President Trump is predisposed to reverse most of his predecessor’s policies, so President Obama’s least favorite foreign leader is bound to receive a warmer welcome than he is used to. But in the last week, the noises coming out of both the White House and the State Department have indicated that, as was the case with all of his predecessors, there is going to be a considerable gap between Trump’s campaign rhetoric about Israel and the policies that he will actually pursue.
Day: February 14, 2017
White House names possible shortlist for Flynn replacement
His administration dealt a significant blow after not even a month in office, President Donald Trump must now fill a vital national security post after the resignation of embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn stepped down late Monday, ending days of speculation about his fate following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his discussions with Russia prior to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is slated to testify
Yellen: March rate hike is on the table In Senate testimony, Fed chair continues to expect gradual rate hikes Check out this story on mycentraljersey.com: http://usat.ly/2lMj1WF Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress Tuesday that an interest rate hike in March remains on the table, pushing back against market expectations that the Fed will stand pat. “Precisely when we take an action — March, May or June — I can’t tell you,” Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee.
Venezuela: US sanctions VP El Aissami over drug ties
Executive Vice President Tareck El Aissami and Venezuelan financier Samark Lopez were placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklist, the Treasury Department said in a statement Monday. The list freezes their assets in the U.S. and blocks U.S. companies and individuals from doing business with them.
Democrats demand independent Russia probe after Flynn quits
Democrats demanded a special investigation Tuesday into possible links between President Donald Trump’s administration and Russia, including when Trump learned that his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian diplomat. “The American people deserve to know the full extent of Russia’s financial, personal and political grip on President Trump and what that means for our national security,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
Quiet insubordination as staff says Rupert Murdoch turning Wall…
The most successful modern publisher of ideological journalism is Rupert Murdoch. He buys media properties, or starts new ones, and turns them into conservative megaphones.
Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon confirmed to lead SBA
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says McMahon will “prioritize growing jobs over growing government bureaucracy” and calls that a welcome change from Washington. McMahon served as the chief executive officer at World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. before stepping down to run twice for the Senate in Connecticut.
Federal judge wins $5,000 prize for book a Waging Wara
Barron is this year’s winner of the William E. Colby Award, a $5,000 honour given for a fiction or nonfiction book about the military, intelligence operations or foreign policy. Barron, a judge for the First Circuit Court of Appeals, was cited for “Waging War: The Clash Between Presidents and Congress, 1776 to ISIS.”
Wyoming man pleads in scheme costing MI drivers
A Wyoming massage therapist could spend decades in prison for his role in an elaborate scheme to bilk insurance companies with no-fault policies by staging car crashes. According to The U.S. Department of Justice, Yosiler Herrera-Enriquez became the fifth person Tuesday to plead guilty for his role in a ring that operated in West Michigan from April 2012 to May 2015.
The Latest: Trump meets with educators, praises DeVos
FILE- In this Feb. 13, 2017, file photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in the east Room of the White House in Washington for a joint news conference with President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin T… Trump congratulated DeVos at a White House “listening session” with people who have taught in public and private school, and others who home-school their kids. DeVos became education secretary after Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote on her nomination in the Senate.
President Donald Trump has many people longing for the good old days of George W. Bush
A billboard along Interstate 35, taken on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 in Wyoming, Minn., carries an image of former President George W. Bush and reads “Miss me yet?”. A billboard along Interstate 35, taken on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 in Wyoming, Minn., carries an image of former President George W. Bush and reads “Miss me yet?”.
Senate confirms former wrestling exec McMahon to lead SBA
In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed former wrestling entertainment executive Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration as part of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. McMahon served as the chief executive officer at WWE before stepping down in 2009 to run for the Senate.
Republicans block effort to get Trump’s tax returns
House Republicans have blocked an attempt by Democrats to use an obscure law to obtain President Donald Trump ‘s tax returns from the IRS . Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee tried to frame the issue as a matter of national security.
This drone could be ferrying passengers through Dubai’s futuristic skyline as soon as July
Up, up and away: Dubai hopes to have a passenger-carrying drone regularly buzzing through the skyline of this futuristic city-state in July. The arrival of the Chinese-made EHang 184 – which already has had its flying debut over Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped Burj al-Arab skyscraper hotel – comes as the Emirati city also has partnered with other cutting-edge technology companies, including Hyperloop One.
Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences Fund 4th Quarter Commentary
Global stock markets delivered mixed performance in the fourth quarter of 2016. While U.S stocks rose sharply following the U.S. presidential election to finish the period with solid gains, major international markets recorded more subdued or negative returns.
Chaffetz, fellow pols to DC residents: You thought you owned your lives? Think again. We own you
“The U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee voted on Monday to strike down a Washington, D.C. law that would allow physician-assisted suicide there. City leaders passed legislation in December that allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with a doctor’s help, but the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to overturn laws in the 68-square-mile district.
NASA Plans to Drill Into Europa’s Crust
Rae Paoletta, Gizmodo: Since early 2016, a NASA-employed Science Definition Team of 21 researchers has been crafting a plan to send a robotic probe to Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, located over 390 million miles from Earth. On February 7, that team delivered their first report to NASA, detailing their recommendations for that future mission, which will search for life by drilling toward the subterranean ocean scientists strongly suspect to exist beneath the icy moon’s surface.
Lawmakers advance bills on short-term rentals, partial prescriptions and more
Bills limiting regulation of short-term rentals, allowing doctors and patients to request partial drug prescriptions, and protecting people who administer opiate overdose reversal drugs advanced at the Utah Legislature on Monday. Here’s a roundup of some of Monday’s action on Capitol Hill.
Woman chained in container says she was raped daily
A South Carolina woman says she was raped daily for two months while chained inside a container by a man accused of killing her boyfriend and six others. A South Carolina woman says she was raped daily for two months while chained inside a container by a man accused of killing her boyfriend and six others.
Congress quietly working to undo Obama-era regulations Updated at
While President Donald Trump’s daily activities continue to consume much of the nation’s attention, Congress has quietly launched a legislating spree at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Aetna, Humana call off $34 billion deal
Aetna and Humana called off a $34 billion proposal to combine the two major health insurers after a federal judge, citing antitrust concerns, shot down the deal. The announcement Tuesday comes several days after another federal judge rejected a tie-up between two other massive insurers.
Maradona to try to give Napoli a boost against Real Madrid
A Nobel Peace Prize medal awarded in 1982 to a Mexican diplomat and nuclear disarmament expert will be auctioned in April. A fire broke out in Disneyland’s main parking structure Monday that burned eight cars and caused seven people to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Trump’s visits to Florida costing sheriff $1.5 million in OT
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department has racked up $1.5 million in overtime costs while assisting the Secret Service since President Donald Trump was elected in November. The county sent letters to federal officials in December seeking reimbursement for the overtime security costs from Trump’s five-day visit to his South Florida estate called Mar-a-lago in November, the Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday.
No
The solution to the presidency of Donald J. Trump is simple, if those of us who are decent, caring and responsible human beings will stand together and act as one. In opposition to every Trump legislative proposal passed into law by his Republican lapdogs in Congress, we will not offer lengthy and detailed complaints.
The Long Road to Impeach Trump Just Got Shorter
On Thursday, Congressman Jerrold Nadler filed a “resolution of inquiry” that amounts to the first legislative step toward impeachment. A new poll shows that registered voters are evenly split, at 46-to-46 percent, on whether they “support” or “oppose” impeaching Trump.
Tampon tax exemption clears first legislative hurdle
Democrats characterized the estimated annual average of $1.71 each woman pays in state sales levy a “pink tax” that discriminates against women. The state budget would take a $1.2 million hit, if the exemption becomes law, according to legislative analysts.
Republican Victor Mitchell is officially in the race for governor
Former Republican state Rep. Victor Mitchell is officially in the race for governor next year. The Secretary of State’s office registered his campaign committee paperwork Friday.
Officials in Oroville, CA are cautiously optimistic that the Oroville Dam will hold
In northern California, crews are still working to shore up a damaged spillway at the Oroville Dam. The structure is holding and the catastrophic flooding officials feared has not happened.
GOP rep: Time to move on from Flynn
Rep. Chris Collins on Tuesday said it’s time to move on from the controversy over former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned from his post on MOnday. “We move on from here.
Clinton: Flynn a victim of ‘fake news’
Hillary Clinton suggested early Tuesday morning that Michael Flynn’s resignation from the Trump administration makes him the latest victim of “fake news.” One of Clinton’s former aides, Philippe Reines, tweeted out that “what goes around COMETS [sic] around,” and suggested that Flynn should apply to work at Dominoes “given your pizza obsession.”
Tim Cook speaks out against fake news, cites tech companies’ responsibility towards the issue
Apple CEO Tim Cook, in between tours of schools and meetings with developers in a trip to Britain, commented about the scourge of fake news in comments to The Telegraph. Cook, who pointed to false stories that spread like wildfire across the internet as a “big problem in a lot of the world,” stated that tech companies have a responsibility to intervene, “It has to be ingrained in the schools, it has to be ingrained in the public,” Cook said.
AIRSHOW-Foreign jet makers need their govt’s nod to make in India – minister
Feb 14 Foreign aircraft manufacturers offering to make combat jets in India will have to win approval from their governments, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said, in a measure aimed at ensuring projects are not affected due to policy flip-flops. These comments come at a time when U.S. firm Lockheed Martin has said the new administration under President Donald Trump may want to take a “fresh look” at its proposal to move production of its F-16 combat jets to India.
Donald Trump and the pitfalls of a social media presidency
There was U.S. President Donald Trump, in the middle of his Mar-a-Lago resort, conferring with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on decisions with national security implications over iceberg wedge salads. The club members snapped photos and posted them to Facebook with detailed narratives about what they were seeing unfold before their eyes Saturday night in Palm Beach, Florida.
Why back-channels with Russia cost Michael Flynn his job
Michael Flynn arriving to a swearing in ceremony of White House senior staff in the East Room of the White House on January 22, 2017. President Trump’s national security adviser, retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn, resigned on Monday night after “inadvertently brief[ing] the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador [Sergei Kislyak].”
FBI to monitor probe of fatal shooting by Nashville police
The FBI will monitor an investigation by Nashville police after a white officer shot and killed an armed African-American man they say ran a stop sign and then fled on foot, Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said Monday. The announcement came hours after the NAACP’s local president called for quick movement on an investigation, surrounded by tearful, irate family members of Jocques Scott Clemmons who questioned the officer’s actions and the police’s claims about the incident.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer talks art _ in French
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has given a talk – entirely in French – about the artistry of courtroom sketches. Holger Spamann, a Harvard Law School professor who attended the talk, says Breyer also made a case for the professionalism of judges and the importance of their detachment from politics.
NATO chief seeks bigger defense budgets ahead of US meeting
NATO defense ministers will begin a two-day ministerial beginning on Wednesday. . NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.
Russian Hackers Get Burned in Deal
For several years, a group of Russian hackers have been posting letters and documents stolen from senior Russian officials with impunity. And then the nation’s spy agency tracked them down and offered them a deal.
Top Trump aide Flynn resigns over Russia contacts
This file photo taken on February 01, 2017 shows US National Security Adviser Mike Flynn walking past Press Secretary Sean Spicer as he makes his way to the lectern during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC. Washington: Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned amid controversy over his contacts with the Russian government, a first stunning departure from the president’s inner circle less than a month after his inauguration.
AP Interview: Trump yet to call UN atomic chief on Iran deal
The head of the United Nations’ atomic agency said Tuesday the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to be in touch with him or others about their criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press that his organization was “in constant touch” with the U.S., but had yet to hear from the new administration on their concerns.