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newstechreviews · 5 years ago

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In a slightly different world, Fargo season 4 might never have happened. After the FX anthology drama ended its third season, creator Noah Hawley admitted that he didn’t have an idea for a follow-up. And, he figured, “the only reason to do another Fargo is if the creative is there.” So, if there was to be a sequel, Hawley estimated it would take three years. That was in June 2017.

Thirty-nine months later (it would have been 34 had COVID not temporarily halted production), the show has reemerged with a story whose timeliness is obvious. It marks a significant departure from the earliest seasons of Fargo, which pitted good and evil archetypes against each other in arch, violent crime capers that ultimately erred on the side of optimism. Season 3 flirted with topicality, from an opening scene that hinged on Soviet kompromat to a hauntingly inconclusive final showdown between the latest iterations of pure good—represented by Carrie Coon’s embattled police chief Gloria Burgle—and primordial evil (David Thewlis’ terrifying V.M. Varga). Five months into Donald Trump’s presidency, that ending simultaneously reflected many Americans’ fears for the future and suggested that the battle for the human soul would be an eternal one. You can imagine why Hawley might have considered it a hard act to follow.

Instead of trying to top the high-flown allegory of its predecessor, the fascinating but uneven new episodes tackle conflicts of a more earthly nature: race, structural inequality, American identity. To that end, Fargo season 4 ventures farther south and deeper into history than it has gone before, to Kansas City, Mo. in 1950. For half a century, ethnic gangs have battled over the midsize metropolis. The Irish took out the Jews. The Italians took out the Irish. Finally, just a few years after a brutal World War in which fascist Italy numbered among the United States’ enemies, the Great Migration has brought the descendants of slaves north to this Midwestern city whose complicity in American racism dates back to the Missouri Compromise.

This upstart syndicate is led by one Loy Cannon (Chris Rock in a rare dramatic role), a brilliant, self-possessed power broker who doesn’t relish violence but is determined to exact reparations from this country, on behalf of his beloved family, by any means necessary. Loy’s deputy and closest friend is a learned older man by the name of Doctor Senator (the great Glynn Turman, all quiet dignity). In an early episode, the two men walk into a bank to pitch its white owner on an idea they’ve been testing out through less-than-legal means in the Black community: credit cards. (“Every average Joe wants one thing: to seem rich,” Loy explains to the banker.) He turns them down, of course, convinced that his clientele would have no interest in purchasing things they couldn’t afford. We’re left wondering how the ensuing saga might’ve been different if Loy and Doctor Senator had been allowed to channel their considerable intelligence into a legit business.

Elizabeth Morris/FXSalvatore Esposito and Jason Schwartzman in ‘Fargo’

The Italians, meanwhile, are starting to enjoy the rewards of their newfound whiteness—a largely invisible transformation marked in The Godfather by Michael Corleone’s relationship with naive WASP Kay Adams. (In keeping with previous seasons’ allusive style, Fargo often playfully evokes Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy.) In the wake of their capo father Donatello’s (Tommaso Ragno) death, two brothers battle for control of the Fadda clan—a crime family that has Italian-accented patriarchalism written into its very name. Crafty, spoiled, crypto-corporate Josto (Jason Schwartzman, doing a scrappier, cannier take on his Louis XVI character in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette) has long been Donatello’s right hand. But his younger brother Gaetano (Salvatore Esposito, imported from Sky Italia’s acclaimed organized-crime drama Gomorrah), a brawny brute who came up in Sardinia busting heads for Mussolini, stands between Josto and the consolidation of power.

Generations-old tradition dictates that if two syndicates are to share turf in Kansas City, their leaders must raise each other’s sons. These exchanges are supposed to be a sort of insurance policy against betrayal; never mind that they never work out as planned. So Loy very reluctantly trades his scion Satchel (Rodney Jones) for Donatello’s youngest (Jameson Braccioforte). The boy finds a protector in the Faddas’ solemn older ward, Patrick “The Rabbi” Milligan (Ben Whishaw, humane as always), who double-crossed his own Irish family in an earlier transaction.

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny (E’myri Crutchfield from History’s 2016 Roots remake) is the show’s other innocent youth, a bright and insightful Black teenager whose parents (Anji White and indie rocker Andrew Bird) own the poignantly named King of Tears funeral home. Every Fargo season needs a personification of goodness, and in this one it’s Ethelrida. Not that her virtuousness makes her life any easier. In a voiceover montage that opens the season premiere, she tells us that she learned early on that, as far as white authority figures were concerned, “the only thing worse than a disreputable Negro was an upstanding one.” Her inscrutable foil is Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley), a white nurse neighbor whose patients tend to die before they can experience too much pain. Oraetta’s quaint Minnesota accent (another Fargo staple) belies the racist views she politely but unapologetically espouses; she seems fixated on making Ethelrida her maid.

Elizabeth Morris/FXE’myri Crutchfield in ‘Fargo’

It’s fitting that Oraetta is both the most tangible link to Fargo’s home turf and the first character who ties together the mobster’s story with that of the Smutny family. As her loaded last name suggests, she seems to embody a particular form of evil that has been a constant in American life since the colonial period: white supremacy. Oraetta harms, kills and plunders with minimal consequences. No wonder she has eyes for Josto, the first Fadda who knows how to wield his white identity, building alliances with government and law enforcement that would be impossible for the Cannon syndicate. (Josto’s version of Kay Adams is the homely daughter of a politician.) “I can take all the money and pussy I want and still run for President,” he boasts at one point.

The reference to our current President’s briefly scandalous Access Hollywood tape is so flagrant as to elicit an involuntary groan. It’s lines like this that expose the limitations of Hawley’s attempt to fuse the topical and the elemental. Fargo still creates an absorbing, cinematic viewing experience, with painterly framing, pointedly deployed split-screen and arcane yet evocative needle drops. A not-at-all-gratuitous black-and-white episode could almost stand on its own as a movie. And, as in past seasons, the show gives us many remarkable performances: Rock may seem an odd pick for a gangster role, but the same shrewdness and indignation that fuel his stand-up persona also simmer beneath Loy’s measured surface. The pain Whishaw’s character carries around in his body goes far beyond what can be conveyed in dialogue. Bird broke my heart as a meek, loving dad. But in his eagerness to make a legible, potent political statement, Hawley struggles to find the right tone and keep the season’s many intersecting themes straight.

Elizabeth Morris/FXJessie Buckley in ‘Fargo’

The show is simply trying to do too much within a limited framework. Fargo wouldn’t be Fargo without some eccentric law enforcement, so an already-huge cast expands to fit a crooked local detective with OCD (Jack Huston) and Timothy Olyphant—whose roles on Deadwood and Justified made him prestige TV’s quintessential cop—as a smarmy, Mormon U.S. Mashal who snacks on carefully wrapped bundles of carrot sticks. Yet Hawley also realized that he needed to break from previous seasons that, like the Coens’ film, cast a white police officer as the avatar of goodness; hence Ethelrida, whose investigation into her city’s criminal underworld takes the form of a school assignment, and whose soul is stained by neither corruption nor white privilege. She’s a wonderful character, but her and Oraetta’s story line can feel peripheral to the gang war.

With such a crowded plot, it’s no wonder the show can’t maintain a consistent tone. Each season of Fargo creates a hermetically sealed moral universe, doling out divine and definitive justice to each character according to their position on the spectrum spanning from good to evil. In the past, its archness has served as a self-aware counterbalance to the sanctimony inherent in such a project. And there’s still plenty of irreverence in season 4, particularly when it comes to Hawley’s depiction of the Faddas, Oraetta and the other white characters. But there’s nothing funny about the oppression and discrimination that Loy, Doctor Senator and Ethelrida face. Each of their fates is shaped at least as much by a society that is hostile to people who look like them as it is by the moral choices they make as individuals. So the scripts give them the dignity they deserve at the expense of inflicting earnestness—along with frequent reminders, such as Schwartzman’s Trump line, that the story’s themes remain relevant today—on a format that isn’t built for it. Realistic characters and absurd ones awkwardly mingle.

Hawley’s attempt to correct his show’s political blind spots is laudable, and some pieces of the allegory work well; the ritual of ethnic gangs trying—and failing—to work together by raising each other’s sons makes an inspired metaphor for America’s fragile social contract. Even so, Fargo seems fundamentally ill-equipped to address systemic inequality. Though that failing may well render future seasons similarly flawed, if not impossible, in our current political climate, it doesn’t negate the pleasures or insights of what remains one of TV’s most ambitious shows. Like this nation, the new season is a beautiful and ugly, inspiring and infuriating, a tragic and sometimes darkly hilarious mess. As frustrating as it often was to watch, I couldn’t look away.

#Blogger

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itunesbooks · 6 years ago

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In the Heart of the Sea - Nathaniel Philbrick

In the Heart of the Sea The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Nathaniel Philbrick Genre: History Price: $8.99 Publish Date: May 8, 2000 Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Seller: PENGUIN GROUP USA, INC. From the author of Mayflower, Valiant Ambition , and In the Hurricane's Eye-- t he riveting bestseller tells the story of the true events that inspired Melville's Moby-Dick . Winner of the National Book Award, Nathaniel Philbrick's book is a fantastic saga of survival and adventure, steeped in the lore of whaling, with deep resonance in American literature and history. In 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the desperate crew to drift for more than ninety days in three tiny boats. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents and vivid details about the Nantucket whaling tradition to reveal the chilling facts of this infamous maritime disaster. In the Heart of the Sea , recently adapted into a major feature film starring Chris Hemsworth, is a book for the ages. http://bit.ly/2ExIkrd

#History

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its-palam-blog · 6 years ago

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TOP 10 - LES PLUS BEAUX HOMMES DU MONDE DE TOUS LES TEMPS

Être beau n'est pas seulement d'avoir un beau visage, mais un homme a besoin d'être complet dans le corps, l'apparence et l'appel. Vous trouverez ci-dessous une compilation des plus beaux hommes du monde, dont certains sont entrés dans l'histoire grâce à leur look. Voici le top 10 proposé par l'équipe de Palam ! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Robert Pattinson

Né en 1986, cet acteur, producteur, mannequin et musicien de 30 ans est un adolescent qui lui a valu des critiques. Quoi qu'en disent les critiques, nous savons que la sensation de Twilight a eu son rôle dans la saga du film parce qu'il avait le "Edward" en lui. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm C'est notre gars de la célèbre série dramatique américaine AMC où il incarne Don Draper. Populaire pour ses talents de comédien et de producteur, nous aimons l'homme pour son look raffiné et mature.

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Richard Gere

Richard Gere Cet homme n'est pas seulement un acteur phénoménal, c'est aussi l'un des plus beaux hommes qui soient. Humanitaire et acteur Richard Gere est né le 31 août 1949 à Philadelphie. Il était le deuxième des cinq enfants de Doris Ann (Tiffany), une femme au foyer, et Homer George Gere, un vendeur d’assurances, tous deux descendants de Mayflower. Richard a commencé très tôt comme musicien, jouant d'un certain nombre d'instruments au lycée et écrivant de la musique pour des productions de lycée. Il a obtenu son diplôme de North Syracuse Central High School en 1967 et une bourse de gymnastique à l'Université du Massachusetts à Amherst, où il s'est spécialisé en philosophie. Il quitta le collège après deux ans de carrière en tant qu'acteur et prit un rôle principal dans la production londonienne de la comédie musicale rock "Grease" en 1973. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix Je me suis toujours demandé comment la marque sur sa lèvre supérieure est apparue parce que nous trouvons cela terriblement attirant et attirant à son sujet. Joaquin Phoenix est ce garçon mystérieux et tranquille dont ils auraient tous parlé au lycée. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Prince William

Prince William William est né le 21 juin 1982 au Royaume-Uni. Il est considéré comme le plus bel homme d'Europe. Avec sa taille parfaite et son allure élégante, il a une vraie personnalité de prince. Il s'est marié avec Catherine Middleton en avril 2011.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp Johnny Depp est un homme à femmes ultime qui séduit les femmes de tous âges en raison de son charme et de son apparence intemporelle. Il est populaire pour de nombreux rôles populaires dans lesquels il a été. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Brad Pitt

TOP 10 LES PLUS BEAUX HOMMES DU MONDE DE TOUS LES TEMPS Né le 18 décembre 1963 aux États-Unis, Brad Pitt est un acteur hollywoodien très connu qui a fait beaucoup de films à succès. Avec son jeu d'acteur exceptionnel, il a remporté plusieurs prix. Bien qu'il soit relativement âgé, il est toujours très beau. Il s'est marié en l'an 2000 avec Jennifer Aniston et a divorcé après cinq ans. Puis il a épousé la plus belle femme Angelina Jolie en 2014 et a divorcé en 2016.

Noah Mills

Noah Mills Un autre beau mec avec des barbes Noah Mills, un mannequin et acteur canadien bien connu, est né le 26 avril 1983. En raison de sa belle allure et de sa personnalité élevée, il s'est taillé une place parmi les plus beaux hommes du monde. Ses yeux de couleur noisette ajoutent plus d'attraction dans sa personnalité.

Salman Khan

Salman Khan L'homme le plus beau préféré de l'Inde - Salman Khan vient à la 7ème place dans le classement des 10 hommes les plus beaux de l'Inde. Né le 27 décembre 1965 en Inde, Khan est un très bon acteur et producteur. Il a reçu plusieurs prix pour son jeu exceptionnel.

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan - le plus beau visage du monde. L'engouement de nombreuses filles indiennes - Hrithik Roshan est le plus célèbre de Bollywood. Né le 10 janvier 1974 en Inde, il est le plus célèbre acteur et beau danseur. Roshan mérite d'être dans le top dix des listes en raison de sa très belle apparence, sa personnalité haute et charmante. Aussi beaucoup de filles sont devenues folles de ce beau mec. TOP 10 LES PLUS BEAUX HOMMES DU MONDE DE TOUS LES TEMPS PRÉSENTÉ PAR PALAM ! Vous avez aimé cet article ? Partagez et commentez ! !function(w,d,a){if(!w){var s=d.createElement('script'), x=d.getElementsByTagName('script');s.type='text/javascript'; s.async=!0;s.src ='//widgets.ad.style/native.js';x.parentNode .insertBefore(s,x);}w=w||function(){(w.q=w.q||) .push(arguments)};}(window, document, '_as'); _as('create',{wi:2021}); Read the full article

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nickyschneiderus · 7 years ago

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Is Stormy Daniels’ lawyer is poised to drop another bombshell?

Micheal Avenatti, the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, dropped a new series of cryptic tweets this weekend that have sleuths online furiously speculating about what new twist may come in the saga with President Donald Trump.

Warning ignored. So here it goes. December 12, 2016 – Trump Tower. Details to follow… pic.twitter.com/aEuuhRHB4a

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 13, 2018

And to be clear – by “warning ignored” I am referring to the refusal of various parties to come clean and the failure of various parties and news outlets to stop with the personal attacks on our side. Keep pushing us. #consequences #basta

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 13, 2018

Why was Ahmed Al-Rumaihi meeting with Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn in December 2016 and why did Mr. Al-Rumaihi later brag about bribing administration officials according to a sworn declaration filed in court?

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 13, 2018

Trump Tower 12-12-16 Go to 7:42:30 and watch for 30 seconds (entrance with Mr. Cohen). And then proceed to 9:08:15 and watch for 35 seconds (exit). #Bastahttps://t.co/4qltMgNLxd

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 13, 2018

According to Law and Crime, Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, who Avenatti references, is a former diplomat from the Qatari government who is currently involved in a lawsuit with Ice Cube and another person over funding the BIG3 basketball league.

In those filing, Jeff Kwatinetz, Ice Cube’s partner, claimed that Al-Rumaihi paid money to Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI, and that Al-Rumaihi tried to arrange a meeting with Steve Bannon, promising money for influence.

“Al-Rumaihi laughed and then stated to me that I shouldn’t be naive, that so many Washington politicians take our money, and stated ‘do you think Flynn turned down our money?’” he said.

The Bannon bribery plot was reported on by the Daily Mail last week. Some thought Avenatti was merely tooting his own horn, given his penchant for seeking publicity.

Avenatti's big reveal is an already public/uncorroborated claim by Ice Cube's business partner Jeff Kwatinetz, who is currently suing a group of Qatari investors (including Al-Rumaihi) for $1.2 billion https://t.co/EkcwBjh4tN

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 13, 2018

So what could Avenatti be speculating about? Twitter certainly had its own ideas, predominately focused on the privatization of a state-owned Russian oil company.

THREAD/Timeline on the significance of #Qatar as alleged intermediary between Russia and Trump through Dec'16 Rosneft sale (from #SteeleDossier, revelations about Qatar-backed $184M loan to Kushner, and now from @MichaelAvenatti). 1/ https://t.co/VpNTp1ylxl

— Jed Shugerman (@jedshug) May 14, 2018

If @MichaelAvenatti can prove that Trump got a cut of the Rosneft deal, then it's case closed on conspiracy with Russia. https://t.co/mBvIbN0R8l

— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) May 13, 2018

BOOM

THREAD: @MichaelAvenatti unloads on Team

Traitor and outs them for meeting with Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, who represents #Qatar

Avenatti says that Al-Rumaihi bragged that he had BRIBED Trump Administration officials.

1/#Bribery#Corruption https://t.co/69DM5Iwmc9

— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) May 13, 2018

Al-Rumaihi works for a branch of the Qatar Investment Authority, which purchased a stake in Rosneft FIVE DAYS prior to this meeting in Trump Tower. https://t.co/Pl55oVGKV7

— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) May 13, 2018

The Rosneft deal is a long-standing supposed smoking gun in the collusion speculation by Trump-Russia truthers. In the deal, the Trump Organization somehow helped broker a massive sale of a Russian oil company to Qatar.

From the highly speculative The Stern Facts blog:

Donald Trump and Russia conducted the transaction in three phases; Phase 1 began in early 2016 with a meeting of the minds at The Mayflower Hotel to start the deal and a due diligence period, Phase 2 began just before the Republican National Convention and continued through Election Day, and Phase 3 happened after Trump’s shocking win and concluding just days before BuzzFeed published the bombshell dossier describing the deal.

The end result allowed Russia to trade stolen emails to help to Donald Trump’s election campaign (as well as that of many Republican Congressmen), in exchange for help circumventing American sanctions to transact the sale of Rosneft, which Putin desperately needed to finance his budget deficit.

Why the Trump Organization would need to be a middleman in that deal is never really explained in all the speculation, except for that Qatar’s state-run airlines kept an office in Trump Tower.

While this is entirely speculative, Avenatti has had a brief history on delivering on his messages on Twitter, once promising information on secret payments made to Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, which he then produced, news that then roiled Washington.

And if you’re wondering what this somehow has to do with news that broke in January about Trump’s payment to Daniels well… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/stormy-daniels-lawyer-rosneft-sale/

#Ricky Schneiderus Curation

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whittlebaggett8 · 6 years ago

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The Mueller report has been submitted — here are all the major players caught up in the Russia-Trump saga, Defence Online

Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report into his nearly two-year-long investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia on Friday.

Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election and possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia led to the indictments of 34 people, including eight Americans affiliated with the Trump campaign or administration, and three Russian companies.

Here are some of the major players in the Mueller probe.

Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report into his nearly two-year-long investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election and the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia to Attorney General William Barr on March 22.

Mueller’s investigation led to the indictments of 34 people and three Russian companies. At least one person was convicted in court. Five individuals caught up in the investigation became cooperating witnesses – three of whom are from the Trump campaign.

The Mueller probe ensnared some of the most important people in President Donald Trump’s orbit, including his campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his longtime friend and occasional adviser Roger Stone, and his former personal lawyer and “fixer,” Michael Cohen.

Here are some of the major players in the Mueller probe:

Donald Trump Jr.

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Donald Trump speaks with his son Donald Trump Jr. during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, on January 11, 2017.

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REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, played a crucial role in the Russia saga at several key points in the campaign.

On May 21, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian senator from Putin’s party and a current senior official at Russia’s central bank told Bloomberg he had dinner with Trump Jr., at the annual convention for the National Rifle Association.

In early June 2016, Donald Jr. was then contacted by Rob Goldstone, a music publicist, on behalf of one of his clients, the Russian pop artist Emin Agalarov, whose father is a prominent real-estate developer with ties to Putin.

Goldstone said Agalarov could provide “very high level and sensitive information” that would “incriminate Hillary” and was a part in “Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

On June 7, Trump promised “a major speech about Hillary Clinton’s crimes.” Two days later on June 9, Trump Jr., along with Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a top Russian lawyer and lobbyist.

Shortly before the election, Wikileaks contacted Trump Jr. several times to request for him and his father to tweet out links to Wikileaks stories about Hillary Clinton and other topics, which they did.

Jared Kushner

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Jared Kushner.

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Jared Kushner, a current top White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, was involved in some of the crucial points of the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.

Kushner was present for the 2016 Trump tower meeting. Additionally, during the presidential transition period, he engaged Russia’s ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak in an effort to create a secure communications backchannel between the Trump transition and the Kremlin.

Kushner reportedly proposed using Russian diplomatic facilities and resources to create the backchannel, which is not known to have actually materialized. Regardless, the meeting, which was also reportedly attended by Gen. Michael Flynn, has been probed by congressional investigators and the Mueller probe.

Roger Stone

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally and occasional campaign adviser, became a central figure in the Mueller probe over his extended contacts with Russian hacker Guccifer 2.0, and WikiLeaks, the self-styled transparency group accused of disseminating hacked emails to interfere in the 2016 election.

Stone was arrested and charged with one count of obstruction of justice, five counts of making false statements to Congress, and one count of witness-tampering in January and plans to plead not guilty.

Stone sent out several tweets in the summer of 2016 that raised questions about whether he had prior knowledge about WikiLeaks’ plans to publish the hacked emails.

After The Washington Post reported that the Democratic National Committee was hacked by Russian operatives, Stone responded by writing in Breitbart in July 2016 claiming that Guccifer, “a lone hacker,” and not the Russian government carried out the hacking.

In the weeks that followed, Stone and Guccifer exchanged several messages on Twitter in which Guccifer expressed admiration for Stone and offered to assist the Trump campaign.

US intelligence officials had long suspected that Guccifer was either a real person linked to Russian intelligence or a fake persona they had created. In March 2018, that suspicion was confirmed when Guccifer accidentally revealed himself to be Russian security officer.

In July 2018, the Russian intelligence officers who had created the Guccifer profile were charged by the special counsel for conspiracy against the United States, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in relation to the hacks of the DNC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Clinton campaign.

Jeff Sessions

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions

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Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Jeff Sessions, Trump’s former attorney general, was on the receiving end of heavy criticism and ire from Trump and his allies for recusing himself from overseeing the Mueller probe due to his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

First, Sessions and Jared Kushner met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a reception before Trump gave a speech on foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel.

In the speech, which was edited by George Papadopoulos, Trump vowed to improve relations with Russia by collaborating on “shared interests.”

Ambassador Kislyak said he and Sessions discussed policy matters related to Russia, which Sessions denied. US intelligence officials later described them as having had a “substantive conversation.”

Sessions, who was a US senator from Alabama at the time, also met with Kislyak in his Senate office in September, a meeting which was not disclosed until March 2017, after his confirmation hearing to the position of attorney general.

Sessions said he didn’t “recall any specific political discussions,” claiming he and his staff “listened to the ambassador and what his concerns might be,” and discussed issues such as terrorism, travel to Russia, and Ukraine.

Michael Flynn

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Michael Flynn.

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Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Gen. Michael Flynn, who briefly served as a national security adviser during the first days of the Trump administration, became a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe in December 2017 when he pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI regarding his contacts with Kislyak.

The special counsel’s indictment of Flynn said he contacted Kislyak requesting that Russia “vote against or delay” a UN resolution regarding Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory in December 2017.

Flynn also called Kislyak multiple times on December 29, the day President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia and the expulsion of Russian intelligence operatives from the US in response to Russian hacking and interference in the 2016 election.

The calls “occurred between the time the Russian Embassy was told about US sanctions and the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he had decided against reprisals,” according to Reuters.

The special counsel’s indictment says Kislyak reached out Flynn on December 31 to inform him that the Kremlin had decided not to impose retaliatory sanctions against the US “at the Trump team’s request.”

Flynn is still cooperating in various federal investigations and has yet to be sentenced.

George Papadopoulos

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George Papadopoulos and his wife Simona Maginante Papadopoulos appearing for his sentencing in DC.

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Yuri Gripas/Reuters

George Papadopoulos, a 28-year-old energy consultant, joined the Trump campaign as a low-level national security adviser, but ended up taking on an outsize role in trying to facilitate communications between the Trump campaign and Russia, and ended up inadvertently being the impetus for the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign.

Papadopoulos maintained communications over the course of several months with Joseph Mifsud, a Russia-linked Maltese academic who made efforts to broker Kremlin access to the Trump campaign.

Mifsud boasted of having “substantial connections to Russian officials,” according to court documents.

In a March 2016 meeting, Mifsud reportedly told Papadopoulos that the Russian government was in posses ion of “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” months before WikiLeaks started releasing hacked Clinton campaign emails.

In May, Papadopoulos told the Australian diplomat Alexander Downer about Russia’s dirt on Clinton while they were drinking at a swanky bar in London.

Downer then informed US authorities of the conversation after WikiLeaks released a trove of hacked emails in July, leading the FBI to begin investigating the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia that month.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the nature of his contacts with Mifsud and became a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe. In September, he was sentenced to 14 days in prison and 200 hours of community service.

Natalia Veselnitskaya

In what is now known as the infamous “Trump Tower meeting,” Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with Russian attorney and Kremlin affiliate Natalia Veselnitskaya, as well as four other people affiliated with Russia at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

The Trump campaign attended the meeting under the impression that they would receive the damaging information about Hillary Clinton that Donald Jr. was promised by Rob Goldstone.

But Veselnitskaya came with nothing on Hillary Clinton specifically. Her mission was instead to show evidence major Democratic donors were evading taxes, and to lobby against the Magnitsky Act.

The Magnitsky Act, passed in 2012, freezes the assets and real-estate and bars entry to the US for high-level Russian officials suspected of committing human-rights abuses. In retaliation for the Magnitsky Act, Russia banned US adoptions of Russian children.

Veselnitskaya later said Donald Jr. seemed receptive to revisiting the Magnitsky Act if his father were elected. Donald Jr. claimed Veselnitskaya was there in an unofficial capacity.

Subsequent reporting, however, suggests Veselnitskaya was in fact working on behalf of the Kremlin at the time. A memo she brought with her to the meeting almost identically matched one written by Russia’s chief prosecutor.

She also previously worked with the chief prosecutor’s office to help them defend a Russian firm from a civil fraud case brought by the US Department of Justice.

Joseph Mifsud

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Joseph Mifsud, pictured speaking at the Valdai discussion club, a Russian think-tank.

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YouTube/Valdai Discussion Club

Papadopoulos’ main contact was Joseph Mifsud, the director of the London Academy of Diplomacy, a for-profit college program that was later shut down. Mifsud boasted of having “substantial connections to Russian officials,” according to court documents.

Despite having scant credentials or expertise on Russia, Mifsud became active in elite Russian political circles after one of his interns, a 24-year-old Russian woman, introduced him to several high-level diplomats and scholars, The New York Times reported.

Mifsud even gained admission into the prestigious Valdai Discussion Club, a group of foreign-policy scholars who host an annual meeting with Putin.

He also introduced Papadopoulos to Ivan Timofeev, a Director at the Kremlin-linked Russian International Affairs Council who claimed to have ties to Russia’s foreign ministry.

Mifsud has all but disappeared since October 2017. He and his lawyers failed to appear for numerous court appearances in Italy, and was fined thousands of dollars for inflating his salary.

Paul Manafort

caption

Paul Manafort was found guilty Tuesday on two counts of bank fraud, five counts of tax fraud and a count of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.

source

Reuters

Paul Manafort, a longtime political operative and lobbyist for Ukraine’s Party of Regions, served as Trump’s campaign chairman, with he and his deputy Rick Gates leading the effort to ensure Trump’s nomination at the Republican National Convention.

Earlier this month, Manafort was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after being charged in two separate cases. In August, he was convicted on eight counts of tax and bank fraud, and later pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of lying to investigators.

Manafort had frequent correspondence and in-person meetings with Konstantin Kilimnik, a political operative and former member of Russian intelligence. He has been a long-time associate of Manafort, who worked for several years in Ukraine and Eastern Europe as a political consultant and financier.

Paul Manafort had, over a period of months, corresponded with Kilimnik on the subject of giving “private briefings” on the Trump campaign to Oleg Deripaska, the oligarch to whom Manafort owed tens of millions of dollars.

The emails, which were subsequently turned over to both special counsel Mueller’s office and to congressional investigators, don’t show proof that Deripaska was made aware of the offer or that any private meetings or briefings actually occurred.

The emails between Manafort and Kilimnik suggest that Manafort sought to take advantage of the influence he had through his role on Trump’s campaign, which was unpaid, to make up for a significant financial debt he owed to Deripaska.

Michael Cohen

source

Good Morning America

In December 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about his involvement in the Trump Organization’s push to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Mueller’s sentencing memo for Cohen said that “in or around November 2015, Cohen received the contact information for, and spoke with, a Russian national who claimed to be a “trusted person” in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign “political synergy” and “synergy on a government level.”

The person, according to a report from BuzzFeed News, was the Russian weightlifter Dmitry Klokov, who claimed “he could arrange a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin to help pave the way for the tower.”

Cohen and Russian businessman Felix Sater also reportedly discussed a new Ukrainian peace plan with Ukrainian politician Andrii V. Artemenko.

The plan entailed the US lifting sanctions on Russia in exchange for Russia pulling its support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine, but allowing Russia to continue its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula unchallenged.

The post The Mueller report has been submitted — here are all the major players caught up in the Russia-Trump saga, Defence Online appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/03/23/the-mueller-report-has-been-submitted-here-are-all-the-major-players-caught-up-in-the-russia-trump-saga-defence-online/

#Features #mueller report #News #Politics Slideshow #Russia investigation

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cinnamonrush0802 · 7 years ago

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bforbookslut · 7 years ago

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ARC Review: Achilles by Greg Boose

This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review edition is an ARC and may differ from the final edition.

I have given Achilles by Greg Boose a ☆☆☆ rating. It is Book 1 of The Deep Sky Saga series. It belongs to the Young Adult Science Fiction genre with some elements of Dystopia. Diversion Publishing publishes it. It was published September 26, 2017.

The blurb reads:

The year is 2221, and humans have colonized an earthlike planet called Thetis in the Silver Foot Galaxy. After a tragic accident kills off dozens of teenage colonists, Thetis’s leaders are desperate to repopulate. So the Mayflower 2, a state-of-the-art spaceship, sets off across the universe to bring 177 new recruits to the colony. For Jonah Lincoln, an orphaned teen who’s bounced between foster homes and spent time on the streets of Cleveland, the voyage is a chance to reinvent himself, to be strong and independent and brave the way he could never be on Earth. But his dreams go up in smoke when their ship crash-lands, killing half the passengers and leaving the rest stranded—not on Thetis, but on its cruel and unpeopled moon, Achilles. Between its bloodthirsty alien life forms and its distance from their intended location, Achilles is far from an ideal resting place. The situation is already dire, but when all of the adults suddenly disappear, leaving the teenage passengers to fend for themselves, Jonah doubts they’ll survive at all, much less reach Thetis. Especially when it appears Achilles isn’t as uninhabited as they were led to believe.

Add to Goodreads | Goodreads | Instagram | More Reviews

Do forgive the lack of reviews and speed. I’m still chasing tons of reviews that they are even overflowing into October’s reviews. See the calendar on the side? It’s been thrown completely out the window because I can’t catch up. I will post a review for every single book I’ve read so don’t you worry! As always, my reviews may contain spoilers. I say may because what’s a spoiler to you may not be a spoiler for me.

Verdict:

As I started reading Achilles, I came across a couple of very negative reviews on Goodreads and I’m usually very swayed by reviews, especially if they resonate with me and I go, “yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well”. But, long after I’ve finished reading Achilles, what really sticks with me was how terrifying it was. And I say terrifying in a good way because I’m only very freaked out if I watch horror movies. But, Achilles gave me nightmares, literal nightmares that made it very hard for me to go to sleep. Described as Lost crossed with The 100, it’s pretty apt in that the survivors of the crash have to contend with the “locals” but there’s more to Achilles than just survival.

It’s very obvious that the author spent a lot of time worldbuilding and constructing the world of Achilles and The Deep Sky Saga because the attention to detail, honestly, is glorious. You can tell that a lot of thought went into how the details would come together to form a giant picture. The landscape was incredibly vivid and the alien creatures were bone-shuddering terrifying. And, despite all the attention to detail, there was enough room for imagination to allow readers to picture the surroundings and live in the shoes of the characters.

However, the worldbuilding is the only plus point I have for Achilles. Other elements of the book fell a little flat. It wasn’t terrible, no, not at all. But to compete on the stage that is YA these days, Achilles needs to step up their game, and fast!

While the worldbuilding was stunning, delivering it was a whole other different story. Many details were left unexplained and the writing was poor. There were tons of sudden scene changes and incomplete details that left me disoriented. I had to reread a couple of lines so that I could get back on track and figure out what the scene was trying to describe to me. It almost felt like an incomplete piece or rather, writing out a movie scene where details are shown rather than explained. I’m not sure if that makes sense but it’s kind of like in a movie where you’ve seen the detail so they quickly jump to the next bit. But you’re on track because it’s visual.

Also, there was a noticeable tone difference when it came to descriptions and interactions. In describing the world, there is a very serious vibe that felt more akin to an adult’s science fiction novel as opposed to something YA. It is hard to remember that these were kids and teenagers that we’re talking about. But, on the other hand, the dialogue and interactions between the characters were typical YA.

And speaking of characters, the ones in Achilles were not memorable. I could hardly sympathise with them. They were completely unrelatable and instead, could come off as very annoying. Joshua felt like a cookie cutter character despite the author’s attempt at giving him a “past” and “history”. Furthermore, these kids were needlessly cruel to each other and to the people around them ie. the locals.

There appeared to be some attempts at romance or relationships but it felt completely out of place and unneeded. Fortunately, it was only hinted at and never really pursued.

And while I will admit that these characters often drove the plot, the plot itself was unsure of itself. There seemed to be a lot of loopholes and black holes and unanswered questions. Some parts were dragged out longer than they needed to be. This one is definitely leading up to the second instalment which unfortunately is a trend I find happens more and more these days with YA novels.

Conclusion:

If you’re looking for a take-your-breath-away science fiction-fantasy, this is not it. The only thing that really cinched Achilles together is the potential for plot and the crazy world building. I think this is one of those novels that fall into the debut-trap and I do hope we get a better second book because on some level, I do love Achilles because it was such a wild ride.

#book review #achilles #greg boose #the deep sky saga #young adult #science fiction #dystopia #threestars #arc review #2017 publication #2017 review

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alanafsmith · 8 years ago

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Here's why Jeff Session's Senate testimony is a big deal

The Senate Intelligence Committee called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to testify in an open hearing on Tuesday, and the event is expected to be another must-see installment in the Russia investigation saga.

The committee is investigating President Donald Trump's associates' ties to Russia, and whether Trump's team colluded with the Kremlin's meddling in the 2016 election.

Sessions, who oversees the FBI as head of the Department of Justice, recused himself from the bureau's Trump-Russia investigation after previously undisclosed meetings he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak came to light.

On Tuesday, senators are expected to ask Sessions about former FBI Director James Comey's June 8 testimony, when he talked about his interactions with Trump and the president's move to fire him in May. They will also likely bring up his meetings with Russian officials.

Here's a primer on Sessions and his Senate testimony, which begins at 2:30 ET on Tuesday:

Who is he?

Sessions, who was a junior senator from Alabama before becoming US attorney general, was one of Trump's earliest congressional supporters.

Before joining the Senate, he was a US attorney and the attorney general of Alabama. Sessions is a staunch opponent to immigration reform, and has ushered in many of Trump's strict immigration policies, including the travel bans that are currently held up in the courts.

Sessions' consideration for a Cabinet position revived allegations of racism that jeopardized his chance to become a federal district court judge in 1986, when a prosecutor testified that Sessions once called the NAACP and the ACLU "un-American."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was "very concerned" about Sessions' civil rights record, a sentiment that other liberals echoed. Schumer and 46 other Democrats voted against his confirmation in February.

Many conservatives, meanwhile, applauded Trump's choice, with 52 Republican senators and one Democrat voting to confirm him.

Why did Sessions recuse himself?

During his confirmation hearing in February, Sessions said he didn't have contact with "the Russians" during the campaign.

Senator Al Franken of Minnesota asked: "If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?"

"Sen. Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities," Sessions responded. "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."

But in March, the Wall Street Journal and others reported that Sessions met with ambassador Kislyak at least twice during the 2016 campaign — once at an event timed to the Republican National Convention and again in September.

Lawmakers have publicly wondered about a possible third meeting at an event where both Sessions and Kislyak were both spotted in April 2016. Then-candidate Trump was giving a foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Senate Democrats have raised the possibility that Sessions and Kislyak could have met there, though Justice Department officials say there were no private encounters or side meetings. Comey testified during a closed Senate hearing last week that intercepted Russian-to-Russian communications indicated that Sessions met with Kislyak at the event, though the intel was unverified, CNN reported last week.

After cries from both sides of the aisle for Sessions to recuse himself from the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation, he stepped aside from "any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States" on March 2.

What will he say?

On Tuesday, Sessions is expected to discredit Comey, and claim the former FBI director misrepresented an interaction that he and Trump had when he testified on Thursday.

Comey said in his sworn testimony that he felt Trump was trying to pressure him to drop the FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey testified that when he approached Sessions about the one-on-one meeting with the president, the attorney general remained silent.

"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," Sessions said in a letter on Saturday confirming that he would appear before the committee.

Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island said on Sunday that he would grill Sessions on his involvement with Trump's decision to fire Comey.

Sessions will get his chance to tell his side of the story on Tuesday. He could also clarify why he met with Russian officials.

Why does it matter?

Sessions' testimony shows that the Senate Intelligence Committee Trump-Russia investigation continues, as a parallel investigation in the House has lost steam. The FBI is still conducting its investigation, as well.

In his blockbuster testimony, Comey also said that Trump asked Sessions to leave the room before the president implored his FBI director to drop the investigation into Flynn's contacts with Russian officials. Senators could ask Sessions about his recollection of that incident, and his opinion of that testimony.

Senators could also probe whether Sessions was following through with his pledge to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, and whether Trump plans to try to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was brought in to lead the investigation in order to keep it independent from the administration.

What Sessions says Tuesday could help senators get to the bottom of whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, and whether the Kremlin has undue influence over his administration.

SEE ALSO: Jeff Sessions is reportedly going to dispute James Comey's sworn testimony

DON'T MISS: The Justice Department and James Comey are telling 2 different stories about what led to Jeff Sessions' Trump-Russia recusal

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it’s like living in North Korea — according to a North Korean defector

from All About Law http://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-jeff-sessions-senate-testimony-when-why-big-deal-what-to-know-2017-6

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nancy-astorga · 8 years ago

Text

Here’s why Jeff Session’s Senate testimony is a big deal

The committee is investigating President Donald Trump’s associates’ ties to Russia, and whether Trump’s team colluded with the Kremlin’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Sessions, who oversees the FBI as head of the Department of Justice, recused himself from the bureau’s Trump-Russia investigation after previously undisclosed meetings he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak came to light.

On Tuesday, senators are expected to ask Sessions about former FBI Director James Comey’s June 8 testimony, when he talked about his interactions with Trump and the president’s move to fire him in May. They will also likely bring up his meetings with Russian officials.

Here’s a primer on Sessions and his Senate testimony, which begins at 2:30 ET on Tuesday:

Who is he?

Sessions, who was a junior senator from Alabama before becoming US attorney general, was one of Trump’s earliest congressional supporters.

Before joining the Senate, he was a US attorney and the attorney general of Alabama. Sessions is a staunch opponent to immigration reform, and has ushered in many of Trump’s strict immigration policies, including the travel bans that are currently held up in the courts.

Sessions’ consideration for a Cabinet position revived allegations of racism that jeopardized his chance to become a federal district court judge in 1986, when a prosecutor testified that Sessions once called the NAACP and the ACLU “un-American.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “very concerned” about Sessions’ civil rights record, a sentiment that other liberals echoed. Schumer and 46 other Democrats voted against his confirmation in February.

Many conservatives, meanwhile, applauded Trump’s choice, with 52 Republican senators and one Democrat voting to confirm him.

Why did Sessions recuse himself?

During his confirmation hearing in February, Sessions said he didn’t have contact with “the Russians” during the campaign.

Senator Al Franken of Minnesota asked: “If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?”

“Sen. Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions responded. “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.”

After cries from both sides of the aisle for Sessions to recuse himself from the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, he stepped aside from “any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States” on March 2.

What will he say?

On Tuesday, Sessions is expected to discredit Comey, and claim the former FBI director misrepresented an interaction that he and Trump had when he testified on Thursday.

“In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey’s recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum,” Sessions said in a letter on Saturday confirming that he would appear before the committee.

Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island said on Sunday that he would grill Sessions on his involvement with Trump’s decision to fire Comey.

Sessions will get his chance to tell his side of the story on Tuesday. He could also clarify why he met with Russian officials.

Why does it matter?

Sessions’ testimony shows that the Senate Intelligence Committee Trump-Russia investigation continues, as a parallel investigation in the House has lost steam. The FBI is still conducting its investigation, as well.

In his blockbuster testimony, Comey also said that Trump asked Sessions to leave the room before the president implored his FBI director to drop the investigation into Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials. Senators could ask Sessions about his recollection of that incident, and his opinion of that testimony.

What Sessions says Tuesday could help senators get to the bottom of whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, and whether the Kremlin has undue influence over his administration.

SEE ALSO: Jeff Sessions is reportedly going to dispute James Comey’s sworn testimony

DON’T MISS: The Justice Department and James Comey are telling 2 different stories about what led to Jeff Sessions’ Trump-Russia recusal

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: ‘Melania needs to get with the program’: Ian Bremmer explains the biggest takeaways from Trump’s first foreign trip

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