A View from the Beach: September 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019

Reason #6405 that Trump was Elected

I blame Trump: FBI Says Murder And Violent Crime Both Declined In 2018

File this under “good news that won’t make too many headlines”; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s released its Uniform Crime Report for 2018, and violent crime, including murder, declined significantly last year.

The 2018 statistics show the estimated rate of violent crime was 368.9 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the estimated rate of property crime was 2,199.5 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The violent crime rate fell 3.9 percent when compared with the 2017 rate; the property crime rate declined 6.9 percent.
The violent crime rate in 2018 was the lowest this country has seen since 1971, when there were 396 violent crimes per 100,000 people. And unlike the 1970’s, when violent crime was on its way up, the trend since the early 1990’s has been towards a safer society. The nation’s violent crime rate in 2018 is less than half of what it was at its peak in 1991, which is fantastic news that will largely be ignored by our fear-mongering media.

While violent crime declined by nearly 4 percent, murders declined at an even greater rate, dropping 6.2 percent from 2017. At 5.0 homicides per 100,000 people, the U.S. homicide rate is near the 50-year low of 4.4 per 100k set back in 2014, and 2018 market a second straight year of declining homicide rates.

Far from an “epidemic” of violent crime, the United States is becoming more, not less safe. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, this news is going to be a one-day story, quickly dropped by a media that thrives on making Americans think crime is going up instead of down.

It must be all the assault rifles!

Could the Solar System have a Black Hole Planet?

‘Planet Nine’ may actually be a black hole

Previous studies have suggested Planet Nine, which some astronomers refer to as “Planet X,” has a mass between five and 15 times that of Earth and lies between 45 billion and 150 billion kilometers from the sun. At such a distance, an object would receive very little light from the sun, making it hard to see with telescopes.

To detect objects of that mass, whether planets or black holes, astronomers can look for weird blobs of light formed when light “bends” around the object’s gravitational field on its journey through the galaxy (simulated image above). Those anomalies would come and go as objects move in front of a distant star and continue in their orbit.

But if the object is a planet-mass black hole, the physicists say, it would likely be surrounded by a halo of dark matter that could stretch up to 1 billion kilometers on every side. And interactions between dark matter particles in that halo—especially collisions between dark matter and dark antimatter—could release a flash of gamma rays that would betray the object’s presence, the researchers propose in a forthcoming paper posted on the preprint server arXiv.

The physicists will soon start to comb through publicly available data from the Earth-orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has covered the sky in all directions since 2008. They’ll be looking in particular for groups of sporadic gamma ray flashes that would move slowly across the sky, as Planet Nine would be expected to do as seen from Earth. Although the physicists’ proposal is speculative, their search may yield all sorts of information about dark matter and the sources of gamma ray flashes—whether they lie within our solar system or far across the universe.

The universe is a weird place. Who thought it up, anyway?

Russiagate: Bill Barr Takes a Vacation

In Italy, and there's lot of speculation that it has something to do with the Mysterious Mr. Mifusd:

Thomas Lifson, AmThink, AG Barr’s trip to Italy on ‘official business’ may be a key to unmasking deep state entrapment of George Papadopoulos by CIA asset Joseph Mifsud, sundance, CTH,Attorney General Bill Barr Visits Italy on “Official Business”? – Remember That Audio-Tape Deposition by Joseph Mifsud? Nice Deb at AmGreat, AG Barr’s Hush Hush Trip to Italy Sets Tongues Wagging on the Left and the Right – American Greatness. Maybe he's just there for the pasta, but we can hope.

Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare announces a new crime, Collusion After the Fact. I know, it's enemy territory, but you have to watch them. The New Neo, The Deep State hatched its plot against Trump very early, and they told us so. Althouse, “He’s been forecasting that the ‘deep state’ is out to get him, and there’s a way in which the narrative of the whistleblower can come to confirm all of that for his followers.” It doesn't need confirming, it's all proved in the links above.

Legal Insurrection notes the WaPoo, State Dept intensifies investigation into Hillary’s email server practices "It’s unlikely anything will come of this. But you can’t take away our dreams."

On the Impeachment front, Stacy McCain shouts, Impeachment Mania! "Is there any fact that could convince the Democrats to desist? Have they become so maniacally obsessed that they are beyond reason?" No. Althouse, “On another frenetic day of political exchanges, Democrats sought to engineer a fast start to their impeachment efforts as their chances of political success hinge on early momentum to keep the White House off balance.” "I’m quoting “Washington at war: Dems aim for speedy impeachment push as Trump threatens whistleblower” (CNN)."

I see everything needs to be fast, fast, fast for this to work. If another week passes without the whole country getting the cue to go “frenetic,” maybe the Ukraine phone call will fade away like 100 other impeachable offenses attributed to Trump. I’m put off by the pressure for speed. All the time we devote to electing a President and all the work lavished thus far into the next election, and we’re supposed to suddenly stop everything and throw this bum out? Quick! Don’t think! That makes me want to slow down and think quite a bit.
. . .
Trump is going to fight, and Democrats aren’t going to get their wish for a quick one-sided war.

More impeachy links:

AmSpec, Trump Impeachment: Inevitable
NYMag, Is Impeachment the End of the Road for Most 2020 Democrats?
Mark Tapscott, ET, Assessing the Most Dangerous ‘What Ifs’ of the Democrats’ Impeach Trump Frenzy
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air, Pelosi doesn't care if she loses the gavel over impeachment?
Instapundit » Blog Archive » HEH: …

WaEx If Democrats impeach Trump, a GOP House would probably impeach the next Democratic president
The National Interest (that's kind of presumptive) Could Trump's Impeachment Crisis Push Hillary Clinton to Run in 2020?
WaPoo, Staring down impeachment over Ukraine call, Trump sees himself as a victim of historic proportions He's not necessarily wrong
Newsbusters, CNN's Jake Tapper Gripes: Unlike Nixon, Trump 'Has Fox News' and Die-Hard Websites
RCP, David Brooks: Trump "Did Something Impeachable," But "Impeachment Would Be A Mistake" |Politico, 5 Ways Impeachment Could Play Out - POLITICO Magazine. Only 5?
Instapundit THAT’S AWFULLY RICH COMING FROM ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY THAT BOOED GOD: Nancy Pelosi Says She’s ‘Prayerful’ As Impeachment Moves Forward.
Jake Sherman on Twitter: "Nixon won 49 states and he was impeached.… " Wrong, but we get the point.
Ace, Politics Isn't Binary...Maybe Some Rational Disagreement Is A Good Thing!
NyPo, Trump impeachment saga is repeat of 1999 Bill Clinton effort, Yep, they, been dying for revenge for 20 years.
Da Fed, Congressional Democrats Have No Credibility On Impeachment Put the period after credibility
Victor Davis Hanson, AmGreat, Impeachment Coup Analytics

Rudy Giuliani: 'I Wouldn't Cooperate With Adam Schiff'
WaPoo, In strategy shift, Democrats settle on Schiff to lead a focused inquiry Nadler loses Pelosi's favor after Lewandowski "fiaso."
At WaPoo, EJ Dionne doesn't care about the facts, and never did, Not too fast, not too slow on impeachment

On Ukraine/Bidengate:

Da Beast, Biden Campaign Demands TV News Execs Stop Booking Rudy Giuliani
DaHill Biden campaign demands news channels stop booking Giuliani

The Other McCain If Trump’s Not #Winning, Why Does Biden Want to Silence Giuliani? : The Other McCain

What a poker player would call a “tell”:
. . .
If what Giuliani is saying about Biden and Ukraine is just “unhinged, unfounded and desperate lies,” wouldn’t it be easy for Biden to prove that? But not — they want him silenced. Don’t be surprised if networks comply with Biden’s demand. “Democrat operatives with bylines,” etc.

AP Trump blurs lines between personal lawyer, attorney general. You mean like Hillary and Barack's lawyers?
AllahPundit at Hot Air, Chris Wallace: Rudy had help in trying to get dirt on Biden from Ukraine, and it's a name Fox News viewers will recognize
Margaret Olohan, Da Caller Ukraine’s Fired Top Prosecutor Saw No Evidence Of Wrongdoing, Urged Giuliani To Launch US Investigation
Town Hall, Kamala Wants Everyone to 'Leave Joe Biden Alone!' But Her Reasoning Is Seriously Ironic And Hypocritical
Bloomberg, Ukraine Scandal: Expect More Surprises for Biden
Breitbart Five Times Hunter Biden’s Dealings Were Conflict of Interest for Joe Biden
Da Fed, Burisma Timeline Just Leads To More Questions About Hunter Biden

Am GreatL’etat C’est Nous – American Greatness "A deeper knowledge of the players involved in leveling the charges of impropriety and, even, “treason” against President Trump, shows that most of them have something to hide and interests to protect that explain their outrage."

PJ Media Trump: 'Rep. Adam Schiff Must Resign From Congress!' Like that will happen
AmGreat, The Press Gang That Couldn’t Keep Its Story Straight – American Greatness

Da Caller ‘Your Question Is Not Honest’: Mark Levin Blasts Ed Henry During ‘Fox & Friends’ Appearance

Capt. Ed at Hot Air, Stephanopoulos to Schiff: If what Trump said was so bad, why make up dialogue? and Hot Air citing Hot Air Trump was warned that Ukraine conspiracy theory was "completely debunked" - Hot Air
WaPoo, Phone call has yet to harm Zelensky and boy, are they pissed!

And at last, on the Whistleblower

CNN Mick Mulvaney on shaky ground in wake of whistleblower fallout

Breitbart, Rep. Adam Schiff: Trump 'Whistleblower' Agrees to Testify Before Congress

WaPoo, Intelligence panel has deal to hear whistleblower’s testimony - The Washington Post

Monday Morning Eyeful

Килина Лера

The Wombat snuck Rule 5 Monday: Chris Noel in a day late.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

. . . has gotten out of hand, and I'm starting each morning smothered with links. Gonna try something a little different this morning. A short introductory rumination on the set of links for each of a few subheadings.

We're still fighting about the whistle blower, who he/she is, how she ended up writing such lawyerly complaint (was it actually written by, oh say, Adam Schiff and his staff), and just how the rules got changed at the last minute to allow hearsay, of second hand evidence, into the whistler blower complaint. Finally, the democrats and media (I apologize for the redundancy), have tried to make an issue out of the administration putting the record of the conversation between Trump and ZZ Top in a secure location, where it might have been harder to leak.

Stephen McIntyre on Twitter: "Here is something seriously strange. The Disclosure of Urgent Concern Form located earlier today at DNI is only two days old according to its pdf properties. https://t.co/l8foAAj2sC https://t.co/0iwXTxcgIv" / Twitter. And yes, it's the Climategate Steven MacIntyre

PJ Media – Whistleblower Requirements Recently Amended to Allow Only Hearsay

The New Neo – Conveniently changing the rules: blowing that second-hand whistle, hard
Stu Cvrk at Red State – Who is the Ukraine Leaker/Whistleblower, Part II
The Washington Post – Amateur pro-Trump ‘sleuths’ scramble to unmask whistleblower: ‘Your president has asked for your help’
Karen Twownsend at Hot Air – Was the whistleblower's complaint revenge for Ukraine ambassador's dismissal?
The Rush Limbaugh Show – There Is No Whistleblower, Just a Leaker! We're in the Midst of a Cold Civil War
Althouse – What did Schumer mean when he threatened Trump about the CIA’s ways to get back at him?
Mark Levin – CIA whistleblower complaint looks like new 'leak and coup campaign' against Trump
CNNPolitics –White House restricted access to Trump's calls with Putin and Saudi crown prince

The Federalist – Susan Rice: Obama Put Call Transcripts On Top Secret Server, Too

Biden and the Ukraine saga. Sadly, whatever Hunter and Joe Biden did in Ukraine is almost certainly legal, under modest assumptions about what is legal (there are so many laws, it's really rather hard to be sure), which does not mean that it was a good idea, and didn't have some corrupt intent behind it.

Hot Air – Trump's actions shouldn't dissuade media from pressing Joe Biden about Hunter's shady dealings

The State Press – McCain Institute head Kurt Volker steps down as US diplomat

Axios – Ukraine controversy spotlights Joe Biden's family problem as 2020 heats up
National Review – How about a Bipartisan Treaty against the Criminalization of Elections?

Bill Maher – Rachel Maddow would be freaking out if Trump's son sat on the board of a Ukrainian company
Gateway Pundit – Obama, the Bidens, the Clintons, the IMF and Others Pillaged Ukraine Then Forced Its Citizens to Pay Excessive Natural Gas Prices at 50% Above Market

EBL – NPR Lies About Biden and Trump
IBD – Scandals At State: How Clinton, Kerry Used Office To Enrich Their Families

WSJ – What the Press Doesn’t Know About Ukraine cited at

Hot Air – What the press doesn’t know about Ukraine

Flopping Aces – When Hillary Clinton Colluded With Ukraine Against Trump

The Atlantic – Hunter Biden's Legal, Socially Acceptable Corruption

Karl Rove – Pelosi’s Circular Firing Squad

Impeachment. What can I say? It's apparent the ~~Red Queens~~ Democrats in the house fully intend to impeach Trump, regardless of the facts.

Dems' impeachment frenzy is the prelude to the coming time bombs about to explode in their faces
House Republican Mark Amodei backs inquiry but not impeachment - POLITICO
Amid the political frenzy, eight keys to the coming Trump impeachment fight
‘C’mon already’! CNN’s Jake Tapper says Trump’s impeachment defense includes Fox News and an ‘army of trolls’ (and people have thoughts) – twitchy.com
Across a divided nation, skepticism about impeachment - The Washington Post
Tlaib campaign starts selling "impeach the mf" t-shirts - Hot Air
You Want Impeachment? Find A Quid To Go With The Pro Quo – JONATHAN TURLEY
If You Liked the Mueller Investigation, You’ll Love Impeachment | Frontpagemag
Jim Jordan and Chip Roy Discuss Pelosi Rush to Complete Articles of Impeachment… | The Last Refuge
Harris Asked Nadler to Open Kavanaugh Impeachment Inquiry - Washington Free Beacon
Trump Attorney Jay Sekulow: Go Ahead and Take The Impeachment Vote…. | The Last Refuge
Pelosi’s House Rule Changes are Key Part of “Articles of Impeachment”, Being Drafted Over Next Two Weeks… | The Last Refuge
Jon Voight: Impeachment Effort Against Trump Is 'War Against Truths'
Ari Fleischer: Dem drive to impeach Trump over Ukraine call is hysterical, hyperbolic and hypocritical | Fox News
Mickey Kaus on Twitter: "But for Democrats (and NeverTrumpers) it’s not enough to beat Trump in an election. The Great Humiliation of 2016 must be declared invalid, annulled, expunged, vaporized, memory-holed. Mere election won’t do that. https://t.co/ULB1wFrYBx (last item) https://t.co/jiv4o37oAa"
How Mitch McConnell could give impeachment the Merrick Garland treatment - POLITICO
Senate Republicans are never going to turn on Trump
Republicans show signs of discomfort in defense of Trump | TheHill
Democrats say White House stonewalling won't drag out inquiry and will boost case for impeachment - CNNPolitics
Steve Scalise on Twitter: "Pelosi bypassed the official vote that's typically required to start an impeachment inquiry. Schiff read a made-up transcript in a hearing. Now they've recessed the House for 2 WEEKS. This isn't a serious, fact-based process. It's a reckless scheme to attack @realDonaldTrump.… https://t.co/wWbtilOxp3"
Dem drive to impeach Trump over Ukraine call is hysterical, hyperbolic, and hypocritical - Hot Air

President Trump & Impeachment Inquiry -- The Impeachment Train | National Review

And some otherwise uncategorized material:

WaPoo: Trump told Russians in 2017 Oval Office meeting that US interferes in elections too
Fox News' Ukraine Coverage Reveals Growing Tension Between News and Opinion Side | Hollywood Reporter
Carl Bernstein Warns Deep State Allies: Bill Barr is on to us… | The Last Refuge
State Dept. intensifies email probe of Hillary Clinton’s former aides - The Washington Post and boy are they pissed!

Dig in!

Palm Sunday

Sure happens a lot these days:

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat snuck Rule 5 Monday: Chris Noel in a day late.

Mixed Mode Russiagate

Too much stuff. Breaking news from Sundance at CTH, ICIG Whistleblower Form Recently Modified to Permit Complaint “Heard From Others”…. Well, isn't that convenient . . .

Folks, this “Ukraine Whistleblower” event was a pre-planned event. As we begin to understand the general outline of how the Schiff Dossier was assembled, we are now starting to get into the specifics. First discovered by researcher Stephen McIntyre, there is now evidence surfacing showing the ICIG recently created an entirely new ‘whistleblower complaint form’ that specifically allowed for the filing of complaints “heard from others“.

Prior to the current “whistleblower complaint” the Intelligence Community Inspector General did not accept whistle-blower claims without first hand knowledge. However, the ICIG revised the protocol in August 2019 allowing for the EXACT type of complaint now registered from the CIA whistleblower.

The IGIC revision was made at the same time HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff was tweeting in August about President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and holding back funding pending assistance with political opponents.

This gets all red caps and the flaming skull from Ace: THE RULES FOR BECOMING A "WHISTLEBLOWER" WERE CHANGED TO PERMIT SECOND-HAND GOSSIP IN AUGUST 2019. COINCIDENTALLY, THE "WHISTLEBLOWER," OFFERING HIS SECOND-HAND GOSSIP, FILED HIS COMPLAINT IN AUGUST 2019.

This all happened last month-- the sudden change to stop requiring first-hand information, and then the "whistleblower," coincidentally I'm sure!, being the first to hop on and use those changed standards to file a non-IC related complaint with the ICIG.

See Sean Davis.

This is big. This is the Deep State in action, and we caught them.

and, as sundance documents Phase #2 – With Newly Authorized: “Heard From Others”, Lawfare Group Circles Back To Trump-Kislyak Meeting…. and Whistle-blower Complaint is The Schiff Dossier – Devin Nunes Discusses the Creation of The “Schiff Dossier”…

Sundance also tentatively identifies “Gossip-blower” is Male CIA Operative Formerly Part of White House NSC… A strong possibility for the identity, a person who checks all the boxes of known attributes, follows a trail to Michael Barry. . .

Ace, Sean Davis: I Have a Weird Feeling of Deep State Deja Vu... Didn't we just go through the exact same information-operation script? calling it the Steele Dossier 2.0

Let me also add this: Democrats have started demanding a Special Prosecutor and also demanding -- get this! -- that A.G. Barr recuse himself from overseeing that special prosecutor, because Donald Trump mentioned his name in a call.

Gee, that sure sounds familiar. Maybe they should rehire Rod Rosenstein to wear a wire, too?

Funny how these fake media-manufactured scandals from left-wing partisans somehow always end up with a payoff. McCabe, Strzok, Comey, Blasey Ford. I can't wait to hear about the inevitable six-figure book deal and CNN contributor contract. https://t.co/eB2B3G668r
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 27, 2019

Fred Fleitz, NyPo, Former CIA official on whistleblower: ‘How could this be an intelligence matter?’

My suspicions grew this morning when I saw the declassified whistleblowing complaint. It appears to be written by a law professor and includes legal references and detailed footnotes. It also has an unusual legalistic reference on how this complaint should be classified.

From my experience, such an extremely polished whistleblowing complaint is unheard of. This document looks as if this leaker had outside help, possibly from congressional members or staff.

Moreover, it looks like more than a coincidence that this complaint surfaced and was directed to the House Intelligence Committee just after Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), an outspoken opponent of President Trump, expressed numerous complaints in August 2019 accusing President Trump of abusing aid to Ukraine to hurt Joe Biden. This includes an August 28 tweet that closely resembled the whistleblowing complaint.

Henry Olsen, WaPoo, The whistleblower complaint doesn’t do Democrats any favors

Republicans would also be wise to read the complaint carefully. The author distinguished between “White House officials” and “U.S. officials.” The former group are clearly political appointees, but the latter group could include career government employees. The complainant only identifies “White House officials” as sources of his information in connection with the July 25 call and subsequent alleged use of the alternate storage system. All other information the person recounts, including the “facts” that started the complainant’s concerns, come from “U.S. officials.” Expect Republicans to try to uncover who these people are, and expect the president’s media defenders to allege this is further proof of the “deep-state conspiracy” against Trump.

Never-Trumper, AllahPundit, Geraldo On The Whistleblower: I’d Like To Kick That Rotten Little Snitch’s Ass I'll just let that one stand.

Sundance again,Trey Gowdy and Mark Meadows Discuss Adam Schiff’s Scripted Pantomime…

Sundance again, President Trump Calls Out Adam Schiff for Fabricating Ukraine Call Quotes… I can see Russia from my house, on a good day. Capt Ed, Trump: Shouldn’t Schiff Resign For Lying To Congress? If all the lying congressmen resigned, the place would be a ghost town.

Hot Air citing WSJ, Everyone Is Reading The Whistleblower Complaint — Except Senate Republicans

Ace, No Big Deal, But Ukraine Wasn't Even Aware Their Aid Was Being Delayed/Reviewed Until More Than a Month After Trump Supposedly Threatened to Withhold Aid

Strange kind of threat, where you don't even threaten someone, and they don't even find out there's anything to feel threatened about for a month after the "threat."

WaPoo, Effort to shield Trump’s call with Ukrainian leader was part of broader secrecy effort, Capt. Ed at Hot Air, White House: NSC Lawyers Directed Zelensky Transcript Storage Decision. What? Presidents adjust their secrecy as a result of leaks? Who knew?

Tom Nichols, USA Today, Ukraine scandal: Trump's new impeachable offense is threatening the life of a CIA officer. What a loon!

In his usual emulation of the mob bosses and dictators he admires, the president said: “I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

Roger L. Simon at PJ Media Peggy Noonan's Reading Comprehension Problem [Substantially Revised]. To be fair to Peggy, the media has total skipped 500 words, and an intervening speaker in their attempt to portray Trump as calling for an investigation of Joe Biden's role in Ukraine. It appears to be a very deliberate distortion. Still, Joe Biden's role in the Ukraine should be investigated, about $30 million dollars and 3 years worth. John Solomon, Da Hill, These once-secret memos cast doubt on Joe Biden's Ukraine story. David Harsayni, NyPo, Wherever Joe Biden went, son Hunter cashed in. USA Today, Trump Ukraine controversy: President's opponents don't want to talk about 2016 campaign. Joe Biden doesn't want anyone looking too hard at Hunter's Ukraine dealings.

It’s definitely horrible for Biden. The former vice president brought this issue on himself, recounting in 2018 how he told Poroshenko years earlier to fire Shokin or forfeit a promised $1 billion U.S. loan.
. . .
This was supposed to make Biden look like a tough customer apparently, but it raised the issue of conflict of interest, not to mention extortion. And they accuse President Trump of shakedown tactics? Please.

Sundance, Former Ukranian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin Sworn Affidavit Outlining Joe Biden Shakedown…

John Solomon is reporting on a myriad of documents that highlight how Vice-President Joe Biden engaged in a pressure and influence campaign upon the government of Ukraine to financially benefit his son Hunter Biden. [SEE HERE] One of those documents is a sworn affidavit by former Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin (pdf here . . .)

Tyler O'Neil PJ Media, Biden Accuses Trump of Trying to 'Hijack an Election' in Ukraine Call. It's the problem with that 500 word gap again. The favor Biden asked for concerned CrowdStrike, not Joe Biden. Unless maybe, Joe Biden was involved with CrowdStrike.

Vice President Biden championed $1.8 billion in taxpayer-backed loans to be given to Ukraine courtesy of the IMF. That money disappeared, and Burisma was implicated in its disappearance.

WaFreeBe Warren Flustered by Hypothetical Ethics Question on Hunter Biden, Can't say whether potential VP's son could work for a foreign company IJR, Senate Democrats Face Questions After Letter Resurfaces of Them Asking Ukraine to Investigate Trump in 2018 Foreign interference in our elections? Sauce for the goose. . .

The Democratic senators who sent a letter to the Ukranian prosecutor general asking them to investigate President Donald Trump are facing some questions. Last May, three Democratic senators — Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) — sent a letter to Ukranian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko expressing their “great concern about reports” that his office had taken steps to inhibit former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference.

Must read by Oregon Muse at Ace's, The Morning Rant on double standards.

"I'm tired of hearing news that the IG's office, or the DOJ, or some other federal agency, has determined that James Comey or John Brennan or other Obama administration officials are lying, or broke this or that law, or lied to some court or federal agency, and this is treated like some sort of bombshell. And then that's the last you hear about it.

"What would be a bombshell would be seeing James Comey, or John Brennan, or James Clapper experiencing first-hand the FBI busting into their houses at 4 in the morning, getting arrested, frog-marched to the hoosegow, having to stand trial, and face jail time. As it stands now, for the first time in American History, Deep State actors have attempted a coup against a sitting president -- and are basically getting away with it.

And a bunch of articles on the "new" Democrat impeachment push.

How The House Plans To Use Its ‘Inquiry’ To Instigate Impeachment

Who is responsible for the impeachment circus?

Politico Publishes Article Titled, ‘Just Another Day In F***nutsville’ Before Changing | The Daily Wire

Trump Whistle-Blower Goes Where Mueller Never Could

NYT now posting ... "Star Wars" memes about impeachment

"Very few hearings, if any": Dems hoping to rush through impeachment before Thanksgiving

Subpoenas mark first concrete steps for Trump impeachment

Adam Schiff: Trump impeachment hearings may start next week

Democrats have a long list of possible targets for Trump impeachment inquiry

Amodei on Trump impeachment inquiry: ‘Let’s put it through the process and see what happens’

Geraldo Rivera: "This Poor President," His Whole Tenure In Office Defined By "Snitches And Rats And Backstabbers" RealClearPolitics

Impeach Trump? An America filled with anger and animosity digs in

Matt Drudge played a major role in the Clinton impeachment - now he's back for another round - SFGate

Tulsi Gabbard: On second thought, we need an impeachment inquiry into Trump's Ukraine conduct Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn't concerned about Moscow's interference in U.S. election - NewsTimes

McConnell: We have no choice but to hold a trial in the Senate if the House impeaches Trump

And just plain random stuff:

Pelosi: Attorney General Barr has "gone rogue" - Hot Air

Theo Spark: Cartoon Round Up....

DOJ Clarifies Their Position on Declassification – “Delegated Authority”… | The Last Refuge

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.

Rule 5 Saturday - Carnival Row Cuties

After we got back from Alaska, we were desperate to close "the show hole", and one night I tried Amazon Prime's recent offering Carnival Row,

an American neo-noir fantasy web television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 30, 2019. The series stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne. In July 2019, it was announced that Amazon had renewed Carnival Row for a second season.

Carnival Row follows "mythical creatures who have fled their war-torn homeland and gathered in the city as tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population." At the center of the drama is the investigation into a string of unsolved murders, madness of power, unresolved love, and social adjustments eating away at whatever uneasy peace exists.

It turns out Carnival Row offers a wealth of Rule 5 opportunities:

Cara Delevigne

Cara Delevigne, a previous Rule 5 nominee (Rule 5 Saturday - As If Africa Doesn't Have Enough Problems Already) plays a "pix", presumably from pixie, but not the pixies of light-hearted fantasy:

Cara Delevingne as Vignette Stonemoss, a fae and Philo's former lover, who believed him to be dead. She falls in with a group of fae ruffians, known as the Black Raven, while dealing with her complicated feelings for Philo.

Not shockingly, Vignette finds sufficient excuses to fall in love with Bloom's Philo, and have a flying nude love scene (NSFW). I think Cara is perfectly well cast, if only because she isn't quite human.

Tamzin Merchant

It also features Tamzin Merchant as Imogen Spurnrose, an heiress who becomes involved with a fae to support her lifestyle. Tamzin is known for a number period costume pieces:

Tamzin Merchant (born 4 March 1987) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Georgiana Darcy in the film Pride & Prejudice (2005), as Catherine Howard on the Showtime series The Tudors (2009–2010) and as Anne Hale on the WGN America series Salem (2014–2017).

but perhaps best known for almost being selected to play Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.

Like Vignette, Imogen gets naked with her puckish boyfriend (NSFW).

Carla Crome

Also, Karla Crome as Tourmaline Larou, Vignette's friend and former lover, Poet Laureate of Tirnanoc, and a prostitute in Carnival Row.

Karla Patsy Crome (born 22 June 1988 in Edgware, London) is an English actress, best known for her work on Sky Atlantic's Hit & Miss, playing series regular Jess on E4's Misfits, and appearances in a number of other television series and films, mainly in the United Kingdom, including the award-winning Murder. In 2012, Screen International named Crome as one of the "UK Stars of Tomorrow"

Tourmaline also gets a brief sex scene with Philo (NSFW).

Maeve Dermody

Maeve Dermody plays Portia Fyfe, Philo's landlady whose romantic advances he frequently (but not always, NSFW) rebuffs.

Maeve Dermody (born 2 November 1985) is a UK-based Australian actress. After a film appearance at 5 years old, her adult acting career has included work in Australian and British television, theatre, short films, and movies. She characterises her own acting goal as "to be able to play different characters every time, without traces of myself".

Caroline Ford

Caroline Ford (born 13 May 1988) is an English actress, known for her roles as Sam in the Netflix series Free Rein and Sophie Longerbane in the Prime series Carnival Row.

Without setting loose too many spoilers, Sophie has a romping good time with her half-brother and political rival Jonah Breakspear, in a coach. A late comer in the cast this season, her role promises to become more important in the next.

Caroline has also been know to take off her clothes to go to work (NSFW):

And last, but not least, ably representing the older generation as evil, plays Indira Varma as Piety Breakspear, Jonah's manipulative mother, who seeks to enshrine her family's legacy.

Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British - Swiss actress. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and Game of Thrones (as Ellaria Sand). In September 2016, she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid, as DS Nina Suresh. She also stars in the new amazon prime series, Carnival Row (2019).

And yes, Kama Sutra is about pretty much what you would expect (NSFW).

Georgia managed to sleep through most of the episodes, but as a consumer of fantasy, I rather enjoyed it, although I found much of it shot too dark, not in theme, which was plenty dark enough, but visually. Maybe there's another TV mode I could have found. I look forward to next season.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Summertime Girls and FMJRA 2.0: Alien Turned Human ready for your digital amusement. Linked at The Right Way in Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.

Bay Foundation Proposes Liberal Oyster Harvesting

from my point of view: Bay foundation: DNR oyster limits 'halfhearted'

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation wants the state to take a different tack in regulating the wild oyster harvest to better preserve the population.

In advance of the oyster season’s Oct. 1 opening, the Department of Natural Resources issued this year’s harvest regulations with the expectation of a 26% reduction in the number of oysters caught.

The efforts include barring commercial oyster harvesting on Wednesdays. There also will be temporary closures of areas where oyster populations are low. Recreational harvesting will be allowed only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with a 50% reduction in catch limits.

On Sept. 16, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation stated that it does not believe this year’s reductions will result in a harvest decrease, nor will they protect the oyster population. The foundation stated that the DNR’s own analysis presented in April confirms reducing one harvest day a week “if implemented alone ... would have little conservation impact.”

“The other regulations — slightly reducing bushel limits and banning harvest above the Bay Bridge — are expected to reduce the overall harvest by 4% and 1%, respectively, according to DNR. These reductions offer little benefits for oyster conservation, especially considering market sized oysters above the Bay Bridge planted previously will remain available to harvest under the new regulations,” states a news release from the foundation.

Allison Colden, Maryland fisheries scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, issued a statement saying the DNR is obligated to use “the best available science to protect and conserve the state’s resources.”

“Their own analysis shows this proposal will have little, if any, impact to conserve oysters. These are halfhearted attempts that fail to address overfishing or the systemic and chronic decline of Maryland’s oyster population. We can’t keep putting off this problem,” Colden said in a statement.

According to the DNR, this year’s limits seek to put the oyster fishery on a path to rebound sustainability over the next decade.

“With an 8-10 year timeframe set as our goal, it is important that we begin implementation as soon as possible. If we combine sustainable fishing practices with other measures such as strategic investment, habitat restoration and sanctuaries, the result will be real, long-term solutions for the resource,” said Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio in a news release announcing this year’s limits.

As the DNR stated when releasing this season’s limits, the oyster population is affected by a number of issues, including disease, pollution and the demands of the seafood industry. Two years of heavy rains have changed salinity levels in parts of the Bay, impacting the oyster population.

DNR scientists reportedly used models, stock assessments and stakeholder input when preparing this year’s oyster regulations, with the information “scoped” in a public meeting with a number of fishery-related commissions.

Chuckie White, president of the Kent County Waterman’s Association, said last week that most of his fellow watermen are fine with this year’s limits. He said the price watermen are receiving for oysters helps offset the catch limits.
. . .
The foundation wants the DNR to set total allowable catch limits, taking population estimates and setting harvest numbers for specific areas. When watermen hit a limit according to their catch reports for a harvest area, it would then be closed for the season.

In addition, the foundation is seeking a better “abundance target” from the DNR than the department’s general goal of a “sustainable oyster fishery.”

But then, remember my preferred oyster restoration plan is to ban fishing on any "wild" oysters for 5-10 years to allow the population to recover itself. If it can't recover in that amount of time (given that each adult oyster releases millions of eggs), we can be reasonably certain that oysters are no longer capable of sustaining harvest-able populations in the Bay as it currently exists. In the meanwhile, free aquaculture for oysters from some of the regulations that limit it in the Bay, to encourage watermen to adopt it.

Russiagate, Ugh

We had early breakfast out this morning, and I don't have the time or patience to do right by the number of links I've collected over a mere 24 hours or so, but I have broken it down into general subject areas, if that helps. But I'll start off with one from Stacy McCain: Why the Ukrainian ‘Nothingburger’?

The release today of the so-called “whistleblower” complaint alleging wrongdoing by President Trump was a deluxe nothingburger with a side order of fantasy fries. Coming after the Trump administration released a transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, we read through the complaint and learn . . . nothing.

That is, we learn nothing tangible that implicates Trump in wrongdoing, since the source of the complaint is passing along hearsay. Reported to be a CIA official, the whistleblower actually had no direct knowledge of the Trump-Zelensky conversation, and former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz suggests that House Democrat staffers assisted in writing the complaint:

. . .
The provenance of this complaint is suspicious, and it appears that Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff knew key details of it in August.

(Many supporting tweets skipped over)

This has “Deep State” fingerprints all over — partisan bureaucrats acting to undermine the administration’s policy goals. If such activity is permitted, then no matter who is elected president, the same policies (i.e., those preferred by the bureaucracy) will continue. Elections become meaningless, Americans who want a change in policy are left with no effective recourse, and it becomes impossible to enact real reform.

If we can assume, then, that this CIA whistleblower was acting in concert with Schiff and/or other House Democrat, what was their purpose? Was this nothingburger of a “scandal” just another wild episode partisanship run amok? Or was there a strategic purpose to this Ukraine episode?