Week 43: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you'll remember.

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: September 10, 2017 at 3:24:46 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Week 43: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around 
> you, so you'll remember.
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> Week 43: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
> By Amy Siskind
> Sep 10 2017
> <https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-43-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-d1621f9224f8>
>
> This week the Mueller probe edged towards engulfing Trump’s entire inner-circle. Also of great import, Facebook 
> finally admitted to the company’s role in allowing Russian bots to infiltrate our election. Speculation grew that a 
> foreign entity influenced our election, and that the Trump campaign was complicit.
>
> This week the Trump regime continued its assault on marginalized communities and women, rescinding DACA and taking 
> away protections for victims of campus sexual assault. A second major hurricane illuminated the extent to which the 
> Trump regime has already deconstructed federal agencies like the EPA and State Department.
>
>    • Late Saturday over Labor Day Weekend, the DOJ unceremoniously announced there is no evidence Obama wiretapped 
> Trump Tower. Trump did not apologize to Obama for this frequently repeated, false claim.
>    • Trump visited Hurricane Harvey survivors in Houston seeking shelter at the NRG Center. While preparing to serve 
> lunch, Trump said his hands were “too big” to fit in the plastic serving gloves.
>    • As he left the shelter, Trump told survivors, “have a good time everybody.”
>    • The Pentagon miscalculated the number of troops deployed the Harvey: command said 6,300 were deployed, but the 
> actual number was 1,638.
>    • On Saturday afternoon, AP reported that while many ultra-polluted Superfund sites in Houston were flooded, and 
> there was concern about toxins spreading, the EPA was not on scene.
>    • The EPA responded with a statement on Sunday, in which the agency personally attacked the credibility of the AP 
> reporter: “Michael Biesecker has a history of not letting the facts get in the way of his story.”
>    • The EPA said the Superfund sites were inaccessible, but they had used aerial imaging in their assessments. AP 
> reported its staff had used a boat, vehicles and gone on foot to reach seven of the sites.
>    • WAPO reported the EPA has taken the unusual step of putting a Trump political operative, John Konkus, who has 
> little environmental policy experience, in charge of dolling out hundreds of millions of EPA grants.
>    • The GAO will investigate hiring practices by the EPA. Agencies are not supposed to hire industry lobbyists for 
> two years, but the EPA allegedly skirted those orders using a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
>    • Trump nominated David Zatezalo, a former chief executive Rhino Resources, a company which repeatedly clashed 
> with federal regulators over safety, to run the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
>    • Trump nominated Jim Bridenstine, a representative from Oklahoma who has denied climate change and has no science 
> credentials, to lead NASA. This is the longest in its history that NASA has been without a leader.
>    • CNN reported ahead of his Senate confirmation, parts of Bridenstine’s online presence were scrubbed, including 
> radio and video interviews, and Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts belonging to his campaign.
>    • Following a nuclear test by N. Korea which unleashed a 6.3-magnitude tremor Saturday, on Sunday, Trump was 
> openly critical of S. Korea, tweeting, “their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work.”
>    • NYT reported Trump’s antagonistic comments recently have made S. Korea question their alliance with the US, 
> which stretches over 67 years.
>    • Later that day, Mattis addressed the press and said, “our commitments among the allies are iron-clad.” Mattis 
> repeated that commitment in a statement on Wednesday.
>    • This marked the third time in a week that Mattis’s message has differed from Trump (see Week 42), in addition to 
> his statement to troops in Week 42 about upholding American values in the era of Trump.
>    • WSJ reported that nearly 400 EPA employees have left in recent days, leaving the agency with its lowest staffing 
> in almost 30 years.
>    • The Pentagon dramatically scaled back the number of reporters traveling with Mattis overseas to just six: one 
> wire service, one newspaper, a radio pool reporter, and a three-person pool television crew.
>    • AP, the oldest and largest American wire service, which provides news to thousands of print and broadcast 
> clients and has traveled with the defense secretary for decades, will not be included in all trips.
>    • The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the scope of Trump’s second Muslim Ban, ruling extended family 
> members are exempt.
>    • The Trump regime filed papers with the Supreme Court in support of a Christian baker in Colorado, who a state 
> court ruled against for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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