“When a political opponent resorts to the racist card, it's a sure sign of moral bankruptcy: there's no decent argument left in the armoury.” ― Alex Morritt, Impromptu Scribe
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| TRUMP VS OBAMA |
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| READ |
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| DONALD TRUMP JR. |
"'A
natural': Donald Trump Jr. emerges as a campaign star, despite Russia
baggage": "President Trump was watching Fox News
Channel with aides in his private dining room off the Oval Office recently when
Donald Trump Jr. flashed across the giant flat screen. 'Don's gotten really
good,' Trump said, according to someone who was present. 'My people love him.'
"The remark
suggested a swell of unexpected pride from Trumpabout
his namesake son, whose relationship with his father has been difficult at
times but who has emerged as the president's political alter ego and an
in-demand campaign celebrity ahead of November's midterm elections.
"Trump Jr.'s
increasing prominence also comes at a time of heightened
scrutiny by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016
election, who is examining his role in a Trump Tower meeting with a
Kremlin-aligned lawyer. Trump has fretted to confidants about the fate of his
eldest son, concerned he may be in legal jeopardy regardless of whether he
knowingly conspired with Russian agents to obtain dirt on Democratic nominee
Hillary Clinton." WaPo [POLITICO Playbook, August 13, 2018]
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| UNIONS |
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| POLITICS |
OPENING WATERS: Oil and gas
companies are lobbying Florida lawmakers to open up eastern portions of the
Gulf of Mexico for offshore drilling, even after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
seemingly shut the door on the prospect when he declared the state's waters
"off the table" seven months ago, Pro's Ben Lefebvre reports. It's a
controversial effort in a state that for decades has seen bipartisan opposition
to offshore drilling.
The lobbying effort, Ben writes, is
looking to potentially bring oil rigs as close as 75 miles off the coast,
putting drilling 125 miles closer to Florida's beaches. And the energy
lobbyists and trade associations pushing the effort think Zinke left just
enough room in his previous comments to persuade lawmakers to sign on to
possible compromises.
Zinke's tweet exempting Florida and
his subsequent statement that he was "removing Florida from consideration
for any new oil and gas platforms" shouldn't be read as official Interior
policy, said Randall Luthi, president of the trade group National Offshore
Industry Association, which is pressing for access to the waters. One lobbyist
working the issue also told POLITICO that Zinke and Gov. Rick Scott were
careful to "not say the entire Eastern Gulf" was off the table. Keep
in mind: The state's jurisdiction only extends nine nautical miles from the
shoreline. Read more here.
FOR YOUR RADAR: The Interior Department
will hold its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale today, with 77.3
million acres stretching from south Texas to the Florida-Alabama border up for
grabs. [POLITICO's Morning Energy, August 15, 2018]
ZINKE DOUBLES DOWN ON CLIMATE: Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke touched on climate change in an interview with Breitbart Radio this
weekend, reiterating his call to thin out forests and for active forest
management, and hitting "radical environmentalists" and their focus
on climate change. "We've been held hostage by these environmental
terrorists groups that have not allowed public access, that refuse to allow
harvest of timber," Zinke said. "The fuel load on our forest ... it's
magnitudes higher."
Later in the interview — where he also
discussed questions about his travel and the Trump administration's monuments
review — Zinke returned to the topic. "Look at climate change," Zinke
said. "It doesn't relieve you of the responsibility to actively manage. So
you can huff and puff and say, 'Well it's about climate change.' Yes, the
drought has caused temperatures to rise, the fire season has become longer,
[but] whether you believe or not believe in climate change, doesn't relieve you
of the responsibility to remove the dead and dying timber and manage our
forests so you don't have these catastrophic burns."
Those comments preceded the ones he
made Sunday on Sacramento station KCRA. "I've heard the
climate change argument back and forth," Zinke said in that interview.
"This has nothing to do with climate change. This has to do with active
forest management." California officials have instead pointed to rising
temperatures across the state driven by climate change for worsening the
wildfires raging across the state. [POLITICO's
Morning Energy, August 14, 2018]
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| INFRASTRUCTURE |
TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS — State officials may still be grumbling about the DHS decision
to classify election systems as critical infrastructure, but most cybersecurity
experts agree with the decision. More specifically, 95 percent of surveyed
experts believe that election systems are critical infrastructure, according to
a Venafi poll released
Monday to mark the end of DEF CON. In addition, 54 percent said voting machines
were highly vulnerable to digital intrusions, while 52 percent said the same
about "encrypted communications between polling stations and back-end
election systems" and 50 percent said it about voter registration systems.
Very few of the experts — only 2 percent — expressed high confidence in the ability
of local, state and federal officials to detect election-focused cyberattacks,
while only 3 percent expressed high confidence in officials' ability to block
them. The July study included responses from 411 IT security professionals in
the U.S., U.K. and Australia. [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, August 15,
2018]
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| DAILY SPECIALS |
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| NORWAY |
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| ARGENTINA |
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| COLOMBIA |
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| CROATIA |
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| HAITI |
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| HIDDEN IN THE ATTIC |
THE
BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS: SEPTEMBER 8TH, 1781
In the summer of 1781,
General Nathanael Greene felt his 2,200-man force of Continental regulars and
Patriot militia was strong enough to launch an offensive in South Carolina. At
four o’clock in the morning on September 8, Greene set his army in motion
toward a British encampment at Eutaw Springs. The British commander, Lieutenant
Colonel Alexander Stewart, had been warned of the American
advance by deserters from Greene’s column. Unfortunately for the Redcoats, the
American forces arrived on the very road Stewart planned to use as an escape
route. Forced to fight, Stewart put up a stiff resistance, launching a
counterattack before abandoning his camps.
Greene’s men—always in need
of supplies—began plundering the British tents. As they did so, the distinct
sound of the Brown Bess musket crackled over on Greene’s exposed left flank.
British troops under the command of Major John Majoribanks had ensconced
themselves in a three-story brick house and the adjacent garden of a nearby
plantation and were now peppering the Americans with deadly accurate musket
fire. Greene attempted an assault on Majoribanks’ stronghold—losing the brave
Major Denny Porterfield in the process—but his troops were too disorganized to
effectively dislodge the Redcoats. Instead, Greene was forced to retreat as
Majoribanks launched a successful counterattack. The British remained in
possession of Eutaw Springs.
The Battle of Eutaw Springs, which ended as a
minor tactical defeat for the Americans, was the last major battle of the
Revolutionary War in South Carolina. British forces began abandoning their
gains in the Carolinas, withdrawing to the safety of their bases on the coast,
and, more importantly, mirroring a British strategy that ended with the
surrender of Yorktown the following month. [Campaign 1776, September 8, 2017]
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
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