Rachel Maddow can now be called executive producer, for she last night showed her first documentary film,   From Russia with Lev .  The   follow-on program provided further details .  If you missed it, quickly record a replay, today, Saturday, 2PM, MSNBC.  This film should not be confused with a   2016 religious book with the same title . Think back to those days when Donald Trump was president, and he tried to extort new president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leading to Trump's impeachment.  He was trying to taint Joe Biden through his son Hunter to eliminate Joe from running against him in 2020. If you read through the entirety of a lengthy  Wikipedia  treatment of this  Trump-Ukraine scandal , light mention is made of Lev Parnas ( left of Trump ) and Igor Fruman ( extreme left ) as associates of Rudy Giuliani.  Well, the documentary is all about the role of Parnas.  How the story went is in part shocking, yet revealing, about the do...

By now, you must be supersaturated on travel.  Today, I return to my usual reportage, special focus depending on the day of the week, and a wide range of topics, with in-depth looks at energy, the environment, space, humanity, politics and such.   The world hotspot these days is the Middle East. 63-year old Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were killed in a helicopter crash.   There was fog and the weather was bad. The knee-jerk reaction of somehow blaming Israel did not occur. Instead, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the United states was one of the main culprits. Why?  The U.S. has placed sanctions on helicopter parts.. Most of the operating helicopters date back before the 1979 Islamic Revolution 45 years ago. The helicopter that crashed was a Bell 212, one of their newer ones, purchased in the early 2000s.  There are 15 of them of average age 35 years in Iran. Ra...

Our Monumental Global Adventure....or OMG Adventure....or Oh My God Adventure....was indeed memorable.  But before summarizing the entire trip, just had to first insert the latest travail....and trial....of Donald Trump. With all his tribulations, the  latest poll  just released by the New York Times and Siena College showed that Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in five of six key swing states.  What is wrong with America? Which is why I lead off with him. Michael Cohen is today testifying in Donald Trump's hush money trial, and will be doing so for a couple more days. Stormy Daniels did great last week. Why is Playboy model Karen McDougal not testifying?  Possibly because she was paid by the National Enquirer not to reveal that she had an affair with Trump.  There is a sense that Stormy did enough damage, and too much salaciousness might hurt the prosecution. Last week I posted  on what will happen at the end of this trial.  Today, here are my odds: ...

We yesterday again toured Manhattan, and happened to pass by the Trump hush money trial with Stormy Daniels testifying.  Here is what it looked like outside the court area. A current  summary of the trial.   There are 12 jurors and 6 substitutes.  What if even one juror votes Trump is not guilty?  Then there will be a  hung jury : A hung jury can also have an impact on the parties involved in the trial. For the   defendant , a hung jury may mean that they have not been found   guilty , but it also means that the case could be retried, leading to additional stress and cost. For the   prosecution , a hung jury means that they have failed to secure a   conviction , which can be a blow to their case and reputation. When a hung jury occurs,  it is up to the prosecution to decide if they want to retry the case or drop the charges . It's important to note that   double jeopardy , the principle that prohibits trying a person twice for ...