Author: Will Truman

In other words, Democrats are now waging war on, and are depicting as treasonous, one of Barack Obama’s central and most steadfastly held foreign policy positions, one that he clung to despite attacks from leading members of both parties as well as the DC National Security Community. That’s not Noam Chomsky drawing that comparison; it’s an Obama appointee.

The destructive bipartisan Foreign Policy Community was furious with Obama for not confronting Russia more, and is now furious with Trump for the same reason (though they certainly loath and fear Trump for other reasons, including the threat they believe he poses to U.S. imperial management through a combination of ineptitude, instability, toxic PR, naked rather than prettified savagery, and ideology; Glasser writes: “‘Everything I’ve worked for for two decades is being destroyed,’ a senior Republican told me”).

From: Democrats Now Demonize the Same Russia Policies that Obama Long Championed

A Mexican congressman went to great lengths — and heights — Wednesday to illustrate why he believes that President Trump’s controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall is “unnecessary” and “totally absurd.”

Braulio Guerra, a congressman from the state of Queretaro, tweeted photos and a video of himself perched atop a 30-foot tall fence that separates the Mexican border city of Tijuana from the U.S.

“I was able to scale it, climb it, and sit myself right here,” Guerra said in the video. “It would be simple for me to jump into the United States, which shows that it is unnecessary and totally absurd to build a wall.”

From: Mexican congressman climbs U.S. border fence to illustrate that Trump’s wall is ‘totally absurd’ – Yahoo

California’s highest court Thursday unanimously ruled the public has a right to see emails and text messages about public affairs on government officials’ personal devices, ending a decade-long legal battle that began in San Jose and sets a statewide precedent for records disclosure.

The ruling closes what government watchdogs said was a loophole that let public officials conduct the people’s business privately on personal phones and computers outside the reach of records requests that until now covered only their government-issued devices and accounts.

“We hold that when a city employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the writings may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act,” the court opinion said. “If public officials could evade the law simply by clicking into a different email account, or communicating through a personal device, sensitive information could routinely evade public scrutiny.”

From: California Supreme Court rules government emails on private devices should be public

For the moment, Canada is right to continue to live up to the Safe Third Country Agreement. In the end, it may not even matter. The real question is, Are we prepared for a refugee crisis?

In Quebec alone, the number of asylum claims rose from 42 in January, 2015, to 452 last month. As the U.S. ramps up Mr. Trump’s deportation orders this year, those numbers could jump again.

What has Ottawa got in place to deal with a flood of humanity probing the world’s longest unprotected border? Do we have the manpower and resources to handle it?

It would be good to know that Canada has a plan. So far, Ottawa has only given us platitudes about our compassionate and welcoming ways. It’s not enough.

From: Globe editorial: Is Canada ready for Donald Trump’s refugee crisis?

European Union legislators have “overwhelmingly” voted to lift the EU parliamentary immunity of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen for tweeting pictures of Isis violence.

Ms Le Pen, a member of the European parliament, is under investigation in France for posting three graphic images of Isis executions on Twitter in 2015, including the beheading of the United States journalist James Foley.

Responding to a request from the French judiciary, the EU MEPs in the legal affairs committee voted to lift her immunity, EU officials said. The committee’s decision will have to be backed by the whole parliament in a second vote, possibly this week.

Ms Le Pen’s immunity shields her from prosecution and lifting it would permit legal action against her. The offence being considered is “publishing violent images,” which under certain circumstances can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£64,000).

From: European Parliament committee votes to lift Marine Le Pen’s immunity from prosecution over Isis images | The Independent

The two stray dogs who became heroes when they foiled a mugging in Queens earlier this month were tragically euthanized by the city after officials decided they were “too aggressive” for adoption.

Animal lover George Petruncio desperately tried to adopt the German shepherd and pit bull after they chased down a teen mugger in Springfield Park on Feb. 7 — but the pooch pal learned the sad news on Friday.

“They never gave the dogs a chance,” Petruncio told The Post. “They did a good thing and this is how you repay them? It’s garbage.”

The dog devotee from Sewell, New Jersey said the death of the dogs was just the latest in the city’s animal blunders.

“You already knocked off Charlotte the groundhog, Lefty the Deer and the bull in Queens,” he said. “I wanted to adopt them. I am really angry.”

Source: Hero dogs who stopped mugging euthanized in city shelter | New York Post

There was much fanfare when witches across the world – and singer Lana Del Rey – pledged to stand together and cast a spell on President Donald Trump on Friday night.

But it seems the self-proclaimed witches gathered outside Trump Tower in New York couldn’t conjure up much of a crowd.

There was only a handful of people gathered outside the president’s Manhattan Midtown penthouse as witches worldwide prepared to cast a magic spell at midnight.

Men and women had pledged to cast spells under the crescent moon in a bid to stop Trump from doing harm while also possibly banishing him from office.

From: Witches gather at midnight to cast spell on Donald Trump