monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

“LAWFARE: ‘Remarkably, in the entire opinion, the panel did not bother even to cite this (the) statute.’ A disgraceful decision!”

The author of the Lawfare post, Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings and the co-founder of the blog, later Friday morning tweeted a link to the post with a note that he backs the court's ruling.

"You decide whether the POTUS is quoting me in context. Here's the article. For the record, I support the decision," he writes.

4. Go write a new executive order
It may not be the president's inclination, but the appeals court panel hinted that a scaled-back executive order that did not bar all citizens from the seven countries might have a better shot at clearing legal hurdles. The court noted that the White House counsel's office already has proposed allowing travel by lawful permanent residents of the U.S.. It said such a change should come from the president. At the same time, the administration could eliminate references to protecting religious minorities, which appeared to single out majority Muslims for the ban.

Google has warned a number of prominent journalists that state-sponsored hackers are attempting to steal their passwords and break into their inboxes, the journalists tell POLITICO.

Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine said he received several messages from Google warning him about an attack from a government-backed hacker starting shortly after the election. He said the most recent warning came two to three weeks ago.

Julia Ioffe, who recently started at The Atlantic and has covered Russia for years, said she got warnings as recently as two weeks ago. (See one of the warnings: http://bit.ly/2kMUyRb)

Some journalists getting the warnings say they suspect the hackers could be Russians looking to find incriminating emails they could leak to embarrass journalists, either by revealing alleged liberal bias or to expose the sausage-making of D.C. journalism.

"The fact that all this started right after the election suggests to me that journalists are the next wave to be targeted by state-sponsored hackers in the way that Democrats were during it," said one journalist who got the warning. "I worry that the outcome is going to be the same: Someone, somewhere, is going to get hacked, and then the contents of their gmail will be weaponized against them — and by extension all media."

An internal report at the Department of Homeland Security pegs the cost of a border wall with Mexico at $21.6 billion, far more than cost estimates put forward by President Donald Trump or congressional leadership, Reuters reported Thursday.

According to Reuters, the estimate came from a group assembled by DHS Secretary John Kelly that the news wire described as a “final step” before moving to request taxpayer funds from Congress to begin on the wall.

In February 2016, Trump claimed the barrier would cost $10 billion to 12 billion. Around the same time, the Washington Post’s fact-checkers, based on discussions with engineers and contractors, estimated the cost at $25 billion, at least.

In late January of this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the wall would cost $12 to 15 billion. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the wall would cost up to $15 billion.

Wow. More than 2000 protesters at Chaffetz's townhall
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hundreds-chaffetz-town-hall

I don't care. But why aren't you checking out your own president?" Noor Ul-Hasan, a Democratic activist, asked Chaffetz, per the Salt Lake Tribune.

(Also, the so-called "petrodollar" isn't something that anyone in America cares about.)

The petrodollar system has proven tremendously beneficial to the U.S. economy. In addition to creating a marketplace for affordable imported goods from countries who need U.S. dollars, there are more specific benefits.

In essence, America receives a double loan out of every global oil transaction.

First, oil consumers are required to purchase oil in U.S. dollars.

Second, the excess profits of the oil-producing nations are then placed into U.S. government debt securities held in Western banks.

The petrodollar system provides at least three immediate benefits to the United States.
◾It increases global demand for U.S. dollars
◾It increases global demand for U.S. debt securities
◾It gives the United States the ability to buy oil with a currency it can print at will

Wow. More than 2000 protesters at Chaffetz's townhall
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hundreds-chaffetz-town-hall

The resistance to corrupt political parties is growing.

Charlie SavageVerified account
‏@charlie_savage
Republican National Committee (aka "Trump Headquarters") raising money by attacking the judiciary after the 9th Circuit ruling on travel ban

Quote:

The resistance to corrupt political parties is growing.

That does seem to be so. The present moment, in the US, is quite encouraging.

...And another thing about anonymous sources, one of the great anonymous sources of our era is Kellyanne Conway. She does it every day, she has been an anonymous source for the last ten months particularly during this campaign when it suits her, and it's time to talk about what we do as journalists, and what propaganda ministers do, and that is what she is, is a propaganda minister...

Report: Ex-Baylor president Ken Starr being eyed for role in Trump administration

By Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News Updated 6:56 am, Friday, February 10, 2017

Former Baylor president Ken Starr could join President Donald Trump’s administration.

Foreign Policy reported that Starr is on a "shortlist" of candidates being vetted for ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

The position, which was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to promote freedom of religion and monitor religious persecution abroad, is expected to take a more prominent role under Trump.

A source told the magazine that the job is Starr’s “if he wants it.”

<snip>

Starr served as Baylor’s president from 2010 to 2016. He was removed from that post after a law firm found within the university a troubling culture that disregarded, ignored and in some cases intimidated victims of on-campus sexual violence.

Starr officially resigned from his position as chancellor on June 1.

A new lawsuit filed by a Baylor graduate in January alleges 31 football players committed 52 acts of rape between 2011 and 2014.

<snip>