Zorro
Zorro's JournalD-Day Anniversary
Today I'll be streaming the audio recordings of the reported landings. They are quite revealing -- some of the earliest reports were from monitoring German broadcasts, who apparently were aware that a major event was taking place.
It's sobering to listen to these recordings and to consider the sacrifices made that day.
https://archive.org/details/Complete_Broadcast_Day_D-Day
https://archive.org/details/NBCCompleteBroadcastDDay
Sen. Marco Rubio blocks confirmation of judge he recommended
Source: Miami Herald
After his failed run for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio returned to Washington with a pledge to “finish strong” and complete his work in Congress.
But the Florida lawmaker, who is leaving Congress in early January, has conspicuously left undone one legislative item: clearing the way for the Senate confirmation hearing of Miami lawyer Mary Barzee Flores. She is a former state judge who was nominated by President Barack Obama to a vacancy on South Florida’s federal bench more than a year ago.
This past week, his office made it abundantly clear for the first time that Rubio — who along with Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson had recommended her for the judgeship — is blocking her nomination for reasons critics say boil down to “extreme political partisanship.”
Rubio’s office told the Miami Herald that he recently issued so-called blue slips triggering confirmation hearings for three Obama-nominated federal judges in Central and North Florida with Republican backgrounds. But the senator refuses to do the same for Barzee Flores, calling her the “wrong person” for the South Florida federal judgeship, without providing specific reasons about her legal credentials.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article81786967.html
I'll be glad when the junior Senator from Florida becomes an ex-Senator.
Fed up with high D.C. housing costs? $1 million will buy you an entire West Virginia ‘town.’
If the District’s pricey real estate market has you down, the General Services Administration has a deal for you.
Just three hours away, for $1 million — the price of a single-family home in some quadrants of the city — you can buy 80 homes on 122 acres, together with a gym, full-size basketball court, bowling alley, soccer field, and police and fire stations. Did we mention the 12 guest cabins on the opposite end of the property?
Sugar Grove Station, nestled between the Allegheny Mountains and the south fork of the Potomac River, is the ultimate get-away-from-it-all destination. Seven miles from George Washington National Forest, it sits in the midst of a 13,000-square-mile area of the United States known as the National Radio Quiet Zone. All radio communications in the area are restricted. Translated: No pesky cellphone calls from pollsters asking about Donald Trump.
And traffic? Practically nonexistent.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/fed-up-with-high-dc-housing-costs-1m-will-buy-you-an-entire-w-virginia-town/2016/05/21/dfd4241e-16ce-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html
Sounds like a bargain.
San Diego Union Tribune: Hillary Clinton deserves California Democrats’ votes
For some time now, it has appeared a foregone conclusion that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee. But on Tuesday, California voters still get to weigh in. Democrats and decline-to-state voters can choose among Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and lesser-known Democratic candidates. Sanders’ supporters believe that he can still win the nomination if superdelegates warm to him and if there is a successful court challenge to how the delegates have been apportioned in some states. A surprise win in California could give a jolt of momentum to this belief, so it’s time for this editorial board to weigh in on the Democratic primary.
There’s no question that Sanders has struck a nerve — especially with young voters — who believe the nation is rigged to favor the wealthy and that as a former New York senator with ties to Wall Street, Clinton is not a credible critic of these powerful interests. There’s no question that Sanders’ criticism of the U.S. throwing its weight around the world to get its way resonates with those who see the former secretary of state as another imperialist interventionist, albeit a less reckless one than George W. Bush. There’s also no question that Clinton moving to the left on these issues adds to a perception that she is less principled than Sanders.
But we find Sanders far less appealing than his admirers. What feels like idealism to some people looks like grandstanding on closer examination.
Consider his signature proposal to make tuition free at state-supported colleges, with the federal government picking up two-thirds of the cost and individual states one-third. State participation is not mandatory.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jun/02/clinton-deserves-california-democrats-votes/
Venezuela's political crisis is reaching a breaking point
Social unrest has simmered in Venezuela for the last few years, at times breaking out in widespread protests, and tensions have mounted this year, as an opposition-led legislature leads an effort to recall President Nicolas Maduro.
But a protest that broke out near the presidential palace in Caracas on Thursday indicates that the strife has reached a segment of the country critical to the government's popular support.
A group of Venezuelans waiting in line at a supermarket in Caracas made a run for Miraflores, the presidential palace, after they saw what appeared to be people affiliated with the government taking food they had been waiting for hours in the heat to buy.
According to The Associated Press, over 100 people ran down the city's main street, chanting "No more talk. We want food," before encountering riot police less than six blocks from Miraflores.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-political-crisis-reaching-breaking-155831349.html
Venezuela's Maduro takes legal action against congress
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is taking legal action against congress, accusing the body of meddling in the country's international relations.
Maduro on Friday asked the Supreme Court to take action against congressional leaders he accuses of trying to interfere with the executive branch's duties by getting involved in foreign affairs.
The move follows a call by the head of the Organization of American States for an emergency meeting of regional governments to evaluate Venezuela's respect for democracy. Congress had asked the OAS to take action against the Maduro administration.
Congress President Henry Ramos has defended that request to the OAS, and says politicians are allowed to speak their minds.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-takes-legal-action-against-congress-181229183.html
Manuro is reminding me of Little Fingers.
Maduro calls 'rebellion,' tells OAS to 'shove it'
Source: AFP
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for a "national rebellion" against alleged international threats Tuesday and told the head of the Organization of American States to "shove it" in an escalating war of words.
The verbal barrage came after OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro called for an urgent meeting on the Venezuelan crisis, warning democracy was at risk in the country.
In a 132-page letter to the president of the OAS Permanent Council, Almagro requested a meeting of the Washington-based organization's 34 member states from June 10 to 20.
"The institutional crisis in Venezuela demands immediate changes in the actions of the executive branch," Almagro wrote, adding that the socialist nation is "at risk of falling immediately into a situation of illegitimacy."
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/oas-hold-meeting-venezuela-crisis-172316183.html
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