January 31, 2017

Trump's Saturday Night Massacre

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates' firing over her refusal to enforce President Trump's immigration ban made waves on social media Monday night.

And, as news spread of the ouster, critics thought of another clash between a president and attorney general that ended in an ouster: the Saturday Night Massacre.

Many compared what happened to Yates, an Obama holdover who defied Trump's executive order suspending immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, to former President Richard Nixon's clash with his Attorney General's Office over the handling of the Watergate investigation. That disagreement led to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus.

January 31, 2017

Some CEOs 'scared out of their minds about being attacked' by Trump

so they won’t complain about immigration ban

A few chief executives joined protests against President Donald Trump's temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim countries, but a larger group of CEOs remained publicly silent over fears of being targeted by the president, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin said Monday.

The Financial Times' Gillian Tett said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that she had spoken with CEOs who were privately upset by the executive order but worried about speaking out. "Squawk Box" co-host Sorkin said he had heard the same from his C-level sources.

"I had similar conversations with executives over the weekend, all of whom ... seemed to be upset about at least the implementation of this program," Sorkin said. "They are scared out of their minds about being attacked ... and what that's going to do for their business."

Tett said the CEOs she contacted were especially worried about the risk of speaking out in the context of Trump's potential backlash — and that of his supporters.

January 31, 2017

#1 threat to US economic growth

Trump's protectionism biggest threat to US economy's growth, CNBC Fed Survey respondents say

January 30, 2017

Iraq war vet livid about Trump immigration ban

by Michael J. Zacchea, U.S. Marine and Iraq War vet

The White House's executive order banning Iraqis from entry into the United States is not only bad policy, it's a betrayal.

I returned from Iraq on March 1, 2005. I was returning from a year-long tour as an adviser to the 1st Iraqi Army battalion, built, trained, and led in combat by the U.S. military. Our undertaking was historic – no American had ever built or led in combat an Arab army. The last westerner to train and lead an Arab army in combat was T.E Lawrence, commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia.

It would be difficult to overstate the hardship and dangers the first American advisory team lived through. Our Iraqi soldiers shared the danger. Our combat included the 2nd Battle of Fallujah in November – December 2004. Several of our Iraqi soldiers were abducted and tortured. Several were assassinated, including by beheading. And their families were subject to the same atrocities.

The glue that held us together, the sine qua non without which our mission accomplishment would not have been possible – indeed, those who likely kept all of us American advisers from being betrayed and handed over to Al Qaeda in Iraq – were the Iraqi interpreters. Iraqi insurgents considered them traitors and apostate to the faith; average Iraqi civilians considered them collaborators, and treated them and their families that way. Our interpreters soon learned not to reveal what they were doing or for whom they were working. They developed elaborate cover stories and false IDs to hide their true identities and protect their families. Theirs was an experience all their own, and their story has not yet been told.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/trumps-iraqi-refugee-ban-is-a-betrayal-commentary.html

January 30, 2017

NASAs Twins Study: Preliminary Findings Hint At Unexpected Changes In Gene Expression And Chromosom

Last year, NASA concluded an unprecedented study aimed at examining the effect of the microgravity environment of space. While the final results of the Twins Study — which, as the name suggests, involved the twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly — are yet to be announced, the preliminary results are already throwing up some unexpected findings.

According to an article published last week by Nature News, tests carried out before and after Scott’s yearlong sojourn on board the International Space Station (his brother Mark, a retired astronaut, stayed on Earth), have revealed changes in gene expression, DNA methylation — wherein methyl groups are added to DNA molecules — and several other biological markers.

However, it is still not clear which among these changes can be attributed to Scott’s time in orbit, and which were caused due to natural variations.

http://www.ibtimes.com/nasas-twins-study-preliminary-findings-hint-unexpected-changes-gene-expression-2483182

January 30, 2017

ACLU raises $24 million after suit against Trump's travel ban: Report

Source: CNBC/USA Today

The American Civil Liberties Union has raised $24 million since Saturday morning and added more than 150,000 new members, according to media reports.

"What we've seen is an unprecedented public reaction to the challenges of the Trump administration," Anthony Romero, executive director of ACLU, told Yahoo News.

USA Today reported late Sunday that the ACLU had received more than 350,000 online donations totaling $24 million since Saturday morning. The non-profit organization typically raises about $4 million online in a year, according to the newspaper who cited Romero.

The ACLU and other activist groups filed a class action lawsuit Saturday to challenge President Donald Trump's late Friday executive order that restricted travel to the U.S. for citizens of seven countries linked to terrorism.

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/29/aclu-raises-10-million-after-suit-against-trumps-travel-ban-report.html

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/01/29/aclu-fundraising-records-muslim-immigrant-ban/97218098/

Please join or give what you can!

January 29, 2017

Voter intent on medical marijuana ignored

The Florida Department of Health's first draft of rules authorizing medical marijuana falls far short of what is prescribed in the voter-approved constitutional amendment. State regulators are proposing only a limited expansion of Florida's existing program and an unwarranted restriction on which patients can access it. Amendment 2, approved by more than 70 percent of voters, legalizes marijuana for people with an array of ailments, and the state is obligated to craft a program that ensures access to it.

Before the constitutional change took effect Jan. 3, Florida allowed terminally ill patients to use full-strength marijuana and certain other patients to use a strain low in THC to alleviate pain and other symptoms. Seven growers are authorized to produce and sell marijuana for the entire Florida market. With the approval of Amendment 2, full-strength marijuana is legal for patients with several conditions specified in the ballot language, such as cancer, HIV, glaucoma and PTSD, or "other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."

That means it should be up to a patient's doctor to determine whether marijuana would be an appropriate treatment. But the Department of Health's proposed rules say the drug should be legal only for the ailments specified plus those approved by the state Board of Medicine. Amendment 2 makes no mention of the Board of Medicine, and the rule that is ultimately adopted should conform with the clear intent of the amendment.


http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-voter-intent-on-medical-marijuana-ignored/2311049

January 29, 2017

Trump sold America a miracle cure, but he won't be blamed when it fails

There are many who hope that President Donald Trump's supporters will hold him accountable. That they will insist he fulfill his promises about jobs or universal health coverage — and when those promises are broken, that their fervent support will turn into rage at having been duped, causing Trump anguish and eventually costing him re-election.

This is wishful thinking.

Trump's rise to power has followed a similar trajectory to that of medical quacks who peddle panaceas to the desperate — a bizarre and heartbreaking world I've long studied. Just like them, Trump will fail to deliver. But his supporters will find a way to exonerate him.

Consider the ability of one "Archbishop" Jim Humble — a former gold prospector who claims extraterrestrial lineage — to persuade parents to pump their autistic children full of Master Mineral Solution, even though MMS, when activated by citric acid, becomes a dangerous form of industrial bleach.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/perspective-trump-sold-america-a-miracle-cure-but-he-wont-be-blamed-when/2311146

January 29, 2017

list of all the protests happening against the Muslim Ban

https://thinkprogress.org/muslim-ban-protests-344f6e66022e#.9bbnqeu2b

January 28, 2017

Trump visa ban applied to those with dual nationalities

As if the late Friday executive action by President Donald Trump hasn’t already caused massive problems with green card holders and visitors to the United States, the State Department is in the process of issuing an advisory saying the visa ban will also be applied to those who claim nationality in two countries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the State Department is set to extend Friday’s immigration and travel lockdown to other visitors coming and going from the U.S.

According to the statement, the 90-day ban imposed by the president’s executive action extends beyond citizens of Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya and Yemen.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/trump-visa-ban-blocking-visitors-to-us-will-be-applied-to-those-with-dual-nationalities-state-department/