Tuesday, January 31, 2017
REFUGEE MADNESS
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- Refugee Madness: Trump Is Wrong, But His Liberal Critics Are Crazy (National Review) "Trump’s order is, in characteristic Trump fashion, both ham-handed and underinclusive, and particularly unfair to allies who risked life and limb to help the American war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it is also not the dangerous and radical departure from U.S. policy that Trump’s liberal critics make it out to be."
- How Trump’s Rush to Enact an Immigration Ban Unleashed Global Chaos (NYT) "Gen. John F. Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, had dialed in from a Coast Guard plane as he headed back to Washington from Miami. Along with other top officials, he needed guidance from the White House, which had not asked his department for a legal review of the order. Halfway into the briefing, someone on the call looked up at a television in his office. 'The president is signing the executive order that we’re discussing,' the official said, stunned. Jim Mattis, the new secretary of defense, did not see a final version of the order until Friday morning, only hours before Mr. Trump arrived to sign it at the Pentagon."
- These Muslim families sought refuge in America’s heartland. Now, Trump’s visa ban is tearing them apart. (WaPo) "The area surrounding Detroit boasts one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation; Hamtramck, an independent enclave in Detroit, has the country’s only majority-Muslim city council. Over the past two years, Michigan has taken in more refugees from war-torn Syria than any state except California. And yet, Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes, largely on the strength of disaffected white auto and factory workers angry about their declining economic prospects and the immigrants and refugees who are reshaping their neighborhoods."
- Unnamed White House official on implementing travel ban: ‘It really is a massive success story.’ (WaPo)
BUSINESS:
- Tesla Gives the California Power Grid a Battery Boost (NYT) "Ronald O. Nichols, president of Southern California Edison, said the utility was looking for more ways to use that energy rather than having to curtail solar production, 'which makes no greenhouse gas reduction sense.' By 2024, he said, the California system was expected to have far too much energy for at least a few hours each day, 'so we want to find a way to use that energy productively, and battery storage is certainly a piece of that.' As a result, energy analysts say, battery installations are likely to become increasingly common, whether to vary the number of power supply options to enhance reliability or as part of a move away from fossil fuels in order to meet climate and other environmental goals."
- Wanted: Factory Workers, Degree Required (NYT)
NEWS:
- A Dangerously Isolated President (New Yorker) "The President seems to be deliberately tightening the circle around him. As the confusion around the immigration ban made clear, the vast government he oversees has little input on his actions. In normal times, an Administration this isolated and divorced from public opinion would seem to be fatally weak. The argument made by the President’s first week is that these conditions, combined with the general assent of a Republican-controlled Congress, might in fact create the opposite situation, freeing him to do whatever he wants."
- Koch network could serve as potent resistance in Trump era (WaPo) "The network could present a political dilemma for many GOP lawmakers ahead of the 2018 midterm elections as they choose between two influential forces within the party, a populist wing buoyed by Trump’s 'America First' call and the well-organized, well-funded Koch-aligned activists who embrace open trade. Officials acknowledge that not all donors will support the network if it takes a stance against the Trump administration."
- In conservative media, Trump executive orders are a home run (WaPo) "In the mainstream press, the story was the protests happening at international airports across the United States, the legal effort to free stranded travelers, and the criticism Trump was receiving from his own party. But in the conservative media that has been most supportive of Trump the executive orders have been received as tough and necessary, and a source of irritation for all of the right people."
- How to Respond to Donald Trump's Betrayal of American Values (Atlantic) "Either you stand up for your principles and for what you know is decent behavior, or you go down, if not now, then years from now, as a coward or opportunist. The biggest split will be between those who draw a line and the power-sick—whose longing to have access to power, or influence it, or indeed to wield it themselves—causes them to fatally compromise their values."
- In Venezuela, we couldn’t stop Chávez. Don’t make the same mistakes we did. (WaPo) "But politics is only one-half policy: The other, darker half is rhetoric. Sometimes the rhetoric takes over. Such has been our lot in Venezuela for the past two decades — and such is yours now, Americans. Because in one regard, Trump and Chávez are identical. They are both masters of populism. The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior. Capture the people’s imagination. Forget about policies and plans, just enrapture them with a tale. One that starts with anger and ends in vengeance. A vengeance they can participate in. The problem is not the message but the messenger, and if you don’t realize this, you will be wasting your time."
- Rules for a constitutional crisis (Medium) "This President is being enabled by the most pathetic weakness of a Republic — and precisely the weakness George Washington warned against—party over country. The fight that citizens must wage now is against that pathology with Congress first. The fight that Congress must wage now is with this out of control executive first. And the fight that the courts will wage, easily and effectively, now is with officers who don’t obey their orders."
- Calling the Holocaust ‘sad’ is the first step towards denying it ever happened (Guardian) "Why would the Trump White House be resistant to acknowledging that uncontroversial fact? There has long been a strain of thinking on the far right that says Jews and African-Americans have engaged in 'special pleading' over the Holocaust and slavery for too long, and that it’s time to push back."
- Questions multiply over Bannon’s role in Trump administration (WaPo) "The order, which has ignited sweeping domestic and international backlash, came without the formal input of Trump’s National Security Council, the committee of top national security aides designed to ensure the president examines all policy issues from different perspectives. Outside the White House, reaction to the new NSC organizational directive was less positive, with some saying that the immigration directive suffered from jumping ahead of the normal policy process, allowing it and other orders to be composed by political operatives such as Bannon and Stephen Miller... The new president relies on Bannon to ensure that his campaign promises and nationalist worldview are being followed and are shaping national security strategy."
- Megalomania & Small-Mindedness: How America Lost Its Identity (Spiegel) "I learned three things on that evening in Burlington: In the fatherland of capitalism, anger with the elite is so vast that even leftists would rather vote for a narcissist billionaire than a veteran of the political establishment. In a country that values freedom of opinion higher than almost any other country in the world, there were now attitude tests prior to admission to political rallies. And many Americans, who are otherwise so polite, lose all restraint when confronted by those who think differently. The America of today has lost faith in its own superiority. It has become a regressive country that is turning its back on the world. If you leave Washington, D.C., behind and travel through the country, from Alabama to Alaska, you will find that the American Dream has been lost. The country is no longer proudly leading the way. In a complicated world where everything is connected to everything else, the protective identity of a state must experience a renaissance. A newly sophisticated, resilient state is necessary. Trump is one of the few conservatives to have recognized that fact. Trump pledged a fascinating experiment to the American people and has secured the world's most important political office as a result."
- I asked my student why he voted for Trump. The answer was thoughtful, smart, and terrifying (Mother Jones) "According to the 2010 census, the median household income in Peter's county is a little more than $45,000. By comparison, Detroit's is about $27,000 and Chicago's (with a higher cost of living) is just under $49,000. The poverty rate is 17.5 percent in the county and 7.6 percent in Peter's little town, compared with Chicago's 22.7 percent. The unemployment rate has hovered around 4 percent. The town isn't rich, to be sure. But while Peter's analysis is at odds with much of the data, his overall story does fit a national pattern. Trump voters report experiencing greater-than-average levels of economic anxiety, even though they tend have better-than-average incomes. And they are inclined to blame economic instability on the federal government—even, sometimes, when it flows from private corporations."
- Facebook Live Is the Right Wing’s New Fox News (Backchannel) "There’s a unique opening in conservative media, one that has a slew of sites systematically turning to the live-streaming feature. It stems from a single idea: Liberals have more choice in what they watch, and for a long time Republicans have felt limited to Fox News. In 2014, the Pew Research Center released a poll showing that unlike their liberal or moderate peers—who watched and consumed a wide variety of news—conservatives were limited to Fox for most of their political information."
- America’s Great Divergence (Atlantic) "Skipping college leads to low earnings and few opportunities. About 22 percent of Millennials with only a high school diploma live in poverty, compared to six percent of college graduates. Educated workers in cities produce work that requires innovation and new ideas, work that isn’t easily replicated and can’t be outsourced. Less educated workers in struggling regions are competing with people and machines around the globe, and their wages are the worse for it. One of the more worrying aspects of this trend is how the divergence will only grow over time. Cities with strong industries and good jobs will attract more similar companies and a growing share of workers. Places with manufacturing jobs and other work that doesn’t require a college education will continue to struggle."
- This Chart Helps Explain Why People in the Rust Belt Are Fed Up (PSMAG) "The country’s labor market adjustment programs are fragmented, narrow, piecemeal, and reactive. They also haven’t always been that effective."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Refugee Madness: Trump Is Wrong, But His Liberal Critics Are Crazy (National Review) "Trump’s order is, in characteristic Trump fashion, both ham-handed and underinclusive, and particularly unfair to allies who risked life and limb to help the American war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it is also not the dangerous and radical departure from U.S. policy that Trump’s liberal critics make it out to be."
- How Trump’s Rush to Enact an Immigration Ban Unleashed Global Chaos (NYT) "Gen. John F. Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, had dialed in from a Coast Guard plane as he headed back to Washington from Miami. Along with other top officials, he needed guidance from the White House, which had not asked his department for a legal review of the order. Halfway into the briefing, someone on the call looked up at a television in his office. 'The president is signing the executive order that we’re discussing,' the official said, stunned. Jim Mattis, the new secretary of defense, did not see a final version of the order until Friday morning, only hours before Mr. Trump arrived to sign it at the Pentagon."
- These Muslim families sought refuge in America’s heartland. Now, Trump’s visa ban is tearing them apart. (WaPo) "The area surrounding Detroit boasts one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation; Hamtramck, an independent enclave in Detroit, has the country’s only majority-Muslim city council. Over the past two years, Michigan has taken in more refugees from war-torn Syria than any state except California. And yet, Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes, largely on the strength of disaffected white auto and factory workers angry about their declining economic prospects and the immigrants and refugees who are reshaping their neighborhoods."
- Unnamed White House official on implementing travel ban: ‘It really is a massive success story.’ (WaPo)
BUSINESS:
- Tesla Gives the California Power Grid a Battery Boost (NYT) "Ronald O. Nichols, president of Southern California Edison, said the utility was looking for more ways to use that energy rather than having to curtail solar production, 'which makes no greenhouse gas reduction sense.' By 2024, he said, the California system was expected to have far too much energy for at least a few hours each day, 'so we want to find a way to use that energy productively, and battery storage is certainly a piece of that.' As a result, energy analysts say, battery installations are likely to become increasingly common, whether to vary the number of power supply options to enhance reliability or as part of a move away from fossil fuels in order to meet climate and other environmental goals."
- Wanted: Factory Workers, Degree Required (NYT)
NEWS:
- A Dangerously Isolated President (New Yorker) "The President seems to be deliberately tightening the circle around him. As the confusion around the immigration ban made clear, the vast government he oversees has little input on his actions. In normal times, an Administration this isolated and divorced from public opinion would seem to be fatally weak. The argument made by the President’s first week is that these conditions, combined with the general assent of a Republican-controlled Congress, might in fact create the opposite situation, freeing him to do whatever he wants."
- Koch network could serve as potent resistance in Trump era (WaPo) "The network could present a political dilemma for many GOP lawmakers ahead of the 2018 midterm elections as they choose between two influential forces within the party, a populist wing buoyed by Trump’s 'America First' call and the well-organized, well-funded Koch-aligned activists who embrace open trade. Officials acknowledge that not all donors will support the network if it takes a stance against the Trump administration."
- In conservative media, Trump executive orders are a home run (WaPo) "In the mainstream press, the story was the protests happening at international airports across the United States, the legal effort to free stranded travelers, and the criticism Trump was receiving from his own party. But in the conservative media that has been most supportive of Trump the executive orders have been received as tough and necessary, and a source of irritation for all of the right people."
- How to Respond to Donald Trump's Betrayal of American Values (Atlantic) "Either you stand up for your principles and for what you know is decent behavior, or you go down, if not now, then years from now, as a coward or opportunist. The biggest split will be between those who draw a line and the power-sick—whose longing to have access to power, or influence it, or indeed to wield it themselves—causes them to fatally compromise their values."
- In Venezuela, we couldn’t stop Chávez. Don’t make the same mistakes we did. (WaPo) "But politics is only one-half policy: The other, darker half is rhetoric. Sometimes the rhetoric takes over. Such has been our lot in Venezuela for the past two decades — and such is yours now, Americans. Because in one regard, Trump and Chávez are identical. They are both masters of populism. The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior. Capture the people’s imagination. Forget about policies and plans, just enrapture them with a tale. One that starts with anger and ends in vengeance. A vengeance they can participate in. The problem is not the message but the messenger, and if you don’t realize this, you will be wasting your time."
- Rules for a constitutional crisis (Medium) "This President is being enabled by the most pathetic weakness of a Republic — and precisely the weakness George Washington warned against—party over country. The fight that citizens must wage now is against that pathology with Congress first. The fight that Congress must wage now is with this out of control executive first. And the fight that the courts will wage, easily and effectively, now is with officers who don’t obey their orders."
- Calling the Holocaust ‘sad’ is the first step towards denying it ever happened (Guardian) "Why would the Trump White House be resistant to acknowledging that uncontroversial fact? There has long been a strain of thinking on the far right that says Jews and African-Americans have engaged in 'special pleading' over the Holocaust and slavery for too long, and that it’s time to push back."
- Questions multiply over Bannon’s role in Trump administration (WaPo) "The order, which has ignited sweeping domestic and international backlash, came without the formal input of Trump’s National Security Council, the committee of top national security aides designed to ensure the president examines all policy issues from different perspectives. Outside the White House, reaction to the new NSC organizational directive was less positive, with some saying that the immigration directive suffered from jumping ahead of the normal policy process, allowing it and other orders to be composed by political operatives such as Bannon and Stephen Miller... The new president relies on Bannon to ensure that his campaign promises and nationalist worldview are being followed and are shaping national security strategy."
- Megalomania & Small-Mindedness: How America Lost Its Identity (Spiegel) "I learned three things on that evening in Burlington: In the fatherland of capitalism, anger with the elite is so vast that even leftists would rather vote for a narcissist billionaire than a veteran of the political establishment. In a country that values freedom of opinion higher than almost any other country in the world, there were now attitude tests prior to admission to political rallies. And many Americans, who are otherwise so polite, lose all restraint when confronted by those who think differently. The America of today has lost faith in its own superiority. It has become a regressive country that is turning its back on the world. If you leave Washington, D.C., behind and travel through the country, from Alabama to Alaska, you will find that the American Dream has been lost. The country is no longer proudly leading the way. In a complicated world where everything is connected to everything else, the protective identity of a state must experience a renaissance. A newly sophisticated, resilient state is necessary. Trump is one of the few conservatives to have recognized that fact. Trump pledged a fascinating experiment to the American people and has secured the world's most important political office as a result."
- I asked my student why he voted for Trump. The answer was thoughtful, smart, and terrifying (Mother Jones) "According to the 2010 census, the median household income in Peter's county is a little more than $45,000. By comparison, Detroit's is about $27,000 and Chicago's (with a higher cost of living) is just under $49,000. The poverty rate is 17.5 percent in the county and 7.6 percent in Peter's little town, compared with Chicago's 22.7 percent. The unemployment rate has hovered around 4 percent. The town isn't rich, to be sure. But while Peter's analysis is at odds with much of the data, his overall story does fit a national pattern. Trump voters report experiencing greater-than-average levels of economic anxiety, even though they tend have better-than-average incomes. And they are inclined to blame economic instability on the federal government—even, sometimes, when it flows from private corporations."
- Facebook Live Is the Right Wing’s New Fox News (Backchannel) "There’s a unique opening in conservative media, one that has a slew of sites systematically turning to the live-streaming feature. It stems from a single idea: Liberals have more choice in what they watch, and for a long time Republicans have felt limited to Fox News. In 2014, the Pew Research Center released a poll showing that unlike their liberal or moderate peers—who watched and consumed a wide variety of news—conservatives were limited to Fox for most of their political information."
- America’s Great Divergence (Atlantic) "Skipping college leads to low earnings and few opportunities. About 22 percent of Millennials with only a high school diploma live in poverty, compared to six percent of college graduates. Educated workers in cities produce work that requires innovation and new ideas, work that isn’t easily replicated and can’t be outsourced. Less educated workers in struggling regions are competing with people and machines around the globe, and their wages are the worse for it. One of the more worrying aspects of this trend is how the divergence will only grow over time. Cities with strong industries and good jobs will attract more similar companies and a growing share of workers. Places with manufacturing jobs and other work that doesn’t require a college education will continue to struggle."
- This Chart Helps Explain Why People in the Rust Belt Are Fed Up (PSMAG) "The country’s labor market adjustment programs are fragmented, narrow, piecemeal, and reactive. They also haven’t always been that effective."
TECHNOLOGY:
- We’re Building a World-Size Robot, and We Don’t Even Realize It (NY Mag) "We no longer have things with computers embedded in them. We have computers with things attached to them. The internet is no longer a web that we connect to. Instead, it’s a computerized, networked, and interconnected world that we live in. This is the future, and what we’re calling the Internet of Things. We’re building a world-size robot, and we don’t even realize it. And while it’s still not very smart, it’ll get smarter. It’ll get more powerful and more capable through all the interconnections we’re building. It’ll also get much more dangerous."
- The Alt-Majority: How Social Networks Empowered Mass Protests Against Trump (NYT) "Dispatched online, the protesters knew where to go, and they knew what to do once they arrived: to command the story by making a scene. When politicians take on political crowds rather than other politicians, it usually ends badly."
- Why the promise of big data hasn’t delivered yet (TechCrunch) "The big data analytics industry, dedicated to helping big businesses leverage the petabytes of information they now generate and store, is worth $122 billion — and growing. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with commercial applications of artificial intelligence. To make progress, business leaders need to take a step into the future by nominating the parts of their enterprise they’re prepared to make truly “data driven” — and surrendering them to the science."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Masaya Nakamura, Whose Company Created Pac-Man, Dies at 91 (NYT)
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- The Alt-Majority: How Social Networks Empowered Mass Protests Against Trump (NYT) "Dispatched online, the protesters knew where to go, and they knew what to do once they arrived: to command the story by making a scene. When politicians take on political crowds rather than other politicians, it usually ends badly."
- Why the promise of big data hasn’t delivered yet (TechCrunch) "The big data analytics industry, dedicated to helping big businesses leverage the petabytes of information they now generate and store, is worth $122 billion — and growing. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with commercial applications of artificial intelligence. To make progress, business leaders need to take a step into the future by nominating the parts of their enterprise they’re prepared to make truly “data driven” — and surrendering them to the science."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Masaya Nakamura, Whose Company Created Pac-Man, Dies at 91 (NYT)
Sign up for email distribution of the Day's Most Compelling News below or by visiting Top of the News
Monday, January 30, 2017
PERSPECTIVES ON THE "TRUMP DOCTRINE"
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- Newt Gingrich: Margaret Thatcher is the real model for the Trump presidency (WaPo) "Trump’s speech was not designed to reconcile with the Washington power structure. Furthermore, the address represented a direct threat to the value system of the left. Reagan was focused on breaking the power of the Soviet Union, not breaking the power of political correctness and the elite media that has increasingly dominated the United States. Those who fear Trump’s protectionism might note that one of his first goals is to begin working on a bilateral agreement with Britain (which may become a trilateral agreement if the Canadians are invited in). This is a much more sophisticated president than his critics believe."
- George Will: Protectionism: Trump’s Trade Policies Reduce Prosperity by Stopping Competition (National Review) "Reactionary liberalism has long held, and today’s faux conservatism agrees, that existing jobs should be protected by policies that reduce the economic dynamism that threatens those jobs. Such protection means a net decrease in jobs but an increase in the self-esteem of blinkered protectionists who see the jobs 'saved' but not those that, as a result of lost dynamism, are lost or never created."
- David Brooks: The Politics of Cowardice (NYT) "If Reagan’s dominant emotional note was optimism, Trump’s is fear. If Reagan’s optimism was expansive, Trump’s fear propels him to close in: Pull in from Asian entanglements through rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Pull in from European entanglements by disparaging NATO. It’s not a cowering, timid fear; it’s more a dark, resentful porcupine fear. We have a word for people who are dominated by fear. We call them cowards. Trump was not a coward in the business or campaign worlds. He could take on enormous debt and had the audacity to appear at televised national debates with no clue what he was talking about. But as president his is a policy of cowardice. On every front, he wants to shrink the country into a shell. Trump has changed the way the Republican Party sees the world. Republicans used to have a basic faith in the dynamism and openness of the free market. Now the party fears openness and competition."
- Charles Krauthammer: Trump’s foreign policy revolution (WaPo) "Trump outlined a world in which foreign relations are collapsed into a zero-sum game. They gain, we lose. Some claim that putting America first is a reassertion of American exceptionalism. On the contrary, it is the antithesis. It makes America no different from all the other countries that define themselves by a particularist blood-and-soil nationalism. What made America exceptional, unique in the world, was defining its own national interest beyond its narrow economic and security needs to encompass the safety and prosperity of a vast array of allies. A free world marked by open trade and mutual defense was President Truman’s vision, shared by every president since. We are embarking upon insularity and smallness. For 70 years, we sustained an international system of open commerce and democratic alliances that has enabled America and the West to grow and thrive. Global leadership is what made America great. We abandon it at our peril."
BUSINESS/ECONOMY:
- Was Brexit All a Storm in a Teacup? (Ozy) "While early signs aren’t all rosy — several large financial institutions have recently announced plans to move jobs from London to the Continent — predictions of imminent contraction have proven to be very, very wrong. Of the many key predictions made before the referendum, the only one to have been completely fulfilled has been a fall in the value of the pound, which is now filtering into increased inflation. Still, many economists now think that the Brexit downturn will bite in 2017, as inflation erodes consumer spending power and more companies finalize their investment decisions, before negative impacts on trade become more important in the medium to long term. The departure from the EU hasn’t even begun yet, and so nobody really knows what is going to happen." and Donald Trump told a strange, unnecessary lie about Brexit in his press conference with Theresa May (Quartz) "'I happened to be in Scotland in Turnberry cutting a ribbon when Brexit happened and we had a vast amount of press,' Donald Trump said during a remarkably short press conference on Friday with British prime minister 'Theresa May. “And I said Brexit—this was the day before, you probably remember—and I said Brexit is going to happen and I was scorned in the press for making that prediction. I was scorned.' In fact, it is easy to confirm that Trump was not in Scotland on the day before the Brexit vote. As his own tweets from that week show, he landed in the country the morning after the referendum, at which time he congratulated the people there—apparently ignorant of the fact that the majority of Scotland had voted against leaving the EU."
HEALTH:
- Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare (WaPo) "The concerns of rank-and-file members appeared to be at odds with key congressional leaders and Andrew Bremberg, a top domestic policy adviser to President Trump, who laid out their plans to repeal the ACA using a fast-track legislative process and Trump administration executive actions. However, these leaders acknowledged in Thursday’s meeting, as they have before, that the law known as Obamacare cannot be fully undone — or replaced — without Democratic cooperation." and In leaked audio, Republicans destroy their own public talking points on Obamacare (WaPo) "However, in so doing, they basically admit in various ways that Republicans will be responsible for the mess that repealing the law — which would probably be done on a delay while Republicans come up with a replacement — is expected to make. 'We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created' with repeal, said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). 'That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.' But we have to ask: Given that Republicans have supposedly been preparing for the chance to repeal (and replace) the ACA for years, why do they seem so surprised by this?" and In Private, Republican Lawmakers Agonize Over Health Law Repeal (NYT) "Now, as Republicans try to devise a replacement for the law, they have set a nearly impossible standard for themselves: They have promised that none of the 20 million people who gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act will lose it if the law is repealed, even as they lift its mandates and penalties, pull back the tax increases that pay for it and pledge to enact a new program that will be cheaper for taxpayers and consumers. Republicans say they can get the same results for less money and without a statutory mandate that most Americans have insurance. But without that requirement, budget analysts say, it will be difficult for Republicans to achieve coverage gains as large as those achieved under the Affordable Care Act."
- Cassidy-Collins, the GOP replacement plan that lets liberal states keep Obamacare, explained (Vox) "Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) held a press conference Monday to roll out the Patient Freedom Act. They propose giving states three options: Keep Obamacare, switch to a different insurance expansion, or go forward with no coverage expansion at all. The Cassidy-Collins proposal is a sharp departure from the plans offered by House and Senate leadership... The Cassidy-Collins proposal is a compromise, one that could preserve the Affordable Care Act in some places while letting other states try something new."
NEWS:
- ‘Up Is Down’: Trump’s Unreality Show Echoes His Business Past (NYT) "Nearly 30 years ago, in his best-selling book 'The Art of the Deal,' Mr. Trump memorably extolled the advantages of 'truthful hyperbole,' which he described as “an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.” It is one thing when the hyperbole comes from a reality TV star exaggerating his ratings to a roomful of television critics. The stakes are infinitely higher when it comes from the leader of the free world, and this reality is provoking alarm from many across the political spectrum."
- Trump Administration Defends Bannon’s Role on Security Council (NYT) "The new memo said that the intelligence director and the Joint Chiefs chairman would attend the 'principals meetings' — the meeting of cabinet-level officials — only when 'issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.' Susan E. Rice, Mr. Flynn’s predecessor as national security adviser, denounced the downgrading of the intelligence director and the Joint Chiefs chairman. 'This is stone cold crazy,' she wrote on Twitter. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also appearing on ABC, questioned the wisdom of the move. John Bellinger, who was the counsel to the National Security Council during Mr. Bush’s administration, noted in a commentary on the Lawfare blog that Mr. Bannon’s role was highly unusual. But in the early days of the Obama administration, David Axelrod, also a top political strategist, did attend many meetings resetting policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan — as a guest and an observer, but not as a full member of the council."
- Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Cowardly and Dangerous (NYT) "The order lacks any logic. It invokes the attacks of Sept. 11 as a rationale, while exempting the countries of origin of all the hijackers who carried out that plot and also, perhaps not coincidentally, several countries where the Trump family does business. The document does not explicitly mention any religion, yet it sets a blatantly unconstitutional standard by excluding Muslims while giving government officials the discretion to admit people of other faiths." and Immigration Ban Is Unlikely to Reduce Terrorist Threat, Experts Say (NYT) "The larger point of experts is that jihadist attacks garner news media attention that far outstrips their prevalence in America, and the president’s order appears to be designed to address not a rational calculation of risks but the visceral fears that terrorists set out to inflame."
- Is Trump a genius? (Medium) "But at some point we need to step back and wonder — is this man a genius? Not in the ordinary, comfortable sense of the term. Not a Yo-yo Ma sense of 'genius' — incredibly talented, endlessly decent, the perfect conversationalist. Instead, 'genius' in an idiot savant sense of genius. However clumsy, or repulsive, or pathological, a genius in just the ability to see just the right move, even when that move is “obviously the wrong move” according to everyone else."
- Donald Trump and the Theater of Access (NYT) "'He [Trump] never once failed to invite his crowds to heckle us,' he wrote. 'He was placing us on display like captured animals. And it worked.'"
- Newt Gingrich: Margaret Thatcher is the real model for the Trump presidency (WaPo) "Trump’s speech was not designed to reconcile with the Washington power structure. Furthermore, the address represented a direct threat to the value system of the left. Reagan was focused on breaking the power of the Soviet Union, not breaking the power of political correctness and the elite media that has increasingly dominated the United States. Those who fear Trump’s protectionism might note that one of his first goals is to begin working on a bilateral agreement with Britain (which may become a trilateral agreement if the Canadians are invited in). This is a much more sophisticated president than his critics believe."
- George Will: Protectionism: Trump’s Trade Policies Reduce Prosperity by Stopping Competition (National Review) "Reactionary liberalism has long held, and today’s faux conservatism agrees, that existing jobs should be protected by policies that reduce the economic dynamism that threatens those jobs. Such protection means a net decrease in jobs but an increase in the self-esteem of blinkered protectionists who see the jobs 'saved' but not those that, as a result of lost dynamism, are lost or never created."
- David Brooks: The Politics of Cowardice (NYT) "If Reagan’s dominant emotional note was optimism, Trump’s is fear. If Reagan’s optimism was expansive, Trump’s fear propels him to close in: Pull in from Asian entanglements through rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Pull in from European entanglements by disparaging NATO. It’s not a cowering, timid fear; it’s more a dark, resentful porcupine fear. We have a word for people who are dominated by fear. We call them cowards. Trump was not a coward in the business or campaign worlds. He could take on enormous debt and had the audacity to appear at televised national debates with no clue what he was talking about. But as president his is a policy of cowardice. On every front, he wants to shrink the country into a shell. Trump has changed the way the Republican Party sees the world. Republicans used to have a basic faith in the dynamism and openness of the free market. Now the party fears openness and competition."
- Charles Krauthammer: Trump’s foreign policy revolution (WaPo) "Trump outlined a world in which foreign relations are collapsed into a zero-sum game. They gain, we lose. Some claim that putting America first is a reassertion of American exceptionalism. On the contrary, it is the antithesis. It makes America no different from all the other countries that define themselves by a particularist blood-and-soil nationalism. What made America exceptional, unique in the world, was defining its own national interest beyond its narrow economic and security needs to encompass the safety and prosperity of a vast array of allies. A free world marked by open trade and mutual defense was President Truman’s vision, shared by every president since. We are embarking upon insularity and smallness. For 70 years, we sustained an international system of open commerce and democratic alliances that has enabled America and the West to grow and thrive. Global leadership is what made America great. We abandon it at our peril."
BUSINESS/ECONOMY:
- Was Brexit All a Storm in a Teacup? (Ozy) "While early signs aren’t all rosy — several large financial institutions have recently announced plans to move jobs from London to the Continent — predictions of imminent contraction have proven to be very, very wrong. Of the many key predictions made before the referendum, the only one to have been completely fulfilled has been a fall in the value of the pound, which is now filtering into increased inflation. Still, many economists now think that the Brexit downturn will bite in 2017, as inflation erodes consumer spending power and more companies finalize their investment decisions, before negative impacts on trade become more important in the medium to long term. The departure from the EU hasn’t even begun yet, and so nobody really knows what is going to happen." and Donald Trump told a strange, unnecessary lie about Brexit in his press conference with Theresa May (Quartz) "'I happened to be in Scotland in Turnberry cutting a ribbon when Brexit happened and we had a vast amount of press,' Donald Trump said during a remarkably short press conference on Friday with British prime minister 'Theresa May. “And I said Brexit—this was the day before, you probably remember—and I said Brexit is going to happen and I was scorned in the press for making that prediction. I was scorned.' In fact, it is easy to confirm that Trump was not in Scotland on the day before the Brexit vote. As his own tweets from that week show, he landed in the country the morning after the referendum, at which time he congratulated the people there—apparently ignorant of the fact that the majority of Scotland had voted against leaving the EU."
HEALTH:
- Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare (WaPo) "The concerns of rank-and-file members appeared to be at odds with key congressional leaders and Andrew Bremberg, a top domestic policy adviser to President Trump, who laid out their plans to repeal the ACA using a fast-track legislative process and Trump administration executive actions. However, these leaders acknowledged in Thursday’s meeting, as they have before, that the law known as Obamacare cannot be fully undone — or replaced — without Democratic cooperation." and In leaked audio, Republicans destroy their own public talking points on Obamacare (WaPo) "However, in so doing, they basically admit in various ways that Republicans will be responsible for the mess that repealing the law — which would probably be done on a delay while Republicans come up with a replacement — is expected to make. 'We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created' with repeal, said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). 'That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.' But we have to ask: Given that Republicans have supposedly been preparing for the chance to repeal (and replace) the ACA for years, why do they seem so surprised by this?" and In Private, Republican Lawmakers Agonize Over Health Law Repeal (NYT) "Now, as Republicans try to devise a replacement for the law, they have set a nearly impossible standard for themselves: They have promised that none of the 20 million people who gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act will lose it if the law is repealed, even as they lift its mandates and penalties, pull back the tax increases that pay for it and pledge to enact a new program that will be cheaper for taxpayers and consumers. Republicans say they can get the same results for less money and without a statutory mandate that most Americans have insurance. But without that requirement, budget analysts say, it will be difficult for Republicans to achieve coverage gains as large as those achieved under the Affordable Care Act."
- Cassidy-Collins, the GOP replacement plan that lets liberal states keep Obamacare, explained (Vox) "Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) held a press conference Monday to roll out the Patient Freedom Act. They propose giving states three options: Keep Obamacare, switch to a different insurance expansion, or go forward with no coverage expansion at all. The Cassidy-Collins proposal is a sharp departure from the plans offered by House and Senate leadership... The Cassidy-Collins proposal is a compromise, one that could preserve the Affordable Care Act in some places while letting other states try something new."
NEWS:
- ‘Up Is Down’: Trump’s Unreality Show Echoes His Business Past (NYT) "Nearly 30 years ago, in his best-selling book 'The Art of the Deal,' Mr. Trump memorably extolled the advantages of 'truthful hyperbole,' which he described as “an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.” It is one thing when the hyperbole comes from a reality TV star exaggerating his ratings to a roomful of television critics. The stakes are infinitely higher when it comes from the leader of the free world, and this reality is provoking alarm from many across the political spectrum."
- Trump Administration Defends Bannon’s Role on Security Council (NYT) "The new memo said that the intelligence director and the Joint Chiefs chairman would attend the 'principals meetings' — the meeting of cabinet-level officials — only when 'issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.' Susan E. Rice, Mr. Flynn’s predecessor as national security adviser, denounced the downgrading of the intelligence director and the Joint Chiefs chairman. 'This is stone cold crazy,' she wrote on Twitter. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also appearing on ABC, questioned the wisdom of the move. John Bellinger, who was the counsel to the National Security Council during Mr. Bush’s administration, noted in a commentary on the Lawfare blog that Mr. Bannon’s role was highly unusual. But in the early days of the Obama administration, David Axelrod, also a top political strategist, did attend many meetings resetting policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan — as a guest and an observer, but not as a full member of the council."
- Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Cowardly and Dangerous (NYT) "The order lacks any logic. It invokes the attacks of Sept. 11 as a rationale, while exempting the countries of origin of all the hijackers who carried out that plot and also, perhaps not coincidentally, several countries where the Trump family does business. The document does not explicitly mention any religion, yet it sets a blatantly unconstitutional standard by excluding Muslims while giving government officials the discretion to admit people of other faiths." and Immigration Ban Is Unlikely to Reduce Terrorist Threat, Experts Say (NYT) "The larger point of experts is that jihadist attacks garner news media attention that far outstrips their prevalence in America, and the president’s order appears to be designed to address not a rational calculation of risks but the visceral fears that terrorists set out to inflame."
- Is Trump a genius? (Medium) "But at some point we need to step back and wonder — is this man a genius? Not in the ordinary, comfortable sense of the term. Not a Yo-yo Ma sense of 'genius' — incredibly talented, endlessly decent, the perfect conversationalist. Instead, 'genius' in an idiot savant sense of genius. However clumsy, or repulsive, or pathological, a genius in just the ability to see just the right move, even when that move is “obviously the wrong move” according to everyone else."
- Donald Trump and the Theater of Access (NYT) "'He [Trump] never once failed to invite his crowds to heckle us,' he wrote. 'He was placing us on display like captured animals. And it worked.'"
- Border Patrol Union: Trump’s Border Plan ‘Gives Us the Tools We Need’ (Breitbart) "Through the NBPC, agents have been able to relay vital information to Trump and his staff about the realities of the border and what is needed in each particular sector." and Border Patrol chief removed from post after clashing with powerful union (WaPo) "'The union has been very vocal about someone from outside of the Border Patrol becoming the head of the Border Patrol,' Kerlikowske said. 'The union supported this candidate for president, and now very much appears to be directing things – which is absolutely unheard of in law enforcement. The union used their influence to have him removed.’'" and Donald Trump is building his wall with Mexico as undocumented border crossing reaches a 40 year low (Quartz)
- Reality check: Many of Trump’s early vows will probably never happen (WaPo) "On immigration, for instance, Trump’s call for a border wall paid for by Mexico first has to be funded by Congress. On trade, Trump can withdraw from and renegotiate trade agreements, as he promised during the campaign. But there is no guarantee that he will have willing partners with whom to renegotiate better trade deals, and certainly not necessarily with better terms. And change will hardly be instantaneous: Under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example, the president or any other leaders must give six months’ notice of his or her intention to withdraw. Trump has also promised to order an investigation into his false claims that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in November for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton... But there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim... Trump, however, does not seem to realize the limited power of his executive orders and has made public signing ceremonies a trademark of his first week. Many Republicans, however, think that Trump’s supporters may give him a generous amount of time and latitude before demanding concrete results."
- Macomb v media: voters who read little news think Trump had a great first week (The Guardian) "Trump has proclaimed war on the media, was accused of serial lying, declared open season on environmentalists and undocumented immigrants, outraged the Mexican president, begun stripping millions of Americans of healthcare coverage, and revived the prospect of torturing terror suspects. On the one hand, there is Trump as seen through the lens of the coastal mainstream media that has called him out with historic bluntness... Then there is how residents of Macomb County, an overwhelmingly white working-class suburb of Detroit, see their new commander-in-chief. In Macomb County...a slightly different narrative appears to be unfolding. It’s not that people are living in their own media bubbles so much as they are actively choosing to ignore news that they do not want to hear, or even more alarmingly, receiving no news at all. The sharpest criticism of Trump that could be found on the streets of Macomb County was that all his tweeting and expostulating about illegal voting and crowd sizes is distracting him from the task at hand."
- What is an executive order? And how do President Trump’s stack up? (WaPo) "Basically, an executive order is an official statement from the president about how the federal agencies he oversees are to use their resources. An executive order is not the president creating new law or appropriating new money from the U.S. Treasury — both things that are the domain of Congress; it is the president instructing the government how it is to work within the parameters that are already set by Congress and the Constitution. While Trump's first days in office have seemed to be full of executive actions, that's not really all that uncommon. Back in 2009, for example, Obama signed nine executive orders in his first 10 days and 16 total in January and February. Trump is under that curve so far."
- Steve Bannon’s War on the Press (New Yorker) "To many of Trump’s critics, myself included, his first week has amply demonstrated why he isn’t fit for office. But many of his supporters, I’d be willing to bet, see a strong President who is carrying out his campaign pledges to build a wall, protect American jobs, and put America first. What’s new isn’t that we have a President who uses the media whenever he can. It’s that, simultaneously, he has made demonizing the press a central part of his political strategy. So that when damaging stories appear the Administration can dismiss them."
READ THIS:
- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin) "J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress."
SPORTS:
- Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s secret? It’s not personal; it’s just business (WaPo) "The success of their collaboration rests on two simple understandings, neither of which is particularly deep. First, they share a workaholic absorption in the tedium of football strategy, a love for cataloging tendencies, and almost mechanistic work habits. Second, they share an instinct that self-deprecation is the heart of real leadership. Brady willingly lets Belichick use him as the example, in everything from renegotiating cap-friendly contracts to absorbing Belichick’s scathing sarcasm for mistakes. The message is that Belichick demands from all players equally, and Brady has been secure enough to accept it. Belichick has made it clear he believes Brady is the best of all time, and Brady has learned to admire Belichick’s ability to build and manage highly flexible rosters that withstand losses to injury..."
TECHNOLOGY:
- How Alexa Fits Into Amazon’s Prime Directive (WaPo) "Amazon decided to call it Alexa, shorthand for Alexandria, as in the ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The entire enticing promise of Amazon and Alexa: a much more efficient and manageable life, one in which you can outsource mundane tasks while you do something more important, like spend time with your family."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- How to Remember Your Dreams (NYT) "So before going to bed, drink three full glasses of water — not beer or wine, because they suppress R.E.M. sleep — which will force you to get up and go to the bathroom. On waking up, don’t open your eyes, don’t move, don’t say a thing — any sensory perception or movement tends to wipe out memories of a dream. For two weeks, tell yourself to remember your dreams every night and morning."
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- Macomb v media: voters who read little news think Trump had a great first week (The Guardian) "Trump has proclaimed war on the media, was accused of serial lying, declared open season on environmentalists and undocumented immigrants, outraged the Mexican president, begun stripping millions of Americans of healthcare coverage, and revived the prospect of torturing terror suspects. On the one hand, there is Trump as seen through the lens of the coastal mainstream media that has called him out with historic bluntness... Then there is how residents of Macomb County, an overwhelmingly white working-class suburb of Detroit, see their new commander-in-chief. In Macomb County...a slightly different narrative appears to be unfolding. It’s not that people are living in their own media bubbles so much as they are actively choosing to ignore news that they do not want to hear, or even more alarmingly, receiving no news at all. The sharpest criticism of Trump that could be found on the streets of Macomb County was that all his tweeting and expostulating about illegal voting and crowd sizes is distracting him from the task at hand."
- What is an executive order? And how do President Trump’s stack up? (WaPo) "Basically, an executive order is an official statement from the president about how the federal agencies he oversees are to use their resources. An executive order is not the president creating new law or appropriating new money from the U.S. Treasury — both things that are the domain of Congress; it is the president instructing the government how it is to work within the parameters that are already set by Congress and the Constitution. While Trump's first days in office have seemed to be full of executive actions, that's not really all that uncommon. Back in 2009, for example, Obama signed nine executive orders in his first 10 days and 16 total in January and February. Trump is under that curve so far."
- Steve Bannon’s War on the Press (New Yorker) "To many of Trump’s critics, myself included, his first week has amply demonstrated why he isn’t fit for office. But many of his supporters, I’d be willing to bet, see a strong President who is carrying out his campaign pledges to build a wall, protect American jobs, and put America first. What’s new isn’t that we have a President who uses the media whenever he can. It’s that, simultaneously, he has made demonizing the press a central part of his political strategy. So that when damaging stories appear the Administration can dismiss them."
READ THIS:
- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin) "J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress."
SPORTS:
- Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s secret? It’s not personal; it’s just business (WaPo) "The success of their collaboration rests on two simple understandings, neither of which is particularly deep. First, they share a workaholic absorption in the tedium of football strategy, a love for cataloging tendencies, and almost mechanistic work habits. Second, they share an instinct that self-deprecation is the heart of real leadership. Brady willingly lets Belichick use him as the example, in everything from renegotiating cap-friendly contracts to absorbing Belichick’s scathing sarcasm for mistakes. The message is that Belichick demands from all players equally, and Brady has been secure enough to accept it. Belichick has made it clear he believes Brady is the best of all time, and Brady has learned to admire Belichick’s ability to build and manage highly flexible rosters that withstand losses to injury..."
TECHNOLOGY:
- How Alexa Fits Into Amazon’s Prime Directive (WaPo) "Amazon decided to call it Alexa, shorthand for Alexandria, as in the ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The entire enticing promise of Amazon and Alexa: a much more efficient and manageable life, one in which you can outsource mundane tasks while you do something more important, like spend time with your family."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- How to Remember Your Dreams (NYT) "So before going to bed, drink three full glasses of water — not beer or wine, because they suppress R.E.M. sleep — which will force you to get up and go to the bathroom. On waking up, don’t open your eyes, don’t move, don’t say a thing — any sensory perception or movement tends to wipe out memories of a dream. For two weeks, tell yourself to remember your dreams every night and morning."
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Friday, January 27, 2017
TRUMP'S VOTER FRAUD EXAMPLE? A TROUBLED TALE WITH BERNHARD LANGER
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- Trump’s Voter Fraud Example? A Troubled Tale With Bernhard Langer (NYT) "On Monday, President Trump gathered House and Senate leaders in the State Dining Room for a get-to-know-you reception and quickly launched into a story meant to illustrate what he believes to be rampant, unchecked voter fraud. When one of the Democrats protested, Mr. Trump said he was told a story by 'the very famous golfer, Bernhard Langer,' whom he described as a friend, according to three staff members who were in the room for the meeting. The three witnesses recall the story this way: Mr. Langer, a 59-year-old native of Bavaria, Germany (Mr. Langer is, by law, barred from voting)
was standing in line at a polling place near his home in Florida on Election Day, the president explained, when an official informed Mr. Langer he would not be able to vote. Ahead of and behind Mr. Langer were voters who did not look as if they should be allowed to vote, Mr. Trump said, according to the staff members — but they were nonetheless permitted to cast provisional ballots. The president threw out the names of Latin American countries that the voters might have come from. The anecdote, the aides said, was greeted with silence, and Mr. Trump was prodded to change the subject by Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, and Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas."
- Trump’s Voter Fraud Example? A Troubled Tale With Bernhard Langer (NYT) "On Monday, President Trump gathered House and Senate leaders in the State Dining Room for a get-to-know-you reception and quickly launched into a story meant to illustrate what he believes to be rampant, unchecked voter fraud. When one of the Democrats protested, Mr. Trump said he was told a story by 'the very famous golfer, Bernhard Langer,' whom he described as a friend, according to three staff members who were in the room for the meeting. The three witnesses recall the story this way: Mr. Langer, a 59-year-old native of Bavaria, Germany (Mr. Langer is, by law, barred from voting)
was standing in line at a polling place near his home in Florida on Election Day, the president explained, when an official informed Mr. Langer he would not be able to vote. Ahead of and behind Mr. Langer were voters who did not look as if they should be allowed to vote, Mr. Trump said, according to the staff members — but they were nonetheless permitted to cast provisional ballots. The president threw out the names of Latin American countries that the voters might have come from. The anecdote, the aides said, was greeted with silence, and Mr. Trump was prodded to change the subject by Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, and Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas."
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT:
- Donald Trump’s Assault on the Enlightenment (Foreign Policy) "Trump’s campaign and philosophy of governing aim to associate art and intellectualism with out-of-touch elites who have broken the trust of rural and less educated populations. For the Trump administration, the attacks on NEH and NEA form part of a wider assault on intellectualism itself. The reasons for cutting these agencies cannot be fiscal; combined, they constitute less than .01 percent of the federal budget."
HEALTH:
- Your smartphone could soon be the first step for diagnosing skin cancer (TechCrunch) "Utilizing machine learning, a Stanford team was able to match the accuracy of dermatologists at identifying skin cancer. The classifier the group built is in no way a panacea offering people a precise and irrefutable cancer diagnoses. But even matching fallible human accuracy, the model could pave the way for a less costly, highly-scaleable, solution to get more people taking life-saving preliminary screenings."
BUSINESS/INVESTING:
- The Stock Market's On An Epic Upswing. Here's Why It Probably Hasn't Benefitted You (NPR) "For those who have maxed out contributions to 401(k)s or socked away money in a brokerage account, the stock market has been a godsend. But only 52 percent of Americans have money in the stock market, matching the lowest rate in 19 years, according to a Gallup Poll from April. In 2007, according to that same poll, 65 percent reported investing in the market. Based on those Gallup numbers, many Americans lost faith in the market at exactly the wrong time — just as it was staging a powerful comeback."
NEWS:
- Mattis, Pompeo stunned by CIA 'black sites' report (Politico) "Trump himself did little to quell the unease about the document on Wednesday, telling ABC News he believes waterboarding 'works,' though he added he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on the issue. The defense secretary and CIA director have signaled they oppose reinstating Bush-era interrogation practices. The CIA declined to comment on the draft executive order on Wednesday, and a Pentagon spokesman pointed to Spicer's remarks."
- An Interview with Stanley McChrystal (PRISM) "There are two characteristics of concern. First is the reemergence of great power nationalism; the rise of China, the reemergence of Russia, both with enough power and self-confidence to go back to traditional nationalist objectives. The second area of concern is that technology and globalization have been great equalizers. Modern technology has given individuals extraordinary power."
- America’s New President Is Not a Rational Actor (Foreign Policy) "So where does this leave us? Way too soon to tell, but I’ll hazard two guesses. First, foreign and defense policies are going to be a train wreck, because they don’t have enough good people in place, the people they have appointed don’t agree on some pretty big issues (e.g., NATO), the foreign-policy 'blob' will undercut them at every turn, and Trump himself lacks the discipline or strategic vision to manage this process and may not care to try. Even if you agree with his broad approach, his team is going to make a lot more rookie mistakes before they figure out what they are doing. Second, get ready for a lot of unexpected developments and unintended consequences. If the United States is giving up its self-appointed role as the 'indispensable nation' and opting instead for 'America First,' a lot of other countries will have to rethink their policies, alignments, and commitments. Unraveling a long-standing order is rarely a pretty process, especially when it happens quickly and is driven not by optimism but by anger, fear, and resentment."
- Maybe Trump isn’t ‘lying’ (WaPo) "Putting aside the psychiatric lingo, Cruz’s essential point — Trump cannot tell what is real and what is not — surely looks right on point less than a week into the presidency. In the campaign, he became convinced, for example, that Arab Americans in New Jersey celebrated after 9/11. Now he becomes convinced of other, equally ludicrous assertions. Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and others know what he is saying is nonsense ('Alternative facts'? Puh-leez.) They do not have the nerve to tell him that what he believes cannot be true. and therefore cannot be uttered by the president of the United States without raising questions about his mental/emotional stability. They are lying if they repeat his claim, but maybe he is sincere.
- The leaks coming out of the Trump White House cast the president as a clueless child (WaPo) "Time and again, the image of Trump pushed by his 'aides' is one of a clueless child -- someone who acts on impulse, disregarding the better advice of people who know better. We know he needs to be managed or else he will say and do stupid things, the message seems to be. We're working on it. The frequency -- and nature -- of these leaks are yet another reminder that the Trump presidency is nothing like anything that's come before it. There is no blueprint. We're through the looking glass."
- Trump is getting payments from foreign governments. We have no idea what they are. (WaPo) "After the election, Trump had several months to move toward liquidation and putting his assets in a truly blind trust. He has chosen, instead, to keep his ownership interests in his businesses, turning over operating decisions to his children but remaining an owner. His decision threatens the integrity of American democracy and national security, and it should ring alarm bells for all citizens, regardless of political party. The framers were trained to be wary of how human nature can be tempted, and of international incentives to tempt. As George Washington said later, 'Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.' The framers understood that humans are inclined to look more favorably upon those who are responsible for their wealth. These are not trivial potential conflicts. They strike at the heart of what it means to be president: undivided loyalty to one’s country."
- What’s the method in Trump’s madness? (WaPo) "Or is the country confronting something even more troubling: a president unhinged from any realities that get in the way of his impulses, unmoored from any driving philosophy and willing to make everything up as he goes along, including 'alternative facts'? On the one hand, he has continued to make himself out as a 'populist'. On the other, he has been promising corporations the moon. In principle, it’s possible that Trump is returning to the days of William McKinley and Calvin Coolidge. From the 1890s to the Great Depression, Republican presidents pursued policies that were simultaneously pro-business and protectionist. But it’s also possible that he will offer mostly words on one side of this equation and a lot of benefits on the other. The world of finance seems to be wagering that Trump’s pro-corporate side will dominate. If there is any consistency here, it lies in the right-wing nationalism of his senior adviser Stephen K. Bannon."
- Mattis is trying to repair the damage Trump is doing (WaPo) "While the president fans the flames of intolerance, Mattis tells the military and civilian employees to be an example to the rest of the country. We hope the White House is listening and watching. Mattis is the only one in the administration so far to act, well, presidential and responsible. He knows we need allies. He knows the intelligence community is vital to our security. And he knows American values must be reinforced and celebrated. He knows our diversity is an asset, not a threat."
- Donald Trump gets serious about building a border wall (Economist) "Within the ranks of the Republican party, many are critical of Mr Trump’s wall. Will Hurd, a Republican congressman who represents the Texan borderlands stretching from San Antonio to El Paso, released a statement on January 25th saying that 'building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border. Each section of the border faces unique geographical, cultural, and technological challenges that would be best addressed with a flexible, sector-by-sector approach that empowers the agents on the ground with the resources they need.'"
- Trump White House senior staff have private RNC email accounts (Newsweek) "The system (rnchq.org) is the same one the Bush administration was accused of using to evade transparency rules after claiming to have “lost” 22 million emails. It’s not clear whether or how Trump staffers are using the RNC email addresses. If they are using them, they are subject to the 'Disclosure Requirement For Official Business Conducted Using Electronic Messaging Accounts,' a law, 44 U.S.C. 2209, that went into effect in 2014."
- Rogue National Park Accounts Emerge On Twitter Amid Social Media Gag Orders (NPR) "If Twitter accounts fall silent in the woods, can they still make a sound? Turns out, yes — lots. Tuesday afternoon, a new Twitter account called 'AltUSNatParkService' appeared and began tweeting out facts about climate change, support for the National Parks and comments in opposition of President Trump, who has called climate change a hoax created by China."
- Media Reports State Dept. 'Mass Resignation,' Officials Actually Fired (Breitbart) "This is not some shocking walkout by a defiant Resistance speaking truth to power – it is President Trump fulfilling a campaign promise on his fourth day in office." and Trump administration choosing to replace several senior State Department diplomats (WaPo) "It was not immediately clear how many people were affected, but officials said the White House had accepted a “handful” of resignations this week, while deferring action on others." and The State Department’s entire senior administrative team just resigned (WaPo) "One senior State Department official who responded to my requests for comment said that all the officials had previously submitted their letters of resignation, as was required for all positions that are appointed by the president and that require confirmation by the Senate, known as PAS positions."
- Steve Bannon Torches New York Times: 'You Have No Power' (Breitbart) "'The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,' Mr. Bannon said during a telephone call." and Trump’s Chief Strategist Says News Media Should ‘Keep Its Mouth Shut’ (NYT) "'I want you to quote this,” Mr. Bannon added. 'The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.'"
- In his first major TV interview as president, Trump is endlessly obsessed with his popularity (WaPo) "The lengthy interview, which aired late Wednesday night, provided a glimpse of the president and his state-of-mind on his fifth full day in office. It revealed a man who is obsessed with his own popularity and eager to provide evidence of his likability, even if that information doesn't match reality. The interview revealed just how preoccupied Trump is with two variables that are gumming up his claim of being widely beloved: Losing the popular vote to Clinton and hosting an inauguration crowd that was smaller than in previous years."
TECHNOLOGY:
- This pair of glasses can change focus based on what you look at (Mashable) "The lenses are made out of the liquid glycerin — a substance common in moisturizers and other beauty products — enveloped on both sides by "flexible, rubber-like membranes." The back of the membrane links to a series of three mechanical actuators that move the membrane back and forth, which changes the curve of the lens, which in turn adjusts how it refracts light to the eye."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Sleep peacefully in these germ-free bed sheets (Mashable) "By infusing copper threading in bamboo sheets, '29 linens' claims they can kill 99.9% of the bacteria on your sheets in just 30 minutes."
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- Donald Trump’s Assault on the Enlightenment (Foreign Policy) "Trump’s campaign and philosophy of governing aim to associate art and intellectualism with out-of-touch elites who have broken the trust of rural and less educated populations. For the Trump administration, the attacks on NEH and NEA form part of a wider assault on intellectualism itself. The reasons for cutting these agencies cannot be fiscal; combined, they constitute less than .01 percent of the federal budget."
HEALTH:
- Your smartphone could soon be the first step for diagnosing skin cancer (TechCrunch) "Utilizing machine learning, a Stanford team was able to match the accuracy of dermatologists at identifying skin cancer. The classifier the group built is in no way a panacea offering people a precise and irrefutable cancer diagnoses. But even matching fallible human accuracy, the model could pave the way for a less costly, highly-scaleable, solution to get more people taking life-saving preliminary screenings."
BUSINESS/INVESTING:
- The Stock Market's On An Epic Upswing. Here's Why It Probably Hasn't Benefitted You (NPR) "For those who have maxed out contributions to 401(k)s or socked away money in a brokerage account, the stock market has been a godsend. But only 52 percent of Americans have money in the stock market, matching the lowest rate in 19 years, according to a Gallup Poll from April. In 2007, according to that same poll, 65 percent reported investing in the market. Based on those Gallup numbers, many Americans lost faith in the market at exactly the wrong time — just as it was staging a powerful comeback."
NEWS:
- Mattis, Pompeo stunned by CIA 'black sites' report (Politico) "Trump himself did little to quell the unease about the document on Wednesday, telling ABC News he believes waterboarding 'works,' though he added he would defer to Mattis and Pompeo on the issue. The defense secretary and CIA director have signaled they oppose reinstating Bush-era interrogation practices. The CIA declined to comment on the draft executive order on Wednesday, and a Pentagon spokesman pointed to Spicer's remarks."
- An Interview with Stanley McChrystal (PRISM) "There are two characteristics of concern. First is the reemergence of great power nationalism; the rise of China, the reemergence of Russia, both with enough power and self-confidence to go back to traditional nationalist objectives. The second area of concern is that technology and globalization have been great equalizers. Modern technology has given individuals extraordinary power."
- America’s New President Is Not a Rational Actor (Foreign Policy) "So where does this leave us? Way too soon to tell, but I’ll hazard two guesses. First, foreign and defense policies are going to be a train wreck, because they don’t have enough good people in place, the people they have appointed don’t agree on some pretty big issues (e.g., NATO), the foreign-policy 'blob' will undercut them at every turn, and Trump himself lacks the discipline or strategic vision to manage this process and may not care to try. Even if you agree with his broad approach, his team is going to make a lot more rookie mistakes before they figure out what they are doing. Second, get ready for a lot of unexpected developments and unintended consequences. If the United States is giving up its self-appointed role as the 'indispensable nation' and opting instead for 'America First,' a lot of other countries will have to rethink their policies, alignments, and commitments. Unraveling a long-standing order is rarely a pretty process, especially when it happens quickly and is driven not by optimism but by anger, fear, and resentment."
- Maybe Trump isn’t ‘lying’ (WaPo) "Putting aside the psychiatric lingo, Cruz’s essential point — Trump cannot tell what is real and what is not — surely looks right on point less than a week into the presidency. In the campaign, he became convinced, for example, that Arab Americans in New Jersey celebrated after 9/11. Now he becomes convinced of other, equally ludicrous assertions. Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and others know what he is saying is nonsense ('Alternative facts'? Puh-leez.) They do not have the nerve to tell him that what he believes cannot be true. and therefore cannot be uttered by the president of the United States without raising questions about his mental/emotional stability. They are lying if they repeat his claim, but maybe he is sincere.
- The leaks coming out of the Trump White House cast the president as a clueless child (WaPo) "Time and again, the image of Trump pushed by his 'aides' is one of a clueless child -- someone who acts on impulse, disregarding the better advice of people who know better. We know he needs to be managed or else he will say and do stupid things, the message seems to be. We're working on it. The frequency -- and nature -- of these leaks are yet another reminder that the Trump presidency is nothing like anything that's come before it. There is no blueprint. We're through the looking glass."
- Trump is getting payments from foreign governments. We have no idea what they are. (WaPo) "After the election, Trump had several months to move toward liquidation and putting his assets in a truly blind trust. He has chosen, instead, to keep his ownership interests in his businesses, turning over operating decisions to his children but remaining an owner. His decision threatens the integrity of American democracy and national security, and it should ring alarm bells for all citizens, regardless of political party. The framers were trained to be wary of how human nature can be tempted, and of international incentives to tempt. As George Washington said later, 'Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.' The framers understood that humans are inclined to look more favorably upon those who are responsible for their wealth. These are not trivial potential conflicts. They strike at the heart of what it means to be president: undivided loyalty to one’s country."
- What’s the method in Trump’s madness? (WaPo) "Or is the country confronting something even more troubling: a president unhinged from any realities that get in the way of his impulses, unmoored from any driving philosophy and willing to make everything up as he goes along, including 'alternative facts'? On the one hand, he has continued to make himself out as a 'populist'. On the other, he has been promising corporations the moon. In principle, it’s possible that Trump is returning to the days of William McKinley and Calvin Coolidge. From the 1890s to the Great Depression, Republican presidents pursued policies that were simultaneously pro-business and protectionist. But it’s also possible that he will offer mostly words on one side of this equation and a lot of benefits on the other. The world of finance seems to be wagering that Trump’s pro-corporate side will dominate. If there is any consistency here, it lies in the right-wing nationalism of his senior adviser Stephen K. Bannon."
- Mattis is trying to repair the damage Trump is doing (WaPo) "While the president fans the flames of intolerance, Mattis tells the military and civilian employees to be an example to the rest of the country. We hope the White House is listening and watching. Mattis is the only one in the administration so far to act, well, presidential and responsible. He knows we need allies. He knows the intelligence community is vital to our security. And he knows American values must be reinforced and celebrated. He knows our diversity is an asset, not a threat."
- Donald Trump gets serious about building a border wall (Economist) "Within the ranks of the Republican party, many are critical of Mr Trump’s wall. Will Hurd, a Republican congressman who represents the Texan borderlands stretching from San Antonio to El Paso, released a statement on January 25th saying that 'building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border. Each section of the border faces unique geographical, cultural, and technological challenges that would be best addressed with a flexible, sector-by-sector approach that empowers the agents on the ground with the resources they need.'"
- Trump White House senior staff have private RNC email accounts (Newsweek) "The system (rnchq.org) is the same one the Bush administration was accused of using to evade transparency rules after claiming to have “lost” 22 million emails. It’s not clear whether or how Trump staffers are using the RNC email addresses. If they are using them, they are subject to the 'Disclosure Requirement For Official Business Conducted Using Electronic Messaging Accounts,' a law, 44 U.S.C. 2209, that went into effect in 2014."
- Rogue National Park Accounts Emerge On Twitter Amid Social Media Gag Orders (NPR) "If Twitter accounts fall silent in the woods, can they still make a sound? Turns out, yes — lots. Tuesday afternoon, a new Twitter account called 'AltUSNatParkService' appeared and began tweeting out facts about climate change, support for the National Parks and comments in opposition of President Trump, who has called climate change a hoax created by China."
- Media Reports State Dept. 'Mass Resignation,' Officials Actually Fired (Breitbart) "This is not some shocking walkout by a defiant Resistance speaking truth to power – it is President Trump fulfilling a campaign promise on his fourth day in office." and Trump administration choosing to replace several senior State Department diplomats (WaPo) "It was not immediately clear how many people were affected, but officials said the White House had accepted a “handful” of resignations this week, while deferring action on others." and The State Department’s entire senior administrative team just resigned (WaPo) "One senior State Department official who responded to my requests for comment said that all the officials had previously submitted their letters of resignation, as was required for all positions that are appointed by the president and that require confirmation by the Senate, known as PAS positions."
- Steve Bannon Torches New York Times: 'You Have No Power' (Breitbart) "'The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,' Mr. Bannon said during a telephone call." and Trump’s Chief Strategist Says News Media Should ‘Keep Its Mouth Shut’ (NYT) "'I want you to quote this,” Mr. Bannon added. 'The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.'"
- In his first major TV interview as president, Trump is endlessly obsessed with his popularity (WaPo) "The lengthy interview, which aired late Wednesday night, provided a glimpse of the president and his state-of-mind on his fifth full day in office. It revealed a man who is obsessed with his own popularity and eager to provide evidence of his likability, even if that information doesn't match reality. The interview revealed just how preoccupied Trump is with two variables that are gumming up his claim of being widely beloved: Losing the popular vote to Clinton and hosting an inauguration crowd that was smaller than in previous years."
TECHNOLOGY:
- This pair of glasses can change focus based on what you look at (Mashable) "The lenses are made out of the liquid glycerin — a substance common in moisturizers and other beauty products — enveloped on both sides by "flexible, rubber-like membranes." The back of the membrane links to a series of three mechanical actuators that move the membrane back and forth, which changes the curve of the lens, which in turn adjusts how it refracts light to the eye."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Sleep peacefully in these germ-free bed sheets (Mashable) "By infusing copper threading in bamboo sheets, '29 linens' claims they can kill 99.9% of the bacteria on your sheets in just 30 minutes."
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Thursday, January 26, 2017
THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- How Steve Bannon Set the Stage for Donald Trump (The Ringer) "Trump is not a character in any of Bannon’s docs, but the films embody the messaging hammered again and again by the Trump campaign: an embrace of nationalism, disdain for progressive causes, and confidence that it takes only one straight-talking populist to bring back a better, more 'traditional' America. Bannon’s documentaries aren’t against any particular thing so much as they’re against everything except the Judeo-Christian, 1950s-fetishizing nationalistic fever dream. Bannon’s films long for a white-picket-fence past that never existed. He sells the philosophy of Donald Trump’s America by pining for June Cleaver’s suburbia. 'Make America Great Again' could be the tagline to any one of Bannon’s films. It’s an imperative and a plea to return to an idealized version of the past. As a command, it tells people they are capable of this reversal, if only they follow the leader. As a plea from a crowd, it’s an affirmation that Trump must rule. But what is unusual about Bannon, as an American politician, is how gleeful he has been about the prospect of literal revolution. 'I’m a Leninist,' he reportedly told a Daily Beast writer in 2013. 'Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment.' (After joining Team Trump, Bannon later said he had no recollection of the conversation.) Becoming the most notorious propagandist for what he calls the 'center-right revolt' may have been personally meaningful to Bannon, or maybe he’s a complete cynic. I cannot pretend to know his innermost motivations, but looking at his history, his on-the-record interviews, and his filmography, it is apparent he has been tinkering diligently with this ideology and casting about for the person to lead this movement for over a decade."
- The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence (Rolling Stone) "Trump choosing Pence was an explicit move to protect his flank with the Christian right. It seems likely that Pence will have immense influence over social issues, like repealing Obamacare, gutting abortion rights and keeping the LGBTQ community in its place. So what do we know about Pence? He became president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a conservative think tank, and began publishing his thoughts online. He wrote some real doozies, like coming out as a climate-change denialist ('Global warming is a myth. ... There, I said it') and a cigarette denialist ('Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill'). He became a board member of the Indiana Family Institute, an anti-abortion, anti-gay organization that pronounced the protest movement that formed after the brutal 1998 murder of gay teen Matthew Shepard to be homosexual-activist 'propaganda.' [He] benefited greatly from the wall-to-wall 'Trump is a crazy monkey throwing feces' media coverage during the fall campaign, in that his record was undercovered, but it's out there and suggests that his impact as vice president will screw African-Americans, women, the poor and any other square peg in round America. Pence is the nation's 48th vice president. Nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency as a result of death or resignation. That's a 19 percent ascendancy rate. Between Trump's trigger-happy Twitter persona, the ethical nightmare of his business empire, his KFC addiction and possible entanglements with Vladimir Putin, I'd say the chances for Mike Pence are more than 50-50."
BUSINESS:
- Doubts Arise as Investors Flock to Crowdfunded Start-Ups (NYT) "Yet advocates of crowdfunding, like Mr. Feit, have been expressing concern about the low levels of compliance among many of the early companies that have raised money and the bad terms the companies have offered investors."
NEWS:
- Donald Trump Signs Executive Actions: ‘Today the USA Gets Back Control of its Borders’ (Breitbart) "Trump said that pundits and the media have ignored victims of open borders. 'To all of those hurting out there, I repeat to you these words. We hear you, we see you and you will never, ever be ignored again,' he said." and Trump to sign executive orders enabling construction of proposed border wall and targeting sanctuary cities (WaPo)
- Trump seeks ‘major investigation’ into unsupported claims of voter fraud (WaPo) "The White House has yet to provide details, but Trump said in back-to-back tweets that the investigation into 'VOTER FRAUD' — Trump used all capitals for emphasis — would cover 'those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal' and 'those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).' and Steve Bannon registered to vote in two states despite Trump's cries of 'voter fraud' (The Guardian) and Trump cabinet nominee Steven Mnuchin is also registered to vote in two states (CNN)
- What Do You Mean by 'The Media'? (Atlantic) "The sentiment capitalizes and expands upon an unprecedented divide: As of September of 2016, according to a Gallup poll, more Americans distrust 'the media' than ever before. Especially among Republicans: Only 14 percent have even a 'fair amount of trust in the media.'"
SCIENCE:
- The Atomic Origins of Climate Science (New Yorker) "The nuclear-winter debate has long since been forgotten, but you can still spy it behind every cloud and confusion. It holds a lesson or two. A public understanding of science is not well served by shackling science to a national-security state. The public may not naturally have much tolerance for uncertainty, but uncertainty is the best that many scientific arguments can produce. Critics of climate-change science who ground their argument on uncertainty have either got to apply that same standard of evidence to nuclear-weapons strategy or else find a better argument. Because, as Sagan once put it, theories that involve the end of the world are not amenable to experimental verification—at least, not more than once."
- They Walked on the Moon (NYT) "Here is a look at the 12 astronauts who walked on the lunar surface."
WATCH THIS:
- Robert Gates - Charlie Rose (PBS)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- How bad is email for the environment? (WaPo) "A normal email has a footprint of 4 g of CO2e. An email with a 'long and tiresome attachment' can have a carbon footprint of 50g CO2e."
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- How Steve Bannon Set the Stage for Donald Trump (The Ringer) "Trump is not a character in any of Bannon’s docs, but the films embody the messaging hammered again and again by the Trump campaign: an embrace of nationalism, disdain for progressive causes, and confidence that it takes only one straight-talking populist to bring back a better, more 'traditional' America. Bannon’s documentaries aren’t against any particular thing so much as they’re against everything except the Judeo-Christian, 1950s-fetishizing nationalistic fever dream. Bannon’s films long for a white-picket-fence past that never existed. He sells the philosophy of Donald Trump’s America by pining for June Cleaver’s suburbia. 'Make America Great Again' could be the tagline to any one of Bannon’s films. It’s an imperative and a plea to return to an idealized version of the past. As a command, it tells people they are capable of this reversal, if only they follow the leader. As a plea from a crowd, it’s an affirmation that Trump must rule. But what is unusual about Bannon, as an American politician, is how gleeful he has been about the prospect of literal revolution. 'I’m a Leninist,' he reportedly told a Daily Beast writer in 2013. 'Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment.' (After joining Team Trump, Bannon later said he had no recollection of the conversation.) Becoming the most notorious propagandist for what he calls the 'center-right revolt' may have been personally meaningful to Bannon, or maybe he’s a complete cynic. I cannot pretend to know his innermost motivations, but looking at his history, his on-the-record interviews, and his filmography, it is apparent he has been tinkering diligently with this ideology and casting about for the person to lead this movement for over a decade."
- The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence (Rolling Stone) "Trump choosing Pence was an explicit move to protect his flank with the Christian right. It seems likely that Pence will have immense influence over social issues, like repealing Obamacare, gutting abortion rights and keeping the LGBTQ community in its place. So what do we know about Pence? He became president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a conservative think tank, and began publishing his thoughts online. He wrote some real doozies, like coming out as a climate-change denialist ('Global warming is a myth. ... There, I said it') and a cigarette denialist ('Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill'). He became a board member of the Indiana Family Institute, an anti-abortion, anti-gay organization that pronounced the protest movement that formed after the brutal 1998 murder of gay teen Matthew Shepard to be homosexual-activist 'propaganda.' [He] benefited greatly from the wall-to-wall 'Trump is a crazy monkey throwing feces' media coverage during the fall campaign, in that his record was undercovered, but it's out there and suggests that his impact as vice president will screw African-Americans, women, the poor and any other square peg in round America. Pence is the nation's 48th vice president. Nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency as a result of death or resignation. That's a 19 percent ascendancy rate. Between Trump's trigger-happy Twitter persona, the ethical nightmare of his business empire, his KFC addiction and possible entanglements with Vladimir Putin, I'd say the chances for Mike Pence are more than 50-50."
BUSINESS:
- Doubts Arise as Investors Flock to Crowdfunded Start-Ups (NYT) "Yet advocates of crowdfunding, like Mr. Feit, have been expressing concern about the low levels of compliance among many of the early companies that have raised money and the bad terms the companies have offered investors."
NEWS:
- Donald Trump Signs Executive Actions: ‘Today the USA Gets Back Control of its Borders’ (Breitbart) "Trump said that pundits and the media have ignored victims of open borders. 'To all of those hurting out there, I repeat to you these words. We hear you, we see you and you will never, ever be ignored again,' he said." and Trump to sign executive orders enabling construction of proposed border wall and targeting sanctuary cities (WaPo)
- Trump seeks ‘major investigation’ into unsupported claims of voter fraud (WaPo) "The White House has yet to provide details, but Trump said in back-to-back tweets that the investigation into 'VOTER FRAUD' — Trump used all capitals for emphasis — would cover 'those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal' and 'those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).' and Steve Bannon registered to vote in two states despite Trump's cries of 'voter fraud' (The Guardian) and Trump cabinet nominee Steven Mnuchin is also registered to vote in two states (CNN)
- What Do You Mean by 'The Media'? (Atlantic) "The sentiment capitalizes and expands upon an unprecedented divide: As of September of 2016, according to a Gallup poll, more Americans distrust 'the media' than ever before. Especially among Republicans: Only 14 percent have even a 'fair amount of trust in the media.'"
SCIENCE:
- The Atomic Origins of Climate Science (New Yorker) "The nuclear-winter debate has long since been forgotten, but you can still spy it behind every cloud and confusion. It holds a lesson or two. A public understanding of science is not well served by shackling science to a national-security state. The public may not naturally have much tolerance for uncertainty, but uncertainty is the best that many scientific arguments can produce. Critics of climate-change science who ground their argument on uncertainty have either got to apply that same standard of evidence to nuclear-weapons strategy or else find a better argument. Because, as Sagan once put it, theories that involve the end of the world are not amenable to experimental verification—at least, not more than once."
- They Walked on the Moon (NYT) "Here is a look at the 12 astronauts who walked on the lunar surface."
WATCH THIS:
- Robert Gates - Charlie Rose (PBS)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- How bad is email for the environment? (WaPo) "A normal email has a footprint of 4 g of CO2e. An email with a 'long and tiresome attachment' can have a carbon footprint of 50g CO2e."
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017
WE HAVE ENTERED A SCARY PARALLEL INFORMATION UNIVERSE
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- Fake Think Tanks Fuel Fake News—And the President’s Tweets (Wired) "'Fake think tanks use a mix of selected truths, half-truths, and downright fabricated stuff in order to manipulate people,' says Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City College of New York and author of Nonsense on Stilts: How To Tell Science from Bunk. 'We don’t live in the age of post-truth. We live in the age of internet-enabled bullshit.' 'For the lay person who reads about these topics for 10 minutes a week, I don’t think there is an easy way to see who’s full of it,' says Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute. Most of these organizations are just hate groups with a dozen employees sitting in a tax loophole. But that doesn’t mean their reach is limited—it’s quite the opposite. 'Their disinformation has been weaponized through search algorithms,' says Beirich. 'Think-tanky white supremacist organizations have generated enough material that a search topic like ‘black on white crime’ is dominated by their propaganda. That’s what happened to Dylann Roof, and how Trump ended up tweeting those false statistics.' According to Abelson, think tanks aligning themselves with an ascendant political figure is their boat to the mainstream. That’s what Heritage did with Ronald Reagan, and what these groups are doing with Donald Trump—so far, successfully. 'Look, people connected to these groups are going to be in the White House. Kris Kobach is deciding on immigration policy and he’s spent the last ten years deep in the heart of FAIR,' Beirich says. 'That’s the ultimate reach.' And with no regulatory agency, and a consistent campaign to delegitimize mainstream media, few mechanisms exist to keep these groups in check."
- The Right Is Building A New Media "Upside Down" To Tell Trump’s Story (BuzzFeed) "The New Media Upside Down looks a lot like the media it’s trying to undermine and replace, but it’s darker in vision — and raw. Unlike the patently false news coming out of political content farms in places like Macedonia, the New Media Upside Down’s work is based, to some extent, on actual reporting, despite its shaky sourcing and questionable, often misleading framing. Most stories percolating inside the New Media Upside Down exist in a gray area, deftly walking the line between salacious framing/innuendo and falsehoods, but rarely stepping into the dangerous territory of fake news. All signs suggest the ecosystem will only grow murkier."
- Why Trump's Staff Is Lying (Bloomberg) "First and most obviously, the leader wishes to mislead the public, and wants to have subordinates doing so, in part because many citizens won’t pursue fact-checking. That makes those individuals grow more dependent on the leader and less likely to mount independent rebellions against the structure of command. Another reason for promoting lying is what economists sometimes call loyalty filters. If you want to ascertain if someone is truly loyal to you, ask them to do something outrageous or stupid. So the overall picture is this: The Trump administration trusts neither its own appointees nor its own supporters, and is creating a situation where that lack of trust is reciprocal. That is of all things a strategy for getting things done, and these first one hundred days are going to be a doozy."
- Fake Think Tanks Fuel Fake News—And the President’s Tweets (Wired) "'Fake think tanks use a mix of selected truths, half-truths, and downright fabricated stuff in order to manipulate people,' says Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City College of New York and author of Nonsense on Stilts: How To Tell Science from Bunk. 'We don’t live in the age of post-truth. We live in the age of internet-enabled bullshit.' 'For the lay person who reads about these topics for 10 minutes a week, I don’t think there is an easy way to see who’s full of it,' says Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute. Most of these organizations are just hate groups with a dozen employees sitting in a tax loophole. But that doesn’t mean their reach is limited—it’s quite the opposite. 'Their disinformation has been weaponized through search algorithms,' says Beirich. 'Think-tanky white supremacist organizations have generated enough material that a search topic like ‘black on white crime’ is dominated by their propaganda. That’s what happened to Dylann Roof, and how Trump ended up tweeting those false statistics.' According to Abelson, think tanks aligning themselves with an ascendant political figure is their boat to the mainstream. That’s what Heritage did with Ronald Reagan, and what these groups are doing with Donald Trump—so far, successfully. 'Look, people connected to these groups are going to be in the White House. Kris Kobach is deciding on immigration policy and he’s spent the last ten years deep in the heart of FAIR,' Beirich says. 'That’s the ultimate reach.' And with no regulatory agency, and a consistent campaign to delegitimize mainstream media, few mechanisms exist to keep these groups in check."
- The Right Is Building A New Media "Upside Down" To Tell Trump’s Story (BuzzFeed) "The New Media Upside Down looks a lot like the media it’s trying to undermine and replace, but it’s darker in vision — and raw. Unlike the patently false news coming out of political content farms in places like Macedonia, the New Media Upside Down’s work is based, to some extent, on actual reporting, despite its shaky sourcing and questionable, often misleading framing. Most stories percolating inside the New Media Upside Down exist in a gray area, deftly walking the line between salacious framing/innuendo and falsehoods, but rarely stepping into the dangerous territory of fake news. All signs suggest the ecosystem will only grow murkier."
- Why Trump's Staff Is Lying (Bloomberg) "First and most obviously, the leader wishes to mislead the public, and wants to have subordinates doing so, in part because many citizens won’t pursue fact-checking. That makes those individuals grow more dependent on the leader and less likely to mount independent rebellions against the structure of command. Another reason for promoting lying is what economists sometimes call loyalty filters. If you want to ascertain if someone is truly loyal to you, ask them to do something outrageous or stupid. So the overall picture is this: The Trump administration trusts neither its own appointees nor its own supporters, and is creating a situation where that lack of trust is reciprocal. That is of all things a strategy for getting things done, and these first one hundred days are going to be a doozy."
- How statistics lost their power – and why we should fear what comes next (The Guardian) "Shortly before the November presidential election, a study in the U.S. discovered that 68% of Trump supporters distrusted the economic data published by the federal government. Antipathy to statistics has become one of the hallmarks of the populist right, with statisticians and economists chief among the various 'experts' that were ostensibly rejected by voters in 2016. From one perspective, grounding politics in statistics is elitist, undemocratic and oblivious to people’s emotional investments in their community and nation. It is just one more way that privileged people in London, Washington DC or Brussels seek to impose their worldview on everybody else. The alternative to quantitative expertise is less likely to be democracy than an unleashing of tabloid editors and demagogues to provide their own 'truth' of what is going on across society. Figures close to Donald Trump, such as his chief strategist Steve Bannon and the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, are closely acquainted with cutting-edge data analytics techniques, via companies such as Cambridge Analytica, on whose board Bannon sits. During the presidential election campaign, Cambridge Analytica drew on various data sources to develop psychological profiles of millions of Americans, which it then used to help Trump target voters with tailored messaging. This ability to develop and refine psychological insights across large populations is one of the most innovative and controversial features of the new data analysis. As techniques of 'sentiment analysis', which detect the mood of large numbers of people by tracking indicators such as word usage on social media, become incorporated into political campaigns, the emotional allure of figures such as Trump will become amenable to scientific scrutiny. In a world where the political feelings of the general public are becoming this traceable, who needs pollsters?"
ART/ENTERTAINMENT:
ART/ENTERTAINMENT:
- Art Market Mines Gold on Instagram (NYT)
BUSINESS:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Crisis Signals Problems at Korea Inc. (NYT) "How could such a technologically advanced titan allow the problems to happen to begin with? Samsung, like South Korea as a whole, fosters a top-down, hidebound culture that stifles innovation and buries festering problems, they say. Samsung engineers and midlevel managers are seldom allowed to second-guess management goals set by top bosses, former employees say."
- Asteroid Mining Sounds Hard, Right? You Don’t Know the Half of It (Wired) "But traveling the road to space-based industry will require giant leaps. Like picking the most lucrative asteroids—the ones with lots of water and precious metals—from far afield. What if a company chose a target asteroid based on predictions, only to find, upon arrival, that it holds much less water and platinum than checkbooks and customers hoped? Too bad, so sad."
BUSINESS:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Crisis Signals Problems at Korea Inc. (NYT) "How could such a technologically advanced titan allow the problems to happen to begin with? Samsung, like South Korea as a whole, fosters a top-down, hidebound culture that stifles innovation and buries festering problems, they say. Samsung engineers and midlevel managers are seldom allowed to second-guess management goals set by top bosses, former employees say."
- Asteroid Mining Sounds Hard, Right? You Don’t Know the Half of It (Wired) "But traveling the road to space-based industry will require giant leaps. Like picking the most lucrative asteroids—the ones with lots of water and precious metals—from far afield. What if a company chose a target asteroid based on predictions, only to find, upon arrival, that it holds much less water and platinum than checkbooks and customers hoped? Too bad, so sad."
- Alibaba’s Profile Is Global, but Its Fate Is Tied to China (NYT)
NEWS:
- What the Death of the T.P.P. Means for America (New Yorker) "Both proponents and detractors exaggerated the effects of the T.P.P., the impact of which was always going to be modest in measurable economic terms. Why did the Obama Administration fight so hard for T.P.P.? The trade agreement was central to long-term U.S. interests around the world. As the dominant party in the pact, the U.S. would have controlled future access to that zone. The zone would have all but surrounded China, which was not part of the pact, and would have served to pressure that country to change its own practices. President Trump, like many others, is right to be concerned about people losing factory jobs, particularly in the Rust Belt, which delivered his victory. The T.P.P. probably would have killed some jobs there, and it surely would have created some others. Estimates suggest that it would have been a wash." and Withdrawal from Trans-Pacific Partnership shifts U.S. role in world economy (WaPo) "Trump’s executive order formally ending the United States’ participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a largely symbolic move intended to signal that his tough talk on trade during the campaign will carry over to his new administration. The action came as China and other emerging economies are seeking to increase their leverage in global affairs, seizing on America’s turn inward. Pulling out of the deal 'raises fundamental questions about American reliability,' said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. 'It leaves our allies and trading partners in the lurch. It does create strategic opportunities for China.' Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) echoed those concerns Monday, calling Trump’s withdrawal from the T.P.P. a 'serious mistake' that will give China greater authority to dictate the terms of international trade. Ending America’s involvement in the T.P.P. was also a top priority for Democrats." and Donald Trump just forfeited in his first fight with China (WaPo) "That's because the T.P.P. wasn't really about reducing tariffs. It was more about making other countries follow our rules for patents and intellectual property, raising prices for Asian consumers and profits for American companies. That'd be better for our shareholders, but not necessarily for our workers. In all likelihood, it wouldn't change our jobs picture very much for good or ill. No, the real reason to support the T.P.P. wasn't economics so much as geopolitics. It was about keeping an economic foot firmly planted in China's backyard, and writing the trade rules so they couldn't." and Trump kills T.P.P., giving China its first big win (WaPo)
- The first days inside Trump’s White House: Fury, tumult and a reboot (WaPo) "Trump has been resentful, even furious, at what he views as the media’s failure to reflect the magnitude of his achievements, and he feels demoralized that the public’s perception of his presidency so far does not necessarily align with his own sense of accomplishment."
- USDA science researchers ordered to stop publishing news releases, other documents (WaPo) "The 'public-facing documents' memo Monday, which was first reported by BuzzFeed, raised fears that the new Trump administration was attempting to filter articles about ongoing scientific research being conducted by ARS. USDA and ARS have issued media guidance in the past. Under the Obama administration, guidance published in 2013 stipulated that USDA employees should clear any 'media inquiries on topics that are sensitive' with public affairs staffers."
- Senate Democrats unveil a Trump-size infrastructure plan (WaPo) "Eager to drive a wedge between the new president and congressional Republicans, Democrats see talk of infrastructure projects as a way to piggyback on Trump’s frequent vows to repair the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges and persuade him to adopt ideas that would put him at odds with GOP leaders, who have done little to embrace what would amount to a major new government spending program." and Is Trump really ‘pro-worker,’ or is it a scam? Here’s how Democrats will call his bluff. (WaPo) "They are unveiling their own massive infrastructure spending plan, and are asking Trump to join them in supporting it. Their 10-year blueprint included $75 billion for schools, $210 billion for roads and bridges, $10 billion for VA hospitals, and $20 billion for broadband installations. For every billion dollars in spending, 13,000 jobs lasting at least a year would be created, they said, citing a Federal Highway Administration estimate."
- President Trump’s Big-Money Establishment (NYT)
- Defense Secretary Mattis emphasizes NATO commitment on first day (USA Today)
SCIENCE:
- Sorry, But Speed Reading Won’t Help You Read More (Wired) "The serious way to improve reading—how well we comprehend a text and, yes, speed and efficiency—is this: Read. As much as possible. Mostly new stuff."
SPORTS:
- Baseball Teams More Likely To Have A Bad Game Due To Jet Lag When Flying East (Consumerist) "'Home-team eastward travel, but not westward travel, significantly reduced doubles, triples, and stolen bases, and increased double plays.'"
TECHNOLOGY:
- Tesla’s New Version of Autopilot is Just the Start of a Critical Reboot (Wired) "Eventually, Tesla’s aim is to make its cars fully autonomous, and Musk is promising a demonstration drive coast to coast, with no human interaction, by the end of this year. And then, things will look a whole lot cooler."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- The Plan to Test Cities’ Sewage for Drugs Is a New Form of Mass Surveillance (Motherboard) "Across the globe, researchers at wastewater treatment plants are testing for psychoactive substances passed by drug users through their feces and urine. The data can be incredibly valuable, letting scientists and law enforcement quickly track drug use trends and identify new substances on the market. It can also measure the impact of drug policy strategies, even highlight which days of the week drug use spikes."
- Massachusetts mattress conceals $20m in cash (BBC) "The cash is believed to be linked to a $1 billion pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a company that claimed to provide internet phone services."
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NEWS:
- What the Death of the T.P.P. Means for America (New Yorker) "Both proponents and detractors exaggerated the effects of the T.P.P., the impact of which was always going to be modest in measurable economic terms. Why did the Obama Administration fight so hard for T.P.P.? The trade agreement was central to long-term U.S. interests around the world. As the dominant party in the pact, the U.S. would have controlled future access to that zone. The zone would have all but surrounded China, which was not part of the pact, and would have served to pressure that country to change its own practices. President Trump, like many others, is right to be concerned about people losing factory jobs, particularly in the Rust Belt, which delivered his victory. The T.P.P. probably would have killed some jobs there, and it surely would have created some others. Estimates suggest that it would have been a wash." and Withdrawal from Trans-Pacific Partnership shifts U.S. role in world economy (WaPo) "Trump’s executive order formally ending the United States’ participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a largely symbolic move intended to signal that his tough talk on trade during the campaign will carry over to his new administration. The action came as China and other emerging economies are seeking to increase their leverage in global affairs, seizing on America’s turn inward. Pulling out of the deal 'raises fundamental questions about American reliability,' said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. 'It leaves our allies and trading partners in the lurch. It does create strategic opportunities for China.' Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) echoed those concerns Monday, calling Trump’s withdrawal from the T.P.P. a 'serious mistake' that will give China greater authority to dictate the terms of international trade. Ending America’s involvement in the T.P.P. was also a top priority for Democrats." and Donald Trump just forfeited in his first fight with China (WaPo) "That's because the T.P.P. wasn't really about reducing tariffs. It was more about making other countries follow our rules for patents and intellectual property, raising prices for Asian consumers and profits for American companies. That'd be better for our shareholders, but not necessarily for our workers. In all likelihood, it wouldn't change our jobs picture very much for good or ill. No, the real reason to support the T.P.P. wasn't economics so much as geopolitics. It was about keeping an economic foot firmly planted in China's backyard, and writing the trade rules so they couldn't." and Trump kills T.P.P., giving China its first big win (WaPo)
- The first days inside Trump’s White House: Fury, tumult and a reboot (WaPo) "Trump has been resentful, even furious, at what he views as the media’s failure to reflect the magnitude of his achievements, and he feels demoralized that the public’s perception of his presidency so far does not necessarily align with his own sense of accomplishment."
- USDA science researchers ordered to stop publishing news releases, other documents (WaPo) "The 'public-facing documents' memo Monday, which was first reported by BuzzFeed, raised fears that the new Trump administration was attempting to filter articles about ongoing scientific research being conducted by ARS. USDA and ARS have issued media guidance in the past. Under the Obama administration, guidance published in 2013 stipulated that USDA employees should clear any 'media inquiries on topics that are sensitive' with public affairs staffers."
- Senate Democrats unveil a Trump-size infrastructure plan (WaPo) "Eager to drive a wedge between the new president and congressional Republicans, Democrats see talk of infrastructure projects as a way to piggyback on Trump’s frequent vows to repair the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges and persuade him to adopt ideas that would put him at odds with GOP leaders, who have done little to embrace what would amount to a major new government spending program." and Is Trump really ‘pro-worker,’ or is it a scam? Here’s how Democrats will call his bluff. (WaPo) "They are unveiling their own massive infrastructure spending plan, and are asking Trump to join them in supporting it. Their 10-year blueprint included $75 billion for schools, $210 billion for roads and bridges, $10 billion for VA hospitals, and $20 billion for broadband installations. For every billion dollars in spending, 13,000 jobs lasting at least a year would be created, they said, citing a Federal Highway Administration estimate."
- President Trump’s Big-Money Establishment (NYT)
- Defense Secretary Mattis emphasizes NATO commitment on first day (USA Today)
SCIENCE:
- Sorry, But Speed Reading Won’t Help You Read More (Wired) "The serious way to improve reading—how well we comprehend a text and, yes, speed and efficiency—is this: Read. As much as possible. Mostly new stuff."
SPORTS:
- Baseball Teams More Likely To Have A Bad Game Due To Jet Lag When Flying East (Consumerist) "'Home-team eastward travel, but not westward travel, significantly reduced doubles, triples, and stolen bases, and increased double plays.'"
TECHNOLOGY:
- Tesla’s New Version of Autopilot is Just the Start of a Critical Reboot (Wired) "Eventually, Tesla’s aim is to make its cars fully autonomous, and Musk is promising a demonstration drive coast to coast, with no human interaction, by the end of this year. And then, things will look a whole lot cooler."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- The Plan to Test Cities’ Sewage for Drugs Is a New Form of Mass Surveillance (Motherboard) "Across the globe, researchers at wastewater treatment plants are testing for psychoactive substances passed by drug users through their feces and urine. The data can be incredibly valuable, letting scientists and law enforcement quickly track drug use trends and identify new substances on the market. It can also measure the impact of drug policy strategies, even highlight which days of the week drug use spikes."
- Massachusetts mattress conceals $20m in cash (BBC) "The cash is believed to be linked to a $1 billion pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a company that claimed to provide internet phone services."
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017
CONFLICTS? IMPEACHMENT? THAT DID NOT TAKE LONG
TOP OF THE NEWS:
- The Case for Donald Trump’s Impeachability (NY Mag) "Last Friday, the Brookings Institute released a very helpful 23-page paper that serves as a rather forceful rebuttal to Tillman’s interpretation. The authors argue that a common-sense reading of the Constitution and the relevant legal theory and history all lead to the conclusion that Trump is, in fact, subject to the Emoluments Clause, and could therefore be walking into an unusual sort of constitutional danger zone. The paper was written by a bipartisan trio of legal experts who have been active in this discussion: Norman L. Eisen, a Brookings fellow, the chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and a former chief White House ethics lawyer under Obama; Richard Painter, a vice-chair at CREW and former chief White House lawyer under George W. Bush; and Laurence Tribe, a constitutional-law professor at Harvard. Just yesterday, for example, ThinkProgress reported that a few days after Trump’s victory, the Kuwaiti embassy in D.C. canceled an event at the Four Seasons, 'citing political pressure to hold its National Day celebration at the Trump International Hotel instead' — pressure that came from the Trump Organization itself." and Foreign Payments to Trump Firms Violate Constitution, Suit Will Claim (NYT)
BUSINESS:
- Foxconn Considering Building Plant in U.S. (Reuters) "Foxconn’s proposal to build a display plant, which would be planned with its Sharp unit, depends on many factors, such as investment conditions, that would have to be negotiated at the state and federal levels in the United States, Mr. Gou said. Foxconn has existing cooperation and operations in Pennsylvania, which is a state Foxconn would make a priority, depending on land, water, power, infrastructure and other investment conditions, Mr. Gou said."
- Who Will Win in Business Under Trump? (Ozy) "1. Defense and security companies. 2. Apple and other large domestic exporters. 3. Exxon Mobil and other oil and gas producers. 4. The construction sector. 5. Banks, big or small (but not both). 6. The Trump Organization."
- Sprint just bought a third of Jay Z’s music streaming service, Tidal (WaPo)
HEALTH:
- Blame Technology, Not Longer Life Spans, for Health Spending Increases (NYT)
LIVING:
- How Moms Can Raise Math Whizzes (Ozy) "By labeling set sizes, they begin to understand that the last number they say when counting a group of objects represents its quantity — a concept known as cardinality that is crucial for mastering addition and subtraction."
NEWS:
- Trump’s Vainglorious Affront to the C.I.A. (New Yorker) "Trump vowed greater support for America’s sixteen intelligence agencies than they had received from any other President. In his remarks, Trump made passing reference to the 'special wall' behind him but never mentioned the top-secret work or personal sacrifices of intelligence officers... Trump’s unscripted remarks were, instead, largely about himself, even as he praised Mike Pompeo—a West Point and Harvard Law School graduate, Kansas congressman, and Tea Party supporter—as his choice to lead the C.I.A. Trump spoke briefly about eradicating 'radical Islamic extremism,' a cornerstone of his foreign policy. But he devoted more than twice as many words to the dispute over the turnout at his Inauguration." and CIA officers give mixed reviews of Trump’s strange visit (WaPo) "But CIA veterans said his private tour of CIA headquarters went better than his recorded public comments in front of the wall of stars commemorating fallen officers. 'He said some of the right things, but it still had a bizarre quality to it,' said one former top CIA official. Trump’s comments included 'way too much campaign-related things' and 'attacks on the media [that] did not fit and were wrong.'"
- The Case for Donald Trump’s Impeachability (NY Mag) "Last Friday, the Brookings Institute released a very helpful 23-page paper that serves as a rather forceful rebuttal to Tillman’s interpretation. The authors argue that a common-sense reading of the Constitution and the relevant legal theory and history all lead to the conclusion that Trump is, in fact, subject to the Emoluments Clause, and could therefore be walking into an unusual sort of constitutional danger zone. The paper was written by a bipartisan trio of legal experts who have been active in this discussion: Norman L. Eisen, a Brookings fellow, the chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and a former chief White House ethics lawyer under Obama; Richard Painter, a vice-chair at CREW and former chief White House lawyer under George W. Bush; and Laurence Tribe, a constitutional-law professor at Harvard. Just yesterday, for example, ThinkProgress reported that a few days after Trump’s victory, the Kuwaiti embassy in D.C. canceled an event at the Four Seasons, 'citing political pressure to hold its National Day celebration at the Trump International Hotel instead' — pressure that came from the Trump Organization itself." and Foreign Payments to Trump Firms Violate Constitution, Suit Will Claim (NYT)
BUSINESS:
- Foxconn Considering Building Plant in U.S. (Reuters) "Foxconn’s proposal to build a display plant, which would be planned with its Sharp unit, depends on many factors, such as investment conditions, that would have to be negotiated at the state and federal levels in the United States, Mr. Gou said. Foxconn has existing cooperation and operations in Pennsylvania, which is a state Foxconn would make a priority, depending on land, water, power, infrastructure and other investment conditions, Mr. Gou said."
- Who Will Win in Business Under Trump? (Ozy) "1. Defense and security companies. 2. Apple and other large domestic exporters. 3. Exxon Mobil and other oil and gas producers. 4. The construction sector. 5. Banks, big or small (but not both). 6. The Trump Organization."
- Sprint just bought a third of Jay Z’s music streaming service, Tidal (WaPo)
HEALTH:
- Blame Technology, Not Longer Life Spans, for Health Spending Increases (NYT)
LIVING:
- How Moms Can Raise Math Whizzes (Ozy) "By labeling set sizes, they begin to understand that the last number they say when counting a group of objects represents its quantity — a concept known as cardinality that is crucial for mastering addition and subtraction."
NEWS:
- Trump’s Vainglorious Affront to the C.I.A. (New Yorker) "Trump vowed greater support for America’s sixteen intelligence agencies than they had received from any other President. In his remarks, Trump made passing reference to the 'special wall' behind him but never mentioned the top-secret work or personal sacrifices of intelligence officers... Trump’s unscripted remarks were, instead, largely about himself, even as he praised Mike Pompeo—a West Point and Harvard Law School graduate, Kansas congressman, and Tea Party supporter—as his choice to lead the C.I.A. Trump spoke briefly about eradicating 'radical Islamic extremism,' a cornerstone of his foreign policy. But he devoted more than twice as many words to the dispute over the turnout at his Inauguration." and CIA officers give mixed reviews of Trump’s strange visit (WaPo) "But CIA veterans said his private tour of CIA headquarters went better than his recorded public comments in front of the wall of stars commemorating fallen officers. 'He said some of the right things, but it still had a bizarre quality to it,' said one former top CIA official. Trump’s comments included 'way too much campaign-related things' and 'attacks on the media [that] did not fit and were wrong.'"
- Rocky First Weekend for Trump Troubles Even His Top Aides (NYT) "Some of the president’s supporters found the first weekend troubling. L. Lin Wood, a prominent libel lawyer who was a vocal defender of Mr. Trump’s on Twitter during the campaign, said that he considered it a dangerous debut. 'To someone who believed we might have a good opportunity to change, it’s just a terrible start. Because he’s got a long way to go,' Mr. Wood said. 'This is going to go downhill quickly if it’s not changed, and that’s not good for any of us.'"
- Mattis trumps Trump (WaPo) "How Mattis will work with a president as deliberately ignorant as Trump remains to be seen. If he can get Trump to think more like Mattis, he’ll have earned the eternal gratitude of his country — and pulled off a minor miracle."
- U.S. Eyes Michael Flynn’s Links to Russia (WSJ) "A key issue in the investigation is a series of telephone calls Mr. Flynn made to Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., on Dec. 29. That day, the Obama administration announced sanctions and other measures against Russia in retaliation for its alleged use of cyberattacks to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election."
- Vast crowds gather to protest Donald Trump (Economist) "The Americans who voted for Mr Trump will have seen the thronged streets and concluded that there are a lot of sore losers. But the 'Women’s March on Washington', organized by activists, did not feel like a protest against the result. It was more like an amble for civility."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Google Voice Update Makes Google’s Strategy More Confusing (Wired)
- How Snapchat Is Shaping Social Media (NYT)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Here’s the real story about the Churchill bust in the Oval Office (WaPo) "So Trump appears to have temporarily moved Bust A to the Oval Office. In the meantime, he seems to have found a way to keep the King bust there, as well."
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- Mattis trumps Trump (WaPo) "How Mattis will work with a president as deliberately ignorant as Trump remains to be seen. If he can get Trump to think more like Mattis, he’ll have earned the eternal gratitude of his country — and pulled off a minor miracle."
- U.S. Eyes Michael Flynn’s Links to Russia (WSJ) "A key issue in the investigation is a series of telephone calls Mr. Flynn made to Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., on Dec. 29. That day, the Obama administration announced sanctions and other measures against Russia in retaliation for its alleged use of cyberattacks to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election."
- Vast crowds gather to protest Donald Trump (Economist) "The Americans who voted for Mr Trump will have seen the thronged streets and concluded that there are a lot of sore losers. But the 'Women’s March on Washington', organized by activists, did not feel like a protest against the result. It was more like an amble for civility."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Google Voice Update Makes Google’s Strategy More Confusing (Wired)
- How Snapchat Is Shaping Social Media (NYT)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Here’s the real story about the Churchill bust in the Oval Office (WaPo) "So Trump appears to have temporarily moved Bust A to the Oval Office. In the meantime, he seems to have found a way to keep the King bust there, as well."
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