Joint Democratic Effort Seeks Censure of Grump

Photographer Fired After Pictures Show Energy Secretary Embracing Coal Magnate

Jan 18, 2018

Back in the United States, a former photographer with the Department of Energy is seeking whistleblower protection, saying he was fired for documenting collusion between the Trump administration and a coal company executive. Simon Edelman says he was fired after he leaked photographs of a March 29 meeting between Energy Secretary Rick Perry and coal magnate Robert Murray, showing the two embracing at a meeting at the Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. Murray has said he played no role in drafting a Department of Energy rule subsidizing coal and nuclear power plants. But a photo clearly shows a letter drafted by Murray and addressed to Energy Secretary Rick Perry touting an “action plan.”

U.N. Agency for Palestinians Appeals for Funds as US Slashes Contributions

Jan 18, 2018

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees made an urgent appeal for funds Wednesday, after the Trump administration canceled $65 million in annual contributions to the agency, known as UNRWA. In Gaza, residents say they could soon starve unless international donors step up to fill the funding gap left by President Trump.

Fathiya Abed al-Jawad: “We will be lost. It will be a catastrophe. People will be stealing from each other. We will live in a catastrophe. We will suffer to provide food and wheat. People will kill each other.”

Naim Hamad: “What should I do? Should I go sell one of my kids or sell my kidney? What should I do? Should I go and steal or work as a spy? I need cooking oil, yogurt, eggs and bread.”

Democrats Prepare Bill to Censure Trump over “Shithole” Comments

Jan 18, 2018

On Capitol Hill, Democrats are preparing a bill that would formally censure Donald Trump over racist comments in which the president reportedly called African nations, El Salvador and Haiti “shithole countries.” The effort is being led by New York Congressmember Jerrold Nadler and Representative Cedric Richmond, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. It comes as several Democratic lawmakers have announced they will skip the State of the Union address on January 30 over Trump’s racist remarks. Among them are Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Frederica Wilson of Florida, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Maxine Waters of California and John Lewis of Georgia.

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Compares Trump to Joseph Stalin

Jan 18, 2018

On Capitol Hill, Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake warned yesterday that President Trump’s attacks on the media were threatening American democracy. Speaking from the Senate floor Wednesday, Flake blasted Trump’s declaration in 2017 that the U.S. media are the “enemy of the people”.

Sen. Jeff Flake: “Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies. It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase ‘enemy of the people’ that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of, quote, ‘annihilating such individuals,’ unquote, who disagreed with the supreme leader. This alone should be the source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the president’s party, for they are shameful, repulsive statements.”

Immigrant Rights Group Says Border Guards Destroy Humanitarian Aid

Jan 18, 2018

The migrant support group No More Deaths says U.S. Border Patrol agents routinely vandalize or confiscate humanitarian aid left by activists near the U.S. border with Mexico, condemning border crossers to die of exposure or dehydration in the harsh Sonoran Desert. In a report released Wednesday, the group found that between 2012 and 2016, Border Patrol agents emptied nearly 4,000 gallons of water left for migrants in the desert, while confiscating food, emergency medical blankets and other aid. No More Deaths also says Border Patrol agents frequently target the group’s volunteer activists for harassment.

Bold Leadership for Clean Renewable Energy in Massachusetts

https://issuu.com/bobmassie2018/docs/bobmassieforgovernor_energyplan/4

…(read more).

Trump Biographer on the President’s Cognitive Decline & Whether He Will Be Impeached

Schiff: White House ‘gag order’ prevented Bannon from answering questions

How Trump’s Deregulatory Push Is Harming Workers, Muzzling EPA Scientists and Unleashing Pollution