The Trumpster Fire:Leaving for Japan yesterday for the ascendance  of their new emperor, President Trump pressed his claim that the Special Counsel investigation “was an attempted coup” and he’s going to have the Justice Department look into it.

  He’s doing that even while claiming the House democrats want a “re-do” of the investigation. 

  If only he were an emperor himself, he wouldn’t have to put up with the humiliation of opposition. Yesterday a judge in California blocked part of Trump’s efforts to use emergency powers to seize money for his border wall from other budgets. The judge said essentially that Trump displayed an intent to build the border wall “with or without” Congress and that doesn’t constitute an emergency.

  The injunction applies to some of the wall construction projects in El Paso, Tex., and Yuma, Ariz.

  Even while that was happening Trump was doing an end-run on Congress to sell weapons in the Middle East He declared an emergency concerning Iran and decided to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan over Congressional objections. 

  Saudi Arabia has been waging war using American bombs against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, causing starvation in the population and the biggest humanitarian crisis on Earth right now.

  Trump is also sending 1,500 troops to counter the perceived Iran threat. The administration now says that the sabotage of several Saudi oil tankers was carried out by Iranian agents.

Deepfake:President Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani both tweeted a video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to slur her speech. Fox Newsplayed it on the air.

  “What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi?” Giuliani tweeted in a message that has since been deleted. Better yet, what’s wrong with Trump, Giuliani, and Fox News. 

  They all fell for … or used …. an altered video that was slowed down from 8 seconds to 11, making Pelosi appear drunk or impaired.

  Several altered Pelosi videos have been making the rounds of the internet.

  A vengeful Trump has been driving the message that there’s something wrong with Pelosi. Personal attack is the first tool in his political drawer. He said, “ I have been watching her for a long period of time. She’s lost it.” 

The Death Zone:Nine climbers have died on Mt. Everest so far this season and some of the losses have been blamed on a traffic jam of adventurers at the top of the mountain.

  The season has been squeezed by bad weather so on good days there’s a mass march to the top. There are so many climbers in line going up that some who have reached the top have had difficulty fighting their way down through the crowd, spending too much time in what’s known as the “death zone.” They’ve been dying before reaching thicker air.

  Nepal issued 381 climbing Everest permits for this year and that number doesn’t include the local Sherpas. At least 750 people will try to get to the top this year. In all, 19 climbers have died this year on six Himalayan peaks.

The News Roundup:The kidnapper of 13-year-old Jayme Kloss in Wisconsin was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years. Jake Patterson, 21, killed the girl’s parents and held her captive for 88 days. — A federal judge in Mississippi has blocked a new state law that makes abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy. The law “threatens immediate harm to women’s rights” and “prevents a woman’s free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy,” Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his ruling. Anti-abortion advocates are trying to get a case before the Supreme Court that will overturn the precedent that made abortion legal. — A single Republican member of the House pulled a procedural move that stopped a bill providing $19.1 billion in disaster aid for farmers. Rep. Chip Roy of Texaswas unhappy because the bill provided no money for President Trump’s border wall.

The Ski Report:Mammoth Mountain in California has had 29 inches of snow so far this month, extending the ski season up there until August.  A little more, and maybe they won’t have to close at all.

Parenting:Three more parents pleaded guilty yesterday in Boston in the college admissions scandal. One of them was Jane Buckingham, a self-styled trend and parenting expert who paid $50,000 to have someone take the ACT test for her son. Dr. Spock would not approve.

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