Apologies to our readers from the rest of the world. Today is the day of the year in which Americans are united in their exceptionalism. And I'm no exception to that. It's not as if we are not aware that other countries have suffered terrorism and often repeated terrorist acts. It's not even as if we haven't suffered some of our own. But the violence in 2001 shocked us in ways that we had never been shocked before. Not even Pearl Harbor shocked us as much. There was the immensity of the loss and the coordination of multiple attacks at the same time. But what shocked us the most was the immediacy. I'm not alone in waking up to the horror. I was sleeping in as I had DJed the night before and didn't get to sleep until 3:30 am or so. My partner called and no one called me in the morning so I knew it was bad news. He told me to turn on the television. I asked which channel and he said it didn't matter. And I saw one tower on fire and then a plan hit the other tower. I had friends who lived or worked in downtown Manhattan. I had family outside DC. I was watching in a high rise on top of a bluff with a clear shot from Lake Michigan and a US Senator in the building and we didn't know if it would stop. It took weeks but eventually I heard from everyone. Others weren't so lucky.
There are some who mourn the loss of our unity since that day. I'm not one of them. That unity mired us in a war in Afghanistan that was wrong since day one and continues today. It affected our lives in ways that are obvious like useless and intrusive security measures at airports to the less obvious general acceptance of police state measures in daily life.
Most of all, I am grateful that nothing that awful has happened today. To us or to anyone else.
There are some who mourn the loss of our unity since that day. I'm not one of them. That unity mired us in a war in Afghanistan that was wrong since day one and continues today. It affected our lives in ways that are obvious like useless and intrusive security measures at airports to the less obvious general acceptance of police state measures in daily life.
Most of all, I am grateful that nothing that awful has happened today. To us or to anyone else.
Scotland's highest appeals court is the latest to turn against Boris Johnson. Since proroguing Parliament was done to remove Parliament from stopping him from pushing through a no-deal Brexit it was illegal. However, since the court did not call for Parliament to reconvene there's plenty of loose ends. The one thing that's clear is that Johnson is not going to get a no-deal Brexit. [NPR]
Meanwhile the US Supreme Court has given the Trump administration broad leeway in preventing Central Americans and others entry into the US while the case against the rule in question is being heard. [AP]
Meanwhile the US Supreme Court has given the Trump administration broad leeway in preventing Central Americans and others entry into the US while the case against the rule in question is being heard. [AP]
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What if you are fleeing your country because it was destroyed by a hurricane instead of violence and poverty linked to US policy? No good either. No temporary protected status for Bahamian victims of Dorian. Did I mention that most Bahamians are darker than orange? [NBC]
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is investigating whether Wilbur Ross of the Commerce Department had anything to do with NOAA backing Trump over science in Sharpiegate. The New York Times says Trump's acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney told him to. [HuffPost] [CNN]
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is investigating whether Wilbur Ross of the Commerce Department had anything to do with NOAA backing Trump over science in Sharpiegate. The New York Times says Trump's acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney told him to. [HuffPost] [CNN]
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Trump wants banks to pay us to take their money. [CNBC]
Showing an equivalent understanding of trade: Trump threw away 300,000 jobs on the trade war already with 600,000 more lost by next year. [Yahoo! Finance]
Showing an equivalent understanding of trade: Trump threw away 300,000 jobs on the trade war already with 600,000 more lost by next year. [Yahoo! Finance]
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Iowa and New Hampshire don't care what those other states do. Republicans will have a caucus and a primary no matter what. [AP]
ABC and Univision will be hosting the third Democratic debate tomorrow at 8PM Eastern Time. Mercifully it will be a one night affair with a mere ten candidates. Politics Corner will post at 7PM tomorrow night for a live blog. Details on how to watch are here: https://abc.go.com/news/insider/watch-the-third-democratic-debate-on-abc-and-the-abc-app
Political discussion welcome.
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