mercredi 31 janvier 2018

Attaquer le FBI est un exercice périlleux


Ces jours-ci des Républicains et l'administration Trump s'en prennent au FBI. Si on peut y voir une stratégie pour discrédité l'agence et atténuer les retombées de l'enquête de Robert Mueller, il y a fort à parier que le FBI va réagir aux attaques et qu'il dispose d'une quantité importantes d'informations.

 "That idea is always faintly nauseating. Leaks are an essential part of keeping American democracy functioning, but it’s also dangerous for law enforcement (or anyone else) to be able to railroad elected officials. Often the line between whistleblowing and political retaliation is thin or doesn’t exist at all. Felt’s motives may have been impure; then again, Nixon’s misdeeds were very serious and the public needed to know. More recently, leaks that revealed that then-National-Security Adviser Michael Flynn had lied to FBI agents were unprecedented; yet Flynn did lie, both to the vice president and the public. He has since pleaded guilty to lying and is cooperating with Mueller.

 This isn’t how any of this is supposed to work. Everyone is misbehaving. A man who campaigned for president as the candidate of “law and order” is sprinting headlong into releasing a memo that the head of the FBI—Trump’s own hand-picked director—and the deputy attorney general, another Trump pick, believe could mislead the public and damage law enforcement. Meanwhile, there’s a real possibility that Trump’s attacks on the FBI and Justice Department have inspired retaliatory leaks, meaning that the president would have effectively elicited just the deep-state conspiracy against him that he alleged in the first place.

The White House’s assault on Justice and the FBI has long been premised on being able to an asymmetric war: Trump and his allies can make claims or even release the memo, but DOJ, bound by concerns about classified information, is hobbled from rebutting the memo. But many of the claims laid out by Trump champions make little or no sense."

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/trump-fbi/552062/

Pourquoi le "hut, hut, hut" au football?


Pour se mettre dans l'ambiance du Super Bowl disputé dimanche. Si vous ne savez pourquoi le quart-arrière crie "hut" ne vous en faites pas, bien des joueurs ne le savent pas non plus!!

 "It turns out hike evolved into hut because of football’s longtime love of military terminology.

After studying “hut,” Ben Zimmer, a noted linguist and lexicographer, published findings several years ago that linked the term to the cadences used by marching soldiers. In American military settings, it was often a substitute in basic marching commands, as in “hut, two, three, four” instead of “one, two, three, four.”

And drill sergeants in the middle of the 20th century also called troops to order with, “Atten-hut!”

Many football coaches and players in the late 1940s and early 1950s had served in the armed forces during World War II. Returning to football fields after the war, they borrowed hut as a clear, concise command that could be heard by a large group of men scattered across a plain."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/sports/football/quarterback-signals-hut.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=image&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Caricature MAGA: Mueller Ain't Going Anywhere

Caricature de Milt Priggee, www.miltpriggee.com

Caricature la FEMA quitte Porto Rico

Caricature de Bill Day, Cagle Cartoons

Discours sur l'état de l'Union et priorités des Américains (Pew Research Center)


Le Président Trump a-t-il livré un discours qui correspond aux attentes de ses concitoyens? Je vous laisse vérifier avec ce petit topo sur le site du Pew Research Center.

 "Defending against terrorism continues to rank among the public’s leading priorities for the president and Congress, with nearly three-quarters (73%) saying it is a top priority. Americans’ views of the campaign against ISIS specifically have sharply improved. Last fall, a majority of Americans (55%) said for the first time that the campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria is going well, up from just 31% a year earlier, with Republicans and Republican-leaning independents driving much of the overall increase. The public approves of the campaign overall (69%), but Americans have mixed views on whether it has made much difference on the chances of a terrorist attack in the United States. Similar shares of Democrats and Democratic leaners (46%) and Republicans and GOP leaners (47%) said the campaign has not made much difference. (Note: All further references to parties include leaners.)"

  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/29/state-of-the-union-2018-americans-views-on-key-issues-facing-the-nation/

Caricature discours "mémorable" sur l'état de l'Union?

Caricature de Steve Sack, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Caricature discours sur l'état de l'Union: Trump discipliné...

Caricature de Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle

Stormy Daniels s'entretien avec Jimmy KImmel


 

Un moment de télévision pour le moins hallucinant...

Chronique dans "Québec aujourd'hui": retour sur le discours de Donald Trump au Congrès


La chronique dans la section "Réécouter" du 31 janvier:
http://blvd.fm/emissions/3-quebec-aujourd-hui

Collaboration au Téléjournal Québec: discours sur l'état de l'Union de Donald Trump


Nos échanges à 27 minutes et 54 secondes pendant le bulletin du 30 janvier:
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/le-telejournal-quebec/site

jeudi 25 janvier 2018

Donald Trump voulait congédier Robert Mueller en juin


Donald Trump affirmatit plus tôt aujourd'hui qu'il était prêt à rencontrer Robert Mueller pour discuter de l'enquête sur l'ingérence russe et d'une possible collusion. Cet article nous apprend pourtant que le Président a ordonné le congédiement du Procureur spécial avant de se raviser sous la menace d'un de ses avocats.

 "President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive.

The West Wing confrontation marks the first time Mr. Trump is known to have tried to fire the special counsel. Mr. Mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior White House officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.

Amid the first wave of news media reports that Mr. Mueller was examining a possible obstruction case, the president began to argue that Mr. Mueller had three conflicts of interest that disqualified him from overseeing the investigation, two of the people said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-mueller-special-counsel-russia.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Caricature Donald Trump témoigne

Caricature de Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle

Caricature Trump prêt à témoigner devant Mueller

Caricature de Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com

Caricature tueries dans les écoles

Caricature de Bill Day, Cagle Cartoons

Caricature Davos 2018

Caricature d'Emad Hajjaj, Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper , London

Donald Trump aurait hâte de s'entretenir avec Robert Mueller


Dans une déclaration qui a étonné son entourage le Président Trump a affirmé qu'il accepterait de s'asseoir avec le Procureur spécial Mueller pour discuter de l'ingérence russe. Une simple bravade?

 "The president’s proclamation reflects his preternatural self-confidence that he can talk his way out of any pickle. He insists he’s done nothing wrong, and he recognizes the bad optics of refusing to cooperate. Perhaps he thinks he can publicly convey support for transparency, even as he privately drags his feet, puts up roadblocks and makes demands that Mueller won’t agree to.

A conventional politician would be boxed in by this kind of proclamation, but Trump has long demonstrated a Houdini-like willingness to wiggle out of commitments. We’ve still never seen those tax returns, for example, which he promised he’d put out during the campaign and then backtracked on after the election.

 But this Russia investigation is different than previous quagmires Trump has found himself bogged down by. If he drags his feet now, more Americans could conclude that he’s worried and/or trying to hide something."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/01/25/daily-202-trump-surprises-his-lawyers-and-alarms-his-friends-by-saying-he-will-talk-with-mueller/5a69487330fb0469e8840390/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_daily2020-853am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3eb2c441e929

Trump à Davos: ce serait-on habitué au style du Président?


L'élite économique regroupée à Davos considère que la performance du Président américain est meilleure ce qu'elle escomptait il y a un an.

 "What has come as a surprise to many of those people is how much they are learning to live with — and in some cases even enjoy — the Buffoon Presidency.

However much the typical Davos habitué disagrees with Trump’s rhetoric on free trade and global integration, these are supremely practical types. One year into Trump, they are accommodating themselves to a changed power reality.

Across the spectrum, it seems evident that the pleas of Trump critics in the United States — don’t normalize an abnormal presidency — have been rejected by the government and industry leaders who congregate at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the Alps.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/trump-davos-elites-learn-to-live-with-trump-367517

mercredi 24 janvier 2018

Donald trump, Stormy Daniels et le financement illégal (Seth Meyers)


Trump slump: tourisme à la baisse aux États-Unis depuis l'élection de Donald Trump


On semble ici identifier l'élection de Donald Trump comme étant la principale cause de cette situation, la baisse est importante et elle entraîne des pertes de revenus et des pertes d'emplois.

 "The downturn has also caused America to lose its spot as the world's second-most popular destination for foreign travel, ceding to Spain. (France is in first place).

International tourism to the U.S. began to wane after Trump took office, leading to a so-called Trump slump. Experts say that Trump's proposed travel bans and anti-immigration language have had a negative impact on the U.S.'s attraction for foreign visitors, in addition to a weaker dollar and heightened security measures.

“It’s not a reach to say the rhetoric and policies of this administration are affecting sentiment around the world, creating antipathy toward the U.S. and affecting travel behavior,” Adam Sacks, the president of Tourism Economics, told The New York Times."

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/tourism-u-s-down-trump-took-office-costing-4-6-n840326?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

Le dernier négrier américain retrouvé? L'histoire sordide du Clotilda.


La détermination d'un journaliste et le passe d'une "bombe cyclone" auraient favorisé la localisation de l'épave du dernier négrier connu de l'histoire américaine.

 "In the summer of 1860, half a century after the United States banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Capt. William Foster sneaked 110 African slaves into Mobile, Ala. — and knew that the floating evidence of the illegal deed could get him killed.

The trip was more part of an obscene bet than any sort of profit-making scheme, but the Clotilda, the ship that made the months-long journey, held the telltale signs that it was an illegal slaver: containers for water and food, and the lingering stench of urine and feces and vomit and blood.

If caught, Foster and his crew could be imprisoned or executed, so they found a remote section of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and torched the ship, igniting a mystery that would endure for a century and a half."

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/24/the-last-u-s-slave-ship-was-burned-to-hide-its-horrors-a-storm-may-have-unearthed-it/?hpid=hp_no-name_hp-in-the-news%3Apage%2Fin-the-news&utm_term=.77f118ab7c17

Les évadés d'Alcatraz auraient-ils survécu?


Comme des millions d'autres touristes j'ai visité la célèbre prison de la baie de San Francisco. Comme tous ces touristes j'ai quitté "The Rock" convaincu que personne n'avait survécu à une tentative d'évasion, ne serait-ce que parce que les eaux de la baie sont glaciales et qu'il faut être un bon nageur pour rejoindre le rivage. La police de San Francisco a reçu une lettre en 2013 dans laquelle l'auteur affirmait que Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin et John Anglin auraient survécu à leur évasion en 1962. L'auteur prétendait être John Anglin, mais après des examens du document la police a jugé qu'il n'était pas fiable.

 "A U.S. Marshals Service representative told The Washington Post that the agency believes the letter is without merit. According to the agency, the letter was submitted to an FBI lab for forensic handwriting analysis, comparing it to samples from all three escapees, and the results were “inconclusive.”

“At this time, there are no leads stemming from the 2013 anonymous letter,” the Marshals Service said in a statement.

It’s unclear why it took nearly five years for the letter to surface. FBI officials did not immediately respond to requests for additional details Wednesday morning."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/24/a-man-claims-three-alcatraz-prisoners-barely-survived-a-1962-escape-and-that-hes-one-of-them/?hpid=hp_no-name_hp-in-the-news%3Apage%2Fin-the-news&utm_term=.d45284f0b720

Caricature Trump se démarque à Davos

Caricature de RJ Matson, Roll Call

Caricature Démocrates et "shutdown": problème de direction...

Caricature de Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, NE 

 Les Démocrates fourbissent déjà les armes en prévision des négociations qui précéderont le 8 février, mais ils ont donné l'impression de céder devant les Républicains lors des récentes négociations visant à mettre fin au "shutdown" (fermeture des services gouvernementaux). Ils doivent maintenant essuyer les critiques sévères des éléments les plus progressistes. Le meneur démocrate du Sénat Chuck Schumer s'est-il fait rouler par celui des Républicains Mitch McConnell? La suite bientôt...

Caricature King James atteint le cap des 30 000 points

Caricature de Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com

Le milliardaire qui veut destituer Trump


Le milliardaire démocrate de la Californie Tom Steyer fait fi des avertissements des leaders du parti et il continue sa croisade pour destituer Donald Trump. Si les dirigeants ne croient pas qu'une destitution soit possible en raison des majorités républicaines à la Chambre et au Sénat, Steyer veut convaincre des élus dont le siège n'est pas menacé d'appuyer son projet et il a les ressources nécessaires pour forcer la réflexion. On ne peut aisément ignorer 90 millions de dollars...

 "For Mr. Steyer, however, impeachment is a singular cause. And he is no easy character for Democrats to ignore: From his headquarters in a San Francisco office tower, Mr. Steyer, 60, has built a sprawling political operation with more than 200 staff members around the country, mostly employed by his flagship group, NextGen America, which focuses on climate change.

Mr. Steyer has amassed a mixed win-loss record over the years, along with a mercurial reputation among Democratic strategists. But he is nearly alone among Democratic donors in his willingness to spend money on a titanic scale. In 2016, Mr. Steyer spent more than $90 million supporting Democrats, and his checkbook may be critical to their efforts to capture Congress."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/politics/impeach-trump-democrats-tom-steyer.html

La démocratie est-elle malade?


La démocratie est en perte de vitesse à l'échelle de la planète et cette série s'interroge sur les causes de ce déclin qui pourrait également atteindre des démocraties plus stables en Europe et en Amérique.

"After 200 years of expansion, democracy’s growth in the world has stalled. A handful of democracies like Venezuela and Hungary are backsliding into authoritarianism. And even in established Western democracies, voters are losing faith in democratic institutions and norms.

That has left us and scholars who study democracy obsessed with a set of questions. Is this all just a blip, or is democracy in real trouble? Are the oldest and sturdiest democracies, like those of Europe and the United States, really as safe as they seem? And why would people voluntarily dismantle their own democracy from within?

No one knows the answers for sure. But we’re starting to figure them out and it’s not all good news. Here, in the first of what will become a regular series of videos exploring big questions and ideas about the world, we explain what we know about democracy’s troubles, what’s causing them and where it leads.

Voici le premier épisode d'une nouvelle série diffusée sur le site du New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/24/world/is-there-something-wrong-with-democracy.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

mardi 23 janvier 2018

Robert Mueller souhaite interroger Donald Trump bientôt


Un peu plus tôt aujourd'hui nous apprenions que Jeff Sessions a déjà répondu aux questions du Procureur spécial. Cette fois le Washington Post avance que ce sera sous peu au tour du Président. Va-t-il accepter de collaborer?

 "Sitting presidents have been interviewed by prosecutors in the past, though courts have urged government investigators to seek such interviews only when they cannot obtain relevant information another way. In 1998, President Bill Clinton testified for more than four hours before a grand jury via a video link after being subpoenaed by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.

Within the past two weeks, the special counsel’s office has indicated to the White House that the central subjects investigators wish to discuss with the president are the departures of Flynn and Comey and the events surrounding their firings.

Mueller has also expressed interest in Trump’s efforts to remove Sessions as attorney general or pressure him into quitting, according to a person familiar with the probe. The person said the special counsel was seeking to determine whether there was a “pattern” of behavior by the president."

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-seeks-to-question-trump-about-flynn-and-comey-departures/2018/01/23/e6652db6-0068-11e8-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_mueller-4pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.075e161429cd

Caricature Trump, Obama et les limites de la liberté d'expression

Caricature de Milt Priggee, www.miltpriggee.com

Caricature Donald trump unit les deux Corées

Caricature de Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune

Caricature Donald Trump an deux: prophétie?

Caricature de Patrick Chappatte, Le Temps, Switzerland

Donald Trump et le FBI: Jeff Sessions fait le sale boulot


Depuis qu'il a poussé James Comey vers la sortie, le président Trump ne cache pas son aversion pour l'actuel numéro deux FBI, Andrew McCabe. Alors que l'ombre de l'enquête de Robert Mueller plane toujours sur la Maison-Blanche, nous apprenons que Jeff Sessions a exercé des pressions sur le remplaçant de James Comey, Christopher Wray, pour qu'il écarte McCabe. Wray aurait menacé de démissionner. Toutes ces manoeuvres de la Maison-Blanche de l'administration autour de la direction du FBI sont pour le moins inhabituelles et suspectes.

 "But the picture of what Sessions is doing behind the scenes is increasingly suggesting that Trump's very public hints that his attorney general should do this or that have often resulted in those specific actions. And especially when it comes to things such as trying to force out McCabe or reportedly dig up dirt on Comey, it sure makes it look like Sessions is using his authorities to try to address Trump's political aims.

And for an attorney general who leads the federal law enforcement that is currently investigating the president and his team, that's a perception problem, at best.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/23/its-looking-more-and-more-like-jeff-sessions-is-doing-trumps-political-dirty-work/?tid=pm_pop&utm_term=.cbd5e83acde2

Caricature Minnie Mouse reçoit enfin une étoile sur le Hollywood Walk of Fame

Caricature de Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com

Caricature "shutdown" et mode d'emploi

Caricature de Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch

Caricature Donald Trump inquiet pour les négociations budgétaires...

Caricature de RJ Matson, Roll Call

Collaboration dans "Radio-Canada cet après-midi": "shutdown", le vote de la droite religieuse et le cas d'Aziz Ansari


Nos échanges à compter de 17h41 sur l'audio fil du 22 janvier:
  http://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/radio-canada-cet-apres-midi

Jeff Sessions a été interrogé par Robert Mueller et son équipe


Jeff Sessions a été un conseiller important pendant la campagne électorale, il a contribué à la transition et il est l'actuel Attorney General. Rappelons qu'il s'est récusé pour ce qui est de l'enquête de Robert Mueller.

 "Sessions, who was a top adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign, played a role in events touching on several threads of the special counsel's inquiry. Perhaps most significantly, he was involved in Oval Office discussions that led to the firing of FBI Director James Comey last March.

The attorney general also wrote a memo endorsing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's letter justifying the FBI chief's firing based on missteps related to the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Trump later acknowledged that at least part of his reason for axing Comey was ongoing irritation at the FBI's investigation into alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia."

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/23/mueller-team-interviews-jeff-sessions-359076?lo=ap_a1

Caricature présidence Trump saison 2

Caricature de Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch

Caricature Donald Trump achète le silence d'une vedette du porno

Caricature de David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star

mardi 16 janvier 2018

Steve Bannon assigné à comparaître par Robert Mueller


Bannon va-t-il vraiment comparaître ou préférera-t-il échanger des informations directement avec Mueller?

 "The subpoena could be a negotiating tactic. Mr. Mueller is likely to allow Mr. Bannon to forgo the grand jury appearance if he agrees to instead be questioned by investigators in the less formal setting of the special counsel’s offices about ties between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia and about the president’s conduct in office, according to the person, who would not be named discussing the case. But it was not clear why Mr. Mueller treated Mr. Bannon differently than the dozen administration officials who were interviewed in the final months of last year and were never served with a subpoena."

  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/us/politics/steve-bannon-mueller-russia-subpoena.html

Retour sur "The Post" dans Salut Bonjour Weekend (13 janvier)


Retour sur le film "The Post" en compagnie de l'équipe de Salut Bonjour: http://tva.canoe.ca/emissions/salutbonjour/chroniques/detail/critique-du-film-the-post

Caricature droite religieuse américaine

Caricature de Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

Éthiques les "Fake news awards" de Donald Trump?


Donald Trump remettra demain ce qu'il appelle les "Fake news awards".

 "A Washington University School of Law ethics expert, Kathleen Clark, said that she agreed with Eisen and Shaub: Targeting specific news outlets by giving them “fake news awards” would represent a sort of “anti-endorsement,” she said, and would break the rules.

Not all experts agreed that the awards would violate executive branch standards. Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School and an ethics expert, said that White House staff members would be breaking the rules only if they endorsed or criticized an enterprise that had nothing to do with their jobs.

“Put me down as skeptical,” he said. “It’s got to be unrelated to the office. Criticizing the president’s critics strikes me as related to the office.

It is not reasonable to fully separate politics from governing, he said, “so long as we assume staff can be used for some political purposes, so long as there is a White House communications office and a White House political office — we’ve crossed that line a long time ago.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/15/trump-fake-news-awards-ethics-339183

Donald Trump est en bonne santé physique et mentale (Dr. Ronny L. Jackson)


Est-ce que ce premier bilan de santé du président sera suffisant pour rassurer une partie de l'entourage de Donald Trump ou ses adversaires? Selon le Dr. Ronny L. Jackson il serait en excellente santé et il aurait lui-même insister pour se soumettre au test "Montreal Cognitive Assessment" qui permettrait de détecter des problèmes cognitifs. Il a même obtenu une note de 30/30. Si vous êtes étonnés d'apprendre que le Centre médical Walter Reed utilise un test appelé «Évaluation cognitive de Montréal», je le suis aussi!! Ce test, développé à Montréal par Ziad Nasreddine, est utilisé de par le monde et il constitue un bon outil de dépistage des atteintes neurocognitives légères. Il s'agit d'un test simple et rapide qui s'effectue en dix minutes (http://infocom.ca/eval/pers.agees/tests-evaluation-personne-agee/mesurer-etat-cognitif/montreal-cognitive-assessment-moca/)

 “There’s no indication whatsoever that he has any cognitive issues,” Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy and the White House physician, told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve found no reason whatsoever to think the president has any issues whatsoever with his thought processes.”

  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/us/politics/trump-health-exam-doctor-cognitive-test.html?_r=0

Les Tours de Laliberté migrent: rejoignez-moi sur le site du Journal de Québec et du Journal de Montréal

Depuis un certain temps je me demandais comment faire évoluer mon petit carnet web. La réponse m'est parvenue par le biais d'u...