RSN: Frank Rich | Everything Trump Does Must Be Viewed Through This Single Lens

29 July 17 AM

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NOW IS THE TIME THAT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT - TODAY - This is it, right now. We are pulling out all the stops to finish the July fundraiser now. As in right now. Yes we can do that. Today, right now is critical. / Marc Ash - Founder, Reader Supported News

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Frank Rich | Everything Trump Does Must Be Viewed Through This Single Lens

Frank Rich, New York Magazine
Rich writes: "The priorities of Donald Trump have winnowed down to a single agenda item: saving himself and his family from legal culpability for their campaign interactions with the Russians and their efforts to cover up those transactions ever since."
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Trump Ousts Reince Priebus, Names John Kelly as New Chief of Staff
Philip Rucker, Abby Phillip, Robert Costa and Ashley Parker, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "President Trump ousted White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and replaced him with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly on Friday, a major shake-up designed to bring order and military precision to a West Wing beset for six straight months by chaos, infighting and few tangible accomplishments."
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McCain and Warren Statements on the Defeat of the "Skinny Repeal"
John McCain and Elizabeth Warren, Reader Supported News
Excerpt: "The millions of people who were going to lose their health care coverage under the Republicans' 'skinny repeal' bill can keep their coverage - and sleep a little better."
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Body Count Comeback: Corporate Media Routinely Repeat Pentagon Kill Estimates That Defy Reality
Reed Richardson, FAIR
Richardson writes: "One of the hoariest methods of modern war propaganda remains the official body count. Government or military officials decisively touting large numbers of enemies killed has long been a surefire way to get credulous or friendly press coverage."
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Trans Military Ban: Why Doubling Down on the Culture Wars Won't Save Trump
Ed Burmila, Rolling Stone
Burmila writes: "With the administration quickly taking on the feel of a bad circus, earlier this week President Trump signaled his intent to turn to an old strategy intended to solidify support among the Republican base. He is following the formula correctly, but it is unlikely to work this time."
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Mexican Reporter's Asylum Bid Rejected by US Despite Death Threats
teleSUR
Excerpt: "A journalist who escaped from alleged persecution by the Mexican army has been denied his asylum bid by a Texas immigration court, more than nine years after he left Mexico."
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100 Cancer-Causing Contaminants Found in US Drinking Water
Robert Coleman, EcoWatch
Coleman writes: "The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) just-released Tap Water Database shows that a startling number of cancer-causing chemicals contaminate the nation's drinking water. Of 250 different contaminants detected in tests by local utilities, 93 are linked to an increased risk of developing cancer."
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CLG: Psychologists who helped craft CIA interrogation should be free from liability as was Nazi poison gas technician, say defense lawyers

 News Updates from CLG
28 July 2017

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

 

Previous edition: US House of Representatives approves new sanctions against Russia, which Google relegated to the sp*m bin.

 

Reposting this nugget, in case it was missed: Judge Clears Military Contractor KBR in Sprawling Burn Pits Case | 20 July 2017 | A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday dismissed a massive collection of cases brought against a government contractor by veterans and their family members who say the military's use of open burn pits at bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan left them with serious illnesses. The case against KBR, a government contractor and former Halliburton subsidiary, arrived in Maryland federal court in 2009, when the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation sent 63 different complaints to the court for consolidation. Of the 63 complaints filed in federal courts, at least 44 sought a nationwide class certification. The complaints all made the same basic claims - that KBR ran massive burn pits at operating bases in Afghanistan and Iraq into which its employees dumped tires, trucks and even medical waste.

 

Breaking: GOP Obamacare repeal bill fails in dramatic late-night vote --The bill would mean 16 million more people would be uninsured by 2026 than under Obamacare, CBO said | 28 July 2017 | The Senate has dealt a devastating setback to the Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, defeating a GOP "skinny repeal" bill early Friday morning. Sens. John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joined with Democrats to oppose the measure. Shortly before 10 p.m. ET, Senate Republican leaders finally unveiled legislation that had been closely guarded from the public -- as well as their own colleagues -- for days.

 

Psychologists who helped craft CIA interrogation should be free from liability as was Nazi poison gas technician, say defense lawyers | 27 July 2017 | The two psychologists who helped craft the CIA's harsh interrogation methods [torture] used in the war on terror should be as free from liability as a worker for a company that supplied the Nazis with poison gas used in concentration camps, defense lawyers asserted in a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from former detainees prisoners. The American Civil Liberties Union challenges that claim, saying the psychologists should be held accountable for the methods they designed following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, including waterboarding and beatings. The sides plan arguments Friday in U.S. District Court in Spokane...Like the gassing technician who was acquitted on charges of helping the Nazis, Spokane psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen were independent contractors who lacked authority to "control, prevent or modify" the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques, their lawyers said.

 

NRC: Pilgrim nuclear plant workers 'deliberately' broke rules --Security badges forgotten | 25 July 2017 | Two workers at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth were caught cheating their way into the secure plant grounds, but federal officials have determined they were simply cutting corners rather than planning mayhem. After a yearlong look at a March 2016 incident at the plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Investigations concluded that workers were doing what is known as "tailgating." ...In April 2016, the federal Office of Investigations came to Pilgrim to investigate the incident. The office concluded the two plant operators "deliberately failed to follow plant access procedures." According to the report of the Office of Investigations, provided to the Times under the Freedom of Information Act, the consultant who witnessed the violation told investigators the two employees "appeared to be on a mission."

 

U.S. judge refuses to halt New York nuclear power plant subsidies | 25 July 2017 | A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by energy companies and trade groups to stop New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) from providing billions of d-llars in subsidies to prop up struggling nuclear power plants in the state. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan rejected claims that federal law preempted New York and its Public Service Commission from offering credits to promote clean energy [?!?] and reduce reliance on fossil-fueled or gas plants. The plaintiffs said the credits could boost electric bills for New York's "captive ratepayers" by 7.6 billion over 12 years, and violate the "dormant" Commerce Clause by impeding Congress' power to regulate commerce among states.

 

Venezuela accuses Rubio, CIA of plotting to topple Caracas government | 25 July 2017 | Venezuela’s senior leaders charged Sen. Marco Rubio and the CIA of plotting to topple the government of President Nicolás Maduro. With their country descending into crisis, Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada and Carlos Ron, the [official] of the Embassy of Venezuela, accused Rubio and CIA Director Mike Pompeo of secretly conspiring against Caracas so that Washington can install new leaders amenable to U.S. interests...Ron said the American people are not hearing the full story and accused the United States of unfairly attacking a democratically elected government. [Well, that's odd. According to the Deep State media, I thought only *Russia* interfered in elections?!]

 

House Republicans call for a second special counsel to investigate Clinton, Comey and Lynch --The lawmakers said they were seeking to restore "public confidence in our nation's justice system and its investigators, specifically the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)." | 27 July 2017 | House Judiciary Committee Republicans on Thursday called for a new special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton, James Comey and Loretta Lynch. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Republicans said they were writing to "request assistance in restoring public confidence in our nation's justice system and its investigators, specifically the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)." The lawmakers said they presumed investigation of potential Russian influence on the U.S. presidential election was covered by special counsel Robert Mueller, but that they "are not confident that other matters related to the 2016 election and aftermath are similarly under investigation" by the former FBI director.

 

Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military | 26 July 2017 | President Trump said he will ban transgender people from serving in the military in any capacity, a reversal of the Obama administration decision that would have allowed them to serve, he announced on social media on Wednesday. Citing the need to focus on victory, Trump said that the military cannot accept the burden of higher medical costs and "disruption" that transgender troops would require. "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

 

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is released from the hospital six weeks after he was critically injured in the Congressional baseball shooting | 26 July 2017 | House Majority Whip Steve Scalise - who was critically wounded in a shooting at a baseball practice last month - has been discharged from a Washington hospital. MedStar Washington Hospital Center says the six-term Louisiana Republican was released from the hospital on Tuesday and is beginning 'intensive inpatient rehabilitation.' It isn't identifying the facility.

 

GOP single-payer amendment fails in Senate | 27 July 2017 | The Senate resoundingly rejected a Republican effort to get Democrats on the record regarding their support -- or lack thereof -- for a single-payer healthcare system. Senators voted 0-57 on the amendment from GOP Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) to implement a government-funded healthcare system. Democratic Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine) joined all Republicans in voting "no," while 43 Democrats voted "present."

 

Ryan assures Republican senators House will not pass 'skinny' Obamacare repeal | 27 July 2017 | As the U.S. Senate edged toward a late-night vote on a pared-down bill to repeal Obamacare, House Speaker Paul Ryan assured Senate Republicans that if they approve a bill that many do not want to become law, the House will help them craft different legislation. Ryan's reassurances, offered in a call to five Republican senators, came as Republican leaders urged their party to approve the pared-down bill so they can proceed to a House-Senate negotiation and keep Republicans' seven-year Obamacare repeal effort alive. The eight-page skinny bill was released by the Senate Budget Committee at about 10 p.m. (0200 GMT) on Thursday evening...

 

Senate aims for a 'skinny' Obamacare repeal as other options fail | 26 July 2017 | Republican U.S. Senate leaders, struggling to keep a seven-year-old promise to end Obamacare, turned their focus on Wednesday to passing a slimmed-down "skinny" repeal measure that would throw the issue into negotiations with the House of Representatives. The last-ditch effort came as senators voted 45-55 against a straight repeal of Obamacare, which provided for a two-year delay in implementation to give Congress time to work out a replacement. Seven Republicans opposed the measure.

 

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RSN: Andy Borowitz | Jeff Sessions Urges Melania to Work Harder on Campaign to Stop Cyberbullying

27 July 17 PM

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IF YOU ARE GOING TO STAY, YOU HAVE TO HELP - The budget is too thin to do this. We have many, many more readers than donors and it is breaking the process down. We understand that we will lose some readers, although we haven't lost many yet, if we do we do. If you stay we need your help and we need it now. / Marc Ash - Founder, Reader Supported News

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Andy Borowitz | Jeff Sessions Urges Melania to Work Harder on Campaign to Stop Cyberbullying

Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "Saying that the problem 'is far worse than I imagined,' Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday urged First Lady Melania Trump to intensify her campaign against cyberbullying."
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'Skinny' Obamacare Repeal May Leave 16 Million More Uninsured, CBO Estimates
Jacob Pramuk, CNBC
Pramuk writes: "A version of the Obamacare repeal plan the Senate could pass this week may leave 16 million more Americans uninsured over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Senate Democrats."
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Trump Talks Privately About the Idea of a Recess Appointment to Replace Sessions
Carol D. Leonnig, Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "President Trump has discussed with confidants and advisers in recent days the possibility of installing a new attorney general through a recess appointment if Jeff Sessions leaves the job, but he has been warned not to move to push him out because of the political and legal ramifications, according to people briefed on the conversations."
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Admiral Says He'd Launch a Nuclear Strike on China if Trump Ordered It
Laurel Wamsley, NPR
Wamsley writes: "At a security conference in Australia on Thursday, this scenario was posed to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet: If ordered to do so by President Trump, would he would launch a nuclear attack on China next week? His response: Yes."
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'Stupid or Liar': What Justine Damond's Death Proves About All Lives Matter
Michael Harriot, The Root
Harriot writes: "Less than a week after Justine Ruszczyk was killed by a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen from a Minneapolis police officer's gun, the police chief has been forced out, the mayor is on thin ice, and the new chief is an African-American man with deep roots in Minneapolis."
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Defense Chiefs Resist Donald Trump's Ban on Transgender Troops
Associated Press
Excerpt: "In a rebuke to Trump's attempt to run the government and military via Twitter, Gen Joseph Dunford, America's top military officer, said on Thursday that the armed forces would continue to permit transgender people to serve openly until the defense secretary, Jim Mattis, has received Trump's 'direction' to change the policy and figured out how to implement it."
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Environmental Chemicals May Be Cause of Western Men's Sperm Drop by 50 Percent
Alexandra Sifferlin, TIME
Sifferlin writes: "A new report reveals that sperm counts among men in Western countries, including men in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, have dropped substantially over the years."
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