“Nearby sat a veteran in a wheelchair. He was young, handsome, and athletic, through missing a leg. My daughter went to him and asked, "You're army - right?" He said, "Yes, I am." My daughter hugged him. "Thank you," she said. Tears welled in the man's eyes. "Did you get my card?" she asked. "My school sent you a card. It said, 'Thank you for saving our Earth.'" The guy just about lost it. He said, "You're welcome. Yes, we did get your card. Thank you for doing that." - Michael Sobel, son of Herbert Sobel. Michael talking about his 6 year old daughter meeting veterans.”
 |
| VETERANS |
— More than 450 veterans, through
the Vet Voice Foundation, sent this letter to Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan,
calling on them to rid NDAA conference negotiations of any controversial riders
including the sage grouse [POLITICO's Morning Energy, July 11, 2018]
 |
| MEDICINE |
STATE APPROVES MISSILE SALE TO U.K.: The
State Department on Tuesday approved the sale of up to 200 AIM-120D Advanced
Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) for an estimated cost of $650
million to the United Kingdom.
The department said the deal will "improve the security of
a NATO ally which has been, and continues to be, an important partner on
critical foreign policy and defense issues." [POLITICO's Morning Defense, July 11, 2018]
 |
| ACTIVISTS |
 |
| MICHAEL FLYNN |
 |
| IVANKA TRUMP |
IVANKA HOLDS BACK ON RUBIO PAID LEAVE: Ivanka
Trump won't endorse Sen. Marco Rubio's paid family leave bill when it's
introduced later this week, two White House officials told POLITICO's Ian
Kullgren. Her reluctance is part of a strategy to avoid cumbersome discussions
about any single approach. "For her, it hasn't been, 'Let's focus on this
policy or this policy,'" one of the White House officials said. "It's
to make the case for why paid family leave is valuable to conservatives."
But the White House aides said Ivanka
considers Rubio's bill — which would allow people to borrow from Social
Security to pay for leave — a good option, and that she'd probably support it
if it picked up support in Congress. Rubio is expected to introduce the measure
later this week following a Senate paid leave hearing Wednesday at which
Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will testify. The
First Daughter has met with members on both sides of the aisle, the officials
said, including Ernst, Rubio, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the three architects of
the Social Security bill. [POLITICO's Morning
Shift, July 10, 2018]
NAFTA lowdown: The unified automotive
industry position comes after talks between the three countries have been
largely at a standstill for more than a month. It also comes as the Trump
administration is considering a 20 percent tariff on auto and auto part imports
in the name of national security — a move that would significantly disrupt
North American supply chains if applied to Canada and Mexico.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said last month that
she felt the three nations' trade leaders would be "working hard over the
summer." However, Mexico's July 1 elections are over and no specific dates
have been set, according to two sources close to the talks.
"All eyes are really on the threat of auto tariffs. That
will be the real milestone that ... would add large grievances to these
negotiations," one source close to the talks told Morning Trade.
"Talks can continue indefinitely, but if tariffs are implemented on autos,
that changes things." [Morning Trade, July10, 2018]
 |
| TECHNOLOGY |
 |
| RACE |
FLASHBACK
... "Government reopens probe of Emmett Till slaying," by AP's
Jay Reeves: "The federal government has reopened its investigation into
the slaying of Emmett Till, the black teenager whose brutal killing in
Mississippi shocked the world and helped inspire the civil rights movement more
than 60 years ago.
"The
Justice Department told Congress in a report in
March it is reinvestigating Till's slaying in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 after
receiving 'new information.' The case was closed in 2007 with authorities
saying the suspects were dead; a state grand jury didn't file any new charges.
Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till, said she was unaware the case had been
reopened until contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"The
federal report, sent annually to lawmakers under a law that bears Till's
name, does not indicate what the new information might be." https://bit.ly/2mck5EH ... The March reporthttps://politi.co/2uqZtwg [Playbook
Power Briefing, July 12, 2018]
 |
| PUBLIC LANDS |
Have you ever heard of -- or visited -- Great Sand Dunes
National Park in Colorado? It's a place where...
- Epic sand
dunes tower as tall as skyscrapers.
- Sandhill
cranes can be seen in the spring and fall. And at least six species of
insects found there -- including the beautiful Great Sand Dunes
tiger beetle -- exist nowhere else in the world.
- More than
300,000 people annually enjoy one of North America's most unique wild
places.1
Under a new Trump
Administration proposal, oil and gas companies could begin drilling on up to
18,000 acres near this national treasure -- and next to the Sangre de Cristo
Wilderness Area.
This area contains some of
America's most pristine wilderness and headwaters.The administration's proposal
is an idea that risks the health of this important area and the wildlife and
others who rely on it.2
Noise and disruption from
drilling operations can disrupt and destroy wildlife habitat. And drilling
raises the very real prospect of a toxic spill in this vital watershed.
Should we...
- Industrialize
our beautiful public lands -- and the home of six species found nowhere
else on the planet -- for the sake of fossil fuel companies?
- Threaten local
water supplies with waste from drilling and fracking operations?
- Destroy our
public lands just to double down on dirty fossil fuels that can cause
toxic spills and make climate change worse?
The answer is clear:
we owe it to future generations to be responsible stewards of irreplaceable places
like Great Sand Dunes National Park and the wild areas nearby.
Together for the environment,
The Environmental Action team
[July 23, 2018]
1. Alana
Miller, "Oil and gas industry
is coming for Colorado's sand dunes," CNN, June 25, 2018.
2. Zach Fitzner, "The controversy over drilling for oil in the Sangre de Cristos," Earth.com, June 27, 2018.
3. Marianne Goodland, "BLM delays lease-sale of land for drilling oil and gas near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve," The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 10, 2018.
2. Zach Fitzner, "The controversy over drilling for oil in the Sangre de Cristos," Earth.com, June 27, 2018.
3. Marianne Goodland, "BLM delays lease-sale of land for drilling oil and gas near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve," The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 10, 2018.
 |
| NATO |
STOLTENBERG IS READY FOR TRUMP: “The
message of this summit is that NATO is delivering and NATO is united. We are
responding to a more challenging and unpredictable security environment, but
we’re doing that by standing together, North America and Europe,” the
alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, told ZDF in an interview that aired late Monday. But will
that still be true come Thursday?
But what makes Stoltenberg so sure the
summit won’t end in a disaster, like the G7 meeting did a few weeks
ago? “We prepared the summit carefully,” said Stoltenberg. Reading between
the lines: There’ll be no opportunity for Trump to publicly name, shame or
insult allies. Stoltenberg’s a structural optimist (or a master in
auto-hypnosis) — and the strategy is to bring Trump around to the idea that
it’s not just about the money, and that NATO is totally fine with Trump seeing
Putin, that it’s actually a very good thing, and that it wants Germany to pay
more, too.
NATO has some goodies ready for Trump: “I
expect and am confident that at the summit we will make many important
decisions, on strengthening the readiness of our forces, on stepping up the
fight against terrorism, on a new training mission, also on modernizing our
command structure, with a new command in Norfolk in America but also in Ulm in
Germany,” Stoltenberg said. “So I’m confident that we can demonstrate that NATO
is delivering, that NATO, despite disagreements among many nations on trade and
climate, when it comes to security and defense, we do more together and
strengthen the bond between Europe and North America.” [POLITICO Brussels Playbook, July 10, 2018]
⛽ Boyne Capital agreed to
acquire A.S.A.P.
Industries Manufacturing, a Houma, La.-based maker of
high-pressure flow control products to the North American oil and gas
industry. www.boynecapital.com [Axios Pro Rata, July 11, 2018]
• CVC Capital Partners and Germany's Messer will pay $3.3
billion to acquire a majority of Linde's
North American gasses assets and select South American assets, which are being
divested in order to enable Linde's (DE: LIN1) planned $79 billion merger with
Praxair (NYSE: PX). [Axios Pro Rata, July 16, 2018]
• Goodwall, a Swiss network for connecting U.S.
students with jobs and educational opportunities, raised $10.8 million in
Series A funding. Ranstad
Innovation Fund led, and was joined by Manixer, Zurich
Cantonal Bank and Verve Capital Partners. http://axios.link/cRBj [Axios Pro Rata, July 13, 2018]
• Pintec Technology, a Chinese online platform that
connects businesses with financial services companies, filed for a $70 million
IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq (PT) with Goldman Sachs (Asia) as lead
underwriter. Shareholders include Ventech China and Xiaomi Ventures. [Axios Pro Rata, July 17, 2018]
• BC Partners has agreed to acquire Navex Global, a Lake Oswego,
Ore.-based provider of governance, risk management and compliance software.
Seller Vista Equity Partners will
retain a minority equity stake. www.navexglobal.com [Axios
Pro Rata, July 18, 2018]
• Even.com, an Oakland-based mobile budgeting app,
raised $40 million in Series B funding. Khosla Ventures led, and was joined by Valar
Ventures, Allen & Co., Harrison Metal, SV Angel and SVB. http://axios.link/AZDh [Axios Pro Rata, July 20, 2018]
 |
| INFRASTRUCTURE |
 |
| HIDDEN IN THE ATTIC |
Horse
Island at Sackets Harbor, New York—was the site of an amphibious assault in
which British troops overwhelmed a few hundred Albany Volunteers. But that was
only the first phase of a larger battle that spread to the New York
shoreline—the first chapter in the story of the Battle of Sackets Harbor.
As you
may recall, British forces under Sir George Prevost, Canada’s governor general,
attacked the U.S. naval base at Sackets Harbor in the predawn hours of May 29,
1813—payback for the American raid on York earlier that year. However, American
General Jacob Brown anticipated such an attack, and had months to plan. Horse
Island—the land you and I saved this year—offered the only place for British
infantry to land, but it was connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway of
rocks and sand. Brown planned to concede Horse Island if necessary and prepare
to defeat the British on the New York shores of Lake Ontario.
As
expected, the British came ashore on Horse Island and, after defeating a small
force of Albany Volunteers, chased the Americans across the causeway. But once
across, they received an unsettling welcome: American artillery crashing down
among their ranks. After driving off another band of New Yorkers, Prevost’s
forces assaulted the town, only to run headlong into well-entrenched U.S.
Regulars. Seeing that his ultimate objective—destruction of the naval base at
Sackets Harbor—could not be achieved, Prevost ordered his troops back to their
boats. [Campaign 1776, Sept 2. 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.
Any commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement. I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.
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