Andy Borowitz | UK Unable to Find Replacement Ambassador Who Does Not Think Trump Is an Idiot

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Andy Borowitz | UK Unable to Find Replacement Ambassador Who Does Not Think Trump Is an Idiot 

Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "Following the resignation of its Ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, the government of the United Kingdom has disclosed that it has been unable to find a replacement for Darroch who does not also think that Donald J. Trump is a blithering idiot."
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Trump's 'Salute to America.' (photo: Getty)

Trump's July Fourth Event and Weekend Protests Bankrupted DC Security Fund, Mayor Says
Peter Jamison, The Washington Post
Jamison writes: "President Trump's overhauled July Fourth celebration cost the D.C. government $1.7 million, an amount that - combined with police expenses for demonstrations through the weekend - has bankrupted a special fund used to protect the nation's capital from terrorist threats and provide security at events such as rallies and state funerals."
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Border Patrol. (photo: CBP)

15-Year-Old Migrant Girl Says Border Agent Sexually Assaulted Her While Other Officers Watched
Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, NBC News
Excerpt: "The poor treatment of migrant children at the hands of U.S. border agents in recent months extends beyond Texas to include allegations of sexual assault and retaliation for protests, according to dozens of accounts by children held in Arizona collected by government case managers and obtained by NBC News."
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An ultrasound machine sits in an empty examination room in South Bend Indiana, June 2019. (photo: Scott Olson)

If the ACA Is Repealed Under Texas v Azar, Millions Will Lose Health Insurance Coverage
Emily Gee, Center for American Progress
Gee writes: "The lawsuit brought by Republican state officials to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA), Texas v. Azar, continues to work its way through the U.S. legal system."
READ MORE

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. (photo: Alex Wong/Getty)

Alex Acosta Plans to Slash Funds for Sex Trafficking Victims
Ed Pilkington, Guardian UK
Pilkington writes: "Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking."
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson. (photo: Fox News)

Ilhan Omar Calls Tucker Carlson a 'Racist Fool' After His Scathing Attack on Air
Sophie Weiner, Splinter
Weiner writes: "Tucker Carlson did a monologue on his Tuesday night Fox News show about Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, that was incredibly, unbelievably racist even by his high standards."

In a segment about a recent Washington Post profile of Omar, Carlson argued that Omar is proof that his (very bigoted!) fears about what unassimilated immigrants will do to America are correct.

Andrew Lawrence@ndrew_lawrence

An absolutely stunning racist attack on @IlhanMN from Tucker. I'm shocked

She is "living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country"

She "is a living fire alarm. A warning to the rest of us that we better change our immigration. Or else"

27.7K

9:11 PM - Jul 9, 2019

18.9K people are talking about this

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El Rosario was once surrounded by subtropical pine forests that helped lower temperatures and control erosion, but the forests have been diminished by logging. (photo: Georgina Gustin/Inside Climate News)

Ravaged by Drought, a Honduran Village Faces a Choice: Pray for Rain or Migrate
Georgina Gustin, Inside Climate News
Gustin writes: "Like so many developing countries, Honduras has contributed relatively little to the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet. And yet, projections suggest it is especially imperiled by climate change."
READ MORE

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Trump's military parade is now estimated to cost $92 million – $80 million more than earlier estimate

Bruce and Betty Productions

Americans For Progressive Change

July 2 at 5:34 PM · 

"President Donald Trump's military parade — postponed after this article was originally published — is shaping up to cost $80 million more than initially estimated."

"The Department of Defense and its interagency partners have updated their prospective cost estimates for the parade, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity."

"The parade, originally slated for Nov. 10 but now potentially set for 2019, is estimated to cost $92 million, the official said. The figure consists of $50 million from the Pentagon and $42 million from interagency partners such as the Department of Homeland Security. An initial estimate last month pegged the prospective cost for the parade at $12 million."

About this website

CNBC.COM

Trump's military parade is now estimated to 

cost $92 million – $80 million more than earlier estimate

President Donald Trump's military parade — postponed after this article was originally published — was shaping up to cost $80 million more than initially estimated.

This story was originally published Aug. 16, 2018, and has an updated timestamp because a video was recently added. The text of the article has not been updated since the story was originally published.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's military parade — postponed after this article was originally published — is shaping up to cost $80 million more than initially estimated.

The Department of Defense and its interagency partners have updated their prospective cost estimates for the parade, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The parade, originally slated for Nov. 10 but now potentially set for 2019, is estimated to cost $92 million, the official said. The figure consists of $50 million from the Pentagon and $42 million from interagency partners such as the Department of Homeland Security. An initial estimate last month pegged the prospective cost for the parade at $12 million.

A Pentagon spokesman said in an email to CNBC that the Defense Department expects to make an announcement soon, but he would not comment further. The White House referred questions to the Defense Department.

The $92 million cost estimate includes security, transportation of parade assets, aircraft, as well as temporary duty for troops. The official also noted that while the size and scope of the military parade can still shift, the plans currently include approximately eight tanks, as well as other armored vehicles, including Bradleys, Strykers and M113s.

The official also said that experts put to rest concerns about whether the Abrams tank, which weighs just shy of 70 tons, would ruin infrastructure in Washington. Their analysis found that, because of the vehicle's distributed weight and track pads, the streets of the nation's capital would not be compromised.

The parade is also expected to include helicopter, fighter jet, transport aircraft as well as historical military plane flyovers. Troops in period uniforms representing the past, present and future forces will march in the parade, as well.

Inspiration from France

The ceremony is said to be largely inspired by Trump's front-row seat at France's Bastille Day military parade in Paris.

In September, Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron and recalled how much he enjoyed watching the parade. "It was a tremendous day, and to a large extent because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4 in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue," Trump said.

"We're going to have to try to top it, but we have a lot of planes going over and a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see, and representatives from different wars and different uniforms," he added.

The U.S. has not held a major military parade in Washington since 1991 to mark the end of Operation Desert Storm. That parade reportedly cost approximately $8 million and was paid for with about $3 million in government funds and the rest with private donations.

The $92 million figure dwarfs the $12 million estimate that was first reported by CNN last month. As noted at the time, the military parade was expected to cost as much as the "tremendously expensive" bilateral military exercise that Trump swiftly canceled with South Korea in the wake of the historic Singapore summit.

"We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith — which both sides are!" Trump tweeted after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

After meeting with the reclusive leader from the North to negotiate a nuclear deal, Trump said: "I think it's inappropriate to be having war games. No. 1, we save money. A lot. And No. 2, it really is something that I think they [North Korea] very much appreciated." Trump also said that flying U.S. Air Force bombers in regional training missions is another drain on resources.

Trump's move falls out of step with the Pentagon, which has maintained that the joint exercises are routine, purely defensive and vital to maintaining readiness on the Korean Peninsula.

There are currently 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in 1953 in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war.

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