Friday, January 25, 2019

big bad newsday 25 January 2019

Amidst the longest government shutdown in US history three or four shuddering stories were blasted across the newscapes.
A contested election in Venezuela has led to widespread protests and turmoil for nearly a year. Now there is news of something like a coup. But did Trump start it? Sen Rubio of Florida seemed to know something was up last week.
After massive protests there recently for several days, with things reaching again a fever pitch, certain other critical leaders using some rather extreme language since Tuesday, have all shown support for the opposition in Venezuela. These include President Trump in the US, PM Justin Trudeau of Canada, and Emmanuel Macron President of France (suffering himself all winter from protests in his own country). Last night the state military leaders there have shown their support for President Nicholas Maduro and he in turn has called for the closing of the US Embassy in Caracas and for all US officials there to leave within 72 hours in response to Trump sending well-wishes to Juan Guaidó, an opposition leader in Venezuela.
Some worry if there is time as conditions can change rapidly on the ground.
Russia has also said they support the Maduro government in their own elliptical way.
Meanwhile, warnings about other matters of global significance are popping up from the best of newssources.
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Because of the US government shutdown, air traffic controllers and stewards have been sounding alarm bells for weeks over safety concerns with so many employees calling in sick. Today airports in New York, Newark and Philadelphia have been held off and delayed.

Then Trump announced he would hold a press conference in the Rose Garden where he announced the shutdown would be over amid a bipartisan bill. He says the bill will call for a continuing resolution on spending to prop open government services for three weeks until February 15 or he will declare a national emergency over what he says is our great threat on our southern border. The government could not agree last month on how to spend the money to keep itself open led by the Republican majority while they sought a resolution to the several month's long impasse over border security. His great announcement today, was voiced as a threat:
Yet this merely temporary relief to hundreds of thousands of federal workers and millions more who are recipients of federal aid for medicine and other incomes remains tenuous. Naturally this statement by Trump was met with scepticism and embarassment.

Later in the day, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives spoke to the public about the agreement to reopen the government.
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Both the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed announced major layoffs of journalists yesterday and today. Even after a huge story last week at Buzzfeed.

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Also today, longtime advisor of US President Trump was arrested on seven charges and held briefly on $250,000 bail. He said the charges were bogus. He was captured in a pre-dawn raid by FBI officials who, it must be said, were not getting paid at the time. Here Stone is shown after being released on bail striking the famous pose that Richard Nixon did after he resigned. It's hard to see him taking any of this seriously.
The ramifications of all these rather sudden changes (and are any related?) will fill the newsslots for some time.
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