Today's News (2020/1/19)
Sorry, no days off for evil!
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Trump’s EPA is said to cut scientists out of new water policy that threatens New England wetlands
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2020/01/18/trump-administration-allegedly-cuts-federal-scientists-out-new-water-policy/eRq03KhTRl7WteOJPce5tJ/story.html
With the Trump administration poised to roll back key protections for much of the nation’s wetlands, scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency are accusing the agency’s political appointees of ignoring their advice and barring them from shaping sweeping new guidelines, violating the agency’s longstanding policies.
One scientist was so distraught that the agency veteran started to cry while explaining how EPA administrators have cut specialists out of the process of crafting rules that prevent development and pollution near streams, tidal waters, and ponds.
“This has been a very painful time to work for the agency,” the scientist said in a recent interview, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal. “We’re being asked to do things that most of us feel is the antithesis of what we’ve been trying to do, and, in some cases, undo things that we’ve worked very hard to accomplish.”
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The War on the War on Cancer
Trump’s Gutting of Toxics Regulations Will Mean Higher Profits for Polluters and Higher Cancer Rates for the American People
https://theintercept.com/2020/01/12/cancer-trump-administration-epa-carcinogens-regulations/
With the election of Donald Trump, a small and previously marginalized group of toxics apologists suddenly and unexpectedly took control over health and environmental regulations in the United States. Considered too fringe, too craven, and too fact-averse for mainstream politics, this closely connected group had long been dismissed for taking the idea of environmental deregulation well past the point of absurdity. Under Trump, the EPA has begun executing some of these extremists’ schemes to undercut the federal government’s ability to protect the public from life-threatening toxic chemicals.
Way back in 1996, a lawyer named Christopher Horner working for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company came up with an ambitious plan to fight back against scientific studies linking cancer to secondhand smoke. Such studies, he realized, were based on the private health data of thousands of individuals. And without that data, scientists would be unable to prove a connection between cigarette smoke and cancer. Imagine if the government required that the data used for regulations be public. If that were the case, none of the crucial private health information used by scientists would be usable. Problem solved!
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Schiff accuses NSA, CIA of withholding documents on Ukraine
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Schiff-accuses-NSA-CIA-of-withholding-documents-14988055.php
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is accusing U.S. intelligence agencies of withholding documents from Congress on Ukraine that could be significant to President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“They appear to be succumbing to pressure from the administration,” Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday on ABC's "This Week.'' Schiff was selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as the lead impeachment manager for Trump's Senate trial.
Schiff, D-Calif., contended that the National Security Agency “in particular is withholding what are potentially relevant documents to our oversight responsibilities on Ukraine, but also withholding documents potentially relevant that the senators might want to see during the trial. That is deeply concerning." He also said "there are signs that the CIA may be on the same tragic course.”
The NSA and CIA did not immediately respond to a requests for comment.
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Senators Know They Don’t Know the Whole Story
As Trump’s impeachment trial looms, much of the relevant evidence remains just out of Americans’ sight.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/senators-know-they-only-know-part-story/605203/
This week’s allegations by Lev Parnas-a federally indicted associate of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani-render downright quaint the debate over whether the Senate should call live witnesses in the president’s impending impeachment trial. Of course the American public deserves to hear from witnesses at the trial, and not just the four whose testimony Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is requesting (thus far to no avail).
Parnas maintains that the scheme to force Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe Biden’s family was widely known in Trump’s circle and that, as The New York Times put it, “the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf.” In an ideal world, the entire impeachment trial would be put on hold pending a thorough investigation of the new claims. Americans need to know the full story before their representatives in the Senate decide what-if anything-to do about it.
Instead, something disturbing is about to happen: The Senate is poised to make a monumental decision about the office of the presidency while knowing full well that much of the sordid tale has not even been told.
Trump’s trial, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, will have some trappings of a normal trial. The president will, for example, have an expansive defense team that includes former Independent Counsel Ken Starr. (I worked for Starr during his investigation of Bill Clinton.) What the trial won’t have-because Trump, his lawyers, and his allies in Congress have been so successful in blocking live testimony and the release of information-is all the facts.
-----
“Flood the zone with shit”: How misinformation overwhelmed our democracy
The impeachment trial probably won’t change any minds. Here’s why.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/16/20991816/impeachment-trial-trump-bannon-misinformation
No matter how President Trump’s impeachment trial plays out in the Senate, one thing is certain: Despite the incontrovertible facts at the center of the story, the process will change very few minds.
Regardless of how clear a case Democrats make, it seems likely that a majority of voters will remain confused and unsure about the details of Trump’s transgressions. No single version of the truth will be accepted.
This is a serious problem for our democratic culture. No amount of evidence, on virtually any topic, is likely to move public opinion one way or the other. We can attribute some of this to rank partisanship - some people simply refuse to acknowledge inconvenient facts about their own side.
But there’s another, equally vexing problem. We live in a media ecosystem that overwhelms people with information. Some of that information is accurate, some of it is bogus, and much of it is intentionally misleading. The result is a polity that has increasingly given up on finding out the truth. As Sabrina Tavernise and Aidan Gardiner put it in a New York Times piece, “people are numb and disoriented, struggling to discern what is real in a sea of slant, fake, and fact.” This is partly why an earth-shattering historical event like a president’s impeachment has done very little to move public opinion.
...
I call this “manufactured” because it’s the consequence of a deliberate strategy. It was distilled almost perfectly by Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News and chief strategist for Donald Trump. “The Democrats don’t matter,” Bannon reportedly said in 2018. “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
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US National Archives forced to apologise for blurring anti-Trump rally signs
https://news.yahoo.com/us-national-archives-forced-apologise-193600144.html
The US National Archives has announced it will remove its display featuring a photo from the 2017 Women’s March that blurred out multiple signs critical of Donald Trump and replace it with the unaltered image.
The independent US agency tasked with preserving historical and political records acknowledged it made a “mistake” in a statement announcing the switch after reports of the edited display were met with swift backlash.
“As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration,” the National Archives wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “We have removed the current display and will replace it as soon as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.”
The statement continued: “We apologise, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again.”
-----
‘Comparing yourself to terrorists?’ Internet cracks up at Trump saying dead 9-11 hijackers got more justice than him
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/comparing-yourself-to-terrorists-internet-cracks-up-at-trump-saying-dead-9-11-hijackers-got-more-justice-than-him/
President Donald Trump quoted Fox News host Mark Levin that left many scratching their heads. Levin, who has a show on Sunday evenings, claimed that the terrorists from Sept. 11 got more due process than the president.
The claim was a curious one because, as many on Twitter noted, it’s not often that the president of the United States compares himself to a terrorist. Secondly, the 9-11 hijackers all died in the attack, as they were on the planes that crashed into the buildings and into a Pennsylvania field.
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Reporters Challenge New Restrictions In Trying To Cover Senate Impeachment Trial
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/17/797126423/reporters-battle-new-restrictions-in-trying-to-cover-senate-impeachment-trial
News organizations and journalists' advocates are challenging restrictive new ground rules for reporters assigned to cover the Senate impeachment trial.
Correspondents who submit to an official credentialing process are granted broad access throughout the Capitol complex and usually encounter few restrictions in talking with members of Congress or others.
But now Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger has imposed new requirements for the impeachment trial, negotiated in part with Republican leadership:
Reporters are being confined to small cordoned-off sections in areas where unrestricted access was typically standard. They are being prevented from walking with senators to continue conversations - even when the senator involved is willingly participating.
Reporters also now may not approach senators for interviews in the halls surrounding the Senate chamber.
Taken together, the new rules effectively prevent members of the press from reaching many senators.
-----
At gun-rights rally, Washington state Rep. Matt Shea gives fiery defense, talks of nation’s ‘real enemies’
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/at-gun-rights-rally-washington-state-rep-matt-shea-gives-fiery-defense-talks-of-nations-real-enemies/
...
Shea has said the report’s findings and allegations are false and slammed the investigation as a “Marxist smear campaign.”
On Friday, Shea told about 500 people gathered for the gun-rights rally that the government has neglected to investigate America’s “real enemies,” anti-fascist groups.
------
In Unprecedented Move, NYC Bar Association Calls for Congress to Probe Attorney General for Partisan Bias
The NYC Bar's letter represents the first time it or any comparable association has called for an investigation into a sitting attorney general.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/09/unprecedented-move-nyc-bar-association-calls-congress-probe-attorney-general
The New York City Bar Association on Thursday urged Congress to launch a formal investigation into Attorney General William Barr, alleging recent statements and actions by the country's top law enforcement official show he is a right-wing partisan "willing to use the levers of government to empower certain groups over others."
In a letter (pdf) to leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, the NYCBA cites several examples of Barr's conduct they view as particularly troubling, including repeated attacks on progressive district attorneys, an October speech touting "Judeo-Christian values," and his December threat to strip protections from unspecified "communities" that don't show sufficient respect to police.
Bloomberg reported that the letter represents the first time the NYCBA or any comparable association has called for an investigation into a sitting attorney general.
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Trump impeachment: Defence lawyer insists abuse of power not enough to remove president
Alan Dershowitz says even if Donald Trump's actions were wrong, he should not be removed from the White House - a position Democrats dub 'absurdist'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-alan-dershowitz-senate-trial-abuse-of-power-a9291086.html
One of the high-profile lawyers hired by Donald Trump to defend him in the Senate trial starting this week says he will argue that abuse of power is not an impeachable offence.
Also posted to ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん;
comments at Dreamwidth. Please comment there.
-----
Trump’s EPA is said to cut scientists out of new water policy that threatens New England wetlands
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2020/01/18/trump-administration-allegedly-cuts-federal-scientists-out-new-water-policy/eRq03KhTRl7WteOJPce5tJ/story.html
With the Trump administration poised to roll back key protections for much of the nation’s wetlands, scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency are accusing the agency’s political appointees of ignoring their advice and barring them from shaping sweeping new guidelines, violating the agency’s longstanding policies.
One scientist was so distraught that the agency veteran started to cry while explaining how EPA administrators have cut specialists out of the process of crafting rules that prevent development and pollution near streams, tidal waters, and ponds.
“This has been a very painful time to work for the agency,” the scientist said in a recent interview, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal. “We’re being asked to do things that most of us feel is the antithesis of what we’ve been trying to do, and, in some cases, undo things that we’ve worked very hard to accomplish.”
-----
The War on the War on Cancer
Trump’s Gutting of Toxics Regulations Will Mean Higher Profits for Polluters and Higher Cancer Rates for the American People
https://theintercept.com/2020/01/12/cancer-trump-administration-epa-carcinogens-regulations/
With the election of Donald Trump, a small and previously marginalized group of toxics apologists suddenly and unexpectedly took control over health and environmental regulations in the United States. Considered too fringe, too craven, and too fact-averse for mainstream politics, this closely connected group had long been dismissed for taking the idea of environmental deregulation well past the point of absurdity. Under Trump, the EPA has begun executing some of these extremists’ schemes to undercut the federal government’s ability to protect the public from life-threatening toxic chemicals.
Way back in 1996, a lawyer named Christopher Horner working for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company came up with an ambitious plan to fight back against scientific studies linking cancer to secondhand smoke. Such studies, he realized, were based on the private health data of thousands of individuals. And without that data, scientists would be unable to prove a connection between cigarette smoke and cancer. Imagine if the government required that the data used for regulations be public. If that were the case, none of the crucial private health information used by scientists would be usable. Problem solved!
-----
Schiff accuses NSA, CIA of withholding documents on Ukraine
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Schiff-accuses-NSA-CIA-of-withholding-documents-14988055.php
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is accusing U.S. intelligence agencies of withholding documents from Congress on Ukraine that could be significant to President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“They appear to be succumbing to pressure from the administration,” Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday on ABC's "This Week.'' Schiff was selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as the lead impeachment manager for Trump's Senate trial.
Schiff, D-Calif., contended that the National Security Agency “in particular is withholding what are potentially relevant documents to our oversight responsibilities on Ukraine, but also withholding documents potentially relevant that the senators might want to see during the trial. That is deeply concerning." He also said "there are signs that the CIA may be on the same tragic course.”
The NSA and CIA did not immediately respond to a requests for comment.
-----
Senators Know They Don’t Know the Whole Story
As Trump’s impeachment trial looms, much of the relevant evidence remains just out of Americans’ sight.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/senators-know-they-only-know-part-story/605203/
This week’s allegations by Lev Parnas-a federally indicted associate of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani-render downright quaint the debate over whether the Senate should call live witnesses in the president’s impending impeachment trial. Of course the American public deserves to hear from witnesses at the trial, and not just the four whose testimony Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is requesting (thus far to no avail).
Parnas maintains that the scheme to force Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe Biden’s family was widely known in Trump’s circle and that, as The New York Times put it, “the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf.” In an ideal world, the entire impeachment trial would be put on hold pending a thorough investigation of the new claims. Americans need to know the full story before their representatives in the Senate decide what-if anything-to do about it.
Instead, something disturbing is about to happen: The Senate is poised to make a monumental decision about the office of the presidency while knowing full well that much of the sordid tale has not even been told.
Trump’s trial, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, will have some trappings of a normal trial. The president will, for example, have an expansive defense team that includes former Independent Counsel Ken Starr. (I worked for Starr during his investigation of Bill Clinton.) What the trial won’t have-because Trump, his lawyers, and his allies in Congress have been so successful in blocking live testimony and the release of information-is all the facts.
-----
“Flood the zone with shit”: How misinformation overwhelmed our democracy
The impeachment trial probably won’t change any minds. Here’s why.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/16/20991816/impeachment-trial-trump-bannon-misinformation
No matter how President Trump’s impeachment trial plays out in the Senate, one thing is certain: Despite the incontrovertible facts at the center of the story, the process will change very few minds.
Regardless of how clear a case Democrats make, it seems likely that a majority of voters will remain confused and unsure about the details of Trump’s transgressions. No single version of the truth will be accepted.
This is a serious problem for our democratic culture. No amount of evidence, on virtually any topic, is likely to move public opinion one way or the other. We can attribute some of this to rank partisanship - some people simply refuse to acknowledge inconvenient facts about their own side.
But there’s another, equally vexing problem. We live in a media ecosystem that overwhelms people with information. Some of that information is accurate, some of it is bogus, and much of it is intentionally misleading. The result is a polity that has increasingly given up on finding out the truth. As Sabrina Tavernise and Aidan Gardiner put it in a New York Times piece, “people are numb and disoriented, struggling to discern what is real in a sea of slant, fake, and fact.” This is partly why an earth-shattering historical event like a president’s impeachment has done very little to move public opinion.
...
I call this “manufactured” because it’s the consequence of a deliberate strategy. It was distilled almost perfectly by Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News and chief strategist for Donald Trump. “The Democrats don’t matter,” Bannon reportedly said in 2018. “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
-----
US National Archives forced to apologise for blurring anti-Trump rally signs
https://news.yahoo.com/us-national-archives-forced-apologise-193600144.html
The US National Archives has announced it will remove its display featuring a photo from the 2017 Women’s March that blurred out multiple signs critical of Donald Trump and replace it with the unaltered image.
The independent US agency tasked with preserving historical and political records acknowledged it made a “mistake” in a statement announcing the switch after reports of the edited display were met with swift backlash.
“As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration,” the National Archives wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “We have removed the current display and will replace it as soon as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.”
The statement continued: “We apologise, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again.”
-----
‘Comparing yourself to terrorists?’ Internet cracks up at Trump saying dead 9-11 hijackers got more justice than him
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/comparing-yourself-to-terrorists-internet-cracks-up-at-trump-saying-dead-9-11-hijackers-got-more-justice-than-him/
President Donald Trump quoted Fox News host Mark Levin that left many scratching their heads. Levin, who has a show on Sunday evenings, claimed that the terrorists from Sept. 11 got more due process than the president.
The claim was a curious one because, as many on Twitter noted, it’s not often that the president of the United States compares himself to a terrorist. Secondly, the 9-11 hijackers all died in the attack, as they were on the planes that crashed into the buildings and into a Pennsylvania field.
-----
Reporters Challenge New Restrictions In Trying To Cover Senate Impeachment Trial
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/17/797126423/reporters-battle-new-restrictions-in-trying-to-cover-senate-impeachment-trial
News organizations and journalists' advocates are challenging restrictive new ground rules for reporters assigned to cover the Senate impeachment trial.
Correspondents who submit to an official credentialing process are granted broad access throughout the Capitol complex and usually encounter few restrictions in talking with members of Congress or others.
But now Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger has imposed new requirements for the impeachment trial, negotiated in part with Republican leadership:
Reporters are being confined to small cordoned-off sections in areas where unrestricted access was typically standard. They are being prevented from walking with senators to continue conversations - even when the senator involved is willingly participating.
Reporters also now may not approach senators for interviews in the halls surrounding the Senate chamber.
Taken together, the new rules effectively prevent members of the press from reaching many senators.
-----
At gun-rights rally, Washington state Rep. Matt Shea gives fiery defense, talks of nation’s ‘real enemies’
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/at-gun-rights-rally-washington-state-rep-matt-shea-gives-fiery-defense-talks-of-nations-real-enemies/
...
Shea has said the report’s findings and allegations are false and slammed the investigation as a “Marxist smear campaign.”
On Friday, Shea told about 500 people gathered for the gun-rights rally that the government has neglected to investigate America’s “real enemies,” anti-fascist groups.
------
In Unprecedented Move, NYC Bar Association Calls for Congress to Probe Attorney General for Partisan Bias
The NYC Bar's letter represents the first time it or any comparable association has called for an investigation into a sitting attorney general.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/09/unprecedented-move-nyc-bar-association-calls-congress-probe-attorney-general
The New York City Bar Association on Thursday urged Congress to launch a formal investigation into Attorney General William Barr, alleging recent statements and actions by the country's top law enforcement official show he is a right-wing partisan "willing to use the levers of government to empower certain groups over others."
In a letter (pdf) to leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, the NYCBA cites several examples of Barr's conduct they view as particularly troubling, including repeated attacks on progressive district attorneys, an October speech touting "Judeo-Christian values," and his December threat to strip protections from unspecified "communities" that don't show sufficient respect to police.
Bloomberg reported that the letter represents the first time the NYCBA or any comparable association has called for an investigation into a sitting attorney general.
-----
Trump impeachment: Defence lawyer insists abuse of power not enough to remove president
Alan Dershowitz says even if Donald Trump's actions were wrong, he should not be removed from the White House - a position Democrats dub 'absurdist'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-alan-dershowitz-senate-trial-abuse-of-power-a9291086.html
One of the high-profile lawyers hired by Donald Trump to defend him in the Senate trial starting this week says he will argue that abuse of power is not an impeachable offence.
Also posted to ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん;
comments at Dreamwidth. Please comment there.