Items filtered by date: December 2018

After attending an Engineering College and receiving a degree in Metallurgy and Chemistry, I became an FBI Agent under their science program.

By the 1970s, the US was in serious pollution trouble. Most States had factories and waste products. Those were the days that “dilution was the solution to pollution”…dump it in the lake! We desperately needed an Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Laws. On 12-2-70, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, created the EPA by EO! He directed the FBI to be the lead investigative Agency, US Attorneys to be the prosecutors, and gave the States the ability to enforce EPA regulations. I “accepted” the order to initiate the FBI Environmental Crimes Program for the Western District of NY, a 17 county area. There truly was a need as witnessed by the Love Canal, in my home town of Niagara Falls, NY. I had a personal interest! I attended EPA schools to learn the laws and then train other investigators. Congress passed numerous Hazardous Waste laws sometimes referred to as the big 8 laws: RECRA, CIRCLA, CLEAN AIR, CLEAN WATER, TSCA and many more. I worked very closely with the NY Dept of Conservation (DEC) as they were… the “EPA”  …in NY and also enforced the EPA regulations. There was virtually no EPA presence in NY in the late 1970s! DEC did their job then and probably does now!

We investigated illegal dumping of “toxic” waste, and I drew up several Search Warrants and obtained the first “Federal” Conviction for Environmental Crimes in western NY and closed one Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility. I drew up the affidavits, the AUSA drew up the warrants, and we executed them. For many years the EPA provided an essential service. HOWEVER — things have changed! We even executed a Search Warrant on the West Valley Nuclear Cleanup site, and I was happy to report that the contractors on site were performing well over and above the minimum safety requirements and laws!

Barack Obama began using the EPA as a law making agency instead of a regulatory agency, using his attack on fossil fuels as his cannon, when his Democrat Congress refused to pass “Cap and Trade”. Cap and Trade is a permit to pollute as long as you pay! The EPA was doing more harm to our economy than good for the environment! They over-regulated to the point that they have made doing business in the US too expensive for manufacturers who produce waste and CO2, which is all manufacturers.

They have chased our jobs to 3rd world countries that have NO EPAs, NO hazardous waste laws, NO “lead paint” law, NO OSHA laws, NO labor laws…so we are buying products, made in countries that violate everything we spent billions to clean up, and at the expense of our work force and THE ENVIRONMENT !!!!!

That is insane, to say the least, but it has been proven to be the way Democrat leaders like, Schumer, Pelosi, Obama and Gore think!

It’s time to turn ALL EPA functions over to the States which are doing EPA’s job anyway and close the doors on EPA completely. Their budget back then was 15 billion a year!!! They did their job well with help of the FBI and many State Environmental Agencies, until they were forced to create laws by the Obama administration.  Laws that did nothing to help our environment and were directed to push forward a personal, radical agenda of Obama!!

Now it’s time to put things back in order and allow Congress to make the laws, not regulatory Agencies. The States are well prepared to handle the job.

President Trump is doing EXACTLY the right thing by eliminating Obama’s, unlawful, EPA regulations!

CO2 FACT CHECK

These are some of the IRREFUTABLE, SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACTS about CO2 and its value to mankind…that you won’t hear from the likes of Obama…a guy who opposes a wall to keep you and me safe but has a 10 ft wall built around his new WDC home! Think about that for a while!

Carbon dioxide is essential for life; the production of food and oxygen!

Trees and plant life require a MINIMUM CO2 of 180 to 200 ppm, by volume, to SURVIVE. Anything less and they die, and so will you!

Current CO2 concentrations in our atmosphere are about 340 ppm!

Ideal CO2 for plant life and you is between 1000 to 2000 ppm!

Plant life in the USA is currently “starving” for CO2, and CO2 emissions MUST be “increased” to at least 1000 ppm and not decreased anymore!!!!

If you enclose and seal a green house, the CO2 concentration will diminish to almost zero, and all plant life will die without CO2!,

If you pump CO2 into that same greenhouse from burnt coal or ANY fossil fuel, the plant life will flourish! So if your plants are dying in your green house, introduce CO2!

Scientists have no idea what impact CO2, produced by man, has on the Earth’s climate, except that it’s essential!

“Excess” CO2 falls into the Oceans, increasing Ocean plant growth and seems to follow unexplained “Mother Nature” balances between CO2, our atmosphere, and our Oceans!

There is no scientific information or studies that prove anything, one way or another, that would lead to any scientific conclusion regarding the impact of man-made carbon dioxide on the Earth’s climate other than it’s essential for life…period!

ENERGY

God blessed America with an abundance of Natural resources from trees and fresh water to Natural Gas (enough to power the entire US indefinitely), coal (enough to power America for a hundred years at least), oil (more than all OPEC combined), Uranium, Gold, Silver, etc. You name it, we got it, BUT — we aren’t using it wisely!!! Here are some ideas:

Direct all the States to build a new power plant with interest paying loans (stimulus loans) from the government. They must use made in the USA materials and employ legal US citizens. When built, they must sell the plant to private utility companies and repay the loans. Put massive green houses next to/near the fossil fuel plants and pipe their CO2 emissions into the food growing plants! Loan stimulus money, the same way, to the necessary steel, concrete, drywall plants to help build the power plants! Then turn to our Grid, and the same deal, and make it EMP proof!

We have the safest most technologically advanced Nuclear power plants in the world. They are the cleanest and most efficient power plants, next to hydro. Build them as well!

Regarding the US oil finds, we have the LARGEST oil discoveries in the world and more oil than all OPEC combined! The largest is the Green River Reserve (oil shale) in Colorado, and after 3,000 test wells, according to government sources, has enough “usable” oil to provide all America’s needs, by itself, for over 50 years.  The second is the Bakkan in Williston, North Dakota with estimates of maybe 20 billion barrels (maybe 50 years worth also). It went from zero to 1.25 million barrels a day in a year and a half!  Prudhoe Bay, Alaska is the largest “producing” oil reserve in the US!

GLOBAL WARMING…NO!  CLIMATE CHANGE…YES!

KEEP IT IN THE GROUND…is a philosophy that has a basis embedded in deceit, lies and unscientific data, like the UN IPCC Model, which NASA said in 2015, is useless.

Global Warming is all about MONEY! The US gives the UN 5 billion a year to study “Climate Change”. The UN created the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on “Climate Change”. The IPCC decided to grant all 5 billion to Colleges with PhD scientists, who have no jobs after 8 years of College and no money to “study” Global Warming IF, and only IF, they agreed that there IS Global Warming, and they will try to PROVE it. That is the premise the University MUST agree to in order to receive the IPCC Grant money!… very scientific!

So for 18 years they studied and made releases on how the Earth is warming, Polar bears are dying because the ice caps and glaciers are melting …all unchallenged until a few experts decided to check the RAW data. Heartland Institute looked at the IPCC temperature model which predicted temperatures and compared the predicted temperatures to the actual temperatures and found the model to be totally inaccurate. How bad? Al Gore predicted that based upon the model, the Arctic Ice Cap and Glaciers would be gone by 2015!!! In fact, the temperatures over the 18 ½ year period actually went DOWN 1 degree Celsius!

How bad? Some colleges put the thermometers to study “Global Warming” in fenced-in areas (good) but on blacktop parking lots (brain dead stupid or corrupt?…very bad)!!! All temperatures were taken in the US but the study is called Global Warming?

NASA completed a study in 2015 that says the IPCC 18 year study is useless, not even close to accurate, and their (NASA) study compared Antarctic Ice over a 10,000 year period and found the “land mass” ice to be thicker, larger, and colder than ever before. Also, Satellite photos of the Arctic Ice cap prove that all the Arctic Ice that melted over a 10 year period (due to Global Warming, according to Gore-ites) regained all that was melted during the 10 years …in a one year period, from 2012 to 2013… regaining 1 million sq miles of new ice… in one year!! Get this; some geniuses who believe in Global Warming versus Climate Change, even claimed that the freezing of one million miles of ice in one year was due to …Global Warming, as well!!

John Coleman, creator of The Weather Channel, also did a study on Polar Bears and found that their population is greater now than since they started keeping records!

On 2-4 & 5-17, the Daily Mail (a UK Paper) reported that John Bates a high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that “America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015”.

WHY? It’s all about money. Saudi Arabia sells the US oil. Why wouldn’t they want to lobby against US oil production? I would feel very safe saying that ANY politician who says there is Global Warming is making LOTS of money from lobbyists or has some other scam working. For example, how much was Barack Obama paid to push for debunked/bankrupt Solyndra to receive grant money or maybe a “reward” besides the 1.5 million they donated to Obama’s campaign? What did he get from the $418,000 he gave them, 4 months before they filed for bankruptcy?

How about this…a sitting US President, attempts to convince people that there is a fossil fuel scare and Solar is the only way to go. Push a new solar company as a great investment and tell your constituents it’s the energy of the future. Invest heavy and when you know it will crash, sell!

Like I said, it’s a scam, it’s not true, the facts prove there is NO GLOBAL WARMING…THERE IS CLIMATE CHANGE AND THERE HAS BEEN FOR 5 BILLION YEARS!

CO2 emissions over a densely populated metropolis can impact health, smog, plant growth but will never impact the earths’ spin on its axis, glacier melting, or world temperatures, warming or cooling…and that’s a FACT!

Recently, Patrick Moore, founding father of Greenpeace, came clean and exposed the fraud he and the left wing extremists pulled on the American people regarding CO2, Global Warming, and pollution for over 40 years. This will kill you…   For all those years Moore was speaking out against fossil fuels and followed the Gore-ite and IPCC philosophy, he was regarded as the authority by Greenpeace and other left wing, tree hugging groups. Now that he speaks the truth, they call him a “paid consultant for the fossil fuel industry”, and question his intelligence and integrity.

Understand that they were correct about how pollution was contaminating our air and water and the need for the “EPA” and Federal laws, BUT that all ended. Humans cannot change the temperature of the world, melt glaciers or any of the other insane claims Greenpeace made, according to its founder!

Mr Moore also admitted that the Greenpeace ship with all its “sails” never used the sails and was powered by huge Detroit Diesel Electromotive engines that drove electric turbines!!!

Former scientists for the UN IPCC also came clean and admitted the fraud, inaccuracies, and lies that were told by the IPCC to influence Global Warming nonsense.

Fact check what I write to satisfy yourself. Many scientists from the Heartland Institute, noted meteorologists like John Coleman, scientists who worked on the IPCC Models, and many other sources …including our own NASA, have ALL stated that the UN IPCC model on Global Warming, their “big” source that they always refer to, …is a fraud!

So …Mr President…I just found the 5 billion you need for Border Security…shut down the UN IPCC by redirecting their 5 Billion grant to our Border Study!

Last season local entertainment was taken to a new level on Fort Myers Beach!

Jerry Nolan (of Fresh Catch Bistro and Junkanoos) and Kay Cummings have partnered up to do it again, bringing us Yesteryear Theater: Las Vegas and New York style live entertainment, right here in our back yards. These shows will feature professional impersonators that have sang around the world.

I had the pleasure of having a great talk with Co-Owners Jerry and Kay. Kay told me her patronage at Fresh Catch Bistro opened up a whole new world of excitement in her life… Last year, Jerry asked her to be a hostess and impersonate Elizabeth Taylor. " Kay's resemblance to Liz was unmistakable" Jerry told me and Kay added "This year he invited me to become his business partner in the world of impersonation and legends"

"The entertainers I have been so fortunate to meet and work with, are fine-tuned and top in their field. Their attention to detail and their ability to master multiple characters amazes me. I am constantly in awe of Everyone’s unique talent." said Kay She, on the other hand, is happy that Liz Taylor was a bit quiet because she is incredibly shy on stage, she confided in me (which no one ever believes, she added)" and this year, Jerry is passing the MC reigns to me! Yikes!"

"I wish my parents were still around to enjoy our shows as they loved the Rat Pack and Elvis ....OK maybe Elvis was a little much for their era and that is the beauty of our show… All ages will be entertained!"

"I love that this year we are pairing with the Moose Lodge which I have driven passed time and again and I had no clue how cool that place is and I plan on becoming a moose or moosette, whichever is appropriate, as soon as I get back down to Florida next week!

When we were doing our last year shows, our venue required quite the overhaul. The vibe at the Moose Lodge has the nightclub quality that we have been looking for and we are really looking forward to our first round of shows there."

The next extravaganza will be next week with Elvis Tribute entertainer, Robert Cabella,  this one night show on Saturday February 2nd at 7:30pm, is sure to sell out because he was here last year and did a fantastic job. This night will be hosted by Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator, Geno Monroe,  who does a fantastic job of singing and dancing like Sammy. I have seen both of these entertainers live myself and they are flawless.

Sunday and Monday the 3rd and 4th, new country meets old country when Luke Bryan  and country legend Kenny Rogers  come to town, now I haven't seen this Luke Bryan impersonator yet but Kenny did a fantastic show last year! The best seats are going fast.

The location for all these shows is at the Moose Lodge Event Center at 19090 San Carlos Blvd at 7:30pm. This is a cozy venue that only holds 100 people so get your seat reservations now.

Tickets are on sale and are selling for $40 a person and that includes hors d'oeuvres.

Get a great deal by attending two shows for only $70 for or come to all three shows for $90.

" Who knows what the future holds! Yesteryear Theater might be coming to life a lot more often... " Kay Cummings

There will be a cash bar! For tickets call Jerry Nolan at 239-810-4587 or Kay Cummings at (513) 368-9923 For more information and a full listing of upcoming shows visit: yesteryearentertainment.weebly.com

In closing I asked Kay what was her best tip on good living?.... Her answer... Have a happy heart, make everyone around you want to smile and never be afraid to express your love!" God willing, I'll be there so .........See you at the shows.

Bobby Mimmo

Want to learn about the environment? The Town of Fort Myers Beach is planning its first-ever Environmental Symposium, so pay attention or you'll miss it! It will be held today.......... Jan. 17.        

"It's going to be geared more towards the residents here on the island, because we're going to be talking about a lot of things that impact the homes here," said environmental technician Rae Burns.       

Representatives from Turtle Time, Florida Fish and Wildlife, the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife in Sanibel, and the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences will be doing presentations.          

Topics will include native vegetation, nesting shorebirds, sea turtle lighting, and how to handle sick and injured wildlife and more.          

"It's going to be very educational," said Burns. "It's basically an overview of all the environmental avenues that are here on the island for people to access."    

Council members, and Town staff will be on hand to answer environmental questions from the public and representatives from the Marine Resources Task Force will be there.       

The free event will begin setting up at 5 p.m., and run until 8 p.m at Bay Oaks Recreational Center, located at 2731 Oak Street.

When Obama was in Office.... all the Democrats wanted a wall.... now because it's part of Trumps campagne promises.... It's immoral

At a news conference Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, at Flagler Place in Stuart, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced new water policies and asked all South Florida Water Management District board members to resign. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis, on his third day on the job, asked for the immediate resignations of all South Florida Water Management District board members during a news conference in Stuart.

The Senate would have to remove any board members who refuse, such as Vice Chair Brandon Tucker of Palm City, who said he plans to serve the last two years of his term.

"I believe I made a commitment to serve out my term," Tucker told TCPalm. "I haven't had an opportunity to meet with the governor and his staff and tell them about the issues and my positions on them."

Tucker said he wasn't surprised by DeSantis' request. "Everybody figured it was coming," Tucker said. "But I don't believe it was correct."

Tucker said he had "no idea" how the other members of the board will react to the governor's request. "I can't speak for them," he said.

Former Vice Chair Melanie Peterson, a Realtor in Palm Beach County, resigned Jan. 1.

Terms of three other members expire in March:

• Sam Acursio, a Miami-Dade County farmer
• Rick Barber, a Lee County engineer
• James Moran, a Palm Beach County attorney

Thursday's action was the result of a controversial Nov. 8 vote to lease land needed for the EAA reservoir to a Florida Crystals subsidiary — after DeSantis asked the board to postpone the vote to give him and the public more time to vet the lease.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City and chair of DeSantis' environmental advisory committee, called the board members "arrogant" and "derelict in their duties."

“For far too long the South Florida Water Management District has been more accountable to special interests than to the people of Florida," Mast said in a news release Thursday. "That changes today, and I look forward to continuing to work with Gov. DeSantis to find replacements who make our waterways and environment the No. 1 priority.”

State Sen. Gayle Harrell said she’s interested to see who DeSantis appoints to the board, but did not say if she supports the resignation call.

“It’s an exciting time. When you have this large transition of new agency heads, of boards, it’s really a new day. I think we need to be optimistic as we move forward. I think there will be a balance of new people on that board to have good, solid policy.“

Water policy announced

DeSantis, along with First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, had three news conferences Thursday, in Bonita Springs, then Sarasota, then Stuart.

At the first two, he unveiled an executive order focused on several water policies, including major increases in Everglades restoration funding and a blue-green algae task force.

The executive order: 

•  Dedicates $2.5 billion over the next four years for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources. It's a $1 billion increase in spending over the previous four years and the highest level of funding for restoration in Florida’s history.
• Creates a Blue-Green Algae Task Force, charged with focusing on expediting progress toward reducing the adverse impacts of blue-green algae blooms now and over the next five years.
•  Instructs the South Florida Water Management District to immediately start the next phase of the EAA reservoir design and ensure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approves the project according to schedule.
•  Creates an Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency, charged with organizing and directing integrated scientific research and analysis to ensure that all agency actions are aligned with key environmental priorities.
•  Appoints a chief science officer to coordinate and prioritize scientific data, research, monitoring and analysis of needs to ensure alignment with current and emerging environmental concerns most pressing to Floridians.
•  Expedites key Everglades projects including the C-44 reservoir and stormwater treatment area, C-43 reservoir, Tamiami Trail and additional projects necessary to protect waterways.
•  Directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to establish a septic conversion and remediation grant program with a local government match requirement.
•  Creates the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection to help prepare Florida’s coastal communities and habitats for impacts from sea level rise by providing funding, technical assistance and coordination among state, regional and local entities.
•  Directs state agencies to take necessary actions to adamantly oppose all offshore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.

"Our water and natural resources are the foundation of our economy and our way of life in Florida," DeSantis said in a news release. "The protection of water resources is one of the most pressing issues facing our state. That’s why today I'm taking immediate action to combat the threats which have devastated our local economies and threatened the health of our communities."

Environmentalists respond

Environmentalists had mixed opinions about the executive order.

Sierra Club Florida expressed both cheers and jeers, saying it supports the:

• Focus on nutrient pollution
• DEP science office
• Expedited Everglades restoration projects
• Septic conversion program
• Commitment to enforce environmental regulations
• Additional stormwater treatment for the C-43 reservoir
• Commitment to protect Apalachicola River and  stop Georgia's water withdrawals.

“In his first week in office, Gov. DeSantis has done more to address Florida’s water quality crisis than Gov. Rick Scott did in eight years,” chapter director Frank Jackalone said in a news release. 

But the group said more needs to be done, including redesigning the EAA reservoir to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges so it's wider and shallower, and buying more land to treat the reservoir water before releasing it to the Everglades.

Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg also applauded DeSantis for addressing toxic algal blooms so quickly after being sworn in Tuesday. 

"With this pen, with the signing of this executive order, our governor in less than 48 hours after taking his hand off the Bible has set in motion an aggressive, comprehensive plan to solve these issues," Eikenberg said in Bonita Springs. In a later Facebook post, he said, "This is the first governor who has demonstrated that key link between our environment, tourism and our tax base." 

Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, called the executive order an important step forward for the entire state.

"Our water issues are many. They come from many causes, and while there's no single smoking gun and no single silver bullet, we need to address all the problems that we're facing," Wraithmell said in Bonita Springs. "This broad platform is moving us towards that bright future, and this really what we need to see from our state going forward."

Florida Conservation Voters Executive Director Aliki Moncrief said there are many great ideas in the executive order and she's hopeful, but she's waiting to see if they're executed properly. 

"At the end of the day, the executive order is a collection of words though, it's not an action in and of itself," she said. 

She said DeSantis should also: support ongoing efforts in the Legislature to ban fracking; appoint people with strong science backgrounds; address climate change more thoroughly, looking at its causes rather than just establishing task forces to battle rising sea levels.

Bullsugar policy director Alex Gillen said acknowledging the human health impact of the algal blooms and recommending new SFWMD board members is "the most important thing" DeSantis could have done to address the blooms.

"Gov. DeSantis’ focus on scientific and operational solutions suggests that the state is finally poised to take action to protect people in the near-term from toxic blooms and the environmental and economic damage caused by our water management decisions. We’re looking forward to real action from Tallahassee on stopping discharges and restoring the flow of clean freshwater to the Everglades." U.S.

DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein thanked DeSantis for giving his agency additional funding and support to address water issues.

“What you see here today is the idea of urgency and working together to achieve more to protect our environment,” Valenstein said at the Bonita Springs event.

Many Florida environmentalists and newspaper editorial boards have called on DeSantis top keep his campaign promises and make clean water a priority.

Democrats respond 

Florida Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson said she's encouraged by the announcement, but concerned it will cut into other programs and could cost too much for financially strained local governments.

In a news release, Gibson asked the source of increased Everglades restoration funding, and whether other state programs will suffer as a result. 

She was also skeptical about septic conversions, asking how costs would be covered and whether poor homeowners would be able to afford it.

“The policies of the past administration have taken a terrible toll on our natural resources, to say nothing of the impact on our marine life," Gibson said in the news release. “But an executive order has to have more than just lofty goals, or admirable pursuits. It has to have the details we need to judge whether these goals are doable without hammering local governments and families throughout Florida with expenses they cannot possibly afford."

Mast criticized Democrats in a tweet. 

"Sadly, the partisan finger pointing continues. The exec order this morning is strong action & if it had been done by a Dem gov, they would be heaping praise," Mast said. "Enough with the politics - our water is too important to succumb to political games." 

full story:

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/health/2019/01/10/gov-ron-desantis-water-policy/2524097002/?fbclid=IwAR10Ep66lVGL4zwVabzYZeohCVYle3AiWyaXmCuY-cZPn6g0H7R_LU9ZkVE

If there is a more anti-Trump organ in the American establishment than The Washington Post, it does not readily come to mind. 

Hence, in choosing to send his op-ed attack on President Donald Trump to the Post, Mitt Romney was collaborating with an adversary of his party and his president.
And he knew it, and the Post rewarded his collusion.

"The president has not risen to the mantle of his office," said Romney; in "qualities of character" Trump's "shortfall has been most glaring."

Our leaders must "inspire and unite us," not "promote tribalism," wrote Romney. We must defend the "free press."
All music to Post ears.

As senator, Romney promised, "I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant."

Sounds like a litany of media slanders against Trump, some of which, seven years ago, were lodged against a GOP presidential nominee whose name was Mitt Romney.

Thursday, the Post paid Romney in its special currency, with a Page 1 photo and headline about having discovered "a new voice of resistance."

But Romney had not exactly pledged his life, fortune and sacred honor to dethrone the tyrant. Rather he declared, "I look forward to working on these priorities ... with Mitch McConnell."

A day later, The New York Times, perhaps miffed it had not been the beneficiary of Romney's dump on Trump, dumped all over him:

"Romney Cools Fiery Tone After Trump Allies Assail Him," ran the headline. A CNN interview, wrote the Times, found Romney "repeatedly declining to escalate his attacks on the president and explaining that he would only speak out against Mr. Trump on issues of 'great significance.'"

Does Romney not see presidential character as an issue of "great significance"? The Washington Times said Romney appeared to be auditioning for the role of Jeff Flake in the new Senate.
Though the Romney screenplay seemed to fizzle after the early negative reviews, the episode is revelatory.

Clearly Romney senses Trump is in trouble, and may not survive, or may not run, and there may be an opening for him. He seems to want to be properly positioned with the anti-Trumpers and never-Trumpers, should that happen.

Yet, in seeing Trump as besieged, Romney is not wrong.

With loss of the House and resignation of his defense secretary, the president had a rough year's end. Now the expectations of his enemies and the hopes of this hostile city for his fall are greater than ever.

Blood is in the water. If Trump seeks re-election, he will be challenged in the primaries. And as presidents from Truman to LBJ, to Carter, Ford and Bush 41 discovered, these can prove problematic.

Looking over to the other side of the aisle, however, that party, too, has problems. The more hot-headed of the House majority have already said they will introduce articles of impeachment against the president.

And when the militant members are rewarded by major media with favorable coverage and commentary, this will induce others to join in, in anticipation of the same media rewards.
An impeachment battle thus seems inevitable.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic leadership may see this rush to impeachment as a strategic blunder. But they will be unable to contain or control what will by spring resemble a mob.

Today, unelected media, not elected politicians, decide what gets attention. For our media, President Trump is the issue, as he was in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and removing him from the presidency the strategic goal.

But beyond the issue of Trump, 2019 looks to be a rough year for America. The deficit will reach a trillion dollars. National debt is near $22 trillion. The budget is out of balance. No consensus exists in Congress on how to deal with it.

If sanctions are not first lifted on North Korea, there will be no nuclear deal, and the probability grows that "Little Rocket Man" will begin anew to test his missiles and nuclear warheads.
With U.S. troops pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan, the day is coming, and soon, when we must face up to and act upon these facts:

America lost both wars. Afghanistan will fall to the Taliban from whom we took it in 2003, and Bashar Assad, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are, for the near-term, dominant in Syria.

As for our Kurdish allies, they will have to turn to Assad and offer to give him the Syrian lands they captured from ISIS, in return for the Syrian regime's protection from the Turks.

And as for Russia and China, our great adversaries, our foreign policy elite succeeded in this century in undoing the best work of Nixon and Reagan.

Where those presidents split China from Russia and ensured that Beijing and Moscow would have better relations with us than with each other, our elite revels in that it has alienated both China and Russia -- and united both against us.

Patrick J. Buchanan

At Fort Myers Seafood & Music Festival, hungry festivalgoers will flock to enjoy a delicious array of seafood ranging from Cajun-style crawfish to raw bars.

Over the course of three days, January 4-6, 2019, thousands will flock to Fort Myers, Florida. The festival's beer garden, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, live music, arts & crafts as well as a variety of attractions for folks of all ages.

FREE General Admission! HOURS: Friday evening 4pm - 10pm, Saturday 11am - 10pm and Sunday 11am - 6pm

LOCATION: Fort Myers River District. VIP Tent admission is $75 that includes an open bar serving premium drinks in a private tent with a dedicated service staff. The tent’s location enjoys optimal viewing of the live music performances.

VIP tickets are available thru EventLive.

Enjoy foods cooked fresh onsite (seafood, meat, vegetarian) with a variety of side dishes and of course - desserts!

For drinks, choose from alcoholic, non-alcoholic and fruit drinks, While eating, listen to the captivating sounds of live musical performances on stage by some of Florida’s and the region’s top musical talents from such genres as R&B, jazz, rock, reggae and Caribbean sounds.

This year's performers include on Friday night: the Freecoasters (Reggae, American Southern Soul), Sarasota Steel Pan Band (Caribbean) and The Shindigs (Beach Boys Tribute Band).

On Saturday enjoy: Kettle of Fish (Rock), CeCe Teneal & Soul Kamotion (Blues, Soul, Roots), J.P. Soars & The Red Hots (Blues), the Bob Marley Tribute Band featuring Yvad, former lead singer of the Wailers (Reggae), and the Caribbean Chillers (Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band).

Finish your relaxation on Sunday listening to Twinkle & Rock Soul Radio (Rock, Soul), the Billy Rice Band (Country Rock) and the U.S. Stones (Rolling Stones Tribute Band).

During breaks between the performances, stroll through a diverse marketplace of arts, crafts, select food items and specialty...