Saturday, January 13, 2018
Sanctions after Crimea: Have they worked? Yes, magnificently and it strengthens democracy.
The sanctions have been effective along with a Russian recession that has brought a net gain in economic strength to Europe. When countries participated with NATO in the Russian sanctions, Europe increased their offerings to countries such as Cyrus to make up for the loss of Russian imports.
...European economies (click here) are affected by the sanctions and by Russia’s current recession principally through trade , i.e. by losses in export revenues.
Losses are caused:
- directly by Western sanctions (exports of oil-producing equipment and of military and dual-use goods);
- directly by Russia’s food import ban;
- and indirectly due to Russia’s recession and lower exchange rate, which together lead to much lower demand for imports (from anywhere in the world).
The latter, indirect effect is by far the largest, but it can only be partly attributed to Western sanctions – the lower oil price remains the dominant driver according to leading analysts.
What is even more interesting is the benevolent growth of Cyrus's economy after the sanctions. Initially, Cyrus experienced a decrease in economic strength, but, once European partners were introduced the economy grew. The sanctions were directly responsible for a paradigm shift in the Cyrus economy.
The statistic (click here) shows the growth in real GDP in Cyprus from 2010 to 2015, with projections up to 2020. In 2014, Cyprus' real gross domestic product decreased by around 2.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Below is a clear illustration of how the sanctions changed the trade balance even today. Russia is trading in BASIC natural resources and not most much more. Russia clearly is still not ready to be a world economic power.
Russia under Vladimir Putin and it's return to communist rule has not been good for the country or the people. (click here) Russia's self-imposed isolation obviously continues to effect the country's ability to diversify it's economy and grow into a real member of the international economy.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Bezos are unaware of how the Dreamers are losing their legal status to benefit from the very scholarships available today.
January 13, 2018
By Forrest Hanson
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, (click here) have donated US$33 million ($45.4m) to a scholarship program for young "dreamers" called TheDream.US.
The donation from Bezos, who is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth just shy of US$100 billion ($137.8b), will go towards funding 1,000 college scholarships, according to the Daily Mail.
And the money, the largest single donation the organisation has ever received, comes as President Donald Trump is trying to end the Obama-era DACA program and after his remarks about immigrants from "s***hole countries".
The scholarship program will fund U.S. high school graduates with a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, an Obama-era program protecting young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents - commonly known as Dreamers....
By Forrest Hanson
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, (click here) have donated US$33 million ($45.4m) to a scholarship program for young "dreamers" called TheDream.US.
The donation from Bezos, who is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth just shy of US$100 billion ($137.8b), will go towards funding 1,000 college scholarships, according to the Daily Mail.
And the money, the largest single donation the organisation has ever received, comes as President Donald Trump is trying to end the Obama-era DACA program and after his remarks about immigrants from "s***hole countries".
The scholarship program will fund U.S. high school graduates with a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, an Obama-era program protecting young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents - commonly known as Dreamers....
January 12, 2018
By Ron Fonger
Flint, MI -- There's a downside to removing every lead service line in Flint -- finding other homes with an elevated risk of high lead for future water testing.
Mayor Karen Weaver told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week that after all lead service lines have been pulled in Flint -- something that's expected to happen by the end of 2019 -- the city will use homes with lead solder in plumbing for Lead and Copper Rule testing that's required every six months.
"The city recognizes that it has an obligation to submit a monitoring plan for Lead and Copper Rule compliance. However .... LRC compliance monitoring is a dynamic situation," Weaver said in a January 8 letter to new EPA Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp.
"Beginning in 2020, permanent (test) sites will be established primarily focused on sites where lead solder has been used," the letter says....
These are all regulations that have to be met. I would fight the mitigation. There are people dead and permanently damaged due to lead poisoning by the Governor through his Emergency Manager. There is no way one case is the same as the next.
January 11, 2018
By Trace Samilton
In Flint Michigan, hundreds of people have filed lawsuits over that city's lead water crisis. Most of the lawsuits have been consolidated into one massive case. On Thursday, a federal district judge in Ann Arbor ordered all the parties into mediation.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Hundreds of people in Flint, Mich. have filed lawsuits over that city's lead water crisis. They're seeking damages that range from property value losses to brain damage in children. Most of the lawsuits have been consolidated into one massive case. And today, a federal district judge in Ann Arbor ordered all of the parties into mediation. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports that move could mean that victims get money much faster.
TRACY SAMILTON, BYLINE: 72-year-old Elnora Carthan noticed a change in the water in her shower right after Flint switched its water source from Detroit's system to the local Flint River in April 2014.
ELNORA CARTHAN: It had this smell to it. And after you'd dry it off, you began to itch.
SAMILTON: She developed skin lesions and other problems. When the state finally admitted the switch caused lead to leach into the drinking water, she had hers tested. One bottle came back at more than 32 times the federal standard. Carthan's blood lead level was also elevated. She became a lead plaintiff in the consolidated case against everyone from the Michigan governor and city officials to the engineering firms involved in the water switch. Carthan worries about her grandchildren, who drank the water when they visited....
And then there is this. I don't believe the reporting of test failures. I want an investigation. Why was the test changed in 2014?
January 10, 2018
There's a chance that tests given to millions of kids since 2014 (click here) to detect lead poisoning didn't work properly, delivering falsely low results to an unknown number of American families.
As many as 7 million tests performed on children over the course of the three years could have been wrong, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The manufacturer of the tests in question, however, is confident the number is millions lower..
Parents may not realize that routine visits to the pediatrician should include a blood test to screen their child for lead. Among the barrage of questions about a baby's development, physical exams, updates on shots and other tests, it can get glossed over – particularly if the test comes back negative.
Although lead has been banned from products such as gasoline and paint for decades, it's possible for any child to become lead poisoned so the CDC recommends testing early in life.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled the faulty tests in May, and eight months later, it's still uncertain what went wrong. Health professionals and families are still dealing with the fallout, which some worry hurt trust in the screenings and could result in fewer parents testing their children....
By Ron Fonger
Flint, MI -- There's a downside to removing every lead service line in Flint -- finding other homes with an elevated risk of high lead for future water testing.
Mayor Karen Weaver told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week that after all lead service lines have been pulled in Flint -- something that's expected to happen by the end of 2019 -- the city will use homes with lead solder in plumbing for Lead and Copper Rule testing that's required every six months.
"The city recognizes that it has an obligation to submit a monitoring plan for Lead and Copper Rule compliance. However .... LRC compliance monitoring is a dynamic situation," Weaver said in a January 8 letter to new EPA Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp.
"Beginning in 2020, permanent (test) sites will be established primarily focused on sites where lead solder has been used," the letter says....
These are all regulations that have to be met. I would fight the mitigation. There are people dead and permanently damaged due to lead poisoning by the Governor through his Emergency Manager. There is no way one case is the same as the next.
January 11, 2018
By Trace Samilton
In Flint Michigan, hundreds of people have filed lawsuits over that city's lead water crisis. Most of the lawsuits have been consolidated into one massive case. On Thursday, a federal district judge in Ann Arbor ordered all the parties into mediation.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Hundreds of people in Flint, Mich. have filed lawsuits over that city's lead water crisis. They're seeking damages that range from property value losses to brain damage in children. Most of the lawsuits have been consolidated into one massive case. And today, a federal district judge in Ann Arbor ordered all of the parties into mediation. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports that move could mean that victims get money much faster.
TRACY SAMILTON, BYLINE: 72-year-old Elnora Carthan noticed a change in the water in her shower right after Flint switched its water source from Detroit's system to the local Flint River in April 2014.
ELNORA CARTHAN: It had this smell to it. And after you'd dry it off, you began to itch.
SAMILTON: She developed skin lesions and other problems. When the state finally admitted the switch caused lead to leach into the drinking water, she had hers tested. One bottle came back at more than 32 times the federal standard. Carthan's blood lead level was also elevated. She became a lead plaintiff in the consolidated case against everyone from the Michigan governor and city officials to the engineering firms involved in the water switch. Carthan worries about her grandchildren, who drank the water when they visited....
And then there is this. I don't believe the reporting of test failures. I want an investigation. Why was the test changed in 2014?
January 10, 2018
There's a chance that tests given to millions of kids since 2014 (click here) to detect lead poisoning didn't work properly, delivering falsely low results to an unknown number of American families.
As many as 7 million tests performed on children over the course of the three years could have been wrong, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The manufacturer of the tests in question, however, is confident the number is millions lower..
Parents may not realize that routine visits to the pediatrician should include a blood test to screen their child for lead. Among the barrage of questions about a baby's development, physical exams, updates on shots and other tests, it can get glossed over – particularly if the test comes back negative.
Although lead has been banned from products such as gasoline and paint for decades, it's possible for any child to become lead poisoned so the CDC recommends testing early in life.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled the faulty tests in May, and eight months later, it's still uncertain what went wrong. Health professionals and families are still dealing with the fallout, which some worry hurt trust in the screenings and could result in fewer parents testing their children....
It is a matter of loyalty, you see. The Democrats aren't loyalists to Trump, hence, are not provided with bipartisanship.
The US House is long overdue to file impeachment. The US House will be an ostrich for Trump for as long as he remains in office.
The Democrats need to understand they will never receive bipartisan anything. The Dreamer issue is real and urgent. In case the Democrats want to join the "ass kissers" of Congress, the cabinet meeting below is an example of acceptable behavior.
Seriously.
Everytime Trump offers bipartisan resolve to a sensitive issue, there is a bottom line to taking up the loyalty pledge. It is cohersion. What does Trump care and he knew a senior Democrat would tell the 'fake news media' about the audacity of Trump's words. He planned it. Now, he will hold the lack of loyality by the Democrats as an example of how the Dreamers will never get their legislation. They aren't going to get it anyway, but, hey there must be a way to FORCE the Hispanics to his election column.
That is Trump and a very corrupt US House and Senate. The Democrats learn anything this time? Not yet? Oh. The Democrats have their Republican colleagues to thank for continued attempts of cohersion by Trump.
How many of the cabinet still have their jobs? Or is it just senior staff that can't stand the bastard?
January 12, 2018
By Julie Hirshchfeld Davis
Washington — It was just after President Trump (click here) had finished railing in the Oval Office against African immigrants he said came from “shithole countries” when a senior Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was there to negotiate a deal on immigration, spoke up.
“America is an idea, not a race,” Mr. Graham said, according to three people familiar with the exchange on Thursday. Diversity was a strength, he said, not a weakness. And by the way, the senator added, he himself was a descendant of immigrants who came to the United States from “shithole countries with no skills.”
Mr. Trump’s racially charged comments in front of several lawmakers, which also extended to immigrants from Haiti — followed by a day in which members of Congress denounced the president, defended him or stayed silent — now threaten what had been an emerging agreement to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children....
The Democrats need to understand they will never receive bipartisan anything. The Dreamer issue is real and urgent. In case the Democrats want to join the "ass kissers" of Congress, the cabinet meeting below is an example of acceptable behavior.
Seriously.
Everytime Trump offers bipartisan resolve to a sensitive issue, there is a bottom line to taking up the loyalty pledge. It is cohersion. What does Trump care and he knew a senior Democrat would tell the 'fake news media' about the audacity of Trump's words. He planned it. Now, he will hold the lack of loyality by the Democrats as an example of how the Dreamers will never get their legislation. They aren't going to get it anyway, but, hey there must be a way to FORCE the Hispanics to his election column.
That is Trump and a very corrupt US House and Senate. The Democrats learn anything this time? Not yet? Oh. The Democrats have their Republican colleagues to thank for continued attempts of cohersion by Trump.
How many of the cabinet still have their jobs? Or is it just senior staff that can't stand the bastard?
January 12, 2018
By Julie Hirshchfeld Davis
Washington — It was just after President Trump (click here) had finished railing in the Oval Office against African immigrants he said came from “shithole countries” when a senior Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was there to negotiate a deal on immigration, spoke up.
“America is an idea, not a race,” Mr. Graham said, according to three people familiar with the exchange on Thursday. Diversity was a strength, he said, not a weakness. And by the way, the senator added, he himself was a descendant of immigrants who came to the United States from “shithole countries with no skills.”
Mr. Trump’s racially charged comments in front of several lawmakers, which also extended to immigrants from Haiti — followed by a day in which members of Congress denounced the president, defended him or stayed silent — now threaten what had been an emerging agreement to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children....
What is Trump doing with our embassies?
What is the cost of all these changes? Who is responsible for the construction, etc? It's money. Trump is getting kickbacks out of these changes.
January 13, 2018
By Latika Bourke
...Mr Trump announced on Twitter that his London trip, (click here) originally planned for 2017, was cancelled, citing the move of the the US embassy from its prestigious Mayfair location to the regenerated Battersea area south of the river Thames, which he wrongly attributed to the Obama administration, as his reason.
The decision to move from Grosvenor Square was made when George W. Bush was in the White House and was announced by the then Ambassador Robert Tuttle, a Bush appointee.
London's first Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan, who Mr Trump has personally targeted over the city's terrorist attacks, said that the president's visit would have "without doubt been met by mass peaceful protests."
"It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city's values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance," Khan said on Facebook....
I suppose the new building in 2008 is something Putin doesn't appreciate. I think it is time to examine what Trump is doing in regard to erecting buildings. There can be some embassies which would benefit from greater security, however, that is not the case in the United Kingdom. It is my guess most new buildings under Trump could have their security compromised. Perhaps Russia wanted to purchase the old USA Embassies. I am sure former USA embassies would be an improvement for Russia including state of the art security Putin can't match otherwise with Russian talent.
US embassy in Grosvenor Square, London (Old Embassy) It was originally built in 1960. It was outdated.
8 November 2018
By Jason Lewis
British firms (click here) have been banned from bidding for the £275million contract to build the new US Embassy in London.
The American mission is moving from its long-time home in Grosvenor Square in Central London to a new purpose-built secure compound close to the headquarters of MI6 in Vauxhall.
But tender documents released by the US State Department last week make it clear British firms will not be allowed to oversee the project....
...The builders will oversee the construction of a CIA operations centre, from where US agents will run sensitive anti-terror missions and work with their counterparts in MI5 and MI6.
The embassy will also have an FBI liaison office and sealed meetings rooms.
Documents from the State Department’s Office Of Logistics Management say the first stage will involve the selection of ‘American architects with experience in the design of American Embassies and other government buildings’.
Several of these firms will be invited to bid for the main contract. The design will ‘require access to classified information...the successful contractor must possess a Defense Security Service Secret Facility Clearance (FCL), with Secret safeguarding capability’. It states: ‘Foreign firms are not eligible for FCLs.’...
It took quite some time to build the new Embassy. Post 911 everything changed, especially security issues. There is an opening scheduled for this month. This is a history of the new structure (click here).
The new embassy is called "The Glass Cube." Trump is a lousy president. He is too tempermental to carry out the business of the country. The USA Ambassador to the UK should go forward with the ribbon cutting to the new embassy.
I suppose the new building in 2008 is something Putin doesn't appreciate. I think it is time to examine what Trump is doing in regard to erecting buildings. There can be some embassies which would benefit from greater security, however, that is not the case in the United Kingdom. It is my guess most new buildings under Trump could have their security compromised. Perhaps Russia wanted to purchase the old USA Embassies. I am sure former USA embassies would be an improvement for Russia including state of the art security Putin can't match otherwise with Russian talent.
US embassy in Grosvenor Square, London (Old Embassy) It was originally built in 1960. It was outdated.8 November 2018
By Jason Lewis
British firms (click here) have been banned from bidding for the £275million contract to build the new US Embassy in London.
The American mission is moving from its long-time home in Grosvenor Square in Central London to a new purpose-built secure compound close to the headquarters of MI6 in Vauxhall.
But tender documents released by the US State Department last week make it clear British firms will not be allowed to oversee the project....
...The builders will oversee the construction of a CIA operations centre, from where US agents will run sensitive anti-terror missions and work with their counterparts in MI5 and MI6.
The embassy will also have an FBI liaison office and sealed meetings rooms.
Documents from the State Department’s Office Of Logistics Management say the first stage will involve the selection of ‘American architects with experience in the design of American Embassies and other government buildings’.
Several of these firms will be invited to bid for the main contract. The design will ‘require access to classified information...the successful contractor must possess a Defense Security Service Secret Facility Clearance (FCL), with Secret safeguarding capability’. It states: ‘Foreign firms are not eligible for FCLs.’...
It took quite some time to build the new Embassy. Post 911 everything changed, especially security issues. There is an opening scheduled for this month. This is a history of the new structure (click here).
The new embassy is called "The Glass Cube." Trump is a lousy president. He is too tempermental to carry out the business of the country. The USA Ambassador to the UK should go forward with the ribbon cutting to the new embassy.
There is a huge difference between non-disclosure and prostitution.
Trump absolutely had sex with a porn star at a golf tournament. Bragging rights. Melania married Donald on January 22, 2005. It is called adultery.
Jessica Drake is one of at least 11 women to have alleged that the real estate billionaire groped them, made inappropriate remarks or forcibly kissed them.
Forcibly kissing is called assault. The Russians have so much on him he can't bend over backward far enough to make them happy.
January 12, 2018
By Sara Boboitz
Lawyer Gloria Allred (click here) holds a photograph of Jessica Drake and Donald Trump taken in 2006 after she spoke to reporters about allegations of sexual misconduct against him in Los Angeles, California.
...Michael Cohen, (click here) a longtime representative of the Trump Organization, reportedly negotiated a nondisclosure agreement with a lawyer for the woman, Stephanie Clifford, over an encounter that allegedly occurred in 2006. Clifford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deal would have been reached around the same time a leaked recording revealed the now-infamous lewd comments Trump made on the set of “Access Hollywood” in 2005.
The alleged consensual sexual encounter between Trump and Clifford is said to have taken place after the pair met at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in July of that year. Jessica Drake, an adult film actress and director, says Trump grabbed her, kissed her and offered her $10,000 for sex at the same golf tournament....
Jessica Drake is one of at least 11 women to have alleged that the real estate billionaire groped them, made inappropriate remarks or forcibly kissed them.
Forcibly kissing is called assault. The Russians have so much on him he can't bend over backward far enough to make them happy.
By Sara Boboitz
Lawyer Gloria Allred (click here) holds a photograph of Jessica Drake and Donald Trump taken in 2006 after she spoke to reporters about allegations of sexual misconduct against him in Los Angeles, California.
...Michael Cohen, (click here) a longtime representative of the Trump Organization, reportedly negotiated a nondisclosure agreement with a lawyer for the woman, Stephanie Clifford, over an encounter that allegedly occurred in 2006. Clifford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deal would have been reached around the same time a leaked recording revealed the now-infamous lewd comments Trump made on the set of “Access Hollywood” in 2005.
The alleged consensual sexual encounter between Trump and Clifford is said to have taken place after the pair met at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in July of that year. Jessica Drake, an adult film actress and director, says Trump grabbed her, kissed her and offered her $10,000 for sex at the same golf tournament....
Thursday, January 11, 2018
More Norwegian immigrants? No Norwegian in their right mind wants to leave Norway for the USA. Norwegians have everything they could possibly hope for when they are born; good healthcare, great food, great educational system, incredible skiing, a lifestyle that shames any in Europe AND a longevity that averages over 80 years. Men live an average of 81 years and women 84 years. Why would any Norwegian ever want to immigrate to the USA. This country has nothing to offer them.
Americans are brainwashed about their own reality.
Americans are brainwashed about their own reality.
If they are talking about it, it means it is already here. It is called by another name, "machine learning."
This is great news, now human beings can be indicted on their thoughts.
Monday 8, 2018
By Catherine Clifford
Sound far out? It's now closer to becoming a reality thanks to four scientists at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. In late December, Guohua Shen, Tomoyasu Horikawa, Kei Majima and Yukiyasu Kamitani released the results of their recent research on using artificial intelligence to decode thoughts on the scientific platform, BioRxiv.
Machine learning has previously been used to study brain scans (MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging) and generate visualizations of what a person is thinking when referring to simple, binary images like black and white letters or simple geographic shapes (as shown in Figure 2 here).
But the scientists from Kyoto developed new techniques of "decoding" thoughts using deep neural networks (artificial intelligence). The new technique allows the scientists to decode more sophisticated "hierarchical" images, which have multiple layers of color and structure, like a picture of a bird or a man wearing a cowboy hat, for example....
Wall Street's Machine Learning. If Wall Street is so intense about machine learning, it is time to institute the "transaction tax." They can't lie now.
Warren Buffet is exactly correct, without a sovereign state for currency, cryptocurrencies can have their own influence through artificial intelligence. There is no place for the artificial currency. Robots should never have their own digital nation.
Wall Street's Machine Learning. If Wall Street is so intense about machine learning, it is time to institute the "transaction tax." They can't lie now.
Warren Buffet is exactly correct, without a sovereign state for currency, cryptocurrencies can have their own influence through artificial intelligence. There is no place for the artificial currency. Robots should never have their own digital nation.
Away from the headlines, expanding communications bandwidth (introduction of 5G, investment in subsea cables) and continuing 20% year on year growth in the Cloud provide the infrastructure for the digital transformation of the 4IR.
Incorporating an AI foundation in any major software development is increasingly taken as a given. In 2000, the internet 'disappeared down a thousand foxholes' into countless developments and applications before emerging ubiquitous as Web 2.0 and the [mobile+social+cloud] combination after 2004. Machine learning, as the 4IR's 'killer app enabler' that can be trained to see patterns and make predictions, is at the 'disappearing' stage, with work going on around the world embedding it into existing applications and using it to develop new ones.
Machine learning costs have tended to be frontloaded with intensive, iterative use of training datasets, but new techniques like transfer learning (which pre-trains the model on similar data) and synthetic data (which uses computer generated data to mimic the real dataset) are set to significantly reduce lead times and on costs. At the processor level, specially developed AI chips (like Intel's recently announced Nervana Neural Network Processor (NNP)) are also accelerating training times, and software developers are starting to pack machine learning models into mobile devices using greater compression and power efficiency....
It is getting very eerie. The strange world of digital is racing along without any contextualized law. There needs to be a summit of countries that will begin to rein in lack of guidance. Since the USA declares money as a citizen, imagine what happens with artificial intelligence.
...In its annual tech trends report for 2018, 'The Symphonic Enterprise' Big 4 accounting firm Deloitte highlights "digital reality, cognitive and blockchain [as] the stars of the enterprise technology realm [that] are redefining IT, business and society in general".
...In its annual tech trends report for 2018, 'The Symphonic Enterprise' Big 4 accounting firm Deloitte highlights "digital reality, cognitive and blockchain [as] the stars of the enterprise technology realm [that] are redefining IT, business and society in general".
The Deloitte report quotes a prediction from consultancy IDC that spending on digital reality – a mix of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and immersive technology – will grow from $9.1bn in 2017 to over $150bn by 2021 as we adapt to a work environment where, like our mobile today, our AR/VR/MR device is 'always on' to communicate, learn, train and interact. This shift, the report says, is comparable to that from "client-server to the web and web to mobile [leading] to more natural and intuitive ways for technology to better our lives. Indeed our means of interface with digital information will likely no longer be screens and hardware but gestures, emotions and gazes". For lawyers, the digital reality era will bring to the fore copyright permissioning and rights legal issues about generating, communicating and adapting content. It will likely also add another dimension to copyright policy debate about Open Access and fair use....
How ridiculous is this? The military is out of control.
January 18, 2018
Bryan Harris and Katrina Manson
South Korea (click here) will seek to use inter-Korean talks on Tuesday to decrease tensions on the peninsula and reunite families separated by the Korean war, Seoul has said.
Comments from Cho Myung-gyon, South Korea’s unification minister, illustrate the broader possibilities of the negotiations with North Korea, which are set to focus on Pyongyang’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympic Games.
“Basically, the two sides will focus on the Olympics. When discussing inter-Korean relations, the government will seek to raise the issue of war-torn families and ways to ease military tensions,” Mr Cho said on Monday....
The USA military has no right to cause problems in the Pacific if allies state otherwise. The reason the USA is in the Pacific is because of allies and if they see the USA's military more as a threat than an asset there exists a real reason to question the USA strategy.
I would expect the Democratic leaders of the US House and US Senate to evaluate the current military strategy of Trump with allies. There needs to be an addition of incompetency of military use to the list of impeachable offenses.
January 10, 2018
By Alex Lockie
President Donald Trump's national security adviser, (click here) H.R. McMaster, seems to think the US's military and nuclear supremacy over North Korea cannot deter its leader, Kim Jong Un, from attacking the US — and that a strike is needed to stop him.
It also appears that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are the key figures holding Trump back from taking McMaster's advice.
McMaster, who led the US's counterinsurgency strategy in the Iraq War of the early 2000s, frequently provides some of the most hawkish US statements on North Korea, sometimes surpassed only by Trump.
Even before becoming Trump's national security adviser, McMaster has stood at the forefront of piecing together a comprehensive US military strategy for the post-Cold War era....
B-52 bombers are long range, high altitude bombers. They will never get off the ground in Guam. The USA owns 72 of these bombers as of the end of 2015. How many are operational in a meaningful way is unclear.
January 11, 2018
by Anna Giaritelli
The U.S. Air Force (click here) has deployed three nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers and 200 air personnel to U.S. territory of Guam, the Pacific Air Forces announced late Tuesday.
Bryan Harris and Katrina Manson
South Korea (click here) will seek to use inter-Korean talks on Tuesday to decrease tensions on the peninsula and reunite families separated by the Korean war, Seoul has said.
Comments from Cho Myung-gyon, South Korea’s unification minister, illustrate the broader possibilities of the negotiations with North Korea, which are set to focus on Pyongyang’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympic Games.
“Basically, the two sides will focus on the Olympics. When discussing inter-Korean relations, the government will seek to raise the issue of war-torn families and ways to ease military tensions,” Mr Cho said on Monday....
The USA military has no right to cause problems in the Pacific if allies state otherwise. The reason the USA is in the Pacific is because of allies and if they see the USA's military more as a threat than an asset there exists a real reason to question the USA strategy.
I would expect the Democratic leaders of the US House and US Senate to evaluate the current military strategy of Trump with allies. There needs to be an addition of incompetency of military use to the list of impeachable offenses.
January 10, 2018
By Alex Lockie
President Donald Trump's national security adviser, (click here) H.R. McMaster, seems to think the US's military and nuclear supremacy over North Korea cannot deter its leader, Kim Jong Un, from attacking the US — and that a strike is needed to stop him.
It also appears that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are the key figures holding Trump back from taking McMaster's advice.
McMaster, who led the US's counterinsurgency strategy in the Iraq War of the early 2000s, frequently provides some of the most hawkish US statements on North Korea, sometimes surpassed only by Trump.
Even before becoming Trump's national security adviser, McMaster has stood at the forefront of piecing together a comprehensive US military strategy for the post-Cold War era....
B-52 bombers are long range, high altitude bombers. They will never get off the ground in Guam. The USA owns 72 of these bombers as of the end of 2015. How many are operational in a meaningful way is unclear.
January 11, 2018
by Anna Giaritelli
The U.S. Air Force (click here) has deployed three nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers and 200 air personnel to U.S. territory of Guam, the Pacific Air Forces announced late Tuesday.
The move comes days after North Korean government officials met with South Korean leaders to discuss security concerns ahead of the Winter Olympics, in the face of the northern country's continued missile tests....
Here is a hint for the Joint Chiefs; when the Navy loses ships to freighters on a regular basis, it is time to get the Guam B-52s in the air to prevent conventional bombing by a communist country.
THE USA MILITARY IS UNWANTED IN THE PACIFIC by most countries.
Here is a hint for the Joint Chiefs; when the Navy loses ships to freighters on a regular basis, it is time to get the Guam B-52s in the air to prevent conventional bombing by a communist country.
THE USA MILITARY IS UNWANTED IN THE PACIFIC by most countries.
8.5 percent of Medicaid's beneficiaries are aged, and 63 percent are children.
It doesn't get more stupid than this. The adults that receive Medicaid are all too often elderly and in nursing homes. The other adults receiving Medicaid have children. Those folks are more than likely receiving benefits through the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)."
PRWORA was passed under Gingrich's House. Maybe the Republicans forgot about their role in placing adults to work REGARDLESS of the age of their children. Then again, it was Newt and his Vatican wife that wanted children cleaning toilets in school. So, who knows what they are thinking now?!?
January 11, 2018
By Amy Goldstein
The Trump administration (click here) issued guidance to states early Thursday that will allow them to compel people to work or prepare for jobs in order to receive Medicaid for the first time in the half-century history of this pillar of the nation’s social safety net.
The letter to state Medicaid directors opens the door for states to cut off Medicaid benefits to Americans unless they have a job, are in school, are a caregiver or participate in other approved forms of “community engagement” — an idea that some states had broached over the past several years but that the Obama administration had consistently rebuffed.
The new policy comes as 10 states are already lined up, waiting for federal permission to impose work requirements on able-bodied adults in the program. Three other states are contemplating them. Health officials could approve the first waiver — probably for Kentucky — as soon as Friday, according to two people with knowledge of the process.
The guidance represents a fundamental and much-disputed recalibration of the compact between the government and poor Americans for whom Medicaid coverage provides a crucial pathway to health care....
Maybe American students trapped in Charter Schools are required to be responsible for the school's health certificate. The Armadillo Technical Institute should be shut down as they don't have a janitor. The janitor can be the Board of Directors and/or the principal.
April 4, 2015
Back in 2011, (click here) Newt Gingrich was running for president, and he proposed a radical idea to help schools cut costs: Fire the janitors and pay students to do the cleaning.
Needless to say, the idea to turn students into moonlighting janitors had about as much support as Gingrich's presidential campaign.
But ask Kim De Costa and she'll say there isn't anything radical about asking students to clean up after themselves. At her school, there are no janitors. Instead, students in grades 6-12 meet in teams once or twice a week to clean assigned areas.
De Costa is the executive director of the Armadillo Technical Institute. It's a public charter school in Phoenix, Ore., a few miles from the California border.
For 30 minutes after lunch, students sweep, mop, take out the trash and even clean the bathrooms — but responsibilities rotate so no one is stuck scrubbing toilets more than two or three times a year....
A janitor's job description. When working in schools, janitors usually are required to hold a certificate that proves they understand what exactly clean means including aseptic techniques. Young children performing labor is illegal.
Clean vertical and horizontal surfaces that collect dust. Cleans tops of windows, doorframes, TV’s, and other high places, using ladder when necessary. Dusts, cleans and polishes furniture.
Responsible for cleaning bathrooms and replacing supplies, such as paper-towels, soaps and toilet paper as needed.
Dispose all linen and trash in the appropriate manner.
Mop floors in all areas on a daily basis. Cleans floors by dry buffing with use of buffing machine, scrubber, extractor, and approved chemical cleaning methods. Strips and wax floors on a quarterly basis.
Perform other job related duties as assigned by Director.
THE LAW
(a) All occupations except in agriculture. (1) The Act, in section 3(1), sets a general 16-year minimum age which applies to all employment subject to its child labor provisions in any occupation other than in agriculture, with the following exceptions:
The exception of child labor laws in agriculture relates to migrant workers. The youngest a child can work as a migrant worker is 10 to 11 year old. The reason that provision was made is because there was a time when migrant workers were paid pennies. It sometimes took an entire household working to bring in enough income to provide meals.
Today, most children of migrant workers (I am thinking California) attend school as a requirement, but, during harvest months (which is mostly summer when they are off from school) they are accommodated (by the school they attend) when they need to work with their family. They can receive tutorial services during hours when they are not working.
PRWORA was passed under Gingrich's House. Maybe the Republicans forgot about their role in placing adults to work REGARDLESS of the age of their children. Then again, it was Newt and his Vatican wife that wanted children cleaning toilets in school. So, who knows what they are thinking now?!?
January 11, 2018
By Amy Goldstein
The Trump administration (click here) issued guidance to states early Thursday that will allow them to compel people to work or prepare for jobs in order to receive Medicaid for the first time in the half-century history of this pillar of the nation’s social safety net.
The letter to state Medicaid directors opens the door for states to cut off Medicaid benefits to Americans unless they have a job, are in school, are a caregiver or participate in other approved forms of “community engagement” — an idea that some states had broached over the past several years but that the Obama administration had consistently rebuffed.
The new policy comes as 10 states are already lined up, waiting for federal permission to impose work requirements on able-bodied adults in the program. Three other states are contemplating them. Health officials could approve the first waiver — probably for Kentucky — as soon as Friday, according to two people with knowledge of the process.
The guidance represents a fundamental and much-disputed recalibration of the compact between the government and poor Americans for whom Medicaid coverage provides a crucial pathway to health care....
Maybe American students trapped in Charter Schools are required to be responsible for the school's health certificate. The Armadillo Technical Institute should be shut down as they don't have a janitor. The janitor can be the Board of Directors and/or the principal.
April 4, 2015
Back in 2011, (click here) Newt Gingrich was running for president, and he proposed a radical idea to help schools cut costs: Fire the janitors and pay students to do the cleaning.
Needless to say, the idea to turn students into moonlighting janitors had about as much support as Gingrich's presidential campaign.
But ask Kim De Costa and she'll say there isn't anything radical about asking students to clean up after themselves. At her school, there are no janitors. Instead, students in grades 6-12 meet in teams once or twice a week to clean assigned areas.
De Costa is the executive director of the Armadillo Technical Institute. It's a public charter school in Phoenix, Ore., a few miles from the California border.
For 30 minutes after lunch, students sweep, mop, take out the trash and even clean the bathrooms — but responsibilities rotate so no one is stuck scrubbing toilets more than two or three times a year....
A janitor's job description. When working in schools, janitors usually are required to hold a certificate that proves they understand what exactly clean means including aseptic techniques. Young children performing labor is illegal.
Clean vertical and horizontal surfaces that collect dust. Cleans tops of windows, doorframes, TV’s, and other high places, using ladder when necessary. Dusts, cleans and polishes furniture.
Responsible for cleaning bathrooms and replacing supplies, such as paper-towels, soaps and toilet paper as needed.
Dispose all linen and trash in the appropriate manner.
Mop floors in all areas on a daily basis. Cleans floors by dry buffing with use of buffing machine, scrubber, extractor, and approved chemical cleaning methods. Strips and wax floors on a quarterly basis.
Perform other job related duties as assigned by Director.
THE LAW
The exception of child labor laws in agriculture relates to migrant workers. The youngest a child can work as a migrant worker is 10 to 11 year old. The reason that provision was made is because there was a time when migrant workers were paid pennies. It sometimes took an entire household working to bring in enough income to provide meals.
Today, most children of migrant workers (I am thinking California) attend school as a requirement, but, during harvest months (which is mostly summer when they are off from school) they are accommodated (by the school they attend) when they need to work with their family. They can receive tutorial services during hours when they are not working.
7-11 franchise owners need to sue the federal government for targeted harassment!
This is outrageous use of federal agents. 21 people and how many millions of dollars for 21 f@#$#@$%%^%$king people!
Twenty-one PRODUCTIVE employees were arrested at the cost of at least a cool $2 million. This is how the Trump administration spends money they demand to have creating $1.5 trillion MORE NATIONAL DEBT!
I DON'T THINK SO!
January 10, 2018
Twenty-one PRODUCTIVE employees were arrested at the cost of at least a cool $2 million. This is how the Trump administration spends money they demand to have creating $1.5 trillion MORE NATIONAL DEBT!
I DON'T THINK SO!
January 10, 2018
Federal immigration agents (click here) descended on dozens of 7-Eleven convenience stores across the country before daybreak on Wednesday, arresting undocumented workers and demanding paperwork from managers, in what the Trump administration described as its largest enforcement operation against employers so far.
The sweeps of 98 stores in 17 states, from California to Florida, resulted in 21 arrests, according to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which signaled intensified efforts against businesses that hire unauthorized workers....
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Misrepresentation of facts has been perfected by the Russians over the years.
If only emails could talk, but, human beings were present when all sorts of decisions were being made. Russians treat emails as if they are law. There are still human beings that make decisions based on facts and not email trails.
January 10, 2018
By Louise Matsakis
...The emails appear to span (click here) from the end of 2016 to the spring of 2017, and focus on correspondence between antidoping investigators who helped uncover a wide-scale, systematic doping scheme carried out by Russian athletes. It's not clear yet whether the emails are entirely authentic; Russian hacking groups have snuck false information into their leaks before. But the World Anti-Doping Agency Wednesday indirectly acknowledged that the emails were real, but not current.
By Louise Matsakis
...The emails appear to span (click here) from the end of 2016 to the spring of 2017, and focus on correspondence between antidoping investigators who helped uncover a wide-scale, systematic doping scheme carried out by Russian athletes. It's not clear yet whether the emails are entirely authentic; Russian hacking groups have snuck false information into their leaks before. But the World Anti-Doping Agency Wednesday indirectly acknowledged that the emails were real, but not current.
"The Fancy Bears are a criminal organization which seeks to undermine the work of WADA and its partners," says WADA spokesperson Maggie Durand. "Everything that they have posted today is dated."
The hack appears to be retaliation for kicking the Russia out of 2018 PyeongChang games, at which only a handful of the country's athletes will be allowed to compete....
If Russia didn't conduct itself so suspiciously, it might have a better case. One of these days, Russia will actually act like a sovereign country rather than a subversive unit of global security.
Russia is untrustworthy. Its politics sours it's potential as a burgeoning economy.
4 August 2016
By Owen Gibson
The author of the devastating report (click here) that laid bare lurid details of state-sponsored Russian doping has accused the International Olympic Committee of completely misrepresenting his findings, which were never designed to prove individual doping cases.
Professor Richard McLaren said the IOC, which did not speak to him or his team about their findings before controversially deciding to let Russian athletes compete in Rio subject to certain conditions, have turned his conclusions upside down. Meanwhile, he said, the debate about the issue and the future of the anti-doping system had become “political and hysterical”....
...“I would like to see the debate turn to the contents of the report and the spin that has been put on it that it is all incorrect and allegations. Look at what is there and what the data is and make a decision on that basis and don’t turn it into what it isn’t – a doping results-management investigation of specific athletes. It never was that.”
With the Russians and the IOC essentially claiming that McLaren’s report only amounted to allegations, he reiterated that his findings were proved beyond reasonable doubt and revealed that he had supporting evidence stored in a secret location.
“I have the evidence, I have it secured. I have the evidence backed up by forensic analysis of databases, sample bottles, I have laboratory evidence of some of those samples. It’s true I haven’t revealed,” he said....
The samples were of individual athletes, but, the McLaren report was about the bigger picture and COMPROMISED athletes by their government.
As to Russia; it is ridiculous that Putin's politics hangs in the balance of every aspect of Russian society. Putin's populous Russia is silly and immature as an international power. It has nuclear weapons, but, other than that what does Russia call great about it's accomplishments. Nobels? Olympic metals? Internationally acclaimed cultural icons?
If Russia didn't conduct itself so suspiciously, it might have a better case. One of these days, Russia will actually act like a sovereign country rather than a subversive unit of global security.
Russia is untrustworthy. Its politics sours it's potential as a burgeoning economy.
4 August 2016By Owen Gibson
The author of the devastating report (click here) that laid bare lurid details of state-sponsored Russian doping has accused the International Olympic Committee of completely misrepresenting his findings, which were never designed to prove individual doping cases.
Professor Richard McLaren said the IOC, which did not speak to him or his team about their findings before controversially deciding to let Russian athletes compete in Rio subject to certain conditions, have turned his conclusions upside down. Meanwhile, he said, the debate about the issue and the future of the anti-doping system had become “political and hysterical”....
...“I would like to see the debate turn to the contents of the report and the spin that has been put on it that it is all incorrect and allegations. Look at what is there and what the data is and make a decision on that basis and don’t turn it into what it isn’t – a doping results-management investigation of specific athletes. It never was that.”
With the Russians and the IOC essentially claiming that McLaren’s report only amounted to allegations, he reiterated that his findings were proved beyond reasonable doubt and revealed that he had supporting evidence stored in a secret location.
“I have the evidence, I have it secured. I have the evidence backed up by forensic analysis of databases, sample bottles, I have laboratory evidence of some of those samples. It’s true I haven’t revealed,” he said....
The samples were of individual athletes, but, the McLaren report was about the bigger picture and COMPROMISED athletes by their government.
As to Russia; it is ridiculous that Putin's politics hangs in the balance of every aspect of Russian society. Putin's populous Russia is silly and immature as an international power. It has nuclear weapons, but, other than that what does Russia call great about it's accomplishments. Nobels? Olympic metals? Internationally acclaimed cultural icons?
"Just sayin'"
The pumice raft spread across some 400 sq km of ocean. (click here)
Scientists (click here) have shed new light on a powerful undersea eruption north of New Zealand that proved larger than any on land in the past century.
In a just-published study, researchers have pieced together the 2012 eruption of the seafloor Havre volcano, which lies in the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km off the North Island.The 2012 blow - the largest deep-ocean eruption of the past century - was revealed when satellite imagery picked up a pumice raft spread across some 400sq km of ocean.
"We knew it was a large-scale eruption, approximately equivalent to the biggest eruption we've seen on land in the 20th century," said the study's lead author, University of Tasmania volcanologist Dr Rebecca Carey....It is the kind of place I would expect to find pirate treasure.
A view of the ROV landing on the seafloor at Havre submarine volcano at 900 metres below sea level, in order to retrieve a heat flow monitor. The Remotely Operated Vehicle Jason is about the size of a large 4WD. Below is the location of the seismic event recently. The island is considered an ecoregional unit as part of New Zealand. (click here)
A strong and deep earthquake (click here) registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Kermadec Islands region, New Zealand at 07:03 UTC on June 29, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 392.3 km (244 miles).Geoscience Australia is reporting M5.8 (preliminary) at a depth of 448 km (278 miles). GFZ Potsdamis reporting M6.0 at a depth of 424 km (263 miles).
There have been 5 major earthquakes with and without tsunamis along the Puerto Rican Trench in the past 500 years.
It is a strange place.
...The Puerto Rico Trench, (click here) is located at a boundary between two plates that slide past each other with only a small component of subduction. The trench is less deep where the component of subduction is larger. The unusually deep sea floor is not limited to the trench, but also extends farther south toward Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Trench is also associated with the most negative gravity anomaly on earth, -380 milliGal, which indicates the presence of an active downward force. Finally, a thick limestone platform, which was originally deposited in flat layers near sea level, is now tilted northward at a uniform angle. Its northward edge is at a depth of 4,200 m, and its southern edge can be found on land in Puerto Rico at an elevation of a few hundred meters. Many tectonic models have been proposed to explain this geologically fascinating, tectonically active region; however, none have gained acceptance, and the region remains poorly understood, largely because its underwater location makes it difficult to study....
Reports are there are no casualties.
January 10, 2018
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 (click here) that struck near remote islands belonging to Honduras on Tuesday was felt across northern Central America, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
The quake rattled windows in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, roughly 323 miles to the east, and it was felt at least as far north as the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. No damage was immediately reported.
Reports are there are no casualties.
January 10, 2018
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 (click here) that struck near remote islands belonging to Honduras on Tuesday was felt across northern Central America, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
The quake rattled windows in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, roughly 323 miles to the east, and it was felt at least as far north as the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. No damage was immediately reported.
Rodrigo Anaya Rodriguez was in a hammock inside his house near the popular tourist site of Bacalar Lake, Mexico, near the country’s Caribbean coast, when he felt three tremors.
“It felt like a bulldozer was driving past,” he said. “It didn’t last long but was very violent.”
He ran to his balcony and saw electricity posts and cables swaying....
It is a currency without a sovereign.
Warren Buffet is getting attention recently because he is adding two high level people to Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett wants to secure the future of his long lived company well into the future. When it comes to gambling with Bitcoin, Buffett will have none of it. He is the smartest investor in the financial markets. He doesn't play games. The investments Buffet makes are solid and dependable, not fly by the seat of your pants "bubbles."
January 11, 2018
By James Burton and Phoebe Weston
Legendary investor Warren Buffett (click here) has warned Bitcoin backers face disaster – and suggested the online currency craze will come crashing down.
Bitcoin surged as much as 1,900 per cent last year before moving sharply lower again.
But regulators, bankers and experienced traders have warned it is a toxic bubble that will eventually ruin many people involved, according to the Daily Mail.
Buffett – known as the Sage of Omaha for his incredible moneymaking skills
– said: "In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending."...
January 11, 2018
By James Burton and Phoebe Weston
Legendary investor Warren Buffett (click here) has warned Bitcoin backers face disaster – and suggested the online currency craze will come crashing down.
Bitcoin surged as much as 1,900 per cent last year before moving sharply lower again.
But regulators, bankers and experienced traders have warned it is a toxic bubble that will eventually ruin many people involved, according to the Daily Mail.
Buffett – known as the Sage of Omaha for his incredible moneymaking skills
– said: "In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending."...
China knows who its customer is, the American Middle Class.
Will China end the proposed $1.5 billion Trump Deficit? The USA Middle Class should be valued by all of those trading with the USA.
January 10, 2018
China added to bond investors’ jitters (click here) on Wednesday as traders braced for what they feared could be the end of a three-decade bull market.
Senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries, according to people familiar with the matter. The news comes as global debt markets were already selling off amid signs that central banks are starting to step back after years of bond-buying stimulus. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose for a fifth day, touching the highest since March....
January 10, 2018
China added to bond investors’ jitters (click here) on Wednesday as traders braced for what they feared could be the end of a three-decade bull market.
Senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries, according to people familiar with the matter. The news comes as global debt markets were already selling off amid signs that central banks are starting to step back after years of bond-buying stimulus. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose for a fifth day, touching the highest since March....
Sanctuary cities. We need more of them.
January 10, 2018
By Maria Sacchetti
...The order issued late (click here) Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup says safeguards against deportation must remain in place for the nearly 690,000people in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while a legal challenge to ending the program proceeds.
By Maria Sacchetti
...The order issued late (click here) Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup says safeguards against deportation must remain in place for the nearly 690,000people in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while a legal challenge to ending the program proceeds.
It remained unclear Wednesday when the DACA recipients, who were brought to this country illegally as children and are known as “dreamers,” could resume applying for renewals of their work permits as a result of the California ruling, which Alsup said should apply nationwide. Advocates said it would depend on the Department of Homeland Security, which runs the program.
The Trump administration has vowed to challenge Alsup’s ruling.
“They can’t go back and renew today,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “We expect there to be a lot of confusion in communities about what that means.”...
The undocumented and the Dreamers will never win favor from the Trump administration. It doesn't matter how hard one works, loves the USA, have residential longevity or contribute immensely to the USA economy, the only respite is to find or develop sanctuary cities. For cities that have the leanings of protecting the Dreamers, there is a path.
November 21, 2017
The Trump administration cannot withhold federal money (click here) to punish local governments for their noncompliance with immigration authorities, according to a ruling by a federal judge in California.
In an order announced Monday, Judge William Orrick permanently blocked the policy, issued as one of President Trump's earliest executive orders, ruling it was "unduly coercive" and violated the separation of powers.
"The defunding provision instructs the Attorney General and the Secretary to do something that only Congress has the authority to do – place new conditions on federal funds," he wrote.
The judge had previously issued a temporary injunction blocking the policy, as did a judge in Chicago. "This order plows no new ground," Orrick wrote — although this injunction, unlike the previous ones, is permanent....
The undocumented and the Dreamers will never win favor from the Trump administration. It doesn't matter how hard one works, loves the USA, have residential longevity or contribute immensely to the USA economy, the only respite is to find or develop sanctuary cities. For cities that have the leanings of protecting the Dreamers, there is a path.
November 21, 2017
The Trump administration cannot withhold federal money (click here) to punish local governments for their noncompliance with immigration authorities, according to a ruling by a federal judge in California.
In an order announced Monday, Judge William Orrick permanently blocked the policy, issued as one of President Trump's earliest executive orders, ruling it was "unduly coercive" and violated the separation of powers.
"The defunding provision instructs the Attorney General and the Secretary to do something that only Congress has the authority to do – place new conditions on federal funds," he wrote.
The judge had previously issued a temporary injunction blocking the policy, as did a judge in Chicago. "This order plows no new ground," Orrick wrote — although this injunction, unlike the previous ones, is permanent....
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