BuzzFeed Sued Over Publication of Trump Dossier

The corporate logo for Alfa Bank (in Russian)
Alfa Bank

Stunning. I have to hand it to the men at the Kremlin – they are really bringing their “A game” these days.

This news broke two weeks ago. But, I’ve been busy.

Meanwhile, the Senate Intel Committee is grilling poor Mike Rogers at today’s the public hearings.

The owners of a Russian bank are suing BuzzFeed for publishing a dossier containing unproven claims that the businessmen were involved in bribing Russian President Vladimir Putin years ago and took part in an alleged Russian government scheme to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Source: Russian bank owners sue BuzzFeed over Trump dossier publication – POLITICO

Our French Connection

I get emotional when I think about the French Connection.

It goes back to watching Casablanca as a kid. That scene in Rick’s Cafe Americain – where the whole place starts singing La Marseillaise – it gets me choked up whenever I think about it.

M. Macron’s speech today had the same effect on me:

On the evening of Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would pull out of the Paris climate deal, Emmanuel Macron launched a three-pronged communications blitz against Trump about the perilous consequences of his decision.

The part where he welcomes to France all free-thinking Americans wishing to continue their work on climate change – it drives home the idea that we’re all living in a new era. As much as I’d love to bolt for the French Republic, we have work to do right here – and we can’t just run for the hills.

Source: Emmanuel Macron skewers Trump in the first-ever English address by a French president from the Élysée: “Make our planet great again” — Quartz