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Ypres, where the Last Post plays every single day




As Britain commemorates the First World War's end, the Belgian town of Ypres, the last resting place for so many of the servicemen who gave their lives, never has, and never will, forget. Caroline Davies reports

Antoon Verschoot will raise his bugle to his lips tonight and the plaintive notes of the 'Last Post' will echo beneath the Menin Gate, then float gently over fields that once were hell incarnate. Nowhere can Remembrance Sunday hold more potent symbolism than in the Flemish town of Ypres on the 90th anniversary of the armistice that ended the carnage of the First World War.

This unique homage to the 250,000 British and Commonwealth warriors who fell in the Ypres salient has been paid, without fail, for 80 years at 8pm. Tonight will be the 27,566th time. And for 54 years Verschoot, 83, has stood beneath the memorial to those with no known grave. 'Still now, with each note, I feel pain for them, for those who fought for freedom,' he said, his breath fogging in the night air. 'They are not buried or have no known resting place. It is such a small thing that I can do.

Passchendaele

Where for the first time the Canadian Corps fought as a single unit. The battle, some say, that defined Canada as a nation.

The British, French and Belgian troops failed to take Passchendaele. It was finally taken by the Canadian Corps at a cost of 15,654 lives. Very close to the 16,000 predicted by Commander Arthur Currie.


Very well made movie about Passchendaele

Passchendaele

Written and directed by Paul Gross.

115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2414

To limit the amount of expenditure on Presidential travel, and for
other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 11, 2017

Mr. Ted Lieu of California (for himself and Mr. Nadler) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL



To limit the amount of expenditure on Presidential travel, and for
other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Waste And Misuse by the
President Act of 2017'' or as the ``SWAMP Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Presidential travel to commercial entities owned in
whole or in part by the President or First Family results in
the American taxpayer effectively subsidizing the President's
businesses.
(2) Given current expenditures, President Trump is on track
to spend more during his first year of office than all eight
years of the Obama administration combined.
(3) It is unacceptable for the President to maintain an
interest in traveling to properties in which he has a direct
financial interest, as the U.S. Government is responsible for
renting space for personnel in said private commercial
entities.
(4) Every time the President travels to Mar-a-Lago, he
necessarily promotes his private business interests via free
press at the Government's expense.
(5) The State Department's recent promotion of Mar-a-Lago
on its official website raises serious ethics concerns.
(6) As of April 14, 2017, President Trump has cost the U.S.
taxpayer unprecedented amounts of money, including the
following estimated costs:
(A) For trips to Mar-a-Lago:
(i) Total cost for security in Palm Beach:
$3,700,000 (each trip).
(ii) Roundtrip flights from Joint Base
Andrews, Maryland, to West Palm, Florida:
$700,000.
(iii) Overtime for local law enforcement
during Trump's trips: $60,000/day.
(iv) Total golf cart rentals ordered by the
Secret Service ``for POTUS visit'': $35,185.
(v) Estimated loss of business due to
airport closure: $30,000/weekend.
(B) For Trump Tower:
(i) Request for additional Secret Service
funding to secure Trump Towers: $60,000,000.
(ii) New York Police Department security
costs: $127,000-$146,000/day.
(iii) ``Elevator services'' ordered by the
Secret Service: $64,000.
(iv) Air Force One flights to New York
City: $180,000/hour.
(7) The proposed 2017 Federal spending bill includes
reimbursements for millions of dollars spent by Florida and New
York to protect the President and First Family, and facilitate
their travel. While localities should be reimbursed, the
taxpayer should not be responsible for said reimbursement.

SEC. 3. REIMBURSAL FOR COSTS OF PROTECTION.

In the case of a person whom the United States Secret Service is
authorized to protect under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 3056(a) of
title 18, United States Code, if that person, while traveling for
official business or for personal purposes, stays in a hotel or other
establishment providing daily-rate accommodation in which that person
has an ownership or financial interest, that person shall reimburse to
the Treasury--
(1) any amount expended by the United States Secret Service
for the provision of such protection; and
(2) any amount expended for other costs incurred by the
Government pertaining to that stay.
<all>




H.R.2414 - SWAMP Act of 2017

......................................................................


Now my question is. If people were so upset about the 'extravagances' of Obama why are they not upset now?

Comey was pushing Trump-Russia probe harder in days before firing, officials say


Days before he was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey requested more resources to pursue his investigation into Russia's election meddling and the possible involvement of Trump associates, U.S. officials said Wednesday, fuelling concerns that Trump was trying to undermine a probe that could threaten his presidency.

It was unclear whether word of the Comey request, put to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, ever made its way to Trump. But the revelation intensified the pressure on the White House from both political parties to explain the motives behind Comey's stunning ouster.




The ostensible reason for firing James Comey on May 9, 2017, was his handling of Hillary Clinton’s emails in July 2016 and October 2016, which President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) had praised. One need not go any further than that to conclude Trump’s cover story makes no sense whatsoever. But don’t take my word for it. Consider what Trump himself has said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) recalled today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that Trump told her he was firing Comey because the department was “a mess.” That doesn’t comport with the reasons outlined in Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein’s letter. (She also added another nugget: On March 15, Comey gave a very thorough briefing behind closed doors to the committee. She said it was very detailed and showed that “the FBI was taking its job seriously.”)

In brief remarks at the Oval Office today, Trump told reporters essentially the same thing. He fired Comey, he said, because he “wasn’t doing a good job.” That’s also at odds with the Rosenstein memo. It begs the question as to what about his performance is wrong — his refusal to investigate wiretapping? His persistent Russia inquiry and, as we learned today, his request for more resources for the probe? (The Post reports, “Last week, then-FBI Director James B. Comey requested more resources from the Justice Department for his bureau’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussion.” A Justice Department spokesperson denied the claim.)

.......................................................


So if I understand all this properly.

Comey wanted more resources to investigate possible Russia - Trump links. The two people who he has to go to are Trump choices. They recommend that Comey be fired after Trump asks them to find cause to fire him.


And NONE of this is supposed to look the least bit suspicious to anyone? Has Capitol Hill become the newest set of "The Apprentice"?


freshman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) tweeted, “Like many Americans, I have serious concerns and unanswered questions about the timing of Director Comey’s dismissal.” He went on in a series of tweets: “This goes for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The American people deserve the truth, not politically-driven talking points.” And then this: “We must put the sanctity of our democracy far, far above partisan interest.”


I think this guy has it right.

I suppose Trump didn't like what Comey had to say in his testimony before the House..


So, as per 'The Apprentice'




"You're Fired!!"

Take cover' emergency declared at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state


An emergency has been declared at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south-central Washington state after the partial collapse of a tunnel containing railcars full of nuclear waste.

"Near where two tunnels join together there is a [six-metre by six-metre] cave-in," said a Hanford joint information centre spokesperson. "There is no detected contamination or [radiation] release at this time."

"Right now we're in a "take cover," it's our standard protocol. It means all employees have been asked to go to the nearest facility — typically it's an office or trailer — and they will stay there until further notice. There's approximately 3,000 staff in the [affected] 200 East Area," she said.
No radiation detected

Surrounding residents in Benton and Franklin counties are not affected at the moment.

Frequent updates are being posted on the Hanford Emergency Information website.

Randy Bradbury, a spokesperson for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said no workers were injured and none were inside the tunnel when the incident occurred.

The cave-in occurred near the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, also known as PUREX, located in the middle of the sprawling Hanford site, which is 1500 square kilometres in size.

Hanford is located near Richland, about 300 kilometres southeast of Seattle.

A source said crews doing road work nearby may have created enough vibration to cause the collapse.

A message was sent to all personnel telling them to "secure ventilation in your building" and "refrain from eating or drinking," although ventilation systems have be turned back on.

For decades Hanford made plutonium for nuclear weapons, including for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

It is now the largest repository of radioactive waste in the United States.

Hanford has about 211 million litres of waste stored in underground tanks. Some tanks date back to the Second World War and are leaking.

Trump said it best about the health care..... without stating any 'alternate facts'!!!!


Trump says Australia's health care beats the U.S.'s: He's right


Trump: Australian health care system better than US


Trump praised Australia's universal healthcare system — Bernie Sanders had a hilarious reaction

I actually have nothing to get over. But I will believe what I read before I believe 'alternate facts'. From what I have read Trump is trying to break every rule of ethics there is for his office. He has claimed credit for job creation he has nothing to do with. He railed for years, as people on these forums did, about the vacations of Obama and the golf trips of Obama.(Where are those that posted here about the waste of Obama now?) Yet when he spends taxpayer money at the rate he has .. that's okay. Golf trips (which he clearly and repeatedly said he wouldn't have time for), using the office to promote his properties, wasting taxpayer money for Secret Service in New York because his wife doesn't want to be in Washington because of son's school year (there are no schools in Washington DC?). His daughter gets an office in the White House and access to classified information (why the access when she has no status in White House I can't figure).

Cleaning the swamp? It seems he has brought in more slime and vermin to the swamp.If a person is elected to represent ALL THE PEOPLE you do not do things that benefit only your business friends nor ask their opinion on what to do....HINT: they will give advise that benefits themselves.

I feel sorry for the American people, the American nation. They sought a new political hero and got a sexist, egotistical, conman with 'alternate facts' as a sales pitch. One who will do what he can to openly fill his pockets and convince people it's for their own good.

23 Environmental Rules Rolled Back in Trump’s First 100 Days

Rejected a ban on a potentially harmful insecticide. March 29

Who wanted it changed? The company that sells the insecticide, Dow Agrosciences, strongly opposed a risk analysis by the Obama-era E.P.A., which found that the insecticide Chlorpyrifos poses a risk to fetal brain and nervous system development. Mr. Pruitt rejected the E.P.A.’s previous analysis and denied the ban, saying that the chemical needed further study.

Overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges. April 3

Who wanted it changed? Alaskan politicians opposed the law, which prevented hunters from shooting wolves and grizzly bears on wildlife refuges, arguing that the state, not the federal government, has authority over those lands. Congress passed a bill revoking the rule, which Mr. Trump signed into law.



..................................

Green group sues Trump admin over repeal of wildlife protections


The rule prohibited practices in hunting predatory animals such as wolves, bears and other wildlife in Alaska’s national wildlife refuges. Hunters were banned from killing wolves and their pups in dens and gunning down grizzly bears at bait stations, trapping and killing black bears with steel-jaw leg-hold traps or wire snares, and killing brown and black bears from an aircraft.

...................................

100 Ways, in 100 Days, that Trump Has Hurt Americans

...................................

See The Sweeping American Landscapes Under Review By Trump

President Trump has ordered the Department of the Interior to review all designations of national monuments greater than 100,000 acres created since 1996.

That executive order, which he signed Wednesday, places at least 20 — and as many as 40 — monuments in the government's sights. The areas now under review span a vast range of landscapes — from arid deserts to frozen mountain peaks, from striking craggy vistas to teeming underwater playgrounds.

And, though these monuments were all established roughly in the past two decades, they all have a history more than a century long. That's because all of them owe their existence to the 1906 Antiquities Act, a law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt that makes it a federal crime to destroy or alter ancient artifacts and ruins on federal land.
.
.
.
But if, after the review, Trump also decides to bypass Congress and act by executive order to shrink or even nullify any of the monuments, a court challenge is all but guaranteed.

"The Antiquities Act expressly authorizes the President to create a national monument, but it does not authorize a later President to revoke or modify a national monument," says Prof. Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

..............................................

Donald Trump’s Lifestyle Could Cost Taxpayers Nearly $1 Billion

In all eight years of President Barack Obama’s presidency, his travel, both personal and professional, amounted to a total of $97 million, according to Judicial Watch. That puts Trump on track to surpass Obama’s travel spending over the course of two terms in about one year. At that rate, Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago alone would cost over $800 million in public funds if he remains in office for two terms.

................................................

As for Trump, he used to say he’d only infrequently leave the White House if elected, as he’d be so busy working in Washington, D.C. "If you're in the White House, who wants to take a vacation?" Trump said in Iowa on the campaign trail last year while criticizing then-President Obama for taking a trip to Hawaii.

"You’re in the White House. What’s better than the White House? Why these vacations?"

Breaking Down All Of The Trump Family's Travel Costs And Lavish Expenditures

The number of militants killed in an attack by the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military has risen to 94, an Afghan official said Saturday.

Ataullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar, said the number of dead from the group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was up from the 36 reported a day earlier. A ministry of defence official had said Friday the number of dead could rise as officials assessed the bomb site in Achin district.

"Fortunately there is no report of civilians being killed in the attack," Khogyani said.

Massive bomb dropped by U.S. killed 94, Afghan official says

And .... a new Cold War begins

Russia to help Syria beef up air defenses


MOSCOW (AP) —

The Russian military says it will help Syria beef up its air defenses after the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that a "complex of measures" to strengthen Syrian air defenses will be done shortly to help "protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities."

Konashenkov said "the combat efficiency of the U.S. strike was very low," adding that only 23 of the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the Shayrat air base in the province of Homs.

He said it destroyed six MiG-23 fighter jets of the Syrian air force which were under repairs, but didn't damage other Syrian warplanes at the base.

Konashenkov added that the base's runway also has been left undamaged.


http://wjla.com/news/nation-world/russian-military-says-it-will-help-syria-strengthen-its-air-defenses-after-us-strike


Russian warship heads toward US destroyers after strike on Syria


A Russian warship headed Friday to the area in the eastern Mediterranean where the two US Navy destroyers that launched 59 cruise missiles into Syria were stationed, according to a report.

The frigate Admiral Grigorovich RFS-494 sailed through the Bosphorus Strait from the Black Sea, a US defense official told Fox News.

Also Friday, one of the US destroyers began heading to an undisclosed location to rearm.

A military-diplomatic source in Moscow told the Russian TASS news agency that the Admiral Grigorovich would make a stop at a Syrian base.

“The Russian ship armed with cruise missiles Kalibr will visit the logistics base in Tartus, Syria,” the source said.

The frigate recently replenished its supplies at the Russian city of Novorossiisk and was taking part in a joint exercise with Turkish ships in the Black Sea, TASS reported.
ADVERTISING

The source said the duration of the ship’s presence off Syria would depend on the situation — but “in any way it will last more than a month.”


http://nypost.com/2017/04/07/russian-warship-heads-toward-us-destroyers-after-strike-on-syria/




Trump doesn't lie at all. He presents 'alternate facts'.

In 2013 Obama went to Congress to get approval for military action. Congress refused to authorize any action.

Trump on the other hand seems to have done so without Congress.

Syria is laughing and stating that there will will be no change in leadership. That it views the action as aggression on a sovereign nation. Russia, allied with Syria, views it the same way.

The message has been sent to Syria so now .. is that to followed with more military action? Will there be troops sent? Buildings were destroyed but the tarmac is unscathed..perhaps for use later?

Russian troops at the base were warned of the impending attack. Does anyone seriously think they did not advise their Syrian allies?

Trump spent his time saying that Obama should stay out of Syria, avoid military action in Syria .... there was no benefit to America from such actions and US had lost enough $$$$ and troops in Mid-East. Yet he launches an attack because Syria used toxins against it's population. The same men, women, children and "beautiful babies" that he won't allow as refugees trying to escape those attacks.

If he is ready to commit an act of war on Syria is he also ready to accept those seeking to escape that war?

The United States launched cruise missiles against an airbase in Syria Thursday night in retaliation for this week's chemical weapons attack against civilians, U.S. officials said. It was the first direct U.S. assault on the Syrian government and Donald Trump's most dramatic military order since becoming president. Read a transcript of the statement by the Pentagon, as well as the statement Trump made shortly after the attack.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-missile-transcript-pentagon-1.4059826



Strangely enough this is the very type of military action Trump was against while Obama was P.O.T.U.S.

Trump’s Line on Syria

In response to the OP.......

The 19 agencies that Trump’s budget would kill, explained


The 19 agencies that Trump’s budget would kill, explained

..........

Here's what Trump's budget proposes to cut

..........

For many of the poorest Americans, the so-called wasteful spending projects and programs Trump plans to cut or do away with will have serious impact.

Eliminating programs like the Department of Labor’s Senior Community Service Employment program, which coordinates job readiness programs for low-income, unemployed seniors; the Health and Human Services department’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, which helps needy families pay their heating bills; and the Legal Services Corporation, which funds free civil legal aid for poor Americans, are all items that will hurt low-income Americans.

Trump voters will be among those most affected by these cuts. Ninety percent of voters in Alabama’s Winston County supported Trump in the presidential election, making it the most pro-Trump county in the country. The county, however, is one of the poorest in the state, with a median household income of $33,685. The state receives home energy assistance grants for its poorest residents, and federal job training programs for seniors under Obama have opened up thousands of job opportunities for older residents in the state. Legal Services Alabama, the only organization in the state dedicated to representing poor residents, takes several thousand family violence, consumer protection, and housing cases a year, most of them at no cost.

Eliminating these, or other programs for the poor and elderly will have pronounced impact on many of the voters who helped elect Trump and establish full Republican control of Congress. While Congress will still have to weigh in on Trump’s proposal, how this apparent conflict will play out remains to be seen.


Trump budget proposal would boost defense, eliminate funds for humanities, arts

..............

What America would look like under the Trump budget

..............

Proposed cuts to the EPA include defunding the Clean Power Plan, which EPA administrator Scott Pruitt sued to block as Oklahoma attorney general. Pruitt sued the EPA over a dozen times during prior to becoming its head, and in the majority of cases he listed utilities and energy companies that had donated to his campaigns as co-plaintiffs.

Trump Budget Funds Pentagon with Cuts to Health, Aid

..............

If you’re a poor person in America, President Donald Trump’s budget proposal is not for you.

Trump has unveiled a budget that would slash or abolish programs that have provided low-income Americans with help on virtually all fronts, including affordable housing, banking, weatherizing homes, job training, paying home heating oil bills, and obtaining legal counsel in civil matters.

If you’re a poor person in America, Trump’s budget is not for you

................




Perhaps someone can explain in a rational manner how making the poor poorer and removing the programs that help them improve their situation, messing up the environment, and removing funding from medical research etc will Make America Great Again.

Meals on Wheels could take funding hit in Trump budget

The administration’s proposed cuts target the Department of Housing and Urban Development and call for the elimination of the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant, which helps fund programs including Meals on Wheels, which deliver food (and human interaction) to elderly, disabled and poor recipients. “The federal government has spent over $150 billion on this block grant since its inception in 1974, but the program is not well-targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results,” the budget proposal states.

This is how much it costs ‘Meals on Wheels’ to feed one elderly person for a year

How is defunding Meals on Wheels, school lunches and after school programs going to Make America Great Again?

How is defunding education / job training for 55+ going to Make America Great Again?

I realize that the 'skinny budget' of the President is supposed to a plan of his vision for the nation, to be reviewed / altered / ammended by lawmakers, but how does this plan help the nation?

All I see is an ANNUAL combined force exercise. It's nothing new. Other than that we have:

Speaking Friday during his first visit to South Korea as America’s top diplomat, the Associated Press reported that Tillerson said “all of the options are on the table,” including the use of military force, when it comes to U.S. policy towards North Korea. A preemptive strike, Tillerson said, could be appropriate should North Korea’s nuclear missile program escalate to a level “that we believe requires action."


Diplo talk for "You are making us angry and more sanctions will follow."

What would a Trump-Tillerson war with North Korea really look like?

South Korea would suffer heavy casualties since DPRK artillery / missiles are already targeted on Seoul and other cities.

Kim is insane. A true all out nutcase. It would not be beyond him to launch ICBM's.

The international repercussions would be too great for that preemptive strike to occur. Not without a whole lot of talks with allies etc. And at moment the world probably doesn't see Trump as being very reliable when it comes to facts.

The U.S. Secret Service announced on Friday a laptop was stolen from an agent's car in New York City but said agency-issued computers contain multiple layers of security and are not permitted to contain classified information.

The agency said in a statement that it was withholding additional comment while an investigation continues.

ABC News, citing law enforcement sources, said the laptop contained floor plans for Trump Tower, details on the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and other national security information.

The New York Daily News, citing police sources, said authorities had been searching for the laptop since it was stolen on Thursday morning from the agent's vehicle in Brooklyn.

Some items stolen with the laptop, including coins and a black bag with the Secret Service insignia on it, were later recovered, the newspaper reported.

'There's data on there that's highly sensitive'

CBS News, also citing law enforcement sources, said that some of the documents on the computer included important files on Pope Francis.

The agent also told investigators that while nothing about the White House or foreign leaders is stored on the laptop, the information on it could compromise national security, the Daily News reported.

"There's data on there that's highly sensitive," a police source told the newspaper, adding: "They're scrambling like mad."

............................................

Somebody going to be headed to the unemployment line. Multiple layers of security may not help much if an experienced hacker gets it.


U.S. Secret Service agent's stolen laptop may contain national security information

What bubble are you bursting? I have stated that human cloning is possible.

But, and here I hate to burst your bubble, it is not possible to clone an exact duplicate of another person. You may get the physical being, without any scars, fractures etc (since they would not have had the accidents, bumps and bruises of life). The physical duplicate would not have the same speech patterns, this is acquired through social interaction (regional accents / terminology) and education. The physical duplicates would not have the same personality as the original since they would lack the life experiences that make each person an individual.

Cloning sheep is relatively easy compared to cloning people. There is no personality, higher intelligence, language skills etc to worry about.

To clone an exact duplicate of a mature human is simply not possible.

The clone would require the same exposure to diseases ( and no two people have exactly the same antigens), the same healed fractures ( and everyone has micro fractures that differ them), the same life experiences at the same time of life that would affect the personality / way of thinking.

Human cloning at this point ...... great for transplants not for the replacement of a person in society.

MK Ultra started in '50s not 1945. It was a study on substances that could e used to control people through psychotropic means. LSD being the best known used in the project.

Watched the speech. Have to agree that the Democrats looked like disgruntled adolescents. However I also noted some things that Trump got wrong ..... or do they count as 'alt-facts'?

****Trump addresses joint session of Congress****


1.... Fact check: Trump on cutting costs from F-35 program

“We’ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter, and will be saving billions more dollars on contracts all across our government.”

THE FACT CHECKER | Trump once again takes credit for the lowered cost of the F-35 program, but the Pentagon had announced cost reductions of roughly $600 million before Trump began meeting with Lockheed Martin’s chief executive. Sometimes Trump says he saved $600 million, other times $700 million.


2.... Fact Check: Bans on Lobbying

“We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a 5-year ban on lobbying by Executive Branch Officials – and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government.”

THE FACT CHECKER | Trump did sign an order that he said would result in a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for foreign governments. But his five-year ban on lobbying is less than advertised. Trump has originally promised to extend the ban to congressional officials, but he did not. Moreover, the five-year ban applies only to lobbying one’s former agency — not becoming a lobbyist. Moreover, Trump actually weakened some of the language from similar bans under Obama and George W. Bush, and reduced the level of transparency.


3.... Fact check: Trump claim on murders by unauthorized immigrants

“Jamiel’s 17-year-old son was viciously murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member, who had just been released from prison. Jamiel Shaw Jr. was an incredible young man, with unlimited potential who was getting ready to go to college where he would have excelled as a great quarterback. But he never got the chance. His father, who is in the audience tonight, has become a good friend of mine.”

THE FACT CHECKER | Trump likes to use anecdotes as evidence for associating violent crimes with illegal immigration, telling stories of victims of homicide by undocumented immigrants. He brought family members of those killed by illegal immigrants as his guest to tonight’s speech. He often talks about the death of Jamiel Shaw Jr., a 17-year-old football star who was killed in 2008 by a gang member who was in the country illegally.

Clearly, stories like this exist. But the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants do not fit Trump’s description of aggravated felons, whose crimes include murder. U.S. Sentencing Commission data shows homicides are a small percentage of the crimes committed by noncitizens, whether they are in the United States illegally or not.

The Congressional Research Service found that the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants do not fit in the category of aggravated felons, whose crimes include murder, drug trafficking or illegal trafficking of firearms.


4.... Fact Check: $6 trillion spent in the “Middle East’


“America has spent approximately six trillion dollars in the Middle East, all this while our infrastructure at home is crumbling. With this six trillion dollars we could have rebuilt our country –- twice.”

THE FACT CHECKER | Here’s his $6 trillion figure! The president uses it in a particular misleading way, as the $6 trillion-figure adds in estimates of future spending, such as interest on the debt and veterans care for the next three decades. Yet Trump says that this money (not yet spent) could have rebuilt the U.S. economy.

As we noted earlier, the wars in Iraq (in the Middle East) and Afghanistan (in South Asia) together cost about $1.6 trillion from 2001 to 2014.


5.... Fact check: Trump claim on violent crime

“The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century. In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone — and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher. This is not acceptable in our society.”

THE FACT CHECKER | In 2015, there was the biggest percentage jump in a single year since 1970-1971, or 45 years ago. In 2016, there was an uptick in the homicide rate in the 30 largest cities. One outlier city — Chicago — was responsible for 43.7 percent of the total increase in homicide rates in 2016. But overall, violent crime is on a decades-long decline, since the height of the crack cocaine epidemic in the early 1990s.

Crime trends can randomly fluctuate year to year. Many factors affect such rates, including the weather. This is why criminologists do not make generalizations about crime trends based on short-term comparisons of rates, such as annual or monthly changes. They consider the data over much longer periods of time — at least 10 to 15 years — to make conclusions about trends.


as well as:
FBI: US Homicide Rate at 51-Year Low


6.... Fact Check: Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force

“Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force.”

THE FACT CHECKER | This is an absurd Four-Pinocchio claim, based on a real number. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, relying on a monthly survey known as the Current Population Survey (CPS), shows that, as of January 2016, 94.4 million Americans 16 years and older were “not in labor force.”

How is this number developed? Well, there is a civilian noninstitutional population of 254.1 million people, and 159.7 million are in the labor force. The difference yields the 94.4 million figure.

But the unemployment rate is only 4.8 percent because just 7.6 million people actively are looking for a job and cannot find one. They are considered part of the overall labor force. In other words, you have to be seeking a job to be counted in the labor force.

Who are the 94 million not in the labor force? The BLS has data for the year 2015. It turns out that 93 percent do not want a job at all. The picture that emerges from a study of the data shows that the 95 million consists mostly of people who are retired, students, stay-at-home parents or disabled.

Trump is doing a real disservice in citing this 94 million figure and suggesting it means these people are looking for work.


7.... To argue for stricter vetting of immigrants, Trump invokes attacks carried out by U.S. citizens

The male San Bernardino shooter was born in Illinois; his wife, with whom he carried out the attack, was born in Pakistan. (The FBI said the male gunman had been plotting attacks for years before he met her.) The Boston Marathon bombers were brothers born in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Neither country was mentioned in Trump’s original ban, nor are they expected to be on the revised version. (The younger of the brothers, who was sentenced to death for the bombing, was a naturalized U.S. citizen.) None of the Sept. 11 hijackers who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001 were from countries on the ban list. (Most were from Saudi Arabia, while the rest were from Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.)

Trump’s comments about most people convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 — rather than people who actually carried out attacks — could be true, but the Department of Homeland Security, analyzing his travel ban, recently noted a data point that stands in contrast to it.

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, the report said, more than half of the 82 people who died in the pursuit of or were convicted of any terrorism-related offense inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, slightly more than half were native-born U.S. citizens.

ince 2001, every deadly jihadist attack inside the United States was carried out by a U.S. citizen or legal resident, according to data collected by New America, a Washington-based nonprofit group. “Far from being foreign infiltrators, the large majority of jihadist terrorists in the United States have been American citizens or legal residents,” the group said in a report on its findings.


8.... Fact check: Trump exaggerates the impacts of illegal immigration


“By finally enforcing our immigration laws we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars and make our communities safer for everyone.”

THE FACT CHECKER | Trump exaggerates the impact of illegal immigration on crime, taxpayer money and jobs.

Extensive research shows noncitizens are not more prone to criminality than U.S.-born citizens. The vast majority of unauthorized immigrants are not criminal aliens or aggravated felons.

Trump appears to reference the cost of illegal immigration from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports lower levels of legal and illegal immigration. According to the group, the annual cost of illegal immigration at the federal, state and local level were about $113 billion as of 2013.

But this calculation makes assumptions that are not necessarily tied to illegal immigration, like enrollment in limited English proficiency classes. The enrollment number doesn’t tell you anything about the actual citizenship status of students (i.e., they could be native-born children of undocumented immigrants, raised in a non-English-speaking home).


9.... Fact Check: ‘Trillions’ spent overseas

“We’ve spent trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled.”

THE FACT CHECKER: Trump often incorrectly claims that the United States spent $6 trillion on the wars in the Middle East (while including Afghanistan) but here he plays it safe. The wars in Iraq (in the Middle East) and Afghanistan (in South Asia) together cost about $1.6 trillion from 2001 to 2014. His $6 trillion-figure adds in estimates of future spending, such as interest on the debt and veterans care for the next three decades.

Former president Barack Obama often pleaded with the GOP-led Congress to pass a major infrastructure bill but never received much support. We will see if Trump has any more success.


10....Trump vows “clean air and clean water” as EPA cuts loom

Trump’s vow “to promote clean air and clear water” Tuesday evening drew howls from environmental advocates, who noted that only hours earlier he had signed an executive order aimed at unraveling an Obama-era regulation known as the Clean Water Rule.

His comments came amid reports that the Trump administration wants to make significant cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, rolling back numerous regulations of recent years and shrinking the agency’s overall role. The agency’s newly confirmed administrator, Scott Pruitt, repeatedly sued the EPA in recent years, arguing that it had overreached its legal authority.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump made clear his disdain for the agency. “We are going to get rid of it in almost every form,” he said. “We’re going to have little tidbits left. But we’re going to take a tremendous amount out.”


Above from Washington Post




More at: Trump Check-Fact-checking and context for President Donald Trump's address to Congress


Insofar as calling on the widow of the S.E.A.L. ... I await the reaction of the dead man's father. The father who already stated he "did not want Trump to hide behind his son's body" but wanted an investigation in the how / why. As to the "valuable intell collected" .. the military has already stated that there was no intell of value gathered.

I think Trump needs his staff to do better research for him. Using figures that can be easily disproved just isn't a good idea.

The decision is certain to provoke a fight with the states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Those states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington and the District of Columbia.

Jay Inslee, Washington state’s Democratic governor, made it clear earlier this month that the state would fight hard if the Trump team tried to block its recreational pot sales. “I think it would be a really big mistake for them to pick this fight, and I hope it will not occur,” Inslee said.

California legalization could translate to $5 billion in annual retail sales if Trump doesn’t intervene, according to estimates from Marijuana Business Daily. A cannabis caucus formed in Congress last week and vowed to fight Trump, if necessary, and protect legalization. Among the co-founders is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican and Trump supporter whose name was floated for secretary of state before ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson got the job.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron D. Ford called on the state’s attorney general to “vigorously defend” the state’s laws.

“Not only did voters overwhelmingly vote to approve the legalization of recreational marijuana, the governor’s proposed education budget depends on tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales,” Ford said. “Any action by the Trump administration would be an insult to Nevada voters and would pick the pockets of Nevada’s students.”

Seventy-one percent of voters say the government should not enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana use, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday. Fifty nine percent support legalizing recreational marijuana while 93 percent of Americans support medical marijuana use.

Trump administration plans crackdown on recreational marijuana

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I really doubt that the states which have legalized it will give up the tax revenues easily.