Category Archives: Politics

“Das Spiel mit dem Leben anderer Menschen”

Deutsche Welle: Kommentar: Die USA dürfen Trumps sinnlose Grausamkeit nicht vergessen. “Ein richtiger “Deal” war das nicht. Trump beendet zwar die bisher längste Haushaltssperre in der Geschichte der USA, aber diese richtet weiterhin so viel Schaden an, dass es keine Gewinner gibt, meint Michael Knigge.”

“Und hoffentlich – wenn es denn überhaupt so etwas wie eine positive Langzeitwirkung des “Shutdowns” gibt – werden die Amerikaner, insbesondere die, die nun direkt betroffen waren, nicht vergessen, wer gesagt hat, er wäre stolz die Regierung lahm zu legen.

Hoffentlich werden alle Amerikaner sich an diesen gefühllosen, grausamen Präsidenten erinnern, der kein Problem damit hat, andere Menschen und ihren Lebensunterhalt aufs Spiel zu setzen für eine sinnlose Grenzmauer, die er am Ende noch nicht mal bekommen hat. Gibt es bessere Beweise für Charakterlosigkeit?”

“Mr. Trump and his campaign repeatedly denied having such contacts with Russians during the 2016 election.”

The New York Times: Trump and His Associates Had More Than 100 Contacts With Russians Before the Inauguration.

“During the 2016 presidential campaign and transition, Donald J. Trump and at least 17 campaign officials and advisers had contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries, a New York Times analysis has found. At least 10 other associates were told about interactions but did not have any themselves.

Knowledge of these interactions is based on New York Times reporting, documents submitted to Congress, and court records and accusations related to the special counsel investigating foreign interference in the election.”

Link via MMetaFilter.

Apprehensions on US-Mexico border: Trump’s first year in office saw lowest number since 1971

BBC: Trump wall – all you need to know about US border in seven charts.

“Mr Trump argues $5.7bn (£4.5bn) is needed to address a “humanitarian and security crisis” at the southern border and has warned the shutdown will continue until he gets the cash.

Democrats say the wall is a waste of taxpayers’ money and accuse the Trump administration of a “manufactured crisis”.

Here are seven charts and maps that try to explain where we are with the wall and what the situation is like at the US-Mexico border.”

Link via MetaFilter.

Just reading the headlines makes you sick to your stomach…

… and I’m not even a US citizen, just a concerned Eurpean who knows a thing or two about German history.

The Atlantic: Unthinkable – 50 Moments That Define an Improbable Presidency. Each line is the link to a corresponding article.

“Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in chief of The Atlantic:

In an October 2016 editorial, The Atlantic wrote of Donald Trump: “He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar.“ We argued that Trump “expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself.“ Trump, we also noted, “is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.“

In retrospect, we may be guilty of understatement.

There was a hope, in the bewildering days following the 2016 election, that the office would temper the man—that Trump, in short, would change.

He has not changed.

This week marks the midway point of Trump’s term. Like many Americans, we sometimes find the velocity of chaos unmanageable. We find it hard to believe, for example, that we are engaged in a serious debate about whether the president of the United States is a Russian-intelligence asset. So we decided to pause for a moment and analyze 50 of the most improbable, norm-bending, and destructive incidents of this presidency to date.”

Link via MetaFilter.

“While visitors are enjoying the free access, they may be doing irrevocable damage to America’s national parks.”

The Guardian: Joshua Tree national park announces closure after trees destroyed amid shutdown.

“For 17 days, a host of volunteers and a skeleton staff kept the trash cans and toilets from overflowing at Joshua Tree national park.

But on Tuesday, 18 days after the federal government shutdown furloughed the vast majority of national park staff, officials announced that vandalism of the park’s distinctive namesake plants and other maintenance and sanitation problems will require closure starting Thursday.

“While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure,“ spokesman George Land said in a news release.”

Vox: Joshua Tree National Park has been trashed in the shutdown. Now visitors are cutting down trees. “Despite severe damage, the park will not shut down entirely.”

“A week ago, Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California was forced to shut down its campgrounds due to “health and safety concerns over near-capacity pit toilets,“ according to CNN.

But despite the partial closure, things continued to get worse.

According to National Parks Traveler, visitors are creating illegal roads and driving into some of the park’s most fragile areas. They are also chopping down trees, setting illegal fires, and graffitiing rocks. With Joshua Tree being roughly the size of Delaware, the eight on-duty law enforcement rangers had no way to stop all the prohibited activity.”

Links via MetaFilter.

I’ve been to Joshua Tree National Monument during a school exchange back in 1992, before it became a National Park, and again with André in 1999. It’s been on my list of places to re-visit more thoroughly, but now I’ll have to find out if it’s still worth it. It’s a shame that this is happening to Joshua Tree and many other National Parks because of a stubborn and incompetent president.