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You've been Trumped!

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 28 Sep , 2018 11:15 pm
A green apple painted red
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Flake news!

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 29 Sep , 2018 8:02 pm
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:D

But I am glad that they are proceeding with an investigation.

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sun 30 Sep , 2018 3:39 pm
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:) Well, he was a bit of a flake with the "I'm voting yes... oh wait, maybe not." Some people think what prompted the change of heart was getting caught at the elevator by a couple of women who reamed him out. Or maybe he had this in mind all along?

Rumor also has it that Collins and Murkowski were also on the Flake team putting pressure on the GOP leadership, but kept it quiet since they're up for re-election. I'm not sure if there's any truth to that.

I just wish there was less "my party above all" and more independent voting among the members of Congress.


Edit: It does seem that the encounter in the elevator was what made Flake decide to call for an investigation:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... he-country
Quote:
"I just knew that we couldn’t move forward, that I couldn’t move forward without hitting the pause button. Because, what I was seeing, experiencing, in an elevator and watching it in committee and just thinking, this is tearing the country apart," he said.
Quote:
Flake and Coons said during the interview that Kavanaugh's nomination would be "over" if it emerges that he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Well, I certainly saw some lies. Maybe trivial ones, but I still found it insulting that Kavanaugh expects us to swallow things that were completely implausible when he's under oath to tell the truth. Or not to notice when he avoided answering a question. "No," with further elaboration on the reasons, is a valid and useful answer. But not answering directly and just giving some reasons a person might not party while they're trying to get good grades is trying to pull the wool over people's eyes.


There are questions about whether Trump is limiting who the FBI may talk to in their new background investigation on Kavanaugh. As usual, Ms. Sanders is about as straightforward as a corkscrew in her answers, but what I'm getting from it - at a minimum - is that only the Republicans get a say in it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-tal ... -kavanaugh
Quote:
The White House on Sunday sought to dispel Democratic criticism and media reports suggesting it is directing the FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

...Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway conveyed similar messages during Sunday talk show appearances, where they asserted that the White House was staying out of the FBI’s way, and called for Democrats to do the same. “I think that we cannot allow the people that have acted in bad faith to determine and allow this to become a total fishing expedition by the FBI,” Sanders said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The Senate is going to lay out, Senate Republicans are going to lay out and dictate those terms,” she continued.
Trump's PR team seems to be falsely equating 1) an investigation that is limited to answering certain questions but allowed to proceed in a reasonable way to answer those questions, and 2) an open-ended fishing investigation.

There also seems to be a new NAFTA agreement (with Trump picking a new name for it, of course), but no details yet.

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Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 02 Oct , 2018 2:01 pm
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https://thehill.com/latino/409140-hundr ... ity-report
Quote:
Hundreds of migrant children in recent weeks have been moved from private foster homes or shelters to a tent city in south Texas, according to The New York Times. The children were reportedly placed on buses in the middle of the night to move from shelters in locations ranging from New York to Kansas to the facility in Tornillo, Texas.

The children are now housed in groups of 20, sleeping in lines of bunk beds and receiving no schooling and minimal access to legal services, the newspaper reported, adding that in private shelters and foster homes, the children slept two or three to a room, received formal schooling and had regular visits with legal representatives
.

https://thehill.com/latino/409399-dhs-w ... icy-report
Quote:
President Trump's widely-criticized "zero-tolerance" immigration policy resulted in U.S. Border Patrol holding hundreds of children longer than they were supposed to, often in holding pens without beds or showers, according to a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watchdog report obtained by The Washington Post.


The Republican approach now seems to be "states rights when it suits us, but federal government when it benefits industry"
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4 ... aw-reports
Quote:
The Department of Justice on Sunday night sued California over its new net neutrality law, a little over an hour after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the bill.

The lawsuit claims the California bill is "unlawful and anti-consumer" because it goes against the federal government's "deregulatory approach to the Internet."

...The new California legislation bars internet service providers from slowing down website speeds, blocking access to certain websites and charging extra for large websites such as Netflix and Facebook.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a statement on Sunday said the federal government has exclusive authority over net neutrality policies.



It looks like Andrew Wheeler is being more clever and subtle than Pruitt in the way the Trump administration damages EPA regulations:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... regulation
Quote:
The Trump administration is advancing a proposal that could weaken the legal justification behind a major 2011 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule limiting mercury pollution. ...The rule would be yet another in a string of regulatory changes that could greatly benefit the coal industry.

The proposal ... would change the cost-benefit analysis by removing “co-benefits,” or benefits that the regulation brought from reducing air pollutants that were not directly regulated.

One to watch:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... on-uranium
Quote:
The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case challenging the government’s ban on uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, a major blow to industry groups hoping to mine for the nuclear material.

...In 2012, Obama administration Interior Secretary Ken Salazar instituted the ban, partly because the neighboring Havasupai Tribe relies on groundwater from the area to survive.

...While the Supreme Court's decision to not take the case leaves uranium mining companies no more avenues to challenge the ban in court, they are reportedly lobbying the Trump administration to support renewed mining in the U.S. for both economy and national security reasons.


https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... d-same-sex
Quote:
The Trump administration has begun denying visas to some unmarried, same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and employees of the United Nations, Foreign Policy reported on Monday. The administration is requiring couples already in the United States to show proof that they’ve married by Dec. 31, 2018 or to leave the country within 30 days.

...Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the UN, blasted the move... Needlessly cruel & bigoted: State Dept. will no longer let same-sex domestic partners of UN employees get visas unless they are married. But only 12% of UN member states allow same-sex marriage.

...Diplomats would be eligible for “limited exceptions” under the Trump administration’s policy if they can prove they are from countries that outlaw same-sex partners...That exception, however, reportedly does not extend to U.N. officials.


Media scrutiny has pressured the Trump administration not to limit the witnesses the FBI may interview in the Kavanaugh investigation:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ion-report
Quote:
The White House has reportedly permitted the FBI to interview anyone deemed appropriate in its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the White House gave authorization to expand the investigation from an initial limited list of witnesses, provided that the review is completed by the end of the week.
They also promoted 2 former friends of Kavanaugh who say he didn't drink excessively in college:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... -saying-he
Quote:
The White House on Monday blasted out two statements from men who attended college with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom say they never saw Kavanaugh black out from drinking.
Some evidence suggests otherwise:
Quote:
Murphy's and Dudley's accounts stand in contrast to statements from Chad Ludington, a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's who spoke to the FBI on Monday about seeing Kavanaugh "staggering from alcohol consumption." Ludington in his recounting accused Kavanaugh of being a "belligerent and aggressive" who drank frequently.

Kavanaugh's former Yale University roommate Kit Winter also spoke to The Cut, claiming Kavanaugh often became "incoherently drunk" in college.... Another former Yale classmate, Lynne Brookes, in an interview last week said she saw both Kavanaugh and Dudley drink excessively.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... bar-report
Quote:
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was reportedly questioned by police in 1985 after he was accused of throwing ice on someone during a college bar fight. The New York Times obtained a report from the New Haven Police Department on Monday dating back to when Kavanaugh was an undergraduate student at Yale University. Kavanaugh, then 21 years old, was questioned along with four other men after an early morning altercation at Demery’s bar in September 1985.

And this is rather interesting:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/suprem ... ce-n915566
Quote:
In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News.

...In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story.
An astute person has noted that Kavanaugh claimed (under oath) during the hearings that he didn't hear about the accusations until the story in The New Yorker. So how can he have been sending messages to his friends to refute the claim before it broke? ESP?




Edit:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... t-wildlife
Quote:
The Trump administration is abruptly ending a decades-long program that trained national wildlife refuge managers with law enforcement capabilities to police often remote spots of public land.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced to employees on Sept. 21 that refuge managers who were also trained to police the area would no longer be able to act in any enforcement capacity and would be stripped of their firearm, according to an internal FWS email shared with The Hill.

...Critics argued it would lead to new violations in the refuges. “It means there will be lots of violations, wildlife violations as in over-bagged hunting areas, damaged fences, signs, roads and all kinds of damage to the environment. If there is no one there to enforce the law, that would spread like wildfire,” said Kim Hanson, who retired from FWS in 2008 after more than 30 years at the agency....Hanson for years woke up as early as 4 a.m. to make sure wildfowl hunters on the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge didn’t accidentally kill protected animals or use more bullets than they were allotted. He was there to both oversee the refuge and police land users to make sure they hunted safely and legally in a role used for decades by the Interior Department.
Quote:
The move comes as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has increased access for more hunters and anglers across various wildlife refuges. In early September, he announced that 251,000 new acres on refuge lands would be open to hunting or fishing. By the 2018-2019 hunting season, 377 refuges will allow hunting and 312 will allow fishing.
FWS claims that it burdened refuge managers to have to take on law enforcement tasks.


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201 ... =undefined
Quote:
President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 03 Oct , 2018 4:24 pm
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The Trump administration dumps another treaty when an international court rules against the US. The practical significance is uncertain and may be negligible in this case, but they're clearly saying that norms of international behavior don't matter to them. Rule against us? We don't care.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4096 ... urt-ruling
Quote:
The United States is officially terminating a 1955 treaty with Iran after an international court issued a ruling based on the treaty this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday.

...Pompeo's announcement came hours after the International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s highest court, ordered the United States to lift some sanctions against Iran that affect imports of humanitarian goods and products. Iran had brought the complaint to the court, sometimes called the World Court, based on the 1955 Treaty of Amity, a pre-Iranian Revolution accord that regulates and promotes economic and consular ties between the two countries. Tehran charged that President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions violated the decades-old treaty.

...By limiting the order to humanitarian aid and civil aviation, the ruling did not go as far as Iran requested. Still, it is being seen as a victory for Tehran.

...[Pompeo] also said the United States “has been clear” that existing sanctions exceptions for humanitarian aid and civil aviation safety “will remain.” Asked about the court’s ruling that those assurances are inadequate, Pompeo reiterated that the United States “has been very clear.”
At the same time, Pompeo is - oddly - claiming that the court ruling was a defeat for Iran. Now we have administration officials other than Trump ignoring reality:
Quote:
Pompeo said that while the United States is “disappointed the court failed to recognize it has no jurisdiction,” he framed the ruling as a defeat for Iran.

“The court’s ruling today is a defeat for Iran. It rightly rejected all of Iran’s baseless requests. The court denied Iran’s attempt to secure broad measures to interfere with U.S. sanctions and rightly noted Iran’s history of noncompliance with its international obligations under the treaty of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons."
None of this makes sense to me. If the US is exempting humanitarian goods and products anyway, why defy the court and claim it has no jurisdiction over the US?



There's an interesting editorial at The Atlantic by a friend of Kavanaugh. He argues that it was Kavanaugh's testimony that demonstrated he shouldn't be confirmed, whether or not the accusations are true. I'm also seeing other editorials and letters saying the same thing:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... gh/571936/
Quote:
I Know Brett Kavanaugh, but I Wouldn’t Confirm Him

This is an article I never imagined myself writing, that I never wanted to write, that I wish I could not write.
Quote:
As Charlie Sykes, a thoughtful conservative commentator sympathetic to Kavanaugh, put it on The Weekly Standard’s podcast Friday, “Even if you support Brett Kavanaugh … that was breathtaking as an abandonment of any pretense of having a judicial temperament.” Sykes went on: “It’s possible, I think, to have been angry, emotional, and passionate without crossing the lines that he crossed—assuming that there are any lines anymore.”

Kavanaugh blew across lines that I believe a justice still needs to hold.

The Brett Kavanaugh who showed up to Thursday’s hearing is a man I have never met, whom I have never even caught a glimpse of in 20 years of knowing the person who showed up to the first hearing. ... In all of our interactions, he has been a consummate professional. The allegations against him shocked me very deeply, but not quite so deeply as did his presentation. It was not just an angry and aggressive version of the person I have known. It seemed like a different person altogether.

My cognitive dissonance at Kavanaugh’s performance Thursday is not important. What is important is the dissonance between the Kavanaugh of Thursday’s hearing and the judicial function.
Quote:
Kavanaugh’s testimony, whatever one makes of his impassioned claims of innocence on the specific charge, is not credible on the more general issue of his drinking habits. It is, as Kavanaugh suggested at the hearing, absurd for senators to argue with a Supreme Court nominee over his high-school yearbook. Then again, Kavanaugh’s unwillingness to acknowledge the obvious... . [and] He diminished the casual cruelty he and his friends showed to one girl, Renate Schroeder Dolphin, by describing themselves as “Renate Alumni.” He claimed they intended to show her respect and friendship, but that is not how she reads it three and a half decades later....

My point is not that his confirmation in any sense turns on how much Kavanaugh drank or whether he and his friends made misogynistic jokes as teenagers. But his testimony doesn’t have the ring of truth either. And lack of candor in a witness in one area raises questions about the integrity of that witness’s testimony in other areas.
I happen to agree and think he makes a lot of good points throughout the editorial.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 04 Oct , 2018 1:01 pm
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This is nuts:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... h-thursday
Quote:
Senators are being told that they will get to review a supplemental FBI background investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday,

...Republicans are putting strict limits on the viewing.

Only one copy is being made available to senators, and each party will take turns viewing it in one-hour increments, [Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), a member of the Judiciary Committee,] said. “Get this — one copy! For the United States Senate,” he said. “That’s what we were told. And we were also that we would be given one hour for the Dems, one hour for the Republicans. Alternating.

“We tried to reserve some time to read it. That is ridiculous,” he said. “One copy?!”
Is the copy machine for Congress broken? Or are they trying to hide something?


https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... -info-with
Quote:
Several former classmates of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh told CNN that they've had trouble getting in touch with the FBI to share information they believe is relevant for its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the judge.

The network spoke with several individuals who said they had not heard back from the FBI despite making efforts to reach out to the bureau.
What's not too surprising is that these were people who said Kavanaugh lied about the extent of his drinking in college.


Meanwhile, GOP leaders seem to be facing some unrest from their some members:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... the-public
Quote:
A growing list of Republican senators are calling for the findings of an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to be made public following their release.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ll-the-way
Quote:
President Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. is standing with his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, "all the way" despite the sexual misconduct allegations that have roiled his nomination.
"Wow, such enthusiasm and energy for Judge Brett Kavanaugh," Trump tweeted late Wednesday night. "Look at the Energy, look at the Polls. Something very big is happening. He is a fine man and great intellect. The country is with him all the way."
As usual, Trump is conveniently ignoring what he wants to ignore:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... -kavanaugh
Quote:
More than 650 law professors nationwide signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, citing concerns about his temperament during a Senate Judiciary Hearing last week.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... ination-to
Quote:
The nation’s largest coalition of Christian churches on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court.

The National Council of Churches, which has membership from more than 40 denominations including most major Protestant and Eastern Orthodox denominations in the U.S., wrote in a statement on their website that they believe Kavanaugh has “disqualified himself from this lifetime appointment and must step aside immediately.”

The statement cited a number of reasons for the demand, including Kavanaugh’s behavior during his recent testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on sexual assault allegations against him.
There have also been demonstrations against Kavanaugh and he's not doing well in the polls asking whether he should be confirmed.

Edit: I missed this earlier, but it's also interesting:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... edirect=on
Quote:
[Between 2003 and 2006] Republicans kept pushing to make Kavanaugh a judge on the powerful appeals court, year after year. In his defense, they cited multiple reviews by the ABA’s judicial review committee that found him “well qualified” — the big attorney association’s highest possible endorsement, meaning Kavanaugh had outstanding legal abilities and outstanding judicial temperament.

But in May 2006, as Republicans hoped to finally push Kavanaugh’s nomination across the finish line, the ABA downgraded its endorsement.

The group’s judicial investigator had recently interviewed dozens of lawyers, judges and others who had worked with Kavanaugh, the ABA announced at the time, and some of them raised red flags about “his professional experience and the question of his freedom from bias and open-mindedness.”
Maybe Kavanaugh has changed in the last 10 years, but I can't help having my doubts - especially given his rant at the hearings.



At least a temporary setback for Steven Miller's anti-immigration policies:
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... rom-ending
Quote:
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday evening, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from ending the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for over 300,000 migrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and Sudan.


https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... ience-rule
Quote:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former Administrator Scott Pruitt excluded one of its top scientists while devising its new “secret science” rule, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Union of Concerned Scientists show that the EPA’s director of the Office of the Science Advisor (OSA),Tom Sinks, was self-admittedly completely out of the loop as the EPA worked to devise the new rule that aimed to limit the types of science that could be used by the agency in devising new regulations.


Edit: Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens just said he has changed his mind about Kavanaugh, at an event in Boca Raton. He once thought Kavanaugh had the qualifications to be on the court, but decided he wasn't fit after watching the hearings. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409 ... -confirmed
The GOP will probably confirm Kavanaugh despite everything (the letter from the law school professors passed 1500 signatures, last I heard), but this cloud is going to hang over them and Kavanaugh now. And he did it to himself.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 04 Oct , 2018 11:08 pm
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The Interior Dept is following the EPA in saying that only studies with publicly available data can be used to make policy.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... nce-policy
Quote:
The policy, outlined in an order issued last week by Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, mandates that officials only use scientific studies or findings whose underlying data are publicly available and reproducible, with few exceptions.

Like a similar policy that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed, critics say the new “Promoting Open Science” policy is meant to restrict Interior’s ability to write regulations or make other decisions, by putting unnecessary restrictions on officials’ ability to use sound science.

Interior’s policy has potential reverberations across the department’s diverse agencies that oversee areas like endangered species, offshore drilling, American Indian relations and geology.
This is total garbage, as any scientist knows. (some comments in the article, but there are many other things that could be said).

And the worst part is this:
Quote:
Unlike the EPA’s policy, Interior’s new science order is not a proposed rule, so it took effect immediately last week.
I've never seen such an aggressively anti-science, anti-environment, pro-industry, blindly partisan crew in my life. I'd call them stupid, but I'm sure they're not - they know exactly why this doesn't make any sense and they're doing it anyway.

There have been plenty of Republican administrations before this and most of the recent ones weren't pro-environment. But this is the first one that's willing to take a wrecking ball to the whole system to pursue their goals.



And the Air Force Secretary made the mistake of criticizing Trump's space force and estimating what it would cost in a memo ($13 billion over the first few years alone). So Trump is considering ousting her:
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4100 ... ion-report


Anyone not comfortable with sharing the road with autonomously driven tractor-trailers may be interested in this:
https://thehill.com/policy/transportati ... -are-human
Quote:
The Transportation Department (DOT) on Thursday announced it will "no longer assume" commercial drivers are human, paving the way for a greater number of automated vehicles to hit the road.

In a new set of guidelines, the department said it will change federal standards to "accommodate automated vehicle technologies." Those adaptations will relax safety standards that have kept carmakers from publicly releasing their driverless automobiles, according to multiple reports.

...The DOT's latest announcement signals it is increasingly willing to shift authority over safety guidelines from the government to the companies that are producing the cars,
I've seen some reports that suggest the technology is not yet ready for the real world.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 05 Oct , 2018 3:50 pm
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https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... illegality
Quote:
The New York State attorney general's office is suing the Trump Foundation for "persistent illegality," according to a court filing on Thursday.

..."Donald J. Trump used his control over the Donald J. Trump Foundation for his benefit to advance his personal, business, and political interests in violation of federal and state law governing charities," it said.


And some Republicans have asked the EPA to stop states from using water quality concerns to deny permits for chemical plants, gas pipelines, etc.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... le-to-stop
Quote:
In a Thursday letter lead by Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the five Republicans asked EPA chief Andrew Wheeler to send new guidance regarding a statute in the Clean Water Act, which they fear has been used in the past to restrict the development of natural gas pipelines.

“In the last few years, a troubling trend directed at fossil energy projects has arisen. A select number of states have hijacked Section 401 to delay or block the development of natural gas pipelines and a coal export terminal. While the focus of these abuses today is fossil energy, the approach could be used to target any type of project that is disfavored politically,” GOP Sens. Barrasso, Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), and Steve Daines (Mont.) wrote in the letter.

Section 401 mandates that any industry that is applying for a federal permit to allow them to put discharges into a water system must also obtain a certification from the state in which the discharge is coming from to ensure they are complying with water quality standards. The rule can affect chemical plants, power plants or other fossil fuel drilling activities that could lead to pollution of a water source.
Translation: states and their citizens should never have the power to deny industry.

It looks like the EPA will go along with weakening states' power:
Quote:
An EPA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the lawmakers' letter and is currently reviewing options on how best to provide more nationwide consistency and regulatory certainty for permit applicants and stakeholders under the Clean Water Act.


EDIT:
I have no idea what this means, if anything, but it seems to be buried Friday afternoon news, so I suspect it's not good. Especially combined with Trump's attempts to gut the nonpolitical federal employee workforce, destroy their unions and ensure loyalty to himself.
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying ... l-director
Quote:
President Trump on Friday abruptly ousted the director of federal personnel and replaced him with a top official at the Office of Management and Budget, according to the White House.

...In an interview with The Washington Post, Weichert [the person now temporarily in the position] says the decision is in line with Trump's "management agenda." She has played a key role in the administration's effort to reform the civil service.

"What I would say is that the broader objectives of the president’s management agenda are focusing on driving and really modernizing how we think about governing and our workforce in the 21st century. The president wants me to continue the work that we are doing around the president’s management agenda,” said Weichert.


And the American Bar Association is reopening its investigation into Kavanaugh's qualifications for the Supreme Court.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/410 ... emperament
Quote:
The American Bar Association (ABA) sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday announcing that it will be re-opening its evaluation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

The ABA said in the letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that “new information of a material nature regarding temperament” has prompted it to reopen its evaluation.

The association said its Standing Committee does not expect to complete the process and “re-vote” before the final Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, which is slated for Saturday.
This should be interesting if the Republicans push Kavanaugh through on Saturday and the ABA then downgrades their rating.

If any GOP lawmakers had a brain and some interest in getting the best person for the Supreme Court, they would be looking at the unprecedented level of concern from the ABA, law professors (more than 2000 have signed the letter in opposition to Kavanaugh so far), a retired Supreme Court justice, church groups, etc. and perhaps reconsidering their blind partisan support for Kavanaugh. Most of the concern is new and focused around Kavanaugh's behavior at the hearings. And it's not as if there aren't any other conservative justices they could appoint.

Or at least delay the vote until the ABA completes its reevaluation and take it into consideration whether they keep the well-qualified rating or downgrade him.

Instead, both sides are circling the wagons around the sexual assault allegations. I've heard that Collins is now using her anger at the Democrats and Kavanaugh's accusers as cover for voting "yes" on Kavanaugh. Brilliant - let's base an important decision on being outraged at the tactics of the other political party. :roll:

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 06 Oct , 2018 8:38 pm
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One Republican senator (Lisa Murkowski) had the guts to break ranks on Kavanaugh even if it hurts her re-election chances. Manchin (Democrat) also broke ranks, but probably to improve his chance at being re-elected.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/410 ... reme-court
Quote:
Murkowski, explaining her decision in a Senate floor speech on Friday night, said she kept returning to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which says that judges should act in a way at all times that upholds the "public confidence" and avoids "the appearance of impropriety."

"After the hearing that we watched last week, last Thursday, it ... was becoming clearer that appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable," she said.

The Alaska senator noted that she agreed with several points made by Collins, including dismissing concerns that Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade, while stating that she believed he is a “good man.”

“But, in my conscience, because that's how I have to vote," she said, "I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time.”


As far as the rest (both Republican and Democrat), sometimes I think we should just put a bunch of sock puppets in Congress and let the leaders of both parties manipulate them to vote however they wish. It would be cheaper and we wouldn't have the pretense of independent thought.


With Kavanaugh having been confirmed by the Republicans - and Trump eager to swear him in this afternoon - I'll be curious whether the ABA continues with its re-evaluation of Kavanaugh's fitness. Not that someone like Trump - or the current crop of congressional Republicans, who bow down to him in almost everything - will care in the least what they decide.


And not that it really matters at this point, but Trump seems to have been as much of a liar as usual in all this:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politi ... tt-n915061
Quote:
The FBI received no new instructions about how to proceed with its weeklong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a senior U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter tell NBC news.
This was after Trump had claimed that he wanted the FBI to interview whoever they thought appropriate. So, apparently it was just the normal b.s. from Dear Leader.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sun 07 Oct , 2018 1:22 pm
The Grey Amaretto as Supermega-awesome Proud Heretic Girl
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Quote:
As far as the rest (both Republican and Democrat), sometimes I think we should just put a bunch of sock puppets in Congress and let the leaders of both parties manipulate them to vote however they wish. It would be cheaper and we wouldn't have the pretense of independent thought.
Agree. :neutral:

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 08 Oct , 2018 1:36 pm
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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4101 ... ary-sphere
Quote:
President Trump’s tensions with Beijing are boiling over in the South China Sea.

A recent incident between a Chinese ship and a U.S. Navy destroyer startled military experts and even led Vice President Mike Pence to deliver a stern warning.

Tensions are already high between the U.S. and China over trade and claims from the White House that Beijing is trying to meddle ahead of the midterms to undermine Trump. Now the confrontations in the South China seas are becoming another worrying flashpoint.

...Chinese ships will regularly make their presence known to the Navy but last week's incident was unusually provocative according to Bonnie Glaser, an Asia-Pacific security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The difference this time, Glaser said, was the Chinese ship sought to interfere with the U.S ship’s operation, rather than shadow it as they usually do.

...During a speech on Thursday, Pence detailed the administration's claims that China is launching an anti-Trump influence campaign ahead of the midterms. Trump first made the explosive charge, which China denies, at the United Nations General Assembly.... Pence's speech was a comprehensive listing of the administration's issues with China, from trade to election meddling. And the tough tone troubled many China watchers.

...The Pentagon last week announced that an October meeting between Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chinese defense officials, meant to discuss issues of security, was being put on hold. Both sides are blaming each other for the cancelation.

Cheng said the U.S. and China have long had “festering trade disputes,” with Trump bringing his own "disruptiveness" to the mix. But he worries the ship incident and cancellation of the defense meeting could signal that a perfect storm is brewing

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... t-to-putin
Quote:
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during an interview on Sunday said President Trump is "almost a gift" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, given Trump's stances on NATO and the European Union.

...Albright, who was secretary of State under former President Clinton, sat for an extensive interview alongside former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who worked under former President George W. Bush.

The two offered criticisms of Trump's foreign policy, including his decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/41030 ... the-people
Quote:
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday said he doesn't believe President Trump can be a moral leader, adding that it has become "me the president" for Trump, instead of "we the people."

Trump allows higher air pollution so corn growers in the Midwest will vote for Republicans
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... day-report
Quote:
President Trump is expected to announce Tuesday that he will allow higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline during summer months, Reuters reported.

Reuters, citing two sources familiar with planning of the announcement, reported that Trump will announce that he is lifting a federal ban before leaving for a trip to Iowa. Trump will make the announcement at 3 p.m. Tuesday and is hoping it will help Republicans in midterm elections in the farm belt, according to the news service.

Trump has previously pledged to allow the sale of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol during the summer months, which the EPA currently prohibits because of concerns over air pollution.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... o-even-the
Quote:
President Trump said late Saturday that he mocked Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, because he needed to “even the playing field.”

...Well, there were a lot of things happening that weren’t correct, they weren’t true and there were a lot of things that were left unsaid,” Trump responded. “And I thought I had to even the playing field. It was very unfair to the judge, and now I can very nicely say Justice Kavanaugh. It was a very unfair situation.”

“So I evened the playing field,” the president said, adding that things “started to sail through” after he spoke out against Ford.

And what seems surprising but welcome:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... ellowstone
Quote:
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke acted Monday to ban mining in a 30,000-acre spot near Yellowstone National Park, saying it’s not an appropriate spot for mineral extraction. The area in the southwestern part of Zinke’s home state of Montana is owned by the U.S. Forest Service, and its mineral rights are managed by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. Zinke’s order, announced in Montana, bans all mineral extraction, including drilling and gold and silver mining, except for any preexisting claims, for 20 years, the maximum allowable by law. It extends a previous two-year ban, set to expire next month, that former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell put in place to study a longer-term ban.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 09 Oct , 2018 1:40 pm
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Trump has announced the increased year-round ethanol concentrations in gas, as expected.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... -linked-to
Quote:
The White House on Monday rolled out a new plan that would allow higher blends of ethanol in vehicle fuels, amid concerns that the change could lead to more air pollution.

The administration’s memo calls to extend the sale of E15 -- consisting of 15 percent of ethanol blended into gasoline -- year round. The fuel was blocked between June 1 and Sept. 15, as science shows burning ethanol in warmer temperature leads to heightened ground-level ozone pollution and smog.

A senior White House official said the plan was part of President Trump’s free market plan.

More on the Trump administration's increased belligerence with China:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... ina-effort
Including this:
Quote:
Trump has criticized past U.S. governments led by Republican and Democratic presidents as dealing with China from too weak a position.

Officials argue that the more muscular approach will actually make a real conflict with China less likely.

“In part, we are educating the American public, but we are also trying to help China understand where they are overreaching in ways that could lead down a very bad path,” said one senior administration official.
So could ignoring China's military and economic power and the fact that they have bought a good deal of our government debt.

This bunch clearly thinks populist rhetoric is great and expertise is stupid. Previous Democrat and GOP administrations were "weak" (according to Trump, Miller et al ) because they tended to believe experts and recognized the realities of the situation.


https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/ ... -house-gop
Quote:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to meet with House Republicans this week as part of the lingering fallout from a bombshell New York Times report.

The interview with the joint House Oversight and Judiciary Committees comes after The Times reported last month that Rosenstein had discussed wearing a wire to record Trump as part of a possible effort to seek his removal from office under the 25th Amendment.

Rosenstein, a frequent target of the president’s frustration, has denied the report... the interview follows repeated calls by House Republicans for Rosenstein to answer questions about the Times report, which other outlets reported were made in jest.

“You can’t have the head of the Justice Department, (even if it’s sarcasm) talking to subordinates about recording the Commander in Chief,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus and a close ally of President Trump, said last month.
Of course not. Or you might not be able to fall back on the frequent Republican talking points of "But the source was anonymous. And there's no video or other direct evidence." (Or in case of the Helsinki meeting - "there may have been video, but you misheard what Trump said or misunderstood his deep plan."


https://thehill.com/homenews/news/41048 ... rful-court
Quote:
With the successful confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, legal minds are starting to buzz about who could replace him on the nation’s second most powerful court.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is known not only for the cases that reach it but also the career trajectory of those who sit on its bench. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas and the late Justice Antonin Scalia all came from the appeals court.

Legal experts say the administration will be looking for someone steeped in administrative law and have floated Trump’s regulatory czar Neomi Rao as a viable option.


https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/410 ... he-hearing
Quote:
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) was prepared to vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh but decided not to after watching his hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, she said in an interview that aired Monday.

..."We communicate not only with words, but with our body language and demeanor," she said.

"I saw somebody who was very angry, who was very nervous, and I saw rage that a lot of people said, 'Well of course you're going to see rage he's being falsely accused,' but it is at all times you're to acquit yourself with a demeanor that's becoming of the court," Heitkamp added.
I should probably have mentioned Heitkamp as one who had the courage to vote against her own interests earlier. She's up for reelection in a state that voted for Trump and is trailing her Republican challenger. Or maybe she just decided that she's so far behind, she might as well take a stand.

Meanwhile,
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/410 ... naugh-vote
Quote:
Leaders of the Alaskan Republican Party are weighing a reprimand for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) for not voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Alaska's GOP has asked Murkowski to send its state central committee any information she thinks may be relevant to its decision, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
btw, polls still seem to suggest that more Americans didn't want Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court than did, or that the numbers are pretty close.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/243377/ame ... ation.aspx
Quote:
46% say Kavanaugh should be confirmed; 45% say he should not be
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying ... reme-court
Quote:
A majority of Americans oppose Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to Supreme Court, according to a new CNN poll conducted in the days before he was confirmed on Saturday. Overall, 51 percent of those polled said they oppose Kavanaugh, while 41 percent said they support him

Edit: And Nikki Haley has resigned, who knows why.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ador-to-un She and Trump are portraying their relationship and parting as friendly, whatever may (or may not have) happened in the background.

There were some recent ethics questions recently about Haley, but I doubt that was the reason. https://www.postandcourier.com/politics ... ad7a1.html


The White House is apparently trying to claim that Avenatti was part of the reason Kavanaugh was confirmed. https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/41053 ... -kavanaugh Personally, I doubt it. Avenatti may be a sleazy celebrity lawyer, but Trump wanted Kavanaugh and I expect the GOP was always going to confirm him, barring some huge public scandal they couldn't dodge.

They're also still pushing the "Most Americans wanted Kavanaugh" narrative.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 18 Oct , 2018 5:33 pm
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https://thehill.com/latino/411990-trump ... -onslaught
Quote:
President Trump on Thursday warned that he may take military action to stop immigrants from crossing the southern border into the U.S. if Mexico does not take action to stop the "onslaught."

Trump in a series of early-morning tweets also blamed Democrats for the “assault on our country,” adding that illegal immigration is “far more important” to him than trade or the recently negotiated trade pact with Mexico and Canada.


https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... e-interior
Quote:
A Trump political appointee previously working at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will soon take over as the head inspector general (IG) overseeing investigations at the Interior Department, according to an internal email obtained by The Hill.

...Why the move is alarming: The move is notable as Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke faces a number of inspector general investigations, including over a contentious business deal he made with a Halliburton chairman. Past probes included a speech he gave to the Las Vegas Golden Knights professional hockey team and the questionable use of charter planes.

The inspector general makes the final determination whether to open up an IG investigation and has the power to end ongoing investigations.


How people are responding:

Former Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Bromwich: "This is a very big deal. Politicizing the oversight function is dangerous, especially in the absence of any Congressional oversight. Changing IGs in the midst of multiple serious investigations of the agency's head should raise alarm bells everywhere," he tweeted Tuesday.
Update: Take your pick - either Ben Carson and HUD spokesman Jereon Brown were both confused or the outcry caused the Trump administration to backtrack and then lie about it:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... gency-says
Quote:
Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said Thursday that Carson was wrong last week when he told staff that Suzanne Israel Tufts, HUD’s assistant secretary for administration, will become Interior’s acting inspector general. The Hill first broke the news after obtaining the email which was further cited in numerous news reports, and was confirmed at the time by HUD spokesman Jereon Brown.

“HUD sent out an email that had false information in it,” Swift said in a statement.

Tufts’s reported appointment raised objections among Democrats and good-government advocates, who argued that a political official in the Trump administration — who worked for President Trump’s election campaign — is too conflicted to be a watchdog.




At the moment, Trump seems to be going along with the Saudi story of "rogue killers" scenario in the disappearance of the Washington Post journalist at the Saudi embassy. And GOP leaders are once again reluctant to criticize the Trump administration.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/411 ... udi-arabia
Quote:
Republican leaders in Congress are taking a cautious approach in their response to mounting evidence that the Saudi royal family is linked to the suspected death of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

...GOP leaders are in a difficult position because they don’t want to pick a fight with President Trump over his Middle East policy, into which Saudi Arabia figures prominently, less than three weeks from the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

Trump has repeatedly deflected questions about the Saudi royal family’s involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance, despite reports that one of the suspects is a close companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who’s considered the day-to-day leader of Saudi Arabia. Other suspects are said by witnesses to be part of the crown prince’s security detail.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... nvestigate
Quote:
After meeting with President Trump, Pompeo told reporters that he had made clear to the Saudis “that we take this matter with respect to Mr. Khashoggi very seriously” before stating that they should receive “a few more days” to complete the probe.

“They made clear to me that they too understand the serious nature of the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi,” Pompeo said of the Saudis. “They also assured me that they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they will do so in a timely fashion.”

Pompeo and Trump, who has put a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia at the center of his foreign policy, have both come under criticism for their handling of the Khashoggi crisis.

Trump denied on Wednesday that he is trying to offer cover for the Saudis a day after comparing Saudi Arabia to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, telling The Associated Press “here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that.”
It's funny how selective Trump is about this principle.



Interesting timing:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/worl ... syria.html
Quote:
This summer, Saudi Arabia promised the Trump administration $100 million for American efforts to stabilize areas in Syria liberated from the Islamic State.

That money landed in American accounts on Tuesday, the same day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for discussions with the kingdom’s leaders about the fate of a missing Saudi dissident.

Securing the funding is a win for President Trump, who has complained about how much the United States spends abroad and has tried to get allies to foot more of the bill. But the timing of the money’s arrival raised eyebrows even among some of the bureaucrats whose programs will benefit from the influx of cash.

“The timing of this is no coincidence,” said an American official involved in Syria policy

And also speaking of interesting timing...
Quote:
Turkish newspaper Sabah published a CCTV image purportedly showing [an alleged member of the hit squad] ...entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul shortly before the Washington Post columnist arrived.

It came amid reports that another man accused of being involved in Mr Khashoggi's disappearance has been killed in a car crash in Saudi Arabia. Meshal Saad M Albostani, a lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, is said to have died in a "suspicious traffic accident" in Riyadh, Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported.
https://news.sky.com/story/missing-jour ... e-11528665


https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4119 ... reacted-to
Quote:
The Secret Service said Wednesday that an agent who blocked a reporter attempting to question senior White House adviser Jared Kushner was reacting to "an abrupt movement."

.The Secret Service reviewed the Tuesday incident in which CBS News reporter Errol Barnett attempted to ask Kushner for comment on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Kushner deplaned from a flight from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Barnett posted video of the exchange, in which he identified himself as a reporter for CBS and asked for comment. A Secret Service agent accompanying Kushner then blocked Barnett's camera. When Barnett showed his White House press credentials, the agent responded "I don't give a damn who you are. There's a time and a place."

...Kushner, who reportedly has a close relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has largely remained out of the public eye in recent weeks amid investigations into what happened to Khashoggi.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -arabia-or
Quote:
The Trump administration does not have ambassadors in Saudi Arabia or Turkey amid an escalating diplomatic crisis stemming from the alleged murder of a U.S.-based Saudi journalist in Istanbul.

Edit:
More on Kushner's role:
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... appearance
Quote:
A person close to the White House told the Times that White House adviser Jared Kushner has been telling President Trump, his father-in-law, to stand by the crown prince. Kushner has reportedly told Trump that the outrage will die down soon, just as it did after reports emerged that Saudi Arabia was responsible for killing 40 children in a brutal attack during Yemen's civil war.

This article from Business Insider is also a good resource.
https://www.businessinsider.de/missing- ... ?r=US&IR=T
Quote:
Some on the right have suggested that the narrative surrounding Khashoggi as a defender of democracy and freedom of expression is overblown, and have pushed a conspiracy theory that the story surrounding his disappearance is meant to damage US-Saudi relations and help Iran.
The article above states what's known about Khashoggi's views and background.

I doubt if it means anything (except that Trump is unlikely to care personally about someone who was critical of him), but this was also interesting:
Quote:
Six months before his departure, the royal family banned Khashoggi from writing after he was critical of President Donald Trump and the Saudi government's apparent trust in the US leader, which seemed to be the final straw for him. "We never had freedom of the press in Saudi Arabia, it's true," Khashoggi said in a March 2018 interview with Columbia Journalism Review. "But also we were never ordered or told to impose certain ideas. ... This is new."

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 19 Oct , 2018 2:03 pm
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Another day, another Trump scandal:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -gianforte
Quote:
President Trump on Thursday joked at a campaign rally in Montana that Rep. Greg Gianforte’s (R-Mont.) assaulting a reporter for The Guardian in 2017 helped him win his election. “Never wrestle him. Never. Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of ... he’s my guy,” he said in Missoula.

“We endorsed Greg really early, but I heard that he had body slammed a reporter. And he was way up…and I said, ‘Oh, this is terrible, he’s going to lose the election.’ But then I said, ‘Well wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him,’ and it did…He’s a great guy and a tough cookie,” Trump added.


https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4121 ... -gianforte
Quote:
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday condemned President Trump for praising Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) for his 2017 assault on a reporter from the British newspaper The Guardian.

...“He [Trump] obviously made comments at a political rally, and those are for him. But more generally we would always say that any violence or intimidation against a journalist is completely unacceptable.”

The assault occurred the night before Gianforte’s election after a significant number of votes had already been cast during early voting or via absentee ballots. Gianforte was running for the congressional seat vacated when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined the Trump administration. He won the seat by six points.

The lawmaker pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and was sentenced to a 180-day deferred sentence, 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine along with a $85 court fee.


Republicans are using questionable tactics to get their court choices confirmed, in case they have to choose more moderate candidates with bipartisan support after the elections.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/412 ... ourt-picks
Quote:
Republicans are playing hardball as they race to confirm President Trump's judicial picks ahead of the midterm elections.

...In an unusual move, Republicans are holding two Judiciary Committee hearings on circuit and district court nominations even as the Senate is in recess until Nov. 13. Only four of the committee's 21 members attended the first meeting, held this week, where one circuit court nominee and five district court nominees faced questions. Neither Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee’s chairman, nor any of the 10 Democratic members attended the meeting.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... here-didnt
Quote:
Georgia officials removed an estimated 107,000 people from voter rolls... An APM Reports analysis found the voters were removed under the state's "use it or lose it" law, which starts a process for removing people from voter rolls if they fail to vote, respond to a notice or make contact with election officials over a three-year period.

After that three-year span, those who don't vote or make contact with authorities in two elections can be purged from the voter rolls under the Georgia law.
Georgia has at least one very close race. Some other GOP-controlled states have similar measures, in addition to gerrymandering, in an effort to hold on to power.



Edit to add:

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... nium-mills
Quote:
The Trump administration announced Friday it would withdraw an Obama-era proposal aimed at regulating how waste from uranium milling is disposed. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler ...said that the Obama-era rule “would have imposed significant burdens on uranium miners and the communities they support.”

A key point of the regulation was reducing the spread of radon, a cancer-causing radioactive gas byproduct of uranium. The regulation aimed to create a unified standard for impounding the byproducts, which are frequently kept in holding ponds.

The EPA said it was withdrawing the rule because existing regulatory structures are considered to be sufficient

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... ermits-and
Quote:
The Interior Department is facing a lawsuit after failing to release electronic copies of elephant and lion trophy hunting permits, documents that animal conservation groups say are part of the public record.

Noteworthy because this is Fox calling out one of Trump's lies:
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4122 ... are-behind
Quote:
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace is pushing back on President Trump's claim that Democrats are responsible for thousands of migrants headed toward the United States's southern border, calling it "preposterous."

...Wallace pointed out that similar caravans have traveled across Central America almost every year.
Trump's babbling nonsense that prompted this unusual rebuke:
Quote:
During his rally on Thursday night, Trump accused “crazy Democrats” of being behind the caravan’s formation, claiming "there are those that say that caravan didn’t just happen."

“Now we’re starting to find out, and I won’t say it 100 percent, I’ll put a little tiny question mark at the end … A lot of money’s been passing through, people to come up and try and get to the border by Election Day because they think that’s a negative for us,” Trump said.

“They wanted that caravan, and there are those that say that caravan didn’t just happen, it didn’t just happen. A lot of reasons that caravan — They like it. They also figure everybody coming in is going to vote Democrat. Hey, they’re not so stupid when you think about it right?” he added.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 20 Oct , 2018 7:13 pm
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More from our utter moron of a president:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... le-arrests
Quote:
President Trump on Friday night called Saudi Arabia's explanation for the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi credible and said that the arrests of more than a dozen Saudi nationals were "a good first step." "It's a big step. There's a lot of people involved," Trump said while speaking during a roundtable with top defense contractors in Arizona. ...When asked if he found the Saudi's explanation credible, Trump responded, "I do."

The president told gathered defense contractors that he does not want to cancel or suspend billions of dollars in Saudi arms purchases as a punishment on the country, but would instead prefer “some form of sanction.”

Needless to say, members of Congress aren't as stupid and gullible as Trump.
Quote:
Several lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), have said the Saudi government's explanation released Friday for the death of Khashoggi is not credible. The Saudi government claimed in a statement that after he entered its consulate Khashoggi was involved in a physical altercation that led to his death. "The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life," Schiff tweeted Friday.

The current Saudi story and their attempts to pretend the ruling family had nothing to do with it:
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/41234 ... s-detained

We all know that, ultimately , the US military-industrial complex will not let one brutal murder of a permanent US resident do long-term damage to the "friendship" between the US and Saudi governments. But for the US president to be openly supportive of an obvious lie and openly supportive of the government that committed the murder? That sends the message that you can do whatever you like to Americans traveling abroad, as long as you give our government sufficient money.



Also, prepare for a new nuclear arms race.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... f-key-arms
Quote:
National security adviser John Bolton is preparing to inform Russian President Vladimir Putin next week that the U.S. will no longer be part of a key arms control treaty, The New York Times reported Friday.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed decades ago in a landmark 1986 meeting between former President Reagan and then-leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, allows the U.S. to counter Chinese efforts to amass arms in the Pacific but prevents the U.S. from deploying new weapons in response, the Times noted.

China, however, is not a signatory to the treaty and faces no limitations in developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles. As a signatory, the Times reported, Russia has been violating the pact since at least 2014.

Former President Obama chose to remain in the pact after objections from Germany and other European countries and to stave off another arms race, the paper notes.
Original NY Times story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/p ... ation.html

Meanwhile, tensions between the Trump administration and China continue to rise:
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... wan-strait
Quote:
The United States is weighing a new operation to send warships through the Taiwan Strait, officials told Reuters early Saturday. The operation, which would guarantee free passage through a key waterway, could ratchet up already high tensions with China, the outlet noted. The U.S. sent two warships through the strait in July as the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China began.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 22 Oct , 2018 2:10 pm
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -of-gender
Quote:
The Trump administration is weighing a change that would require individuals to identify as male or female based on their genitalia at birth, tightening gender definitions that had offered more leeway to transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The Department of Health and Human Services proposed in a memo obtained by the news outlet that government agencies adopt a definition of gender that is determined "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable."... "The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence," the memo states, according to the Times.
So if something shifted your brain toward the opposite gender during development in the uterus, but it wasn't a big, obvious change in the number of X or Y chromosomes, the Trump administration says "tough luck." As far as I know, the science of gender determination hasn't yet advanced to the point where it could pick up anything more subtle.


Edit: In response to the Trump administration, The Atlantic has a good article on why the simplistic middle-school version of sexual determination is... well...simplistic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... hs/573544/
Quote:
The agency proposes to define gender “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.” Which would indeed be ideal at a bureaucratic level. Even looking no further than the maternity ward or doula’s chambers, though, human biology does not abide by the rules laid out for us in sixth grade.

Though they have long been anathema to talk about, there are many thousands of variables that affect gestation and fetal development—some influenced by epigenetic factors generations before conception—that lead to a spectrum of outcomes for any given infant. This can include sex-chromosomal anomalies (XXY or XYY, for example), as well as irregular functioning of enzymes that activate or metabolize hormones, or the blocking of binding sites where hormones typically act, which effectively could lead an XY person to develop female genitalia (known as Swyer syndrome), or an XX person to develop male genitalia, and for thousands of infants each year who are born with “ambiguous genitalia” that can look something like a penis and a clitoris (which are fundamentally structurally analogous, spongy tissue consisting of a crus and glans that become engorged and hyper-sensitive during sex).

There are two statistical peaks in the distribution of infant outcomes that roughly accord with the states described in middle school, but there is also everything in between and on other sides. Entire textbooks are written on the wide variety of ways sex hormones can manifest during fetal development and throughout life. The exact number of infants born in the domain known as “intersex”—who, for any number of reasons, do not clearly fit into one of the two sexes based on genitalia or chromosomes or both—is difficult to know because for many years, such people were “normalized” at birth by default.
This surgical normalization has become an ethical question for many reasons. For instance, let's say that an ambiguous infant's brain was actually primed to be male (and, of course, there's no way to know this at such a young age) but the sex chosen for the infant is female...



Trump is apparently still supporting the Saudi crown prince in his denials.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... onsible-in
Quote:
President Trump acknowledged late Saturday that Saudi Arabia has not been forthcoming in its explanation of what happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but indicated that he does not believe Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a direct role in the dissident's killing.

"There is a possibility he found out about it afterward. It could be something in the building went badly awry. It could be that's when he found about it," Trump told The Washington Post in an interview.

It seems that part of the Saudi plot was to impersonate Khashoggi and pretend he left the embassy. Since this was supposedly not a premeditated killing, I suppose they just happened to have a spare beard lying around in case they needed it.
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... thes-after
Quote:
An individual suspected of being part of the group of Saudis involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was reportedly seen around Istanbul wearing Khashoggi's clothes, a fake beard and glasses on the day of the killing.

CNN, citing a senior Turkish official, reported that the man in the video, identified as Mustafa al-Madani, was captured by surveillance cameras leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the day Khashoggi died there. He appears to be wearing the same clothes Khashoggi was seen wearing when he entered the consulate.

Unlike the Trump administration, other countries are already taking action:
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... udi-arabia
Quote:
The German government has halted further arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the midst of an investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Reuters reported that German economy minister Peter Altmaier said the government is "in agreement" that it will not approve additional arms exports and would make a decision "very soon" on whether to roll back previously agreed to deals with the Saudis.
Meanwhile in the US, it's business as usual for the Trump administration:
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... udi-arabia
Quote:
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia amid turmoil over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“We have an important relationship with Saudi, focused on combating terrorist financing and focused on our common interests of stopping Iran’s spread of both terrorism and other issues,” Mnuchin said Sunday in Jerusalem, according to The New York Times. “I am going to go there and meet with my counterparts and continue to focus on what’s in the Treasury’s domain, as it relates to this issue.”
Edit to add:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ggi-crisis
Quote:
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Monday met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia amid an ongoing international crisis over the death of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry tweeted a photo of the two men with a caption touting "the importance of Saudi-US strategic partnership."

#CrownPrince meets with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and stresses the importance of Saudi-US strategic partnership, where it holds an important role in the future in line with the Kingdom’s #Vision2030 pic.twitter.com/5LyloSOMTK



https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... rol-treaty
Quote:
President Trump confirmed the U.S. will pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a nuclear deal signed between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War.

“We’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out,” Trump told reporters before a campaign rally in Nevada Saturday. “We’ll have to develop those weapons,” he added.
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... om-missile
Quote:
The Kremlin said Monday that Russia would move to develop new missiles if the U.S. does the same after withdrawing from a landmark nuclear weapons pact. Reuters reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would take action to restore the balance of military power if the U.S. started to develop intermediate nuclear weapons after President Trump announced the country will pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
Edit to add:
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4125 ... withdrawal
Quote:
The Pentagon on Monday said Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Trump are “completely aligned” on the commander-in-chief’s abrupt decision to announce that the country will pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia.

“Sec. Mattis and the president talk a broad range of issues continuously and their position on this particular issue is aligned,” Col. Rob Manning told reporters at the Pentagon.

Mattis – who was traveling in Asia last week and returned Saturday – was reportedly blindsided by Trump’s announcement.
Of course he's "completely aligned." No one dares disagree with Dear Leader in this administration. There are days when I am reminded of how everyone dealt with official "news" in Eastern Europe under the Soviets - whenever I hear a Trump spokesperson assuring us that something didn't happen, I strongly suspect that it did.




This is by one of the ambassadors who originally just resigned without saying it was because of Trump.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... reme-chaos
Quote:
The former U.S. ambassador to Mexico has penned an op-ed for The New York Times detailing what she describes as “extreme” chaos in the Trump administration.

...In the New York Times piece, Jacobson details a number of examples where she says she observed disconnect within the administration and with other nations, and says the “disarray” she witnessed “wasn’t pretty.” “The disconnect between the State Department and the White House seems intentional, leaving ambassadors in impossible positions and our allies across the globe infuriated, alienated and bewildered,” she writes.

She criticizes Trump for declining to warn her about his early plans to exit the North American Free Trade Agreement, and for not filling more than two dozen ambassador posts, including some in “vitally important countries.”


The Republicans think people have forgotten that the economy recovered from the deep recession while Obama was president and it has simply continued its upward trend under Trump (with little change in the trajectory, in the graphs I've seen). Now they're warning that we're all doomed if Democrats are elected. Apparently they're also hoping we'll forget it was the GOP that passed the business tax cut, which will likely blow the deficit sky high in the future.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4122 ... f-dems-win
Quote:
Republicans are turning positive economic news into attacks on Democratic candidates, warning of dire consequences if the minority party wins control of Congress in the midterm elections. ...GOP rhetoric now includes doomsday predictions about what would happen if Democrats win the House or Senate on Election Day.

When asked about the stock market on Fox News last week, Trump said, "The Democrats, you look at what they would do to it. They would knock it down, you'd -- instead of being up 50 percent, you'd be down 50 percent."

..."It's no time to turn back to the failed Obama era and economy," said Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) at a debate this week with his Democratic challenger, Abigail Spanberger. "If you vote for my opponent tonight, you will get the liberal Nancy Pelosi agenda across the board. You will get large companies running our economy instead of small people and small firms competing.”
So now the story is that GOP doesn't bow down to big corporations and only the Democrats do. These people are really counting on Americans being stupid.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/us/p ... -cuts.html
Quote:
The federal budget deficit swelled to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, the Treasury Department said on Monday, driven in large part by a sharp decline in corporate tax revenues after the Trump tax cuts took effect.

The deficit rose nearly 17 percent year over year, from $666 billion in 2017. It is now on pace to top $1 trillion a year before the next presidential election, according to forecasts from the Trump administration and outside analysts. The deficit for the 2018 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, was the largest since 2012, when the economy and federal revenues were still recovering from the depths of the recession.



Oh, brilliant. People are fleeing countries to seek asylum in the US and what does Trump want to do? Reduce US aid to those countries so things may get even worse. Does this man even think? Not to mention that some of the aid is to help fight drug trafficking- so on the one hand, he rants about drugs and criminals entering the US, and on the other, he wants to cut funding intended to reduce that.

He's also added his usual Middle Eastern bogeyman to the migrants in hopes of frightening everyone enough that they will only vote for Republicans. There's no way the timing of his comments is unrelated to the upcoming midterm elections. Especially considering that he's been spending much of his time at rallies to support Republican candidates.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -countries
Quote:
In a trio of tweets, the president escalated his rhetoric surrounding the group of migrants, declaring a national emergency as they approach the border and claiming that "unknown Middle Easterners" had joined the group. Trump, in the tweets, did not offer any evidence for the charge that people from the Middle East were among those crossing the border.'

"Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them," Trump wrote in a tweet.

"Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!"

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018

...Trump had previously threatened to cut off aid to those countries if they did not act to stop their citizens from fleeing. It's unclear if Trump will take unilateral action to reduce foreign aid, as Congress is not scheduled to return to Washington until after the midterm elections.
Don't ask me what he expects Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to do. Station the military on the borders and shoot people? That's what the Russians used to do in the Soviet Union (and still, some people managed to escape, at risk of their lives).

I suppose this is what comes of having a complex, difficult problem and a president who thinks everything has an easy, uncomplicated solution that only he has realized.



Edit to add:

This story is from a site that is moderately to strongly biased toward the left but has a high score for factual reporting (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/media-matters/), and I haven't seen it anywhere else. It traces how the "fear the Middle Eastern terrorists in the caravan" rhetoric has jumped from fringe right wing sites to Fox news and the US president, most likely in an effort to get people to vote for the Republicans.
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/ ... van/221765



And another Trump decision that could have major repercussions for the US:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wi ... s-58617048
Quote:
No international letters, no international packages: A top official with a 192-country postal union says that's what Americans can expect if the Trump administration goes through with plans to pull out of an international postal treaty over concerns about China.

Pascal Clivaz, deputy director-general of the Switzerland-based Universal Postal Union, says the agency reached out quickly to U.S. officials after receiving a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week announcing Washington's plan to pull out of the union in a year if the treaty isn't renegotiated.

...."It will have dramatic consequences for American consumers. It will cost them enormously. They will be all alone against all the countries of the world," Clivaz told The Associated Press on Friday. "They won't even be able to send (a package) to a neighboring country. It's an accord that links everybody."
Just once, I wish Mr Stable Genius would think "hey, maybe there's a good reason previous administrations didn't want to do this" when he has one of his brilliant ideas.


Some members of the GOP are also trying to find ways to fund Trump's physical wall at the expense of other government needs:
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4126 ... order-wall
Quote:
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) on Monday announced legislation aimed at allowing Republicans to circumvent Senate Democrats and provide funding for President Trump's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 50 Votes for the Wall Act, introduced on Friday, [would] ... get around the 60-vote threshold needed to pass legislation in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-49 majority [and]... establish a Border Wall and Security Trust Fund, allowing the secretary of Homeland Security to request up to $25 billion from the U.S. Treasury to construct the barrier and pay for other wall-related expenses.

...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently introduced legislation — the Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act of 2018 — that would provide an additional $23.4 billion in funding for the border wall, while cutting federal resources for so-called sanctuary cities.



I moved 2 other updates to group them with other stories about a topic.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 23 Oct , 2018 3:57 pm
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This sort of rhetoric from the White House is beyond the pale, IMO.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... f-midterms
Quote:
The White House on Tuesday issued a report warning of the dangers of socialism two weeks ahead of pivotal midterm elections.

The report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers fits with a larger campaign strategy from Republicans trying to portray Democrats as extremists for ideas gaining traction in their party, including Medicare for All, the health proposal that would provide government-run health insurance to cover everyone.

Some cases cited by the White House report, however, are far from anything that Democrats have actually proposed.

For example, the report warns against the economic systems of the Soviet Union and Venezuela.

The report also makes extreme comparisons between notable communist leaders like Mao Zedong, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), political foes of President Trump and possible 2020 presidential candidates.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ts/573520/
Quote:
The Problem With Pence’s New Talking Point
On the midterm campaign trail, the vice president is assuring voters that Republicans will implement stricter work requirements for food-stamp recipients. He’s probably wrong.
Quote:
Pence’s support for “dignity in work” belies the reality of the work requirements: According to a new study from the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, most SNAP recipients either are already working or physically can’t. The share of people who aren’t already subject to work requirements within the program, who aren’t currently working, or who have no interest in working? “Less than 1 percent,” said Lauren Bauer, a Hamilton Project fellow and one of the study’s authors.

Indeed, the study found that two-thirds of the people who would be “newly exposed” to work requirements under the bill are already in the labor force. ... “They’re working at low-wage jobs with volatile hours, and they’re not earning enough to earn their way out of the program. But two-thirds are working.”

She said a large share of those who are consistently out of the labor market report that they have serious health problems preventing them from working, even when they’re not on disability. And her research suggests they’re telling the truth.

...And contrary to Pence’s implication, the holdup over the farm bill isn’t because of disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. Instead, it’s because there’s a massive chasm between the bill House Republicans just barely passed and the Senate’s bill, which passed with a decisive majority of 86 votes. The fierce divisions between the two chambers have effectively stalled the negotiations over the legislation, which is currently in conference committee.

This one is just an FYI. Just because someone worked at Monsanto doesn't necessarily make them inappropriate for a position, but the Trump administration has a history of choosing people who are inclined to destroy the programs they head. You'd have to look further to see whether this is one of those instances.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... r-position
Quote:
President Trump plans to nominate a former official at Monsanto ... Aurelia Skipwith to be the director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Skipwith is currently the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, a position she was appointed to last year....Skipwith is a biologist and lawyer who spent more than six years at the agriculture giant Monsanto. She joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013.


http://www.autonews.com/article/2018102 ... ichs-steel
Quote:
Ford Motor Co. is escalating its criticism of the Trump administration’s metals tariffs that the company has already said took a $1 billion bite out of profit.
And guess who's going to be paying for this in the increased cost of cars.



After the elections, look for another meeting between Putin and Trump. After their last meeting in Helsinki, where Trump allowed no other Americans at their private tete-a-tete then agreed with Putin over his own intelligence advisors, I can understand why the timing is for after the elections...
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... ber-report
Quote:
Russian President Vladimir Putin told White House national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday that he wants another face-to-face meeting with President Trump as soon as next month, according to Reuters.

Putin suggested that the two meet in Paris on Nov. 11. Bolton, who is in Moscow for high-level talks with Russian officials, signaled Trump would be open to the meeting.

btw, they found Khashoggi's body and his injuries don't fit at all with the Saudi story.
https://news.sky.com/story/sky-sources- ... d-11533202




https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... le-eastern
Quote:
Vice President Pence on Tuesday supported President Trump's claim without evidence that "unknown Middle Easterners" are traveling with the group of Central American migrants moving north through Mexico toward the U.S. "Well it’s inconceivable there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border," Pence said
As Inigo Montoya said about "inconceivable" in The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. "
There are a number of journalists of various political persuasions covering the caravan and I haven't seen a single report to substantiate Trump's claims.


In case anyone is curious, this is what happened last spring, which is the last time Trump tried to scare everyone that there thousands of "invaders" from Central and South America heading toward the US:

Background about the caravans in general, and April's caravan in particular:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/worl ... trump.html
Quote:
It has become a regular occurrence, particularly around the Easter holiday: scores or even hundreds of Central American migrants making their way north by foot and vehicle from southern Mexico. They include everyone from infants to the elderly, fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands.

They travel in large groups — the current is one of the largest at about 1,200 participants — in part for protection against the kidnappers, muggers and rapists that stalk the migrant trail, but also to draw more attention to their plight. Some have the United States in mind, but many are only thinking as far as a new home in Mexico.

... organizers said that contrary to the vision of a migrant onslaught on America conjured by Mr. Trump, most participants do not intend to travel as far as the border of the United States. “He’s trying to paint this as if we are trying to go to the border, and we’re going to storm the border,” Mr. Mujica said. Mr. Mensing added: “We’re definitely not looking for some kind of showdown.”

In an interview Monday, before negotiations between the Mexican immigration authorities and the caravan organizers began, Mr. Mujica predicted that at most 10 percent to 15 percent of the participants would seek asylum at the American border. He said he expected many others to drop out along the way, especially if the caravan continued along its intended route through the state of Puebla and on to Mexico City, with some participants applying for asylum or other forms of protection in Mexico.

...“We don’t promote going to the United States,” Mr. Mensing said. “It’s a challenging place to seek asylum.”

What happened when the remnant of this scary "horde" actually reached the border:
https://www.france24.com/en/20180430-mi ... xico-trump
Quote:
About 50 people from a Central American migrant caravan including women, children and transgender individuals tried to seek US asylum on Sunday but were not allowed to cross the Mexico border because officials said the facility was full.

....About 20 people in the group were able to reach the final fence at the busy crossing, where they were watched by armed US border guards who did not immediately open the gate. "We have reached capacity at the San Ysidro port of entry," said Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan in a statement on Sunday, adding that the immigrants "may need to wait in Mexico."

...More migrants from the caravan, which numbered around 400 people by the time it reached Tijuana, also planned to seek asylum. About 100 set up an open air camp in a small square on the Mexican side by the San Ysidro pedestrian bridge, saying they would stay there until they were allowed through.

...After US border officials said the check point was full, organizers of the caravan put forward what they called the "most vulnerable cases" to cross the border first, including children under threat and transgender people who say they face persecution in Central America.
So Trump's idea that thousands of people would be rushing the border was clearly bullshit. I can't see how it would be any different this time.

A similar story from the BBC suggests about 150 people tried to apply for asylum in the US and were refused.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43945522




edit. Forgot to post this earlier - one of the fear-and-hate mongering stories being pushed by right wing extremists is that migrants in the current caravan have been burning American flags. Snopes says this is nonsense - the trolls and partisans are using 2-year-old or older photos from various countries to spread a fake story: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/caravan-burning-flag/
Quote:
None of these photographs was taken in 2018, nor do any of these images picture persons traveling with the migrant caravan. In fact, the top picture doesn’t even show an American flag being burned.

The photograph seen at the top was taken during an anti-Trump riot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in May 2016. This image was used as a thumbnail for a video report about the protests by Fox News and is commonly shared as if it showed a man burning an American flag. However, the object being burned is actually a Trump banner with red and white stripes and not an U.S. flag. This difference is evident through a closer look at the upper-right corner of the image:
Of course, they're also pushing the laughable theory that George Soros and the Democrats are funding the caravan just in time for the election. Critical thinking isn't exactly the forte of anyone who believes that. I might buy it that the Republicans are doing it, if I was inclined to conspiracy theories, but I think that's highly unlikely too.




And here's Trump's latest response to Khashoggi's murder:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... udi-arabia
Quote:
"They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly. And the coverup was one of the worst in the history of coverups. It's very simple. Bad deal. Should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up." "
Is he describing a cold-blooded torture and murder or a poorly executed business plan?

Supposedly the Trump administration is now considering some response, though so far they've just gone along with the official Saudi explanation and cancelled visas, etc. for the "rogue killers" the Saudis claim were responsible.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 24 Oct , 2018 1:24 pm
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Joined: Fri 10 Aug , 2012 4:42 pm
 
I take back what I said about not believing conspiracy theories. There's something very fishy about this and its timing. Normally, caravans don't form immediately after each other and last spring's 1500 people or whatever it was, was larger than usual. Now we have a caravan of more than 7000 people and pro-Trump shills and bots have been warning for weeks that if the Democrats win their elections, these caravans will keep getting bigger and bigger and invade the US, which is clearly ridiculous. Anyone who hopes to apply for asylum isn't going to be stupid enough to attack border guards and immediately destroy their chances.

And now, right on cue and just in time for the elections, there are reports of another caravan forming in Guatemala.
https://thehill.com/latino/412878-new-m ... ala-report
Quote:
A new caravan of migrants is forming in Central America and plans to follow the path of the one that is currently making its way through Mexico, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that thousands of migrants from Honduras have gathered in Chiquimula, a Guatemalan city near that country's border with Honduras.

Charities assisting the migrants said that as many as 2,500 Honduran migrants are in the new caravan, though the newspaper noted that estimates of the size of the new caravan have varied, with some reports of only a few hundred migrants.
What's strange to me is that, not only is this caravan forming immediately after one of unprecedented size left, but it's forming when 1) media attention on the previous caravan has been negative, 2) the Mexican police (and military?) were sent to stop it at the border, resulting in violent clashes, and 3) the US president has declared that he's going to send the military to the border (though what they're going to do while they wait for 2 months or so, I don't know. ;) ). So there are now 2500 people eager to have a taste of that experience, rather than waiting a bit and joining a smaller caravan that's more likely to fly under the radar?


Meanwhile, one of the people who usually helps to organize these caravans, but didn't organize this one, went down to Mexico and was arrested a few days ago, during a brief period when the media weren't around, and has been held incommunicado in a Mexican jail. The police claim he resisted arrest. While I wouldn't be surprised at an activist getting arrested, there doesn't seem to be any history of this guy getting in trouble in Mexico before. And the corruption in some of Mexico's police forces and army is well known.
https://www.apnews.com/24f4cd7436dc4abb93a3902cea13154d
Quote:
Mexican immigration officials say activist Irineo Mujica, who has dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, is accused of property damage and resisting arrest.

A statement from the officials says that Mujica attacked immigration agents, as well as local and federal police, after he was asked for his identification as he gathered foreigners for a protest.

Edgar Corzo, a representative of Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, who is in Ciudad Hidalgo, says police are accusing Mujica of slashing the tires on an immigration agency vehicle.

Meanwhile, we have a coordinated scare campaign, on many sources. For instance, this from an opinion piece on The Hill:
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration ... pen-border
Quote:
Are there terrorists and other criminals in the migrant caravan that is coming to the United States from Central America, as President Donald Trump claims? It doesn’t matter. The caravan would be a threat to our national security even if the migrants were all nuns from Catholic churches in Central America.

The threat comes from the fact that more than 7,500 undocumented migrants and the governments of Mexico and Central America are openly defying the President of the United States, and the entire world is watching.


This is all getting to be too much of a coincidence for my taste. I have my doubts this is the GOP (though I'm sure some of them are happy to take advantage of it) but a pro-Trump campaign financed by the Russians wouldn't surprise me a bit.

It looks like they've already managed to convince some people who previously thought healthcare was their greatest concern (and remember that the Trump administration has joined a lawsuit attacking the pre-existing conditions provision of Obamacare) that illegal immigration is their greatest concern.


Speaking of which:
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... -obamacare
Quote:
President Trump tweeted Wednesday... “Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican,” Trump tweeted.

...Trump last year supported GOP ObamaCare repeal bills that would have weakened protections for pre-existing conditions. The House GOP bill, for example, allowed states to get waivers to allow insurers to spike premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. The Trump administration is also supporting a lawsuit currently in federal court seeking to overturn ObamaCare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

It is unclear what Trump is pointing to when he says Democrats will not protect pre-existing conditions. No Democrat supported the GOP ObamaCare repeal bills last year, and congressional Democrats are united in maintaining those protections.
Pretty clear to me. Trump lied, as he usually does.




In other news:
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... port-finds
Quote:
Key government agencies were blindsided by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy and had no plan in place to deal with the thousands of children who were separated from their parents, according to government investigators.

A Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday found that both the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security were caught off guard when Attorney General Jeff Sessions released the “zero tolerance” memo in April.

Officials from DHS and HHS told investigators they were unaware of the memo before it was released, and did not take specific steps in advance of the memo to plan for the separation of parents and children or potential increase in the number of children who would be referred to HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement.

A new Vox story follows what happened to the members of the last (April) caravan when they reached the border. Amnesty International apparently followed them, though they disappeared off the radar from most US news sources. Some of the story was already picked up by the international news stories I mentioned above, but some of it is new. Interestingly, this story also mentions annual caravans. In other words, two new and very large ones just before the US elections is indeed unusual [Edit: other sources say there's typically one in the spring and one in the fall, not one/year]:
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/15/17963426 ... rous-trump
Quote:
A report from Amnesty International released last week illuminates what happened to the few hundred members of the April caravan who made it to the San Ysidro port of entry to present themselves legally for asylum — only to be told the US didn’t have room to take them in, and forced to wait on the Mexican side of the border as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents admitted a few of them at a time over the next couple of weeks.

Amnesty (which sent researchers to San Ysidro in May to track the caravan) alleges that some caravan members forced to wait in Mexico were attacked by Mexican municipal police, and that a shelter harboring some of them was robbed in a homophobic hate crime. It claims that a senior Mexican official was told by the US to clear the asylum seekers from the plaza where they were waiting to be allowed to enter the port — and, implicitly, to deport anyone whose Mexican travel documents had expired while they were waiting.
Quote:
The administration is pressing Mexican officials to sign an official “safe third country” agreement that would allow the US to refuse entry to any asylum seeker coming through Mexico, on the logic that Mexico is a safe place to seek asylum.

...At the same time that the Trump administration wants to label Mexico a safe country for Central Americans to seek asylum, however, it’s pressuring Mexico to arrest and deport more of them.... Mexico has detained and deported nearly a million Central American migrants in recent years, often without telling them they can apply for asylum and in some cases after detaining or even torturing them.

...The Amnesty report alleges, citing two Mexican officials, that the US has even urged Mexico to detain and deport people who are in line to seek asylum in the US — people, in other words, who have tried to enter the US and been prevented because officials claim there’s no room for them.
btw, there is one report that about 3,000 members of the current caravan have already applied for asylum in Mexico, long before getting anywhere near the US border. I haven't yet seen a source for this.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 25 Oct , 2018 1:40 pm
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -false-and
Quote:
President Trump said one day after explosive devices were sent to prominent Democrats and CNN
" A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!"
This man is sick, promoting more hate and egging on the people who he has encouraged to hate his domestic "enemies" while someone is out there sending bombs to prominent Trump critics. For once, he had actually responded appropriately, condemning the bomber and the hate in an official statement. Then this. I imagine the official statement was written by his aides and this is how Trump really feels.


btw, the bomber still seems to be at it.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... office-cnn
Quote:
Police in New York are investigating a suspicious package similar to those sent to top Democrat leaders that was addressed to actor Robert De Niro, law enforcement officials told CNN. ..De Niro has frequently been critical of President Trump, most notably at the 2018 Tony Awards when he received a standing ovation for repeatedly declaring "f--- Trump" on stage.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4130 ... ound-in-la
Quote:
Authorities on Wednesday night found a suspicious package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in a Los Angeles mail facility. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in a statement said the package is similar to others mailed to high-level Democratic figures earlier Wednesday.
I've also seen a coordinated campaign by Trump supporters and bots on message boards, which started immediately after the news first broke and claims that this is a "false flag" operation carried out with fake bombs by Democrats to take attention away from the migrant caravan currently in southern Mexico. Even some prominent Republicans are calling these people out as delusional. But clearly someone is coordinating this campaign, with identical messages from a number of pro-Trump posters.




As I said before, what it the purpose of having the military - or the National Guard, which is more likely - sit and twiddle their thumbs on the border while whatever remnants of the current convoy make their way (mostly on foot) for 1000 miles?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -crossings
Quote:
President Trump said in an early morning tweet on Thursday that he is "bringing out the military" to secure the border with Mexico, calling it a "National Emergency."

"Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council is right when he says on @foxandfriends that the Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the Border," Trump tweeted. "MUST BE CHANDED, but I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped!"
Oh wait - never mind. Clearly the purpose is to reassure us peons that only Trump and the Republicans can save us from this scary horde of criminals and Middle Eastern terrorists planning to rush the border and invade, and the Democrats must be voted against to save ourselves.



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/us/p ... urity.html
Quote:
When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening ... Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well.

....Mr. Trump’s use of his iPhones was detailed by several current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss classified intelligence and sensitive security arrangements. The officials said they were doing so not to undermine Mr. Trump, but out of frustration with what they considered the president’s casual approach to electronic security.

American spy agencies, the officials said, had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the president’s cellphone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials.

...Officials said the president has two official iPhones that have been altered by the National Security Agency to limit their abilities — and vulnerabilities — and a third personal phone that is no different from hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world. Mr. Trump keeps the personal phone, White House officials said, because unlike his other two phones, he can store his contacts in it.
Trump denies it, but "doesn't have the time" to correct the misinformation.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... stening-to




https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... inst-trans
Quote:
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it is lawful to discriminate against transgender employees based on their gender identity, according to Bloomberg Law. In a brief to the Supreme Court, the DOJ wrote that federal civil rights law banning sex discrimination in the workplace does not extend to transgender people.
Hence the Trump administration's recent formal definition of your sex as the sex on your birth certificate unless you have genetic proof it was wrong.

And I really doubt that the GOP-controlled Congress is going to pass a law protecting transgender people from discrimination, even if that would have been a better solution than the Obama administration's decision to extend sex-based discrimination protections to gender. At least, not while GOP leaders are going along with everything Trump and Pence want and punishing any GOP lawmakers who don't toe the line.




Edit:

And now we have the Trump administration sending actual US military troops to the border.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4131 ... ico-border
Quote:
Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to sign an order sending up to 800 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border amid President Trump’s ongoing focus on a migrant caravan traveling to the United States, according to multiple reports.

Citing unidentified U.S. officials, reports said Mattis could sign the order as soon as Thursday to send hundreds of U.S. service members to help with logistical support such as providing tents and fencing.
More political show, at what cost to taxpayers? For a caravan that is estimated to arrive in December, whatever is left of it - it's been dwindling already, with people applying for asylum in Mexico or just dropping out.

At least there don't seem to be any suggestions that they should fire guns or aim tanks at these unarmed people, so far, from the Trump administration. Though the occasional total loony on political messageboards has said that would be a good idea.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 26 Oct , 2018 12:41 pm
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Posts: 2048
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https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... h-congress
Quote:
The Trump administration plans to curtail the amount of intelligence it shares with Congress about North Korea’s nuclear program, according to CBS News.

Initially intelligence reports related to North Korea are distributed to House and Senate leadership as well as the members and staffers of the foreign relations and intelligence committees. But the new plan, which CBS reports was implemented in recent weeks, would still allow for sharing intelligence reports with House and Senate leadership, yet would then only extend to the chairs and ranking members of those committees.
Somehow, previous administrations didn't have any problem with sharing this information with Congress.



Experts are quitting the Trump administration because they aren't listened to.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... s-handling
Quote:
A former civilian [senior] staffer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote Thursday that he quit his job earlier this year out of a belief that the Trump administration was ignoring legal concerns about its family separation policy toward migrant children.

...He claimed multiple lawyers throughout the government, such as himself, raised concerns that the policy violated U.S. or humanitarian laws...Schuchart wrote he grew exceedingly frustrated that the political appointees and those enforcing the family separation policy did not heed his or his colleagues' warnings about potential legal and ethical quandaries.

And here we go again.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... n-migrants
Quote:
President Trump is reportedly considering implementing a plan to block Central American migrants fleeing for the U.S. from claiming asylum when they reach American soil... The [Washington] Post reviewed a draft of the plan, which argues the president has authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare migrants ineligible for asylum if it runs "contrary to national interest."

The US is signatory to international refugee agreements. This plan also strikes me as pretty stupid, since it would encourage migrants to try to sneak in rather than apply for asylum, where they can go through an established process and are known. It's not the only plan they're considering, but the fact that they're considering it at all...

Meanwhile the Trump administration has been cutting down on guest worker programs, where people can come and harvest crops or pick crabs, then go home at the end of the season. I swear, this lot seems determined to make bigger messes of everything they touch.


And this is unbelievable. I saw only the title at first, and thought "Non-story. Of course they don't." And then I saw the actual statement:
https://thehill.com/latino/413254-niels ... -illegally
Quote:
"We do not have any intention right now to shoot at people," Nielsen said in an interview with Fox News.
Probably just a badly worded statement, but if so, she should have clarified it the moment she misspoke. I certainly hope it doesn't indicate a mindset where the possibility of shooting people (except in obvious self-defense) was even considered in government discussions. Even if it was just in an attempt to appease Trump.



Edit:
It seems our president really cares that some crazy is sending pipe bombs to former presidents, politicians, liberal philanthropists and others who have criticized Trump. His tweet:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -to-booker
Quote:
Law enforcement officials have discovered a suspicious package addressed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) at a mailing facility in Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and another one addressed to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a facility in New York City.

...We are responding to a report of a suspicious package in the vicinity of West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, #Manhattan. Please avoid the area and expect a police presence and heavy traffic. More information to follow,” the New York Police Department posted on Twitter.
EDIT: They've apparently arrested someone (also a recap of the entire story here): http://www.newswest9.com/2018/10/26/man ... bomb-plot/



Also, Trump is now upset that fewer people seem to be following him on Twitter (with no evidence for this).
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4 ... cuses-bias Seriously, shouldn't the president have more important things to worry about?



https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... m-un-human
Quote:
U.S. officials at the United Nations are reportedly pushing to remove references to the word “gender” from documents on human rights as the Trump administration works to eliminate definitions that give leeway to transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals.

Officials are pushing the U.N.'s Third Committee, which focuses on “social, humanitarian and cultural” rights, to rewrite statements that include what they view as vague and politically correct language, The Guardian reported Friday.

Many of the changes U.S. officials have proposed include replacing the word “gender” with “women”

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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