SEMPER FI!
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There will be several personnel replacements shortly after New Years in The White House, mainly in the under performing political operation office.
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I have just returned from Orlando to be with my youngest daughter and her husband. They celebrated their 37th birthday one day apart. We now have Dagny at home with us for the week.
We attended the nicest but sort of craziest New Year's Eve Party. The party was at the home of one of Abby/Brian's's closest friend who is expecting their second son Feb. 19, and five other couples, all friends and with their children, all of whom were around 6 or less and most were in Dagny and Blake's class rooms. The parents were sober and well behaved. The kids were wild Indians. We were home around 10:30.
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This memo is full of collected postings from Friday to today and now that Dagny is with us for the week I doubt I will be posting much.
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California has joined other states allowing recreational use of marijuana. Most Californians are already stoned and out of their minds so now it is legal.
In time, I believe we will legalize everything "sinful" including prostitution and eventually murder so there will be nothing to worry about when it comes to personal responsibility. Just let it all hang out so we can be happy.
Here is a comment about drug use when I was a kid. I am now 84 and have never taken any kind of recreational drug and I seem to have gotten by. But then, I guess I do not know what I have missed. (See 1 and 1a below.)
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White House cost comparisons. But this does not account for his many golfing trips.
Got to find fault with him about something you know.(See 2 below.)
And:
What about state management? (See 2a below.)
But::
There were accomplishments. (See 2b below.)
================
Our son Daniel and his partner have good hearts. (See 3 below.)
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A timeline worth reading about.
Based on released e mails by The State Department there were 5 or 6 classified e mails sent by Hillary, that we know about, and it is also evident she set up her personal server to avoid the law.
Her violations basically prove she is untrustworthy and a liar but I seriously doubt anything will come of it in terms of an indictment etc. The electoral college tally is her sentence.(See 5 below.)
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Dick
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1)
A Drug Problem??
At my 50th high school reunion, a friend asked me,
"Why didn't we have a drug problem when we were growing up?"
I replied that I had a drug problem when I was young:
I was drug to church on Sunday morning.
I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.
I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.
I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.
I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a
lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke
ill of the teacher or the pastor.
I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap
if I uttered a profanity.
I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's or grandma's garden and flower beds.
Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behaviour in
everything I do, say, or think.
They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroin, and if today's
children had this kind of drug problem, this country would be a better
place.
1a)
"Humanity is undoubtedly at a dangerous crossroads. We are being forced to ask whether we have the ethical fortitude to save ourselves from our own veritable extinction. The previous year has certainly been challenging in the search for answers. As the world said goodbye to some of the best of us, it also witnessed the resurgence from the shadows of new forces of hatred and repressed anger and rage. But let us not forget, the future is yet to be decided. Now more than ever, we need to find reasons to believe in this world, for it is the only world we have. So as we look toward the future, let’s acknowledge the downtrodden who refuse to accept the oppressive weight of history, the writers who bring tears to our eyes, the artists who resist the graying of existence, the poets who dare to write about a love that cannot be put into words, the musicians who rock our souls, and the children who are never defeated by the limits of present.”
— Dr. Brad Evans, political philosopher, critical theorist, author, and professor at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
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2)TRUMP WHITEHOUSE
2a) The top 5 states with the worst debt ratio are controlled by Democratic Legislators....Keep that in mind for 2018!
2b) An excellent recap of 2017 under President Trump's leadership. Very impressive results for a President who has been hampered from day one by the "resistance" movement and the Main Street Media.
3)
Meeks has not had an easy life. Sexually abused and beaten as a child growing up in southern Indiana, she has been on her own since she was 13. With only a fifth-grade education, her grit, resilience and determination has enabled her to earn a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science. She is now working on her master’s in social work.
Kapsambelis knew Pittsburgh would come through, and after Meeks gave her permission, posted on Facebook a wish list for the family.
4)
On Friday, the Trump administration released their annual report to Congress on White House Office Personnel. It includes the name, status, salary and position title of all 377 White House employees.
The report also said that Trump decided not to take a dime of his salary, instead he donated it to an amazing cause! (see below).
The report also showed that President Trump is far better at saving money than Obama was. The total annual White House salaries under trump are $35.8 million vs. $40.9 under Obama, a savings of $5.1 million. Here are some other key findings......
There are 110 fewer employees on White House staff under Trump than under Obama at this point in their respective presidencies.
Nineteen fewer staffers are dedicated to The First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS). Currently, there are five staffers dedicated to Melania Trump vs. 24 staffers who served Michelle Obama (FY2009).
However, it's what the report said Trump did with this salary that has everyone talking. Instead of taking his salary, he donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries! AMAZING! It's so great to have a President who loves our brave military men and women so much!
Oh, and where's the media coverage of this? Oh that's right, they don't cover anything good that the President does.
2a) The top 5 states with the worst debt ratio are controlled by Democratic Legislators....Keep that in mind for 2018!
1.New Jersey
Total Liability: 176 Billion
Total Assets: 56 Billion
Debt Ration: 314%
2. Illinois
Total Liability: 188 Billion
Total Assets: 62 Billion
Debt Ration: 303%
3. Massachusetts
Total Liability: 89 Billion
Total Assets" 36 Biliion
Debt Ration: 245%
4. Kentucky
Total Liability: 49 Billion
Total Assets: 35 Billion
Debt Ration: 141%
22. Georgia (R)
Total Liability: 30 Billion
Total Assets: 52 Billion
Debt Ratio: 59%
50. Alaska (R)
Total Liability: 10 Billion
Total Assets: 78 Billion
Debt Ratio: 14 %
2b) An excellent recap of 2017 under President Trump's leadership. Very impressive results for a President who has been hampered from day one by the "resistance" movement and the Main Street Media.
Trump’s First Year Accomplishments Compiled In Shockingly Long List
A Commentary By Richard Baris
Looking back on President Donald Trump’s first year in office, he has compiled a shockingly strong record and long list of accomplishments. As was also the case with his rise to the presidency, President Trump has broken several records for a first-year commander-in-chief and fulfilled many of his key campaign promises.
Now, that’s not to say he hasn’t had failures and it’s not to mask the fact that many of these accomplishments were unilateral. But it is also true that President Trump has faced an unprecedented level of never-ending obstruction throughout the year. He was the first president in memory to be deprived of the “honeymoon” period after Inauguration Day and, frankly, opposition at times has risen to levels that could arguably constitute downright treason.
Sure, his presidency, much like his campaign, has been unconventional and his governing style appears to pundits and mediates to be rather messy.
And that’s exactly what America should’ve expected.
America didn’t elect Donald J. Trump to get more of the same and D.C. wouldn’t have had such a vial backlash had he not been trying to keep the promises he made to the American people. Had it been business as usual this year, then we would have grown suspect.
Here’s a long but still incomplete list of accomplishments during his first year in office. For those who believe the list isn’t at all long, we challenge you to read the whole article in one sitting. Some you will recognize and some you will not. But these are just some of the actions we believe will impact Americans’ lives and, in some cases, the human race.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act before Christmas, ensuring U.S. business commitments for bonus payouts to at least hundreds of thousands of Americans workers. Within hours, numerous businesses announced wage increases and billions of dollars in various industry investments.
It was the first overhaul to the U.S. tax code in 31 years, but that’s not all it was.
Repealed Individual Mandate
The tax overhaul also repealed the individual mandate in ObamaCare. Republicans targeted the individual mandate during arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and lost because the Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts rewrote the law to uphold it.
The U.S. Senate attempted to half-hearted ObamaCare repeal after 7 years of campaign promises, and failed. They attempted to pass a so-called “skinny repeal,” and failed again. It was the businessman outsider with no political experience who worked with a few senators to sneak in a repeal of the least popular ObamaCare provision at the last minute, and it worked.
Big Media was working overtime for the Democratic Party to mislead the American people about the bill and they didn’t see it coming until it was too late. Democrats were left to pretend as if they were happy the individual mandate was repealed because they could pass off the blame for already-rising premiums on Republicans.
It remains to be seen whether that tactic works. But for Republican voters freedom and choice are more important than scoring political points. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — an agency that once targeted them for their political beliefs — has been weakened.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
For nearly 40 years, Republicans have tried and failed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil drilling. Since the 1980s, the effort always failed in the face of intense opposition because weak congressional Republicans were too afraid of the Democrat-Big Media coalition.
They repeatedly abandoned the decades-old campaign promise.
Yet, a provision for drilling in ANWR was included in the President’s signature tax bill with minimal backlash.
Justice Neil Gorsuch
President Trump nominated and the U.S. Senate confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch, despite unprecedented opposition and obstruction by Senate Democrats. Many of those same Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unanimously confirmed Justice Gorsuch to his prior role in a voice vote back in 2006.
As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) has previously examined, the Democratic Party historically has been the party of obstruction with judicial appointments, particularly relating to the Supreme Court.
“We’ve cemented the Supreme Court right-of-center for a generation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kty., said while rattling off his own list of year-one accomplishments during the celebration for tax reform at the White House. “Mr. President, thanks to your nominees, we’ve put 12 circuit court judges in place — the most since the circuit court system was established in 1891.”
Set Record for First-Year Judicial Appointments to Federal Appellate Courts
President Trump on December 14 officially set a record for the most federal appeals judges appointed during the first year of a presidency, more than any other before him. The U.S. Senate pushed through the twelfth federal appeals court nominee that day, breaking the previous record held jointly by Presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
As we’ve seen front-and-center during the first year of the Trump Administration, judicial appointments can have a very significant impact on public policy and a president’s legacy. Democrats are particularly inclined to engage in “judge-shopping” when they fail to muster enough support for an initiative at the ballot box or implement policy through the legislative process.
That was the case with same-sex marriage, abortion, unfettered illegal immigration and numerous landmark decisions that have real-world impact on everyday life and the future of the nation.
For context, Barack Obama nominated and the Democrat-controlled Senate successfully confirmed only 3 appeals court judges in his first year in office in 2009. Former President George W. Bush got six federal judges confirmed.
As of mid-December, 19 of President Trump’s 66 total nominees this year have been confirmed.
Historic Reduction in Illegal Immigration
President Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration the centerpiece of his campaign and end-of-year statistics from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show historic success during the first year of his administration.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in FY 2017 reported a 23.7% decline over the previous year. Illegal migration along the Southwest border declined sharply from January 21 to April, which was the lowest month of border enforcement activity on record. In FY 2017, CBP reported the lowest level of illegal cross-border migration ever on record.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Removal Operations (ERO) conducted 143,470 arrests and removed 226,119 illegal aliens, an increase of 40% from the previous fiscal year. From the start of the Trump Administration on January 20, 2017 through the end of the fiscal year, ERO made 110,568 arrests juxtaposed to 77,806 in FY 2016, also an increase of 40%.
Worth noting, 92%, or 101,722 illegal aliens arrested by ICE during the Trump Administration, either had a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive, or were an illegal re-entrant. In other words, he isn’t ripping babies out of their mother’s arms and dreamers out of their homes en masse as the hysterical media portray.
Crushing ISIS Caliphate
In October, the U.S. Pentagon confirmed to People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) that Raqqa, the “capital of terrorism” in Syria, had fallen. Secretary Rex Tillerson said the fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) capital was accelerated by “critical decisions” made by President Trump.
“In January, ISIS was actively plotting terrorist attacks against our allies and our homeland in Raqqa,” Secretary Tillerson noted. “Nine short months later, it is out of ISIS’s control due to critical decisions President Trump made to accelerate the campaign.”
U.S. military officials said this week that ISIS has lost 98% of the territory it once held and the latest U.S. intelligence assessment reveals fewer than 1,000 ISIS militants remain in Iraq and Syria, down from a peak of nearly 45,000 when the Islamic caliphate rose to power under Mr. Obama just two years ago.
The fall of the caliphate is a crushing blow to ISIS because the physical caliphate served as validation to would-be recruits that Allah was on their side. With the caliphate gone, it appears to the believer that Allah has abandoned their cause
.
Resurgence of U.S. Economy — the American Spirit
In February, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said that the Trump Administration is “probably the most pro-business administration since the founding fathers.” His remarks came after attending a meeting with President Trump, who hosted manufacturing leaders at the White House almost one month exactly after his inauguration.
Roughly 10 months later, forecast models project the U.S. economy to grow by 3% or higher in the fourth quarter (4Q) 2017.
Under Mr. Obama, “experts” told us we just had to live with the new normal — 2% annual economic growth.
Now, if the 4Q forecasts are matched or exceeded, it’ll mark the third straight quarter of economic growth at or above 3% for the first time since 2004. It also means the first year of economic growth under President Trump is all but certain to surpass the strongest under his predecessor Mr. Obama.
Under Mr. Obama, “experts” told us we just had to live with the new normal — no manufacturing base.
Now, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) said manufacturers’ optimism in the 4Q of 2017 is the highest in the 20-year history of the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey. The NAM said the survey has “risen to unprecedented heights” as a result of the tax reform bill.
As with tax reform, this should be broken down into separate subcategories of accomplishments. But make no mistake, President Trump’s policies have fueled historic levels of optimism among consumers and businesses.
Stock Market Records, Wealth Creation
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit record highs nearly 70 times in 2017 and U.S. markets have created roughly 6.3 trillion in new wealth. In 2017, Americans’ 401Ks appreciated by 25% to 33% and Bank of America is forecasting the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite to rise at least another 12% and 16%, respectively, in 2018.
Deregulation: Rolling Back the Militant Administrative State
“What the economists and market strategists have totally underestimated in their GDP forecasting is the positive effect from the multi-agency regulatory roll back from the Trump Administration,” TJM Investments analyst Tim Anderson said. “This has led to a record high level of business confidence indicators and most recently the highest level of industrial production in 3 years.”
Mr. Anderson is in part referring to what is known as a Congressional Review Act (CRA), a tool used by the Trump Administration to unravel regulations put in place by his predecessor. President Trump also signed an executive order requiring agencies to rollback 2 regulations for every new one they created.
However, as of mid-December, President Trump’s policies have resulted in a 22-to-1 deregulation ratio, crushing his goal.
The window for using the CRA closed in early May. President Trump and congressional Republicans made historic use of it. The 21-year-old law that created CRAs, a fast track for reversing “midnight rules” finalized within the last 60 days of a presidential administration, had been used only once before the Trump Administration.
Republicans had hoped for 6 to 12 rollbacks, but were successful in 14 of their 15 attempts. It saved the U.S. economy billions.
The Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Scott Pruitt dismantled the Waters of the United States and the Clean Power Plan, a slew of significant and unpopular Obama-era regulations. The Trump Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Ajit Pai repealed net neutrality.
The Trump Department of Education under Betsy DeVos revoked Title IX, which created “kangaroo courts” that rob the accused of due process and too often destroyed their lives without cause.
Reviving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
In his first 100 days, President Trump signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said was vital for “our nation’s space, aeronautics, science, and technology development programs to thrive.”
While it garners little attention – no doubt because we tend to view legislation in terms of partisan victories – the authorization act will have longstanding impact on the nation and humankind. Mr. Lightfoot added that the bill “ensures our nation’s space program will remain the world’s leader in pioneering new frontiers in exploration, innovation, and scientific achievement.”
In December, President Trump signed White House Space Policy Directive 1, a public-private partnership for human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The U.S.-led program represents the latest change in national space policy under the Trump Administration aimed at renewing U.S. engagement in space.
In July, President Trump revived the National Space Council and empowered them to help implement his space policy — to make human exploration of the solar system a national priority. White House Space Policy Directive 1 was the result of a unanimous recommendation made by the new council, which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, after its first meeting on October 5.
We don’t think we have to explain how important of an impact the Trump Administration’s policy could have on the human race. We’ll just leave you with this on the subject.
“This work represents a national effort on many fronts, with America leading the way. We will engage the best and brightest across government and private industry and our partners across the world to reach new milestones in human achievement,” Administration Lightfoot said of the directive. “The next generation will dream even bigger and reach higher as we launch challenging new missions, and make new discoveries and technological breakthroughs on this dynamic path.”
VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act (VA Reforms)
In June, President Trump signed the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. The legislation fulfilled a major campaign promise and was the most significant reform bill in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It gave Secretary David Shulkin and VA leadership the power to fire bad employees for misconduct and provided more whistleblower protection to those who report wrongdoing. The VA is now required to release a monthly report detailing whatever disciplinary actions have been taken during that month each month since the bill was signed.
And it’s working. After the very first month, more than 500 employees had been fired for bad behavior as a result. The Adverse Actions Report also showed more than 180 had been put on suspension for a period greater than 14 days.
The Trump Administration has taken veterans’ issues head on since taking office. The White House created the VA accountability office, launched a website posting wait-times at hospitals and a same-day mental health care initiative at each facility.
The President also signed the The Veteran’s Affairs Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017, which begins permitting qualified veterans to get the care of their choice.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Reforms
As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) recently explained, there are two main strategies nation-states use to gain power and prevent aggressors from tipping the balance of power: balancing and buck-passing .
Balancing is when states make a serious commitment to deter and contain a rival, by force if necessary. With buck-passing, states will attempt to get another great power to shoulder the costly burden, which is what most NATO-member nations have done to the U.S. for decades. President Trump made it clear in Brussels that the era of buck-passing is over.
Prior to the Trump Administration, only 5 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries had met their obligations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland and Estonia. Germany, which has opened their door and welfare programs to more than a million refugees, was not meeting their obligation.
After years of U.S. administrations allowing NATO to ignore their obligations, President Trump is now employing what is known as “structural realism.” It dominates international relations in security studies and yet it was met with ridicule from D.C. dummies. In truth, once that demand was delivered, they never really had a choice.
President Trump was just the first with enough gall to make it.
81 Signed Legislative Accomplishments
Whether you agree with them all policy-wise or consider them significant accomplishments, is irrelevant. As a data journalism-centered site, we find records noteworthy and this is yet another record. The previous record was held by President Harry S. Truman.
Richard Baris is editor-in-chief of People's Pundit Daily , where this article first appeared.
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A ‘Rose tattoo,’ local Jewish landlords all part of holiday miracle
After a fire destroyed the home of a single Christian mother of four, the Pittsburgh community, including prominent Jewish property developers, helped bring her a merry Christmas.
Rose Meeks, a Christian single mother of four children, has had chesed — spelled out in Hebrew — tattooed on her left wrist since 2011. The word, which translates to “loving kindness,” is not only a personal call to action for Meeks, but also something she has sought most of her life.
Meeks, who moved from Alabama to Mt. Lebanon last summer, has come to the right place.
Thanks to a compassionate and generous extended Pittsburgh community, including local Jewish property developers Daniel Berkowitz and Ben Samson, Meeks and her children were handed a merry Christmas just when they thought a joyful holiday was completely out of reach.
Meeks, 45, and her family were just settling in to their new life as Pittsburghers when their world was turned upside down. On Dec. 9, the home they were renting on South Meadowcroft Avenue caught fire.
While Meeks and her two daughters escaped the house safely, her 17-year-old son Daniel, who has Down syndrome, suffered serious injuries from smoke inhalation and was sent to UPMC Mercy Hospital in critical condition.
While Daniel fought for his life in the ICU at Mercy, Meeks and her two daughters, 9 and 15, and their dog were displaced. Without another option, they all crammed into the small two-bedroom Castle Shannon apartment where Meeks’ 22-year-old daughter and her two young grandchildren lived.
Although Christmas was approaching, Meeks was spending all day at her son’s bedside and at work, and had no time or energy to prepare for the holiday, which created even more stress.
That’s when the remarkable chesed of scores of Pittsburghers kicked in, including the principals at Atlas Development Co., who provided the Meeks family with perhaps the greatest gift of all: a place to live, free of charge.
When Daniel Berkowitz, CEO of Atlas, saw a post on Facebook asking for aid for Meeks and her family, including Christmas gifts and a place for the family to live, he knew he could help.
“We reached out and said we have vacant houses in Beechview,” Berkowitz said. He was soon put in touch with Meeks, and on Dec. 21, just a few days before Christmas, she came to meet with him at one of his properties.
When Meeks arrived, a Christmas tree had already been set up by Berkowitz’s assistant, and the house had been decorated by neighbors. When Meeks saw the house and met Berkowitz, she was moved to tears.
“She’s living with us rent-free until she has her feet on the ground,” Berkowitz said. “The moment we saw Rose’s tattoo there was a tingle up the spine for Ben and me.”
Meeks is “overwhelmed,” she said.
“I mean, what do you say? I’m kind of a loner in life, in the sense that I drive my own ship, and I kind of live in my own world, and take care of my own kids, and I’m stubborn and strong-willed and hard-headed. So, for people to pour out and help me … Lord, where does that come from?”
Rose Meeks, a Christian single mother of four children, has had chesed — spelled out in Hebrew — tattooed on her left wrist since 2011. (Photo by Daniel Berkowitz)
After living in Alabama for 22 years, she fell in love with Pittsburgh after visiting family here, and decided to make the Steel City her home last August.
Meeks is still trying to digest the enormity of the generosity of Pittsburghers. Last year when she was still living in Alabama, she said, her son was severely hurt by a hit-and-run driver, and because of his special needs, the accident was publicized on the local news.
“I didn’t have one neighbor knock on my door to see if he was OK, and I was in that neighborhood for four years,” Meeks recalled.
Comparing community reaction then to what she has experienced as a newcomer to Pittsburgh is like “night and day,” she said.
“Putting me and my children in a home, not asking for a dime, and saying, ‘Hey, just take a rest for the holidays, and get yourself together,’” she said. “They don’t even know me. I’m taken to a whole new level that I haven’t even figured out yet. I don’t even know how to say ‘thank you’ to all these people.”
The plight of the Meeks family was brought to the attention of the community by Mt. Lebanon resident Niki Kapsambelis, a journalist and author of “The Inheritance,” a non-fiction book about an extended family’s battle against Alzheimer’s disease.
Kapsambelis read about the fire and the injuries of the 17-year-old, and reached out to the family to see if they needed any help. Meeks told her they needed a place to stay, and that she had not had a chance to do anything to prepare for Christmas.
“Her nine-year-old was convinced she had hidden presents somewhere,” Kapsambelis said. “That really got to me, because if you ever had kids that age, they do have that magical thinking. Separately, her daughter said, ‘We’re going to find a place to live. There’s going to be a Christmas miracle’ — which sounds very Hallmark movie. But the kid was saying this.”
Daniel Meeks is now on the road to recovery, and has been moved to Children’s Institute for rehabilitation. (Photo courtesy of Rose Meeks)
“It got shared 450 times,” Kapsambelis said. “There’s the power of social media for you. Once you ask people in this area to respond to a need, I know the capacity for goodness in people here. It really crosses all socioeconomic lines, religious differences, everything. People will gather around to help.”
The donations were collected at the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department, and Kapsambelis met Meeks there on Dec. 23.
“When she walked into the conference room where everything had been secured, she just started crying,” Kapsambelis said. “People had donated things for her children, her two grandchildren, for the dog. Not just toys, but gift cards, financial donations to help them get back on their feet. Her youngest daughter plays basketball, so somebody donated Pitt basketball tickets. There were a lot of really welcoming notes. Two people donated beds for the house, because her stuff is in storage.”
While Kapsambelis is not Jewish, the outpouring of kindness for the Meeks family nonetheless reminded her of the message of Chanukah, she said.
“The phrase I kept thinking about all week while donations were pouring in for Rose and her family was ‘a great miracle happened here,’” she said. “A little resource extended into enough, into what was needed, to light the way for this family.
“And the important factor in my mind is that people made that miracle happen by setting aside their own troubles and putting a stranger first. That is in itself extraordinary to me.”
Meeks’ son, Daniel, is now on the road to recovery, and has been moved to Children’s Institute for rehabilitation. PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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5)
A TIMELINE OF TREASON: How the DNC and FBI Leadership Tried to Fix a Presidential Election [Updated]
| Date | Description | Source | Link | ||
| 03/02/15 |
News that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email server for official State Dept. business is disclosed
in the New York Times
| NYT | |||
| 03/09/15 |
Clinton associate Terry McCauliffe meets with Andrew McCabe's wife Jill to encourage her to run for office
| JW | |||
| 03/12/15 | Jill McCabe announces her candidacy for the state senate in Virginia | JW | |||
| 06/24/15 |
Discovery of classified information on Clinton’s private email server announced; the matter is referred to the
FBI
| Time | http://time.com/4774278/james- | ||
| 07/15/15 |
FBI opens criminal investigation into Clinton's email server and mishandling of classified data led by Andrew
McCabe in DC office
| FBI | |||
| 07/24/15 |
State Dept. and other officials make security referral related to classified information possessed by Clinton
and associates
| WaPo | https://www.washingtonpost. | ||
| 07/24/15 |
After complaints from Clinton camp, New York Times edits story about email probe, removing "criminal" r
eferences
| TheWrap | |||
| 08/15/15 | McCabe uses his official FBI email to promote his wife's candidacy for the State Senate in Virginia | JW | |||
| 10/01/15 |
FBI official Andrew McCabe's wife Jill starts receiving bulk of $700,000 from Clinton associate Gov. Terry
McCauliffe's political entities
|
Ballotopedia
| |||
| 10/06/15 | FBI seizes previously unknown backup of Clinton emails held by Datto, Inc. | McClatchy | |||
| 10/15/15 |
On or around this date, McCabe emails investigators that Clinton will get an "HQ Special" (special or lenient
treatment)
| Fox | |||
| 10/11/15 |
On 60 Minutes, President Obama absolves Hillary Clinton of blame for her private email server: did not pose
"a national security problem"
| CNN | |||
| 01/15/16 |
John Giacalone, head of FBI's National Security Division, retires after reportedly seeing Clinton probe go
"sideways"
| TruePundit | |||
| 01/19/16 |
Intelligence Community Inspector General reports Clinton's private email server had SAP (highest
classification level) data on it
| Fox | |||
| 01/29/16 |
FBI director James Comey names Andrew McCabe deputy director, with responsibility for oversight of Clinton
investigation
| FBI | |||
| 02/15/16 |
State Dept. finds that 2,115 of the 30,490 emails produced by Clinton were classified and therefore grossly
mishandled
| FBI | |||
| 03/04/16 |
FBI's Peter Strzok texts his mistress Lisa Page, an FBI attorney, calling Trump "an idiot", whose nomination
would be "good for Hillary"
| DC | |||
| 03/19/16 | Hackers gain access to emails of Democrat operative John Podesta | CNN | http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/ | ||
| 03/28/16 |
Paul Manafort hired as Trump campaign manager (Fusion GPS's Simpson and wife had reported on
Manafort's Russian ties in 2008)
| Tablet | |||
| 04/05/16 | FBI's Strzok interviews Clinton aide Huma Abedin | DC | |||
| 04/09/16 | FBI's Strzok interviews Clinton aide Cheryl Mills | DC | |||
| 04/09/16 |
Wife of Fusion GPS founder Simpson, Mary Jacoby, visits White House and meets with Obama and/or
Obama aides
| CTH | |||
| 04/12/16 |
Law firm Perkins Coie, using money from the Clinton campaign and DNC, hires Fusion GPS to find
incriminating data on Trump
| FEC | http://dailycaller.com/2017/ | ||
| 04/30/16 |
DNC IT staff reports suspected hacking on its server(s) to FBI, but fails to turn over the server to the agency,
instead hires Crowdstrike
| Politico | |||
| 05/02/16 |
FBI director Comey drafts statement exonerating Clinton before interviewing her or other key witnesses
| WaPo | https://www.washingtonpost. | ||
| 05/03/16 | Trump becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for the office of president | Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ | ||
| 05/03/16 |
Clinton IT specialist Paul Combetta admits lying to the FBI about erasing emails using Bleach Bit but is not
charged for the crime
| WaPo | https://www.washingtonpost. | ||
| 05/03/16 |
Email from DNC contractor Ali Chalupa states she connected Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News "to the Ukrainians"
| DNC | |||
| 05/05/16 |
Washington Post reports there is "scant evidence" of a crime committed by Clinton through her use of a
private email server
| WaPo | https://www.washingtonpost. | ||
| 05/15/16 |
Crowdstrike claims it investigated DNC hacking and that Russians were responsible; FBI still denied access
to server to confirm
|
Crowdstrike
| |||
| 05/16/16 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++) | |||||
