demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalTrump campaign seeks a list of 'climate change victories' to tout on 2020 trail
Their quest comes as the Trump administration considers whether to establish a presidential committee on climate security that would include longtime skeptics of the dangers of climate change. The purpose of that panel would be to scrutinize the most recent national climate assessment, a comprehensive document vetted by 13 government agencies forecasting economic and national security perils in store for a warming Earth.
The two-pronged campaign strategy – both to defend the administration’s approach to climate change while simultaneously casting doubt on the extent of the threat – is intended to address a substantial political divide within the Republican Party over the seriousness of the problem, the role of human activities and what can be done about it.
White House officials have liaised with the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of the campaign seeking a concrete list of accomplishments, according to one source. And campaign officials are encouraging the president to begin racking up visible environmental victories specific to battleground states, such as Michigan and Florida, critical to Trump’s reelection bid and where climate change has increased in importance to voters.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article228724179.html
New book details Trump's topsy-turvy relationship with Congress
But Trump’s notes “had nothing to do with infrastructure,” journalists Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer write in their new book, “The Hill To Die On.”
Instead, Trump had scrawled “Sloppy Steve” atop his index card, followed by “copious notes” criticizing Stephen K. Bannon, his former chief strategist whom he had fired several months earlier.
“As Cohn had detailed his plans to rebuild America’s roads, the president was writing down how he wanted to trash Steve Bannon the next time someone asked him about it,” the authors write, in one of buzzy scenes that pepper the book.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-book-details-trumps-topsy-turvy-relationship-with-congress/2019/04/03/fe0725b0-54a8-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html
https://twitter.com/AshleyRParker/status/1113539883140886528
Kevin Smith Says Veganism Reconciles His Childhood Promise to Love Animals
Famed filmmaker Kevin Smith explains his vegan journey in a moving new video with his daughter Harley Quinn Smith. In the film—produced by animal-rights organization Mercy For Animals—Kevin Smith praised his daughter for inspiring him to go vegan, stating that he was impressed with her tenacity to live her own truth. “It’s an incredible way to live your life, knowing that you aren’t harming any other living beings,” Harley Quinn Smith said about her reasons for going vegan. “We just want everybody to be compassionate and happy and free to live their lives without any suffering or pain.” Kevin Smith explained that he first adopted a plant-based diet as an experiment for six months after surviving a near-fatal heart attack last year. While Kevin Smith admits that he first changed his diet for “selfish” health reasons, he is now choosing to embrace the ethical side of veganism, explaining that he is happy with the compassionate person he has become. “I was the little kid that loved the sh*t out of animals,” Kevin Smith said. “And to be a 48-year-old man who delivered on the promise that that kid probably had in his heart … like that kid would have probably been confused, [and say], ‘We love animals. Why are we eating lamb?’” Harley Quinn Smith said that she never expected that her father would go vegan. “To say that he is a part of the vegan community,” she said, “it still shocks me every time.”
https://vegnews.com/2019/3/kevin-smith-says-veganism-reconciles-his-childhood-promise-to-love-animals
FIREFIGHTER PROPOSAL: This firefighter was in the middle of a training drill when she looked up...
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1113473736177483776
Airbnb launches competition to spend a night at the Louvre
The online hospitality marketplace Airbnb is offering two people the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a night in the company of some of the world's best known artworks at the Louvre Museum in Paris to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the museum's iconic pyramid.
The competition will see one winner and a guest sleep over under the Louvre Pyramid, after "drinks with the 'Mona Lisa'" and a dinner in the company of the famous "Venus de Milo" statue, according to the Airbnb website.
All you need to do to compete for the chance to stay at the Louvre on April 30 is write an 800-character statement on why you are deserving of the special occasion.
The Louvre, France's most famous museum, is home to some of the best known artworks in history, such as Théodore Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa," Eugène Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" and, of course, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."
The Louvre Pyramid, where competition winners will be spending the evening on April 30, was designed the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1989.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/airbnb-launches-competition-spend-night-louvre/story?id=62134000&cid=social_twitter_abcn
Can you even imagine?! It's kind of like the adult version of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Pork industry soon will have more power over meat inspections
Source: WaPo
The Trump administration plans to shift much of the power and responsibility for food safety inspections in hog plants to the pork industry as early as May, cutting the number of federal inspectors by about 40 percent and replacing them with plant employees.
Under the proposed new inspection system, the responsibility for identifying diseased and contaminated pork would be shared with plant employees, whose training would be at the discretion of plant owners. There would be no limits on slaughter-line speeds.
The new pork inspection system would accelerate the federal government’s move toward delegating inspections to the livestock industry. During the Obama administration, poultry plant owners were given more power over safety inspections, although that administration canceled plans to increase line speeds. The Trump administration in September allowed some poultry plants to increase line speeds.
The Trump administration also is working to shift inspection of beef to plant owners. Agriculture Department officials are scheduled next month to discuss the proposed changes with the meat industry.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pork-industry-soon-will-have-more-power-over-meat-inspections/2019/04/03/12921fea-4f30-11e9-8d28-f5149e5a2fda_story.html?utm_term=.ed04af8cac77
Fox News and North Korean State TV are in the race to praise a Dear Leader. Who won?
https://twitter.com/howroute/status/1112902692266041344Comey says Barr 'deserves the benefit of the doubt' in review of Mueller report, but questions obstr
Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that Attorney General William Barr deserves "the benefit of the doubt" when it comes to transparency about the special counsel investigation, but at the same time he questioned Barr's decision on whether President Donald Trump had committed obstruction of justice.
"Bill Barr, our attorney general, deserves the benefit of the doubt," Comey told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"Give him a chance to show us what he feels like he can't show us. I have to imagine that former (FBI Director Robert) Mueller wrote the report with an eye towards it being public some day, so I can't imagine a lot needs to be cut out of it. But let's wait and see. The attorney general deserves that chance."
Comey's comments came in the wake of the conclusion of the special counsel investigation. A major leg of the investigation, according to a brief summary of Mueller's report by Barr, was dedicated to the potential that Trump had obstructed justice.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/politics/james-comey-amanpour-cnntv/index.html
Detroit to host 2020 Democratic presidential debate in July
Source: Detroit Free Press
WASHINGTON — Detroit will play host to the second televised debate among a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates in late July, the Free Press has learned.
The Democratic National Committee told the Free Press on Tuesday that the debate — which could include as many as 20 candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump next year —- will be held over two nights, July 30 and 31, if both nights are deemed necessary as expected.
The lineup of candidates for each night will be determined at random. Most national polls have former Vice President Joe Biden — who hasn't announced that he's running — with an edge over a large field that includes U.S. Sen.Bernie Sanders of Vermont, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas, among many others.
"Detroit embodies the values and character of the Democratic Party," said DNC Chairman Tom Perez. "It's a city of grit and determination, a city that has gotten knocked down, only to get back up stronger. ... Detroit is the perfect place for our party's second debate."
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/04/02/democratic-presidential-candidates-2020-debate-detroit/3341724002/
Did anyone see Hallie Jackson question/interview Hogan Gidley just now?
She shook him hard... lol! The only thing she missed correcting was the total exoneration part regarding the Mueller Report.
https://twitter.com/mrtgr/status/1113085832976531456
https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1113087179973124096
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