Friday, February 24, 2017

In the news, Monday, January 30, 2017


________

JAN 29      INDEX      JAN 31
________


Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from The Atlantic
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Where America's Terrorists Actually Come From
Syrian refugees have committed zero attacks in the United States. After sifting through databases, media reports, court documents, and other sources, Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, has arrived at a striking finding: Nationals of the seven countries singled out by Trump have killed zero people in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1975 and 2015. Zero.

________

from Chicago Tribune

Commentary: The danger of Steve Bannon on the National Security Council
A president who has no national security experience and can use all the advice he can get has decided to limit the input he receives from two of the most important advisers any president could have.

________

from The Daily Beast
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Starbucks Vows to Hire 10,000 Refugees
Starbucks has pledged to hire 10,000 refugees in response to President Donald Trump’s controversial immigrant ban. CEO Howard Schultz said in a letter to employees Sunday the company would hire refugees from 75 different countries over a five-year period.

________

from The Daily Caller
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

BLM Anti-Trump Protest In Seattle: ‘We Need To Start Killing People’
During an anti-Trump protest in Seattle this weekend, an activist associated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement took to the megaphone to voice her support for, among other things, “killing people,” and “killing the White House.”

________

from Daily Kos
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Her husband was murdered in the San Bernardino terrorist attack—her message to Trump is going viral
Renee Wetzel’s husband Michael was one of the victims gunned down by radicalized Islamic terrorists during the San Bernardino massacre on December 2, 2015. Fourteen people died and 22 were injured. Michael Wetzel worked for the San Bernardino environmental health department when his life was taken tragically. Some would think Wendy, his widow, would have reason to side with Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. She doesn’t, and she’s letting the country know.

________

from EUobserver

Putin-Orban axis assails the EU
Russian president Vladimir Putin makes an official visit to Hungary on Thursday (2 February), only two years after his last visit in 2015. Hungary is the only EU member state that enjoys such frequent visits from the Russian leader since the annexation of Crimea.

Merkel leads EU revolt on Trump's Muslim ban
Several European leaders have rejected US president Donald Trump's anti-Muslim travel ban amid concern over his commitment to transatlantic values. The ban, on refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saw European capitals scramble to determine how it would effect their dual nationality citizens.

________

from The Heritage Foundation

Now Is the Time to Defund Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood receives approximately $500 million in taxpayer funds each year. The Senate can use the reconciliation process to defund Planned Parenthood while repealing Obamacare.

Serious About Trade Reform? End Subsidies to Foreign Competitors
President Donald Trump launched his overhaul of trade policy last week by withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. His next move ought to be elimination of the crony Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im).

________

from The Living Church

COMMON PRAYER, COMMON PURPOSE
Robert Hendrickson: "The Book of Common Prayer exists, in no small part, to be a tool for our transformation." Editor’s note: This is the fifth piece in The Living Church’s Necessary or Expedient? teaching series in prayer book revision. It appeared in the Dec. 11 issue. Mark Michael’s “Are we done with the ’79 prayer book?” is the well-known first piece in the series.

________

from National Review
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Why Yates Had to Go
It is a very simple proposition. Our Constitution vests all executive power — not some of it, all of it — in the president of the United States. Executive-branch officials do not have their own power. They are delegated by the president to execute his power. If they object to the president’s policies, their choice is clear: salute and enforce the president’s directives, or honorably resign. There is no third way. No one knows this better than high-ranking officials of the Department of Justice. That is why President Trump was right to fire Acting Attorney General Sally Yates.

________

from NBC News (& affiliates)

Trump’s newest national security moves labeled ‘stone cold crazy’
On national security, Trump has promoted Stephen Bannon - and demoted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence.

________

from Newsmax

Trump Fires Acting AG Who Refuses to Defend Refugee Ban
President Donald Trump on Monday fired Sally Yates, the acting attorney general and a Democratic appointee, after she refused to defend in court his controversial refugee and immigration ban. In a statement, Trump said Yates had "betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States." He named longtime federal prosecutor Dana Boente as Yates' replacement.

________

________

from Open Culture

Hannah Arendt on “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship:” Better to Suffer (Even Die) Than Collaborate
We have only for a moment to imagine what would happen to any of these forms of government if enough people would act “irresponsibly” and refuse support, even without active resistance and rebellion, to see how effective a weapon this could be. It is in fact one of the many variations of nonviolent action and resistance—for instance the power that is potential in civil disobedience.

________

from Reuters

Saudi king agrees in call with Trump to support Syria, Yemen safe zones: White House

Starbucks CEO Schultz plans to hire 10,000 refugees after Trump ban
Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said on Sunday that the company planned to hire 10,000 refugees over five years in 75 countries, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees from certain countries.

________

from The Spokesman-Review

ACLU says it got $24 million in donations this weekend, six times yearly average
In the weeks after the Nov. 8 election, when Donald Trump secured a surprise victory to become president of the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union received so much money in online donations – more than $15 million – that an official with the 100-year-old organization called the flood “unprecedented in our history.” That was before Trump had even sworn the oath of office. This weekend alone, the civil liberties group received more than $24 million in online donations from 356,306 people, a spokesman told The Washington Post early Monday morning, a total that supersedes its annual online donations by six times.

Two hunters being investigated for using a plane to spot and hunt elk in the Chewelah Valley
State wildlife agents are investigating two men suspected of using an airplane to spot elk and call in locations to hunters on the ground. According to a search warrant on file in Stevens County Superior Court, a red and white single-engine prop plane was observed in November flying low and circling timbered areas near Valley, Washington.

________
from The Washington Post

Google Doodle honors Fred Korematsu, who fought president’s executive order on Japanese internment
Fred Korematsu Day is celebrated on Jan. 30 in Hawaii, California, Virginia and Florida.
“If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.” — Fred Korematsu

Why did Sean Spicer suggest that the Quebec shooting validated Trump’s policy initiatives?
White House press secretary Sean Spicer made an odd comment during the daily press briefing on Monday. Spicer said that President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had spoken on the phone about the mass shooting at a mosque in Quebec City on Sunday evening, in which six people were killed as they were praying. “Prime Minister Trudeau was extremely appreciative, and he was also cautious to draw conclusions on the motives at this stage of the investigation, and the president shared those thoughts,” Spicer said. He later continued: “It’s a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to our nation’s safety and security.” The odd comment is that latter one: How does the attack in Quebec bolster Trump’s security platform, which is heavily focused on the threat of terrorism?

________

No comments:

Post a Comment