1)   HARRISVOTES.COM: Election results for Pasadena, HISD and various MUDs.

1. i) MAY 2: 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
2. ii) ELECTION DAY was MAY 6.
3. iii) “YES” got 86%. ”NO” got 14%

2)   Republican Blurts Out That Sick People Don’t Deserve Affordable Care, By Jonathan Chait [http://nymag.com] May 1, 2017 9:20 pm

1. a) In a CNN interview, Representative Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, makes the case for Trumpcare in much starker terms: It will free healthy people from having to pay the cost of the sick. “It will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy,” explained “And right now, those are the people who have done things the right way that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.”
2. b) The idea that morality dictates healthy people pay less, and sick people more, has been floating around the margins of conservative health-care thought. John Mackey, the libertarian owner of Whole Foods, made this case in a 2009 Wall Street Journal op-ed denouncing Obamacare:
3. i) “Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.
4. ii) “Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
5. c) When Democratic Senator Tom Harkin in 2010 proposed that it was time to stop segregating Americans on the basis of health status, the conservative health-care analyst Jeffrey H. Anderson scoffed, “Having people pay their own way is apparently an injustice akin to segregating them by race or creed.”
6. d) ‘Please stop lying’: Morning Joe says GOP looks ‘stupid’ with dishonest defense of health care vote, Travis Gettys [RAW STORY] 08 May 2017 at 07:58 ETe)

3)   How the White House Learned That Michael Flynn Was ‘Compromised’, By Tessa Berenson (TIME) 5-8-2017

1. Full transcript: Sally Yates and James Clapper testify on Russian election interference, By Washington Post Staff Post Politics May 8 at 5:14 PM
   1. According to Yates, current White House Counsel for U.S. President Donald Trump, Don McGahn, knew on Jan 26, 2017 that Flynn was likely compromised by the Russians.
   2. JAMES R. CLAPPER JR., FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: “The Russians used cyber operations against both political parties, including hacking into servers used by the Democratic National Committee and releasing stolen data to WikiLeaks and other media outlets. Russia also collected on certain Republican Party- affiliated targets, but did not release any Republican-related data. The Intelligence Community Assessment concluded first that President Putin directed and influenced campaign to erode the faith and confidence of the American people in our presidential election process. Second, that he did so to demean Secretary Clinton, and third, that he sought to advantage Mr. Trump. These conclusions were reached based on the richness of the information gathered and analyzed and were thoroughly vetted and then approved by the directors of the three agencies and me.”
   3. CLAPPER (cont.): In conclusion, Russia’s influence activities in the run-up to the 2016 election constituted the high water mark of their long running efforts since the 1960s to disrupt and influence our elections. They must be congratulating themselves for having exceeded their wildest expectations with a minimal expenditure of resource. And I believe they are now emboldened to continue such activities in the future both here and around the world, and to do so even more intensely. If there has ever been a clarion call for vigilance and action against a threat to the very foundation of our democratic political system, this episode is it.
   4. YATES: I had two in-person meetings and one phone call with the White House Counsel about Mr. Flynn. The first meeting occurred on January 26, [2017] called Don McGahn first thing that morning and told him that I had a very sensitive matter that I needed to discuss with him… I told them again that there were a number of press accounts of statements that had been made by the vice president and other high-ranking White House officials about General Flynn’s conduct that we knew to be untrue. And we told them how we knew that this – how we had this information, how we had acquired it, and how we knew that it was untrue. … [The] first thing we did was to explain to Mr. McGahn that the underlying conduct that General Flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself. … [T]he Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the vice president and others, because in the media accounts, it was clear from the vice president and others that they were repeating what General Flynn had told them, and that this was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this, but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.
   5. Maddow: ‘It is Impossible’ That Mike Pence Didn’t Know About Michael Flynn’s Turkish Dealings, by Justin Baragona |[MEDIAITE.COM] 11:10 am, March 11th, 2017
   6.  [According to mediaite.com], the Associated Press reported that the Trump transition team was made aware that Flynn likely needed to register as a foreign agent due to his work with Turkey. Also, as Maddow explained, Rep. Elijah Cummings sent a letter to Pence a week after the election expressing his concern over the Turkish dealings.
   7. Top Democrat sent letter to Mike Pence in November warning of Michael Flynn’s Turkey lobbying, by Natasha Bertrand [BUSINESS INSIDER] Mar. 10, 2017, 7:36 AM
   8. Rep. Elijah Cummings letter to pence on November 18, 2017. [LINK]
   9. How the White House Learned That Michael Flynn Was ‘Compromised’, By Tessa Berenson (TIME) 5-8-2017
   10. Flynn wouldn’t leave his post until February 13, following weeks of crippling leaks about his conduct and his ties to Russia. According to the White House, Trump fired Flynn for misleading Pence about the nature of his contacts with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn also failed to list more than $150,000 in 2016 income on his initial personal-financial-disclosure form, including a financial relationship with Russian state-backed outlet RT.

4)   NATO – Topic: Collective defence – Article 5

1. a) Highlights
2. i) Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.
3. ii) The principle of collective defence is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.

iii)  NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

1. iv) NATO has taken collective defence measures on several occasions, for instance in response to the situation in Syria and in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
2. v) NATO has standing forces on active duty that contribute to the Alliance’s collective defence efforts on a permanent basis.
3. b) TEXT: Article 5 Article 5
4. i) “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
   1. ii) Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.” “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.”

From generation to generation, the poor tend to stay poor. Why?

1. Poor early nutrition:
   1. Stunting of growth and immune system development
   2. Poor dentition in both childhood and at maturity
   3. Insufficient nutrients for proper brain and neurological development
   4. Physiologically and educationally unprepared for a workplace where they can raise themselves and their families out of poverty and break the cycle.
   1. SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM: The new spending agreement ends a program championed by the former first lady to combat childhood obesity that forced changes in school lunches served to about 31 million children. Republicans say the legislation “stops an Obama-era school meal regulation” and that doing so provides “flexibility for whole grains and milk and preventing changes to sodium standards that have not been fully scientifically vetted.”
      1. The changes caused schools to begin serving more milk, whole grain-rich foods, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, plus limit the amounts of calories, trans-fats and salt that kids get in cafeterias. But a powerful school lunch industry group withdrew its support for the program, saying the new standards were expensive and unpopular with students.
      2. Democrats noted that the bill allows school districts to continue the Obama-era regulations if they choose to do so. The bill also bars the use of poultry from China in USDA-backed school lunch programs.
   2. Yields:
      1. A lifetime of poor or fragile health;
      2.   Neurological deficiencies leading to behavior and/or educability issues
   3. SEARCH CRITERIA: Early childhood nutrition: Is hunger setting up the poor for failure?
2. PUBLIC BROADCASTING: Elmo and Peter Sagal, breathe easy: Congress didn’t make any cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the agency that helps fund programming on NPR and PBS.
3. New Orleans removes first of four Confederate statues, From the section US & Canada, 4/24/2017
   1. 6. Masked New Orleans workers in bullet-proof vests have removed a Confederate monument that officials said was a symbol of the US South’s racist past.
      7. Watched by police snipers, the statue was gone before dawn in a stealthy operation designed to foil protests.
      8. The statues will be relocated to “a place where they can be put in historical context”, the city said.
      9. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said workers had faced “intense” intimidation and threats.
5. FREE SPEECH: What’s constitutionally guaranteed and what’s culturally expected
   1. 1^st Amendment:  First Amendment | Constitution | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
      1. The Amendment protects us against Government interference in speech, press and religion.
      2. NON-government interference – private businesses, publishers. Etc. – is more culturally entrenched but usually not illegal.
         1. The Amendment protects us against Government interference in speech, press and religion.
         2. NON-government interference – private businesses, publishers. Etc. – is more culturally entrenched but usually not illegal.
         3. A Civics discussion:
         4. Our founders did not design our government to be “efficient”. They designed it to be “safe”.
         5. People who say that they want government to run like a business miss the point: Government is NOT a business.
         6. People who say that they want government to run like a household miss the point: Government is NOT a household.
         7. Government is a Sovereign, which is an entirely different and unique thing, totally unlike a business or a household.
         8. No one branch of government is meant to be ‘supreme’. The 3 branches of government – executive, legislative and judicial – were designed to be co-equal.
         9. The tug-of-war that goes on among them – this inefficient, tug-of-war that goes on among them – is designed to slow things down, and make them “safe” but “inefficient’.
         10. In today’s terminology, the inefficiency designed into our government is not a “bug”. It’s a “feature”.
         11. I’ve said for many years that people who have run big businesses should not be politicians, and certainly should not be president. If there was ever an example of why I believe that, it’s Trump.
         12. We are now experiencing the wisdom of that “feature”, as the Trump regime attempts to establish its Supremacy over the other branches.
6. A Civics discussion:
   1. Our founders did not design our government to be “efficient”. They designed it to be “safe”.
   2. People who say that they want government to run like a business miss the point: Government is NOT a business.
   3. People who say that they want government to run like a household miss the point: Government is NOT a household.
   4. Government is a Sovereign, which is an entirely different and unique thing, totally unlike a business or a household.
   5. No one branch of government is meant to be ‘supreme’. The 3 branches of government – executive, legislative and judicial – were designed to be co-equal.
   6. The tug-of-war that goes on among them – this inefficient, tug-of-war that goes on among them – is designed to slow things down, and make them “safe” but “inefficient’.
   7. In today’s terminology, the inefficiency designed into our government is not a “bug”. It’s a “feature”.
   8. I’ve said for many years that people who have run big businesses should not be politicians, and certainly should not be president. If there was ever an example of why I believe that, it’s Trump.
   9. We are now experiencing the wisdom of that “feature”, as the Trump regime attempts to establish its Supremacy over the other branches.
7. Stressed Out? You Probably Don’t Have it as Bad as People in Alabama, the Most Stressed State, By Janice Williams [NEWSWEEK] 4/3/17 at 4:33 PM
   1. While just about everyone living in America is stressed out about something, whether the political climate, the economy, personal finances or family issues, people in Alabama have it the worst. The Yellowhammer state was found to have the highest level of stress of all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia in WalletHub’s recent study of most- and least-stressed states.
   2. The study used data from the U.S. Census, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate four key dimensions including family-related stress, health/safety-related stress, work-related stress and money-related stress based on factors like cost of childcare, housing affordability, number of hours worked in a day and job security.
   3. Southern states ranked the highest for the most cases of stress; Alabama ranked number one for the overall highest level of stress, followed by Louisiana and then Mississippi.
   4. Alabama had, per capita, the highest number of people with poor health and the fewest psychologists. Alabamans also got the least number of hours of sleep a night and had some of the lowest credit scores.
8. Emoluments Clause of the Constitution (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
   1. The Ineligibility Clause, one of the two clauses often called the Emoluments Clause,^[1][2] and sometimes also referred to as the Incompatibility Clause^[3] or the Sinecure Clause,^[4] is found in Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. It places limitations upon the employment of members of Congress and prohibits employees of the Executive Branch from serving in Congress during their terms in office. The name “Ineligibility Clause” is only used by a minority of writers, as compared to the name “Emoluments Clause”.^[1][2][5]
   2. The clause states: “No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.”
9. 11. Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
   1. The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities. It supersedes the ambiguous wording of Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution, which does not expressly state whether the Vice President becomes the President or Acting President if the President dies, resigns, is removed from office or is otherwise unable to discharge the powers of the presidency.^[1] The Twenty-fifth Amendment was adopted on February 10, 1967.^[2]
      1. Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
      2. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
      3. Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
      4. Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
      5. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.^[3]