monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

I don’t think you have it right.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will consider allowing the bee-killing pesticide thiamethoxam to be sprayed on the most widely grown crops in the U.S. The application, if approved, would allow the highly toxic pesticide to be sprayed directly on 165 million acres of wheat, barley, corn, sorghum, alfalfa, rice and potato.

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Even Trump haters acknowledge that his unyielding stance against continued payoffs (started by Clinton and continued through Obama) and talk just as belligerent as Kim’s, along with working closely with SK and China to set this table was the driving force behind Kim’s brimming acquiescence.

Why not give Pres. Moon the credit? If the ROK had stuck with Trump's game plan and continued insulting, threatening, and isolating the DPRK do you really think this slight thaw would be happening?

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Aetna will donate $200,000 to support @AMarch4OurLives and the brave #Parkland survivors who are taking action in the face of tragedy:

“OSC is now the second federal agency to find Conway in violation of ethics-related provisions," Shaub wrote. "Enough is enough. She has made clear that she’s not interested in following government ethics rules. It’s time for the President to act.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key aide to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has been granted permission to make extra money moonlighting for private clients whose identities are being kept secret.

A letter approving outside employment contracts for John Konkus — signed by an EPA ethics lawyer in August — was released Monday by Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Brinksmanship worked.

Good cop, bad cop is a tried and true negotiating strategy.

Why do you pretend that you don’t know?

Sorta psychotic.

(I just think it’s ridiculous not to give credit where it’s due.)

Xi, Moon, Abe, and Trump — or more likely Mattis —

You're a nicer person than I am (I admit I haven't watched him in any of these interviews). I'm supremely skeptical of anyone who deems Roger Stone a mentor.

We're lucky to count among our participating members a number of ardent defenders of the Second Amendment. One of them is extremely concerned about the use of handguns in mass shootings, believing that the focus on military-styled weapons with pistol grips totally ignores the significantly higher rate at which handguns are used in these crimes. Another patriot has been adamant in his effort to point out that pistol grips do not make assault weapons any more dangerous or do anything to increase the firepower of those weapons. I propose a simple experiment: let's remove pistol grips from handguns!

America's special envoy to North Korea is set to resign this week, amid speculation he had grown frustrated with Donald Trump‘s tough stance towards Pyongyang.

The departure of South Korean-born Joseph Yun, a strong advocate for engagement with the North, was described as “exceptionally bad news” by experts who predicted his exit could lead to a deterioration of relations.

He said his decision to leave was entirely his own, but his retirement comes at a surprising juncture, after North Korea expressed a willingness for formal diplomatic talks with Washington.

Mr Yun took the post under Barack Obama in 2016 and has quietly retained contact with Pyongyang during a turbulent year of threats, insults and growing tensions after Mr Trump was elected.

The diplomat’s departure leaves the State Department without a point person for North Korean policy at what South Korean officials described as a “critical moment”.

In December 2016, during the final days of US President Barack Obama’s administration and in an act possibly aimed at assessing then President-elect Donald Trump, China snatched a US Navy undersea drone just 50 miles from Subic Bay in the Philippine in an outrageously bold act.

The legal ramifications of this occurring on the high seas and whether UNCLOS applies have yet to be sorted out. What is clear, however, is that China’s seizure of the US drone went unpunished, as Washington offered no response other than a weak diplomatic protest.

Five weeks after taking office, Trump was powerless to react beyond casually opining that China could keep the drone. The likely conclusion that Beijing drew from the incident was that Washington is weak and that with all his bluster about withdrawing from engagement with the world, Trump would likely not pursue the matter further once in power.