1
Food
Fried Cheese!
A no-recipe recipe worth getting excited about: seared halloumi (or queso blanco or aged provolone) and a cucumber salad.I will make it if you will eat it.
2
The Learning Network
How Often Do You Talk to Yourself?
Do you recognize the positive aspects of self-talk?Usually I assume an hands free cell phone.
3
Well
How to Be Mindful at the Beach
The sound of waves crashing, the salty air and the feel of sand between our toes invite us into the present moment.Ok
4
U.S.
Despite Vote in Favor, Puerto Rico Faces a Daunting Road to Statehood
Puerto Ricans were delivering conflicting messages before a skeptical Congress the day after voters overwhelmingly cast ballots in favor of statehood.First get a good number.
Congress controls statehood.
Often the number has come back in favor of the present status.
The alternative is independence.
Statehood has never been offered.
5
Well
Too Many Opioids After Cesarean Delivery
Doctors may be overprescribing opioids to women who have had cesarean sections.Opioids must be treated as a dangerous last resort.
We do know how to treat an addiction for maintenance.
There is no magic cure for an addiction.
6
N.Y. / Region
De Blasio Is in Unfamiliar Territory in 2nd Run: Way Out Front
In 2013, Bill de Blasio rallied from outsider to victor in the mayoral race. Now, he is the overwhelming favorite in his quest for another term.It is good to see an honest count.
7
Well
Losing a Father and Husband to AIDS, and Finding Him Again
When my husband died of AIDS, I resolved to keep how he died a secret to protect my children.I am going to want personal details.
I doubt they will make a difference.
8
Opinion
Jeff Sessions Clams Up in Congress
He defended his previous false testimony and cited privileges and policies that don’t exist.Jeff Sessions should retire while he gracefully can.
He should then receive a full pardon or move beyond extradition.
North Korea would be my choice.
9
Books
Roxane Gay Promotes New Book and Calls Out Podcast for ‘Fat-Phobia’
The feminist writer, whose memoir was released on Tuesday, criticized an Australian media outlet for using “cruel and humiliating” language. The outlet has apologized.10
U.S.
Sessions Is Likely to Be Grilled on Reports of Meeting With Russian Envoy
As a Senate panel questions the attorney general on his role in the Russia inquiry, reports that he met the Russian ambassador a third time will almost certainly come up.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/us/politics/jeff-sessions-testimony.html
"Here are highlights from the nearly three-hour session:
• After coming under fire for failing to disclose his interactions with the Russian ambassador during his confirmation hearing, Mr. Sessions was determined to provide his version of events
— and he did not waste any time. “I have never met with or had any
conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any
type of interference with any campaign or election in the United
States,” he said during his opening statement.
• Mr. Sessions denied meeting with Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel
in Washington in April 2016, adding that he could not “recall” any such
private conversations with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak,
there. “If any brief interaction occurred in passing with the Russian
ambassador, I do not remember it,” he said.
• Mr. Sessions contested the assertion of James B. Comey,
who was fired as F.B.I. director, before the committee last week that
the attorney general had not responded when Mr. Comey asked him not to
leave him alone with Mr. Trump again.
“While
he did not provide me with any of the substance of his conversation
with the president, Mr. Comey expressed concern about the proper
communications protocol with the White House and with the president,” he
said. “I responded to his comment by agreeing that the F.B.I. and
Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow department policies
regarding appropriate contacts with the White House.”
• Mr. Sessions repeatedly refused to discuss his conversations with Mr. Trump
about the Russia investigation or Mr. Comey’s firing beyond what was in
his recommendation memo about ousting Mr. Comey, which the White House
released. Democratic senators reacted angrily, noting that Mr. Trump had
not invoked executive privilege to bar such testimony. Mr. Sessions
argued that it was a longstanding practice not to disclose confidential
conversations with the president that would potentially be subject to
executive privilege, but several senators said that was not a legal
basis to refuse to answer their questions.
“Consistent
with longstanding Department of Justice practice, I cannot and will not
violate my duty to protect confidential communications with the
president,” he said.
• Seizing on a criticism others have made of Mr. Comey, Mr. Sessions emphasized that Mr. Comey had not told him why he was uncomfortable being alone with Mr. Trump
— specifically, that Mr. Trump had asked him to drop the investigation
into Michael T. Flynn, his former national security adviser.
“He
could have complained to the deputy or to me at any time that he felt
pressure,” Mr. Sessions said, referring to Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy
attorney general.
• Mr. Sessions made it clear that he
did not take kindly to the insinuations and accusations arising from
the fact that he previously failed to disclose meetings with Mr. Kislyak.
And he came to the committee in large part to defend himself against
what he called “an appalling and detestable lie” that he had colluded
with Russian officials. “I recused myself from any investigation into
the campaign for president, but I did not recuse myself from defending
my honor against scurrilous and false accusations,” he said.
Sessions rejects any suggestion of Russian collusion.
In his opening statement,
Mr. Sessions said any suggestion that he participated in or was aware
of any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government
to undermine the democratic process “is an appalling and detestable
lie.”
Mr. Sessions also denied talking to any Russian official in the Mayflower Hotel
in Washington at an event in April 2016, rejecting reports that he may
have had an undisclosed meeting with Mr. Kislyak at that event. He said
he recalled no private conversations with any Russian officials at that
reception and “if any brief interaction occurred in passing with the
Russian ambassador, I do not remember it.”
The Huffington Post reported on March 8
that Mr. Sessions and Mr. Kislyak had attended that event, at which Mr.
Trump was also present, but that it was not clear whether the two had
spoken. CNN has more recently reported
that there continue to be questions about whether there was such a
meeting. The issue matters because Mr. Sessions testified at his
confirmation hearing that he did not communicate with the Russians in
2016, but it later emerged that he had at least two contacts with Mr.
Kislyak; the question is whether there was a third. (Mr. Sessions has
said his answer at the hearing was accurate in context.)
Sessions refuses to talk about communications with Trump.
Mr.
Sessions repeatedly refused to discuss his conversations with Mr. Trump
about the Russia investigation or Mr. Comey’s firing beyond what was in
his memo recommending that Mr. Comey be fired, which the White House
released. Democratic senators reacted angrily, noting that Mr. Trump had
not invoked executive privilege to bar such testimony.
Mr.
Sessions argued that it was a longstanding practice not to disclose
confidential conversations with the president that would potentially be
subject to executive privilege, but several senators said that was not a
legal basis to refuse to answer their questions.
Mark
J. Rozell, a George Mason University professor who has written books
about executive privilege, said previous administration officials had
often gone before Congress and declared that they would not answer
questions about communications that might be subject to executive
privilege even though the president had not yet invoked that power.
Whether that was legitimate, he said, was a “constitutional gray area”
that lacked a clear answer.
“The
problem I have with it is that it’s similar to a claim of executive
privilege without the president actually uttering the words or formally
declaring that power,” he said. “It puts Congress in an impossible
position if a member of the administration can simply claim a right of
private communications for the president that could stand as a basis for
refusing to answer anything.”
If
Congress wanted to force the issue, he said, it could issue a subpoena
requiring Mr. Sessions to provide testimony, forcing Mr. Trump to decide
whether he wanted to invoke the privilege and, if so, over what.
Typically, he said, such confrontations have led to negotiations that
resulted in an accommodation to defuse the disputes, which is why there
are few definitive court precedents about the scope and limits of
executive secrecy powers.
Mr.
Sessions also said there was a Justice Department policy about not
disclosing confidential communications with the president even absent an
executive privilege claim, but Mr. Rozell said that while some previous
presidents put out formal guidelines laying out how their
administration would use executive privilege, he was not aware of the
Trump administration having produced any.
Sessions contests Comey’s account of discussion.
Mr.
Sessions offered a different account of what he said when Mr. Comey
approached him following a meeting on Feb. 14 in the Oval Office with
Mr. Trump.
Mr.
Comey recounted that after a routine counterterrorism meeting, Mr.
Trump cleared the room of everyone else — including Mr. Sessions — and
then made comments that Mr. Comey interpreted as an improper request to
drop an investigation into Mr. Flynn. Afterward, Mr. Comey said, he
“implored” Mr. Sessions never to leave him alone with the president
again, but Mr. Sessions did not respond.
After Mr. Comey’s testimony last week,
the Justice Department released a statement contesting Mr. Comey’s
account that Mr. Sessions had merely remained silent, and Mr. Sessions
himself on Tuesday said directly and under oath that he did respond.
“While
he did not provide me with any of the substance of his conversation
with the president, Mr. Comey expressed concern about the proper
communications protocol with the White House and with the president,”
Mr. Sessions said. “I responded to his comment by agreeing that the
F.B.I. and Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow
department policies regarding appropriate contacts with the White
House.”
He
added: “I was confident that Mr. Comey understood and would abide by
the department’s well-established rules governing any communications
with the White House about ongoing investigations. My comments
encouraged him to do just that, and indeed, as I understand, he did.”
Sessions said he would not have any role in Mueller’s tenure.
Under
questioning from Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on
the panel, Mr. Sessions said he would not have anything to do with any
effort, should one emerge, to fire Robert S. Mueller III as special
counsel, since he is recused from the Russia investigation Mr. Mueller
is leading."
Jeff Sessions should resign and run away.
He is guilty of contempt of congress at a minimum.
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