Thursday, July 6, 2017

whitecap news: summer 2017

It's been awhile since I collected news items here. President Trump has gone to Europe in his second trip there since entering office here. Meanwhile, back in the States, there is a mood.
We are told he will attend the annual G20 summit held this year in Hamburg, Germany. People wonder how this, his second tour there in under six months, will fair compared to the last time he made some rounds.  While in the US, the Washington Post reports Trump still spends a fifth of his time at his golf courses. And only once out west, and that to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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But there are very troubling issues at large. North Korea has demonstrated its ability to launch another ICBM missile, claiming it has a range over 6000 km putting it in range of Alaska and Canada. The Ex CEO of Exxon and the new Secretary of State  of the Trump Administration released a strongly worded statement.

The many refugees crossing the Mediterranean this summer have not abated.

The free press is under attack and not just in Turkey, the US, or Russia.
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All of a sudden this week, the Kansas Secretary of State, on behalf of the Trump Administration, has asked all fifty US States for public registration records of voting rolls. Kris Kobach is a known figure in US politics because of the money behind him to restrict voter participation. He has crafted several bills nationally in several states enabling him to direct policy from a non-legislative seat. The stated purpose is to get rid of voter fraud when he knows but simply denies there isn't much of that to be found. One merely has to weigh the number of his prosecutions for voter fraud against the number of actual American voters that were disenfranchised through his crusade in order to see how craven his bosses' motives truly are. And that was true before Kobach found his perch with the Trump's. So several states almost immediately told him, 'No way, Jose.'
Also, in the US, Trump wants Congress to repeal what is known as former President Obama's signature achievement. But the efforts of both the House and Senate in DC have done little but raise a nationwide clamor. So much so that the vote on the second attempt in the Senate had to be postponed until after the Independence Day holiday. Still, few Congressmembers have agreed to meet with constituents this holiday. There is little consensus or understanding of what these repeal bills may mean to the public at large if they are passed. One Senator has decided to have some small appearances for the public, in small towns far away from the cities. So it must be advertised for people to go for free.

The Independent Counsel looking into the 2016 US elections, the Trump campaign and his advisers, finances, communications is still ongoing. More evidence is leaked and drummed into an unrecognizable pulp by three to five days. The Trump Administration denies it knew much and doesn't want to hear about who cares. OK? There is so much more that has happened, so many imposed contradictions and reflective smoke and fire stories these days, I take some comfort in older stories.
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