State of Opportunity

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News – February 12, 2018

Posted on February 13, 2018 by State of Opportunity

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Olympics! That Is All.

India Embarrasses Us. Good Thing We Don’t Pay Attention to International News.
New York Times – India Wants to Give Half a Billion People Free Health Care

Republicans Are So Fiscally Responsible
U.S. News – After Just a Year, Trump’s Balanced Budget Promises Ring Hollow

2 Trillion, Minimum, Required. Promised $1.5 Trillion. Delivers $200 Billion. Pretty Typical.
Reuters – Trump unveils infrastructure plan; uphill battle awaits in Congress
U.S. News – Trump’s Infrastructure Con
White House – Building a Stronger America: President Donald J. Trump’s American Infrastructure Initiative

Bombs Are More Important Than Food. Have You Ever Tried To Kill A Man With A Box of Raspberries?
Washington Post – Trump wants to overhaul America’s safety net with giant cuts to housing, food stamps and health care
Washington Post – White House budget proposal includes huge deficits, cuts in safety net

Gary Cohn Chips in His Two Cents
White House – Building a Stronger America

Burying the Lead: NSA Codes Secret Messages Into Tweets
New York Times – U.S. Spies, Seeking to Retrieve Cyberweapons, Paid Russians Peddling Trump Secrets

Can’t Tell If Sessions Is Trolling (Sly Reference to Common Law) or Just Racist
CNN – Sessions invokes ‘Anglo-American heritage’ of sheriff’s office

They’re Just Imitating The Folks in D.C.
BBC – Baltimore police guilty of robbing citizens

Considering That the Original Charges Have Been Dismissed and the UN Has Called For His Release…
Reuters – Judge to rule on Assange’s bid to escape legal action in Britain

Drama in South Africa
Washington Post – South Africa’s ANC prepares to push out President Zuma after marathon meeting

Trump’s Brinkmanship Seems to Have Brought the Koreas Together, Somewhat
BBC – Winter Olympics: Kim Jong-un calls for further reconciliation

Trump and Putin Talk About Positive Things. Hopefully This Brings An End To The Syrian Squabbling.
Fox News – Trump, Putin talk Palestinian peace efforts, North Korea’s nukes

News – January 31, 2018

Posted on February 1, 2018 by State of Opportunity

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Private Companies Start Playing Cards to Halt Growing Popularity of Single-Payer Universal Insurance
Reuters – Amazon, Berkshire, JPMorgan partner to cut U.S. healthcare costs
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Republican Family Values on Full Display
The Guardian – Why does it cost $32,093 just to give birth in America?
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Make Illegal Detention and Torture Great Again
Chicago Tribune – Trump orders U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay kept open indefinitely
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Is Gowdy Making A Play For A Higher Position?
Washington Post – Rep. Trey Gowdy announces plans to retire, return to justice system
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Ajit Pai’s FCC Finally Does Something Not Entirely Terrible
Wired – FCC Won’t Redefine ‘Broadband;’ Move Could Have Worsened Digital Divide
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At Least She Had the Integrity to Step Aside
New York Times – Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, C.D.C. Director, Resigns Over Tobacco and Other Investments
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San Francisco Decides to Eliminate Double Standard. A Great Way to Unburden Prison System.
San Francisco Chronicle – SF will wipe thousands of marijuana convictions off the books
SFC - San Fran Pot

The Roosevelts Are Still Around
The Guardian – America’s public lands belong to all of us. We owe it to ourselves to save them
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SpaceX Ditches Old Booster In Preparation For Block 5. Falcon Heavy On Schedule For February 6, Musk Standard Time.
The Verge – Watch SpaceX launch a satellite for Luxembourg on a used Falcon 9 rocket

Trump Train Hits Garbage Truck.
Associated Press – Train carrying GOP lawmakers to policy retreat hits truck

If Nobody Gets Everything They Want, There’s Usually a Solid Compromise at Work
New York Times – Trump’s Stance on Russia Sanctions Angers Both Moscow and Washington
NYT - Trump Russia

UN Hesitantly Challenges Israeli Manifest Destiny
Fox News – UN reviews 206 companies over links to Israeli settlements

Odd. Just Odd. Still, He Won’t Be Missed.
Haaretz – Hamas Official Who Allegedly Shot Himself in the Head Dies of His Wounds in Gaza
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Uganda Mortgages Future Generations. Is It Worth It?
Reuters – Chinese-built expressway divides Uganda as debts mount
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The Beginning of the End for America’s War in Vietnam
Associated Press – AP BOOK EXCERPT: The Tet Offensive’s first 36 hours
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State of the Union – 2018

Posted on January 31, 2018 by State of Opportunity

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Freedom!

C-SPAN – President Trump 2018 State of the Union Address

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders – State of the Union Response
Part 1:

Part 2:

New York Times – FULL SPEECH: 2018 Democratic Response to SOTU

News – January 29, 2018

Posted on January 30, 2018 by State of Opportunity

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The EPA Makes A Surprisingly Good Decision
CNN – The EPA made a surprise move that could protect the world’s largest salmon fishery
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Republicans Fan the Curtain, Just a Tad.
New York Times – House Republicans Vote to Release Secret Memo on Russia Inquiry
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Roaring, hmm? When Else Was That Descriptor Used?
USA Today – Roaring economy gives Trump bragging rights for State of the Union address
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But Will They Be Aired?
Washington Post – Sanders and progressives plan three responses to the State of the Union
WP - Sanders Response

Charges Against Foreign Banks Settled. No Admission of Guilt. How About Domestic Banks?
Washington Post – U.S. regulator, DOJ settle ‘spoofing’ charges against European banks
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Marijuana Hiccups Keep Black Market on Life Support. Is California’s Regulatory Scheme Practical or is Reform Required?
AP – After California pot stockpiles go up in smoke, what’s next?
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Shh, Don’t Tell the Kids That Mommy and Daddy Do Bad Things. Is This How Democracy Works?
Associated Press – Pentagon restricts release of Afghanistan war data
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I Wonder Why Information About Afghanistan Is About To Be Withheld…
Reuters – Trump rejects peace talks with Taliban in departure from Afghan strategy
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Liberal Hypocrisy on Full Display
Real Clear Politics – Maher Defends Jerusalem Decision: When You Win Wars You Take Land, Palestine A “Coiled Snake”
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Open Discussion About Our Fingers in Ukrainian Pie
Bloomberg – How Ukraine’s President Fooled Joe Biden
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They’ve Been in There for a While
BBC – Vice President Joe Biden’s son joins Ukraine gas company
BBC - Biden Ukraine

Competition in the Middle East and an Anchor for Saudi Arabia’s Planned City
CNN – Jeddah Tower: What does the world’s next tallest skyscraper look like now?
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But Does He Own Boardwalk or Park Place?
Forbes – Jeff Bezos Gains $2.8 Billion After Amazon Go’s Debut, Reaches Highest Net Worth Ever
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Nationalizing Is the National Procurement of Something Privately Owned. A 5G Network Doesn’t Yet Exist. This Would Be a Public Works Project, Not Nationalization.
Axios – Scoop: Trump team considers nationalizing 5G network
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Ajit Pai Doesn’t Like the Sound of That, Wants to Rely on Those Purposely Holding Back Build-Out
The Verge – FCC chairman Ajit Pai is opposed to a government-run 5G network

I oppose any proposal for the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network. The market, not the government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. https://t.co/viIDB4mb0f pic.twitter.com/hgxRLtwoU4

— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) January 29, 2018

Suffocating Monkeys No Longer in Vogue
New York Times – German Carmakers Criticized for Emissions Research on Monkeys
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News – January 28, 2018

Posted on January 30, 2018 by State of Opportunity

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Democrats Faceplant, Yet Again
Politico – Schumer rejects Trump’s immigration proposal
Fox News – Pelosi: Trump’s Immigration Proposal Is Part of a ‘Campaign to Make America White Again’
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The Clintons Shock Nation with Double Standard
New York Times – Hillary Clinton Chose to Shield a Top Adviser Accused of Harassment in 2008
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Obama Picks New Labels for Himself
Univision News – Obama: “More Moderate-Republican Than Socialist”
The Hill – Obama on his criticism of Israeli settlements: ‘I’m basically a liberal Jew’
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As If Boeing Doesn’t Receive Subsidies
USA Today – Feds decide Delta importing Bombardier jets from Canada won’t hurt Boeing
USAToday - Bombardier.jpg

US Regulator Hits Foreign Banks
Reuters – U.S. CFTC to fine UBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC for spoofing, manipulation: sources
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Oh, Sweet Summer Child, Take a Look at America’s Numbers
Der Spiegel – 50 Percent for 5 Percent: A Look at Germany’s Extremely Unequal Wealth Distribution
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Assange, Now an Ecuadorean Citizen, Asks the UK to Let Him Go
BBC – WikiLeaks’s Julian Assange becomes Ecuadorean citizen
BBC – Julian Assange asks UK court to drop his arrest warrant
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It Would Be the Catholic Church
New York Times – Pope’s Defense of Chilean Bishop in Sex Abuse Scandal Causes Outrage
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Macron Repositions France
New Yorker – At Versailles and Davos, Emmanuel Macron Makes His Move
CNBC – France’s Macron says globalization is going through a major crisis
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Merkel Attempts to Rally EU and Bolster Domestic Support
Deutsche Welle – Germany’s Angela Merkel decries right-wing populism as ‘poison’ at Davos summit
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A Truly Noble Goal
Huffington Post – Australia Plans To Become Top 10 Defence Exporter In A Decade
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Whitewashing History is a Crime Against All People. Without Context, We Are Lost.
Reuters – Israel and Poland clash over proposed Holocaust law
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Here’s Hoping Something Positive Results
Yahoo News – Palestinian official says India’s Modi to visit West Bank

Double Standard: Trump and Haley Spurn Palestinians
Reuters – Trump threatens to pull aid to Palestinians if they don’t pursue peace
Reuters – U.S. will not chase Palestinians lacking will to seek peace: Haley
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Russia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey? What a Pitch!
Time – ‘America First’ Is a Hard Sell on Rex Tillerson’s Europe Tour
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The Europeans Are Already Pretty Dependent on Russia
Reuters – U.S. says planned Russian pipeline would threaten European energy security
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Halfway Around the World, An Iranian Tanker Sinks. Results Are What One Would Imagine.
Reuters – How the Sanchi’s oil could spread
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Fifteen Years of Occupation? Something Tells Me We’re Just Getting Warmed Up.
BBC – Kabul attack: Taliban kill 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital
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Turkey’s Offensive Continues, Ironic Operation Name Intact, and Washington Steps Back. What’s the Endgame Here?
Al Jazeera – Turkey urges US to withdraw from Syria’s Manbij
Reuters – Turkey says U.S. has promised to stop arming YPG, warns Washington on Manbij
Business Insider – Erdogan says Turkey will clean entire Syrian border of terrorists
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