Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Scoop: Trump's private threat to upend global trade
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 06/29/18

President Trump has repeatedly told top White House officials he wants to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization, a move that would throw global trade into wild disarray, people involved in the talks tell Axios.

What we're hearing: "He's [threatened to withdraw] 100 times. It would totally [screw] us as a country," said a source who's discussed the subject with Trump. The source added that Trump has frequently told advisers, "We always get fucked by them [the WTO]. I don't know why we're in it. The WTO is designed by the rest of the world to screw the United States." ... Read more
Scoop: Trump's private threat to upend global trade | Axios | 06/29/18 | 6:14

Ayers and Mulvaney eyed as possible successors to John Kelly
Politico | Christopher Cadelago and Eliana Johnson | 06/28/18

John Kelly has long told associates he wanted to make it a year in the White House, but has been telling people in recent days that he expects to leave his role as President Donald Trump's chief of staff "very soon." According to two Republicans close to the White House, the retired Marine general may depart before his July 31 anniversary.

These people said Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is being eyed as a potential successor, a move that would lend considerable political heft as the president steps up his campaigning to help Republicans keep control of Congress and begins to plan for his 2020 campaign. ...

... But these individuals said that Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who emerged as a favorite of Trump's during the victorious effort to pass tax reform last winter, is also a possible candidate for the top White House post. ... Read more

The Trump-Fox & Friends feedback loop, explained | VOX | older, 02/09/18 | 6:06

How politicians troll the media | VOX | 03/05/18 | 7:07

*The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies Are Undermining America and Dismantling the West by Malcolm Nance

In the greatest intelligence operation in the history of the world, Donald Trump was made President of the United States with the assistance of a foreign power. For the first time, The Plot to Destroy Democracy reveals the dramatic story of how blackmail, espionage, assassination, and psychological warfare were used by Vladimir Putin and his spy agencies to steal the 2016 U.S. election--and attempted to bring about the fall of NATO, the European Union, and western democracy. It will show how Russia and its fifth column allies tried to flip the cornerstones of democracy in order to re-engineer the world political order that has kept most of the world free since 1945.

Career U.S. Intelligence officer Malcolm Nance will examine how Russia has used cyber warfare, political propaganda, and manipulation of our perception of reality--and will do so again--to weaponize American news, traditional media, social media, and the workings of the internet to attack and break apart democratic institutions from within, and what we can expect to come should we fail to stop their next attack.

Nance has utilized top secret Russian-sourced political and hybrid warfare strategy documents to demonstrate the master plan to undermine American institutions that has been in effect from the Cold War to the present day. Based on original research and countless interviews with espionage experts, Nance examines how Putin's recent hacking accomplished a crucial first step for destabilizing the West for Russia, and why Putin is just the man to do it.

Nance exposes how Russia has supported the campaigns of right-wing extremists throughout both the U.S. and Europe to leverage an axis of autocracy, and how Putin's agencies have worked since 2010 to bring fringe candidate Donald Trump into elections.

*Is President Donald Trump Trying To Dismantle NATO & The European Union? | The Last Word | MSNBC | 06/29/18 | 10:00

Solar Is the Future. Donald Trump Tied a Bow on It and Gave It to China.
MotherJones | Jeffrey Ball | July/August 2018

Most Americans have never heard of Huawei (pronounced HWA-way), but the company operates in 170 countries, employs 180,000 people, and in 2017 had revenue of $92 billion. These days it's leveraging its telecom experience to corner what it sees as the next big thing: solar energy. The company's main solar product is a suitcase-sized device called an inverter, which changes the direct current, or DC, that a solar panel produces into the type that can be fed into a power grid: alternating current, or AC.

Huawei is boosting its solar-inverter business not just by undercutting Western companies on price, but by beating them on innovation. ... Read more

Life and death on billionaires' superyachts | The Guardian | 05/26/18 | 7:34

Trump takes over America
Axios | Mike Allen | 06/28/18

President Trump, with his refusal to take advice or yield to experts, is the West Wing. Republicans who control both halves of Congress won't lift a finger against him and fully support his every move.

The big picture: With his chance to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, Trump may have fewer checks on his power than any president in his lifetime. (Trump was born in 1946, the year after FDR died in office, 72 years ago.) ... Read more
Trump tightens hold on all of government | Axios | 06/28/18 | 4:39

Political Newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez On Her Upset And The Road Ahead | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 06/27/18 | 15:11

Bernie Sanders Weighs In On Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Victory | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC | 06/27/18 | 9:11

Bernie Sanders: Ocasio-Cortez focused on the right issues | CNN | 06/27/18 | 8:41

Armed citizens patrol the Arizona-Mexico border | PBS | older 02/04/17 | 8:34

Living on US-Mexico Border, Native Americans Face Daily Struggles | ABC | older | 10:08

China's Empty Cities | ABC News (Australia) | 06/26/18 | 3:43

60 Minutes Report - China's Ghost Cities | 60Min Australia | 10/05/16 | 12:00

China's Empty Cities | SBS Dateline | older | 15:00

China's Empty Cities House 64 Million Empty Apartments | Journeyman Pictures | older | 14:02

Go deeper: How a court ruling changes Trump's family separation
Axios| Stef W. Kight | 06/27/18

A California federal judge ruled late Tuesday night that the government can't separate immigrant families at the border and must reunite all those who have already been separated within 30 days -- and kids under 5 must be reunited within 2 weeks.

Why it matters: This is meant to light a fire under Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security to quickly reunite the more than 2,000 children in HHS custody who have already been separated from their parents. But this doesn't change anything long term, as the Flores Settlement prevents the Trump administration from keeping families together in detention longer than 20 days. ... Read more

Key facts about the US steel and aluminum industries
abc | Meghan Keneally | older 03/08/18

Trump defies critics, makes steel and aluminum tariffs official
Click to zoom in
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Greenland is melting | CNN | 12/01/17 | 11:10

Greenland: The Land Of Ice Embracing Climate Change | ABC | 01/29/18 | 29:11

Stephen Miller roiling nation with back-channel immigration meetings
Politico | Eliana Johnson | 06/26/18

Led by Miller, President Donald Trump's senior policy adviser and the architect of his hard-line approach to immigration, the meetings have replaced the usual interagency process involving key agency officials and remained largely out of view to the rest of the administration. ...

... Together, Miller and Bannon favored an approach that would "shock and awe" the federal government and the American people, avoiding the legislative process and instead leaning on executive orders Trump could sign himself.

That confusion dates back to the announcement in January 2017 of the initial travel ban, which caught senior administration officials, including John Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, by surprise. Miller told associates at the time that he had worked with a handful of loyal associates, including Steve Bannon, then Trump's chief strategist, outside the traditional system because of a sluggish bureaucracy that was incapable of producing the sorts of radical changes he had envisioned as Jeff Sessions' right hand in Congress. ... Read more

Who's Who

1. Legal immigrant
2. Immigration ban (middle eastern countries
3. Migrant worker
4. Immigrants seeking asylum
5. Undocumented immigrant
6. Illegal immigrant
7. ???

Pictures (18) | Immigrant Families At The U.S.-Mexico Border

Trump's Family Detention Policy Will Cost Billions Of Dollars That ICE Doesn't Have
HP | Roque Planas | 06/26/18

President Donald Trump rolled out his alternative to systematic family separations at the border last week with a new plan: a massive increase of family detention. But the vision taking shape is sure to cost billions of dollars that Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't have.

Rather than separating children and parents apprehended at the border, Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain families together and asks the military to make space available for detention facilities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency charged with detaining migrants facing deportation, followed up Friday with a Request for Information asking contractors to submit proposals for the creation of 15,000 more family detention beds. ... Read more

Reality check: What Trump gets wrong about MS-13
Axios | Stef W. Kight | 06/26/18

President Trump often brings up the violent gang activity of MS-13 in defense of his hardline immigration policies, saying of Democrats on Saturday, "our issue is strong borders, no crime. Their issue is open borders; let MS-13 all over our country."

Bottom line: MS-13 is an extraordinarily violent gang made up of around 10,000 members, mostly from Central America. But they're not growing, they're likely not involved in an extensive drug trade and a most immigrants crossing the border are not trying to join them, according to ProPublica's Hannah Dreier, who has followed the gang for over a year. ... Read more

Trump's domestic gridlock
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 06/26/18

For President Trump's first term, the domestic agenda appears to be all but over. Congress has little chance of doing anything notable before the election, beyond confirming judges.

Why it matters: Whichever party ekes out a House win in November, the margin will likely be narrow. When we game out 2019 scenarios with administration officials, a number of them assume Republicans will lose the House. So Washington is gridlocked until at least January 2021 -- meaning that this is it for signature legislation in Trump's first term. ... Read more

Reports: Parents Told to Self-Deport to See Kids Again
HP | Willa Frej | 06/25/18

Immigration officials are offering migrants in detention the option of reuniting with their children if they elect to voluntarily leave the country.

Parents who sign voluntary departure orders, an administration official told CNN, can choose to be reunited with their kids before being deported. According to MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff, many whose children were taken from them chose to sign the paperwork.

Yet as has happened in the past when migrants enter into this process, some may opt not to be reunited in the hopes that their children will have a better chance of being able to stay.

A fact sheet released by the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday specified that "a parent who is ordered removed from the U.S. may request that his or her minor child accompany them." They added that "in the past many parents have elected to be removed without their children." ... Read more

Authoritarianism: The political science that explains Trump | VOX | 05/20/16 | 6:44

Trump's winning, cynical plan
Axios | Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen | 06/25/18

An odd paradox in defining this moment in politics: The more President Trump does, says and tweets outrageous things, the more his critics go bananas and the better he does in the polls.

The big picture: Our parallel universes are spinning farther apart. The coverage (and much of the reality) is a White House in chaos, and an erratic president improvising as his own policy adviser, chief of staff, comms director and tweeter-in-chief. ... Read more

Mexican Elections | John Oliver | 06/24/18 | 20:08

Bernie Sanders reacts to Trump's executive order | Anderson Cooper | CNN | 06/20/18 | 8:27

DOJ Takes First Steps Toward Indefinite Detention Of Families
HP | Elise Foley | 06/21/18

... The Department of Justice filed an emergency motion in federal court on Thursday to modify a 1997 settlement that prevents the government from detaining migrant children longer than 20 days. Ending the limitations on the length of time kids can be detained, the administration argues, is the only tenable alternative to splitting up families that are apprehended crossing the border illegally.

Although the Trump administration argues the changes it outlined on Thursday are the only way to end family separations, the filing suggests parents and kids could be split up again down the road. If a judge or Congress doesn't grant the government the authority to detain kids for more than 20 days, the government would be faced with either releasing whole families ? a practice Trump has derided as "catch and release" ? or keeping adults locked up without their children. ... Read more

The chip industry's fight to protect its IP from China
Axios | Erica Pandey | 06/22/18

Chinese raids of U.S. intellectual property have helped China build a solid high-tech economy. But the U.S. semiconductor industry is still far ahead -- and China is desperate to catch up.

The bottom line: Semiconductor manufacturers are fighting to protect IP from the Chinese, fearing that, without coherent action from the Trump administration, Beijing could bulldoze their industries. ... Read more

Melania Trump dons jacket saying 'I really don't care. Do U?' | CNN | 06/21/18 | 6:27

Why Central Americans flee to the U.S. despite "zero tolerance"
Axios | Stef W. Kight, Dave Lawler | 06/22/18

Behind the global furor over America's "zero tolerance" immigration policy are tens of thousands of adults and children -- most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras -- who have risked extortion and sexual violence along the journey, and now separation from their families upon arrival. So why take those risks to reach the U.S.?

The big picture: This is not just a U.S. immigration crisis-- it's a Central American refugee crisis which started around 2013 and has continued to this day. In these countries, fear is often the primary motivator, rather than economic incentives. ... Read more

New Pruitt question: Where are his emails?
Politico | Emily Holden | 06/22/18

The EPA administrator wrote only one email in 10 months to anyone outside the agency, if the official paper trail is to be believed. Watchdog groups don't believe it.

An examination of Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt's government email accounts has uncovered only one message he wrote to anyone outside EPA during his first 10 months in office -- a number that has watchdogs questioning whether he is communicating in private.

EPA says Pruitt mainly holds discussions in person or over the phone, which would explain the meager electronic trail for his external communications. But Pruitt's critics remain suspicious -- especially in light of all the steps the agency has taken to conceal his activities, from refusing to release his meeting calendars to installing a $43,000 soundproof booth in his office. ... Read more

Trump Says He Will End the Family Separations He Imposed
TheAtlantic | David A. Graham | 06/20/18

Seeking to quell one of the most volatile political tempests of his stormy presidency, Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order he said was intended to end the separation of children from parents arrested illegally entering the United States by directing that youths be held with adults.

"We're going to have strong borders but we're going to keep the families together," Trump said in brief remarks in the Oval Office. "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated." ... Read more

Administration Of Hate: The Snatching and Caging of Immigrant Children. It Is Happening Here.
TheIntercept | author | 06/20/18

ALL MASS CRIMES in history start with a justification, a necessity rationalization, a sick form of nationalism and racism. This week on Intercepted: The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux talks about his recent reporting in the border state of Arizona and paints a harrowing picture of the human toll of family separations by ICE. Alice Speri lays out her investigation of sexual abuse by ICE officers and contractors in immigration detention centers. Sohail Daulatzai discusses his new book, "With Stones in Our Hands: Writings on Muslims, Racism, and Empire," and explains why the film "The Battle of Algiers" is still relevant more than 50 years after its release. The legendary resistance singer Barbara Dane shares stories from her 91 years on earth fighting militarism, racism, and economic injustice. ... Read more
Intercepted | Jeromy Scahill
Administration Of Hate: The Snatching and Caging of Immigrant Children with Jeromy Scahill | TheIntercept | 06/20/18 | 1hr

Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Way Faster Than Expected, Scientists Warn
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 06/14/18

The planet's largest ice sheet is now losing more than 240 billion tons of ice every year ? a threefold increase from less than a decade ago. The melting is happening so fast that it could cause sea levels to rise 6 inches by the end of the century, the study projects.

The accelerating pace of melting means rising sea levels could threaten coastal communities far earlier than scientists had expected. North America, particularly the East Coast of the U.S., could be particularly hard-hit.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, has been described as the most exhaustive analysis ever conducted on the changes to Antarctica's ice sheet. The research involved more than 80 scientists from 44 international organizations and used data taken from multiple satellites, as well as air and ground measurements and computer simulations. ... Read more

Even Scott Pruitt's Friends Have Given Up on Him
MotherJones | Rebecca Leber | 06/20/18

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt may still be clinging to his job despite his ever-expanding list of controversies, but his inner circle of allies is shrinking fast.

Since April, seven key EPA staffers have resigned, four of whom had once worked for him or were longtime friends he brought to the EPA from Oklahoma. And while not directly affiliated with the EPA, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has been a key ally of Pruitt's, recently revealed some cracks in his support. On Wednesday, when Fox News personality Laura Ingraham observed that Pruitt was "hurting the president" and it was time for him to go, Inhofe replied, "I've seen these things. They upset me as much as they upset you, and I think something needs to happen to change that." He suggested that one solution "would be for him to leave that job," and that the deputy EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler "might be a good swap." ... Read more

President Donald Trump's Tipping Point | Axios | 06/21/18 | 4:12

66 Children Separated Per Day | Or, Over 2,300 Children Separated From Parents At U.S.-Mexico Border From May 5 To June 9
HP & Reuter | author | 06/20/18

(Reuters) - Over 2,300 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between May 5 and June 9 under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday, and immigration advocates and legal experts say there is no clear system in place to reunite them.

The policy directs border officials to refer for prosecution all immigrants apprehended while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

Parents who are no longer detained "are entitled to get their kids back through a documented process," U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said. ... Read more

Trump 'boxed in' knows he's losing but won't back down | Axios | 06/20/18 | 5:21

2000 children forcibly separated from their parents and other topics - Human Rights Council Briefing | United Nations | 06/18/18 | 45:54

Here's Why Ivanka Trump Has Been AWOL on ICE Snatching Immigrant Kids
AlterNet | Tom Boggioni / Raw Story | 06/19/18

As Democrats and Republicans begin to pile on President Donald Trump over the horrific treatment of immigrant families seeking asylum at the borders -- tearing terrified children away from their parents and putting them in detention camps -- one voice has been conspicuously silent: Ivanka Trump.

With the all the living first ladies weighing in in the subject, the first daughter, who claims to champion the rights of mothers and children, has yet to make a public statement on the Trump administration policy that has outraged the country. Speaking with host Poppy Harlow, presidential biographer and CNN contributor Kate Anderson Brower said she doesn't expect Ivanka Trump to say one word against her father's policies. ... Read more

Trump Has Always Lied Frequently -- But Observers Agree It's Getting Worse
AlterNet | Cody Fenwick | 06/19/18

"Trump is lying, obfuscating and inventing his own version of reality more frequently - a period that began post-Cohen raid but which intensified in recent days," said New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman in agreement.

Two major issues have prompted a deluge of new falsehoods from the president, Parker notes: the FBI inspector general report on Hillary Clinton's email investigation, and the administration's policy of separating immigrant families at the border.>/p>

Part of the reason for the increase in lies is an increase in tweets. According to the Post, in June, Trump has tweeted on average 11.3 times a day. These tweets are often filled with demonstrable lies. ... Read more

Inside the Intense, Combative World of Covering the Trump White House
Variety | Ted Johnson | date

On a chilly and gray Monday in D.C. a few weeks ago, President Trump was sitting on the South Lawn among a group of children during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, when CNN's chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, shouted a question at him. "Mr. President, what about the DACA kids? Should they worry about what is going to happen to them, sir?" Trump answered, blaming the situation on the Democrats, but Acosta persisted in a follow-up: "Didn't you kill DACA, sir? Didn't you kill DACA?"

Trump didn't respond, but plenty of others did. Conservative sites were indignant, accusing Acosta of behaving "rudely." Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary, called him a "carnival barker," and Brad Parscale, who is managing Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, tweeted, "Pull his credentials for each incident." ... Read more

Trump's new challenge: owning the consequences of Trumpism
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 06/19/18

President Trump is entering a new phase of his presidency: He's now dealing in real-time with the consequences of his policy decisions.

The big picture: For 30 years, Trump told America what it'd be like if he were in charge. Better deals, richer, safer, smarter. All rhetorical and theoretical. He could make all sorts of hyperbolic promises with no fear of being disproven. He could eliminate the national debt by eliminating a few agencies and cracking down on "waste, fraud and abuse." He could prevent terrorism by banning all Muslims from entering the country. He could build a big, beautiful wall and get Mexico to pay for it. He could deliver the best health care system anyone had ever dreamed of. ... Read more

Former CIA officer charged in massive leak of agency hacking tools
Axios | Alayna Treene | 06/19/18

Federal prosecutors have charged former CIA computer engineer Joshua Schulte, 29, with stealing classified information, damaging agency computers, theft of government property, and lying to the FBI, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Why it matters: Investigators believe Schulte, who has been the main suspect in what appears to be the worst leak in CIA history, provided WikiLeaks with a series of stolen documents detailing the government's hacking tools, which the organization then posted online in March 2017. The massive breach, known as "Vault 7," set off a hunt to identify the individual behind the leak. ... Read more

What zero tolerance really looks like | CNN | 06/18/18 | 3:33

Trump's Policies 'Come from the Darkness,' Says Gillibrand
Politico | Zack Stanton | 06/19/18

In a new interview, the New York senator describes the president's policies as biblically "evil," and sees herself as wearing the "armor of God" to fight them.

Referencing the "devil's schemes" from the Book of Ephesians, the New York senator said President Donald Trump's administration qualifies for that label "if you were talking in Christian language."

"To me? Yes, these are all things that come from the darkness that are ripping children from their mothers' arms. That's outrageous. I mean, that is not a positive, good thing. It is an evil, dark thing," Gillibrand told me in an interview for the latest episode of POLITICO's Off Message podcast. ... Read more

Trump's Policies 'Come from the Darkness,' Says Gillibrand with Edward-Isaac Dovere | Politico | 06/19/18 | 1hr

How the CIA Waged War in Afghanistan | VICE | 04/23/15 | 19:50

This Concrete Dome Holds A Leaking Toxic Timebomb | ABC | 11/27/17 | 41:34

'This is the new Republican Party'
Politico | Edward-Isaac Dovere | 06/13/18

The final GOP holdouts to Donald Trump whimper into oblivion.

The anti-Trump candidates are fleeing, and the ones who stick around are getting trampled. The chill has gone out among whoever's left: There's no more speaking up, and if there is, it's just for the sake of a speech, a protest quote that quickly disappears.

They chalk it up to party loyalty, or staying unified for the midterms. They say they still believe in the principles, but they don't tend to do more than say the words. Then, when the microphones are off, they confide. They complain. They nurse fantasies that there's a reckoning coming, that maybe this will all end with the Republican Party nominating someone like Eisenhower. Or at least like Paul Ryan. And each time they watch another of their own go down, they wince, try to move on. Don't look back. Try to forget.

"This business is a lot like being a professional fighter: Over the course of it, you get a lot of shots to the head, and sooner or later, you're knocked out," said Tom Cole (R-Okla.), mourning fellow Rep. Mark Sanford's loss in Tuesday's primary. The race was a referendum on Trump, in the South Carolina House district where he ran weakest in 2016. ... Read more

Chinese president Xi Jinping is amassing an alarming amount of political power. | John Oliver | 06/17/18 | 20:25

Will The U.S. Ever Give Up Its Nukes?
TheIntercept | author | 06/15/18

THIS WEEK, DONALD Trump became the first U.S. president to meet with a North Korean head of state, raising the prospect that the repressive dictatorship might finally take steps toward dismantling its nuclear program. But there's something missing from this whole conversation about "disarmament" and "denuclearization": the fact that the United States itself is sitting on the world's most powerful stockpile of nuclear weapons. Call it the nuclear elephant in the room: U.S. politicians are petrified by North Korea's nukes, obsessed over Iran's hypothetical nukes -- but what about the very real and present danger posed to all of humanity by America's 6,800 nuclear warheads? And what about the fact that those nukes -- which could destroy the world several times over -- could be launched in a matter of minutes, without congressional authorization or Pentagon approval? Beatrice Fihn, the director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and William J. Perry, secretary of defense under President Clinton, join Mehdi Hasan to discuss the nuclear threat closer to home. ... Read more

Deconstructed Podcast: Will the U.S. Ever Give Up Its Nukes? | TheIntercept | 06/15/18 | 1hr

What Would Happen If USA Stopped Paying Its Debt? | The Infographics Show | 04/14/18 | 6:27

United States (USA) vs Russia and China - Who Would Win? Military / Army Comparison | The Infographics Show | 05/16/18 | 9:38

What he's saying: Trump goes off on Comey, North Korea, Pruitt
Axios | Stef W. Kight | 06/15/18

President Trump gave a semi-surprise interview on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, where he claimed former FBI Director James Comey had acted criminally, called the Justice Department's IG report "wrong" and praised Kim Jong-un's leadership.

Why it matters: Yet again, Trump proves that he is his best and favorite spokesperson. ... Read more
President Trump makes surprise appearance on 'Fox & Friends' | FoxNews | 06/15/18 | 30:24

'I do trust him': Trump reflects on Kim meeting | ABC News | 06/12/18 | 11:32

Who Is Kim Jong Un? His Former Teacher Speaks Out | TODAY | 06/11/18 | 4:48

How the Kim Dynasty Took Over North Korea | History | older, 04/27/17 | 5:42

Saudi Arabia Tried to Blame Doctors Without Borders After Bombing Yemen Cholera Treatment Center
TRNN | Ben Norton | 06/14/18

The Saudi embassy in the United States pointed the finger at Doctors Without Borders after the US-backed Saudi coalition bombed the medical humanitarian group's newly constructed cholera treatment center in Yemen.

The Saudi government circulated a misleading fax from a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) employee, to try to absolve itself of responsibility for the airstrike. I contacted MSF for clarification, and the organization said the fax is being misrepresented, and strongly condemned the "unacceptable attack on a medical facility."

On June 11, the US-backed Saudi coalition waging war on Yemen bombed a cholera treatment center in the northwestern town of Abs. This medical facility, which had just been built, was operated by MSF, and was clearly marked on the roof with the logos of MSF and the Red Crescent. ... Read more

NY attorney general explains decision to sue Trump Foundation | CNN | 06/14/18 | 13:48

Inside Trump's playbook for dealing with foreign leaders
Axios | Mike Allen, Jonathan Swan | 06/14/18

It took Little Rocket Man just seven months to go from President Trump calling him "a sick puppy," to "very talented" during the post-summit press conference, to syrupy praise of Kim Jong-un during the president's interview in Singapore with Fox News' Bret Baier.

The shift is jarring but is part of the Trump modus operandi: People come in and out of favor with wind-shear-like abruptness. Anyone in Trump's orbit knows they can be banished on a whim -- but have a good chance of coming back. ... Read more

How American Greed Led to a World in Decline
AlterNet | Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch | 06/14/18

We find our planet with ever more failed states, destroyed cities, displaced people, and right-wing "populist" governments.

Think of it as the all-American version of the human comedy: a great power that eternally knows what the world needs and offers copious advice with a tone deafness that would be humorous if it weren't so grim. If you look, you can find examples of this just about anywhere. Here, for instance, is a passage in the New York Times from a piece on the topsy-turvy Trumpian negotiations that preceded the Singapore summit. "The Americans and South Koreans," wrote reporter Motoko Rich, "want to persuade the North that continuing to funnel most of the country's resources into its military and nuclear programs shortchanges its citizens' economic well-being. But the North does not see the two as mutually exclusive."

Think about that for a moment. The U.S. has, of course, embarked on a trillion-dollar-plus upgrade of its already massive nuclear arsenal (and that's before the cost overruns even begin). Its Congress and president have for years proven eager to sink at least a trillion dollars annually into the budget of the national security state (a figure that's still rising and outpaces by far that of any other power on the planet), while its own infrastructure sags and crumbles. And yet it finds the impoverished North Koreans puzzling when they, too, follow such an extreme path. ... Read more

Getting Rich on Government-Backed Mortgages
Bloomberg | Prashant Gopal | current

Each time Christian sells a home loan, the company he works for, American Financial Network Inc., takes as much as 5 percent--$12,500 on a $250,000 loan, to be distributed among his staff, corporate headquarters, and, of course, himself. As he and his team chase more than 250 leads a week, they're on pace to close 50 a month. Christian says he has a Lamborghini on order to go with his Mercedes.

On a recent afternoon in a suburban Houston office park, he leans back in his swivel chair, iPhone glued to his cheek. A TV projecting to a screen behind his desk pounds music videos, keeping his adrenaline flowing. He calls back a customer who's spent hours watching his sales videos: "Bad Credit, I Can Help," "Fresh Start: Credit Boost," and "Go For Your Dreams." This would-be homeowner has a 596 credit score, putting him in the subprime range. His car has been repossessed, something that would likely disqualify him at the Bank of America branch next door. ... Read more
WARNING: Housing Bubble About To Burst | TYT | 06/12/18 | 11:03

Scott Pruitt's Corruption Is Bad, But His Planetary Sabotage Is Worse
AlterNet | Jill Richardson / Common Dreams | 06/14/18

Did you hear that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, is so corrupt that he spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens? Or that he spent another $43,000 on a soundproof phone booth in violation of government spending laws? Pruitt's big spending on the taxpayer dime has earned him well-deserved scrutiny and outrage. But what's really outrageous is what he's doing with the EPA.

While Pruitt was getting headlines for having taxpayer-funded aides do his private business, his EPA just gutted an Obama-era law to protect Americans from toxic chemicals.

For four decades, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 did little to require that all new chemicals (or untested old ones) were properly vetted for safety before allowed onto the market. Even the chemical industry said it was flawed. In 2016, the Republican-led Congress passed an update that would help keep Americans safer from toxic chemicals. ... Read more

The Trump movie, starring him and Kim Jong-un
Axios | Mike Allen, Jonathan Swan | 06/13/18

You're an older New Yorker trying to bond with a culture-obsessed young gun who's less than half your age. There's a language barrier. You're tall; he's squat. You've had words in the past. Everyone's watching to see how you'll pull this off. This is the first time you've met, and you don't have much time. Everything about this could be awkward. Why not a movie?

What happened: President Trump's wooing of Kim Jong-un at the Singapore summit included the iPad showing (in English and Korean) of a "Destiny Pictures" movie trailer, made by the White House's National Security Council, starring themselves saving the world. ... Read more
The action-movie style trailer Trump says he played to Kim Jong-un | Guardian News | wh.gov | 06/12/18 | 4:02

Navarro apologizes for saying there's a 'special place in hell' for Trudeau
TheHill | Brett Samuels | 06/12/18

Peter Navarro, an adviser to President Trump on trade, apologized Tuesday for saying there is a "special place in Hell" for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or "any foreign leader" for crossing President Trump.

"My job was to send a signal of strength. The problem was that in conveying that message I used language that was inappropriate," Navarro said, according to Bloomberg and other outlets. ... Read more
Trump Advisor, Peter Navarro, Grovels To Canada's Trudeau | TYT | 06/12/18 | 6:51

'Ludicrous': Pompeo snaps at reporters seeking clarity on North Korea deal
Politico | MichaeL Crowley | 06/13/18

The secretary of state insisted that language missing from Tuesday's agreement 'is in the statement,' although it is not.

During a visit to South Korea Wednesday, Pompeo bristled at and called "ludicrous" questions about why a document Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signed on Tuesday did not include language that Pompeo has called essential to any nuclear deal.

... The exchange underscored the lack of clarity -- seemingly even within the Trump administration -- about precisely what Trump and Kim had agreed to in Singapore, as well as the huge challenge of disarming North Korea at anything like the speed promised by Trump, who boasted on Twitter Wednesday that there is "no longer a Nuclear Threat" from the country, which experts say possesses as many as 60 nuclear warheads. ... Read more

Atrocities Under Kim Jong-un: Indoctrination, Prison Gulags, Executions
NYT | Maya Salam | 06/11/18

With the meeting of President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea on Tuesday in Singapore, human rights groups are watching for Mr. Trump to bring up North Korea's widespread crimes against humanity.

Mr. Kim rules with extreme brutality, making his nation among the worst human rights violators in the world.

In North Korea, these crimes "entail extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation," concluded a 2014 United Nations report that examined North Korea. ... Read more

123 Deaths a Day: Inside the Public Health Crisis of Rising Suicide Rates in the United States

Trump Gets Cozy With Kim -- Calls Off 'War Games'
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 06/12/18

SINGAPORE ? After hours of closed-door discussions in a Singapore hotel on Tuesday, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un concluded their historic meeting with the signing of a joint agreement.

The document outlines four points the two leaders agreed upon: establish new U.S.-DPRK relations, build a stable peace regime, a commitment from North Korea to work toward the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, and the repatriation of American POW/MIA remains.

The agreement doesn't appear to contain any firm promises from Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapon program, but rather, opens the door to ongoing discussions. An analyst told HuffPost the agreement doesn't contain much more than North Korea has promised in decades past. ... Read more

Trump's big concession to North Korea
Axios | Dave Lawler | 06/12/18

President Trump announced early Tuesday morning that the U.S. would be ending "war games" (joint military exercises) with South Korea, a significant concession to North Korea that does not appear to have been made in consultation with Seoul.

How it's playing: South Korea is reportedly seeking more information about what Trump meant. Bill Neely, NBC News' Chief Global Correspondent, tweets: "There is every indication from Seoul that the South Korean leadership and military did not know the US was about to cancel Joint Military exercises. 'We need to find out' they say. Stunning if true." ... Read more

Elizabeth Warren: "There Are Not Enough ... Democrats Willing To Take On The Billionaire Class"
TheIntercept | Zaid Jilani, Ryan Grim | 06/12/18

EARLIER THIS YEAR, 17 Senate Democrats joined every Senate Republican in voting to weaken bank regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis.

The most strident opponent of these changes was Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. A former bank bailout oversight chief and longtime expert on financial issues, Warren explicitly excoriated her Democratic colleagues for supporting the changes in a last-bid effort to stop them. It is rare for a member of Congress to openly castigate members of their party over a high-profile vote.

In an interview with The Intercept's Mehdi Hasan for his Deconstructed podcast, Warren at first avoided criticizing her Democratic colleagues when asked about that vote. ... Read more
Deconstructed Podcast: Elizabeth Warren: "There Are Not Enough ... Democrats Willing To Take On The Billionaire Class" | TheIntercept | 06/12/18 | 1hr

Five First Responders to the Pulse Massacre. One Diagnosis: PTSD.
ProPublica | Abe Aboraya | 06/11/18

"My head's still not right," said one paramedic who responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting two years ago. He and some other responders say their departments haven't given them the help they need. ... Read more

'Fox & Friends' Host Calls North Korea Summit A Meeting Of 'Two Dictators'
HP | Hayley Miller | 06/10/18

Abby Huntsman's apparent slip-up about President Donald Trump set Twitter ablaze Sunday.

"Fox & Friends" co-host Abby Huntsman seemed to slip up Sunday while discussing the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling it a meeting of "two dictators."

Huntsman and "Fox & Friends" guest Anthony Scaramucci, who was infamously fired as White House communications director after just 10 days in office, chatted about the highly anticipated summit during the show Sunday. ... Read more

The Prospect Of Peace | Channel NewsAsia | 06/11/18 | 49:49

John Kelly Says The White House Is A 'Miserable' Place To Work: Report
HP | Nick Visser | 06/11/18

Several White House aides have considered leaving the Trump administration in the near future, including chief of staff John Kelly, who reportedly called the building a "miserable place to work" last week.

Stupid Watergate II | John Oliver | 06/10/18 | 17:49

Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers | Steven Pinker | TED | 05/21/18 | 18:32

Trump: 'Don't have to prepare very much' for North Korea summit
TheHill | Jordan Fabian | 06/07/18

President Trump on Thursday said he does not have to prepare "very much" for his high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because he believes "it's about attitude."

"I think I'm very well prepared," Trump told reporters during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done."

The president said the scheduled June 12 summit with Kim in Singapore will be "much more than a photo op," predicting it will be both "fruitful" and "exciting." He also suggested he could host a second round of talks with the North Korean leader to discuss his nuclear program. ... Read more
Guess How Trump Is Prepping For North Korea Summit | TYT | 06/07/18 | 9:58

Ben Bernanke: 'Wile E. Coyote' Economy Will Go Off A Cliff In 2020
HP | Mary Papenfuss | 06/08/18

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the Trump administration's massive, unfunded $1.5 trillion tax cut and about $300 billion in new spending pose serious problems for the future.

"What you are getting is a stimulus at the very wrong moment," Bernanke said at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, Bloomberg reported Thursday. "The economy is already at full employment."

Stimulus packages are used when the economy is flagging. When the economy does slump in the future, there may be few reserves to spend to get it going again. Bernanke predicted a "Wile E. Coyote" moment when the fallout hits, referring to the endlessly failing character in the "Road Runner" cartoons. The stimulus "is going to hit the economy in a big way this year and next year, and then in 2020, Wile E. Coyote is going to go off the cliff," Bernanke warned. ... Read more

The deceptive promise of free trade | DW Documentary | 06/06/18 | 42:26

How the rich get richer -- money in the world economy | DW Documentary | 07/05/17 | 42:24

Bernie Sanders, Cuomo spar over health care | CNN | 06/07/18 | 19:28

Trump Reportedly Talked About Everything But Puerto Rico Deaths In FEMA Meeting
HP | Liza Hearon | 06/07/18

President Donald Trump avoided talk of hurricanes during what was supposed to have been a meeting on disaster preparedness Wednesday, holding forth on everthing but a significantly increased estimate of deaths in Puerto Rico linked to Hurricane Maria, The Washington Post reported.

Leaked audio from the 40-minute meeting at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters captured Trump musing about the cost of purchasing military equipment, attacking California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, praising Foxconn for building a factory in Wisconsin and attempting to reassure his Cabinet members that they were very popular. ... Read more

Mapped: Global temperatures since 1880
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 06/07/18

Every area of the globe has warmed since instrument records began in 1880, NASA data shows. The planet isn't warming equally, however -- the fastest temperature increases are taking place at the poles. That Arctic, for example, is warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of the globe, melting sea ice, glaciers and permafrost.

The bottom line: Due largely to human emissions of greenhouse gases, there is virtually no such thing as a cooler than average year on Earth anymore. (The last cooler-than-average month was 30 years ago, in December 1984). ... Read more
Click to zoom in

Watch Chris Cuomo's full interview with Sarah Sanders | CNN | 06/06/18 | 19:52

Mick Mulvaney Effectively Fires CFPB Advisory Council
NPR | All Things Considered | 06/06/18

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to come under fire by the man running the watchdog agency -- Mick Mulvaney, the interim director appointed by President Trump.

In his latest action, Mulvaney moved on Wednesday to effectively dismantle the agency's consumer advisory council. "It's quite clear that we've been fired," said Kathleen Engel, a law professor at Suffolk University and a member of the CFPB's Consumer Advisory Board. ... Read more

Trump's North Korea diplomacy crashed by friends and foes alike
Politico | Nahal Toosi | 06/06/18

From Vladimir Putin to Bashar Assad, a series of foreign leaders have sought to gain advantage from Trump's historic meeting with Kim Jong Un.

President Donald Trump seems determined to address the North Korean nuclear crisis mano a mano when he sits down with the country's leader next week. The rest of the world has other ideas. As Trump prepares to meet with Kim Jong Un on June 12, a growing list of foreign leaders is trying to influence the results.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently sent his top envoy to see Kim in Pyongyang and has invited the North Korean to visit Russia soon. South Korea's president has floated the idea of joining the summit. Japan's prime minister is rushing to the White House later this week to give Trump last-minute advice. ... Read more

EU slaps tariffs on $3.4 billion in U.S. products
Axios | Erica Pandey | 06/06/18

The European Union announced Wednesday that it will impose tariffs on American goods starting in July in response to President Trump's decision not to exempt Europe from sweeping aluminum and steel tariffs, reports AP. The EU exported 5.5 million tons of steel to the U.S. in 2017.

The details: The EU tariffs will affect about $3.4 billion worth of U.S. products. The goods caught in the crossfire include bourbon whiskey, motorcycles, denim, cigarettes, cranberry juice, orange juice, some pants and shorts, some bedlinen, corn, tobacco, t-shirts, motor boats, some rice, some beans, peanut butter, and forms of aluminum and steel. ... Read more and Trump trade war

Sarah Sanders: I am an honest person | CNN | 06/05/18 | 14:58

Where is the Pentagon's Missing Trillions? | Thom Hartmann | 05/30/18 | 4:01

The Presidency Is Broken
TheAtlantic | Lena Felton | 05/31/18

America's biggest job is hard. But is it impossible? That's the question posed by John Dickerson, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a co-host on CBS This Morning, both in the pages of this magazine and in a recent interview with The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. The presidency, Dickerson explains, has ballooned into something more complex than the Constitution's framers ever envisioned: Modern presidents must coordinate with far more Cabinet members, govern in a highly partisan environment, deal with around-the-clock criticism in a real-time media environment, and still summon the emotional bandwidth to lead the country through tragedy.

Given the tremendous scope of the job, Trump's admission that the job is harder than he expected is "a common presidential revelation," Dickerson says. "They all come to this because they campaign as superheroes." And therein lies another potential clue as to why the job has become so difficult: Americans' expectations of presidents are often incongruous with the constraints of the office, and promises are much more easily made on the campaign trail than kept once in the White House. ... Read more

The threat from America
Axios | Dave Lawler | 06/05/18

U.S. Airstrikes Violated International Law In "War of Annihilation" In Raqqa, Syria, Says Amnesty International
TheIntercept | Murtaza Hussain | 06/05/18

AS THE BATTLE for Raqqa, Syria, raged last October, a family in the Harat al-Badu neighborhood bunkered down in their home in an attempt to survive the fighting between the U.S.-led coalition and Islamic State militants. Mohammed Fayad, a man in his 80s, had lived in the same home in Harat al-Badu for the past 50 years. When the fighting began, Fayad refused to flee the property that he had put a lifetime of labor into, remaining in the home with his daughters and other relatives. As coalition airstrikes began pounding the city, Fayad's home also became a refuge for other terrified neighbors and their families seeking safety from the attacks.

Their safe haven would not last. On the night of October 11, a coalition airstrike hit Fayad's home. As Ali Habib, a local man who had been sheltering his family with Fayad, later told researchers from Amnesty International: ... Read more

"I don't understand why they bombed us... Didn't the surveillance planes see that we were civilian families?"

This Is Why Evangelical Christians Love Israel | VICE on HBO | 05/15/18 | 12:28

Reporter: A Memoir by Seymour M. Hersh

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author and preeminent investigative journalist of our time -- a heartfelt, hugely revealing memoir of a decades-long career breaking some of the most impactful stories of the last half-century, from Washington to Vietnam to the Middle East.

Seymour Hersh's fearless reporting has earned him fame, front-page bylines in virtually every major newspaper in the free world, honors galore, and no small amount of controversy. Now in this memoir he describes what drove him and how he worked as an independent outsider, even at the nation's most prestigious publications. He tells the stories behind the stories -- riveting in their own right -- as he chases leads, cultivates sources, and grapples with the weight of what he uncovers, daring to challenge official narratives handed down from the powers that be. In telling these stories, Hersh divulges previously unreported information about some of his biggest scoops, including the My Lai massacre and the horrors at Abu Ghraib. There are also illuminating recollections of some of the giants of American politics and journalism: Ben Bradlee, A. M. Rosenthal, David Remnick, and Henry Kissinger among them. This is essential reading on the power of the printed word at a time when good journalism is under fire as never before.

Giuliani: 'Could Lead To Impeachment' If President Stopped Investigation | Meet The Press | NBC News | 06/03/18 | 16:26

MS-13's Active Members Are Laughing At Trump's Crackdown (HBO) | Vice | 09/02/17 | 11:29

El Salvador: Assassins For Sale | Al Jazeera Investigates | 11/24/17 | 25:00

Trump tweets: "I have the absolute right to PARDON myself"
Axios | author | date

President Trump addressed the question of whether or not his pardoning power extends to himself and the Mueller investigation on Twitter Monday morning.
In a memo written by Trump's legal team and first obtained by the New York Times, the president's lawyers say he has the constitutional right to "if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon." ... Read more

Pedophile and white supremacist running for Congress | USA Today | 06/02/18 | 1:55

Government watchdog says White House is blocking its investigations
THe Hill | Julia Manchester | 06/01/18

House Democrats said in a letter on Thursday that the White House is ignoring requests for information from the government's top watchdog and are asking for a hearing on the matter.

"We are writing to request that you hold an immediate hearing on the dramatic decision by the White House to obstruct investigations by our independent investigators at the Government Accountability Office. We ask that the Committee obtain testimony from the White House Counsel and General Counsel of GAO," Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), referring to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). ... Read more
White House Moves The Country Closer To Fascism | TYT | 06/02/18 | 14:16

Origins of the Opioid Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew of OxyContin Abuse in 1996 But Covered It Up | DM | 06/04/18 | 11:11

Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier

Between 1999 and 2017, an estimated 250,000 Americans died from overdoses involving prescription painkillers, a plague ignited by Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing of OxyContin. Families, working class and wealthy, have been torn apart, businesses destroyed, and public officials pushed to the brink.

In Pain Killer, Pulitzer Prize--winning New York Times reporter Barry Meier exposes the roots of the most pressing health epidemic of the twenty-first century. Powerful narcotic painkillers, or opioids, were once used as drugs of last resort for pain sufferers. Purdue turned OxyContin into a billion-dollar blockbuster by launching an unprecedented marketing campaign claiming that the drug's long-acting formulation made it safer to use than traditional painkillers for many types of pain. That illusion was quickly shattered as drug abusers learned that crushing an Oxy could release its narcotic payload all at once. Even in its prescribed form, Oxy proved fiercely addictive. As OxyContin's use and abuse grew, Purdue concealed what it knew from regulators, doctors, and patients.

Here are the people who profited from the crisis and those who paid the price, those who plotted in boardrooms and those who tried to sound alarm bells. A country doctor in rural Virginia, Art Van Zee, took on Purdue and warned officials about OxyContin abuse. An ebullient high school cheerleader, Lindsey Myers, was reduced to stealing from her parents to feed her escalating Oxy habit. A hard-charging DEA official, Laura Nagel, tried to hold Purdue executives to account. The drugmaker's owners, Raymond and Mortimer Sackler, whose names adorn museums worldwide, made enormous fortunes from the commercial success of OxyContin.

Melania Mystery Continues: First Lady Won't Accompany President To G7 Or Singapore
HP | Mary Papenfuss | 06/03/18

First lady Melania Trump hasn't attended a public event for nearly a month, and now her spokeswoman has told ABC News Sunday that she won't be accompanying the president to the G7 meeting in Quebec -- nor the planned North Korea summit in Singapore. No reason was given.

But spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham also told CNN Sunday evening that the first lady is expected to attend a White House event Monday honoring Gold Star military families. The reception, however, will be barred to the press. ... Read more

He Pretty Much Gave In to Whatever They Asked For'
Politico | Michael Kruse | 06/01/18

Trump says he's a master negotiator. Those who've actually dealt with him beg to differ.

n 1985, Tony Schwartz, a writer for New York magazine, was sitting in Donald Trump's office in Trump Tower interviewing him for a story. Trump told him he had agreed to write a book for Random House. "Well, if you're going to write a book," Schwartz said, recalling this interaction in a speech he gave last fall at the University of Michigan, "you ought to call it The Art of the Deal."

"I like that," Trump said. "Do you want to write it?"

These sorts of arrangements typically are not that generous for the writer. "Most writers for hire receive a flat fee, or a relatively modest percentage of any money the book earns," Schwartz said in the speech. Schwartz, by contrast, got from Trump an almost unheard-of half of the $500,000 advance from Random House and also half of the royalties. And it didn't even take a lot of haggling. ... Read more

The War On Immigrants
TheIntercept | author | 06/01/18

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is targeting children -- migrant and refugee children -- to achieve its policy goal at the border, crack down on immigration, and placate its far-right base. Whereas the Obama administration kept undocumented children with their parents at emergency shelters and family facilities and "initiated a program designed to allow families more freedom while awaiting deportation hearings," splitting children from their families is the official policy of the Trump administration. Since last October, more than 700 children have been forcibly separated from both parents at the border and more than 100 of them have been under the age of 4, according to official figures obtained by the New York Times. This is not a side effect of having a tough immigration policy; this is the goal of the policy as White House Chief of Staff John Kelly let slip on NPR last month, "The big name of the game is deterrence." Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, an immigrant herself, joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss the Trump administration's immigration policies and the unprecedented danger it poses to immigrants and people of color. ... Read more

Deconstructed Podcast with Mehdi Hasan: The War on Immigrants | TheIntercept | 06/01/18 | 1hr

Trump hits allies with metal tariffs; Mexico, EU and Canada vow to retaliate
CNN Money | Jeremy Diamond | 05/31/18

The trade penalties, 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum, take effect at midnight, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters Thursday. Mexico, the EU and Canada immediately announced plans to retaliate with their own tariffs against American products.

... Canada, Mexico and the EU were among the countries granted relief while the United States pursued negotiations to address the administration's concerns about the state of domestic steel and aluminum production. Those negotiations had a Friday deadline. ... Read more
Trump Shocked Other Countries Can Do Tariffs Too | TYT | 05/31/18 | 7:45

The Presidency Is Broken
TheAtlantic | Lena Felton | 05/31/18

John Dickerson explains how America's biggest job is fundamentally flawed -- and why it's not up to any one individual to fix it.

America's biggest job is hard. But is it impossible? That's the question posed by John Dickerson, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a co-host on CBS This Morning, both in the pages of this magazine and in a recent interview with The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. The presidency, Dickerson explains, has ballooned into something more complex than the Constitution's framers ever envisioned: Modern presidents must coordinate with far more Cabinet members, govern in a highly partisan environment, deal with around-the-clock criticism in a real-time media environment, and still summon the emotional bandwidth to lead the country through tragedy. ... Read more