Apparently the president reiterated his threat to shut down the government unless Democrats vote to fund his wall. You do that, Sparky. Right before the midterms. That's a great strategy.
"What are believed to be the remains of some 55 U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War have arrived in South Korea aboard a U.S. Air Force transport plane from the North in accordance with an agreement made last month between President Trump and Kim Jong Un at their summit in Singapore." I've been trying to put words to this most of the day. It's not that we believe every soldier that falls in battle is an exemplar human or hero. Many had faults great and small. Not all died facing the music, some never even had the chance to. None of that matters because they all died carrying our nation and because we asked them to go. And for that we venerate our war dead. That is the message of the pomp and circumstance. It is also a reminder that we will not leave you behind. Your rank or job classification does not matter. Even if it takes 50 or a hundred years. Even if all we have are scraps. It is our duty to do so. And I can't tell you how infuriating the "cooperation" with N. Korea on this issue has been. Returning the captured, wounded, and dead is the same as rescuing sailors on the sea. It's something all sides agree should be done.
"Pilots with billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company climbed to 170,800 feet — about 32.3 miles — and reached 2.47 times the speed of sound Thursday in the third successful rocket-powered flight of the company's newest spacecraft."
"Appearing on Fox News pundit Sean Hannity's show Thursday, Barr claimed the backlash over a widely condemned racist tweet that led to ABC canceling her show was a huge misunderstanding." Have shovel, will dig.
"The U.S. is the most dangerous country in the developed world to give birth in according to a report… About 50,000 women are 'severely injured' during childbirth, and about 700 women die every year. Half of these deaths could have been prevented, as could the injuries, if correct safety procedures had been followed, according to an investigation by USA Today." Best healthcare system my Aunt Fanny.
"The Trump administration announced a plan Friday that would affect about 40 percent of the payments physicians receive from Medicare. Not everybody's pleased." I'm all for reduced paperwork, but I'm not sure this is the path to that end.
How go the Trade Wars? "Steve Tramell remembers when the news got out in 2006 that Kia was planning to open a plant in West Point, Ga., population 3,700… But these days, Tramell is worried. The largest employer in his town is under pressure thanks to President Trump's threat to impose tariffs on imported auto parts and cars." But you all will vote for him again, won't you.
"From San Jose to Austin to Portland to Seattle (to name just a few), house prices are slumping, inventories are ballooning, and not-a-Nobel-Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller -- famed for spotting bubbles before they burst -- says 'This could be the very beginning of a turning point.'" (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"Facial recognition software sold by Amazon mistakenly identified 28 members of Congress as people who had been arrested for crimes, the American Civil Liberties Union announced on Thursday… Amazon Rekognition has been marketed as tool (to law enforcement) that provides extremely accurate facial analysis through photos and video." Of course Amazon says they forgot to realign the deflector shield and reverse the tachyon beam, so it wasn't as accurate as it would have been.
"European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used colorful cards with simple explanations to discuss trade policies during his Wednesday meeting with President Trump." JFC. And then he went on to say they opened up the EU to American Farmers, if there's one commodity that the EU will fight to the death over is food regulations. It is the hill they will die on. Don't hold it against them unless you understand how we support domestic sugar production and price milk.
"Russian hackers trying to influence the 2018 elections made an unsuccessful attempt to breach the computer system of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of this fall's most vulnerable Democrats."
"Russian trolls on Twitter are pretending to be ex-Democrats to trick people." So viewer beware. Also noted for Hamilton 68 which tracks Russian twitter activity in almost real-time. (Waves to my Russian friends) (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
"Maria Butina, the Russian woman accused of acting as a Kremlin agent on U.S. soil, met with a top Russian official suspected of recruiting American spies… A source familiar with the investigation told Politico the official is Oleg Zhiganov, the director of the Russian Cultural Center in D.C., a part of the Russian Foreign Ministry that has long been under scrutiny by U.S. counterintelligence officials." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
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