' Give me your tired, your poor: The story of poet and refugee advocate Emma Lazarus

"The year was 1883 when Emma Lazarus, a young, high society New York poet and the descendant of Jewish immigrants, was asked for a favor.

Fundraising efforts were underway for a pedestal to hold the Statue of Liberty, an expensive gift from France that many Americans found especially uninspiring. The French had paid for construction of the monument, but its recipients were responsible for buying its base. This made out-of-towners scoff.

But elite writers and authors in New York went to work anyway, soliciting help from people like the 34-year-old Lazarus to reach their monetary goal. Would she compose, they asked, a sonnet to be sold at auction, alongside the writings of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman?


An undated portrait of poet Emma Lazarus. (Shearith Israel via AP)
Lazarus agreed, begrudgingly, for she didn’t write “to order.”

What the poet didn’t know at the time — as a woman whose work as a “poetess” had been at times the subject of condescension — was that it would be her words, lyrical and poignant, that decades later came to define the American vision of liberty."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/01/give-us-your-tired-your-poor-the-story-of-poet-and-refugee-advocate-emma-lazarus/?utm_term=.6016516121a3

UN Braces as Trumps Detente With Russia Upsets Balance of Power

"President Donald Trump’s outreach to Russia is reverberating through the United Nations, where U.S. allies worry that a partnership between Washington and Moscow could undermine a historic balance of power dating to the early days of the Cold War.....

Few countries have more at stake than Ukraine, which is keenly focused on whether the U.S. will continue to stand with other nations in not recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, or if Washington softens its stance -- and eases sanctions -- in return for more cooperation against terrorism. Syria’s beleaguered opposition, which Russia has targeted for bombing in its support of President Bashar al-Assad, could be wiped out if the U.S. shifts policy and withholds its support.

The U.K., which boasts of its “special relationship” to the U.S., is said to be deeply concerned that Trump’s admiration for President Vladimir Putin will give Russia sway in eastern Europe, according to two senior officials, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May met with Trump in Washington Jan. 27, and Trump spoke with Putin by phone for about an hour the following day.

“It’s one thing to say you want to put ‘America first’ and try new things, but this is not the right time to turn your back on alliances that have served us for 70 years," said Edward Luck, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “You may think it’s time to approach diplomacy differently but you cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-31/un-braces-as-trump-s-detente-with-russia-upsets-balance-of-power

Trump: I will tell McConnell to 'go nuclear' if Democrats hold up Gorsuch nomination

President Donald Trump said he will urge Senate Republicans to scrap filibuster rules, or take the so-called "nuclear option," if Democrats in the increasingly tense chamber use them to block his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
After Trump appointed Gorsuch, the 49-year-old conservative appeals judge, to the top U.S. court Tuesday night, Democrats signaled they could delay the nomination. If they filibuster, Republicans, who have 52 Senate seats, would need 60 votes to confirm him unless they cut that rule.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he would encourage Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to take that route, which would require only a simple majority.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/02/01/trump-i-will-tell-mcconnell-to-go-nuclear-if-democrats-hold-up-gorsuch-nomination.html?client=ms-android-boost-us

Democrats must stand steady and firm

There is a second sacred wall at the CIA. Trump disrespects that one every day.

By Michael Morell
January 29
Michael Morell was deputy director and twice acting director of the CIA.

As you walk through the main lobby of the CIA, your gaze is drawn to the right — toward the Memorial Wall, with its 117 stars, one for each CIA officer who has died in the line of duty; toward the Book of Honor listing the names of those officers, where cover considerations allow; and toward the fresh flowers that are almost always there, placed by friends and colleagues inspired by their sacrifice.

It was this wall that drew so much negative commentary about President Trump’s visit to the CIA this month — the president’s brief, almost offhand reference to a memorial that is the soul of the agency, and his clear elevation of his ego above the sacrifices of those memorialized on the wall. Such commentaries were on the mark, and they captured my own feelings as well.


But there is another wall in the lobby that carries almost as much significance as the Memorial Wall — the wall that is to the left as you enter, the wall that your eye often misses. On that wall is a verse from the Gospel of John that reads, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/there-is-a-second-sacred-wall-at-the-cia-trump-disrespects-that-one-every-day/2017/01/29/d1961480-e675-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.82e7a3e84bd6

State Dept. Dissent Cable on Trumps Ban Draws 1,000 Signatures

NAIROBI, Kenya — It started out in Washington.

Then it went to Jakarta. Then across Africa.

One version even showed up on Facebook.

Within hours, a State Department dissent cable, asserting that President Trump’s executive order to temporarily bar citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries would not make the nation safer, traveled like a chain letter — or a viral video.

The cable wended its way through dozens of American embassies around the world, quickly emerging as one of the broadest protests by American officials against their president’s policies. And it is not over yet.

By 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the letter had attracted around 1,000 signatures, State Department officials said, far more than any dissent cable in recent years. It was being delivered to management, and department officials said more diplomats wanted to add their names to it.

The State Department has 7,600 Foreign Service officers and 11,000 civil servants.

The letter had been evolving since this weekend, when the first draft emerged. It was edited as it moved along, with some diplomats adding words and others striking out passages.


https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/world/americas/state-dept-dissent-cable-trump-immigration-order.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

Want to understand what Trump and Bannon are up to? Look to the Russian Revolution of 1917

Trump has to go!
I want to hear every elected democrat take up this cry, loudly and publicly, every day until this lunatic is removed from office.

Bannon has stated that he sees Lenin as a role model.

This article gives an idea of how real and dangerous this threat is.

Time to stop pretending, it will only get worse until the point is reached where nothing can be done.


<snip>

"Lenin viewed the world as a space in which he could build the dictatorship of the proletariat with himself at the helm. To Trump, the world is a collection of structures upon which he can stamp his own name. Both gave little credence to the expertise or knowledge of others; both had no problem pandering to the basest instincts of the human race.
We should remember, however, that revolutions are only able to take hold when the majority remains complacent. Right now, Trump’s voting base is likely maxed out at the roughly 63 million people who voted for him. (Given the intensity of feelings he ignites in both supporters and opponents, let’s assume that most people who wanted to vote for him did so.) Roughly 66 million people voted for Hillary Clinton. And about 42% of eligible voters—that is, an estimated 95 million—stayed home, choosing to vote for no one at all.
This “silent majority” is not necessarily in the Trump camp. They did not vote to end Affordable Care, Medicaid, and Social Security. They do not necessarily believe that the best government is one that’s designed by billionaires, for billionaires, or that climate change is a hoax. It is these voters who need to be mobilized to protect our democracy.
If there is any lesson from the Russian Revolution, it is that active engagement with the base is critical. That doesn’t mean that Democrats should focus on fundraising emails and better slogans: It means they need to work to understand why a substantial chunk of eligible voters did not view November 2016 as a referendum on the American way of life. They then need to mold the progressive coalition to accommodate voters’ concerns and struggles, so that the fight against conservative takeover becomes their fight."

"The Democrats cannot afford to mull this over. The effort needs to happen quickly. What’s at stake—democracy in the US and around the world—is too important to “wait and see.” We all know who came after Lenin."


<snip>

https://qz.com/898053/want-to-understand-what-trump-and-bannon-are-up-to-look-to-the-russian-revolution-of-1917/

Trump Small Business Executive Order - Goodbye Employer Mandated Healthcare

"An Entrepreneurial Buzz Kill

Adam Robinson, founder of Hireology, says the company was formed and built "100 percent under the Obama administration," and that though it was able to grow over the course of just two years from 30 to 120 employees, navigating regulations has been a challenge. If he were starting his business last year, he doubts he'd have been able to flourish, due to certain regulations.

"I testified in front of the House Small Business Committee on the issue of Department of Labor changing the threshold at which non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime," said Robinson. "I told them that if this overtime regulation had been in place, I literally could not have hired my first employee."

Once a small business brings on a 50th employee, it faces another set of regulations, including the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate, which requires that all businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees provide health insurance to at least 95 percent of their full-time employees and dependents up to age 26, or face a fee.

To avoid having to deal with that mandate, small businesses may be disinclined to expand.

"If I am a growing service business and I have 49 employees, there is an incentive to me to stop growing because as soon as I get to 50 I am mandated [under the Affordable Care Act] to provide healthcare to all my employees," said Robinson. "There's no incentive to grow if it places an administrative burden on my business." "
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amp/small-businesses-optimistic-anxious-about-deregulations-under-trump-n712636?client=ms-android-boost-us

;https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amp/small-businesses-optimistic-anxious-about-deregulations-under-trump-n712636?client=ms-android-boost-us

WFW.

Translation - "Soon there will be no shortage of people desperate enough to work for a greedy bastard like me".

EDIT - GEE, THE NBC ARTICLE DIDN'T MENTION WHO ADAM ROBINSON IS!!!

I'M SURE IT WAS JUST AN OVERSIGHT....

"Adam Robinson was elected Chairman of the Chicago Republican Party on April 18, 2012 to a four-year term.[11] Robinson served as Republican Committeeman in Chicago's 48th Ward for the Cook County Republican Party. Robinson was appointed on July 25, 2011 to replace Committeeman Paul Bonilla, who stepped down,[12] and was re-elected to that position on March 20, 2012.[13] Robinson was elected as an Republican alternate presidential delegate for Illinois' 9th Congressional District in the 2012 Illinois Primary. In 2010, Robinson was the Republican nominee and challenger for the Illinois Senate, representing the 7th district in the Chicago area.[14]"


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Robinson_(politician)

How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it

How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it


By Katya Golubkova, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Stephen Jewkes | MOSCOW/LONDON/MILAN
More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn't possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.

The stake was sold for 10.2 billion euros to a Singapore investment vehicle that Rosneft said was a 50/50 joint venture between Qatar and the Swiss oil trading firm Glencore.

Unveiling the deal at a televised meeting with Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin on Dec. 7, President Vladimir Putin called it a sign of international faith in Russia, despite U.S. and EU financial sanctions on Russian firms including Rosneft.

"It is the largest privatization deal, the largest sale and acquisition in the global oil and gas sector in 2016," Putin said.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1582OH

I Wonder Wonder Who?



Putin casts an adoring glance at our new Secretary of State.

ENOUGH of this SHIT!!!

Is there anyone here who can tell me how much further Bannon can go before triggering the process that will lead to his trial for treason and imprisonment?

As Families Reunite At Dulles, Lawyers Say Customs And Border Protection Is Violating Court Order BY

Lawyers at Dulles say that Customs and Border Protection is violating a court order issued Saturday night by a federal judge in Virginia.
The temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema permits lawyers access to all legal permanent residents detained at Dulles International Airport, but attorneys still haven't been let back by Customs and Border Protection as of 11:50 p.m., despite presenting them with the court order.
"We are actually trying to bring a court marshall to see if they can comply with the court order," says Shahin Fallah, one of the many lawyers at the international terminal to help after President Donald Trump's executive order barring people, including legal residents and visa holders, from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days and suspends the refugee admissions program for 120 days

http://dcist.com/2017/01/photos_as_some_families_reunite_at.php

I hope I live to see Bannon thrown in prison.