[NYPOST] Bill Richardson, a two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who dedicated his post-political career to working to free Americans detained overseas, has died. He was 75.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded and led, said in a statement Saturday that he died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts.
“He lived his entire life in the service of others — including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” said Mickey Bergman, the center’s vice president. “There was no person that Gov. Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend.”
Before his election in 2002 as governor, Richardson was U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton and served 14 years as a congressman representing northern New Mexico.
Richardson also traveled the globe as an unofficial diplomatic troubleshooter, negotiating the release of hostages and American servicemen from North Korea, Iraq, Cuba and Sudan. He bargained with a who’s who of America’s adversaries, including Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It was a role that Richardson relished, once describing himself as “the informal undersecretary for thugs.”
Armed with a golden resume and wealth of experience in foreign and domestic affairs, Richardson ran for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president in hopes of becoming the nation’s first Hispanic president. He dropped out of the race after fourth place finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
Richardson was the nation’s only Hispanic governor during his two terms. He described being governor as “the best job I ever had.”
“It’s the most fun. You can get the most done. You set the agenda,” Richardson said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/03/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
Politis aside - I worked his detail briefly when he was USUN. A personable and funny guy who didn't seem to take himself overly serious.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
09/03/2023 4:08 Comments ||
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#2
RIP, Bill. From afar, he did seem like a decent fella.
#3
He had his corruption, like any main stream politician in NM. He ran a pay-to-play scheme while governor and was being investigated by the federal DA* till Obama got elected and shut it down. Unlike the Biden family, it wasn't so much to line his own pockets but towards organizations that he favored in the state.
*The outgoing DA said that IL had nothing on corruption compared to NM, only the pols were a lot cheaper.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/03/2023 9:10 Comments ||
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#5
Old school demokrat politicians were corrupt, and deal-makers, but had the background of being Americans, on a cultural, social level.
Obama's era, introduced progressive/Marxists who are far more characterized as anti-American globalists and even communists who actually dislike or even hate the traditional citizens they purport to serve.
[Brownstone] It seems that everyone is running from the lockdowns they once supported, and that includes former presidents and governors, and probably mayors too. Apologies would be better so we can at least have an honest accounting rather than an attempt to rewrite the history that everyone knows.
Jack Phillips of Epoch Times alerts readers in his article of August 31, 2023, of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ recent statement on the subject of lockdowns. The Iowa State Government’s website says the following:
"Since news broke of COVID-19 restrictions being reinstated at some colleges and businesses across the U.S., concerned Iowans have been calling my office asking whether the same could happen here. My answer—not on my watch. In Iowa, government respects the people it serves and fights to protect their rights. I rejected the mandates and lockdowns of 2020, and my position has not changed."
Governor Reynolds "rejected" the mandates and lockdowns of 2020? She did? Her position has remained the same? It has?
Could it be the Governor has forgotten her "orders?" On March 17, 2020, Governor Reynolds issued her first "Public Health Disaster Emergency." Following her long list of "whereas’s," she ordered the following:
Restaurants and bars: Closed to the "general public"
Social, community, spiritual, religious, recreational, leisure, and sporting gatherings and events of more than 10 people, including but not limited to parades, festivals, conventions, and fundraisers: Prohibited.
Senior citizen and adult daycare centers: Closed
Salons/barber shops: Closed
A few weeks later on April 6, 2020, she doubled down. In this second proclamation, the Governor extended the timeline and expanded what she now says she "rejected." To add insult, she also formally called on law enforcement to "assist in the enforcement of these ’mitigation efforts’." To wit:
"To encourage further social distancing and mitigation efforts, the proclamation orders additional closures effective at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7th until Thursday, April 30th": (Highlight and underline added)
Malls
Tobacco or vaping stores
Toy, gaming, music, instrument, movie, or adult entertainment stores
Social and fraternal clubs, including those at golf courses
Bingo halls, bowling alleys, pool halls, arcades, and amusement parks
Museums, libraries, aquariums, and zoos
Race tracks and speedway.
Roller or ice skating rinks and skate parks
Outdoor or indoor playgrounds or children’s play centers
Campgrounds
Should we afford the Governor the benefit of the doubt? That she "rejected" "mandates and lockdowns" all the way through Mar 16, 2020? Then changed her mind? Hence, rejecting them before implementing them?
Should we resist the impulse to accrue to the Governor a little bit of gaslighting in her August 30, 2023 statement? Will she insist that businesses she ordered closed and the behaviors she prohibited* — to be enforced by law enforcement — weren’t "mandated" "lockdowns?" That they were instead "mitigation efforts" as spelled out in her "orders?" That all this merely carried the weight of suggestion? This...so that she can now say that she "rejected" mandates and lockdowns? ....
#9
Nobody does more harm than the person who does it with only the best intentions.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/03/2023 8:18 Comments ||
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#10
^ you mean like trying to bring democracy to foreign lands without any record of anything but brief spasms of display while destroying your own democracy at home?
For a given value of deleted that apparently did not involve actually clicking the Delete button. My apologies — I’m clearly not quite as ready to be back as I thought, in the middle of the night. Really truly deleted now.
Biden's Chief of Staff Jeff Zients issued a directive ordering all federal employees to return to the office this fall after years of remote work
Congress says Biden has refused to provide an accurate number of total teleworking staff
Federal employees are working from bathtubs, enjoying shooting pool and leaving early for happy hour at the same time the backlog of passports and veterans waiting months for doctor appointments continues
More than 75 percent of the available office space at 17 different federal agencies is still empty, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Agencies spend about $2 billion a year to operate and maintain federal office buildings and over $5 billion annually in leases.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told DailyMail.com that Biden must hold a 'clearance sale on unused office space' - which could help pay off the $32.9 trillion in U.S. national debt.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/03/2023 08:29 ||
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#1
Oh no, can't sell the office space. It's gonna be used for the next round of personnel hiring. Cause they've got empty office space.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/03/2023 11:43 Comments ||
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#2
Just let the FBI use their empty chair and nix their new headquarters.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/03/2023 12:05 Comments ||
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#3
Cause they've got empty office space.
Kind of like department budgets where there's money left over at the end of the year. Needs to be used up or lose it.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/03/2023 12:36 Comments ||
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#4
Gov't hotel conferences. That really is the ticket.
#5
It has been an open secret the General Services Administration(GSA) administers 'federal property' as an ongoing way to hide congressional pork and corruption ...for decades.
Properly, anyone not in the office on Tuesday 09:00 gets the axe unless medical. No, a positive Covid test is easily mimicked and not allowed. Doctors are pill pimps and a note is not allowed. Two weeks of medical payment statements/receipts please.
[NTD] A lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands said on Thursday that JPMorgan Chase told U.S. authorities it processed more than $1 billion for Jeffrey Epstein over the course of 16 years.
All transactions $9,999.99 or less?
Following Mr. Epstein’s death in 2019, JPMorgan reported its transactions with the convicted sex offender as suspicious to the U.S. Treasury Department, said Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the Virgin Islands territory, at a hearing concerning its lawsuit against the largest U.S. bank.
The bank’s disclosures to the Treasury have not been made public. A JPMorgan spokesperson declined a Reuters request to comment on the matter.
Mr. Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013 when the bank fired him. The disgraced financier was registered as a sex offender in Florida in 2008 and in 2011 as a "level three" sex offender in New York—a lifelong designation.
Epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019.
His death was ruled a suicide, though suspicious circumstances surrounding his death—such as the sudden departure of his cellmate and two surveillance cameras malfunctioning—gave rise to much speculation questioning the official narrative.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, where Mr. Epstein owned two private islands, is suing JPMorgan for at least $190 million and likely much more. They allege the bank ignored red flags that Mr. Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation because he was a lucrative client.
"Over more than a decade, JPMorgan clearly knew it was not complying with federal regulations in regard to Epstein-related accounts as evidenced by its too-little too-late efforts after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and shortly after his death, when JPMorgan belatedly complied with federal law," the complaint filed by U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George last December read.
"Without the financial institution’s participation, Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme could not have existed."
JPMORGAN CLAIMS IGNORANCE
JPMorgan has denied any awareness that Mr. Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation and has instead faulted the territory for "actively facilitating" Mr. Epstein by giving him tax incentives and waiving sex offender monitoring requirements.
Ms. Liu mentioned the $1 billion worth of transactions, which had not been previously disclosed, during her argument urging U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff to agree that the bank participated in Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking.
The Virgin Islands lawyer argued that no reasonable juror could find that JPMorgan was unaware of the activities of its jet-setting client.
"JPMorgan was a full service bank for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking," Ms. Liu said.
Felicia Ellsworth, a lawyer for JPMorgan, said it was not appropriate for the judge to determine the question of the bank’s knowledge ahead of the trial, given that current and former employees have testified that they were unaware of Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking.
According to Ms. Ellsworth, the bank notified the Treasury Department as early as 2002 about Mr. Epstein’s suspicious transactions and at least five times thereafter.
Ms. Ellsworth also disputed the U.S. Virgin Islands’ claim that JPMorgan obstructed investigations into Mr. Epstein, saying the bank had asked federal authorities about their own probes into their client’s conduct.
That is "the polar opposite of trying to obstruct," she said.
The trial is scheduled for Oct. 23.
Judge Rakoff said he would decide by the end of September whether to resolve major legal disputes sooner.
In June, the judge preliminarily approved JPMorgan’s $290 million settlement with dozens of women who claim to have been abused by Mr. Epstein, while in May, Deutsche Bank, where Mr. Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, agreed to a $75 million settlement with his accusers.
The financier’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in December 2021 for aiding in his abuses.
#3
Curious history of Ghislaine Maxwell's father and his near national-hero treatment by Israel after death. The linkage to Epstein and the source of his mysterious wealth, like the vast, yet missing, client cinematic performances, have a curious, similar feel to them. Almost like the murky world of the Wilderness of Mirrors?
From Guardian Article in 2019 -"Throughout his life, he was a good friend to Israel, investing heavily in publishing, pharmaceutical and computer firms in the country. He met accusations he was an Israeli spy with furious denials and legal threats. Such speculation was fanned again after his death, when he was accorded almost a state funeral in Israel, attended by the prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, and the president, Chaim Herzog, and buried in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. Conspiracy theorists have claimed that Mossad killed him because Israel refused him a loan and he threatened to retaliate."
The disgraced financier was registered as a sex offender in Florida in 2008 and in 2011 as a "level three" sex offender in New York—a lifelong designation
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/03/2023 13:04 Comments ||
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^A lifelong designation can be for a long time or a short time.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/03/2023 14:00 Comments ||
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More Than $1 Billion for Jeffrey Epstein
I don't care who your clients are - you can't make a billion $ pimping.
#8
Ref # 6, agreed, but I suspect you can make it if you sell the images of the elites/politicians/foreign leaders enjoying your product to intelligence agencies, both domestic and allied for use in coercion.
#9
#8 I doubt that intelligence agencies get involved with amateurs - they've plenty of talent at their beck and call. And I'm sure that important people are well protected from casual predation. In fact, the entire Epstein story makes no sense - in books & movies the blackmailer always makes sure to arrange for the blackmail material to become public is something happens to him/her.
#10
/\ I doubt you'll ever be able to get the bilateral intel community stink off of that one gromski. Strange how the foreign johns and associates have vaporized isn't it ?
#11
Can anyone identify an example where the dead man switch insurance actually was triggered?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/03/2023 17:05 Comments ||
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#12
It makes more sense that he was playing Mr Rorque, just a front man, and never had possession of the cameras or tape himself.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/03/2023 17:09 Comments ||
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#13
Interesting that the bank flags numerous and high dollar transactions but no account shut down. Now contrast that with gun store owners, federal firearm dealers and Christian right to life checking accounts.
[PJ] In addition to an alleged $10 million bribe paid to the Bidens ($5 million for Hunter and $5 million to Joe Biden), Burisma gave the younger Biden a position on its board, earning $1 million a year. He had no experience in the energy business, but he was the connection to Joe Biden, then the U.S. vice president, and, as emails show, he had quite a few unconventionally close relationships with officials high up in the Obama State Department.
"Less than six months before Hunter and his longtime business partner, Devon Archer, became board members at the Burisma energy company in Ukraine, email correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that a top aide to then-Secretary of State John Kerry was telling some of his fellow State Department officials Kerry and Hunter had a close friendship and that Hunter asked Kerry to speak to his Georgetown University grad students March 18, 2014," reports Fox News. "In an email from the fall of 2013, David Wade wrote to John R. Bass and Jonathan Finer about the possibility of Kerry meeting with Hunter and his students at ’HST,’ which is the State Department’s Harry S. Truman headquarters."
Federal investigators are already looking into Hunter Biden’s potential Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations during his father’s tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president to determine if Hunter was requesting favors on behalf of foreign entities in his communications with government officials.
[NYPOST] The 24/7 grind of the White House has been anything but for President Biden, who has devoted more days to downtime than any of his recent predecessors, according to an analysis of press-pool reports.
This Labor Day weekend, Biden once again plans to be 10 toes up at his Rehoboth Beach summer home — after a short trip to Florida to view Hurricane Idalia’s wreckage.
As of last Sunday, Biden has spent all or part of 382 of his presidency’s 957 days — or 40% — on personal overnight trips away from the White House, putting him on pace to become America’s most idle commander-in-chief, according to data calculated by the Republican National Committee and confirmed by The Post using White House reports of Biden’s movements.
"We have millions of illegal immigrants colonists pouring across our borders. Violent crime is surging. Inflation is crushing hard-working Americans. Our enemies around the world are emboldened," Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) told The Post. "Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed his guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... is filmed on the beach with his handlers preventing him from speaking to the media to answer basic questions Americans deserve answers to.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/03/2023 00:00 ||
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...the Chinese-American child of a military family, she lost both legs when the helicopter she was in the right seat of in Iraq was shot down by jihadis, making her the first female double amputee of the second Iraq war. She then served in the Illinois National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel while working for the state and federal governments until she ran for Congress in 2012, where she has been (first as Representative, then as junior Senator from Illinois) ever since,. She was interested to be Joe Biden’s woman-of-colour VP for the 2020 campaign, but apparently Asian wasn’t the new Black — still, she’s now on his re-election team, which has to be good for something....
let it be now that she would block a plan put forth by Sen. Rick Scott to provide aid for the Maui fires and Hurricane Idalia because it doesn't include Joe Biden's demand for another $23 billion for Ukraine.
No matter how one may feel about continuing to fund Ukraine's war effort against Russia, this is completely asinine. There is no reason to have aid for a foreign country tied to a bill funding disaster relief for suffering Americans. Those two things are not remotely related, and it is simply an attempt to blackmail Republicans who might oppose sending more money to Ukraine into doing so.
You scratch the Big Guy’s back, we’ll scratch yours. Oddly enough, Hawaii is a deep blue state, unlike Florida.
By joining the two issues in one bill, it forces Senators and House members into a dichotomy whereby if they vote to help Americans, they must also vote to fund Ukraine lest no aid be rendered domestically at all. These are the kinds of inside-the-beltway games that people are sick and tired of. It is not controversial to let a vote on aid for Americans simply be a vote on aid for Americans.
That is how things should be. That's what "regular order" looks like. Trying to shoehorn Ukrainian aid into the same bill is a transparent ploy, and it's yet another abuse of the system.
Here's how Scott responded to Duckworth's threat.
"It’s unbelievable that anyone in Washington would try to delay the delivery of disaster aid to American families fighting to get back on their feet," he said. "This helps Florida, Hawaii, California ... ALL AMERICANS. Americans should ALWAYS come first."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NTD] A lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands said on Thursday that 
[NYPOST] The 24/7 grind of the White House has been anything but for President Biden, who has devoted more days to downtime than any of his recent predecessors, according to an analysis of press-pool reports.
...46th president of the U.S. 
