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Author: By Paul Woodward

Mueller’s leak-proof investigation

Mueller’s leak-proof investigation

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On Friday, Peter Carr, spokesman for the Mueller investigation, released a brief statement challenging the accuracy of “specific statements” in BuzzFeed‘s blockbuster 1500-word report on Donald Trump instructing Michael Cohen to lie to Congress: BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate. The Washington Post then reported: Inside the Justice Department, the statement was viewed as a huge step, and…

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If dying could be sweet

If dying could be sweet

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When former presidents or other famous people die, the news of such events is always dominated by recollections of their lives. Generally we learn only the most abbreviated details of the circumstances in which life came to an end. The final days of George H W Bush’s life were unusual in that they were shared with his lifelong friend James Baker and other friends and family members who then graciously provided the New York Times with an account that conveys…

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The war and the silence

The war and the silence

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At the end of the First World War at 11 AM, on November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent. A piece of film depicting a recording of that moment has been used by Coda to Coda to create an audio interpretation of this event. Their insertion of some birdsong after the gunfire stops appears to have been a bit of poetic license, although this detail has some historical basis. The German novelist Ernst Jünger (1895-1998) fought on the Western Front:…

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Loneliness in America

Loneliness in America

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When in cold reflection, a man concludes that his life matters to no one but himself, how are we to imagine he might still retain or develop an appreciation for the value of the lives of others? It’s easy enough to characterize Robert Bowers’ deadly attack at a Pittsburgh synagogue as a product of hate-filled political discourse fueled by the inflammatory words of a cynically divisive president and yet that doesn’t account for the abject sadness of a man who…

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George Washington’s letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island

George Washington’s letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island

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On August 18,1790, during his second year in office as America’s first president, George Washington wrote: If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and a happy people. The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a…

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Trump allies reveal their sympathies with Saudi butchers

Trump allies reveal their sympathies with Saudi butchers

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The Washington Post reports: Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a whispering campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident journalist’s alleged murder by operatives of Saudi Arabia — and support Trump’s continued aversion to a forceful response to the oil-rich desert kingdom. In recent days, a cadre of conservative House Republicans allied with Trump has been privately exchanging articles from right-wing outlets that fuel suspicion of Khashoggi,…

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As an adolescent and a drunk, Kavanaugh exercised more restraint than he did before the Senate. Really?

As an adolescent and a drunk, Kavanaugh exercised more restraint than he did before the Senate. Really?

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In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Brett Kavanaugh writes: I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been. I might have been too emotional at times. I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said. I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad. I testified with five people foremost in my mind: my mom, my dad, my wife,…

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Anonymous editorial in Wall Street Journal tries to cast doubt on Kavanaugh’s assault of a teenage girl

Anonymous editorial in Wall Street Journal tries to cast doubt on Kavanaugh’s assault of a teenage girl

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If the acuity of anyone’s memory should be subject to questioning, it would surely be that belonging to two teenage boys who were described as being, at the time, “stumbling drunk.” Forget about how much each remembers years later; how much did they remember the next day? Mark Judge says he has no recollection of the events now clearly described by the victim, Christine Blasey Ford, while Brett M. Kavanaugh emphatically denies he has ever engaged in a sexual assault….

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Which hunt?

Which hunt?

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The big story that the Fake News Media refuses to report is lowlife Christopher Steele’s many meetings with Deputy A.G. Bruce Ohr and his beautiful wife, Nelly. It was Fusion GPS that hired Steele to write the phony & discredited Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary & the DNC…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2018 The New York Times reports: The revelation that Mr. Ohr engaged with Mr. Steele has provided the president’s allies with fresh fodder to…

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How Trump betrayed his supporters

How Trump betrayed his supporters

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The conventional wisdom accepted both before Trump got elected and perhaps even more so since then is that there is virtually nothing he could do nor any new revelation that would shock his supporters and turn them against him. Trump’s support has never hinged on voters remaining ignorant about the multiplicity of his moral failings — or so the argument goes. Trump himself reinforced this self-serving perception by claiming during the presidential election that he would be able to get…

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Community

Community

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When I was a Buddhist monk and the Dalai Lama visited us in France, there was a meeting of most of the Western monks and nuns in our community. At that time, the majority were living in a monastery and neighboring nunnery near Toulouse, but others were visiting from elsewhere in Europe, America, India and Australia. We were about 100 people. We had the grandiose mission of preserving Tibetan Buddhism so that it could survive in exile and spread across…

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How Rosenstein gave Trump a no-win choice

How Rosenstein gave Trump a no-win choice

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Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to announce new Russian election-hacking indictments before his meeting with Vladimir Putin rather than after — in the hopes it would strengthen his hand in the talks, according to accounts from people familiar with the decision. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to Trump last week and offered him the choice: before or after the Putin summit on Monday in Helsinki? Trump chose before, ultimately putting the issue into the spotlight just…

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News and the forgotten value of waiting

News and the forgotten value of waiting

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If someone wanted to create a parody of cable news, it would be hard to satirize the form more effectively than to cast Wolf Blitzer as the lead character in a goofy show called The Situation Room, where all news all the time is breaking news. The irony of the fact that CNN’s news show of that name is, on the contrary, meant to be taken seriously, is that it does indeed capture the zeitgeist of the news media environment…

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David Buckel — destined to be remembered more for the cause of his death than its stated purpose

David Buckel — destined to be remembered more for the cause of his death than its stated purpose

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The New York Times reports: Two weeks before he died [through self-immolation on April 14 in Brooklyn], Mr. Buckel seemed particularly agitated when he came to work one day. “I asked if he was stressed,” Mr. Morales said. “He dismissed it.” Then Mr. Buckel started sending him emails — lists of contacts, instructions for how to complete annual reports, forms to be turned over to officials. He began labeling everything on the site, every switch and key, and showed him…

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Has Assad’s survival made him dispensable?

Has Assad’s survival made him dispensable?

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Ewen MacAskill writes: The US-led operation against Syria, which included the contributions from the UK and France, was a modest one, limited to a short, sharp attack against targets alleged to be linked to chemical weapons. It is intended as a one-off, with no further strikes planned unless Syrian president Bashar al-Assad conducts chemical attacks in the future. There had been speculation in advance of the attack that there was a risk it could lead to world war three. It…

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Russia threatens ‘gravest consequences’ if U.S. crosses red line by taking military action in response to alleged chemical attack in Syria

Russia threatens ‘gravest consequences’ if U.S. crosses red line by taking military action in response to alleged chemical attack in Syria

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The New York Times reports: Dozens of Syrians choked to death after a suspected chemical attack struck the rebel-held suburb of Douma, east of Damascus, and aid groups on Sunday blamed President Bashar al-Assad’s government for the assault. The attack after dusk on Saturday sent a stream of patients with burning eyes and breathing problems to clinics, medical and rescue groups said. Western governments expressed alarm at the attack, with the British Foreign Office calling for an urgent investigation and…

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