Ferri Tales

Why are Congressional Republicans protecting Donald Trump despite   incontrovertible evidence that he should be impeached and removed from office? Trump himself provided evidence for his attempts at extortion of Ukraine, and his obstruction of Congress is obvious and undeniable. Multiple Constitutional scholars and hundreds of law professors agree that Trump should be removed. Given that Congressional Republicans are ignoring facts and evidence, disrupting valid Constitution proceedings, and spouting debunked conspiracies started by Vladimir Putin, here are a few possibilities:   When Russia hacked into DNC computers prior to the 2016 election, they also got into Republican computers. In early 2107 , top intelligence officials indicated this but that the hacked information was not released. In late 2018 , the RNC admitted they were also hacked. The extent of what was stolen from the Republicans is not known, or how it is being used. Black...

Donald Trump has shown that he is incompetent with private ventures. He has declared bankruptcy multiple times with a business that requires extraordinary incompetence to fail -- casinos. Trump airline failed. His football league failed. His various marketing ventures -- Trump Wines, Trump Steaks, Trump Water, Trump Games, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump Travel, Trump Communications, Trump Vodka, to name a few -- all failed because of Trump's grandiose incompetence. He was ordered to pay a $25 million settlement for his fraudulent Trump University. He was ordered to pay $2 million for the misuse of funds with Trump Charity. He and his adult children are banned from starting another in NY. The profitability of his multiple properties and resorts are questionable and will be determined when his taxes are released and examined in the very near future. During the current impeachment hearings, Trump's reign as president is being exposed as an abuse of power for personal an...

Is Donald Trump working for Vladimir Putin? Evidence   follows . -- A year ago, Trump blocked condemnation of Putin after Russia attacked Ukrainian ships in Ukrainian waters and held the crew captive. -- Last year, Trump cancelled U.S. naval exercises in the Black Sea because they upset Putin. -- Trump wants Russia readmitted to the G-7 despite their removal for invading   and occupying Crimea, a part of Ukraine. -- Trump held up military aid to Ukraine casting doubt that the U.S. is a reliable ally thus weakening Ukraine's position. Putin still views Ukraine as a part of Russia. -- U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, quit when he realized that Trump was trying to extort the president of Ukraine. Volker's job was to help Ukraine negotiate with Russia. He was not replaced. -- Trump help up javelin anti-tank missiles from Ukraine after they were approved by the National Security Council, the Dept. of Defense, and the State Department to defend against...

The Trump presidency is testing the design of the U.S. Constitution. Its Founders took great pains to prevent an outright fraud and criminal from overthrowing our form of government by designing three co-equal branches that would, theoretically, provide checks and balances on gross abuses of power by the other branches. Our system of government is currently undergoing what is commonly called a stress test. Stress tests are used to determine if a system can survive outside of its normal operational range. After the 2008 Great Recession, large banks were required to undergo stress tests to see how they would respond to theoretical scenarios of, for example, 10% unemployment, a 15% drop in stock prices, a 30% plunge in home prices, all happening at the same time. Other stresses may be used, but if the bank failed the test, changes in its operating structure would be required. In the 1930s, Germany had a system of government that included various branches of government with checks and ba...

There are two clauses in the U.S. Constitution that prevent the president from being influenced directly or indirectly by outside sources, either foreign or domestic. The Foreign Emoluments Clause, article I-section 9-clause 8, prohibits the president from accepting payments of any kind from foreign governments without the express approval of Congress. The Domestic Emoluments Clause, article II-section 1-clause 7, states that the president is limited to his salary and prohibits him from accepting payments of any kind from U.S. taxpayers, also without the express approval of Congress. Congress refused to let Lincoln keep elephant tusks presented to him from the King of Siam. Andrew Jackson wasn't allowed to keep a gold medallion from Simón Bolívar. On Monday, Oct. 21, in a Cabinet meeting, Trump referred to these very real parts of the Constitution with, "You people with this phony Emoluments Clause." His frustration comes from his being forced to cancel the use of h...

As difficult it is for Republican's who support Donald Trump to comprehend, Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives for evidence that he provided and continues to provide. Investigations and revelations are happening so rapidly that it is difficult to predict, but clairvoyance isn't needed to say that additional evidence will support and add to the articles of impeachment. Trump attempted to hold back military aid to Ukraine unless they investigated his potential opponent in the 2020 election. Regardless of whether his opponent is guilty of anything (he isn't), the act is an impeachable offence. Trump was also pressuring Ukraine to fabricate evidence that shows Russia didn't interfere in the 2016 election (they did), even though the Mueller report confirmed this based on information provided by our multiple intelligence services. He will also be impeached for obstruction of justice, and who knows what else. The list is endless. The questi...

Either you are dehumanizing immigrants because of their perceived actions and perceived effects on our country, or you are doing so because you are a white supremacist. These are the only two choices. If immigrants are a "drain on all of our resources, hospitals, schools, welfare and judicial system," as Joyce Richlin (a resident of North Towanda, PA) wrote in the Towanda Daily Review on August 10, then she is correct. If they are not a drain, then she and her source, Gayle King, are wrong and must accept the consequent labeling. Documented immigrants pay the same taxes as U.S. citizens. Undocumented immigrants, according to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the IRS, paid $26.3 billion in 2015 in income taxes although they aren't eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits. ITEP also estimated that they paid $11.7 billion is state and local taxes. According to New American Economy (NME), undocumented immigrants in 2016 contributed between $12...

On May 17, 2017, eight days after Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller III as "Special Counsel and authorized him to conduct the Russia investigation and matters that arose from the investigation." According to notes written by Jody Hunt, chief of staff to AG Jeff Sessions, when Sessions told the President that a Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked," and later said “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.” (1) Why was Trump so worried about an investigation? Why is Trump terrified about the release of his taxes and financial records? Would his records show that he is an incompetent businessman and merely be an embarrassm...

"Ask Marilyn" of Parade Magazine posed the following problem : A prince asked a king if he could marry his daughter. The king gave him three baskets. “Pick enough apples so you can put half of them plus ½ apple more in the first basket. Then put half of the remaining apples plus ½ apple more in the second one. Then put half of the apples left plus ½ apple more in the third basket. If you have one apple left for my daughter, I will judge you smart enough to marry her.” How many apples should the prince pick? She gave the answer as 15 which is correct, but didn't provide an algebraic method of the solution. Here it is. Assume x is the total number of apples. Basket #1 will contain half of the total # of apples plus half an apple: Basket #2 will contain half of the remaining apples plus half an apple: Basket #3 will contain half of the remaining apples plus half an apple: There is one apple left for the princess, so the final equation is: Basket #1 gets 8, #2 gets 4, #3 get...

According to the Rachel Maddow show, in 1989 the assistant attorney general under George H.W. Bush wrote a controversial legal opinion that supposedly allowed the FBI to enter foreign countries and arrest their leaders without the consent of the foreign state. This was in response to a failed coup attempt in Panama to overthrow Manuel Noreiga . The coup was clumsily sanctioned by Bush who later denied it -- just as clumsily. The L.A. Times reported that the document existed, reported its title as " Authorityof the FBI to Override Customary or Other International Law in the Course ofExtraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities ," identified its author as William Barr (who was then the assistant attorney general), and summarized the documents intent. This is the same William Barr who is the current attorney general under Trump. Congress was alarmed at the new powers claimed by Barr's opinion and opened a hearing titled "FBI Authority to Seize Subjects Abroad."...

Why is Trump's attorney general, William Barr, hiding the Mueller Report from Congress and the American people? If the report truly vindicated and exonerated Trump, Trump and the GOP would have put it on page one of every newspaper in the country, dropped copies from helicopters, and Fox "News" would be reading excerpts 24/7. Yet, Barr released an incomplete summary with conclusions based on evidence that he is hiding from everyone else. Why? Justice Department regulations require that the full report be released to Congress for further action if necessary. No conclusions are necessary in these reports nor is the attorney general required to summarize or interpret it. However, Congress is required to review the evidence and act accordingly. The precedent for this has been set multiple times: Special Counsel John Danforth's report on the Waco Raid during Clinton was released to Congress and the public. Independent Counsel Ken Starr's investigations during the Cli...

(Note - this is a letter I wrote in the Daily Review , the local newspaper of Towanda, PA in response to a Trump supporter, in this case John Fedorchak Sr. His writings are typical of most of Trump's supporters and Fox "News" fans. If you know a Trump supporter, just substitute their name.) The best part of John Fedorchak's letters are under his name -- former Bradford County resident. Who knew that Fedorchak was so sensitive about criticism of his hero Donald Trump? Perhaps John watches only Fox "News" and isn't aware of the following: Trump is a self-admitted sexual predator. Trump, while president, paid a $25 million settlement after a federal court ruled that Trump "University" was a scam and had defrauded students. Trump is a documented racist (along with his father). Trump is a white supremacist who refuses to clearly denounce the movement or even admit that white supremacist terrorism exists. Trump is a well-documented pathologi...