Read It Yourself | Am. Taylor’s Statement 10.22.19

Here’s a searchable PDF of US Ambassador Bill Taylor’s opening statement to Congress on October 22, 2019. [1]

It’s extraordinary.

In the present inquiry, this is not testimony drawn out of a witness by a prosector; this is Ambassador Taylor’s voluntary opening statement, before a single question has been asked — what he affirms under oath to the three congressional committees charged with sifting testimony to see if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Were I seated on a grand jury empaneled to consider this matter, I think I would find this testimony compelling.

As I write, the impeachment inquiry committees are hearing testimony from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman….

[1] I downloaded the PDF image file of Ambassador Taylor’s 15-page statement to Congress from the Washington Post, then translated the document to a searchable PDF using the PDFity app.

I was careful, but I did not do a word-for-word comparison between the image file and the translated PDF, so it’s possible that errors may have been introduced during the translation. If you find anything I missed, I’ll be happy to make corrections.

A Sad Day at the Ballpark

It is a sad day when the president of the United States cannot attend a World Series game without getting booed. It is also a sad day when the president mocks the Constitution, bulldozes all political norms and commits a host of impeachable offenses. This may not be how we would like things to be, but it’s how they are.


— Eugene Robinson Washington Post. 10.28.19

The impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching

...and shame on you for saying it is.

“So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights,” Trump tweeted. “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching. But we will WIN!” —  @realDonaldTrump, quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV 

“So yeah, this is a lynching in every sense,” Graham said at the Capitol. “This is un-American. I’ve never seen a situation in my lifetime as a lawyer where somebody’s accused of major misconduct who cannot confront the accuser, call witnesses on their behalf and have the discussion in the light of day so the public can judge.” — Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV

Sorry Mr. President, Senator Graham, et.al 

This the sort of thing only a white guy can say in 2019 America. So, one white guy to another...

This constitutionally prescribed impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching ... and shame on you for saying it is.

And, just to get ahead of you on the road you've apparently chosen: 

The impeachment inquiry is also not rape.

It is not molestation.

It is not assault of any sort.

It is not un-American in any sense.

(And we all know, it was never a witch hunt.)

Senator Graham, you know — though you demean your service in the Senate and as an officer of the court, and insult your constituents and the Constitution, by pretending to not know — that this inquiry is work that must be done in the House of Representatives to determine whether or not there will be a formal trial. You know very well how inquiries and investigations differ from trials. If an ordinary citizen needs to remind you of any of this, then you have a lot of explaining to do. If you are merely being disingenuous, to mislead the American people for partisan ends, then you have a lot of explaining to do.

What would you do if you had to report child abuse?

Do you have a friend who needs to know how to report abuse or neglect?

Sometimes, youth workers just need to know what to do first — what to look for, what to ask about, what to steer clear of in the early hours of a crisis. Right now, this one is free. Crisis HelpSheets | Square One in a Crisis https://buff.ly/2p1201i

On Hearsay, On the White House Driveway

 A Press Gaggle Joined in Progress

...and this ... what? — "reporter?" ... "analyst?" ... "subject matter expert? ... I don't know folks ... This person we never heard of claims that it "rained" ... but she was a thousand miles away at the time of the alleged "precipitation." A thousand miles away … maybe more.

All she has to go on, really, is secondhand sources who — she says — say it rained. So you'll ask her, "Did you get wet when it rained?" and she will have to say, "No, I did not get wet when it rained," which — doesn't that ... honestly — she doesn't know, folks ... she doesn't KNOW! It's all second-hand... She doesn't know.

So, we have to ask, "What is her interest in pushing this rain story?" What does she have to gain — what's in it for her? Her defenders say, "But she has people and measuring devices on the ground where the rainfall occurred." To which we have to ask, "Why?" Why would she have people in a place she doesn't live? Why does she need so-called "measuring devices" more than a thousand miles away? What is she up to? Something, that I can tell you. I don't know….

And she says -- get this -- she says "It rained there overnight" ...  "overnight?" I don't know, I was asleep, but I'm told it was completely dry outside. We have a thing called "Street lights," OK? And I have "people" of my own, and they tell me it not rain overnight. If you looked out your window when she says it was raining, know what you would have seen? Nothing. Street lights illuminating beautiful dry pavement ... dry sidewalks, dry everything.

"Oh, but she's a 'Meteorologist' they say. A "Meteorologist" ... I don't know if she has any firsthand knowledge about meteors, but she sure as hell doesn't know anything about rain, that I can tell you.

So, you tell me. Do you suppose it could be raining and not raining at the same time? I don't think so.

Another — and no one wants to talk about this — there's a story that she's trying to make it rain … maybe even actually making it rain in something called "local showers" ... I've — have you heard of local showers? I don't know, folks. What we have is a nasty woman getting rich while other people get wet — if we can believe her story ... which, by the way is all based on secondhand sources... It's all secondhand. We're going to be looking into that, that I can tell you. We're looking at a lot things, so we'll see what happens. But this whole -- I call it a "fake weather" thing — is just sad. I'll be releasing a detailed report on it in about four weeks ... three, maybe four, weeks.

OK, thanks everyone. You can all shout questions at my back while I walk away.

Lesson for the Ages

Teach your children

It is prudent to anticipate that someone 

who lies about most everything may be 

expected to lie about most anything.

Read It Yourself | Whistleblower’s Letter to US Congress dated 08.12.19, made public 09.26.19

Here is a searchable PDF of the August 12, 2019 letter from the "Whistleblower" — at this writing not identified — to the chairs of the US Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

The original file, publicly available from a variety of sources, came from The Washington Post, here. 

The optical character recognition function in PDF Editor 6 Pro converted the scanned image to a searchable PDF. No translation errors have been identified.

For Those About to Vote, We Salute You.

Today of all days, if you're happy with what's going on ... or if you're not ... register to vote. Check and update your status. 

When the time comes, you don't have to vote, but you can't vote if you’re not registered. 

REGISTER.ROCKTHEVOTE.COM

Rock the Vote

You can't vote unless you register. Register to vote using our quick and easy online voter registration tool.

Still standing with students for Climate Protection

I stand with the students striking for Climate Protection.

April 22, 1970, I skipped high school to take part in the first Earth Day teach-in at the university in my home town. There were thousands of us on the lawn in front of the library, eager to learn and eager to act. 

We weren’t the only ones. 

In July that year, President Nixon filed the executive order that created the Environmental Protection Agency and laid the groundwork of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency. 

The Clean Air Act of 1963 was extended and expanded to set national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants. The Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Act, the Environment Quality Improvement Act, the Clean Water Act were all signed that year. 

Much more followed, to the benefit of the real economy and the health of the nation. Over the next few years, we saw dramatic turnarounds in air and water quality in disaster zones like Southern California and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania … meaning we could literally see the positive changes in the environment and see the positive impact on public health costs.

It was an important start.

Today, the evidence-based macro- and micro-ecological sciences are clearer than ever about what we need to do for ourselves, our children, our children’s children….

The striking students, unlike many of their parents and grandparents, are open to learning and action … they are, after all, students. They take seriously the ancient wisdom: "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example…" 

I stand with the young, and with many in my own generation, determined not to let anyone look down on us because we’re old … but to be an example of openness to learning and action for the common good.

You may say I’m a dreamer; but I’m not the only one.

raising children is not all it’s cracked up to be [updated]

Raising Adults 
Because raising children is not all it’s cracked up to be, is it…. 

Now available for download at NoiseTrade by Paste

A nice thing about NoiseTrade is that you can pay what you can afford — from “I need this book and I’m going to download it even though I don’t have an extra cent right now” ... to “This book is prices way too low and I’m going to pay what it would cost to put my name on a new computer science building at my alma mater.”

Most of us buying books on NoiseTrade fall somewhere between those extremes.

Because I Said So :: 10 Things I Never Say to Kids + What I Say Instead :: Thing 03 Available Now

Because I Said So :: 10 Things I Never Say to Kids :: Why I Stopped + What I Say Instead

Thing 03 Available Now at NoiseTrade  

This 10 Things Single is about how we run to risk of setting children up for abusers if we teach them that the demands of parents and other adults with authority doesn’t need to be reasonable, fair, consistent — or ever subject to review or negotiation.

I get it: sometimes swift obedience is necessary for protecting life and limb. Do you get that that’s best accomplished when children come to believe we will never make unreasonable demands simply because we can?

This is one of 10 Things I Never Say to Kids :: Why I Stopped + What I Say Instead. It’s adapted from the book Ten Things We Should Never Say to Kids.

Turnabout is fair play for American Evangelicals

From two years ago, today, an update that has aged distressingly well.

Jim Hancock

August 12, 2017 · 

I have an American Muslim friend — an imam — who is constantly challenged by White Americans to disavow ISIS — which he has done, over and over, without any prompting from people outside his religion, from the moment ISIS raised its ugly head. 

Perhaps turnabout is fair play. Perhaps every White American preacher should disavow White nationalism from the pulpit this weekend and every weekend until everyone gets the message: There is no place for White nationalism in a church that follows Jesus. #nojokeproject #NoWhiteNationalism