Category: Barack Obama

Trump and Churchill

For all his pre-election talk about restoring America’s standing in the world, international respect is an area in which Barack Obama has failed. It’s clear enemies think he’s a powderpuff , and our allies – let’s just say they aren’t bubbling over with respect for the man.

Trump denounces attack, vows tough immigration plan

Denouncing the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany, President-elect Donald Trump renewed his vow to stop radical terror groups and appeared to suggest a willingness to move ahead with his campaign pledge to ban temporarily Muslim immigrants from coming to the United States. Trump proposed the Muslim ban during the Republican primary campaign, drawing sharp criticism from both parties.

In Ukraine, more evidence of a hacking group’s Kremlin ties

A supposedly bipartisan deal to repeal North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law collapsed when both sides balked and started blaming each other, likely meaning the state will remain a pariah shunned by corporations,… A supposedly bipartisan deal to repeal North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law collapsed when both sides balked and started blaming each other, likely meaning the state will remain a pariah shunned by corporations, entertainers… The closing of an illegal Los Angeles music club highlights growing friction between underground venues and authorities who see them as disasters-in-waiting. California has put the brakes on Uber’s weeklong experiment with using self-driving cars on the streets of San Francisco.

Plane hijacking in Malta ends peacefully; 2 men surrender

The nation’s largest freight railroad has agreed to more thorough inspections and maintenance improvements after a fiery oil train derailment in Oregon and the discovery of more than 800 potential safety… The nation’s largest freight railroad has agreed to more thorough inspections and maintenance improvements after a fiery oil train derailment in Oregon and the discovery of more than 800 potential safety violations… Residents of Alaska’s largest city grapple with icy streets up to seven months a year. Fortunately, there are a number of footwear options for staying upright.

The Latest: Obama finishes playing golf with 3 friends

President Barack Obama is seen through the window as his motorcade vehicle as he leaves Marine Corps Base Hawaii, in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, after his morning workout. A motorcade with President Barack Obama aboard is seen as it leaves Marine Corps Base Hawaii, in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, after the president’s morning workout.

Donald Trump calls Berlin terror strike ‘an attack on humanity’

Trump calls Berlin terror strike ‘an attack on humanity’ as he distances himself from Monday statement about Muslims targeting Christians Asked about his claim Monday that the Berlin attack on a Christmas market was part of a ‘global jihad,’ he tacked to saying it was ‘an attack on humanity’ On Wednesday he revealed that he hasn’t spoken to President Barack Obama since the Berlin attack and the assassination of a Russian diplomat in Turkey Donald Trump has called Monday’s deadly strike on a Berlin Christmas market ‘an attack on humanity,’ saying Wednesday that the rise of Islamic terrorism in the West ‘is disgraceful.’ ‘It’s an attack on humanity.

Parents of US woman held by Taliban hopeful for her release

The parents of an American woman being held captive by the Taliban say they are hoping President-elect Donald Trump will broker her release if President Barack Obama doesn’t succeed before he leaves office. Jim and Lyn Coleman, of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, spoke to ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday after a new video appeared showing their daughter Caitlan, her Canadian husband and their two children.

Parents of US woman held by Taliban hopeful for her release

The parents of an American woman being held captive by the Taliban say they are hoping President-elect Donald Trump will broker her release if President Barack Obama doesn’t succeed before he leaves office. Jim and Lyn Coleman, of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, spoke to ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday after a new video appeared showing their daughter Caitlan, her Canadian husband and their two children.

Older

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… Senate Republicans refused to give President Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Scalia even the courtesy of a… Donald Trump has been steadfastly unwilling to divest himself from his business empire, and indeed has continued to use his status as candidate and now president-elect to funnel money to that empire. It runs the gamut from using Trump-owned venues for meetings and fundraisers to serving Trump-branded bottled water to renting out floors of Trump Tower to the government agency assigned to protect him.

The Latest: Trump says UN vote on Israel complicates peace

A sinkhole forming north of Detroit forced the Christmas Eve evacuations of more than a dozen homes and the closure of a busy roadway that was expected to collapse due to a possible sewer problem. Tens of thousands of children from around the world plan to call the North American Aerospace Defense Command to ask where Santa is, and starting Saturday they will get a cheery answer about the mythical route from… Children from around the world are calling the North American Aerospace Defense Command to ask where Santa is, and they’re getting a cheery answer about the mythical route.

Trudeau Joins Obama in Freezing Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama banned new offshore oil and gas drilling in more than 100 million acres of the U.S. Arctic and undersea canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, a move certain to provoke a fight with the Republican-led Congress and his successor in the White House. In an announcement coordinated between two of the world’s biggest oil producers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also committed to freeze new offshore leasing in his nation’s Arctic waters and review the matter every five years.

Obama Said to Use 1953 Law to Restrict Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in most of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to people familiar with the decision. Obama will invoke a provision in a 1953 law that gives him wide latitude to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Journal Junction for December 21

I see where West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wants to have EPA rules relaxed for coal surface mining, compared to saving our streams for drinking water, coal still seems to be the number one topic in getting this state going. Are we not smart enough to look for other industry to take its place? I still believe in saving the environment, not destroying it.

To thwart Trump, Obama bans new drilling in Arctic, Atlantic

US president Barack Obama has permanently banned new oil and gas drilling in most US-owned waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, a last-ditch effort to lock in environmental protections before he hands over to Donald Trump. Obama used a 1953 law that allows presidents to block the sale of new offshore drilling and mining rights and makes it difficult for their successors to reverse the decision.

Should you say Myanmar or Burma?

“FOLLOW local practice when a country expressly changes its name,” advises “The Economist Style Book”, the Bible of this newspaper. Among the list of examples that follow only two rate authorial interjections: ” Myanmar , not Burma ” and ” Yangon , not Rangoon “.

Obama bans offshore drilling in 115M more acres in Atlantic, Arctic

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he has removed hundreds of millions of acres of federal land in the Atlantic and Arctic from potential offshore oil and gas drilling — a move that could further complicate pledges made by President-elect Donald Trump to increase domestic oil production. Obama used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect 115 million acres of land in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the Arctic, and offshore acreage from Massachusetts to Virginia in the Atlantic.

The 9 Biggest Political News Events of 2016

During a tumultuous year in politics that many thought would mark the election of the first woman president of the United States, the country instead experienced a political shift of enormous proportions, electing a man who openly disdained Muslims, disrespected women and disregarded African Americans . But aside from the surprising election of a Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, what were the other top political moments of 2016? It’s over y’all.

Obama expected to bar drilling in swaths of Atlantic, Arctic

President Barack Obama has designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing. The move on Tuesday helps put some finishing touches on Obama’s environmental legacy while also testing President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to unleash the nation’s untapped energy reserves.

What Others Say: Passage of Cures Act is great news

The so-called “do nothing” Congress has done something very special before taking its end-of-the-year holiday break. Both the House and Senate approved the far-reaching 21st Century Cures Act, which includes key funding for Alzheimer’s research, mental health treatment and to battle the scourge of opioid addiction.

What Others Say: Passage of Cures Act is great news

The so-called “do nothing” Congress has done something very special before taking its end-of-the-year holiday break. Both the House and Senate approved the far-reaching 21st Century Cures Act, which includes key funding for Alzheimer’s research, mental health treatment and to battle the scourge of opioid addiction.

Trump Seen Paying Off for Putin With Sanctions Relief Next Year 18 minutes ago

The U.S. will start easing its penalties, imposed over the showdown in Ukraine in 2014, during the next 12 months, according to 55 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey, up from 10 percent in an October poll. Without the restrictions, Russia’s economic growth would get a boost equivalent to 0.2 percentage point of gross domestic product next year and 0.5 percentage point in 2018, according to the median estimates in the poll.  Donald Trump’s surprise election in November is feeding expectations of a sea change in U.S. policy even after the European Union this week rolled over its economic penalties against Russia for an additional six months.

Trump Seen Paying Off for Putin With Sanctions Relief Next Year 18 minutes ago

The U.S. will start easing its penalties, imposed over the showdown in Ukraine in 2014, during the next 12 months, according to 55 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey, up from 10 percent in an October poll. Without the restrictions, Russia’s economic growth would get a boost equivalent to 0.2 percentage point of gross domestic product next year and 0.5 percentage point in 2018, according to the median estimates in the poll.  Donald Trump’s surprise election in November is feeding expectations of a sea change in U.S. policy even after the European Union this week rolled over its economic penalties against Russia for an additional six months.

Appraising Trump’s pick for secretary of state

Robert Gates served as defense secretary under George W. Bush, a Republican, and then Barack Obama, a Democrat, which qualifies him as an honest broker and independent thinker. How honest? He wrote in September that Donald Trump is “beyond repair” on national security, “stubbornly uninformed about the world” and “unfit to be commander-in-chief.”

[Peter Singer] The empathy trap

Soon after Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, he told a young girl, “We don’t have enough empathy in our world today, and it is up to your generation to change that.” Obama expressed a widespread view, so the title of a new book, “Against Empathy,” by Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom, comes as a shock.

Obama signs bill to allow Brownsville ship channel project

Brownsville port officials say a measure signed into law by President Barack Obama authorizes the deepening of the Brownsville Ship Channel and makes the project eligible for federal money. Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Wood says the Water Resources and Development Act of 2016 signed Monday by the president will deepen the channel from 42 feet to 52 feet, allow the waterway to accommodate larger cargo vessels carrying heavier loads and allow companies along the channel to expand their businesses.

President Obama hands out 78 pardons and 153 shortened sentences

President Barack Obama has pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentence of 153 others convicted of federal crimes, the greatest number of individual clemencies in a single day by any president, the White House said Monday. Obama has been granting commutations at rapid-fire pace in his final months in office, but he has focused primarily on shortening sentences of those convicted of drug offenses rather than giving pardons.

Obama sets rule to protect streams near coal mines

The Obama administration on Monday set final rules designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nation’s streams, a long-anticipated move that met quick resistance from Republicans who vowed to overturn it under President-elect Donald Trump. The Interior Department said the new rule will protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests, preventing debris from coal mining from being dumped into nearby waters.