Open Mike 27/04/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 27th, 2017 - 16 comments
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16 comments on “Open Mike 27/04/2017 ”

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  1. Morrissey 1
    27 April 2017 at 10:21 am

    Members of Congress Demand Trump Provide Legal Justification for Syria Attack
    by ALEX EMMONS, The Intercept, April 26, 2017

    NEARLY THREE WEEKS AFTER ordering a cruise missile attack against one of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s airfields, Donald Trump has yet to explain how that was legal without congressional authorization.

    Two Democratic members of Congress are demanding that Trump offer some sort of legal justification beyond off-the-cuff remarks from administration officials.

    Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Rep. Adam Schiff of California sent a stern letter to the White House on Tuesday, warning that Trump could be setting a dangerous precedent for conducting pre-emptive strikes and risking war with major powers, while cutting Congress out of the picture.

    Two days after the missile strike, Trump sent Congress a notice that he had ordered it and that he had the “constitutional authority” to do so.

    Kaine and Schiff wrote: “These assertions of authority do not provide Congress with the information it needs to exercise our constitutional responsibilities. Nor do they provide comfort to a public that fears deeper involvement in a horrific civil war at a time when the U.S. troop presence in the region is already increasing. The legal justification for an attack on the Syrian government is not an afterthought, but rather a first order consideration, and something that is vital for the American people to understand at the outset.”

    The authors also expressed concern that the Trump administration might take pre-emptive strikes against North Korea without consulting Congress.

    “While the President has the authority to use force to defend our service members and allies from an imminent threat, a preemptive strikes could easily spiral into a full-fledged war with a nuclear armed adversary,” Kaine and Schiff wrote. “It is precisely because the decision to go to war is such a momentous one for any nation that the Constitution provides Congress alone with the power to declare war.”

    Several administration officials have defended the Syria attack by saying that it is in U.S. interests to deter future chemical weapons strikes. But that is not the same thing as saying the attack was conducted in self-defense or in response to an imminent threat, which would at least resemble past presidents’ justifications for not consulting Congress.

    Asked why Trump did not seek congressional authorization, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that “when it’s in the national interest of the country the president has the full authority to act.”

    But that explanation did not satisfy a number of legal scholars, who argued that Trump’s strikes were illegal without authorization. …

    Read more…
    https://theintercept.com/2017/04/25/members-of-congress-demand-trump-provide-legal-justification-for-syria-attack/

    • Johan 1.1
      27 April 2017 at 12:21 pm

      To Morrissey,
      Asked why Trump did not seek congressional authorization, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that “when it’s in the national interest of the country the president has the full authority to act.”

      Spicer is an idiot for making a comment like that. Richard Nixon could have used the same defense, before having to leave the White House by the back door.

  2. joe90 2
    27 April 2017 at 10:25 am

    Who knew,

    NEW YORK — An expanded lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Fox News Channel of racial discrimination “that appears more akin to Plantation-style management than a modern-day work environment.”

    The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court, adds eight former and current Fox employees to a case involving three former Fox workers and their accusations against a since-fired Fox financial executive. It also expands the case to include Dianne Brandi, Fox’s chief counsel

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fox-news-class-action-lawsuit-racial-discrimination/?

  3. Ad 3
    27 April 2017 at 11:38 am

    The Our Fresh Water report is now on line.
    Finally the Ministry for the Environment does something useful.

    Here’s the 10 page exec summary of the “Our Fresh Water” report:

    http://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/our-fresh-water-2017-executive-summary.pdf

    There’s a fairly long exposition in the NZHerald about it, and it will get coverage for the next couple of days.

    Let’s see what if anything the combined opposition can do with it.

  4. adam 4
    27 April 2017 at 12:05 pm

    South park always good for a laugh. I know this is old, but we all need reminding what caused the Global meltdown. It is also prudent to remember nothing has changed. I wonder how long it will take for student loans system (which have now been getting the same treatment as Mortgages did) take to fall over?

    • gsays 4.1
      27 April 2017 at 4:01 pm

      Cheers Adam,
      I have long maintained south park was some of the best satire and comment on the US going.

      One of my favourites is the medicinal fried chicken episode.

  5. greywarshark 5
    27 April 2017 at 12:27 pm

    Booklovers have you noticed how many books are for sale? Less people reading, or have time to read perhaps, more electronic gadgets which are great for travellers.
    Books are gems and usually labours of love.

    If you are in Auckland and I think in northern part there are some going begging.
    Good to sell to raise money for charity on site and on Trademe as a project for a group with a garage for storage. Get people to buy some for Christmas, birthday presents where they know the interests of the recipient.

    40 banana boxes full for $1 reserve to be picked up by Sunday. (Says most are non-fiction, some library withdrawn.) Sure to be something to interest. The non-fictions will mostly go over time. There is one bid so far. Reember that books are heavy though – those banana boxes might weigh 20-30 kg.
    http://www.trademe.co.nz/books/bulk/auction-1311263481.htm nt.

    • gsays 5.1
      27 April 2017 at 4:05 pm

      Hi grey, I have been I overcoming my desire to accumulate books. Add vinyl and CDs to that too.

      Partly they are superseded by digital versions, also life is easier with less ‘stuff’ and the emotions attached to them.

      • greywarshark 5.1.1
        27 April 2017 at 6:35 pm

        Sorry that the emotions are a bit heavy for you. We do run on them but they can be a bit much at times. But books, vinyl and CDs DVDs youtube can act to change and rest your tired mind and a change is as good as a rest. Substitute a different emotional response and your mind gets a chance to settle. I must get rid of a lot of my stuff over the next year though.

        Something I enjoy on youtube is the Ode to Joy that was performed by people in Sabadel, in Spain, such a good job they made of doing it and filming it. If you want to look go for Little girl and ode to joy and you’ll get it.

        • gsays 5.1.1.1
          27 April 2017 at 10:58 pm

          Cheers, it’s not so much emotional burden, more that remembering something takes you out of now.

          Will dial up the Sabadael clip.
          I recall a utube flash mob, including string instruments, doing a beautiful piece, filmed outside a bank in Spain.

  6. joe90 6
    27 April 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Vile and deluded.

    ‘Colonisation gave a lot.’

    Far-right leader Marine Le Pen thinks French colonisation of Algeria was a “good” thing.

    https://www.facebook.com/MiddleEastEye/videos/1357319667666751/

  7. Muttonbird 7
    27 April 2017 at 4:34 pm

    We’ve heard these sorts of announcements before from this government. Problem is, the promised spend never happens. It is merely marketing to them, a calculated press release to gain headlines without any intention to follow through, confident no-one in the beleaguered/subservient/partisan media (take your pick) will follow up with the proper analysis.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/329597/government-ups-infrastructure-spend-to-$11bn

    Interesting too they’re leaking this well ahead of the budget (with no indication of what other services will be cut to pay for it) in an attempt to maintain the illusion they are spending on infrastructure as that is an area where they have come under attack. This drip feeding is another marketing tool used to keep their brand relevant.

    Highlights the reactionary nature of this government.

  8. Philj 8
    28 April 2017 at 6:06 am

    I enjoyed Joyce denying on RNZ, that this (proposed) ‘spending boost’ was nothing to do with immigration, it was all about how successful the country was with a growing population. Lol. Counting down to September…