New filings from the Special Counsel, responding to Manafort’s motion to dismiss his indictment due to Mueller overstepping his defined jurisdictions for the Trump Russian collusion probe includes a new heavily redacted document from Rosenstein dated last August confirming that Manafort is within his remit. This was an older memo, according to the date on the release, August 2, 2017, simply defining the extra latitude granted the Mueller probe to include the financial dealing which Manafort had with other parties, in this case with Ukrainian politicians (see image below). This was nothing new and was merely released to refute Manafort’s claims for which he demanded the charges brought against him be thrown out as the information was attained outside the legal guidelines of the probe. There will still be a hearing as every motion gets its moment in court, even the least intelligent. The catch and risk of filing these memos and challenges is that you run the risk of making the judge(s) to this case quite put out. As this will also be the judge, or panel of judges, who will be hearing the case, ruling on objections and in the end, possibly determining the outcome. What will be interesting is what the judge(s) have to say when they decide between the motion to throw out the charges due to their being beyond the limits of the probe and the expanding of the probe into any financial dealings by a member of the Trump team completely outside anything to do with the campaign or election. The assumption is the permission from the Rosenstein memo to widen the investigation to include, one could say, almost any perfidy or potentially criminal act whether as part of the campaign or completely unrelated will stand due to his position as Acting Attorney General. Trump and Manafort supporters will hold out hope that the judge(s) will consider the politicization of the FBI and Department of Justice most ranking members and decide that the memo simply was permitting latitude far beyond what a reasonable individual would consider appropriate and legal. The debate on social media might provide some new wrinkles but also potentially set more friends and family members in hot debate with pitched tempers flaring. Whatever, this decision could have more of an effect and ripples down the road than is first apparent, and that is where we will find our discussion.
Rod J. Rosenstein Acting Attorney General Memo
There is little to talk about should the decision come down in Manafort’s favor and the Mueller Probe is instructed to limit their investigations to the campaign, election and Russian collusion and tampering at the expressed requests of the Trump campaign. That would be a huge victory for the Trump administration and the people who worked on his campaign. We probably would not be able to imagine what some of the more important people have felt like as the Mueller Probe branched out investigating items further afield on several Trump campaign officials looking into items with little if any connection to the campaign. Anybody who had a skeleton hidden away in their basement closet believing it dead and buried never again to see the light of day, the expanding probe must have been a nightmare. What has been somewhat of a surprise has been that there have been so few indictments against Trump campaign people and nothing even coming anywhere near close to President Trump. The President is so far from being investigated for any wrongdoing that the latest leak from the Mueller Probe was that President Trump is not under consideration for anything criminal. As far as criminal probes in Washington go, the Mueller Probe has netted the fewest number of people on charges unless the potential implications of possible improper activity bringing charges against FBI officials and officials from the Justice Department are brought into consideration. Washington probes usually catch their targets and not net Washington high office holders from the Justice Department and FBI having committed the most serious offences.
On the other side of the coin, it could be decided that in order to keep Washington well within the law and to investigate all implications and leads to their furthest ramifications, the Mueller Probe may be freed up to go as far afield as they desire and look into anything which suits their fancy. That would, or at least should, send a chilling shiver down many Trump campaign officers’ spines. A ruling with an advisory that all activities which occurred during the campaign by officials or leading up to their consideration for a position in the campaign which may have been influential in their consideration is legally within the permitted scope for the probe would have unmatched ramifications. Such a ruling would lead to the Mueller Probe being granted an entirely new lease on life and the members of Mueller’s team chomping at the bit to go wide and far astray seeking any morsel of wrongdoing. About the only thing which might, at that point, be beyond inspection would be grade school principle’s behavior reports. Well, actually it would not quite be that bad but the span and scope of the investigations would then include looking into all of Trump’s business dealings, his Trump University, his work on beauty pageants, his reality television show, real estate dealings, the running of Mar a Lago resort and anything else Trump has done and all the legal wrangling performed by his lawyers. The anti-Trump army will be exhilarated and licking their lips at the promise that now they will have Trump as there is no way he will escape now. The truth is if the Mueller Probe team is permitted complete and unfettered latitude, then there is almost a guarantee that there will be some charges brought against President Trump, but they will be kept reserved for once he is out of office. There will not be anything which will give them their hoped for impeachment related charges. Even if somehow impeachment charges brought, and even if the House of Representatives impeach Trump sending him to the Senate for trial, he will not be found guilty, and that is all that matters in the end. That will simply send the already angered anti-Trumpers around the bend and into full-throated protestations as the only thing they have sought since election day fails before their eyes. Now all that is left is to wait for the decision by the Judge(s) on the request for charges on Manafort to be dropped due to their being beyond the scope of the Mueller probe.
Despite media silence for the most part, North Korea has been slowly deescalating the tensions ratcheting up internal communications on open networks. Countering the rhetoric has been some talk coming from several international think tanks. The background talk is about intentions of North Korea not to simply test nuclear weapons or to build a pretty showcase where they are displayed for all the world to quake in fear but to build an arsenal equal or superior to that of any in the world and declare their seat at the table as an equal. CIA Director Mike Pompeo has warned in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, “Kim Jong-Un will not rest with a single successful test. The logical next step would be to develop an arsenal of weapons that is not one, not a showpiece, not something to drive on a parade route.” He pointed out that Kim Jong-Un desired, “the capacity to deliver from multiple firings of these missiles simultaneously. He is trying to put in our mind the reality that he can deliver that pain to the USA.” Pompeo added that the goal for Kim is not simply to protect his autocratic regime. He pointed out, “We do believe that Kim Jong-Un, given these tool sets, would use them for things besides simply regime protection.” Pompeo pointed to Kim’s ultimate goal as being “reunification on the peninsula under his authority.”
North Korean Family of Rockets and Missiles with Ranges
North Korea recently launched a Hwasong-15 missile; a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which officials said can fly over 13,000 km (8,080 miles). Pyongyang said, following that launch, that it had test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the United States mainland within range, and also declared itself to be “a responsible nuclear power.” There have been words over the past months. One of the exchanges was amusing by itself when Kim Jong-Un stated on New Year’s Day to the North Korean media which was subsequently repeated by the world’s media almost like an amplifier repeating his statement of, “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat.” (See video below.) President Trump, refusing to be outdone and insisting on him having the final word in the exchange, Tweeted in reply, “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Not to be outdone Kim Jong-Un included during a New Year’s Day address that North Korea would spend 2018 mass producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles, and that the United States would never be able to start a war against them. The media said virtually nothing about Kim Jong-Un’s escalation in the rhetoric as such does not fit the ‘Trump is so childlike while the other rulers are mature adults’ formula.
There has been an increase in tensions in the Korean peninsula, with North Korea carrying out missile and nuclear tests, in defiance of international pressure and United Nations resolutions. But despite the one-upmanship between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un, there has been the appearance of offering of an olive branch from North Korea to South Korea. Mostly unnoticed was the poison ivy wrapped around the olive branch. When the North Korean dictator mentioned his willingness, read desire to, send a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games that the south is hosting in the city of Pyeongchang in February; South Korean President Moon Jae-in eagerly agreed almost as if he believed that Kim Jong-Un was offering him a great honor rather than begging for inclusion into a worldwide event. It has been fairly obvious since the election of South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he places finding some means of working to unite the peninsula. President Moon Jae-in favors a peaceful reunification between the two Koreas. Moon Jae-in promised when elected that his first visit would be to North Korea. President Moon Jae-in has a very left wing, liberal positions with the two main points being Human Rights and Peninsula Unification. The difficulty comes in because Kim Jong-Un is willing to unify the Peninsula with one small concession, that the North Korean government is granted the positions of power and Kim Jong-Un is granted complete power. Kim Jong-Un has absolutely no desire for sharing power with South Korea, he is a firm believer that Communism is the governing force in the world and has it in his head that he will be amongst those who will rule the world when the time comes.
North Korean Missile Classes and Ranges
Kim Jong-Un was raised believing he is a divine being just as were his father and grandfather before him. So the world has an unbalanced megalomaniacal leader who believes that he is the chosen one to lead the Korean Peninsula to be the world’s leader into a new age. Kim Jong-Un believes that he is amongst the chosen to lead the Communist World Governance into the future in the Communist version of a New World Order. This is a different New World Order from the one the capitalists are working to achieve as it is based on Marxism. We really do not desire either New World Order as either one places people who think they know exactly what everybody requires and how to run the world and they believe they have all the answers. We know we have the answers and that the answers are simply every person is granted the space in which to conduct their lives, the right to choose how to live, the respect to be given the freedom to choose their friends and everyone is permitted to lead their own life with all the possible freedoms and liberty possible. We see a world with some very basic principles, which grant everyone the right to their own choices in life and believe that the reason for governance is to protect the people from the interference of the governance. There is a code for life that has existed for a very long time, which permits each person the room for their privacy of thought and independence of actions. The way of life we follow has every person responsible for their own actions, their permitting each person to live their own way responsible for their actions and everyone living respectfully granting all their space and independence. Unfortunately, many today have no use for our way of life calling it ancient and outdated. Rabbi Hillel stated the rules for life while standing on one foot as explained in the famous account in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a) tells about a gentile who wanted to convert to Judaism. This happened not infrequently, and this individual stated that he would accept Judaism only if a rabbi would teach him the entire Torah while he, the prospective convert, stood on one foot. First, he went to Shammai, who, insulted by this ridiculous request, threw him out of the house. The man did not give up and went to Hillel. This gentle sage accepted the challenge, and said:
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this – go and study it!”
FYI, we are far from done with North Korea and Kim Jong-Un, as he will develop into another of those causing disruptions and making the world far more dangerous.
There is an easy view of the world where there is relative peace throughout the globe except for the distinct possibility that there could start some additional violence if the United States vile and despised President, Donald Trump, and his overly zealous Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, are permitted to continue to provoke the world in such manner as to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital City for the State of Israel. Everybody knows that Jerusalem is the Holy City of the Muslims replacing Constantinople for that role, which is interesting as it is claimed that Constantinople was an errant name for Istanbul, what that city has been named since it was incorporated into the recognized world. As a matter of fact, it is that same world map which denoted Jerusalem as a purely Muslim city with no real place in history before being conquered by the Arabian raiders somewhere around 636-7 when Jerusalem fell to the Arab siege. The world was being discovered back in those days as it was revealed to the enlightenment of Islam. Before Islam, there was nothing but chaos and confusion which changed as Islam tamed the world. This is real history according to UNESCO* and their New World History, a work in progress. This is the world according to the Quran and thus must become the sole reality of the world and UNESCO and the rest of the United Nations establishments are all in accordance with these efforts. Just so everybody understands, the position of third holiest city in all of Islam changes, as needs produce whatever city is to be targeted next. For the longest time, Constantinople was the third holiest city in all Islam until it was conquered. Before Constantinople, Alexandria, and before that Cairo were also third holiest cities in Islam. The first two are set in stone, in a large black box, in the southeastern corner is that stone, the stone in the Kaaba, that sets Mecca as the preeminent city in Islam followed my Medina where the Islamic armies were born. So, how does a city become the third holiest city in Islam? That is easy, simply be the city in question when discussing Islamic intentions for adding said city as Islamic and erasing all former mentions of the city which cannot be woven into the ever changing, set in stone story of the life and times of Muhammad. If one is talking about France in general, then Paris becomes the third holies city but if you are talking on invading France, then Marseilles becomes the third holiest city, as one requires its ports to land any force and keep them supplied.
The cornerstone of Islam, literally, as it sits embedded in the Kaaba in Mecca. It is initially described in Wikipedia as:
“The Black Stone (Arabic: ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, al-Ḥajaru al-Aswad, “Black Stone”) is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building located in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic which, according to Muslim tradition, dates back to the time of Adam and Eve.”
And here is a montage of the Black Stone, its placement, the Black Box or Kaaba, and the courtyard filled with Hajj worshipers.
The Mosque Holds the Black Box Holding the Black Stone Worshiped in Islam and by Previous Idolaters Worshiping their Moon Goddess
Both the Islamic worshipers today and throughout history, ever since Muhammad reportedly placed the sacred stone in its resting place, and the previous worshipers who owned the Black Box with its stone intact were worshiping their idolatry. The Kaaba existed as a shrine before being co-opted by the Muslims and repurposed as their holy site, a practice they continue to this day. Proof of this practice becomes obvious when one observes the holy men throughout history whom it is claimed were Muslims. These include but are not limited to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Noah, King David, King Solomon, Adam (and Eve), and numerous other people from Jewish and Christian history. Any individual from the Bible who can be co-opted into the story of Islam is thus stolen and there is no list of people co-opted in this manner than to reveal their presumed roles in Islam. Presumably, in the Islamic end-times, there will be chaos and the Muslims will have just finished removing every Jew from planet Earth when Gabriel arrives and announces that the time for the messiah has almost arrived. The war Islam is fighting will be the final battle where all the remainder of the world will fall to them and evils such as Jews have been eradicated. Once Gabriel has blown his horn, this will bring the purifier to Earth, and that will be Jesus who will assist Mohammad once he has brought him whole from Heaven. Mohammad holds a host of positions in Islam. He is its founder and the person who dictated the entirety of the Quranic verses, was the first Caliph leading them to their initial victories, and will return as the predicted savior of mankind in the end-times. Islam is close to being a solo act once all the stories are told. Islam treats city ranking as a relative rank depending on where on the target list it lies. If any city is a high priority city and one mentions their area, then it becomes required to name that main objective as the third holiest city in Islam. With the mention Israel, it becomes Jerusalem, but when speaking of Italy, it is Rome while France, it becomes Paris and England, it becomes London. This practice has been very successful, as all too often people will sacrifice the named third holiest city in Islam making the error of believing that the city was all Islam desired. They will then reveal their end game where they pressure existing religions to surrender their people for Islam. Total conversion becomes the true and real end as the survivors are captured in the end. There are stages non-Muslims will be forced to endure once they are captured by Islam. Eventually the captive is approached and they are requested to choose to become a follower of Islam and surrendered to Allah. Should they not get the hint they will soon be given a second opportunity to get the answer correct as they are then given the choice, convert or die.
Currently there are twenty-some wars or conflicts which are hot and taking lives of soldiers and civilians alike. Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Libya and the civil war between the Sudan and South Sudan and yet the last major considerations, first in the Security Council where fourteen Countries voted in favor and only the United States opposed and utilized her Veto powers to end the consideration except this was now taken to the next problem point, the General Assembly where there is no veto power for any state and the passage only gives the measure suggestive powers and no teeth for enforcement. The vote was a close one, almost a cliffhanger having us on the edge of our seats to see if it would pass, and the vote came back with 128-9 in favor and with 35 abstentions. This is far from a surprising result as it almost mirrors the General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood made in the General Assembly each time that vote has been held. Some things are simply predictable. These last two votes, the Security Council and the General Assembly, were a triple whammy which explains the perfect score of 14 to 1, the one having absolute veto power, in the Security Council and the 128 to 9 with 35 abstentions in the General Assembly, as how often does one get to defame Israel, contradict the United States and denounce a conservative leader of a democratically governed nation. Each one by itself is enough to make the average dictator’s dream of feeling a little taller having done the dastardly deal for the day, but putting Israel in its place, telling off an American President and doing a dump on Trump is the cherry atop the ice cream Sunday with whipped cream and nuts.
The almost amusing part of this whole fiasco is that it was so much action accomplishing so little and President Trump used minimal action with tremendous ramifications. Think about it, which is going to have a greater influence on the future, the United Nations doubling down on forbidding President Trump and the United States from moving their embassy to Jerusalem or the United States actually moving the embassy to Jerusalem. That is, of course, providing President Trump can even get the State Department to ever get around to actually moving the embassy. Secretary of State Tillerson stated in Paris (see below) and quoted by CNN that the embassy will not be moved this year or probably even next year, probably meaning not in 2018 or 9 and possibly not in 2020 either. If we know the State Department, they will try to find some planning delays such that President Trump will be really fortunate to get the embassy moved by the end of his first term, even by the end of his second term, should he be reelected. We trust the State Department and its anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, and some might include anti-Semitic, attitude and specific hatred and distress concerning Israel that they will find some way of outlasting President Trump so that the next President can put the Jerusalem embassy back on permanent six-month waiver of the Congressional order for relocation. The State Department, like much of the Washington self-proclaimed elites, also known as the swamp, see President Trump as a temporary, as well as threateningly dangerous, interruption to their business as usual which will soon be gone and all they have to do to minimize his interruption of their smooth running of the world, or at least the Washington bureaucracy. That is, providing President Trump does not manage to drain the swamp, the one promise the President made which will probably be bigger than his ego.
What the United Nations hoped to accomplish was to force a confrontation and somehow get around any United States veto thus making President Trump impotent when it comes to foreign policy, well, at least concerning Israel and moving the embassy to Jerusalem. The United Nations has been making a concerted effort to separate Israel from Jerusalem as well as the entirety of her Biblical history. The United Nations believes that they can reverse the reality contained in their own charter under Article 80 which validates the Mandate System in its entirety. They actually believe they can vote Israel out of existence without any need for tanks, aircraft, and men in arms simply by voting it away. That, in and of itself, is sufficient and honest enough provocation that Israel would be justified in cancelling her membership with that organization. The vast majority of nations are not going to suddenly take the side of Israel no matter how much Israel does or how many acts of generosity, kindness and saving graces rescuing people, granting people a new life with discoveries in medicine, emergency services after natural disasters and other generally beneficent acts which Israel can perform that would ever result in a favorable General Assembly vote or favorable responses from UNESCO or other United Nations organizations. The world desires turning Israel into the twenty-second Arab state and undoing their decision to establish Israel in the first place. Truthfully, once the British announced a date on which they would be leaving the remaining 22% of the British Mandate which remained after the formation of TransJordan (now Jordan) as the home for the Palestinian Arabs, the Zionist Congress was going to declare Israel on the next day. The British announced May 14, 1948 and Israel was declared on May 15, 1948 and immediately invaded by several Arab armies with the intention of destroying the nascent state of Israel and the genocidal eradication of her Jewish population.
Well, the United Nations and their delusions of grandeur thinking that they can supercede the decision of the President of the United States is simply absurd. There would be no United Nations without United States funding. One can only wonder what would happen if the United States decided that having an international institute as corrupted as the United Nations operating against the interests of the American people and attempting to counter their elected government and its dealings with an allied government from within its borders operating on American taxpayer dollars was no longer tolerable. One can only imagine how much swamp clearing would be accomplished freeing up the prime real estate along the East River in Manhattan in New York City and sending the United Nations packing to say Paris or Geneva or Brussels or Abu Dhabi or whatever nation and city would accept the United Nations within their borders. After the way it has treated its current host, the United States, why would any government permit them to operate within their border, but then there are those for whom the United Nations is an ally and close confidant if not a disreputable ally ready to do whatever dastardly deed is required. The United States should spread the wealth and honor of having the United Nations newest and greatest headquarters in their nation for a change. Whatever comes next, if President Trump really desires draining swamps, the United Nations is one on an international scale which could really use draining. As for the State Department, to drain that swamp one would need to fire everybody and place every name on a list as ineligible to work at the State Department ever again and start from scratch using a different placement company, the present one either works for the enemy or are completely incompetent.
Beyond the Cusp
* UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Beyond the Cusp 