News for the week of 2 Jun 2019

Tue 4 May 2019 – 30th anniversary of the Chinese army marching on Tienanmen Square to suppress protests.

Tue 4 May 2019 – Hope Hicks is subpoenaed to provide documents from the 2016 presidential campaign to House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler. She agrees even though the White House told her and Don McGahn to not cooperate.

Tue 4 May 2019 – DOJ refuses to provide transcripts of conversations former national security adviser Michael Flynn had with Russian officials, including Sergey Kislyak. This follows from the released transcript of a voicemail from a Trump lawyer (John Dowd) to a Flynn lawyer (Robert Kelner) that suggested obstruction.

Wed 5 May 2019 – The daughter of a GOP lobbyist (Thomas Hofeller, a Republican redistricting specialist) looked through her father’s computer after he died. In it, she found plans for gerrymandering designed explicitly to limit voting access to minorities. The Supreme Court is currently determining whether a proposed citizenship question should be added to the 2020 census and will have a decision before the end of June.

Thu 6 May 2019 – 75th anniversary of D-Day, when the Allies landed on the Normandy coast (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword). During the visit, Trump held up the ceremony for 15 min to have an interview with Laura Ingraham (which she later lied about not happening). During the interview he called Pelosi “nervous Nancy” and said that Mueller–a veteran–“made a fool of himself.” When asked about Trump, Pelosi said: “I don’t talk about the president while I’m out of the country. That’s my principle.”

Trump in the UK: there were major protests but he said that they were cheering for him, Boris Johnson would not meet with him even though Trump supports him, most of the royal family avoided meeting him and joining photo ops, the Trumps were not invited to stay at Windsor castle, when asked why they are spending tax dollars out at a bar the Trump sons replied “we’re just trying to have a good time.”

U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman has delayed the gerrymandering case until after the census case is decided. In January, Judge Furman had blocked the census question.

Thu 6 May 2019 – The House of Representatives passed a $19.1B disaster relief bill. The article below list ~ $6B of that:

  • $600 million in nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico
  • $304 million in new Community Development Block Grant funding
  • $3 billion for farmers to help cover crop losses
  • $1.6 billion to help repair damaged highways
  • $720 million for the U.S. Forest Service to help cover wildfire suppression
  • $120 million to help the National Park Service repair damaged public lands
  • $670 million to the Air Force to repair hurricane and flood damage

Trump signs long-stalled $19.1B disaster relief bill (Politico)

Where was I?

Bikini Kill reunited and is touring. I had Pussy Whipped and Reject All American on CD back in post-college apt in Smyrna, probably some double-CD re-release [ed. yes! it exists], and they were in heavy rotation for a while. A few years back I went to see The Punk Singer at Plaza Theatre and was just blown away by how not just punk Kathleen Hanna is but just how leftist intellectual she is. So the tour came about and although I think they’ll be performing nearby this was a good excuse for an NYC trip. Last one was ~3 years ago for my niece’s b-day. So let’s go.

Continue reading Where was I?

News for the week of 26 May 2019

Wed – Jared’s peace plan and Netanyahu’s role as Prime Minister have hit road blocks. Jared’s plan does nothing for Palestine, state-wise, except offer investment incentives. This after Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and planned to move the US embassy there increased the lopsided US diplomacy and eroded trust from all parties except Israel.

Wed – Mueller speaks to Congress about his report for ~9 minutes. Though a little unclear, he suggested that even without prosecution the investigation had to happen to get facts and witnesses on record. Also, Congress, or whomever, should follow up.

Thu – Members of the Trump administration requested that the USS John S. McCain be “hidden” from Trump during his visit to Japan. The Navy first denied then admitted that the request was made, but said that it was not fulfilled.

Thu – Trump tweets that the US will add a 10% tariff on Mexican goods on July 10th until they stop the flow of immigrants. This makes Americans pay more and makes life harsher in Mexico and so possibly increasing immigration.

Fri – Mass shooting in Virgina Beach. 13 deaths, five injuries. 148 for the year, this was the 143rd with five others on Saturday. The shooter had resigned from his city job hours before.