The White House is moving it’s position away from demanding funding from Congress for a wall on the Mexico border in the face of a possible government shutdown.
Although analysists say a shutdown will likely be avoided because of Trump’s withdrawal from the demand, Trump tweeted for people to not to listen to “the fake media” and stated that, “The wall gets built. 100%.”
Info on money — revenues and expenses — at all levels of U.S. government is being made freely available in a new website by former Microsoft CEO and current L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
The website is USAFacts.org.
Ballmer was not satisfied with the information available through web search. He said the project involved organization and accessible presentation of existing information more than anything else.
The website has interesting presentations of the data. Just for one example, it can be seen how mortgage interest deduction, which can be assessed in terms of how well it promotes home ownership, makes its way to the pockets of the various income brackets.
The world’s leading drone manufacturer, DJI, is taking seriously drone pilots who are causing problems by flying near airports.
For example, in China’s Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, drones have caused over 100 planes to make unscheduled landings or returns, affecting over 10,000 passengers.
The bounty DJI is offering up to 1 million yuan for clues that help police crack down on those flying near airports.
North Korea, the only country to test nukes this century (60 tests so far), poses a growing threat to Hawaii, U.S. Pacific Forces Commander Admiral Harry Harris Jr. testified to Congress this week. He advised that the U.S. consider deploying new anti-ballistic missile defense systems to shield Hawaii from any possible attack. He said that current defenses are sufficient to protect today, but the defenses “could be overwhelmed.”
After phone calls with Trudeau and Nieto, the White House said that Trump “Agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries.”
Trump also wrote in a statement, “It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better.”
During the campaign trail and until very recently, Trump made strong statements against NAFTA and in favor of possibly ending the treaty.
At his first official appearance since leaving office, the former U.S. president spoke to University of Chicago students, telling them his future plans involved civic engagement with young people.
She “showed no signs of elation” when the police arrived to rescue her and charge the man, according to authorities.
Some attended information sessions on the practical ins and outs of running for office, motivated by a sense that Trump is antagonistic towards independent research-based science, particularly when it involves climate change.
The group owes around $1.1t of the America’s $3.6t in consumer debt, and consumer debt it getting closer to 20% of GDP.
Where is the debt coming from? A lot comes from rising student and auto loans.
In addition to the economic risk involved in this kind of debt, it also has effects on psychology and behavior: A large portion of Americans reportedly worry about defaulting on loans in the next 12 months, and over 50% of those worriers are millennials. The group, aged 21 to 34 in 2017, are also changing spending habits by doing more searching and more waiting for lower prices before buying smaller items. Analysts are concerned that this trend will be the same when the group, entering the age where people usually buy homes and start families, shop or hold off shopping for large purchases.
According to the White House, the President invited the president over the phone this week, but didn’t give further details about a meeting. The White House also said the two leaders talked about concerns about North Korea on the phone.
Trump is also scheduled to visit the Philippines in November.
The first daughter, invited to participate on the panel of a women’s summit in Berlin received groans and hisses as she stated that her father was a “tremendous champion of enabling women and families.”
Afterward, Ivanka commented, “It’s fine. I’m used to it,” and said that it was a matter of “politics.”