"Mr. Irrelevant" Finds his Calling Redefining the Limits of the Disabled

by Nomad

Meet David Vabora, former NFL linebacker, and gym owner.

How Trump Has Already Delivered Everything Putin Ever Wished For

by Nomad

 

Sanity Sunday- Four by Antonio Carlos Jobim

 by Nomad

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927, Antônio Carlos Jobim, also known as Tom Jobim, became known for as the moving force for bossa nova style in the 1960s.  Jobim was a composer, pianist, songwriter, arranger, and singer.
He was described by friend

He was a gentle man highly interested in all kinds of music, from classical and jazz to Brazilian, Latin and American popular music. Even then he was a great talker when the subjects were music and women.

If that photo is anything to go by, I am sure he was a hit with the ladies. Make no mistake, Jobim was a serious artist.

Generally speaking, he was much more intelligent than most musicians, but he respected the ones he considered talented and intelligent. Usually, he lost patience easily when someone argued things without a musical base, with nonsense arguments.

A Visit to PPLA: Planned Parenthood Does More Than You Ever Knew

 by Leadfoot

Because of the volunteer work we have done promoting the Power Pom, Bella and I were recently invited to tour Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA).

For some reason, it never occurred to me just how eye-opening this experience would be for a 14-year-old. However, the questions she asked during the tour opened my eyes to just how much of her innocence is left, and how important it is to discuss women’s health issues with our daughters, as early as possible. It has been 6 days since the tour, and she still hasn’t stopped talking about it. Below is a re-telling of our experience.

Unfit on Day One: Paul Ryan Offers an Insulting Excuse for President Trump's Fiasco

by Nomad

The Foundation Stone

It is hard to find the just one adjective to describe former FBI Director Comey's testimony before the Senate yesterday. "Riveting" for most viewers, "devastating" for Trump and his defenders but perhaps, whichever side of the political spectrum you find yourself, it was a "historical event."

Under oath, Comey made a solid case that the President knowingly attempted to quash an investigation of the alleged Russian collusion of Mike Flynn. Comey's notes claimed that Trump actually said:

I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is good guy. I hope you can let this go.

As the hearing was wrapped up, it was impossible not to conclude that the foundation stone for articles of impeachment had been solidly laid.

A Day of Affirmation: Robert Kennedy's 1966 Speech in South Africa

by Nomad

A Voice for the Silenced

The sixth of June marks a historically important day. It is, most famously, the day that saw the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. It was the day the tide turned against fascism and barbarity. There is, however, another event that occurred on this day which took place 51 years ago, to 6 June 1966, to the sixth day of the sixth month of 1966.

Our Nomadic Time Machine takes us to the University of Cape Town in South Africa where Robert Kennedy, former Attorney General and brother of the slain president takes the podium.

Much to the concern of many in the South African establishment, Bobby Kennedy had been invited to give the address at the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) in honor of the "Day of Reaffirmation of Academic and Human Freedom" union president Ian Robertson. Kennedy, Robertson thought, "captured the idealism [and] the passion of young people all over the world."

Sanity Sunday- Three by George Harrison

by Nomad

I  wanted to dedicate this Sunday sanity break to George Harrison who died 16 years ago next November. Hard to believe so much time has passed already.

A few trivia notes about George Harrison:

• Harrison was the youngest member of the Beatles.
• George and Paul McCartney were the first two Beatles to meet. Back in 1954 when Paul was 12 and George was 11, they rode on the same school bus. 
• George played 26 different instruments. 
• George's greatest joy was gardening. He claimed to have "planted 10,000 trees" in his lifetime. In 1980, he published his autobiography I Me Mine. The book was dedicated "to all gardeners everywhere."

Gay Marriage Bans, Religious Freedom and the Battle of the Armrests

by Nomad

The Armrest Story

About fifteen years I had to fly back to the US, having learned my mother was ill. I wasn't in the mood for arguments. I really wasn't in the mood for traveling.  I had long since lost my thrill of air travel. It's now something I put up with but seldom enjoy. I just pray it will be uneventful. That's the best I can hope for.

Part of the problem is that I can't stand being packed in close quarters with strangers. If you share this particular dread, then you know that flights are a whole lot of un-fun. 

On this particular flight- from Izmir to Istanbul- the first leg in was to be 16-hour flight, I was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to a classic nightmare passenger. Almost anybody who has traveled has had at least one experience with one of the countless varieties of detestable types.

Hillary Clinton: "There's a Full-Fledged Assault on Truth and Reason"

by Nomad

"Now, you may have heard that things didn’t exactly go the way I planned. But you know what? I’m doing okay." Hillary Clinton told the graduating class at Wellesley, a private women's liberal arts college in Massachusetts. "I won’t lie. Chardonnay helped a little, too. But here’s what helped most of all: remembering who I am, where I come from, and what I believe.” 

Ms. Clinton had stood at the podium before, forty-eight years ago, to give her own student commencement speech. In this return engagement, the former first lady and Secretary of State had an important message for the young women of the Class of 2017. This the assault on the truth now going is "serious business." Lives of innocent people will be devastated.

As evidence, she cited the recently proposed Trump budget which she called "an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us, the youngest, the oldest, the poorest, and hard-working people."

And to top it off, it is shrouded in a trillion-dollar mathematical lie. Let’s call it what it is. It’s a con. They don’t even try to hide it.

ACLU: “Sanctuary Cities” Law Wrongheaded, Racist, Undemocratic and Un-Texan

by Nomad

On the issue of the new laws banning "sanctuary cities" in Texas, there's a showdown on the calendar between the state, civil rights groups and city governments.

ACLU and the Strike of Pecan Shellers

When 12,000 pecan shellers- mostly Hispanic women- went on strike in San Antonio in January 1938, one of the effects of that three-month labor action was the formation of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. 

At that time, Texas was famous for its pecan production and accounted for nearly half of the nation's pecan production. The center of that production was- you guessed it- San Antonio. It might have been a big business but there wasn't much of a trickle down effect for the workers.
The pecan-shelling industry was one of the lowest-paid industries in the United States, with a typical wage ranging between two and three dollars a week. In addition that, the fine brown dust of the pecan shells was the suspected cause of the high rates of tuberculosis in San Antonio. 

When workers demanded better working conditions and something closer to a living wage, local law enforcement cracked down on the picketers despite their right to free speech and free assembly. 

Brookings' Elaine Kamarck Explains the Delicate Process of Impeachment

by Nomad

One of the helpful things a blog like Nomadic Politics can do is to provide its readers with accurate information on complicated or misunderstood issues. This, in turn, can lay the foundation for an intelligent discussion based on informed opinions.

One topic which is much talked about but rarely explained in depth is the topic of the impeachment pf the president. In US history, there have been only three times this constitutional provision has been attempted.

Elaine Kamarck is, as senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management, an esteemed authority on the way things work in politics and government.  

The Goodness of Gardening: Renewing our Spirits and Urban Spaces

 by Endless Summer

The Need to Refuel

First, let me say a big thank you to Nomad for allowing us to continue this community here in this space he so graciously hosts. And thank him for giving me the opportunity to communicate with the community through this post.

The 2016 election has brought us a set of challenges unlike most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Daily, we see Trump and the GOP rend the fabric of our democratic society, and the pace and breadth of the assault threatens to overwhelm us. Trumpression is real, and most of us have expressed it here in our comments. So I asked Nomad if I might write a post with the intention of uplifting the community, and he obliged.

Resistance, no matter the form it takes, requires fuel. Whether it’s marching in protests, calling and writing lawmakers, attending organizational meetings, it takes a lot out of you. It’s fatiguing, not to mention infuriating, to have finished a round of phone calls to lawmakers, only to check twitter and see another abomination unleashed on us. It’s been just over 100 days and I’m exhausted. I know y’all are too, so let’s refuel.

I think of refueling, or some say self-care, as feeding the soul; the things we can do each day that bring us joy and generally make the world a better place.

Presidential Pardons and the Question of Justice

by Nomad

As reported a couple of months ago, one of the last official acts of President Obama was to commute the remainder of Chelsea Manning's 35-year sentence.
On Wednesday, Manning walked out of the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, bringing to a conclusion, as the New York Times called, "one of the most extraordinary criminal cases in American history over the leaking of government secrets to the public."

Manning and Snowden

The other day I was reading an online discussion regarding the subject of presidential pardons. Specifically, the topic was whether President Obama was right in pardoning Chelsea Manning and not pardoning former National Security Agency contractor  Edward Snowden. 

Snowden, who currently lives in exile in Russia,  faces charges under the Espionage Act of 1918, a law the constitutionality of which has been contested ever since it was enacted. 

Among other things, that law makes it a crime to convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies during wartime.  

The campaign to pardon Snowden picked up momentum after Oliver Stone's film but sputtered and ran out of gas. Indeed, all members of  House Select Committee on Intelligence, (13 Republicans and nine Democrats, ) sent a letter to the White House urging against a pardon for Snowden.

Here's Why Trump's $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan is Likely to Go Nowhere

by Nomad

Second to None

As a candidate, Trump talked a lot about the sorry state of the US infrastructure. The list was extensive, from roads and highways barely navigable because of potholes to bridges literally rusting away. There were less conspicuous things in desperate need of an overhaul, for example, the electric grid and water systems.
And nobody's denying that America is coming apart at the seams.

The UK Guardian reported only last month:

The most authoritative report of the country’s infrastructure gave the country’s crumbling roads, bridges, dams, schools and other essential underpinnings an overall D+ grade ... Not a single element of America’s framework received an A grade. 

It's a crying shame for the world's wealthiest and most powerful country. Moreover, the long-term neglect has put lives in danger.

Sanity Sunday- Four by Nina Simone

by Nomad

I really think this artist needs no introduction. So let's get straight into it. First up is Simone's signature piece- probably her most famous work- which captures not only her musical abilities but her power to move her audience.
I dedicate the song, Sinner Man, to a certain person that has been on everybody's lips for well over a year now. Probably the most detested person on the planet at this moment.

Three Wise Quotes by Susan Sontag

by Nomad

Jewish-American writer, filmmaker, intellectual, and political activist, Susan Sontag died in December 2004 at the age of 71. I recall reading her essays."On Photography" and the 1964 "Notes on Camp" and admiring her ability to explore and analyze.

When I saw the quote below in an essay the other day, it brought home the immorality of denying any person the kind of health care they need. Life and death, how much more universal can that get?

"The Art of the Deal" Co-Author Offers Insight to the Scary World of Donald Trump

by Nomad

Tony Schwartz, as the credited co-author of Trump: The Art of the Deal, has had more than his share of regrets. Despite his own evolved sense of ethics- instilled in him at an early age- he made the fatally easy of being lured into the Trump web.

Schwartz acknowledges that the bait was a combination of curiosity and the right price at the right/wrong time in his career.
His mea culpa is concisely summed up like this:

My association with Trump has quietly haunted and dogged me for thirty years in many ways the rest of my life has been a reaction to having written "The Art of the Deal."

On the eve of the presidential election, Schwartz appeared before The Oxford Union is the world's most prestigious debating society. It was an interesting speech with a lot of insights into what Schwartz found to be a grotesque and disturbing man. 

At the time, the writer could never have dreamt that Trump would one day occupy the White House. Not even in his most terrifying nightmares. 

Sanity Sunday- Five by Sam Maher and his Hang Pan

  by Nomad

Without any doubt, the gut-wrenching events of this week require some deep cleansing.

From the weary prince who fooled us by not dying, to the horrific Congressional health care vote, from Trump's attempt to destroy the separation of Church and State by decree, to the FBI director's defense before the Senate. All in all, it's been a painful few days.
Nevertheless, despair cannot be a nomad's creed.

For me, one of the most effective ways to relax is to sit back and listen to the hand pan (one of the names for this percussion instrument.) I think I may have featured this instrument before but not this particular musician. 

Let's meet Sam Maher, a talented West Australian instrumentalist, and drummer who has journeyed around the world. In fact, he has used the hand pan to finance his travel as well as a means of wordless communication to other cultures.
To date, Mr. Maher has now performed in over 22 countries.

Film Friday - Making it in America

by Nomad

Joris Debeij's documentary- part of a series called "I Am Los Angeles," focuses on the life of a former immigrant turned citizen. Her story may seem ordinary. That's precisely the point. She has the same dreams and goals as any other American.

As a teenager, Alma Velasco had dreams of finishing school and getting a degree in El Salvador. But her dreams were shattered by the dangerous conditions created by the El Salvadorian civil war which first broke out in 1979, and lasted for almost 13 years. Alma's mother lived in fear for the safety her children, and although it meant she may never see her daughter again, she made the difficult decision to send Alma to cross the border into the United States.

At the age of 16, Alma managed to survive the exhausting and dangerous trip across the border to join her uncle in California. That's right. She came to this country as an undocumented immigrant.

Yanqui Matón: How Trump's Bullying of Mexico is Playing With Fire

 by Nomad

In his book "Trump: The Art of the Deal," Mr. Trump- or somebody he paid- wrote:  

"Bullies may act tough, but really they're closet cowards. "

it is hardly an original observation but given the source, it is typical Trump hypocrisy. 

Perhaps nowhere can we better see the Trump's bully personality than his position on our neighbor to the South.  

La Intimidación del Yanqui

Trump's hard-ass diatribes against Mexico included blaming that country for exporting its undesirables (criminals, drug dealers, and rapists) to the US to cause mayhem and to steal American jobs. 

He has- at least, in the past- boasted that he would build an extremely expensive wall to keep Mexicans out and would somehow force the Mexican government to pay for it. In addition, Trump has been pushing to renegotiate NAFTA, the trade agreement that has bound the economies of both countries (and Canada) for more than 20 years.

During the campaign, a lot of voters bought the hateful rhetoric and unfounded allegations. 

Sanity Sunday- Three on a Theremin

by Nomad

The year 1928 produced a lot of technological marvels. British inventor John Logie Baird broadcasted a transatlantic television signal from London to New York.
Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger on June 18th of that year.
And the first machine sliced, machine- wrapped loaves of bread were sold in Chillicothe, Missouri.

It was also in that year that Russian inventor, Léon Theremin (Термéн), patented the electronic musical instrument known as thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox and later shortened to simply the Theremin.

Film Friday- Sarah’s Uncertain Path

by Nomad

Filmmakers Andrew Droz Palermo and his cousin Tracy Droz Tragos produced this 2014 vignette called Sarah’s Uncertain Path, documenting a low-income family in western Missouri.

We are introduced to Sarah, a pregnant Midwestern teen, who is struggling to beat the odds in a tragic family tradition.

Congress Demands Legal Justification for Trump's Syrian Missile Attack

by Nomad

Dear Mr. President

You might not have seen the joint press release from Congressman Adam Schiff and Senator Tim Kaine issued yesterday. It was in regards a letter they sent to the Trump administration concerning legal matters and the Syrian missile attack earlier this month.

An interesting letter it was, too.

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, sent a letter to President Trump asking that he detail the legal basis for the strike against, which has yet to be provided to Congress and the American people.
Schiff and Kaine stated that a full understanding of the domestic and international legal basis for the strike is of great importance to Congress in exercising its constitutional responsibilities.

As the letter states, “By articulating a legal basis for military action, as well as laying out a strategic vision for such action, a president provides a justification for the use of the momentous power to commit American lives to a cause, but also an understanding of the limits of those powers.”
Both Schiff and Kaine believe that Bashar al-Assad must be held accountable for his atrocities and war crimes, but have argued that the missile strikes on the Syrian regime without congressional approval were unlawful.
The full text of the letter is below:

Trump and the Imminent Dangers of an "Oh, Never Mind" President

  by Nomad

Last week, The Washington Post featured an op-ed piece by Pulitzer Prize–winning conservative political commentator, George Will. Even though it always helps to be slightly inebriated before reading anything from the right, this piece which caught my ever-roaming eye.

It was entitled "The ‘Oh, Never Mind’ President." 

History’s Most Unprepared Candidate

From the outset, there's something you need to know. Mr. Will has made it perfectly clear that he's no great fan of Donald Trump. Back in June of last year, Will actually walked away from the Republican party due to his issues with the billionaire. 

And in November, Will called Trump's victory "a ruinous triumph for the GOP." Reading the following passage, the word "scathing" is one that immediately comes to mind.

The simultaneous sickness of both parties surely reveals a crisis of the U.S. regime. The GOP was easily captured, and then quickly normalized, by history’s most unpleasant and unprepared candidate, whose campaign was a Niagara of mendacities.

But there's another word to describe Will's thoughts. "Disingenuous."

Will seems to think Republican party was, until the marmalade Menace marched onstage, the party of common sense, and fiscal prudence. 

Naturally, Mr. Will is welcome to his historical re-writing, and Lord knows, the last 40 years of US politics has given scrubbers like him plenty of work. Still, Trump didn't start the mess but he is going to make it a lot worse very soon. 

Nomadic Meditations on Earth Day 2017

  by Nomad

Today, April 22, 2017, is Earth Day, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
In the 47 years that have passed, there have been triumphs and failures. It seems as though the spread of environmental awareness might not be a potent enough force against the tide of greed and ignorance and the pressures of mindless exploitation.

Good News Round-up: Three Inspiring Stories about Survival

by Nomad

For those of us who were born to care about the world, it's easy to find more than enough depressing things to think about. More than we deserve to see, I think. No doubt, it would be a lot easier to stop worrying and turn our backs the whole damn thing.
Well, I have tried but for some reason, as soon as the fatigue wears off, I keep coming back.
Still, today, at least, we can take a break from the gloom.

Survivor Named Peace

If you ever land in Istanbul while on your world adventures, be sure to look up the Red Cat Publishing House. Besides a lot of books and kind-hearted staff, you are likely to find the cat named Baris, (pronounced Bar-ish). It means Peace in Turkish.

He happens to be a minor celebrity at the moment even in a city famous for its love of stray cats.

Shared Values: VP Mike Pence's Shameless Human Rights Lies in Indonesia

by Nomad

Proud to Partner

With all that's been going on lately, you might have missed this story. As part of his Asia tour, Vice-president Mike Pence made a stop in tropical Indonesia.
There, he gave praise to what he described as the world's most populous Muslim nation's Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam. It has been held up- as Turkey once was- as the champion of "a more tolerant and moderate Islam."

Agreeing to boost cooperation between the two nations to fight terrorist extremism, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo welcomed Pence.
The vice president, according to the AP story, was there to reinforce traditional U.S. alliances at a time when Donald Trump's presidency has raised questions about the strength of the U.S. commitment to the region.

Pence said:

"As the second- and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity. The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values."

Every American- whatever his politics- has a right to question Pence about which shared values he might be referring to. When you take a close look to the reports of independent human right organizations, Pence's claims look much worse than the typical hyperbolical gloss of honey-coated diplomacy.

It is, in fact, the worst kind of misrepresentation. It is also a shame for any nation that has once held itself as a champion and defender of human rights around the world.

Spiraling Out of Control: The Dangerous Fallacies of General Mattis

by Nomad

Contrary to what the Defense Secretary apparently believes, there's a lethal risk in basing American foreign policy on the belief that other nations will pull back from the brink.

Red Lines and Spirals

On April 11, 2017, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and General Joseph L. Votel, commander, U.S. Central Command held a press conference. It was a comparatively sedate and well-mannered meeting with the press. Mattis came across as a wise and disciplined type of leader, something solely lacking in the Trump administration.

However, there was an exchange that stood out for me and worth a bit more attention.

Q: Secretary Mattis, you're a student of history. You're a student of strategy. You've talked about red lines. The president has talked about red lines. The Russians have talked about red lines. At what point is there a danger of this spiraling out of control and to conflict between two nuclear-powered countries?

SEC. MATTIS: I don't believe I've talked about red lines. I generally shy away from it myself. I recommend Assad be rather cautious about violating international law with chemical weapons. I suppose that could be considered a red line. So I won't argue the point.
It will not spiral out of control. As you know, Secretary of State Tillerson is in Moscow. We maintain communications with the Russian military and with the diplomatic channels. It will not spiral out of control.

Sanity Sunday- Four by Souad Massi

by Nomad

As you know by now, the sources for our music for Sanity Sunday breaks are diverse. This week we turn to an Algerian singer of Berber descent, songwriter, and guitarist, Souad Massi.

One doesn't get much more eclectic than Massi. From her Wikipedia entry:

Massi's music, which prominently features the acoustic guitar, displays Western musical style influences such as rock, country or the Portuguese fado but sometimes incorporates oriental musical influences and oriental instruments like the oud as well as African musical stylings. Massi sings in Classical Arabic, Algerian Arabic, French, occasionally in English, and in the Berber language, Kabyle, often employing more than one language in the same song.

Shaltay Boltay: The Fall of Russia's Humpty-Dumpty

by Nomad

One of the stories that was, I think, under-reported in all of the ongoing Trump-induced chaos was the strange tale of the arrest of the Russian colonel. Here's some information on that mysterious event. 

The Arrest of the Colonel

In December 2016, one of Russia's top security officials was arrested and it was, by all accounts, an extremely dramatic event. During a meeting, officers grabbed him, putting a bag over his head before taking him away.The charge: high treason.

The accused, Colonel Sergey Mikhailov, was the former chief of the 2nd Operational Management of FSB Information Security Center (ISC).

At that time of the arrest, it was tempting to make some kind of connection between Russian interferences in last year's election and this arrest. The spate of mysterious deaths of Russian officials calls out for some explanation or theory about what's really going on behind the scenes.
However, the story of this particular event, based on the information which has emerged, could easily have been the subject of a Le Carre spy thriller.

Educating Tomi: Conservative Ranter Gets a Lesson in Free Speech

by Nomad

Last week, the Dallas Morning News reported that Ms. Tomi Lahren, right wing political ranter, has taken her former boss Glenn Beck (along with his media corporation) to court. 

She alleges that she was wrongfully terminated after comments she made about abortion during an appearance on The View.

The lawsuit claims that Lahren was “understandably disappointed, saddened and in shock for being suspended for freely expressing her opinions, which certainly reconcile with what is the law of the land in the United States i.e., a woman’s constitutional right to choose and in no way inconsistent with any of [Lahren’s] obligations under the Employment Contract.”

On March 26, 2017, news broke that Lahren had been fired and it seemed to be verified when it was announced that Tomi would no longer be appearing on TheBlaze. (Mr. Beck thinks removing a space between words makes him look more serious, I suppose, rather than a typographical carelessness.)  

Sanity Sunday: Four by Glass Duo

by Nomad

For this Sunday's sanity break, I have chosen the husband-wife pair from Poland, Arkadiusz and Anna Szafraniec. This pair of unique musicians go by the name GlassDuo. They create hypnotically beautiful music using only their fingers and an elaborate arrangement of sparkling wine glasses.
Their bio states:

Some time ago, being charmed with the sound of musical glasses, they abandoned their places in the symphony orchestra in Gdansk and started to realize their own idea of performing.
Today they play the glass harp in duo and with other musicians as well. They've successfully performed with string quartets and various chamber ensembles.
GlassDuo have worked together with the majority of Polish orchestras including The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia as well as with orchestras from outside Poland.

Their latest album, Glassified, is available on Itunes.

Uber and the Strange Case of the Russian Passenger

 by Nomad

Most of us, whether we have used the smartphone app or not, have heard of Uber.  However, there's a dark side of Uber that you might not know about.

Uber and the New Business Model

Launched in 2012, Uber provides an alternative to the traditional Yellow taxi and was hailed as the beginning of a more free-form type of business model.
In case you don't know, Uber is a kind of unique car-for-hire service with smartphone tech as its dispatch and fee manager. Drivers do not possess special licenses and use their personal vehicles at a discounted rate. Riders do not even need to pay in cash or tip the Uber driver.

Despite having its share of some serious birthing pangs, Uber has become a major success. Today Uber is in 377 major cities around the world. World travelers can expect to find Uber rides in more major cities.

The techie podcast, Reply All, recently investigated a baffling hitch related to Uber.  One of its customers was notified that he was being billed for Uber trips he had never made. More than once, Alex Blumberg's bank account was slapped with illegitimate service charges.
Somewhere, somehow, a Russian in Moscow was proving that there really is such a thing as a "free ride." Literally.

The Wealthy Russians Who Call the United Kingdom Home

by Nomad

In a time when war-torn refugees coming to Europe and the UK are looked upon with skepticism, fear, and dread, there's been very little discussion of the economic migration of the wealthy class from Russia.

The Good Life and the Illusion of Safety

It's not what you'd call new news. In 2012, CNBC reported

Wealthy Russians are moving to London is such large numbers that local commentators have coined the term “Londongrad.” Roman Abramovich, the Russian multi-billionaire who owns the Chelsea Football Club is the highest-profile rich Russian in Britain, but he is only one of ten Russian billionaires living there, while an estimated 1,000 Russian millionaires now call London home.

The reasons for this exodus, according to attorneys and real-estate agents in London who deal with the Russian rich, is the attraction of the stability and the refined culture of London life.

But something else: the relative safety of not being poached by the mob or arrested by the police. As Reuters reported that same year.

Leaked secret diplomatic cables from the U.S. embassy in Moscow once described Russia as a "virtual mafia state", and London has long been the chosen destination for Russians seeking refuge from trouble at home.

Sanity Sunday- Four by Tom Rosenthal

by Nomad

Thirty-year-old British singer and composer Tom Rosenthal's self-description is plain and simple.

I live in London, have 2 young daughters, and I write songs. I've released 3 albums to date, and the 4th is coming in Spring 2017. Aside from the main albums, I've released a trilogy of EP's and one underrated Christmas single.

The first three videos I have chosen, for your listening pleasure,  provide us with a little poetry, haunting music backed by expansive, lush landscapes.

The Story of the Secret Violinist of Mosul

by Nomad

In the song, "American Pie" we hear the phrase "the day the music died" but few could ever imagine a time or place when making music would become a capital crime.
Journalist Josie Ensor, writing for The Telegraph, recently introduced us to a young man named Ameen, the secret violinist of Mosul.

A Reign of Terror

On 10 June 2014,  jihadists of ISIS marched into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. For this fighters, the city was conquered lands and its inhabitants were a subjugated population. And as crusaders of their strict interpretation of Islam, one of their first tasks was to implement Sharia law upon the residents of the city. Among many other prohibitions, there were bans on all things Western. This included a ban on Western sins like cigarettes and alcohol. There were also strict rules on dancing and music.
The punishment for violators? Death.

For 26-year-old Ameen Mokdad, it really was "the day the music died." Music was more than a pastime for Mokdad. Since childhood, it had always been a means of self-expression.
Now all that had changed.

Hybrid Warfare: NATO Investigates Putin's Troll War against the West 3/3

by Nomad

Part One
Part Two

In the third and final installment in this series, we finish up with a look at what NATO learned by studying Russian trolling activities in the Baltic nation of Latvia before 2015. How can we apply these findings to what went on in the US a year later?

So Why Latvia?

Back in 2015, NATO had several good reasons for choosing the tiny Baltic nation of Latvia to study how hybrid trolling operated.

When it comes to vulnerability, the nation has many unique characteristics. For one thing, Latvia and Russia share a 214 km border as well as a long and often contentious history. Even today, it is very much in the shadow of the Russian bear.

It is also a divided nation.
Demographically, ethnic Latvians form 61% of the population while a full 25.6% are ethnic Russians. There are other divisions as well. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran yet its ethnic Russians population is Eastern Orthodox Christians. Despite the fact that the sole official language of Latvia is Latvian, Russian, widely spoken during the Soviet occupation, is still the most widely used minority language.

It is also one of the limited club of NATO members that was once a member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991 and a part of the Soviet Union. Latvia regained its independence in August 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.  For that reason, Latvia will probably always be a politically divided nation.
For these and other reasons, Latvia is in many ways a perfect target for outside tampering by Russians.

Sanity Sunday- Music from Mongolia

by Nomad

This week's musical sanity break takes us far away from the dread-inspiring world of politics. And this is about as far away from that sordid mess as you can and remain on the planet. But, seriously, you all need a break. It's been a hellish and nerve-racking week (It did, however, have a happy ending for almost everybody.)

In any event, nomads deserve nomadic music so I present to you, the music from Mongolia.

Film Friday- Election Night

by Nomad

Manafort and Deripaska: More Secret Russian Connections in the Trump Team

by Nomad

The tangled web woven by President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, just keeps getting more and more tangled.
And now there's this:

The Associated Press is now reporting that Manafort 

"secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics."

That's quite a bold claim. It's also one that would flatly contradict Trump administration assertions that Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.
Nope, never. Fake news, people!

Trumpcare, Paul Ryan, and Founding Father Dr. Benjamin Rush's Warning

by Nomad

Last Thursday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was interviewed by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd. It wasn't very interesting, to be honest with you.
As expected, Ryan performed the same retractions and dodges and, in order not to be accused of saying anything either for or against the president, twisted more than a talented contortionist.

We can't really blame Trump for his slanderous tweets against Obama because, as Ryan said, ten-year-old Twitter is "new" and 70-year old presidents can't be blamed for not understanding how all this new technology stuff works.
Ryan really said that.

Watching a grown man squirm like that is hard to watch. It wasn't any easier to view knowing that there really were people out there who might actually believe him.
However, among all of this intentionally complicated fast talk, there was one thing he said that caught my ear.

Film Friday- Two Short Films from "The Perennial Plate"

by Nomad

The two films I've chosen this Friday are actually a pair of episodes from the two-time James Beard Award-winning online weekly documentary series, The Perennial Plate.

This show is a dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating.
All of the episodes can be found here.

Hybrid Warfare: NATO Investigates Putin's Troll War against the West 2/3

 by Nomad

In Part One of this series, we took a look at the basic principles of Russia's hybrid warfare campaign on social media based on a 2015 NATO report. In this segment, let's take a look at how these techniques have been used in practice. In addition, we will look at the role that Russian hybrid warfare played in the 2016 campaign.

That's a puzzle that's still missing quite a few pieces.

Early Warnings

I don’t think anybody knows that it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia—I don't, maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay? - Donald Trump, September 26, 2016

This remark by candidate Trump in last months of the campaign must have struck many informed observers as extremely peculiar. His denial of Russian hacking didn't fit into the established timeline.

Only a few months earlier, on July 27, in the heat of the campaign, Trump had invited Russian hackers to find the 30,000 Hillary Clinton's emails. 

And a month before that, June 15, 2016, a hacker calling himself Guccifer 2.0 explain he had given the hacked emails to WikiLeaks. The emails reportedly came complete with telltale Russian-language formatting errors. Yet, Trump was still inexplicably denying what was already obvious.

Hybrid Warfare: NATO Investigates Putin's Troll War against the West 1/3

  by Nomad

The role that social media outlets, like Twitter and Facebook, play in managing and influence public perception has really come to the forefront since the 2016 US election. Few would argue that social media's influence in this presidential election is stronger than it has ever been.
Immediately after the election, NPR pointed out how social media have changed our national political conversation, turning it into "a loud mess." The advent of fake news transformed what should have been a public discussion into a battle of conspiracy theories.

Experts are now studying whether it was some natural effect or whether all of the confusion was actually stage-managed by unseen hands?

NATO and Social Media 

In 2015, well before the election, one of those who took a keen interest in this subject was NATO, specifically the Strategic Communication -Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE). This agency was asked to conduct a study on how social media has been transformed into a weapon of hybrid warfare.

The report that emerges presents a frightening snapshot of the methods, targets, and effectiveness of this new type of warfare.  

Ever since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, for example, we have seen fake identities and accounts being created in order to "disseminate narratives through social media, blogs, and web commentaries in order to manipulate, harass, or deceive opponents."

Documentary- "Loving the Other Side"

  by Nomad

Here's a fascinating documentary about parents and children and how the present political climate had divided families. It was produced by the New York Times and filmed in January of this years.
I can't help wondering any of the pro-Trump individuals have started to have any second thoughts yet.

Chelsea Manning's Emotional Letter of Thanks to Her Fellow Inmates

by Nomad

In January this year, President Barack Obama commuted the 35-year sentence of Chelsea Manning Under the President's order, Manning's sentence will expire on May 17, 2017.
As a soldier in the US military, Chelsea Manning, (formerly known as Bradley) was court-martialed for leaking secret military and government documents to WikiLeaks.

His release will hopefully bring to a close a sorry chapter for whistleblowers around the world. Given the current administration's attitude on hunting and eliminating leakers, the Manning saga is especially troubling.

Leaks

The material leaked by Manning included the Baghdad airstrike video "Collateral Murder", which showed two American helicopters firing on a group of 10 men in the Amin District of Baghdad. As Wikipedia notes:

Two were Reuters employees there to photograph an American Humvee under attack by the Mahdi Army. Pilots mistook their cameras for weapons. The helicopters also fired on a van, targeted earlier by one helicopter, that had stopped to help wounded members of the first group. Two children in the van were wounded, and their father was killed.

Manning was also responsible for the "Cablegate" leak of 251,287 State Department cables, written by 271 American embassies and consulates in 180 countries, dated December 1966 to February 2010. The leaks, which revealed the private thoughts of those handling international relations, were considered at the time to be damaging to America's international image. Here is a top ten list of bombshells found in the leaked documents.

In his testimony before the court, Manning apologized for his actions saying

"I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions, I was dealing with a lot of issues."

Sanity Sunday- Three by Melody Gardot

by Nomad

The artist of this week's musical sanity break, Melody Gardot, is by special request. Thanks for the suggestion!

It is easy to see why the New Jersey-born Gardot has been compared to that of Nina Simone. In fact, her influences are an eclectic mix from Latin music artists such as Caetano Veloso to Janis Joplin and George Gershwin. She certainly has a classy sound.

And, like all true nomads, Gardot considers herself a "citizen of the world".

First up is one I have dedicated to the president. It is called "Cry Wolf."

Film Friday- "4.1 miles"

by Nomad

The tranquil Greek island of Lesbos is only 4.1 miles from the Turkish coast. For this reason- a geographic detail- this island has become the scene of a critical link in the refugee crisis story: the destination for thousands of Syrians and Middle-Eastern refugees who dare to make the perilous crossing.

Greek documentary filmmaker, Daphne Matziaraki, who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area, returned home to Greece in the fall of 2015 to film this story.

Her film, "4.1 miles" records, in graphic detail, what most of us have only heard about but can't hardly being to imagine.
The film was nominated for a 2017 Academy Award.

  

In an interview, Matziaraki explained that this humanitarian crisis involves more than one side. The Greek people- who, as the saying goes, have no horse in this race, are being severely tested as well.

Regardless of the hardship Greeks have endured from the financial crisis, for a long time my home country has by and large been a peaceful, safe and easy place to live. But now Greece is facing a new crisis, one that threatens to undo years of stability, as we struggle to absorb the thousands of desperate migrants who pour across our borders every day. A peak of nearly 5,000 entered Greece each day last year, mainly fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.