A123- your NOAA link shows Tropical Storm Force Wind projections, not Hurricane Winds. Per the National Weather Service, TSFW are “sustained surface winds ranging from 39-73 mph” while Hurricane Winds are “74 mph or greater”.
– https://www.weather.gov/mob/tropical_definitions

Your link predicts that during a 12hr window the SW corner of Alabama will have a 20% chance of tropical force winds. They did not predict hurricane force winds in any model.

It is a significant mistake for the President to say that Alabama would be hit “harder than expected” by the hurricane- I’m sure Alabama residents would agree. NWS was right to issue a correction. The gaffe would not be a big deal if Trump admitted his mistake- but he didn’t.

It shows a lack of character and significant psychological deficiencies for him to octuple down on his mistake rather than own it.

Perhaps you should look into Q Derangement Syndrome cures for yourself.

A123- your NOAA link shows Tropical Storm Force Wind projections, not Hurricane Winds. Per the National Weather Service, TSFW are “sustained surface winds ranging from 39-73 mph” while Hurricane Winds are “74 mph or greater”.
– https://www.weather.gov/mob/tropical_definitions

Your link predicts that during a 12hr window the SW corner of Alabama will have a 20% chance of tropical force winds. They did not predict hurricane force winds in any model.

It is a significant mistake for the President to say that Alabama would be hit “harder than expected” by the hurricane- I’m sure Alabama residents would agree. NWS was right to issue a correction. The gaffe would not be a big deal if Trump admitted his mistake- but he didn’t.

It shows a lack of character and significant psychological deficiencies for him to octuple down on his mistake rather than own it.

Without 24/7 US air support, American forces would have long ago been driven from Afghanistan, as were their British and Soviet predecessors.

Perhaps. But this time seems different. The US, its favored regime in Kabul and the Taliban all appear to have a stake in “victory”. Specifically, oil and other commodities and goods flowing from Central Asia to South Asia.

“Regional leaders launched construction work on the Afghan section of an $8 billion natural gas pipeline that will link the energy-rich Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.
[…]
The project is expected to transport 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year along an 1,800 kilometer (1,125 miles) route from Galkynysh, the world’s second-biggest gas field, to Fazilka near the border with Pakistan in northern India.
[…]
(T)he pipeline would underpin development of road, rail and communications networks.
[…]
Afghanistan… is expected to take 5 billion cubic meters of gas itself… In addition, Kabul will earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees.” (Feb 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkmenistan-afghanistan-gas-pipeline/leaders-launch-start-of-afghan-section-of-tapi-gas-pipeline-idUSKCN1G70PU

So, I guess, the US won the war.

If Brennan was “working quite hard to help Hillary Clinton” win – with assistance from FBI director Comey – why were the CIA/FBI investigations revealed after the election?

And, as the FBI had the Steele dossier in October, why did it “(surface) in January just before the inauguration” instead of before the vote? Like when the FBI broke protocol announcing the “re-opening” of the Clinton investigation – due to the hardly notable development that they received a server belonging to a a Clinton confidant in an unrelated investigation – just before Americans went to the polls in November?

Trump revoking Brennan’s security clearance doesn’t move me. His freedom of speech is not stifled; it gives him a larger platform.

Brennan is not the first to use hyperbole to monetize a scandal. Not the first to take advantage of his proximity to the President. And I agree with Sen Burr’s statement. But that’s not the point. I’m concerned by what he did as CIA director as the Trump/Russia relationship developed.

As Giraldi notes, Brennan and the CIA received information from “foreign intelligence services, including the British, Dutch and Estonians”. The Guardian reported that Germany, Poland and Australia passed on intel as well, and that, based on surveillance in 2015, British intelligence requested and received a “director level” meeting in June 2016 to share with the CIA suspicions communications between Trump advisors and Russians connected to the Kremlin. Brennan was that director. We also know that NSA Rice unmasked 18 conversations between suspected Russian assets and individuals close to Trump during the primarily and his candidacy for President.

What was CIA Director Brennan supposed to do?

I expect he would “(use) that information to request an FBI investigation into a possible Russian operation directed against potential key advisers (to) Trump”. To do otherwise would be egregious.

It’s abundantly clear to me that Director Brennan acted appropriately and the Mueller investigation is legitimate and necessary.

“One hears talk of minerals… as a pretext for keeping US forces in Afghanistan. All nonsense.”

It’s been estimated that Afghanistan holds over $1 trillion worth of untapped lithium, copper, gold and iron – hardly nonsense, but I’d agree that alone is not reason enough for a 17 year war costing $4 trillion and counting.

While I felt this was an excellent article, I wish the author included a discussion of the TAPI oil pipeline as justification for this war.

The ability to sell oil from resource-rich Central Asia to resource-poor South Asia via the Khyber Pass is crucial to US interests given the USDollar for oil paradigm. I find that the Afghanistan war, and US actions in the Middle East in general, are easier to understand when viewed through this prism.

Foreign governments are forced to keep vast reserves of USDollars in order to buy oil tying the dollar’s value is tied to that of oil, regardless of US monetary folly. As Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States agree to this, their brutality and war crimes are aided by the US. As Iran seeks to build a competing pipeline that would sell oil to India and southern China in euros – potentially allowing those governments to divest themselves of billions of USDollars sinking its value – Iran is cast as the bad actor and the Bank of Iran (which would finance the project) is sanctioned. And as the Taliban seek to expel US forces and Afghan puppet militias which protect the pipeline and routes to exploit these mineral resources, the Afghanistan war against an enemy that has never been involved in international terror nor can threaten US citizens drags on and on.

Why isn’t Page under arrest if this proof exists?

Good question, but I think its still too early to make any conclusions. There is a lot yet to be revealed from Mueller’s office, IMO. Mueller and the FBI need to be very thorough if there is to be any more indictments. It takes time- we’ll see.

It just seems highly unlikely that three renewals would happen (possibly granted by three justices, they rotate) without the goods. And I’m absolutely certain Nunes wouldn’t let us know the while story.

Is it possible that memo omits significant information/intel contained in the application which the FISA court relied on to make their decision?

The memo does not include any of the underlying intelligence, perhaps for reasons of national security, perhaps not, and Nunes has admitted to not having read the intelligence.

Also, my understanding of FISA warrants is that they are only renewed if the authorized surveillance reveals that the target is acting as an agent of a foreign power- the fact, revealed by the memo, that the warrant was renewed 3 times appears to be “proof” that Carter Page colluded with Russia.

And why should we take Nunes’ description of the FISA application as accurate?

Nunes is recused from the investigation for lying to the public during his “midnight run” stunt- he is anything but a reliable source on the matter. Seems to me that this is more BS to protect Trump and undermine Mueller.