The Trump presidency

[Idris2002]

That's actually what happened. The Sesame Street set was originally designed to look like a tough neighbourhood, so that kids growing up in that sort of environment would be able to relate to it.

Recently, though, the show got sold to some new company who have redesigned that set with a gentrifier's touch.

Sesame Street Teaches Poor Kids: Educational TV Isn't for You Anymore

... which just goes to show: there are people on the Right - and the Left - who would suppress free speech, if given the opportunity.

I understand you're Canada's leading authority on the non sequitir, is that right?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

That's actually what happened. The Sesame Street set was originally designed to look like a tough neighbourhood, so that kids growing up in that sort of environment would be able to relate to it.

Recently, though, the show got sold to some new company who have redesigned that set with a gentrifier's touch.

That's not the only change. They're showing it on HBO first and then PBS only as reruns later. They're also taking the show from an hour down to 30 minutes because "kids today have shorter attention spans."

‘Sesame Street’ debuts new look in move to HBO | New York Post

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

That's not the only change. They're showing it on HBO first and then PBS only as reruns later. They're also taking the show from an hour down to 30 minutes because "kids today have shorter attention spans."

‘Sesame Street’ debuts new look in move to HBO | New York Post

They've introduced a new character:

Newest "Sesame Street" Muppet has autism: Meet Julia - CBS News

 

[DotCommunist]

That's not the only change. They're showing it on HBO first and then PBS only as reruns later. They're also taking the show from an hour down to 30 minutes because "kids today have shorter attention spans."

‘Sesame Street’ debuts new look in move to HBO | New York Post

so kids whose parents can afford a subscriber package get it first then the rest of the povs at date TBA on PBS? Big bird shakes his head angrily at this

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

so kids whose parents can afford a subscriber package get it first then the rest of the povs at date TBA on PBS? Big bird shakes his head angrily at this

... and its PBS that's too elitist and has to be defunded.

 

[8den]

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Trump sounds done with health care before he’s really started

...
“We’re in the heartland of America, and there is no place I would rather be than here with you tonight,” Trump said.

He talked about trade (“Oh, I’m looking forward to these trade deals”). He talked about manufacturing and jobs (“You see them coming back”). He talked about cutting taxes (“Truly one of my favorite things”). He talked about North Korea (“What’s happening there is disgraceful and not smart, not smart at all”).

Eventually, he got to health care.

Trump’s seeming disinterest in some ways mirrors that of his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who has been more impassioned about the same nationalistic agenda that Trump has sounded most excited about: trade, taxes, manufacturing and an “America First” foreign policy.
...

He's repeatedly framed it like this a tedious matter of killing Obamacare before Trump can get to the really good stuff like the massive upper decile tax cut and screwing poorer countries.

 

[camouflage]

Russia, Trump, and a New Détente

"3 million excess deaths", now that's meddling.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Guardian UK set to ban laptops on flights from Middle East countries

Proudly independent UK joins "Muslim Ban" lite.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On 3QD Mohsin Hamid on Trump's Travel Ban

A Pakistani author suggesting some times it's necessary to be a little bit brave and not unnecessarily demonise whole groups of people. Compares the backward looking nostalgic urge for MAGA to dreaming of restoring the 6th century Caliphate.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Political Violence at a Glance How Trump’s Budget May Harm US Counterterrorism

...
In my recently published book, I analyzed the different response of majority-Muslim states to the US Global War on Terrorism through a statistical study and case studies of Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The primary focus of my book was on religion, and I argued that the varying manner in which Islam and the state were connected in Muslim states explained a significant part of states’ policies on counterterrorism. In the statistical analysis, however, I included several other possible explanations for states cooperating with America on counterterrorism, including the history of conflict with America, domestic conflict, state strength, and the amount of economic and military aid the state receives from the United States.

This led to some surprising results. The extent of ties between both Islam and the state and alliance connections with America mattered; the former decreased cooperation on counterterrorism, and the latter increased it. But the other factor that had a significant and consistent effect on a Muslim state’s counterterrorism policies was US aid. States that received more aid tended to be more cooperative on the Global War on Terrorism than those that did not.

Obviously, aid is not everything when it comes to counterterrorism. Pakistan receives a massive amount of aid from the United States – $1.1 billion in 2015 – but has had particularly fraught counterterrorism relations with America. But in general, a decrease in aid from the United States is likely to lessen a Muslim state’s cooperation with America on counterterrorism. Based on my analysis, a significant decrease in US aid would lead to a drop in counterterrorism cooperation corresponding to the difference between Qatar—a US counterterrorism partner despite some persistent concerns—and Mali, which has struggled to disrupt terrorist activity in its territory. There are of course many other differences between the two, but this is suggestive of the type of counterterrorism impact we can expect if the United States cuts foreign aid.
...

But the wingnut right hates the very idea of foreign aid.

 

[Yossarian]

Convenient timing though, no?

The Washington Post makes a good case for the move really being a Trump attempt to undermine the business of subsidized Gulf airlines flying to the US from regional hubs. Though I still suspect he gets a lot of his anti-terror positions from TV and will try to summon Jack Bauer next time there is an attack.

Analysis | Trump won’t allow you to use iPads or laptops on certain airlines. Here’s why.

 

[redsquirrel]

I'm glad someone has finally done it. Apols if posted already but after that post about 'white socialism' on friday i'm not actually reading this thread anymore. It's too far gone.

First Two Months in Power: Hitler vs. Trump

I've not seen it so thanks. Have you seen any comparison versus Italian Fascism?

 

[CRI]

Hmmmmmm

Magnitsky Lawyer Falls Several Stories, Seriously Injured Ahead Of Court Date

A lawyer representing the family of the deceased Russian whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky has been hospitalized in Moscow with serious injuries after falling several stories.

The incident on March 21 happened one day before he was to appear in court in connection with the Magnitsky case.

Magnitsky's former employer, U.S.-born British investor Bill Browder, said in a statement on March 21 that lawyer Nikolai Gorokhov was "thrown from the fourth floor of his apartment building."

Russian news reports suggested his fall may have been an accident.

Magnitsky's death in November 2009 while in pretrial detention in Moscow was the catalyst for a 2012 U.S. law, which Browder lobbied for, allowing sanctions against alleged Russian rights abusers.

Magnitsky's family and friends say he was jailed, tortured, and denied medical treatment that could have saved his life as retribution for accusing law-enforcement and tax officials of stealing $230 million from Russian coffers.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Interesting analysis of Steve Bannon's movies:

 

[coley]

I'm glad someone has finally done it. Apols if posted already but after that post about 'white socialism' on friday i'm not actually reading this thread anymore. It's too far gone.

First Two Months in Power: Hitler vs. Trump

Yet from the same source.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/03/17/91227/

Agreed, the shill yells of 'Trump the American Hitler' are a tad OTT but there are disturbing similarities.
Hitler, in the devastation of post war Germany had, in effect a 'blank canvas' to work with and influence, a population desperately craving a restoration of some semblance of normality, at whatever cost.
No one would describe TTT as 'subtle' but his attempts to remove and undermine organisations seen as 'leftist' by many in the US are, at the least disturbing.
And yes, the 'checks and balances' of the US system have stymied his first attempts to rule by decree, be interesting to see if this continues?
Or that, him and his cronies learn how to outflank the system.

 

[coley]

Russia, Trump, and a New Détente

"3 million excess deaths", now that's meddling.

Paywalled.

 

[yield]

Interesting analysis of Steve Bannon's movies:

I watched Generation Zero. It was just muddled nonsense. I'll watch Torchbearer later.

And yes, the 'checks and balances' of the US system have stymied his first attempts to rule by decree, be interesting to see if this continues?
Or that, him and his cronies learn how to outflank the system.

They don't need to "outflank the system". It's their very war against the assumed deep state that is stopping them.

American institutions won't keep us safe from Donald Trump's excesses
Corey Robin Thursday 2 February 2017

The worst things that the US has done have always happened through American institutions and practices – not despite them

This is a country that managed to enslave – to torture and drive unto death, both physical and social – millions of black men, women and their children, for over two centuries, and then to re-enslave them by another name for another century, not by shredding the constitution but by writing and interpreting and executing the constitution.

This is a country that managed to mow down trade unionists and dissenters, to arrest and throw them into jail, to destroy vibrant social movements, to engineer a near-complete rout of American social democracy after the second world war, to build and fill concentration camps, to pass legislation during the cold war authorizing internment camps: all without a strongman. Indeed, all of this often happened with the collusion of some of the most esteemed voices of liberty in the country.

 

[coley]

On Political Violence at a Glance How Trump’s Budget May Harm US Counterterrorism
But the wingnut right hates the very idea of foreign aid.

But lurrrrves SA, the main engine of ME terrorism, strange that?

 

[coley]

The Washington Post makes a good case for the move really being a Trump attempt to undermine the business of subsidized Gulf airlines flying to the US from regional hubs. Though I still suspect he gets a lot of his anti-terror positions from TV and will try to summon Jack Bauer next time there is an attack.

Analysis | Trump won’t allow you to use iPads or laptops on certain airlines. Here’s why.

Can't make head nor tail of it!? you can still use your laptop or iPad as long as you are flying from one of these countries to the US as long as your not using an airline stipulated in in the ban?
TTT is certainly doing wonders for the US tourist industry
How's his plans to reinvigorate the US coal mining industry coming along

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Donald Trump's lawyers 'targeting teenager' over website where kittens punch him

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Guardian US electronics ban for Middle East flights endangers passengers for profit

The "Muslim Ban" lite apparently would greatly increase the risk of a hold fire. Some suspicion it's more about enriching US carriers. Well that's MAGA for you.

 

[teqniq]

This, apparently is where the electronics ban originates from.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Lawfare Today's Headlines and Commentary

...
McClatchy writes that federal investigators are examining whether far-right news sites, such as Breitbart and InfoWars, played any role in the Russian interference by dramatically widening the reach of news stories that favored Trump’s presidential bid. Russian operatives may have strategically timed bots to blitz social media when Trump was on the defensive during the campaign, with their end products largely comprising millions of Twitter and Facebook posts carrying links to false or misleading stories on conservative sources such as Breitbart and InfoWars, as well as RT and Sputnik News.
...

Points out no active collusion from Breitbart and InfoWars was necessarily needed.

Mentions a quadrupled Kremlin budget for "Public Information".

 

[CrabbedOne]

On USN Trump Team Doesn't Look Ready to Host ISIS Summit

...
Resolving these kinds of difficult nuances usually falls to lower-level senior members of the internationally oriented cabinet departments, positions like the under secretary of state for Political Affairs, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, or any of the key deputies.

However the Trump administration hasn't filled any of these positions, or even put forward a nominee for most, hindering his ability to create a prioritized strategy for this summit.

"What I find puzzling is going ahead with something which would normally require a huge amount of staff work at a time when the staff really isn't in place," says Jon Alterman, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Normally this sort of thing would involve armies of aides drawing up planning documents, agenda, talking points, conclusion briefs on all kinds of things. The Trump administration doesn't have armies of aides working on these issues."
...

This is the summit that Tillerson dodged a NATO one for. State even refused an offer by NATO to reschedule.

Trump's failure to adequately staff his administration leads to a headless chicken corporate shambles even in the GWOT.

 

[Dogsauce]

In The Guardian US electronics ban for Middle East flights endangers passengers for profit

The "Muslim Ban" lite apparently would greatly increase the risk of a hold fire. Some suspicion it's more about enriching US carriers. Well that's MAGA for you.

The fact that Saudi is included in the ban makes me suspect it's based on some real identified risk, as opposed to politicking. They don't usually fuck about with Saudi and the wealthy gulf states, those guys are their kind of people.

 

[CrabbedOne]

The fact that Saudi is included in the ban makes me suspect it's based on some real identified risk, as opposed to politicking. They don't usually fuck about with Saudi and the wealthy gulf states, those guys are their kind of people.

They are panicking about laptop bomb on a plane in Somalia last month that would likely not get through competent screening. As with the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt there were also some signs of airport staff collusion in that case. If you've got penetrated ground staff airport security theatre measures are reduced to an expensive performative act.

Al-Shabaab first used a laptop bomb in 2013. AQAP in Yemen are probably the source of the know how. Asking passengers to boot up their machines as they go through security would probably mitigate it considerably. This threat isn't really new but the administration in the US is and the Muslim ban is floundering legally. That's an ideological measure pretty unrelated to real world concerns that most security folk see as an act of self harm by the US. I do see a connection. This is the sort of Bannon etc would jump at. The British authorities are particularly prone to panic about these things and here are trailing after the US.

There were pretty clear signals that the intent was the original ban would eventually get expanded to cover GCC states. The important Princes don't travel in commercial aviation in any case as they have their own jets so it's fairly irrelevant here.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On IJR TRUMP'S DIPLOMAT

...
So why, then, did he want the gig?

“I didn’t want this job. I didn’t seek this job.” He paused to let that sink in.

A beat or two passed before an aide piped up to ask him why he said yes.

“My wife told me I’m supposed to do this.”

After watching the contortions of my face as I tried to figure out what to say next, he humbly explained that he had never met the president before the election. As president-elect, Trump wanted to have a conversation with Tillerson “about the world” given what he gleaned from the complex global issues he dealt with as CEO of Exxon Mobil.

“When he asked me at the end of that conversation to be secretary of state, I was stunned.”

When Tillerson got home and told his wife, Renda St. Clair, she shook her finger in his face and said, “I told you God’s not through with you.”
...

I had not really thought of being CEO of Exxon-Mobil as God's work but I guess this is Texas.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In Forbes In Trump They Trust: Inside The Global Web Of Partners Cashing In On The President

The night before Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States, his recently opened Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., serves as the capital's de facto inner sanctum. Barricades ring the place; if you don't have a room or a reservation, good luck getting in.

As with any club worth its gilt, secret, concentric rings of exclusivity sit in plain sight, and one starts near the lobby bar, which is lined with bottles of Dom Pérignon and draped with a giant American flag. There, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, Trump's billionaire Indonesian business partner, sits on a plush sofa, texting with Trump's billionaire Dubai partner, Hussain Sajwani. Eventually they meet, and Tanoesoedibjo later posts an Instagram picture of himself, Sajwani and their wives mugging for the camera in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel.


Upstairs, Phil Ruffin, Trump's billionaire partner in Las Vegas, has taken up residence in $18,000-a-night accommodations. The presidential suite, Ruffin says, was reserved for the president-elect. When he later complained about the price to Trump, the president demurred. Ruffin might need that money: His wife, Oleksandra, a former Miss Ukraine, has hit it off with Sajwani's wife over their mutual love of expensive jewelry.

All told, at least 14 from this community of partners, from Turkey to India to the Philippines, attended the inauguration festivities.
...

Wake up and smell the swampy!

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Reuters Markets fret as Trump agenda shows signs of cracks

The steepest pullback in stocks since the U.S. presidential election reveals investor angst about President Donald Trump's ability to push through major reforms, leaving stocks vulnerable to a long-anticipated correction.

The S&P 500, in its second longest bull market ever, has risen close to 10 percent since the Nov. 8 election on optimism about Trump's pro-growth agenda. With valuations at their highest in over a decade, investors have been expecting a pullback even if its catalysts haven't been clear.

Trump, looking to score the first major political win of his presidency, on Tuesday warned Republican lawmakers that if a healthcare bill he backs fails to pass, it would cause "political problems." Stocks fell alongside the U.S. dollar, while Treasuries and gold rallied.

"It's like the Trump agenda getting kind of slapped in the face," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Investors saw the health bill vote, expected on Thursday, as testing optimism that the Trump administration and Republican leaders will implement tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending expected to boost economic growth.

The muddled view on the healthcare bill "carries over to what will happen with the infrastructure plan and the tax reform plan and the reduced regulation plan," Tuz said.
...

Not turning out swampy enough for some and that's a heck of a big bubble.