Andrew Harnik / AP The Kremlin's Investment in Trump Is Paying Off The president’s policies in office have aligned almost perfectly with Vladimir Putin’s goals.Fifty-four years ago this month, former President John F. Kennedy delivered the “Strategy of Peace,” a powerful address that captured America’s indispensable leadership at the height of the Cold War.Kennedy knew that our country could not guard against the Soviet Union alone, for he believed that “genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts.” Incredibly, the man who now leads the United States seems to find himself locked in an alarming and perilous embrace with the Russian government.These ties threaten to weaken a system of alliances that have held Russia—and countless other threats to the international community—at bay since the conclusion of the Second World War.Continue Reading AP Watergate Lawyer: I Witnessed Nixon's Downfall—and I've Got a Warning for Trump Richard Ben-Veniste on the uncanny parallels between the scandal he investigated and the controversy over the White House’s alleged links to Russia Watching the national controversy over the White House and Russia unfold, I’m reminded of Karl Marx’s oft-quoted observation: “History repeats itself: first as tragedy, second as farce.” I was a close witness to the national tragedy that was Richard Nixon’s self-inflicted downfall as president, and I’ve recently contemplated whether a repeat of his “Saturday Night Massacre” may already be in the offing.

Given how that incident doomed one president, Trump would do well to resist repeating his predecessor’s mistakes—and avoid his presidency’s descent into a quasi-Watergate parody.The massacre began when Nixon gave the order to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, a desperate effort to prevent him from hearing tape-recorded evidence that proved the White House’s involvement in a conspiracy to obstruct the investigation of a break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters.texas bitcoin conference 2014Nixon’s misuse of executive power backfired, immediately costing him two highly respected members of his administration: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus, who both resigned rather than follow Nixon’s directive.bitcoin the good the bad and the ugly

Third in command at the Justice Department was Solicitor General Robert Bork, who agreed to do the dirty deed and fired Cox.Continue Reading Joe Raedle / Getty Images Why Do Democrats Keep Losing in 2017?The party has made gains in special elections, but continues to fall short of outright victory.A string of special election defeats in each state, and with each one, a missed opportunity to take over a Republican House seat, has left Democrats facing the question: Why does the party keep losing elections, and when will that change?bitcoin tokyo exchangeThe most obvious reason that Democrats fell short is that the special elections have taken place in conservative strongholds.bitcoin preis kursIn each case, Democratic candidates were vying to replace Republicans tapped by the president to serve in his administration, and in districts that Trump won.litecoin and bitcoin comparison

Despite the unfavorable terrain, Democrats improved on Hillary Clinton’s margin in every district except in Georgia.But if the party wants to take control of the House in 2018, it needs more than just a strong showing in Republican districts.It needs to win.Continue Reading Lisk Feng What Mormon Family Trees Tell Us About Cancer By searching the church's famed family trees, scientists have tracked down a cancer-causing mutation that came west with a pioneer couple—just in time to save the lives of their great-great-great-great grandchildren.bitcoin gizmodoNobody knew it then, but the genetic mutation came to Utah by wagon with the Hinman family.bitcoin machine dubaiLyman Hinman found the Mormon faith in 1840.bitcoin wert liveAmid a surge of religious fervor, he persuaded his wife, Aurelia, and five children to abandon their 21-room Massachusetts house in search of Zion.bitcoin tax haven of the future

They went first to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the faith’s prophet and founder, Joseph Smith, was holding forth—until Smith was murdered by a mob and his followers were run out of town.They kept going west and west until there were no towns to be run out of.They boiled elk horns.The children’s mouths erupted in sores from scurvy.Aurelia lost all her teeth.And so did the mutation.Continue Reading All photos courtesy of Alex Tizon and his family My Family’s Slave She lived with us for 56 years.She raised me and my siblings without pay.I was 11, a typical American kid, before I realized who she was.The ashes filled a black plastic box about the size of a toaster.It weighed three and a half pounds.I put it in a canvas tote bag and packed it in my suitcase this past July for the transpacific flight to Manila.From there I would travel by car to a rural village.When I arrived, I would hand over all that was left of the woman who had spent 56 years as a slave in my family’s household.

Continue Reading J. Scott Applewhite / AP How the Senate's Health-Care Bill Would Cause Financial Ruin for People With Preexisting Conditions Republicans are going to insist otherwise, but that’s simply not the case.If there was one goal Senate Republicans had set out to achieve in developing their health bill to show they were less “mean” than their colleagues in the House, it was to take away the House Republicans’ green light for insurers to once again discriminate against those with pre-existing health conditions.Senate Republicans were willing to drive up deductibles and co-pays and be more draconian on Medicaid cuts, but on the one issue of pre-existing conditions they were intent on being less “mean,” as President Trump termed the House bill.Now that the text of the bill has been released, it’s clear that they have failed to achieve that.As they argue for the bill, Republicans are going to claim that it will not allow insurance plans to discriminate against people because they have a pre-existing condition.