The Trump White House: Adventures in Communications

[GBL]

From 2011:


When will we stop wasting our money on rebuilding Afghanistan? We must rebuild our country first.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2011 


From 2012:


It is time to get out of Afghanistan. We are building roads and schools for people that hate us. It is not in our national interests.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2012 


84% of US troops wounded & 70% of our brave men & women killed in Afghanistan have all come under Obama. Time to get out of there.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2012 


From 2013:


We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Their government has zero appreciation. Let's get out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2013 


I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan. We should have a speedy withdrawal. Why should we keep wasting our money -- rebuild the U.S.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2013 


Do not allow our very stupid leaders to sign a deal that keeps us in Afghanistan through 2024-with all costs by U.S.A. MAKE AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2013

What a joke

[mbw]

They sat him down and had the talk.

[Hicks]

Heroin is a helluva drug. 

[kellerb]

They sat him down and had the talk.

The "We have always been at War with Eastasia" talk?

They definitely haven't taken him to Area 51 and given him the "Aliens are real, look, here are some bodies" talk.
He would have tweeted everyone by now.

[PIE-GUY]

They sat him down and had the talk.

The thing is, he's adding 4,000 troops. A drop in the bucket. The "address to the nation" was just staged to make him look presidential. He is not fundamentally changing the Obama-era strategy at all.

[sls.stormyrider]

I hate to sound like I'm agreeing with him on something but,
even though I'm against escalation of almost any conflict, including this one, I never felt comfortable with the public timetables for troop withdrawal when there is no signed agreement / armistice.

of course, one of his motives, for everything he does, is to put down Obama

what shouldn't be lost in the noise is the continued anti - science, anti-environment (and therefore anti-human health) moves by these assholes

Interior Dept. halts study into Appalachian mining technique's likely health hazards

CNN)The Trump administration has halted a study of the health effects of a common mining technique in Appalachia, which is believed to deposit waste containing toxic minerals in ground waters.

A letter from the Interior Department directed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to "cease all work" on a study of the potential health risks of mountaintop removal mining for people living near surface coal mine sites in central Appalachia. The Interior Department acknowledged in a statement that it had "put on hold" $1 million in funding for the two-year project as part of a review of its grants, which is focused on "responsibly using taxpayer dollars."
"The Trump Administration is dedicated to responsibly using taxpayer dollars and that includes the billions of dollars in grants that are doled out every year by the Department of the Interior," the statement said.
Still, the National Academies -- a nongovernmental institution that researches and advises the government on science and technology -- plans to move forward with part of the research, and will hold previously scheduled public meetings this week in Kentucky, the Academies said in a statement.
Political reaction was swift to the Trump administration's decision to suspend the study of "the potential relationship between increased health risks and living in proximity to sites that have been or are being mined or reclaimed for surface coal deposits," which began last year and was expected to take two years to complete.
The battle over science in the Trump administration
The battle over science in the Trump administration
"Mountaintop removal mining has been shown to cause lung cancer, heart disease, and other medical problems," Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the ranking democrat on the House Committee of Natural Resources, said in a statement.
"Clearly this administration and the Republican Party are trying to stop the National Academy of Sciences from uncovering exactly how harmful this practice is," Grijalva said.
"It's infuriating that Trump would halt this study on the health effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, research that people in Appalachia have been demanding for years," said Bill Price, Senior Appalachia Organizing Representative for environmental advocacy group Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign.
A growing controversy
Scientists estimate that mountaintop removal mining, a form of surface mining, has occurred on at least 500 Appalachian mountaintops. It became popular in the late 1960s as a way of harvesting coal deposits too thin to work from a coal mine.
In this form of mining, the land is first cleared of forests and vegetation, then explosives are used to break up the first layer of rock into smaller pieces known as "spoil."
A 2010 Government Accountability Office report, apparently the most recent available on the subject, showed that in 2008, West Virginia produced 69 million tons of coal from surface mining. Kentucky produced 51 million tons, while Virginia and Tennessee followed with 9 million and 2 million, respectively.
That soil and rock mixture is supposed to be returned to the land after mining is complete, but often is placed as fill in nearby valleys, which can also block headwaters of streams. In addition, when the mined coal is cleaned, a "slurry" of toxic hard metals such as lead, arsenic, manganese, sodium, and sulfate is produced that makes its way into local streams and ground wells. It's that toxic mixture that is believed to be linked to various health problems in the local Appalachian communities.
One study linked mountaintop mining to increased lung and kidney disease rates, as well as elevated death rates in surrounding communities. Another found an increase in birth defects.
"Stopping this study is a ploy to stop science in its tracks and keep the public in the dark about health risks as a favor to the mining industry, pure and simple," Grijalva said. "Every time some reckless industry hurts working people, this administration is there to provide political cover."
The National Academies statement said that the group's hope is that the Trump administration will resume the study.
"The National Academies believes this is an important study and we stand ready to resume it as soon as the Department of the Interior review is completed," the statement said. "We are grateful to our committee members for their dedication to carrying forward with this study."

[mbw]

They sat him down and had the talk.

The "We have always been at War with Eastasia" talk?

something like that....

[gah]

It's goddamn wack-a-mole. 2 weeks ago, we're playing nuclera chicken with North Korea, last week, we're boiling over racial tensions and his overt racism, this week, Afghanistan. It's all distractions, meanwhile, underneath it all, they're slowly chipping away at things, as slslbs points out, that we won't see the consequences of for years, and also won't in the moment, flip out about. It's a fucking disaster.

'Murica!

[ph92]

Heroin is a helluva drug. 

True. But we're not at war with China and India, but their fentnyl is everywhere.

What happened to good ol' locally sourced meth? Only sourced from the finest ingredients found in the states, keeping our citizens employed and productive (on nothing in particular).

[Hicks]

Heroin is a helluva drug. 

True. But we're not at war with China and India, but their fentnyl is everywhere.

Because we don't need to be, those countries rely on friendly trade relations with the US for their economic viability.

The Taliban was a bit less hospitable to not only the US, but also to opium and heroin production. 

[runawayjimbo]

The thing is, he's adding 4,000 troops. A drop in the bucket.

Well that's a 50% increase from current levels. Hardly a drop in the bucket.

He is not fundamentally changing the Obama-era strategy at all.

And that's a good thing?!?

nuclera chicken

Nuclera Chicken was the name of my prog band in high school.

[VDB]

"We've ended the war on beautiful, clean coal."

[gah]

yesterdays rally = chugging along of the shit show train

choo choo...

[ph92]

Heroin is a helluva drug. 

True. But we're not at war with China and India, but their fentnyl is everywhere.

Because we don't need to be, those countries rely on friendly trade relations with the US for their economic viability.

The Taliban was a bit less hospitable to not only the US, but also to opium and heroin production. 

I'm not well versed but my understanding is that they were using the opium trade to raise money?

[Hicks]

Heroin is a helluva drug. 

True. But we're not at war with China and India, but their fentnyl is everywhere.

Because we don't need to be, those countries rely on friendly trade relations with the US for their economic viability.

The Taliban was a bit less hospitable to not only the US, but also to opium and heroin production. 

I'm not well versed but my understanding is that they were using the opium trade to raise money?

The Taliban shut down all opium cultivation, as well as they could at least, because it's forbidden by Islamic law.

I'm sure you already know, but the big driver of the heroin epidemic is the feds cracking down on oxycontin. However, Afghanistan opening shop back up is definitely another piece of the puzzle. And since we are at "war" with them the CIA is once again right in the middle of all the action.