Donald J. Trump wins Presidency

The general consensus seems to be that the Trumpers won the Battle of Berkerley, so let's hope both sides have let off sufficient steam to calm down and do something useful for a change. Though the antifa will probably want revenge.

Deliciously, this being the internet, background info is coming out about the strong wimmenz antifa that got thumped by a Trumper. It appears the dreadlocked skank is a notorious antifa activist, which she combines with being a vegan and a porn 'star'. She's done a fair bit of walloping in her time, but on this occasion, she got walloped back.

And is now playing the How dare you hit a helpless woman!' card, forgetting she's supposed to be a fearless fiesty feminist, the equal of men in all things.

Actually, this is an object lesson in why women shouldn't be on the front line in the military - unless they're out for revenge, like the Soviet Night Witches.

Looks like collecting all those 'nazi scalps' didn't work out too well.

This is one of the LEAST obscene photos of Ms Dreadlock which are now splattering the internet:





Look, dear, 'starring' in porn is not art. It's being a skank - especially when you're aiming for, er, specialist markets that don't believe in soap and water.

Rich @Seccie 10m10 minutes ago More No it's not a scene of the #WalkingDead it's just #Antifa Dressed to to not getting recognized on the streets by friends & family #Berkeley

Oh, look who threw the first punch? It appears to be Ms Dreadlocks aka Venus Rosales, who is about to discover she isn't all that fiesty after all....

Met Police face 'monster' security operation as Donald Trump insists on golden carriage procession during visit.

The White House has reportedly made it clear that the President expects the traditional state welcome of a carriage procession down the Mall with Her Majesty.

But security officials in London have warned that it would prove difficult to secure the area and will require an operation far greater than any other recent state visit.

According to a report in The Times, President Trump is adamant that he want the procession to be a part of his State visit – due to take place in October – despite his predecessor opting for a less traditional vehicle.

On his visit to the UK in 2011, former President Barack Obama chose to travel in an armoured, bullet-proof car to meet the Queen.

London’s Met Police was already facing a challenge in ensuring the controversial President remains safe whilst allowing the public to demonstrate.

And a source has told the newspaper that this recent demand has only served to increase complexity of the arrangement.

The source said: "The vehicle which carries the president of the United States is a spectacular vehicle. It is designed to withstand a massive attack like a low-level rocket grenade.

“If he's in that vehicle he is incredibly well protected and on top of that it can travel at enormous speed. If he is in a golden coach being dragged up the Mall by a couple of horses, the risk factor is dramatically increased.

"There may well be protections in that coach such as bulletproof glass, but they are limited. In particularly it is very flimsy.

"It would not be able to put up much resistance in the face of a rocket propelled grenade or high-powered ammunition. Armour-piercing rounds would make a very bad show of things."

Police will liaise with the Secret Service to plan the operation and armed officers are expected to be dotted around in the crowds.

Thousands protested against the President’s state visit when it was announced in January and 1.8 million people signed a petition calling for the invitation to be retracted.

Former Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe revealed the visit was likely to cost the force millions of pounds due to the expected demonstrations.

Sir Bernard said the force had “some concerns already” about the extent of the demonstrations that might be staged.

He said that police would be mounting “quite a big operation” and that he “would not dispute” a suggestion the cost could match the £7.5 million cost of policing the G20 summit in 2009.

If he's in that vehicle he is incredibly well protected and on top of that it can travel at enormous speed. If he is in a golden coach being dragged up the Mall by a couple of horses, the risk factor is dramatically increased.

"There may well be protections in that coach such as bulletproof glass, but they are limited. In particularly it is very flimsy.

Exactly - it's just asking for trouble, Trump should, IMO, travel in The Beast, as Obama did. Apart from anything else, he's endangering the Queen, the carriage men, and the horses.

I hope US and UK security knock this one on its head.

"Ah, but, but .... the heads of Russia and China - and the Mexican president got to ride in it so why can't I?"   Trumper will throw a hissy if he is denied it.   LL 

Thing is, LL, ANY US president is likely to be a target for attacks, unlike the other presidents, never mind such a controversial one. This is a really bad idea.....right up there with Trump riding in an open-top car through Dallas.

Trump riding in an open-top car through Dallas

Can that be arranged? Just asking .... LL

I don't think anything would surprise me now, LL.....

Nor me.  

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
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Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!

I can't think who it could be. The riot at Berkeley - the third, I think? - really is a mystery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Soros

Alexander Soros is the son of billionaire George Soros and Susan Weber Soros. He was raised in Katonah, New York and has a younger brother, Gregory.[2] Soros graduated from King Low Heywood Thomas in Stamford, Connecticut.[2] He graduated from New York University in 2009. As of 2012, he is pursuing a doctorate in history at the University of California, Berkeley.

======

Soros has homes in North Berkeley, Berkeley, California, Lower Manhattan and South Kensington, London.

Yup, it's a real puzzle.

Here we go again.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-16/us-putting-boots-back-ground-somalia


In October 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu (the Black Hawk Down incident), 18 US soldiers were killed and 73 wounded, with a pair of Black Hawk helicopters shot down. The US responded by ceasing military operations, and within a few months had withdrawn all troops from Somalia.

Today, they are headed back.

The new deployment, which US African Command (AFRICOM) is presented as a simple training operation, will be the first time US ground troops are officially deployed to Somalia, though of course the US has had some special forces present on the ground on and off, conducting occasional operations and spotting for US airstrikes.

Because of course, sending ground troops to Somalia is vital to the defence of the US.

President Trump’s Loose Talk on North Korea.

As a candidate, Donald Trump seemed to pay no more attention to North Korea’s accelerating nuclear weapons program, which his predecessor has warned is America’s most urgent threat, than he did to other complex foreign policy issues. Now he is paying attention, but not in a helpful way. His intemperate talk is adding to regional tensions, unnerving allies and likely reinforcing North Korea’s longstanding fear that it could one day be attacked by America — the very reason North Korea invested in a nuclear arsenal in the first place.

It would be risky for Mr. Trump to let overconfidence and bombast, expressed in tweets and public statements, box him into some kind of showdown with the North’s ruthless leader, Kim Jong-un, who has displayed similarly macho traits. South Korea, Japan and even Russia have urged both sides to avoid a devastating miscalculation.

That the weekend came and went without North Korea conducting its sixth nuclear test in a decade was a relief. American and South Korean Intelligence agencies had detected evidence of preparations for such a test and it was assumed the country would go forward on a politically significant date. Saturday was the 105th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Kim’s grandfather, who founded the state in 1949.

Instead, Mr. Kim displayed an array of military hardware, including three types of long-range ballistic missiles, during a parade in Pyongyang and then did a missile test, which fizzled, perhaps because of an American cyberstrike.

The North will almost certainly test another nuclear device in the future. But pressure from China, the North’s main ally and trading partner, which itself is under pressure from Mr. Trump, may have helped persuade Pyongyang to postpone that nuclear test for now.

Political temperatures have been rising. American warships were headed to waters near the Korean Peninsula, a pointed display of military might that was underscored by the Pentagon’s use for the first time of a massive conventional MOAB bomb against the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Then there were the tweets. In one, on April 11, Mr. Trump accused North Korea of “looking for trouble” and warned that “if China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them!” That was followed by an NBC News story — hotly denied by the Pentagon — that the administration might strike pre-emptively with conventional weapons. Previous presidents have not taken pre-emptive military action when the North prepared to test because they knew it would not solve the nuclear threat and would invite retaliation against millions of civilians and 28,000 American troops in South Korea.

North Korea followed with its own threats to “go to war — if they choose” and to “hit the U.S. first” with a nuclear weapon if Washington launched a pre-emptive strike. All this inspired a warning from China about “storm clouds gathering” and a plea that all sides should resist pushing things “to the point where it can’t be turned around.”

Mr. Trump might be more inclined to listen to China if, as he has asked, Beijing significantly tightened economic sanctions as a means of persuading the North to curb its nuclear and missile programs. China has reportedly stopped buying North Korean coal, and a major government newspaper said that Beijing might curb oil sales, on which the North depends, in the event of another test. Meanwhile, however, China’s overall trade with the North has expanded.

What’s missing in the White House is a coherent strategy, something beyond statements and asking China for help. Mr. Trump needs to be firm, not reckless in his talk, ratchet up sanctions and find a way to engage the North in negotiations. Peace and security in Asia, as well as the relationship between Washington and Beijing, depend heavily on whether Mr. Trump and President Xi Jinping of China can together manage the North Korean threat.

Maybe if the US didn't keep attacking weaker nations, in total disregard of international law, then weaker nations wouldn't be so keen on nukes as a defence of the last resort? IMO, it's only a matter of time before Erdogan wants nuclear weapons....

Why aren't Trump and Ivanka sobbing over these 'beautiful babies'?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39613313

Syria war: 'At least 68 children among 126 killed' in bus bombing
5 hours ago
From the section Middle East



At least 68 children were among 126 people killed in Saturday's bomb attack on buses carrying evacuees from besieged Syrian towns, activists say.
A vehicle filled with explosives hit the convoy near Aleppo.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 109 evacuees from government-held towns were killed, along with aid workers and rebel soldiers.
Many more were injured in the attack, the group said.
The explosion shattered buses and set cars on fire, leaving a trail of bodies, as the convoy waited in rebel territory near Aleppo.

There is absolutely NO doubt about who did it, as the 'moderate rebels' have been merrily giving interviews boasting about killing 'Shia pigs and traitors'.

I suppose this is different.....

If Trump cares so much about Syrian babies, why is he not condemning rebels who slaughtered children in suicide attack?

Trump lamented and even went to war for those ‘beautiful little babies’ whom he believed to be Sunni victims of the Assad government. But when Shia babies of equal humanity were killed, he could not care less.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-suicide-attack-refugee-buses-trump-only-cares-sunni-children-a7687066.html

Thanks, LL, that's a very good piece. Fisk has written quite a lot about Syria, and is one of the few honest writers on the subject.

A rather revealing photo, IMO - the Trumps at today's egg-rolling:



He looks like himself again, instead of that rather strange person we've seen for the past week or so, who rather resembled someone making hostage videos.

I wonder, if Melania isn't around, is he susceptible to whatever dumb idea Ivanka and her old man come up with?

It would certainly explain a lot, Lily. Bombing Syria was plain and simply wrong, and if hard proof, as opposed to evidence, ever comes out that the incident was caused by a jihadist weapons store being hit, his presidency is over.

Never mind all this hot air about taxes, and Russia, etc., there simply would be no way of coming back from that.

He sounded most peculiar when he was babbling about beautiful babies, and again in that interview about Xi and chocolate cake.

IMO, if his first military action had been, out of the blue, dropping the MOAB on ISIS, it would have been much more impressive, not least because no-one greatly cares about dead ISIS nutjobs.

But a botched attack on a sovereign state because his daughter was wailing at him? Not impressive - and not strong, either. And now he is in a position where he SHOULD be condemning the horrible bus bombings - but it was done by the very people the US has been surreptitiously supporting. Staying completely out of the Middle East might be a good idea....

Trump Calls and Congratulates Erdogan on Referendum Win and the Demise of Democracy in Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in Sunday’s closely contested national referendum in Turkey even as opposition parties and international observers pointed to irregularities in the voting that will dramatically reshape Turkish politics, jettisoning the country’s parliamentary democracy and granting sweeping executive power and near absolute control to the country’s president. The result is nothing if not worrisome and appears to be another step in Erdogan’s years-long accumulation of power and the country’s descent into authoritarianism. How did the White House react to the news? President Trump called and congratulated President Erdogan, who campaigned on behalf of the reforms and will surely be the chief beneficiary of the changes.

It’s unclear what exactly Trump was congratulating Erdogan on other than simply winning, which is his favorite thing. Other branches of the American government, namely the State Department and even Sean Spicer, reacted in a much more measured way. Since the July 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan has been emboldened to crack down on any semblance of independent press and set out purging large swaths of the country’s bureaucracy to try to diminish the perceived influence of the followers of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, who Erdogan accuses of controlling state institutions through his followers positioned there.

With the constitutional changes, Erdogan could now rule the country until 2029 with far fewer checks on his power. The changes won’t go into effect until the 2019 election, but on Monday the Turkish government imposed its third consecutive state of emergency giving Erdogan’s AK Party many of those powers immediately.

Donald Trump criticised for congratulating Recep Tayyip Erdogan on winning Turkish referendum.

Ignoring concerns raised by international monitoring groups, President Donald Trump has called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on the country's contested referendum greatly increasing presidential powers.

He made the call despite protests from opposition parties and international monitoring groups, including Mr Trump's own State Department, about voting irregularities during the referendum.

Critics argue the reforms in Turkey will hand extensive power to a man with an increasingly autocratic bent and leave few checks and balances in place.

Under the new system, the president will be able to appoint ministers and senior government officials, issue decrees and declare states of emergency.

Mr Erdogan has also said he would approve the death penalty if it was supported in a referendum or a bill submitted to him through parliament, which would end Turkey's aspirations to join the EU.

Mr Trump has been criticised for congratulating Mr Erdogan, who is seen as taking Turkey in an increasingly authoritarian direction. More at link.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-recep-tayyip-erdogan-congratulate-turkey-referendum-president-powers-increase-reaction-a7688171.html

Nice hotel, President Trump, be a shame if anything happened to it......

Meanwhile, military matters.....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/04/18/the_armada_trump_sent_to_north_korea_wasn_t_actually_there.html



Donald Trump with his wife, son, and chief naval adviser.

I knew disaster was inevitable when he called it an 'Armada'.