Morning News Clips

NYT and Trump Meet

In a meeting between Trump and NYT Publisher with the NYT Editorial Page Editor in attendance, they discussed “the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News quip by Trump has morphed into phrase, “Enemy of the People.”

D.J. Trump: “Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, “Enemy of the People. Sad!”

A.G. Sulzberger: “I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous.

I told him that although the phrase ‘fake news’ is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists ‘the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence.”

Throughout their conversation Sulzberger made clear that if the president had qualms with the coverage of his administration, he was “free to tell the world.” Sulzberger also implored Trump to reconsider his attacks on journalism, which Sulzberger called “dangerous and harmful to our country.”

DeVos Puts the Burden of Proof on Defrauded Students

If you attended a school that misled you or engaged in misconduct, there’s a government program called Borrower Defense to Repayment that helps get relief from your federal student loans. The rules that explain this program were introduced in 2016, after a number of high-profile cases involving some for-profit colleges.

But critics and the administration have said those regulations were too broad — and allowed too many students to apply for relief.

“Basically, any students could raise their hand and qualify for free money,” says Mary Clare Amselem, a policy analyst from the conservative Heritage Foundation. When colleges misbehave and students get those loans forgiven, she explains, taxpayers are on the hook for the bill.

“Shrinking the budget that goes towards Borrower Defense is definitely a good thing for American taxpayers.”

The biggest change in DeVos’ rewrite of the rules: Students who want their debt forgiven will have to show that schools had the intent to harm them, with misleading advertising, a reckless disregard for the truth or financial harm.

Student loan default is not of the same magnitude as the banking and investment firm fraudulent default in 2008 which placed the economy and Main Street in danger. The government moved quickly to fix Wall Street and its malfeasant actions. This was a forgotten blip in our economic history and so easily forgotten by Heritage an other organizations promoting forced responsibility upon students who are conned into signing their life away.

Student loans has reached $1.5 trillion with 1 of 4 students in default or delinquent. Supported by Joe Biden, Debbie Stabenow as well as other well meaning politicians; instead of creating an opportunity to become a successful part of the economy, student loans have indentured them to a life time of payments, a circumstance from which many other citizens have escaped from through bankruptcy. Student loans should have the same relief as what President Trump experienced and received multiple times going bankrupt as well as Wall Street ivestment firms and banks at that time. Why destroy the country’s future taxpayers?

“Mary Janes”

On Halloween, there was always someone handing out Mary Janes which could pull the fillings out of your teeth.

The NECCO plant in Revere, Massachusetts, was shut suddenly Tuesday by its owner, Round Hill Investments LLC. The investment company, owned by billionaire C. Dean Metropolous, bought NECCO out of bankruptcy in May for $17.3 million and then sold it to another company.

Operating since 1847 under various names, the New England Confectionery Company is the oldest continuously running candy company in America. At risk besides Mary Janes are NECCO’s Sweethearts, NECCO Wafers, Clark Bars and Mighty Malts.

A bit of history disappears.

Flint Water Crisis

You would think by now Republicans and Governor Rick Snyder would have resolved the Flint Water Crisis and re-piped the city. Yes, it costs money; but, this occurred under a state appointed Emergency Manager in control of the city with more authority than elected officials.

Michigan is #3 in the nation in giving subsidies to corporations. HT: The Real News

Secret in-flight monitoring of U.S. passengers for years

It used to be fun to fly to different parts of the globe on business. It has gotten to be more of a hassle to even fly within the US.

“Federal air marshals have for years been quietly monitoring small numbers of U.S. air passengers and reporting on in-flight behavior considered suspicious. Even if those individuals have no known terrorism links, the Transportation Security Administration still monitored their activity as reported recently.

Under a sensitive, previously undisclosed 2010 program called ‘Quiet Skies,’ the TSA has tasked marshals to identify passengers who raise flags because of travel histories or other factors and conduct secret observations of their actions — including behavior as common as sweating heavily or using the restroom repeatedly — as they fly between U.S. destinations.”

When Black Nurses Were Relegated to Care for German POWs

“On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces. The act was long overdue, particularly for African American nurses, who had just served in World War II.

Though the United States had been at war against Hitler’s racist regime, Jim Crow segregation permeated American culture and the entire military—including the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Black nurses who served in the war found themselves in one of two places— segregated bases with black soldiers or German prisoner of war camps.

At the segregated bases, black nurses served in all-black units, lived in “colored” barracks, worked in “colored” hospitals, ate in separate dining areas, and socialized in segregated spaces on base. Along with the separate facilities, black nurses endured racist treatment from local white residents in town, fellow white army officers, and even from German prisoners of war.” History Stories

3D Bullet-Spewing-Weapon?

My terminology takes in everything which can be imagined with regard to weapons. No arguments to be had. The Trump Administration settled a lawsuit with “Defense Distributed” allowing anyone with access to a 3D printer to be able to manufacture a weapon using their plans.

“The decision means that people who can’t pass a standard background check ‘terrorists, convicted felons, and domestic abusers’ will be able to print out a gun without a serial number, Chipman wrote at at Giffords, The Courage to Fight blog. ‘This could have severe repercussions a decade from now if we allow weapons of this kind to multiply.’” As Giffords’ Senior Policy Advisor stated, “the ability to print weapons without serial numbers will be an even greater threat to safety.”