Monday,
August 14
á Internet service provider GoDaddy gave Nazi
web site Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its web site to another provider for
disparaging the woman killed at the Charlottesville rally. http://tinyurl.com/yct3unom
á The
Marijuana Justice Act was introduced in the House – a call for legalizing
marijuana at the federal level. http://tinyurl.com/y9z22z5p
á Peter
Gleick, a water scientist, said, ÒPresident Donald Trump claimed heÕd work
to promote clean water.Ó Since taking office, he and the Republican-led
Congress have rolled back decades of water-quality protections. http://tinyurl.com/ybhgybnx
á Kenneth
C. Frazier, president of Merck and one of the few African American CEOs in the
Fortune 500, resigned from TrumpÕs manufacturing council saying, ÒI feel a
responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.Ó http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/14/investing/merck-ceo-trump-charlottesville/index.html
á Trump,
in response to FrazierÕs resignation, tweeted, ÒNow that Ken Frazier of Merck
Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more
time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!Ó http://tinyurl.com/y8292ojf
á Joseph
Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed North Korea diplomacy
and noted the US military has a Ôfull rangeÕ of options at ready. http://tinyurl.com/y7j996ja
á Several Latin American nations came
out strongly against Trump's threat of military intervention in Venezuela. http://tinyurl.com/ycnacwuo
á The
Sierra Club sued the US Energy Department over groups it consulted in a
possibly biased study on the electricity grid that potentially promotes power
plants fired by nuclear and coal. http://tinyurl.com/y8gfro9c
á According
to The International Business Times, the drug industry has spent $61 million on
state elections and nearly $67 million on federal elections since 2010 to
influence drug prices. http://tinyurl.com/y9snq2my
Tuesday,
August 15
á West
Virginia Governor Jim Justice has been in initial chats with Trump about a
bailout for the shrinking coal industry with a plan for the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) to pay as much as $1.65 billion in subsidies to coal
companies. http://tinyurl.com/y9h36lk3
á According to Nexus Media, after six
months of regulatory rollback, Trump has done almost nothing that will create
jobs on oil fields or offshore rigs. That's because low oil prices, not
environmental protections, are stunting job growth, and Trump's push to nix
federal regulations and expand drilling will only make oil cheaper. http://tinyurl.com/ycgp8l8l
á Trump insisted
that it wasnÕt just white nationalists who were responsible for the violence in
Charlottesville and who simply wanted to protect the statue of Confederate
General Robert E. Lee. http://tinyurl.com/y9xegg9f
á The
Congressional Budget Office said if Trump makes good on his threat to cut off
subsidies for low- and medium-income buyers of health insurance, the federal
deficit would swell and premiums for some health plans would rise sharply,
according to the Los Angeles Times. http://tinyurl.com/ybuzs4aa
á California
Attorney General. Xavier Becerra joined San Francisco in suing the Trump
administration over threats to take money from Òsanctuary cities.Ó http://tinyurl.com/yd6rlnyk
á Richard
Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, resigned from TrumpÕs manufacturing council
saying he refused to accept any tolerance of bigotry and domestic terrorism. http://tinyurl.com/yando5hj
á WalmartÕs
ECO, Doug McMillon, criticized Trump for not Òunequivocally rejecting the
appalling actions of white supremacists,Ó but will continue to serve on TrumpÕs
economic advisory council. http://tinyurl.com/y8oqvjzh
á Google
joined GoDaddy in cutting ties with the Daily Stormer blog saying the Daily
Stormer violated its domain registry terms of service for its treatment of
Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville. http://tinyurl.com/yda73ywd
á According
to LobeLog, a review of comments over the past two years by controversial Trump
counter-terrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka reveals a consistent dismissal of any
suggestion that non-jihadist terrorism poses any threat to Americans. Gorka has
ties to the far right—including wearing the medal of a Hungarian Nazi
collaborating group to TrumpÕs inaugural ball, backing a racist and
anti-Semitic Hungarian militia in a 2007 television interview, and serving as
national security editor of the alt-right website Breitbart. http://tinyurl.com/yc7ud3mo
Wednesday,
August 16
á White
nationalist leader Richard Spencer cheered Trump for defending
white-nationalist protestors in Charlottesville saying, ÒReally proud of him.
He bucked the narrative of alt-right violence and made a statement that is fair
and down to earthÉ.Charlottesville needs to police the streets and police the antifa[scists],
whose organizations are dedicated to violence.Ó http://tinyurl.com/yclw45x5
á According
to The Washington Post, Trump adviser George Papadopoulos in March 2016
offered to set up a meeting between Trump campaign officials and the Russian
leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under Trump, telling them his Russian
contacts welcomed the opportunity. http://tinyurl.com/y9f8o4lu
á BuzzFlash
reported that pastor Ralph Drollinger has been leading the first White House
bible study in at least 100 years. Attendees have been VP Mike Pence, HHS
Secretary Tom Price, DOE Secretary Rick Perry, Education Secretary Betsy Devos,
Agriculture Secretary Sunny Perdue, and CIA director Mike Pompeo. Trump has not
attended. http://tinyurl.com/ycga5gnt
á The DHS terminated a program offering
minors fleeing violence and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras a
chance to settle in the US, ending travel hopes for more than 2,700 children
awaiting approval. http://tinyurl.com/y7xp5ozx
á The
Trump administration backed away from causing a crisis in healthcare and agreed
to continue making Obamacare subsidy payments to insurance companies. http://tinyurl.com/yabt8pdf
á A
federal appeals court ruled that the state of Arkansas can withhold Medicaid
funds from Planned Parenthood -- a major departure from court precedent that
may set up the issue of Planned Parenthood defunding for a possible Supreme
Court challenge. http://tinyurl.com/ya39shpj
Thursday,
August 17
á Because
so many of AmericaÕs top CEOs had resigned from TrumpÕs economic advisory and
manufacturing councils over Trumps defense of White Supremacists, Trump
disbanded the business councils, an action that isolates him more than ever
from the GOP, world leaders and the business community. http://tinyurl.com/yaeemcat
á Scientific American reported that
Congressional Democrats have explored forming an expert panel to review TrumpÕs
mental health on a periodic basis. http://tinyurl.com/ycuahzwo
á White
House Chief of Staff John Kelly fired White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Bannon said, ÒThe Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is
over.Ó. http://tinyurl.com/y83s3f9d
á All
members of Trumps Commission on Arts and the Humanities resigned -- a sign of
growing unrest with Trump aligning himself with White Supremacists. http://tinyurl.com/y82vrkf8
á According
to the Center for Biological Diversity, the Trump administration issued an
environmental impact statement that proposes to greenlight a dangerous Arctic
drilling plan, a first for federal waters in the Arctic. Studies have warned that
arctic drilling carries a 75 percent chance of a major oil spill. http://tinyurl.com/yd3sd8qk
á Pastor
A. R. Bernard stepped down from TrumpÕs board of evangelical advisers saying
Òit became obvious that there was a deepening conflict in values between myself
and the administration.Ó http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2017/aug/19/pastor-r-bernard-quit-trumps-evangelical-advisory-/
á Billionaire
investor Carl Icahn, the wealthiest of Trump's circle, resigned as TrumpÕs
advisor on financial regulation after critics claimed his policy
recommendations could help his own investments. http://tinyurl.com/ydd2n2fb
Saturday,
August 19
á Trump
and first lady Melania Trump planned not to attend the annual Kennedy Center
Honors after three of the honorees, Norman Lear, Lionel Richie, and Carmen de
Lavallade, said they may boycott the traditional White House reception for
honorees. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/us/politics/donald-and-melania-trump-to-skip-kennedy-center-honors.html
á New York Times
reported that TrumpÕs threat to use US military against President Nicolas MaduroÕs
Venezuelan government has brought together Latin American leaders to oppose US
intervention. http://tinyurl.com/y8hhht8f
Sunday,
August 20
á According
to The New Republic, Trump exhibited signs of racism long before his
Charlottesville comments including his Òvile stance against the Central
Park Five, the two times he was sued for not renting to black people, the time
he refused to disavow former KKK grand wizard David Duke, or the fact that he
pretty much started the whole birther conspiracy.Ó http://tinyurl.com/yblg3zmk
á Trump
disbanded the National Climate Assessment Committee, a group that helps policymakers
and private-sector officials incorporate climate analysis into long-term
planning. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/08/20/the-trump-administration-just-disbanded-a-federal-advisory-committee-on-climate-change/?utm_term=.9e92f4148913
á Six
large charity groups have canceled plans to host fundraising events at TrumpÕs Mar-a-Lago
club over TrumpÕs response to violence at the White Supremacist rally in
Charlottesville. http://tinyurl.com/yaflrwhl
á TeleSur
reported that the US is set to launch its annual joint military exercises with
South Korea, a move that North Korea says will further drive the situation on
the Korean Peninsula into a catastrophe.Ó http://tinyurl.com/ycogvekq
á North
Korea warned that the upcoming US-South Korea military exercises are
"reckless behavior driving the situation into the uncontrollable phase of
a nuclear war." http://tinyurl.com/yab87mba