Summations Only

Doesn't realize he's getting fucked while celebrating.

You voted for him before he did anything. You've got your "because" before the horse.Thanks for demonstrating the "mind" of a Trump voter.

* "I would release tax returns, and I would also explain to people that as a person that’s looking to make money, I’m in the business of making money and if I won, I’d make money for our country. [...] I have no objection to certainly showing tax returns."* "I would rarely leave the White House because there's so much work to be done."* "I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf."* "You know, I tweeted today, @realDonaldTrump. I tweet. Don’t worry, I’ll give it up after I’m president. We won’t tweet anymore. I don’t know. Not presidential."---Now, these are easy promises to keep. The first can be achieved in a two minute phone call. The other three can be achieved by not doing stuff. How hard can it be? I've never tweeted, played golf, or spent the weekend at Mar-A-Lago, and for a small fee I can teach Trump not to do those things either.Is he gonna blame Democratic obstructionism?

I understand that folks often dismiss petro's posts, but his opinion seems to match that of ninety percent of Republican voters. Everything that appears inane and stupid to his detractors seems genius to folks like Petro, marc9000, and Faith as well as millions of others.Trump is going to be a two-term president. Most of us are underestimating his appeal by applying logic, reason, and truth to what he says and are missing the fact that his attacks on the press and wild conspiracy theories regarding his opposition, just confirm things they already believe and make them feel good about themselves. Facts alone are not going to convince his base.It also turns out that you really can make a country work better by scapegoating the weak, depriving folks of heath care and safety nets, and exploiting nationalism, putting coal dust into rivers and streams, and punishing/discriminating against folks without due process as long as you paint them as the enemy. History shows that such things work at least in the short term. Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Man, that is really sad and depressing.

Pia Guerra's cartoon of Steve Bannon and Donald Trump has been retweeted 27,000 times!Seriously, though...half of us think Trump is doing a great and huuuuge job making America great...wealthy...prosperous...and taking care of itself instead of the rest of the world...but I fear this strategy will come back around to bite us! If the world decides to turn on us we may find ourselves adrift in the water...without a lifeboat. Trumps International Policies Could Have Lasting Effects On Higher EducationFrom this story:

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At the moment, the United States is the leading destination for international students, but we are losing market share. Increasingly, students are recognizing they do have choices some students may choose to go to Australia or Canada or other countries that also have excellent institutions. We may be losing them for years. If they don't come this year, they're not coming for the next four if they're an undergraduate. A decision made now by an international student could have long-term consequences for that student, for the students who would have worked with that person, and for colleges and universities across the United States.

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This whole idea of "fake news" is an irony: Trump himself generates so much news that its almost akin to counter-propaganda...his supporters believe a lot of it, while the rest of us laugh about it...but to be honest, the future state of our nation and its affairs is uncertain.

The new travel ban is much like the old. The details can be read here, Trump Issues a Travel Ban Altered to Stand Up in Court, notably that total refugees for 2017 is reduced from 110,000 to 50,000, but the important question is whether the new ban will stand up to legal scrutiny. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times ran editorials arguing that the new ban is still illegal and unconstitutional:

• Trump’s New Muslim Ban Is Still Illegal
  
• Trump’s revised travel ban is still cruel and still unconstitutional

These editorials argue that if the travel ban is overturned it will be because its actual purpose is religious discrimination against Muslims.--Percy

And the Federal Court in Virginia already did the basic work documenting the evidence for the actual purpose as covered in Message 731 of thread Trump's order on immigration and the wacko liberal response.

The budget cuts already proposed at NOAA really are just the beginning. It seems almost every Agency that deals with climate or weather or the environment is about to be emasculated. sourceSome parts: The already reported cuts at NOAA specifically targeting satellite technology.

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That's on top of proposed reductions to climate research at U.S. EPA, including a 40 percent cut to the Office of Research and Development, which runs much of EPA's major research. The cuts specify work on climate change, air and water quality, and chemical safety. The Trump administration also has proposed 20 percent staffing reduction at EPA.

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More than a dozen federal agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Interior Department and the Department of Energy, conduct climate research. Further cuts are expected, particularly at NASA, which develops and launches the satellites that provide invaluable information on climate change used throughout the world. President Trump has called global warming a "hoax," and some congressional Republicans pushing for climate science cuts have falsely claimed that federal scientists are engaged in a massive conspiracy to defraud the American public into thinking that human activity is causing the planet to warm.

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The targeting of climate science goes beyond the work of NOAA and EPA. The Earth Science Division of NASA is another expected target.

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This is without a doubt the clearest example of Willful Ignorance writ large I have ever seen. And the Congress is right there with their corporate heads up their asses.

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The administration and congressional Republicans have already spoken about removing or replacing climate research at other federal agencies, as well. At a recent hearing of the House Science Committee, which has jurisdiction over NOAA and other agencies that produce federal climate change research, Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said he wanted to "rebalance" NASA and shift its climate research to other agencies. Trump transition officials have suggested that NOAA handle NASA's earth science research, but cuts to NOAA suggest the administration is not interested in continuing that research. Smith has also suggested additional scrutiny for science grants from the National Science Foundation, which provides significant funding for climate research.

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The bright spot in all this is that the rest of the world can get along just fine without the US and in fact will be happy to see the US bow out as a developed Nation and remain on the sidelines.

Indeed, why should scientist stay here when they can do real science elsewhere.Why should any students study science here when they can do more cutting edge science elsewhere.How many generations will it take to completely emasculate knowledge?

Only in the US. China and Pakistan and Korea and Japan and India and Iraq and Iran and Brazil and Mexico and Malaysia and Indonesia and Vietnam and the rest of the world will keep advancing.And they will still need folk to wash their cars, flip their burgers, cut their grass, wash their dishes so there will be many opportunities for kids from the US.

How is that a bright spot?

Well, it is bright in many ways. The addition of knowledge and science will continue, the hungry of the rest of the world will get fed and they will be able to buy and use our remaining natural resources without as great an impact on their resources and environment. The economies of all the other nations will continue to grow.Change only happens when a pain threshold of not changing is greater than the pain threshold of changing.AbE: Forgot to addThe US will become even more wealthy, the money from selling just the resources on our public lands will be phenomenal. As we remove worker safety limits and minimum wage restrictions and environmental regulations US industry will be able to produce goods cheap enough to sell to everyone. The stock market will reach unimagined heights for likely a half century. The formula of cheap labor and cheap resources and uncontrolled exploitation has always produced great wealth.Edited by jar, : see AbE

Today there are two new court challenges the Trump Administration faces. Hawaii has become the first State to challenge the All New Improved Travel nonsense order and in California the San Francisco City Attorney has asked a Federal Judge to invoke an injunction blocking Trumps effort to withhold funding to Sanctuary Cities.
sourceIn Good News, China has granted dozens of patentsTradeMarks to TRUMP.
sourceFollow the money folk.Edited by jar, : add sourcesEdited by jar, : trademarks not patents