Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVoVgQ2baw

Today, April 20, 2018, Senator Tim Kaine told an audience at the U of Virginia that missiles into Syria were illegal because not authorized by Congress, leaving everyone to imagine Congress could have made such a thing legal. Kaine gave a long speech on the legality of war without ever mentioning that it is illegal. So I asked him, and he admitted as much. He offered no way in which Congress could have made the missiles legal. He claimed wars are legal if a puppet “invites” you, a claim not supported by written law and not relevant to attacking Syria.

The fact is that the same line of text that gives Congress the war powers in the U.S. Constitution also gives it the power to hire pirates — except that everybody admits you’re not supposed to do that. War also was banned, first and in its entirety by the Kellogg-Briand Pact, second and with limited exceptions not met by any recent wars by the UN Charter, as I pointed out to Senator Kaine.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Husted, Counties Sued to Prevent Planned Destruction of Election Records

Columbus, OH, April 20, 2018 – Ohio voters are suing Secretary of State Jon Husted and the Boards of Election of Franklin and Cuyahoga in order to protect key election materials from next month’s primary election that they say the counties plan to destroy.

At issue are the “digital ballot images” created by the digital scanners that tabulate votes on paper ballots. Digital scanners are in use in 15 counties, including Cuyahoga and Franklin. These records are essential for verifying the accuracy of the election results, according to the suit.

“We’ve had indications that most of the counties that use this technology are following the law and preserving the digital ballot images,” said attorney Robert J. Fitrakis of Columbus, who filed the suit yesterday in the Ohio Supreme court. “As a precaution, we’re seeking a court order that these crucial records be protected in every county where they exist.”

Just hours before attending a preview screening of I Feel Pretty, I happened to be riding a stationary bike at my gym when the nearest TV showed Amy Schumer plugging the flick on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres praised the comedy, as you might expect, but she had especially kind words for the Schumer character’s final speech. She hinted that the consciousness-raising moment is the best part of the film.

Judging from the early reviews, many agree that I Feel Pretty has an important message, but they also seem to feel it undermines that message in a way that’s clumsy at best, unconscionable at worst. So when I say I actually enjoyed the flick, maybe I need to stress that I did not fall off that stationary bike and hit my head before seeing it.

Written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein—and engagingly performed by Schumer and the rest of the cast—the comedy takes on society’s obsession with physical perfection and the damaging effects it has on the self-esteem of women and girls.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's coup-installed Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon will be in Washington from April 22-27 to meet Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis, boosting the junta despite demands for elections, human rights, democracy and Mr. Prawit's resignation for alleged corruption.

"The U.S. needs to counter China's increasing rise in interests and influence in Thailand, and in Southeast Asia by extension, and deepening already deep military-to-military relations is one way to do that," Benjamin Zawacki said in an interview, describing retired army general Prawit's visit.

"Thailand's government is -- as all Thai governments have been since the turn of the century -- pro-Beijing. And until Trump came to power, it was anti-Washington as well," said Bangkok-based Mr. Zawacki, author of a new book titled, "Thailand: Shifting Ground Between the U.S. and a Rising China."

American Spring, the fourth live stage show by Artists Rise Up Los Angeles since the Trump regime took power, rocked Atwater Village Theatre with a moving matinee on April 14 meant to raise consciousness and funds. Largely using spoken word, in a series of one-person presentations, a dozen mostly female and/or nonwhite thesps gave a voice to those whom the Trump-sters seek to render voiceless and Ralph Ellison-like invisible, thereby shining the spotlight on the so-called “least” of these among us during ARULA’s 90 minute production, co-directed by Mapuana Makia and Jose Restrepo. Here are some highlights:

African American women led the way, as some observe Black females are doing offstage, too, in terms of activism. FreXinet freely floated from one female character to another a la Anna Deavere Smith to answer the probing question she posed: “What does it take to be Black in America?” The braided-hair actress wrote and acted out the various dramatic personae, demonstrating her range and talent.