Monthly Archives: May 2023
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Jubilee Wrangles: Law Is the Problem, the Supreme Court Likely Doesn’t Want to Touch the Hot Potato
Proud Papa and Mama on Our Daughter’s Graduation from My Alma Mater University of Maryland
Allow me to take a break from politics and share this proud moment for my wife and me. Our second oldest daughter just graduated from my alma mater University of Maryland, College Park which is also the alma mater of our other daughter who graduated from there at the height of Covid and just finished her 1st year in law school after deferring for one year. Minna graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and plans to pursue a joint Master’s and Ph.D. in the same field.
It was nostalgic as we sat there witnessing the graduation ceremony as fondly recalled mine not in the same arena which is new, but the whole ambiance and being in this sea of graduates, parents and friends. For those who don’t know, UMD is one of the largest universities in the United States with over 40,000 students. The Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) division where I and our daughters all graduated from is one of 12 colleges and schools at the university. The ceremony pictured below is only for BSOS graduates so you can imagine the rest of how hectic graduation week can be in this campus.
But all went smoothly ours was at 7pm as there were other colleges utilizing the same venue throughout the day the only downside being by the time we were done with individual recognition to each of this sea of graduates, everyone wanted to hit the bed and no partying!
It worked out better for our daughter’s birthday is coming up in a few days so we can kill two birds with one stone.
Now, let me go back to my usual, including perusing the formerly useful Twitter to see who else is laughing at DeSantis disastrous launch of his hopefully moribund campaign.
Special Counsel John Durham’s Report on Trump Investigation Is a Big Dud
Here’s all you need to know about the much-ado-about-nothing Durham report which was released yesterday:
1. To appease and mollify Trump and now less so Barr (he has since seen the light and now dismisses Trump for the unhinged person and wrecking ball he is), Durham dumps every bit of criticism he could find concerning the FBI but far less than what Trump has been dreaming of and demanding. To drive that point home, Durham did not recommend any new charges against anyone, nor did he recommend any fundamental changes to the manner politically sensitive investigations are handled. In other words, the FBI will continue to do what it does considering recommendations from the DOJ Inspector General who already investigated and concluded this matter before Barr decided to appease and mollify Trump with the appointment of Durham.
2. The Durham report does not deliver what Trump wanted the most and that is confirming his lie that the Russia investigation was nothing more than a “political witch-hunt.” To the contrary, Durham acknowledges that the FBI did have reason to open a preliminary review or investigation of the matter. It is a redundant acknowledgment because the DOJ Inspector General found the FBI opening a full investigation of Trump to be legal and unbiased and this after the watchdog’s conclusion of its own sound and unbiased investigation of the way the FBI handled the investigation.
3. Durham—again to try and justify the useless appointment and wastage of taxpayer money, makes a questionable finding that the FBI “rushed” to investigate Trump on Russia. The finding flies in the face of the DOJ Inspector General’s finding that the FBI Russia investigation was legal and unbiased. Between the two, the Inspector General is more credible and not Durham who clearly was activated to do the bidding for Trump but as it is said, facts are stubborn. The FBI did its job, and any failures or shortcomings were already addressed by the DOJ and the Inspector General rendering this Durham investigation useless other than its true intended purpose and which is, to try and find a way to establish absurdities and lies to be true. An impossibility as Durham has obviously found out.
4. Durham concludes that the FBI had no real evidence of collusion before launching the probe. This finding makes no sense because the whole point of investigating anything, or anyone is to find or establish that evidence! Yes, procedurally, the FBI conducts two types of investigations: preliminary and full investigation. In this case, the FBI opened a full investigation which the DOJ Inspector General found to be legally supported and found no bias in the FBI’s decision to open the full investigation.
5. What Durham says about Hillary Clinton and the Steel Dossier is only intended to pacify the leader and to provide fodder to the maga cloud, most notably their foot soldiers in Congress led by the likes of Jim Jordan who was recently humiliated by a witness he forced to testify in Congress equally to appease and mollify Trump but the witness instead schooled Jordan for what a joke and incompetent chair of the Judiciary Committee he is. Therefore, there is no need to comment on those two findings.
That’s it; the Durham report in a nutshell.
A big dud!
Abuse of Freedom of Religion Must Be Stopped
In this article published in the Star today, I make the case why Abuse of Freedom of Religion Must Be Stopped.
Excerpt and conclusion:
The problem is the mushrooming of these get rich quick schemes by so-called pastors who set up churches overnight that are often nothing but a kiosk next to a bar and the like calling itself a church.
These schemers then prey on the gullible milking them of every penny they don’t have, and the better skilled ones soon progress from those meager beginnings to operate bigger so-called churches where the objective is the same: Separate the gullible with their money for the sole benefit of the fake church’s founders.
On the far end of these extremes are the cults like Mackenzie’s who ostensibly go on undetected until it is too late as in this Shakahola tragedy.
Yes, the country’s traditional religious organizations exert substantial power in the public and political spheres and a debate can be had whether that is good or bad. However, there cannot be a debate as to whether these phony pastors and other so-called religious leaders should be allowed to exploit the poor and others with impunity.
The solution is for the government to first heavily lean on the church to regulate itself better or to shut down these phony cons and schemers masquerading as churches.
It’s a delicate balance but it can and must be done.
Current Affairs in Kenya 