appreciate your insight and comments. I'll take them under consideration

What's with the LR these days? People posting considered opinions instead of inflammatory accusations - what's with that? Even the two ACA threads didn't blow up and had a lot of good exchanges.

I for one am enjoying this state of affairs and want to thank those of you contributing to it.

Report: Trump open to lifting Russian sanctions if 'we get along'
By CRISTIANO LIMA 01/13/17 11:21 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump expressed a willingness Friday to lift sanctions on Russia if it assists the U.S. in other efforts such as counterterrorism...

“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” Trump said.

The president-elect spoke of meeting with Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin after he is sworn in.

“I understand that they would like to meet, and that’s absolutely fine with me,” he said.

Exxon Mobil Seeks U.S. Sanctions Waiver for Oil Project in Russia

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account.

The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal.

The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-American relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the United States presidential election.

The appeal did not come up during Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, who was Exxon Mobil’s chief executive before his nomination by President Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. At the time, Mr. Tillerson and other company officials said they had not lobbied against the sanctions, which were imposed on Russia in response to its military intervention in Ukraine.

But Mr. Tillerson and company officials did note that Exxon Mobil had received a waiver to complete drilling of an exploration well in Russia’s Arctic waters. Company officials also disclosed that they had urged Obama administration officials to make American sanctions consistent with European Union sanctions, which gave greater latitude to European companies to continue taking part in some Russian projects.

The Exxon Mobil waiver request for the Black Sea was reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.

Asked about the waiver application, Alan Jeffers, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said, “We don’t comment on ongoing issues.” A Treasury representative said the department would not comment on individual licenses or waiver requests.

The oil industry official said that the application had been made in 2015, with Exxon Mobil arguing that it could lose its contractual exploration rights in the Black Sea if it did not begin drilling operations by the end of 2017. European companies, particularly Eni, the Italian oil and gas giant, could then pick up the work.

The Russian news media quoted Zeljko Runje, Rosneft’s vice president for offshore projects, saying last June: “We are going to drill with Eni next year. That is our plan. On the Black Sea.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...4579e4b018a9ce5b014f

just saw this. Haven't read through it in detail so not sure if there is any substance behind it.

Haven't read into this much but it all seems reasonable.

I'm wondering though: we're kinda three months into Trump's term, five months since the election, more than that since the Trump/Russia investigations started. Anyone finding any dirt?!? Lotta people seem convinced that Putin is pulling the strings for whatever reason but what's going on there?