group of working to create “an essentially racist legal order.”

People who worked with Gorka at the National Defense University and Marine Corps University over the past decade say they don’t recall him making negative comments about Jewish people. But some remember Gorka hinting at an anti-Islam worldview. He once told David Ucko, who worked at the NDU at the time, that devout Muslims are more inclined to celebrate violence than Christian because the religion was founded by a warrior, Ucko told HuffPost.

Talk of Gorka stepping down began as early as May, after news reports surfaced that detailed his ties to Nazi sympathizers and far-right Hungarian political groups. But Trump and Bannon personally intervened to save his job, the Daily Beast reported. In the following weeks, national security adviser H.R. McMaster pushed out several White House staffers who shared Gorka’s extremist ideology.

But even as Gorka’s like-minded allies left the White House, he appeared on television, offering bombastic defenses of his boss and berating the media for criticizing the president. When Trump failed to condemn the bombing of a mosque in Minnesota, Gorka suggested the incident could be a false flag attack perpetrated by the president’s political opponents. When Trump went off script and warned of “fire and fury” against North Korea, Gorka praised the president’s show of strength ― even as the secretary of state and secretary of defense took a more restrained approach. Days before a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Gorka reprimanded the media for reporting on the violent extremism threat posed by white nationalists.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.


“THE MAGA PROMISE”* -- PARDON MY PERSNICKETINESS, BUT HERE IS ANOTHER NON-OBVIOUS TERM WHICH IS UNEXPLAINED, AND I DON’T LIKE THAT. HOWEVER, HERE IS WHAT I FOUND ON THE NET:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/4937tr/what_is_maga_and_what_does_it_mean_in_relation_to/

Answered

What is "maga" and what does it mean in relation to Donald Trump? (self.OutOfTheLoop)
submitted 1 year ago by Slumpt
Non American here. I come across this maga meme sometimes while browsing the political subreddits, but I have no idea what it means. I'd appreciate it if someone could enlighten me.

[–]himbeereis 85 points 1 year ago
MAGA = Make America Great Again


RIGHT! ISHUDAKNOWN!!



GREED, GRAFT AND CORRUPTION! IN TRUTH, (ALMOST) EVERYBODY IN BUSINESS AND POLITICS DOES DO THIS IF THEY THINK NOBODY’S AUDITING THEIR BOOKS, BUT IT IS STILL UNETHICAL OR EVEN ILLEGAL. DO IT ON YOUR INCOME TAX RETURN, AND YOU MAY SPEND A WHILE IN PRISON.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-mnuchin-louise-linton-travel-kentucky-ethics-watchdog-crew/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS August 25, 2017, 9:40 AM
Ethics watchdog asks for records of Mnuchin and wife's travel to Kentucky

A government ethics watchdog group is launching their own investigation into Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton's travel to Kentucky after a photo posted by Linton, spotlighting her lavish designer clothing as she stepped off a government plane, went viral.

CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has requested copies of "all records concerning authorization for and the costs of" Mnuchin and Linton's use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on August 21, as well as all records pertaining to Mnuchin's use of a government plane for any purpose since his appointment to the Trump administration.

Mnuchin traveled to Lexington with his wife to deliver remarks alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and later traveled to Fort Knox to tour an Army post as well as view the total solar eclipse that happened to occur the very same day.

It was Linton's sharing of pricey designer labels in an Instagram post and her subsequent rant against a commenter who criticized it that first raised eyebrows.

louise.png
NEW YORK TIMES, VIA TWITTER

In the photo, Linton referred to the excursion as a "great #daytrip" then proceeded to use hashtags to highlight her expensive outfit, including Roland Mouret pants, Tom Ford sunglasses, a Hermes scarf and Valentino heels. After commenters slammed Linton for seemingly bragging about using government travel as an ad for her designer wears, Linton fired back.

"Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable!" Linton wrote. "Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? I'm pretty sure we paid more taxed toward our day 'trip' than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you'd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You're adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment" wrote Linton in response to one commenter.

Linton has since made her social media accounts private and apologized for the rant, saying in a statement on Tuesday: "I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive."

In a statement on the watchdog's website, CREW says, "the requested records would shed light on the justification for Secretary Mnuchin's use of a government plane, rather than a commercial flight, for a trip that seems to have been planned around the solar eclipse and to enable the Secretary to secure a viewpoint in the path of the eclipse's totality."

CREW added, "At a time of expected deep cuts to the federal budget, the taxpayers have a significant interest in learning the extent to which Secretary Mnuchin has used government planes for travel in lieu of commercial planes, and the justification for that use."



THIS IS A FOLLOWUP FROM YESTERDAY’S STORY BY CBS. IT GIVES MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE ATHLETIC STAFF WHO DO THIS OFTEN-DAMAGING FORCING OF THE JOINTS. I WONDER WHAT DANCE INSTRUCTORS, ESPECIALLY BALLET, DO ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM. I DO KNOW THAT STANDING ON YOUR TOES FOR HOURS DAILY, EVEN IN THOSE SHOES WITH A BRACE FOR THE TOES, DOES DAMAGE TO THE BODY AND CAUSES CHRONIC PAIN. FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN PARTICULAR ARE SOMETIMES GIVEN ENOUGH PAIN MEDICATION TO ADDICT THEM BECAUSE OF INJURIES. THE DIFFERENCE TO ME BETWEEN THOSE TWO SITUATIONS IS THAT BALLET IS BEAUTIFUL AND ENTHRALLING, WHILE CHEERLEADING CAN BE EXCITING, BUT NOT ELEGANT. THOSE MANEUVERS IN WHICH CHEERLEADERS STAND ON EACH OTHER’S SHOULDERS TO FORM A TRIANGLE OR SOMETHING ARE INTERESTING, THOUGH. IF THEY JUMP UP AND DOWN, SHOUT AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS, AND WAVE THEIR POMPOMS AROUND IT’S CUTE AND ENERGIZING TO ME, AND HARMLESS. THAT’S WHAT I WANT CHEERLEADERS TO DO – SHOW “PEP!”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-cheerleader-forced-into-splits-speaks-out/
CBS NEWS August 25, 2017, 8:24 AM
High school cheerleader forced into splits by coach: "The world is a scary place"

Denver police are investigating a series of disturbing videos involving high school cheerleaders showing students screaming in pain as they are forced into splits by their coach. The footage was recorded earlier this summer, but surfaced this week. Five Denver public school officials have been placed on leave.

Kirsten Wakefield is the mother of one of the girls in those videos. She says her daughter quit the team because she was afraid to be in the same room as her coach. That coach was dismissed from a similar position at another Colorado high school last year for doing the same thing, reports CBS News' Dana Jacobson.

Cellphone video shows 13-year-old Ally Wakefield pleading "please stop" nine times as she's forced into the splits by her cheerleading coach.

"I was just thinking it was normal, I didn't think much of it," Ally said.

But the high school freshman suffered from torn muscle tissue and a pulled hamstring and is receiving physical therapy.

"The doctor said 100 percent that the injury that she sustained was directly caused by the coach's knee on the back of her thigh forcing it the floor. She said that it could possibly fracture the pelvic system and reproductive organs as well," Kirsten said.

"I was horrified": Mother of cheerleader pushed into splits speaks out
Play VIDEO
"I was horrified": Mother of cheerleader pushed into splits speaks out

At least six other videos show Ally's teammates yelling in agony during similar stretches. The coach is Ozell Williams, a well-known tumbling instructor often seen performing at Denver Broncos football games.

In an interview with the Denver Post, Williams said the videos are taken out of context, adding, "I would love to tell my story, but I can't say anything else at this time."

Williams is one of five Denver public school officials placed on leave.

Superintendent Tom Boasberg said in a statement he took action quickly. "As he [sic] father of two high school-aged daughters…the images and actions depicted are extremely distressing and absolutely contrary to our core values," Boasberg said.

As for Ally, she's still trying to heal.

"The world is a scary place and people you think you can trust, you can't always. You just have to trust your gut feeling," Ally said.

CBS News could not reach coach Williams for comment.

The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators says it has viewed the videos and "does not condone the coach's actions, and rejects them to the fullest extent."


DO WATCH THIS VIDEO AND READ THE ARTICLE BELOW ABOUT KICKING DRUG HABITS AND THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF ADDICTION. THE ARTICLE SAYS THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE TREATED AS SINNERS AND CRIMINALS WHEN ADDICTED, BUT IN FACT ALL PEOPLE ARE – BY THE POLICE, AT LEAST. OUR SOCIETY DOESN’T “UNDERSTAND” MENTAL CONDITIONS, NOR DO SO MANY OF US/THEM REALLY CARE A WHIT ABOUT IT. SO TURN ON YOUR HEEL AND WALK AWAY FROM THOSE FOLKS.

THE BEST ADVICE I HAVE FOR ANYONE IS TO FIND ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS MEETINGS THAT THEY LIKE. IT’S FREE, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS A VOLUNTARY AND SELF-DETERMINED DONATION TO THE GROUP FOR EXPENSES SUCH AS THE INTERMINABLE URN OF COFFEE. THE GOOD THING ABOUT THEM IS THAT YOU WILL FIND SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY CONGENIAL AND CAN BECOME A COMPANION ON A LONG ROAD THROUGH LIFE, WHICH CAN GET VERY LONELY AND DANGEROUS.

IF AN AGNOSTIC FINDS HIMSELF IN A BIBLE-THUMPING AA MEETING, HE MAY NOT BE HAPPY. IN ONE OF MY CAPITOL HILL GROUPS ONE CROTCHETY OLD WELL-TO-DO MAN WHEN IT CAME TO HIS TURN TO SAY “I’M DAVE AND I’M AN ALCOHOLIC, HE WOULD ALWAYS SAY, THAT HE WAS “AN ATHEIST AND AN ALCOHOLIC.” I’M NOT A LARGE GROUP PERSON, BUT I ALWAYS FOUND CLOSE FRIENDS AND GOOD COMPANIONS. WHEN I DRANK, I WAS LONELY, SO THAT WAS A GREAT THING FOR ME. MY HAPPINESS LEVEL WENT UP A HUNDRED PERCENT WITHIN A SHORT TIME. AA AT ITS’ BEST IS MORE THAN GROUP THERAPY, BUT A COMMUNITY.

SOME RECOVERING ALCOHOLICS CAN BE A LITTLE ECCENTRIC AND ICONOCLASTIC. I LOVE THEM! WHAT YOU WON’T FIND IN AA IS THE KIND OF SMUGNESS THAT IS ALMOST ALWAYS A PART OF THE ATTITUDE OF NON-ALCOHOLICS. A SIZEABLE CITY IS YOUR BEST BET FOR HAVING A WIDE CHOICE OF WHERE TO GO. IF YOU DON’T HAVE THAT CHOICE, JUST PICK SPEAKER MEETINGS, OR STAY THERE UNTIL AFTER SOME MONTHS, YOU WILL PROBABLY MAKE SOME GOOD FRIENDS AMONG EVEN THE CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS. THEY AREN’T BAD. THEY JUST HAVE SOME HIDEBOUND THOUGHT PATTERNS.

SOME OF THE KEYS ELEMENTS, I BELIEVE, ARE – TO COME TO UNDERSTAND THE ONE DAY AT A TIME METHOD OF STAYING AWAY FROM A DRINK/DRUG. TRUST ME. IT WORKS WONDERS. “ACCEPT” WHAT IS TRUE, AND MAKE PEACE WITH IT. THAT MEANS TO COME TO GRIPS WITH WHAT IS THE TRUE AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT. TRUTH IS ALWAYS TEMPORARY, PARTIALLY TRUE, OR SUBJECT TO AMENDMENT, BUT THE CONDITIONS OF THE MOMENT RULE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. THE POINT I’M TRYING TO MAKE HERE IS THAT GETTING DEEPLY UNHAPPY ABOUT THINGS IS AVOIDABLE AND DANGEROUS. IN AA THEY SAY, “STICK WITH THE WINNERS.” I WOULD SAY, YES, THE WINNERS, BUT WITH ONE’S TRUEST FRIENDS ALSO. JUST DON’T GET LED ASTRAY BY ANYONE OR ANYTHING. IF A FRIEND WANTS TO GO TO A BAR, TRY TO CONVINCE THEM NOT TO, AND DO NOT ACCOMPANY THEM THERE. IF THEY WANT TO GET DRUNK, LET THEM DO IT ALONE. IF YOU KEEP YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT AND BE CAREFUL, YOU’LL PROBABLY BE OKAY. I PERSONALLY ALSO BELIEVE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR A WHILE TO IRON OUT MORE SEVERE MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS.

IF YOU DO THOSE THINGS, THEN YOU WILL PROGRESS METHODICALLY AND GRADUALLY TOWARD A HEALTHIER WAY OF THINKING AND LIVING, AND YOU WON’T EVEN WANT A DRINK AFTER AS MUCH AS A YEAR OR SO AS THE INNER TURMOIL CALMS DOWN; IF YOU DO FEEL TEMPTED, CALL ONE OF THOSE GOOD FRIENDS OR YOUR “SPONSOR” TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL. A SPONSOR IS SOMEONE WHOM YOU VOLUNTARILY CHOSE AS A HELPER. SHE HAS THE RIGHT OF REFUSAL, OF COURSE, BUT GENERALLY PEOPLE DON’T TURN THAT REQUEST DOWN. SHE OR HE SHOULD BE A PERSON WHOSE LENGTH OF TIME SOBER IS GREATER THAN YOURS, WHO IS NOT COMING ON TO YOU SEXUALLY OR TREATING YOU IN A DOMINEERING MANNER, AND WHO SEEMS EMOTIONALLY STABLE IN HER OWN RIGHT. THE “SUDDEN CONVERSION” METHOD OF SOBRIETY USUALLY PRODUCES A MONTH AT MOST OF EUPHORIA, AND THEN A FALL INTO A DARK PIT OF DEPRESSION, DURING WHICH THE MOST APPEALING THOUGHT MAY BE TO BUY A SIX-PACK OF BEER.

NEVER FORGET TO INCORPORATE JOY AND LAUGHTER INTO THAT NEW PLAN OF LIFE, AND DO MAKE FRIENDS WITHIN THE PROGRAM. MAINTAINING THAT JOY IS USUALLY POSSIBLE IF YOU REGULARLY ATTEND DISCUSSION MEETINGS AS WELL AS SPEAKER MEETINGS. LISTENING IS GOOD, BUT TALKING IS NECESSARY. REMEMBER THAT “IF YOU DON’T TAKE A DRINK YOU CAN’T GET DRUNK.” THAT’S SIMPLISTIC, BUT VERY, VERY TRUE, AND SOMETIMES THAT GLASS OF COLD WATER IS IMPORTANT. THINK ACCORDING TO THE ONE DAY PATH: “I’M SOBER TODAY, SO I’M OKAY.” IF YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT YET AGAIN THAT DAY, JUST DO IT. LEARN TO LISTEN REALLY CLOSELY IN MEETINGS, AND OPEN UP TO NEW IDEAS, AND WHEN YOU ARE READY TO TALK JUST SPEAK YOUR THOUGHTS IN RELATION TO THE SUBJECT.

DON’T VERBALLY ASSAULT PEOPLE IN MEETINGS WHEN THEY SAY SOMETHING THAT SEEMS FOOLISH OR PERHAPS, AIMED AT YOU PERSONALLY. THAT’S A PATTERN THAT GOES BACK AND FORTH, AND DESTROYS THE POSITIVITY OF THE GROUP.

LISTEN TO THIS VIDEO AND READ THE ARTICLE. A MORE POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE ATTITUDE TO ADDICTION TREATMENT IS PRESENTED THAN IN THE OLD DAYS, AND THE IDEA OF “RETRAINING” THE BRAIN IS EXACTLY WHAT AA DOES. SOMEBODY I KNEW YEARS AGO CALLED AA “BRAIN WASHING,” BUT IT’S A GOOD KIND. OUR BRAINS NEED TO BE CLEANED OUT SOMETIMES.


THE VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huvz_V7cu2o
Can you retrain an addicted brain?
CBS This Morning
Published on Aug 25, 2017

1,003 views
11 0

President Trump has called the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Fran Smith, who wrote the cover story of September's National Geographic article, "How science is unlocking the secrets of addiction," joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss addiction's impact on the brain's pathways.


CBS NEWS

THE ARTICLE:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-of-addiction-national-geographic-fran-smith/
CBS NEWS August 25, 2017, 12:21 PM
How addiction causes "hundreds of changes" in the brain

President Trump has declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The cover story of September's National Geographic looks into the science of addiction and its impact on the brain's pathways. The article's author, Fran Smith, writes, "Addiction remolds neural circuits to assign supreme value to cocaine or heroin or gin at the expense of other interests such as health, work, family or life itself."

Smith joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss how addiction changes the way a person's brain functions and whether it can be re-trained out of those changes.

"Addiction causes hundreds of changes in the structure of the brain, in the chemistry of the brain, in the pathways that send nerve signals so that cells communicate with each other," Smith explained. "It remaps the brain and it causes the brain to focus on this one thing, one thing only – that object of desire – and blot out other things of interest."

"At the same time, the brain changes your ability to put the lid on desire," she said.

Athlete develops unconventional program to help drug addicts
Play VIDEO
Athlete develops unconventional program to help drug addicts

While the medical community has long considered addiction a disease, not everyone else has. But now, Smith says, law enforcement is beginning to come around to the idea as drug addiction continues to spread in America.

"I was just in Huntington, West Virginia, which has been hit really hard, and talked with the former police chief. And he said we are not going to arrest our way out of this problem," she said.

Smith credits advances in medical technology with changing perception of what causes drug addiction.

"Back in the 70s when heroin was a real problem in the inner cities, we didn't have brain scanners. Nobody knew what was going on inside the brain," Smith said.

Though there's no addiction cure on the immediate horizon, certain therapies have proven successful for many.

"Cognitive therapy has shown really great effects for lots of people. It really trains people how to think differently about drugs and alcohol and you can see in brain scanning studies that it really does begin to change how those circuits are operating – rewiring the brain, in essence," Smith said.

"One thing that we know is that kids, adolescents are really vulnerable and that so many people who have addiction later in life really began misusing drugs or alcohol as teens or young adults."


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/pattern-of-hacking-preceded-attendee-of-trump-camp-russia-meeting-1032087619770?cid=eml_mra_20170825
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/24/17
Pattern of hacking preceded attendee of Trump camp Russia meeting

Rachel Maddow describes some of the past work by Rinat Akhmetshin for his clients and notes that what seems to be a hallmark of his services happened to the DNC shortly after his participation in a meeting at Trump Tower with Trump campaign leaders. Duration: 18:30