Category Archives: Politics

“The Double C-Word”

The New York Times: President Trump’s War on Science.

“The news was hard to digest until one realized it was part of a much larger and increasingly disturbing pattern in the Trump administration. On Aug. 18, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine received an order from the Interior Department that it stop work on what seemed a useful and overdue study of the health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining.

The $1 million study had been requested by two West Virginia health agencies following multiple studies suggesting increased rates of birth defects, cancer and other health problems among people living near big surface coal-mining operations in Appalachia. The order to shut it down came just hours before the scientists were scheduled to meet with affected residents of Kentucky.

The Interior Department said the project was put on hold as a result of an agencywide budgetary review of grants and projects costing more than $100,000.”

But there’s more:

“Last week, Mr. Trump nominated David Zatezalo, a former coal company chief executive who has repeatedly clashed with federal mine safety regulators, as assistant secretary of labor for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. He nominated Jim Bridenstine, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma with no science or space background, as NASA administrator. Sam Clovis, Mr. Trump’s nomination to be the Agriculture Department’s chief scientist, is not a scientist: He’s a former talk-radio host and incendiary blogger who has labeled climate research “junk science.“ “

“You’re amazed at the innate good in people. People will rally to a cause to help out their fellow human beings.”

LinkedIn: The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey. “In Texas, a grocery chain is now inspiring memes. One goes like this: “State and federal resources are struggling to get into impacted areas. H.E.B. — outta the way, we’re coming.” Another adds: “I’ll see your FEMA and Red Cross and raise you my Texas grocery store chain.””

“One of my stores, we had 300 employees; 140 of them were displaced by the flooding. So how do you put your store back together quickly? We asked for volunteers in the rest of the company. We brought over 2,000 partners from Austin, San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley. They hopped into cars and they just drove to Houston. They said, we’re here to help. It’s shitty work. For 18 hours a day, they’re going to help us restock and then they’ll go sleep on the couch at somebody’s house.”

Dear Mr. President

CNN: Exclusive: Read the Inauguration Day letter Obama left for Trump. “Obama, when writing the letter, didn’t disclose the content even to his closest aides. Since then, however, Trump has shown the letter to visitors in the Oval Office or his private White House residence. CNN obtained a copy from someone Trump showed it to.”

“Dear Mr. President –

Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.

This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don’t know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful. Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years.
[…]
Third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.”

North Korea and the Hydrogen Bomb

NPR the two-way: Here Are The Facts About North Korea’s Nuclear Test.

“Perhaps the greatest unknown is what Kim Jong Un will do with his nuclear arsenal. Traditionally, nations have used these weapons have been to deter attacks by others, and so far, the young leader’s actions seem to suggest he wants to preserve his power, according to Wolfsthal.
But, he adds, “The problem with deterrence is that it works up until the point it doesn’t.””

Deutsche Welle: North Korea claims successful hydrogen bomb test.

“North Korea has claimed a successful hydrogen bomb test that analysts said was more powerful than previous ones. The test ratchets up tensions after North Korea has conducted repeated ballistic missile tests.”

Deutsche Welle: Nordkorea meldet “erfolgreiche” Zündung von Wasserstoffbombe.

“Kim Jong Un dreht an der Eskalationsschraube. Nordkoreas Machthaber will eine Wasserstoffbombe getestet haben. Fest steht: Die Erde bebte und Südkorea und Japan glauben, dass es ein neuer Atomtest war.”

Nordkoreas Atomtest weltweit verurteilt. “Die jüngste Provokation aus Nordkorea schockiert die internationale Gemeinschaft. Rufe nach weiteren Sanktionen werden laut. Ungewöhnlich zurückhaltend reagierte US-Präsident Donald Trump.”

Kommentar: Die Rakete war Kims Gesprächsangebot. Von Martin Fritz, Tokyo. “Der jüngste Raketentest zeigt, dass Sanktionen und Drohungen Nordkorea nicht einschüchtern. Das Land will auf Augenhöhe mit den USA verhandeln, meint Martin Fritz aus Tokio. Die USA täten gut daran, darauf einzugehen.”

“I hope to pierce the wall of deafness with this, my scream.”

Open letter from jailed journalist Deniz Yücel’s wife: Open the door, it’s me.

“Deniz Yücel has now spent 200 days in a Turkish jail. The German-Turkish journalist is one of thousands arrested in the crackdown following the failed coup. This appeal was written by his wife.”

Offener Brief: Deniz Yücel seit 200 Tagen in Haft: Ich bin’s, mach auf.

“Seit 200 Tagen sitzt der deutsch-türkische Journalist Deniz Yücel in der Türkei in Untersuchungshaft – abgeschirmt von der Außenwelt. Seine Frau Dilek Mayatürk Yücel wendet sich mit diesem Brief an die Öffentlichkeit.”