alternet--2020-12-04--Trump's wealthy GOP donors are being scrutinized amid president's pardon scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice over the summer investigated one of the Trump campaign 's top fundraisers , and lawyer for the president 's son-in-law , Jared Kushner , for his possible involvement in an alleged scheme to offer bribes in exchange for clemency to be granted for a tax crimes convict , according to The New York Times .
On Tuesday , Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed court documents outlining an investigation into a bribery scheme involving Trump fundraiser , Elliott Broidy , and Kushner 's lawyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirm the existence of the investigation , the publication reports that the documents had been heavily redacted .
It has been reported that Sanford Diller — a billionaire real estate developer in San Francisco — reportedly asked Broidy and Lowell for assistance in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist named Hugh L. Baras , who was facing time in federal prison following his conviction of .tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits .
If clemency were granted to Baras , Diller allegedly agreed to make `` a substantial political contribution '' to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pardon . ''
To secure the agreement , someone reportedly appealed to the White House Counsel 's Office to confirm that the `` clemency petition reached the targeted officials . ''
However , after Diller passed away in February of 2018 , the full exchange was never carried out .
According to Reid H. Weingarten , Lowell 's friend and lawyer , claims no bribes were ever paid .
`` This is much ado about precious little , '' Mr. Weingarten said .
`` They investigated and concluded that nothing was amiss .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the slightest issue with Abbe . ''
An attorney for Broidy also insists that although his client only played a minor role in the situation , he is guilty of no wrongdoing .
`` Mr. Broidy was asked by Mr. Diller to refer him to a D.C. lawyer who could assist on a clemency petition , '' said the lawyer , William A. Burck .
`` Mr. Broidy sent him to Abbe Lowell .
That 's not lobbying , and Mr. Broidy is not under investigation and has not been accused by anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court filings were unsealed following a decision by Judge Howell to give prosecutors access to email records to further investigate the alleged scheme .
After reviewing a small number of the emails , Judge Howell determined that she did not believe the email correspondence was a violation of attorney-client privilege .

The U.S. Department of Justice over the summer investigated one of the Trump campaign's top fundraisers, and lawyer for the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for his possible involvement in an alleged scheme to offer bribes in exchange for clemency to be granted for a tax crimes convict, according to The New York Times.
On Tuesday, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed court documents outlining an investigation into a bribery scheme involving Trump fundraiser, Elliott Broidy, and Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell. Although the documents confirm the existence of the investigation, the publication reports that the documents had been heavily redacted.
It has been reported that Sanford Diller — a billionaire real estate developer in San Francisco — reportedly asked Broidy and Lowell for assistance in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist named Hugh L. Baras, who was facing time in federal prison following his conviction of .tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits. If clemency were granted to Baras, Diller allegedly agreed to make "a substantial political contribution" to an unspecified recipient in exchange for the pardon."
To secure the agreement, someone reportedly appealed to the White House Counsel's Office to confirm that the "clemency petition reached the targeted officials." However, after Diller passed away in February of 2018, the full exchange was never carried out. According to Reid H. Weingarten, Lowell's friend and lawyer, claims no bribes were ever paid.
"This is much ado about precious little," Mr. Weingarten said. "They investigated and concluded that nothing was amiss. In addition, prosecutors did not have the slightest issue with Abbe."
An attorney for Broidy also insists that although his client only played a minor role in the situation, he is guilty of no wrongdoing.
"Mr. Broidy was asked by Mr. Diller to refer him to a D.C. lawyer who could assist on a clemency petition," said the lawyer, William A. Burck. "Mr. Broidy sent him to Abbe Lowell. That's not lobbying, and Mr. Broidy is not under investigation and has not been accused by anyone of any wrongdoing whatsoever."
The court filings were unsealed following a decision by Judge Howell to give prosecutors access to email records to further investigate the alleged scheme. After reviewing a small number of the emails, Judge Howell determined that she did not believe the email correspondence was a violation of attorney-client privilege.


alternet--2020-12-04--In a pandemic winter, Christmas is simply not that important

Christmas is coming , and as the old rhyme goes , the goose is getting fat and we are urged to put a penny in the old man 's hat .
There may well be fewer pennies in hats this year : restrictions on movement and activity will mean a more dampened Christmas than usual .
Given the significant risk associated with holding public festivals during a pandemic , those of us who celebrate Christmas should perhaps ask ourselves : “ Is it even worth it ? ''
Professor Andrew Hayward , an epidemiologist , says that easing restrictions over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are aiming to do , such as the UK and France – would be “ throwing fuel on the fire '' of the pandemic .
The consequences of mingling indoors for long periods of time with vulnerable people might become tragically evident by January 2021 .
The US will surely see a heavy toll from Thanksgiving celebrations , where a divided nation showed a predictably mixed response to suggestions that the good times be reined in this year .
At many other large public festivals this year , restrictions were introduced specifically to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appear to have been largely accepted by the groups involved and demonstrably reduced the public health burden .
Governments considering how to approach Christmas could learn from this .
Lunar New Year , also known as Chinese New Year , is the world 's biggest annual migration , involving the mass movement of people and about 3 billion separate trips .
Movement is widespread across China with significant additional international travel .
With the coronavirus then known to be spreading widely , the Chinese government cancelled much of the 40-day 2020 New Year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WorldPop group at the University of Southampton used historic travel data to highlight the cities in China and internationally that would typically see greater volumes of passengers during the time of this festival .
Outside of China , destinations in south-east Asia were noted as being likely to be at highest risk , including Bangkok , Tokyo and Seoul .
Sydney , Melbourne , Los Angeles and London were among the destinations usually seeing the highest number of visits to and from China .
WorldPop 's analyses of population movements suggest that effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the greatest effect in reducing transmission , followed by travel restrictions .
Without these combined measures , cases are estimated to have been 67-fold higher than was observed .
The pandemic has been catastrophic for the globe , but it could have been much worse .
In Israel , Passover in 2020 ran from April 8 to April 16 .
In early April , Israel was experiencing its first wave of COVID-19 infections with several hundred new cases reported each day .
The government was so concerned that it introduced extra restrictions during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place .
This included no travel between cities and no visiting of other households .
A key component of the celebration usually sees tens of thousands of people visiting the Western Wall ( also known as the Wailing Wall ) , but in 2020 only ten people at a time were allowed to visit the site .
The number of daily new cases in Israel continued to decline until mid-June , when a significant second wave struck .
Over 2 million people typically travel each year to Mecca , in Saudi Arabia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health is an important focus of this event , for example , with a visa only being issued to travellers if they have proof of vaccination against meningitis before travel .
In 2020 , only around 10,000 pilgrims travelled to Mecca to do the hajj , with government restrictions as to who was allowed to travel .
These restrictions included excluding older people , pilgrims needing to be between 20 and 50 years old , and they also required quarantine periods and to have had a negative COVID swab test .
Modelling suggests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new cases .
So is Christmas worth it ?
Arguing against seeing your grandparents this yuletide might make you feel like the proverbial killjoy .
No one is suggesting that Christmas should be banned .
But scaling back Christmas to a level well below the usual levels of excess – at this point in history – is vital .
Vaccines are on their way , but the pandemic is still a long way from being over .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original @ @

Christmas is coming, and as the old rhyme goes, the goose is getting fat and we are urged to put a penny in the old man's hat. There may well be fewer pennies in hats this year: restrictions on movement and activity will mean a more dampened Christmas than usual.
Given the significant risk associated with holding public festivals during a pandemic, those of us who celebrate Christmas should perhaps ask ourselves: “Is it even worth it?"
Professor Andrew Hayward, an epidemiologist, says that easing restrictions over the Christmas period – as some countries are aiming to do, such as the UK and France – would be “throwing fuel on the fire" of the pandemic. The consequences of mingling indoors for long periods of time with vulnerable people might become tragically evident by January 2021. The US will surely see a heavy toll from Thanksgiving celebrations, where a divided nation showed a predictably mixed response to suggestions that the good times be reined in this year.
At many other large public festivals this year, restrictions were introduced specifically to address the burdens of COVID-19. These appear to have been largely accepted by the groups involved and demonstrably reduced the public health burden. Governments considering how to approach Christmas could learn from this.
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, is the world's biggest annual migration, involving the mass movement of people and about 3 billion separate trips. Movement is widespread across China with significant additional international travel. With the coronavirus then known to be spreading widely, the Chinese government cancelled much of the 40-day 2020 New Year celebration in January and February.
Lunar New Year celebrations in a non-pandemic year.
Kuznetsova Julia/Shutterstock
The WorldPop group at the University of Southampton used historic travel data to highlight the cities in China and internationally that would typically see greater volumes of passengers during the time of this festival. Outside of China, destinations in south-east Asia were noted as being likely to be at highest risk, including Bangkok, Tokyo and Seoul.
Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles and London were among the destinations usually seeing the highest number of visits to and from China. WorldPop's analyses of population movements suggest that effective contact tracing and social distancing measures had the greatest effect in reducing transmission, followed by travel restrictions. Without these combined measures, cases are estimated to have been 67-fold higher than was observed. The pandemic has been catastrophic for the globe, but it could have been much worse.
Passover in Israel
In Israel, Passover in 2020 ran from April 8 to April 16. In early April, Israel was experiencing its first wave of COVID-19 infections with several hundred new cases reported each day. The government was so concerned that it introduced extra restrictions during the holiday period beyond those already in place. This included no travel between cities and no visiting of other households.
A key component of the celebration usually sees tens of thousands of people visiting the Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall), but in 2020 only ten people at a time were allowed to visit the site. The number of daily new cases in Israel continued to decline until mid-June, when a significant second wave struck.
The hajj
Over 2 million people typically travel each year to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, to do the hajj pilgrimage. Public health is an important focus of this event, for example, with a visa only being issued to travellers if they have proof of vaccination against meningitis before travel.
In 2020, only around 10,000 pilgrims travelled to Mecca to do the hajj, with government restrictions as to who was allowed to travel. These restrictions included excluding older people, pilgrims needing to be between 20 and 50 years old, and they also required quarantine periods and to have had a negative COVID swab test. Modelling suggests that these restrictions prevented significant numbers of new cases.
So is Christmas worth it?
Arguing against seeing your grandparents this yuletide might make you feel like the proverbial killjoy. No one is suggesting that Christmas should be banned. But scaling back Christmas to a level well below the usual levels of excess – at this point in history – is vital. Vaccines are on their way, but the pandemic is still a long way from being over.
Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-12-04--Is Dwight Eisenhower's ghost haunting Joe Biden's foreign policy team?

In his first words as President-elect Joe Biden 's nominee for secretary of state , Antony Blinken said , `` We have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence . ''
Many around the world will welcome this promise of humility from the new administration , and Americans should too .
Biden 's foreign policy team will also need a special kind of confidence to confront the most serious challenge they face .
That will not be a threat from a hostile foreign country , but the controlling and corrupting power of the military-industrial complex , which President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago , but whose `` unwarranted influence '' has only grown ever since , as Eisenhower warned , and in spite of his warning .
The COVID pandemic is a tragic demonstration of why America 's new leaders should listen humbly to our neighbors around the world instead of trying to reassert American `` leadership . ''
While the United States compromised with a deadly virus to protect corporate financial interests , abandoning Americans to both the pandemic and its economic effects , other countries put their people 's health first and contained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Many of those people have since returned to living normal , healthy lives .
Biden and Blinken should listen humbly to their leaders and learn from them , instead of continuing to promote the U.S. neoliberal model that is failing us so badly .
As efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines begin to bear fruit , America is doubling down on its mistakes , relying on Big Pharma to produce expensive , profitable vaccines on an America First basis , even as China , Russia , the WHO 's Covax program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low-cost vaccines wherever they are needed around the world .
Chinese vaccines are already in use in Indonesia , Malaysia and the UAE , and China is lending money to poorer countries that ca n't afford to pay for them up front .
At the recent G20 summit , German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her Western colleagues that they are being eclipsed by China 's vaccine diplomacy .
Russia has orders from 50 countries for 1.2 billion doses of its Sputnik V vaccine .
President Vladimir Putin told the G20 that vaccines should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ universally available to rich and poor countries alike , and that Russia will provide them wherever they are needed .
The U.K. and Sweden 's Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine is another nonprofit venture that will cost about $ 3 per dose , a small fraction of the U.S. 's Pfizer and Moderna products .
From the beginning of the pandemic , it was predictable that U.S. failures and other countries ' successes would reshape global leadership .
When the world finally recovers from this pandemic , people around the world will thank China , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saving their lives and helping them in their hour of need .
The Biden administration must also help our neighbors to defeat the pandemic , and it must do better than Trump and his corporate mafia in that respect .
But it is already too late to speak of American leadership in this context .
The neoliberal roots of U.S. bad behavior Decades of U.S. bad behavior in other areas have already led to a broader decline in American global leadership .
The U.S. refusal to join the Kyoto Protocol or any binding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an otherwise avoidable existential crisis for the entire human race , even as the United States is still producing record amounts of oil and natural gas .
Biden 's climate czar John Kerry now says that the agreement he negotiated in Paris as secretary of state `` is not enough , '' but he has only himself and Barack Obama to blame for that .
Obama 's policy was to boost fracked natural gas as a `` bridge fuel '' for U.S. power plants , and to quash any possibility of a binding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. climate policy , like the U.S. response to COVID , is a corrupt compromise between science and self-serving corporate interests that has predictably proved to be no solution at all .
If Biden and Kerry bring more of that kind of American leadership to the Glasgow climate conference in 2021 , humanity must reject it as a matter of survival .
America 's post-9/11 `` Global War on Terror , '' more accurately a `` global war of terror , '' has fueled war , chaos and terrorism across the world .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence could somehow put an end to terrorism quickly devolved into a cynical pretext for `` regime change '' wars against any country that resisted the imperial dictates of the wannabe `` superpower . ''
Secretary of State Colin Powell privately dubbed his colleagues the `` fucking crazies , '' even as he lied to the UN Security Council and the world to advance their plans for illegal aggression against Iraq .
Joe Biden 's critical role as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to orchestrate hearings that promoted their lies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenged them .
The resulting spiral of violence has killed millions of people , from 7,037 American troop deaths to five assassinations of Iranian scientists ( under Obama and now Trump ) .
Most of the victims have been either innocent civilians or people just trying to defend themselves , their families or their countries from foreign invaders , U.S.-trained death squads or actual CIA-backed terrorists .
Former Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz told NPR only a week after the crimes of September 11 , `` It can never be legitimate to punish people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done .
We must make a distinction between punishing the guilty and punishing others . ''
Neither Afghanistan , Iraq , Somalia , Pakistan , Palestine , Libya , Syria nor Yemen was responsible for the crimes of September 11 , and yet U.S. and allied armed forces have filled miles upon miles of graveyards with the bodies of their innocent people .
Like the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis , the unimaginable horror of the `` war on terror '' is another calamitous case of corrupt U.S. policy-making leading to massive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that dictate and pervert U.S. policy , in particular the supremely powerful military-industrial complex , marginalized the inconvenient truths that none of these countries had attacked or even threatened to attack the United States , and that U.S. and allied attacks on them violated the most fundamental principles of international law .
If Biden and his team genuinely aspire for the United States to play a leading and constructive role in the world , they must find a way to turn the page on this ugly episode in the already bloody history of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders , has called for a formal commission to investigate how U.S. policymakers so deliberately and systematically violated and undermined the `` rules-based international order '' that their grandparents so carefully and wisely built after two world wars that killed a hundred million people .
Others have observed that the remedy provided for by that rules-based order would be to prosecute senior U.S. officials .
That would probably include Biden and some of his team .
Ferencz has noted that the U.S. case for `` preemptive '' war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defendants used to justify their crimes of aggression at Nuremberg .
`` That argument was considered by three American judges at Nuremberg , '' Ferencz explained , `` and they sentenced [ Otto ] Ohlendorf and 12 others to death by hanging .
So it 's very disappointing to find that my government today is prepared to do something for which we hanged Germans as war criminals . ''
Time to Break the Cross of Iron Another critical problem facing the Biden team is the deterioration of U.S. relations with China and Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primarily defensive , and therefore cost a small fraction of what the U.S. spends on its global war machine — 9 % in the case of Russia , and 36 % for China .
Russia , of all countries , has sound historical reasons to maintain strong defenses , and does so very cost-effectively .
As former President Jimmy Carter reminded Trump , China has not been at war since a brief border war with Vietnam in 1979 , and has instead focused on economic development and lifted 800 million people out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ squandering its wealth on its lost wars .
Is it any wonder that China 's economy is now healthier and more dynamic than ours ?
For the United States to blame Russia and China for America 's unprecedented military spending and global militarism is a cynical reversal of cause and effect — as much of a nonsense and an injustice as using the crimes of September 11 as a pretext to attack countries and kill people who had nothing to do with the crimes committed .
So here too , Biden 's team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on objective reality and a deceptive one driven by the capture of U.S. policy by corrupt interests , in this case the most powerful of them all , Eisenhower 's infamous military-industrial complex .
Biden 's officials have spent their careers in a hall of mirrors and revolving doors that conflates and confuses defense with corrupt , self-serving militarism , but our future now depends on rescuing our country from that deal with the devil .
As the saying goes , the only tool the U.S. has invested in is a hammer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nail .
The U.S. response to every dispute with another country is an expensive new weapons system , another U.S. military intervention , a coup , a covert operation , a proxy war , tighter sanctions or some other form of coercion , all based on the supposed power of the U.S. to impose its will on other countries , but all increasingly ineffective , destructive and impossible to undo once unleashed .
This has led to war without end in Afghanistan and Iraq ; it has left Haiti , Honduras and Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result of U.S.-backed coups ; it has destroyed Libya , Syria and Yemen with covert and proxy wars and resulting humanitarian crises ; and to U.S. sanctions that affect a third of humanity .
So the first question for the first meeting of Biden 's foreign policy team should be whether they can sever their loyalties to the arms manufacturers , corporate-funded think tanks , lobbying and consultant firms , government contractors and corporations they have worked for or partnered with during their careers .
These conflicts of interest amount to a sickness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problems facing America and the world , and they will not be resolved without a clean break .
Any member of Biden 's team who can not make that commitment and mean it should resign now , before they do any more damage .
Long before his farewell speech in 1961 , Eisenhower made another speech , responding to the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 .
He said , `` Every gun that is made , every warship launched , every rocket fired signifies , in the final sense , a theft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fed , those who are cold and are not clothed .
...
This is not a way of life at all , in any true sense .
Under the cloud of threatening war , it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron . ''
In his first year in office , Eisenhower ended the Korean War and cut military spending by 39 % from its wartime peak .
Then he resisted pressures to raise it again , despite his failure to end the Cold War .
Today , the military-industrial complex is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War against Russia and China as the key to its future power and profits , to keep us hanging from this rusty old cross of iron , squandering America 's wealth on trillion-dollar weapons programs as people go hungry , millions of Americans have no health care and our climate becomes unlivable .
Are Joe Biden , Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan the kind of leaders to just say no to the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about , and consign this cross of iron to the junkyard of history where it belongs @ @ @ @ @ @ @

In his first words as President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken said, "We have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence." Many around the world will welcome this promise of humility from the new administration, and Americans should too.
Biden's foreign policy team will also need a special kind of confidence to confront the most serious challenge they face. That will not be a threat from a hostile foreign country, but the controlling and corrupting power of the military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower warned our grandparents about 60 years ago, but whose "unwarranted influence" has only grown ever since, as Eisenhower warned, and in spite of his warning.
The COVID pandemic is a tragic demonstration of why America's new leaders should listen humbly to our neighbors around the world instead of trying to reassert American "leadership." While the United States compromised with a deadly virus to protect corporate financial interests, abandoning Americans to both the pandemic and its economic effects, other countries put their people's health first and contained, controlled or even eliminated the virus.
Many of those people have since returned to living normal, healthy lives. Biden and Blinken should listen humbly to their leaders and learn from them, instead of continuing to promote the U.S. neoliberal model that is failing us so badly.
As efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines begin to bear fruit, America is doubling down on its mistakes, relying on Big Pharma to produce expensive, profitable vaccines on an America First basis, even as China, Russia, the WHO's Covax program and others are already starting to provide low-cost vaccines wherever they are needed around the world.
Chinese vaccines are already in use in Indonesia, Malaysia and the UAE, and China is lending money to poorer countries that can't afford to pay for them up front. At the recent G20 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her Western colleagues that they are being eclipsed by China's vaccine diplomacy.
Russia has orders from 50 countries for 1.2 billion doses of its Sputnik V vaccine. President Vladimir Putin told the G20 that vaccines should be "common public assets," universally available to rich and poor countries alike, and that Russia will provide them wherever they are needed.
The U.K. and Sweden's Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine is another nonprofit venture that will cost about $3 per dose, a small fraction of the U.S.'s Pfizer and Moderna products.
From the beginning of the pandemic, it was predictable that U.S. failures and other countries' successes would reshape global leadership. When the world finally recovers from this pandemic, people around the world will thank China, Russia, Cuba and other countries for saving their lives and helping them in their hour of need.
The Biden administration must also help our neighbors to defeat the pandemic, and it must do better than Trump and his corporate mafia in that respect. But it is already too late to speak of American leadership in this context.
The neoliberal roots of U.S. bad behavior
Decades of U.S. bad behavior in other areas have already led to a broader decline in American global leadership. The U.S. refusal to join the Kyoto Protocol or any binding agreement on climate change has led to an otherwise avoidable existential crisis for the entire human race, even as the United States is still producing record amounts of oil and natural gas. Biden's climate czar John Kerry now says that the agreement he negotiated in Paris as secretary of state "is not enough," but he has only himself and Barack Obama to blame for that.
Obama's policy was to boost fracked natural gas as a "bridge fuel" for U.S. power plants, and to quash any possibility of a binding climate treaty in Copenhagen or Paris. U.S. climate policy, like the U.S. response to COVID, is a corrupt compromise between science and self-serving corporate interests that has predictably proved to be no solution at all. If Biden and Kerry bring more of that kind of American leadership to the Glasgow climate conference in 2021, humanity must reject it as a matter of survival.
America's post-9/11 "Global War on Terror," more accurately a "global war of terror," has fueled war, chaos and terrorism across the world. The absurd notion that widespread U.S military violence could somehow put an end to terrorism quickly devolved into a cynical pretext for "regime change" wars against any country that resisted the imperial dictates of the wannabe "superpower."
Secretary of State Colin Powell privately dubbed his colleagues the "fucking crazies," even as he lied to the UN Security Council and the world to advance their plans for illegal aggression against Iraq. Joe Biden's critical role as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to orchestrate hearings that promoted their lies and excluded dissident voices who would have challenged them.
The resulting spiral of violence has killed millions of people, from 7,037 American troop deaths to five assassinations of Iranian scientists (under Obama and now Trump). Most of the victims have been either innocent civilians or people just trying to defend themselves, their families or their countries from foreign invaders, U.S.-trained death squads or actual CIA-backed terrorists.
Former Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz told NPR only a week after the crimes of September 11, "It can never be legitimate to punish people who are not responsible for the wrong done. We must make a distinction between punishing the guilty and punishing others." Neither Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Palestine, Libya, Syria nor Yemen was responsible for the crimes of September 11, and yet U.S. and allied armed forces have filled miles upon miles of graveyards with the bodies of their innocent people.
Like the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis, the unimaginable horror of the "war on terror" is another calamitous case of corrupt U.S. policy-making leading to massive loss of life. The vested interests that dictate and pervert U.S. policy, in particular the supremely powerful military-industrial complex, marginalized the inconvenient truths that none of these countries had attacked or even threatened to attack the United States, and that U.S. and allied attacks on them violated the most fundamental principles of international law.
If Biden and his team genuinely aspire for the United States to play a leading and constructive role in the world, they must find a way to turn the page on this ugly episode in the already bloody history of American foreign policy. Matt Duss, an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders, has called for a formal commission to investigate how U.S. policymakers so deliberately and systematically violated and undermined the "rules-based international order" that their grandparents so carefully and wisely built after two world wars that killed a hundred million people.
Others have observed that the remedy provided for by that rules-based order would be to prosecute senior U.S. officials. That would probably include Biden and some of his team. Ferencz has noted that the U.S. case for "preemptive" war is the same argument that the German defendants used to justify their crimes of aggression at Nuremberg.
"That argument was considered by three American judges at Nuremberg," Ferencz explained, "and they sentenced [Otto] Ohlendorf and 12 others to death by hanging. So it's very disappointing to find that my government today is prepared to do something for which we hanged Germans as war criminals."
Time to Break the Cross of Iron
Another critical problem facing the Biden team is the deterioration of U.S. relations with China and Russia. Both countries' military forces are primarily defensive, and therefore cost a small fraction of what the U.S. spends on its global war machine — 9% in the case of Russia, and 36% for China. Russia, of all countries, has sound historical reasons to maintain strong defenses, and does so very cost-effectively.
As former President Jimmy Carter reminded Trump, China has not been at war since a brief border war with Vietnam in 1979, and has instead focused on economic development and lifted 800 million people out of poverty, while the U.S. has been squandering its wealth on its lost wars. Is it any wonder that China's economy is now healthier and more dynamic than ours?
For the United States to blame Russia and China for America's unprecedented military spending and global militarism is a cynical reversal of cause and effect — as much of a nonsense and an injustice as using the crimes of September 11 as a pretext to attack countries and kill people who had nothing to do with the crimes committed.
So here too, Biden's team face a stark choice between a policy based on objective reality and a deceptive one driven by the capture of U.S. policy by corrupt interests, in this case the most powerful of them all, Eisenhower's infamous military-industrial complex. Biden's officials have spent their careers in a hall of mirrors and revolving doors that conflates and confuses defense with corrupt, self-serving militarism, but our future now depends on rescuing our country from that deal with the devil.
As the saying goes, the only tool the U.S. has invested in is a hammer, so every problem looks like a nail. The U.S. response to every dispute with another country is an expensive new weapons system, another U.S. military intervention, a coup, a covert operation, a proxy war, tighter sanctions or some other form of coercion, all based on the supposed power of the U.S. to impose its will on other countries, but all increasingly ineffective, destructive and impossible to undo once unleashed.
This has led to war without end in Afghanistan and Iraq; it has left Haiti, Honduras and Ukraine destabilized and mired in poverty as the result of U.S.-backed coups; it has destroyed Libya, Syria and Yemen with covert and proxy wars and resulting humanitarian crises; and to U.S. sanctions that affect a third of humanity.
So the first question for the first meeting of Biden's foreign policy team should be whether they can sever their loyalties to the arms manufacturers, corporate-funded think tanks, lobbying and consultant firms, government contractors and corporations they have worked for or partnered with during their careers.
These conflicts of interest amount to a sickness at the roots of the most serious problems facing America and the world, and they will not be resolved without a clean break. Any member of Biden's team who cannot make that commitment and mean it should resign now, before they do any more damage.
Long before his farewell speech in 1961, Eisenhower made another speech, responding to the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. He said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. ... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
In his first year in office, Eisenhower ended the Korean War and cut military spending by 39% from its wartime peak. Then he resisted pressures to raise it again, despite his failure to end the Cold War.
Today, the military-industrial complex is counting on a reversion to the Cold War against Russia and China as the key to its future power and profits, to keep us hanging from this rusty old cross of iron, squandering America's wealth on trillion-dollar weapons programs as people go hungry, millions of Americans have no health care and our climate becomes unlivable.
Are Joe Biden, Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan the kind of leaders to just say no to the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about, and consign this cross of iron to the junkyard of history where it belongs? We will soon find out.


alternet--2020-12-04--Bombshell report outs Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for lying to people about COVID-19

Florida Gov .
Ron DeSantis spent the majority of 2020 misleading his state on the facts around the COVID-19 crisis .
A bombshell report from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel detailed the ways in which DeSantis suppressed bad news , spread `` dangerous misinformation , '' and ignored inconvenient facts about the virus .
`` The DeSantis administration 's approach to managing COVID-19 information carries costs , '' the report said .
`` It supports a climate in which people proudly disdain masks , engage in dangerous group activities that could spread the disease , and brush aside information that conflicts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ packing Florida bars and holiday travelers filling hotels and guest rooms , the state faces a few difficult months before the possible relief of vaccines . ''
Early on in the pandemic , DeSantis was attacked for his downplaying of the virus in a state known for having a lot of elderly residents .
In one scandal , DeSantis blocked public health experts from revealing the true rate of infection in Florida .
Even today , the truthful number of infections and deaths for the past year is n't known .
Even when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeSantis dismissed it as a `` blip , '' which drew attacks from healthcare experts working in hospitals .
As the virus continued to spread , DeSantis ignored it to such a degree that newspapers around the state began to beg him for help publicly .
A July expose from the Washington Post labeled DeSantis a `` failure '' for opting to prioritize politics `` divorced from scientific evidence . ''
`` As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus , Gov .
Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the governor 's schedule .
His health department has sidelined scientists , halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating , '' the newspaper reported .
In the Sun-Sentinel report cites `` 50 people , including scientists , doctors , political leaders , employees of the state health department , and other state officials , as well as more than 4,000 pages of documents . ''
The extensively-sourced reporting walks through a shocking timeline of intentional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands .
`` He is encouraging people who are of the opinion that the virus is not as severe and profound as others say it is and putting politics before science , '' the report cited Thomas Unnasch , co-director of the Center for Global Health and Infectious Disease Research at the University of South Florida .
Read the bombshell report at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel .

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent the majority of 2020 misleading his state on the facts around the COVID-19 crisis. A bombshell report from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel detailed the ways in which DeSantis suppressed bad news, spread "dangerous misinformation," and ignored inconvenient facts about the virus.
"The DeSantis administration's approach to managing COVID-19 information carries costs," the report said. "It supports a climate in which people proudly disdain masks, engage in dangerous group activities that could spread the disease, and brush aside information that conflicts with their political views. With partygoers packing Florida bars and holiday travelers filling hotels and guest rooms, the state faces a few difficult months before the possible relief of vaccines."
Early on in the pandemic, DeSantis was attacked for his downplaying of the virus in a state known for having a lot of elderly residents. In one scandal, DeSantis blocked public health experts from revealing the true rate of infection in Florida. Even today, the truthful number of infections and deaths for the past year isn't known. Even when there was an uptick in cases, DeSantis dismissed it as a "blip," which drew attacks from healthcare experts working in hospitals.
As the virus continued to spread, DeSantis ignored it to such a degree that newspapers around the state began to beg him for help publicly.
A July expose from the Washington Post labeled DeSantis a "failure" for opting to prioritize politics "divorced from scientific evidence."
"As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating," the newspaper reported.
In the Sun-Sentinel report cites "50 people, including scientists, doctors, political leaders, employees of the state health department, and other state officials, as well as more than 4,000 pages of documents." The extensively-sourced reporting walks through a shocking timeline of intentional actions that lead to the deaths of thousands.
"He is encouraging people who are of the opinion that the virus is not as severe and profound as others say it is and putting politics before science," the report cited Thomas Unnasch, co-director of the Center for Global Health and Infectious Disease Research at the University of South Florida.
Read the bombshell report at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.


alternet--2020-12-04--Trump ready to pardon his family and close aides -- but there's one major catch that's holding him b

Trump ready to pardon his family and close aides -- but there's one major catch that's holding him back

President Donald Trump is ready to hand out pardons left and right , but that get-out-of-jail card carries some possibly @ @ @ @ @ has compiled a list of about 20 aides , associates and family members -- including @ @ @ @ @ Trump , Ivanka Trump , Jared Kushner and Rudy Giuliani -- he would like to @ @ @ @ @ hesitant to do so , reported Politico .
Trump is worried that a pardon spree @ @ @ @ @ look like a bunch of criminals , according to a person familiar with the discussions @ @ @ @ @ act as an admission of guilt , and some of Trump 's advisers are worried @ @ @ @ @ expected 2024 presidential campaign .
The White House did n't comment on Politico 's report @ @ @ @ @ speaks to the president and supports his potential 2024 campaign does n't think a pardon @ @ @ @ @ `` It 's a big deal to Beltway types but not regular Americans , '' @ @ @ @

President Donald Trump is ready to hand out pardons left and right, but that get-out-of-jail card carries some possibly insurmountable risks.
The president has compiled a list of about 20 aides, associates and family members -- including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Rudy Giuliani -- he would like to pardon, but he's hesitant to do so, reported Politico.
Trump is worried that a pardon spree would make his inner circle look like a bunch of criminals, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The pardons would effectively act as an admission of guilt, and some of Trump's advisers are worried they would harm his widely expected 2024 presidential campaign.
The White House didn't comment on Politico's report, but a Republican who speaks to the president and supports his potential 2024 campaign doesn't think a pardon spree would hurt him.
"It's a big deal to Beltway types but not regular Americans," that person said.


alternet--2020-12-04--A Trump aide was banned from the Justice Department for pressuring staff for info on ongoing cases:

A Trump aide was banned from the Justice Department for pressuring staff for info on ongoing cases: report

Within the past two weeks , as President Donald Trump spread lies about voter fraud and refused to accept his loss of the November election , White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in the nation 's capital for pressuring staff to give her inside information about investigations into election fraud and other issues , the Associated Press revealed Thursday .
The move came just a few months after Stirrup `` was quietly installed '' to serve as the president 's `` eyes and ears '' at the department , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a close ally of Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller , the mastermind behind the administration 's cruel immigration agenda .
Stirrup was previously acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services .
`` Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel 's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human resources policies , '' the AP reported .
The outlet noted that though she was told to vacate the premises , Stirrup `` technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel . ''
The report broke as the White House on Thursday announced her appointment to the board of visitors to the United States Air Force Academy .
Along with Stirrup 's appointment , Trump announced several others—including lobbyist Brian Ballard to the board of trustees of the John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and lobbyist Jeffrey Miller to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council .
Regarding those two appointments , the Daily Beast reported that `` the apparent parting gift for two of the president 's most lavish financial supporters installs them in largely ceremonial roles where they will serve well into President-elect Joe Biden 's administration . ''
While Biden is assembling his administration in the lead-up to his inauguration planned for January 20 , Trump continues to tweet baseless allegations about election fraud and file lawsuits contesting the results—even though his own attorney general @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier this week that the DOJ has seen no evidence of voter fraud that would change the outcome .
The interview sparked speculation that Barr will soon become just the latest official to be fired for defying the president , as well as surprise .
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ( CREW ) tweeted : `` Not even AG Bill Barr , one of Trump 's most notorious enablers , is willing to keep up the pretense of fraud in the 2020 election .
That says a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , telling reporters during an unrelated event in the Oval Office that Barr `` has n't done anything '' about the president 's unfounded allegations of election fraud and that DOJ officials `` have n't looked very hard , which is a disappointment , to be honest with you . ''
Meanwhile , Wisconsin 's right-wing Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear one of the many lawsuits that the Trump campaign has filed in an effort to throw out legally cast ballots .
This particular case , filed earlier this week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two of the state 's most Democratic counties .

Within the past two weeks, as President Donald Trump spread lies about voter fraud and refused to accept his loss of the November election, White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in the nation's capital for pressuring staff to give her inside information about investigations into election fraud and other issues, the Associated Pressrevealed Thursday.
The move came just a few months after Stirrup "was quietly installed" to serve as the president's "eyes and ears" at the department, according to the AP, which noted that she is a close ally of Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, the mastermind behind the administration's cruel immigration agenda. Stirrup was previously acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government's human resources policies," the AP reported.
The outlet noted that though she was told to vacate the premises, Stirrup "technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel." The report broke as the White House on Thursday announced her appointment to the board of visitors to the United States Air Force Academy.
Along with Stirrup's appointment, Trump announced several others—including lobbyist Brian Ballard to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and lobbyist Jeffrey Miller to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Regarding those two appointments, the Daily Beastreported that "the apparent parting gift for two of the president's most lavish financial supporters installs them in largely ceremonial roles where they will serve well into President-elect Joe Biden's administration."
While Biden is assembling his administration in the lead-up to his inauguration planned for January 20, Trump continues to tweet baseless allegations about election fraud and file lawsuits contesting the results—even though his own attorney general, William Barr, told the AP earlier this week that the DOJ has seen no evidence of voter fraud that would change the outcome.
The interview sparked speculation that Barr will soon become just the latest official to be fired for defying the president, as well as surprise. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted: "Not even AG Bill Barr, one of Trump's most notorious enablers, is willing to keep up the pretense of fraud in the 2020 election. That says a lot."
Trump fired back on Thursday, telling reporters during an unrelated event in the Oval Office that Barr "hasn't done anything" about the president's unfounded allegations of election fraud and that DOJ officials "haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you."
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's right-wing Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear one of the many lawsuits that the Trump campaign has filed in an effort to throw out legally cast ballots. This particular case, filed earlier this week, is about more than 221,000 ballots in two of the state's most Democratic counties.


alternet--2020-12-04--Trump's disordered psyche cannot handle his loss — and he must be stopped from wreaking havoc now

Jan. 20 can not get here fast enough .
Donald Trump is running wild with his disingenuous and false proclamations of a rigged election , rampant voter fraud and a stolen victory .
Unbelievably , he is now claiming that the FBI and Department of Justice contributed to his fantastical claims of voter fraud .
We have 50 days to go to survive this madman 's deceitful and harmful rhetoric .
Let us be clear : Joe Biden won the election fair and square in what has arguably been the most scrutinized election in recent U.S. history .
Trump has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a shred of evidence of massive voter fraud has been offered .
In fact , his attorneys , with their bar licenses on the line , have repeatedly stated on the record , `` This is not a fraud case . ''
Yet Trump persists with his attention-seeking rants and raves .
Trump has lost .
His psyche can not handle the reality of the moment — that he has been repudiated by the American people .
He is embarrassed , humiliated and scared , quite likely because he knows he is facing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaves office .
Trump is desperately trying to hold onto power to save his own hide .
This is about his self-preservation .
This is about him hiding out in the Oval Office so that he can avoid incarceration .
To be sure , Trump 's desperation is a confession-of-sorts of his wrongdoing .
Donald Trump is our outgoing president .
He is old news .
His voice is irrelevant .
He has lost the bully pulpit .
He should be packing his bags .
He should be out of view .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his life as a civilian .
We should not be giving Trump air time over the next 50 days .
His lies , conspiracy theories and fake assertions are toxic .
His Twitter account should be suspended or canceled .
Television networks should not air his blather .
He should not be quoted in newspapers or on websites .
We should stop talking about him at the dinner table at home , with co-workers or in our online interactions .
He needs to be out of our minds and out of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and defiant young child , Trump needs to be put in timeout — indefinitely .
He should be silenced .
He should be sequestered .
We must not allow him to have the attention he thrives on — and any attention is positive reinforcement to him .
The media must not allow his virulent voice to be heard .
Frankly , the media must stop normalizing his behavior , must stop trying to fit an ordered framework around his mentally disordered mind , and must stop using charming , storytelling descriptions such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from this reckless and unfit president will be felt for decades .
A necessary first step is to cut off the source .
Joe Biden is our future .
He and Kamala Harris are the adults in the room who will provide strong and empathic leadership .
The media should attend to their ideas , their plans and their expectations .
Unity , inclusiveness and honesty is their mantra going forward .
Let 's give them our eyes and our ears .
They deserve our full engagement now .
Trump should not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way out .
It 's not like he is trying to attend to the pandemic or solve our economic woes .
It 's not like he is trying to save lives or pass a stimulus package for Americans who are suffering .
No , all he is doing is promulgating false and fake conspiracy theories about the election — none of which are even remotely true .
Worse than that , he has unsuccessfully tried to subvert democracy by overthrowing our election results .
Donald Trump 's disordered psyche is his own damn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four years trying to navigate his erratic , nonsensical and inept behavior .
It should not be our country 's concern any longer .
Trump needs a psychotherapist and likely some very strong medicine .
That 's his business .
What we need is for him to leave us the hell alone .
Donald Trump needs to be gone .
Short of members of his Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment — which will not happen — we need to cut off his ravenous desire for attention .
It is obvious that congressional Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president to be quiet .
They have proven themselves to be spineless cowards who can not put country over their own political fortunes .
They need to tell Trump to abandon his pernicious rhetoric and to focus on the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden .
We should demand the silence of this miserable , desperate , pathetic man .
He needs to be put in timeout — indefinitely .
Seth D. Norrholm is an associate professor of psychiatry in the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit .
Anthony Scaramucci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director of communications .
He lives in Washington .

Jan. 20 cannot get here fast enough. Donald Trump is running wild with his disingenuous and false proclamations of a rigged election, rampant voter fraud and a stolen victory. Unbelievably, he is now claiming that the FBI and Department of Justice contributed to his fantastical claims of voter fraud. We have 50 days to go to survive this madman's deceitful and harmful rhetoric.
Let us be clear: Joe Biden won the election fair and square in what has arguably been the most scrutinized election in recent U.S. history. Trump has filed baseless and frivolous lawsuits and not a shred of evidence of massive voter fraud has been offered. In fact, his attorneys, with their bar licenses on the line, have repeatedly stated on the record, "This is not a fraud case." Yet Trump persists with his attention-seeking rants and raves.
Trump has lost. His psyche cannot handle the reality of the moment — that he has been repudiated by the American people. He is embarrassed, humiliated and scared, quite likely because he knows he is facing federal and state criminal charges once he leaves office. Trump is desperately trying to hold onto power to save his own hide. This is about his self-preservation. This is about him hiding out in the Oval Office so that he can avoid incarceration. To be sure, Trump's desperation is a confession-of-sorts of his wrongdoing.
Donald Trump is our outgoing president. He is old news. His voice is irrelevant. He has lost the bully pulpit. He should be packing his bags. He should be out of view. He should be saying goodbye and making plans for his life as a civilian.
We should not be giving Trump air time over the next 50 days. His lies, conspiracy theories and fake assertions are toxic. His Twitter account should be suspended or canceled. Television networks should not air his blather. He should not be quoted in newspapers or on websites. We should stop talking about him at the dinner table at home, with co-workers or in our online interactions. He needs to be out of our minds and out of the public consciousness.
Just like a screaming and defiant young child, Trump needs to be put in timeout — indefinitely. He should be silenced. He should be sequestered. We must not allow him to have the attention he thrives on — and any attention is positive reinforcement to him. The media must not allow his virulent voice to be heard.
Frankly, the media must stop normalizing his behavior, must stop trying to fit an ordered framework around his mentally disordered mind, and must stop using charming, storytelling descriptions such as "Mad King." The damage from this reckless and unfit president will be felt for decades. A necessary first step is to cut off the source.
Joe Biden is our future. He and Kamala Harris are the adults in the room who will provide strong and empathic leadership. The media should attend to their ideas, their plans and their expectations. Unity, inclusiveness and honesty is their mantra going forward. Let's give them our eyes and our ears. They deserve our full engagement now.
Trump should not be allowed to cause more damage on his way out. It's not like he is trying to attend to the pandemic or solve our economic woes. It's not like he is trying to save lives or pass a stimulus package for Americans who are suffering. No, all he is doing is promulgating false and fake conspiracy theories about the election — none of which are even remotely true. Worse than that, he has unsuccessfully tried to subvert democracy by overthrowing our election results.
Donald Trump's disordered psyche is his own damn problem. We have spent the past four years trying to navigate his erratic, nonsensical and inept behavior. It should not be our country's concern any longer. Trump needs a psychotherapist and likely some very strong medicine. That's his business. What we need is for him to leave us the hell alone.
Donald Trump needs to be gone. Short of members of his Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment — which will not happen — we need to cut off his ravenous desire for attention.
It is obvious that congressional Republicans will not put pressure on the outgoing president to be quiet. They have proven themselves to be spineless cowards who cannot put country over their own political fortunes. They need to tell Trump to abandon his pernicious rhetoric and to focus on the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.
We should demand the silence of this miserable, desperate, pathetic man.
He needs to be put in timeout — indefinitely.
ALAN D. BLOTCKY
Alan D. Blotcky, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in Birmingham, Alabama.
MORE FROM ALAN D. BLOTCKY
SETH D. NORRHOLM
Seth D. Norrholm is an associate professor of psychiatry in the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.
MORE FROM SETH D. NORRHOLM
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI
Anthony Scaramucci is a financier and past White House director of communications. He lives in Washington.
MORE FROM ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI


alternet--2020-12-05--Here's what an astronomer who believes aliens may be out there thinks about UFOs

If intelligent aliens visit the Earth , it would be one of the most profound events in human history .
Surveys show that nearly half of Americans believe that aliens have visited the Earth , either in the ancient past or recently .
That percentage has been increasing .
Belief in alien visitation is greater than belief that Bigfoot is a real creature , but less than belief that places can be haunted by spirits .
Scientists dismiss these beliefs as not representing real physical phenomena .
They do n't deny the existence of intelligent aliens .
But they set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 've been visited by creatures from another star system .
As Carl Sagan said , “ Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence . ''
I 'm a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on the search for life in the universe .
I also teach a free online class on astrobiology .
Full disclosure : I have not personally seen a UFO .
UFO means unidentified flying object .
Nothing more , nothing less .
There 's a long history of UFO sightings .
Air Force studies of UFOs have been going on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States , “ ground zero '' for UFOs occurred in 1947 in Roswell , New Mexico .
The fact that the Roswell incident was soon explained as the crash landing of a military high-altitude balloon did n't stem a tide of new sightings .
The majority of UFOs appear to people in the United States .
It 's curious that Asia and Africa have so few sightings despite their large populations , and even more surprising that the sightings stop at the Canadian and Mexican borders .
Most UFOs have mundane explanations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fireballs and the planet Venus .
Such bright objects are familiar to astronomers but are often not recognized by members of the public .
Reports of visits from UFOs inexplicably peaked about six years ago .
Many people who say they have seen UFOs are either dog walkers or smokers .
Why ?
Because they 're outside the most .
Sightings concentrate in evening hours , particularly on Fridays , when many people are relaxing with one or more drinks .
A few people , like former NASA employee James Oberg , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find conventional explanations for decades of UFO sightings .
Most astronomers find the hypothesis of alien visits implausible , so they concentrate their energy on the exciting scientific search for life beyond the Earth .
Are we alone ?
While UFOs continue to swirl in the popular culture , scientists are trying to answer the big question that is raised by UFOs : Are we alone ?
Astronomers have discovered over 4,000 exoplanets , or planets orbiting other stars , a number that doubles every two years .
Some of these exoplanets are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Earth 's mass and at the right distance from their stars to have water on their surfaces .
The nearest of these habitable planets are less than 20 light years away , in our cosmic “ back yard . ''
Extrapolating from these results leads to a projection of 300 million habitable worlds in our galaxy .
Each of these Earth-like planets is a potential biological experiment , and there have been billions of years since they formed for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge .
Astronomers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Earth .
As astronomer and ace exoplanet-hunter Geoff Marcy , puts it , “ The universe is apparently bulging at the seams with the ingredients of biology . ''
There are many steps in the progression from Earths with suitable conditions for life to intelligent aliens hopping from star to star .
Astronomers use the Drake Equation to estimate the number of technological alien civilizations in our galaxy .
There are many uncertainties in the Drake Equation , but interpreting it in the light of recent exoplanet discoveries makes it very unlikely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first , advanced civilization .
This confidence has fueled an active search for intelligent life , which has been unsuccessful so far .
So researchers have recast the question “ Are we alone ? ''
to “ Where are they ? ''
The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called the Fermi Paradox .
Even if intelligent aliens do exist , there are a number of reasons why we might not have found them and they might not have found us .
Scientists do not discount the idea of aliens .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence to date because it is unreliable , or because there are so many other more mundane explanations .
UFOs are part of the landscape of conspiracy theories , including accounts of abduction by aliens and crop circles created by aliens .
I remain skeptical that intelligent beings with vastly superior technology would travel trillion of miles just to press down our wheat .
It 's useful to consider UFOs as a cultural phenomenon .
Diana Pasulka , a professor at the University of North Carolina , notes that myths and religions are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
To my mind , UFOs have become a kind of new American religion .
[ Deep knowledge , daily .
Sign up for The Conversation 's newsletter . ]
So no , I do n't think belief in UFOs is crazy , because some flying objects are unidentified , and the existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible .
But a study of young adults did find that UFO belief is associated with schizotypal personality , a tendency toward social anxiety , paranoid ideas and transient psychosis .
If you believe in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other unconventional beliefs you have .
I 'm not signing on to the UFO “ religion , '' so call me an agnostic .
I recall the aphorism popularized by Carl Sagan , “ It pays to keep an open mind , but not so open your brains fall out . ''
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

by Chris Impey, University of Arizona
If intelligent aliens visit the Earth, it would be one of the most profound events in human history.
Surveys show that nearly half of Americans believe that aliens have visited the Earth, either in the ancient past or recently. That percentage has been increasing. Belief in alien visitation is greater than belief that Bigfoot is a real creature, but less than belief that places can be haunted by spirits.
Scientists dismiss these beliefs as not representing real physical phenomena. They don't deny the existence of intelligent aliens. But they set a high bar for proof that we've been visited by creatures from another star system. As Carl Sagan said, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
I'm a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on the search for life in the universe. I also teach a free online class on astrobiology. Full disclosure: I have not personally seen a UFO.
Unidentified flying objects
UFO means unidentified flying object. Nothing more, nothing less.
There's a long history of UFO sightings. Air Force studies of UFOs have been going on since the 1940s. In the United States, “ground zero" for UFOs occurred in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. The fact that the Roswell incident was soon explained as the crash landing of a military high-altitude balloon didn't stem a tide of new sightings. The majority of UFOs appear to people in the United States. It's curious that Asia and Africa have so few sightings despite their large populations, and even more surprising that the sightings stop at the Canadian and Mexican borders.
Most UFOs have mundane explanations. Over half can be attributed to meteors, fireballs and the planet Venus. Such bright objects are familiar to astronomers but are often not recognized by members of the public. Reports of visits from UFOs inexplicably peaked about six years ago.
Many people who say they have seen UFOs are either dog walkers or smokers. Why? Because they're outside the most. Sightings concentrate in evening hours, particularly on Fridays, when many people are relaxing with one or more drinks.
A few people, like former NASA employee James Oberg, have the fortitude to track down and find conventional explanations for decades of UFO sightings. Most astronomers find the hypothesis of alien visits implausible, so they concentrate their energy on the exciting scientific search for life beyond the Earth.
Are we alone?
While UFOs continue to swirl in the popular culture, scientists are trying to answer the big question that is raised by UFOs: Are we alone?
Astronomers have discovered over 4,000 exoplanets, or planets orbiting other stars, a number that doubles every two years. Some of these exoplanets are considered habitable, since they are close to the Earth's mass and at the right distance from their stars to have water on their surfaces. The nearest of these habitable planets are less than 20 light years away, in our cosmic “back yard." Extrapolating from these results leads to a projection of 300 million habitable worlds in our galaxy. Each of these Earth-like planets is a potential biological experiment, and there have been billions of years since they formed for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge.
Astronomers are very confident there is life beyond the Earth. As astronomer and ace exoplanet-hunter Geoff Marcy, puts it, “The universe is apparently bulging at the seams with the ingredients of biology." There are many steps in the progression from Earths with suitable conditions for life to intelligent aliens hopping from star to star. Astronomers use the Drake Equation to estimate the number of technological alien civilizations in our galaxy. There are many uncertainties in the Drake Equation, but interpreting it in the light of recent exoplanet discoveries makes it very unlikely that we are the only, or the first, advanced civilization.
This confidence has fueled an active search for intelligent life, which has been unsuccessful so far. So researchers have recast the question “Are we alone?" to “Where are they?"
The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called the Fermi Paradox. Even if intelligent aliens do exist, there are a number of reasons why we might not have found them and they might not have found us. Scientists do not discount the idea of aliens. But they aren't convinced by the evidence to date because it is unreliable, or because there are so many other more mundane explanations.
Modern myth and religion
UFOs are part of the landscape of conspiracy theories, including accounts of abduction by aliens and crop circles created by aliens. I remain skeptical that intelligent beings with vastly superior technology would travel trillion of miles just to press down our wheat.
It's useful to consider UFOs as a cultural phenomenon. Diana Pasulka, a professor at the University of North Carolina, notes that myths and religions are both means for dealing with unimaginable experiences. To my mind, UFOs have become a kind of new American religion.
[Deep knowledge, daily.Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]
So no, I don't think belief in UFOs is crazy, because some flying objects are unidentified, and the existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible.
But a study of young adults did find that UFO belief is associated with schizotypal personality, a tendency toward social anxiety, paranoid ideas and transient psychosis. If you believe in UFOs, you might look at what other unconventional beliefs you have.
I'm not signing on to the UFO “religion," so call me an agnostic. I recall the aphorism popularized by Carl Sagan, “It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out."
Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.