26 September 19
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26 September 19
Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Krugman writes: "Republicans have spent the past half-century portraying themselves as more patriotic, more committed to national security than Democrats."
But now we have a president who really is unpatriotic to the point of betraying American values and interests. We don’t know the full extent of Donald Trump’s malfeasance — we don’t know, for example, how much his policies have been shaped by the money foreign governments have been lavishing on his businesses. But even what we do know — his admitted solicitation of foreign help in digging up dirt on political rivals, his praise for brutal autocrats — would have had Republicans howling about treason if a Democrat had done it.
The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire. (photo: AP)
Acting Intelligence Chief Threatened to Resign if He Couldn't Speak Freely Before Congress on Whistleblower, Officials Say
Greg Miller, Shane Harris and Karoun Demirjian, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "The acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might attempt to force him to stonewall Congress when he testifies Thursday about an explosive whistleblower complaint about the president, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter."
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Bilal Abdul Kareem fears for his life after a US court dismissed his lawsuit on whether he was placed on a drone kill list. (photo: AFP)
Greg Miller, Shane Harris and Karoun Demirjian, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "The acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might attempt to force him to stonewall Congress when he testifies Thursday about an explosive whistleblower complaint about the president, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter."
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Bilal Abdul Kareem fears for his life after a US court dismissed his lawsuit on whether he was placed on a drone kill list. (photo: AFP)
Trump Administration Invokes State Secrets Privilege to Block American Journalist's Challenge to Alleged Spot on Drone 'Kill List'
Areeb Ullah, Middle East Eye
Ullah writes: "An American journalist who says he was targeted and injured by US drone strikes continues to fear for his life after the Trump administration used its 'state secret' privilege to withhold information that could confirm whether he was indeed placed on a drone kill list."
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Areeb Ullah, Middle East Eye
Ullah writes: "An American journalist who says he was targeted and injured by US drone strikes continues to fear for his life after the Trump administration used its 'state secret' privilege to withhold information that could confirm whether he was indeed placed on a drone kill list."
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Aurelia Skipwith, nominee to lead US Fish and Wildlife Service, linked to groups opposed to protections for endangered species. (photo: Zach Gibson/Getty)
Trump's Wildlife Service Pick Has Ties to Anti-Animal Protection Groups
Jimmy Tobias and Emily Holden, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "Donald Trump's nominee to lead the US Fish and Wildlife Service has links to powerful agricultural interests opposed to protections for endangered species she would oversee."
Jimmy Tobias and Emily Holden, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "Donald Trump's nominee to lead the US Fish and Wildlife Service has links to powerful agricultural interests opposed to protections for endangered species she would oversee."
onald Trump’s nominee to lead the US Fish and Wildlife Service has links to powerful agricultural interests opposed to protections for endangered species she would oversee, the Guardian has learned.
Aurelia Skipwith, who is already a top official at the interior department, formerly worked at the agrochemical giant Monsanto.
New revelations show she also has ties to the Westlands Water District, a political powerhouse with a history of chafing against Endangered Species Act regulations that can interfere with farmers’ demands for water in California.
Yet a Senate committee approved Skipwith’s nomination Wednesday in a party-line vote of 11-10.
Jayson O’Neill, the deputy director of Western Values Project, a public lands watchdog group based in Montana, claimed that Skipwith’s resumé – she is a lawyer with a master’s degree in genetics – shows she is unqualified. He said David Bernhardt, Trump’s interior secretary, is hiring her for her “deep ties to the swamp and special interests”.
Skipwith’s fiance, Leo Giacometto, is a former lobbyist who worked on behalf of Westlands from 2005 to 2010 in his role as the founder of Gage International. Skipwith has said she was an “unpaid adviser” for Gage starting in 2013.
Bernhardt, who would be Skipwith’s new boss if she is to be confirmed, also lobbied for Westlands. Bernhardt once sued the US government on behalf of Westlands, aiming to roll back protections for winter-run Chinook salmon in California.
Under Bernhardt’s watch, Westlands has benefited from policy changes enacted by the interior department and its subagency, the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The interior department is currently working to loosen protections for imperiled fish in California, which would be a boon to Westlands and other irrigators who want to pull more water out of regional rivers and reservoirs. The rollback would likely harm endangered salmon, delta smelt, and other aquatic species in California.
As the director of the FWS, Skipwith would be crucially placed to shape the outcome of those efforts.
According to Senate lobbying records, Gage, Giacometto’s firm, lobbied for Westlands between 2005 and 2010. During that time, Westlands paid Gage more than $200,000 to influence House and Senate policy on “water resource management issues”. Gage also lobbied for another influential California water district, the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority, during approximately the same period.
Shortly after Westlands ceased work with Gage in 2010, it hired Bernhardt’s former firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to help lead its lobbying operations.
Skipwith is not required to disclose any information about her fiance’s financial ties or involvement with Westlands because they are not yet married. Giacometto was prominent at Skipwith’s confirmation hearing, where he was introduced as her fiance.
Skipwith’s ties to Giacometto and Gage, and through them to Westlands, raise questions about whether she will be able to act impartially when making critical decisions about water and wildlife policy in California, which are top priorities for Bernhardt and his interior department.
At her confirmation hearing earlier this month, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse highlighted Skipwith’s past work for Monsanto, a leading producer of an herbicide that has been linked to negative effects on honeybees and other wildlife. Skipwith worked for Monsanto between January 2006 and July 2012, according to her resumé, mainly in crop science and corporate affairs.
In a written statement, the interior department said Skipwith is in “full compliance” with federal ethics rules.
Russell Newell, spokesperson for the interior department, said: “Ms Skipwith has actively sought and consulted with senior career ethics officials. Ms Skipwith started as an adviser with Gage International in 2013 well after the water district ended its contract with Gage in 2010.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (photo: Getty)
The Brilliant Simplicity of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's New 'A Just Society' Proposal
Ashley Reese, Jezebel
Excerpt: "After her championing of the Green New Deal framework helped make it the gold standard for progressive Democrats, Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is back with a fresh round of ambitious legislative proposals."
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Ashley Reese, Jezebel
Excerpt: "After her championing of the Green New Deal framework helped make it the gold standard for progressive Democrats, Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is back with a fresh round of ambitious legislative proposals."
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Migrants from Honduras wait in line at the Mexico-United States border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sept. 12, 2019. (photo: Sandy Huffaker/Getty)
The Trump Administration Has Created a Central American Barrier for Asylum-Seekers With a New Honduras Deal
Hamed Aleaziz and Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News
Excerpt: "The Trump administration signed an agreement Wednesday that will force asylum-seekers who travel through Honduras to first seek protection there, effectively creating a barrier along the entire Central American region known as the Northern Triangle for those trying to get into the United States."
Hamed Aleaziz and Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News
Excerpt: "The Trump administration signed an agreement Wednesday that will force asylum-seekers who travel through Honduras to first seek protection there, effectively creating a barrier along the entire Central American region known as the Northern Triangle for those trying to get into the United States."
EXCERPT:
Honduras had a homicide rate of 40 per 100,000 people in 2017, while Guatemala's was 22.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, according to InSight Crime.
A segment of the Planpincieux glacier on Wednesday. A block of about nine million cubic feet of ice has splintered and could give way, researchers have found. (photo: Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters)
A Glacier in the Alps Could Collapse at Any Moment Thanks to Climate Change, Experts Warn
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today
Yancey-Bragg writes: "Italian officials are closing roads after experts warned that a massive chunk of a glacier is at risk of collapsing due to climate change."
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N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today
Yancey-Bragg writes: "Italian officials are closing roads after experts warned that a massive chunk of a glacier is at risk of collapsing due to climate change."
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