monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

It's a free country, of course, and businesses can do what they want. But instead of feeling chastened, lots of NRA members will simply take their business elsewhere. I'm an NRA member and had no idea discounts were even available. Now, however, I'm exceptionally aware of those companies who not only hold me in contempt but also have no interest in my disposable income.

Passing an assault weapons ban might prevent 170 mass shooting deaths a year in the US, experts who support gun control estimate. Passing a universal background check law could prevent 1,100 gun homicides each year. Raising the age limit for buying firearms could prevent 1,600 homicides and suicides.

These are some of the new estimates in a groundbreaking study of the potential impact of American gun control laws. The nonpartisan analysis, based on a review of existing gun policy research and a survey of the best guesses of both gun-rights and gun-control experts, was conducted by the Rand Corporation, which spent two years and more than $1m on the project.

Notice the tactics at work here:

Passing an assault weapons ban might prevent 170 mass shooting deaths a year in the US, experts who support gun control estimate.

Raising the age limit for buying firearms could prevent 1,600 homicides and suicides.

I was banned for over TWO ENTIRE YEARS!

The main trading partners of the US have reacted angrily after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Canada and the EU said they would bring forward their own countermeasures to the steep new tariffs.

Mexico, China and Brazil have also said they are weighing up retaliatory steps.

Mr Trump tweeted that the US had been "decimated by unfair trade and bad policy". He said steel imports would face a 25% tariff and aluminium 10%.

However, critics argue that the tariffs would fail to protect American jobs and would ultimately put up prices for consumers.

The news sent shares in Asia down on Friday, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 losing more than 2% by mid-morning.

Shares in Japan's car-making giant Toyota were down more than 2% and Nippon Steel stocks down more than 4%.

Toyota said the US decision would "adversely impact automakers, the automotive supplier community and consumers".

President Trump ordered an investigation into the industry last April under a clause of a 1962 law, which grants the White House authority to restrict imports in the face of a national security threat.

The Commerce Department report found that imports were harming the domestic steel and aluminium industries, and could affect the defence industry, the Washington Post reported.

The decision on imposing tariffs rests with the President and does not need Congressional approval.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the tariffs would put thousands of European jobs at risk.

"We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures," he said. "The EU will react firmly and commensurately to defend our interests."

n Canada, the largest supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, trade minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said any tariffs would be "unacceptable".

Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said Canada would take "responsive measures" if restrictions were imposed but did not give details.


Brazil, also a large steel exporter to the US, threatened "multilateral or bilateral" action to protect its interests.

Australia's trade minister Steven Ciobo said the imposition of such tariffs would distort trade "and ultimately... lead to a loss of jobs."

Germany's steel industry federation, WV Stahl, said the US measures violated the rules of the World Trade Organization and would have a major impact on Germany's steel market

The country (China) which produces more than half the world's steel gave no immediate official response but there had already been indications it would consider some sort of retaliation.

Li Xinchuang, vice-secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, said the impact on China would not be big, adding: "Nothing can be done about Trump. We are already numb to him."

Little Chinese steel directly reaches US ports, Reuters news agency notes, because of previous anti-dumping duties, designed to prevent countries from selling their products at prices deemed unfairly low.

But US steel industry executives say Chinese steel is still widely shipped to the US through third countries.

President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser, Liu He, met the Trump administration on Thursday for "frank and constructive" talks, a White House official said.

In South Korea, America's third largest source of steel, shares in steelmaking giant Posco were down more than 3.5%. The benchmark Kospi index was down close to 1.5%.

In China, investors seemed less concerned about the new tariffs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.7%, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had lost 1% by midday trade, dragged down by losses in commodities. Stocks in mining giant BHP Billiton were down more than 1.5%.

Mr Trump pledged to rebuild the US steel and aluminium industries which he said had suffered "disgraceful" treatment from other countries, in particular China, for decades.

"When our country can't make aluminium and steel... you almost don't have much of a country," he said.

"We need great steel makers, great aluminium makers for defence."

Mr Trump's announcement was slightly delayed amid reports of disagreement among his aides.

More than a dozen metals executives, including representatives from US Steel Corp and Arcelor Mittal, stood alongside him as he made the announcement.

During his presidential campaign, Mr Trump said that foreign countries were "dumping vast amounts of steel all over the United States, which essentially is killing our steelworkers and steel companies".

Since taking office he has said cheap imports from China are harming the viability of industry in the US.

The US imports four times more steel than it exports and is reliant on steel from more than 100 nations.

The US Department of Energy says the steel industry is recovering after a slump following the 2008 financial crisis.

But it is an industry significantly weaker than it was at the turn of the millennium. In 2000 the US produced 112m tons of steel - a figure that had fallen to 86.5m tons in 2016.

In 2000, 135,000 people were employed in the industry - a figure that fell to 83,600 in 2016.

critics argue that the tariffs would fail to protect American jobs and would ultimately put up prices for consumers.

(...)
The sources say the possible new indictment — or more than one, if that's how Mueller's office decides to proceed — would delve into the details of, and the people behind, the Russian intelligence operation that used hackers to penetrate computer networks and steal emails of both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The release of embarrassing Democratic emails through WikiLeaks became a prominent feature in the 2016 presidential election, cited at least 145 times by Republican candidate Donald Trump in the final month of the campaign. At one point he publicly urged "Russia" to find and release emails Trump believed were missing from Democrat Hillary Clinton's private server.
(...)
On Wednesday, NBC News reported that Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe.

Oh don't worry about us, we're not coming anymore.

Thank God we have Trump in office

Your concern for America is truly touching.

The FBI analyzed 160 cases of active shooters over the period from 2000-2013, and not one was stopped by a concealed carry permit holder who was not active duty military, a security guard, or a police officer. 21 were stopped by unarmed civilians.

Do I really have to explain to you the sarcasm in my use of "riff raff?"

Von Spakovsky is a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, and, like Kobach, has been a leader of the campaign to exaggerate the threat of voter fraud. Most recently, von Spakovsky served on Trump’s “election integrity” commission, which was shut down in January due to mounting legal troubles. Kobach was its vice chair and de facto leader.

Before being named to the commission, von Spakovsky sent an email that was forwarded to Attorney General Jeff Sessions decrying the move to put Democrats and even “mainstream Republican officials and/or academics” on the commission. Doing so, von Spakovsky wrote, would “guarantee” the panel’s “abject failure.”

Von Spakovsky made a name for himself serving in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department, where he overrode career officials in green-lighting Georgia’s voter ID law and a Texas redistricting plan.

"Our leverage in elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down"

A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics, NPR has learned.

Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election.