Jack Hassard Taught science education for many years. He used to write a blog called “The Art of Teaching Science,” but became so upset about current events that he renamed his blog “Jack Hassard’s Blog.”
In this post, he excoriates Trump’s war on science.
He begins:
Science was under assault last week by an un-educated President and his staff who believe that they can supercede the findings of science when the findings don’t agree with their personal and political views.
When Hurricane Harvey inflicted its wrath on Houston and most of East Texas, I painted an art series of 4 canvases showing how hurricanes harm not only property, but the people who endure the storm. This may be a family or community of friends who are wading through flooded streets to find shelter. I believe that science should be in the service of people. In this case, it was in the service of these people by providing the most up-to-date forecast, and warnings about the storm and its aftermath. When narcissistic politicians intrude into the nature of how science is done, they corrupt the findings, and lend support to the distrust of science and scientists.
Assault on Science
Science has been under assault during the entire period of time Trump has been in office. Scientists in several departments, especially the EPA, and Commerce Dept. have come under dire consequences because of the administration’s anti-science views, and their attempt to oversee and obstruct the process of science.
It’s not the first time. Republicans have had a field day trying to influence the nature of the science that is produced by United States government agencies. Chris Mooney documented this in his book, The Republican War on Science, published 2005, midstream in the George W. Bush administration. In Bush’s assault on science, the principle underpinning of his war was to please political and religious groups.
In Trump’s case, not only has politics and religion played a part, but the most egregious sin committed by Trump is his form of narcissism that is of the loud kind. He brags, he boasts, I’m smart, I’m really smart, he insults, and is obsessed with numbers (see Craig Malkin’s chapter, Pathological Narcissism and Politics in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, edited by Bandy Lee, M.D.). Trump simply can never be wrong or corrected because he’s such an “extremely stable genius.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The first casualty of religion is rationale thought.”
A brief look at charter school growth data provokes a request for a correlation study that examines “charter school student growth %” linked to states where the Christian denominations of Catholics and Southern Baptists are the largest percentage.
Excluding Bill Gates’ colony of Washington for obvious reasons,
the data for 2017-2018 from the National Association of Charter Schools, positioned next to dominant religion in the state, follows. For Tenn., N.C. and Georgia, Southern Baptist is the primary religion. Their charter school student growth rates were among the highest, 23%, 13% and, 9% respectively, which is well above the median. The data showing the specific percent of their populations that are Southern Baptist was not readily available. However, the Catholic rate in various states was. Rhode Island has the highest percentage, 42%, with a charter school growth rate of 9%, New Jersey, 34%, 8%, New York, 31%,10%, New Hampshire, 26%, 12%, Nevada, 25%,15%, Texas, 23%,10% and Maryland 15%, 9%. Again, growth rates in these states were well above the median.
In the 5 states where the dominant religion is not Catholic nor Southern Baptist, only one, Delaware, has a growth rate above the median.
If it’s found that charter schools gain traction based on the religiosity and denomination of the population, it is a concern for separation of church and state.
“The first casualty of religion is rationale thought.”
Where does that quote come from? I’m not seeing it in the linked article.
In any case, it’s a gross exaggeration. There are plenty of religious people who are capable of engaging in rational thought. Fundamentalism is, perhaps, incompatible with rational thought because people are taught that there is one and only one Right Way. But wondering about and even believing in the divine – what is out there beyond us, what happens after death, etc. – is not at all irrational. We can’t prove that there is a god (or a goddess or gods and goddesses), but we also can’t prove there isn’t. In fact, I’d say awe is probably the beginning of both science and religion.
I really like that last line.
Religious belief can have a calming effect. It can reduce fears and sustain hope. As long as it isn’t used as an excuse to enact legislation, doesn’t influence resource allocation, isn’t used to mete out punishment, including denial of equality for women, nor, used to take advantage, the best response is likely silence rather than criticism.
(It’s a shame all of those qualifiers were necessary.)
The poor and desperate have so much more religion, it makes a person wonder …
Betsy DeVos is blessed. She will probably be going to heaven.
If Betsy goes to heaven, I don’t want to go there.
Heavens to Betsy”
If Heaven is Hell
Then hell, I won’t go
Cuz Heaven ain’t swell
If Heaven’s below
Excellent, honest poem.
I have often thought that if we had to follow all the rules in the Bible to make it to Heaven and be able to stay in “paradise”, I’d rather not go.
Has anyone studied the Bible and all of the rules/details spelled out beyond just the Ten Commandments? It is frightening.
Reblogged this on Lloyd Lofthouse and commented:
Even Science must be silenced, because Trump simply can never be wrong or corrected because he’s such an “extremely stable genius.”
Trump’s vendetta about the hurricane forecast would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous to have the president overruling scientists, then forcing the agency to defend his error. He simply cannot ever admit that he was wrong. That is the sign of a deeply insecure person. Very dangerous in a president.
You think Trump’s war on science is bad, wait until the “extremely stable genius” tackles medical care, doctors and nurses, if he hasn’t already started through the proxies he has been pouting in charge of every government agency even without Senate approval.
For instance, three of Trump’s shady friends that live at his Florida Mar-A-Lago Presidential Palace are secretly running the V.A.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/three-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-buddies-are-secretly-running-the-va
Trump does not believe in exercise.
Trump does not believe he needs to live a healthy lifestyle and that includes what he eats and drinks.
Trump is right on this point, Lloyd. He does not need to exercise (although he does play golf). He does not need to eat healthy foods. He should continue to eat lots of McDonalds and fries and ice cream. Too bad he doesn’t smoke.
Let’s add more than tobacco to Trump’s list of bad habits: booze and drugs, too.
I think he needs to get interested I cleaning guns.
Maybe we could enlist Dick Cheney to teach Trump how to clean those firearms once he has them.
I became disillusioned with mainstream religion when GW Bush refused to pay for stem cell research. He was imposing his religious beliefs on our secular, scientific system. Fortunately, lots of states did a “work around” GW’s narrow-minded decision,and we are reaping many health benefits from stem cells and the research that was done to produce them.
“…what many of them want is release from the incessant drumbeat of that infernal syllable: Trump, Trump, Trump.”
I get up, turn on my computer and there it is…the next disaster or hatred that Trump is spewing. I’m tired of reading something hurtful EVERY single day. I keep thinking, “When will it end?” I’m getting worn out.
I wish this country had the fortitude to protest. I’m ready to make signs and I sign petitions throughout the day but I don’t have a million to donate so I don’t get heard.
Carol, even if Trump is dragged out of the White House on his back by his “little” bitty feet, after he loses the next election in 2020 (the only way Trump can win in 2020 is by cheating), he has discovered his own personal attention-grabbing circus through Twitter and his hate rallies that the media cannot resist reporting, and because of the media’s obsession for everything shocking Trump spews like endless vomit, he will never stop haunting the world.
Unless Trump dies (and I have doubts that even his death will stop him) or ends up in prison without internet privileges, he will always find a way to get the media to focus on his never-ending “terrible twos” behavior.
The only way to make Trump go away is if China takes him and locks him in one of their tunnels under the Himalayas and seals the entrance with an entire army division guarding it.
Lloyd Lofthouse: I’m hoping he visits his friend Kim Jong Un and the love affair escalates. Since it is forbidden to have contact with the outside world in N. Korea, it is the perfect place for trump to retire. He wouldn’t be able to use his iPhone.
I’d especially like to see him in one of the detention re-education camps. No food, no healthcare, no outsiders and nobody to talk to since it is unlikely that N. Koreans can speak English.
Since people there are starving, he’d have no women interested in him. [Why is any woman interested in him. Ewwww.]
We are all suffering from Trump fatigue. His voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. After the primary, we need to vote ABT in 2020!
I think science has gone to far. This is just plain creepy. Imagine what will happen in 200 years, assuming mankind hasn’t totally destroyed the planet by then.
Subject: Demo: The magic of AI neural TTS and holograms at Microsoft Inspire 2019
I don’t think humans will totally destroy the planet. We will just wipe out our species including thousands of others. Then, in ten thousand years, the planet will have reinvented itself like it did after the Dinosaurs were gone.
Well, today, the Great Stable Genius announced he was rolling back Obama-era regulations to protect our water supply.
Who needs clean water when you can buy “boxed water” from the DeVos family?
Who needs clean air when filters are available at your local hospital?
Like I said, EVERY DAY there is something horrible that happens. It is unbelievable that such a small mind has so much power to destroy and nobody is doing anything to stop him.
He obviously doesn’t care about the health of people. He eats McDonalds, choc cake, Doritos, french fries and Kentucky fried chicken. His knowledge if severely lacking. “Good genes” isn’t cutting it.
“and nobody is doing anything to stop him”
It isn’t … that … bad … really. There are people trying to stop him through the courts and most of the time they are succeeding.
“Trump, All About Winning, Sees Losses in Court Pile Up”
That is probably why Trump, the Chosen One, is praying to his god, not the real God but the devil, that Ginsberg dies before the 2020 election.
“we found studies estimating the average ‘win rate’ for (previous) administrations in the courts was somewhere around 70% whereas the Trump administration appeared to be losing at least 70% of the time.
https://www.propublica.org/article/president-donald-trump-losses-fred-barbash-washington-post-q-and-a
“Trump scored a victory today — after a week of legal losses”
“The Department of Justice is fighting a multi-front legal war spread across the country, defending President Donald Trump’s creative efforts to get around Congress and the Constitution and his nonstop policy of undoing Obama-era regulations and protecting his businesses and tax returns.
“This week the President has already suffered several big losses and one huge win, and it’s only Wednesday.” …
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/politics/court-rulings-trump-record/index.html
The more unqualified, or ultra-conservative judges that Trump appoints, the less likely his ideas will be overturned.
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List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a comprehensive list of all Article III and Article IV United States federal judges appointed by Donald Trump during his presidency, as well as a partial list of Article I federal judicial appointments, excluding appointments to the District of Columbia judiciary.[1]
As of September 11, 2019, the United States Senate has confirmed 152 Article III judges nominated by President Trump, including 2 Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 43 judges for the United States Courts of Appeals, 105 judges for the United States District Courts, and 2 judges for the United States Court of International Trade.[2] There are currently 35 nominations to Article III courts awaiting Senate action, including 2 for the Courts of Appeals and 33 for the District Courts.[3] There are currently 4 vacancies on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 91 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts, 2 vacancies on the U.S. Court of International Trade,[3] and 13 announced federal judicial vacancies that will occur before the end of Trump’s first term (3 for the Courts of Appeals and 10 for District Courts).[4] Trump has not made any recess appointments to the federal courts.
In terms of Article I courts, as of August 1, 2019, the Senate has confirmed 12 judges nominated by Trump, including 2 for the United States Court of Federal Claims, 4 for the United States Tax Court, 4 for the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, 1 for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and 1 for the United States Court of Military Commission Review. There are currently 6 nominations to Article I courts awaiting Senate action, including 4 for the United States Court of Federal Claims and 2 for the Tax Court. There are currently 9 vacancies on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 2 on the U.S. Tax Court, 0 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, 0 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Services, and 0 on the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review. Trump designated Susan G. Braden and Margaret M. Sweeney as chief judges of the Court of Federal Claims.
In terms of Article IV territorial courts, as of June 12, 2019, Trump has not made any appointments or elevated any judges to the position of chief judge. There is currently 1 nomination to an Article IV court awaiting Senate action.
According to the ABA, there are 103 judicial vacancies that Trump has not filled yet. The GOP and Trump must be having trouble finding that many crooks, minions, and/or frauds to appoint.
https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/governmental_legislative_work/priorities_policy/independence_of_the_judiciary/judicial_vacancies/
You think we have economic disparity now? Wait a few years. Things are going to get really, really crazy.
33 years is the projection, based on trends, for when the richest will own all of the national income
We are on the cusp of delivering technologies that will radically redefine what it is to be human, and these will belong to the wealthy few.
Lloyd: One more example of justice gone bad.
Right-Wing Supreme Court Allows Trump Asylum Ban to Take Effect
LISA NEEDHAM, THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s “third-country” asylum rule to go into effect. The policy bars migrants that have traveled through Mexico to the U.S. from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador from seeking asylum. A lower court recently blocked the rule, but the Trump administration has successfully pressed the Supreme Court to issue an order bypassing the decision and letting the policy take effect anyway.
The Supreme Court ruling is not a done deal, yet.
“After the new policy was announced in July, a federal judge in California blocked its enforcement, ruling that it would violate existing immigration law and was improperly rushed into effect. The Justice Department took the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but also asked the Supreme Court to let the government carry out the restrictions while the case is on appeal.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/supreme-court-allows-enforcement-trump-asylum-limits-n1052751
So, we have to wait and see what happens with the appeal. In the meantime, the US Supreme Court has given Trump the right to be the dictator he dreams of being. Hopefully, the appeal will not end well for Trump.
It’s not science that is the problem.
It’s computer techies who are not either legitimate scientists OR engineers. Many of them don’t even know what real science and engineering ARE.
People like MITs Marvin Minsky and Joi Ito are perfect examples.
Many of these people have no ethical principles to speak of.
They base their decisions completely upon whether they think something is “interesting” or “cool” and don’t care what the consequences are of their actions or where/who the funding comes from.
And we can now add MITs president Rafael Reif to the list.
Reif actually signed a letter thanking Epstein for donating money to MIT (after Epsteins conviction).
Reif was also aware that Ito was accepting money from Epstein, but until recently, basically played dumb about the whole thing.
The problem at MIT is not one rotten apple. It’s an institutional problem.
And not just with regard to Epstein donations.
MIT has been taking “morally tainted” money for a very long time.
Yet another MIT Computer (fake) “scientist” to add to the list: Richard Stallman
View at Medium.com
And it’s pretty much crickets from everyone else in the department.
What’s with that department, anyway?
It’s going to be a job to try to put things back together after Trump. Lord knows how much Vlad’s Agent Orange has compromised our national security.
I read that an undercover agent working in Moscow was recalled because of something #45 blurted out to Vlad.
From anti-vaccination moms to evolution and climate change deniers, our society is on track to turn back the tide of the Enligtenment in my lifetime. When I was younger, I never dreamed there would be so many people in the world who have forgotten the terrible price of nationalism and hubris.
Hindu Nationalism threatens the world’s largest democratic experiment, proving that minority rights are as much a part of freedom as majority rule. Brazill smolders in the fires of the dictatorship of Bolsanaro. Putin seizes The Crimea as though he were The Czar in 1750, and China encroaches on its western regions, wiping out indigenous peoples as though it were the United States in the 1800s. We live in times of trial.
The questioning of science is an aspect of all this.
Having a couple of degrees in the History of Science, I find Trump’s bizarre posturing as above )or even in control of) natural law particularly dangerous and galling. Perhaps something more sinister is afoot than a mere anti-science / pro-fossil fuel riff. It seems as if Trump is deliberately facilitating the destruction of the planet to hasten the demise of millions (billions?) of poor people. Increased methane emissions, the destruction of Nixon’s EPA and his desire to buy Greenland show that he clearly accepts and welcomes the inevitability of global warming despite his own disavowal of the science supporting it. Nothing he says means anything since he contradicts his own statements so often (another Kremlin technique to weaken your ability to think independently). This traitorous Russian-backed stooge wants to replace democracy with oligarchy. He is a traitor to the United States of the highest order.
Nah, he is just placating the fossil fuel industry for their donations.
I do trust the NCCIH. It is the alternative section of the National Institutes of Health. They are doing studies on the healing work of Qigong.
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This is a link from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, one of the National Institutes of Health: NCCIH’s Role in the NIH HEAL Initiative
NCCIH is playing a major role in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM) Initiative, a trans-agency effort focused on improving prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction, and enhancing pain management. Launched in April 2018 with funding from Congress, the HEAL Initiative brings new hope for individuals, families, and communities affected by the national opioid public health crisis.
NCCIH is leading or coleading the following NIH HEAL InitiativeSM programs.
Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain to Reduce Opioid Prescribing (PRISM)
Behavioral Research to Improve Medication Assisted Treatment (BRIM)
The NIH Back Pain Research Consortium (NIH BACPAC)
Find information on all NIH HEAL Initiative New Funding Opportunities and Funded Projects.
All NIH funding opportunities related to pain are available on the NIH Pain Consortiumwebsite.
http://nccih.nih.gov/grants/heal?nav=govd
Trump is mentally crazy. “Nobody was here 25 years ago?” Interesting concept. Definitely very accurate.
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President Donald Trump on Thursday celebrated his reversal of clean water regulations.
While speaking to Republicans at a retreat in Baltimore, Trump announced: “Earlier today, my administration formally repealed the horrible, dangerous, anti-everything waters of the United States rule.”
“We have the cleanest water, the cleanest air that we’ve ever had in the history of our country, right now,” Trump said.
The president corrected himself after saying that the media “would get me on that one.”
“Let’s say the history of our country over the last 25 years,” he opined. “I would say they probably had cleaner water, cleaner air because there was nobody here. So I have to be very accurate.”
Child-Man in the Promised Land, Act I, scene i
FRED: One day, Donnie Boy, all this will be yours! Thousands of apartments! No black people! You see, that’s what the “C” stands for up in the corner of the application. “Colored.”
DONNIE: What’s wrong with colored people, Dad?
FRED (smacks the child): Now you gonna contradict me? Question ME? OK. I’m going to explain this, like, once. OK? What’s wrong with colored people? What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that YOU’RE not colored. And it’s ALL ABOUT YOU. The world is whatever YOU decide it’s gonna be. What color is the sky, Donald.
DONNIE: Uh, uh, blue?
FRED (smacks the child): Wrong! It’s green. And you know why it’s green? Because I SAY IT IS, and I am bigger than you. How do I get this through your thick skull? Life is a WAR. Every minute. You win, or the other guy does, and the only way you win is if the other guy loses. So, you are NEVER WRONG, and it doesn’t matter what anybody else does or says or thinks. Someone disagrees with you, you double down. You cheat, you swindle, you needle, you harass them, you threaten ‘em, you drive ‘em crazy until they lose and you win. Got it? So, let me ask you, Donald, how many people are there in the world?
DONNIE: Uh, I dunno. A couple billion?
FRED (smacks the child): Wrong. There is ONE. You. OK, maybe a few more, you and the other people in your family, sort of. Anything else, anybody else, IS JUST CLUTTER. You clear it away. You hear me? You understand? What color is the sky, Donald?
DONNIE: Uh, green?
FRED (smacks the child): Blue!!! You said it was blue a minute ago, so it’s blue. It’s whatever you say it is.
DONNIE: Oh, uh, right.
FRED: Idiot.
Bob,
Good one.
Bob Shepherd: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with this one. Geesh.
[I thought my family was bad. They were decent poor people who never lied. Nobody is ever wrong if you are a Trump.]
& Fred Koch (interesting, same name as Drumpf Sr.) treated his sons the same as Donald. See a connection there?
All still children who lacked a father’s love & approval, so they’re angry 2-year-olds for life, taking it all out on the rest of us, in spades.
When Fred Koch died, he did not leave a will and his four sons ended up in court for a decade fighting to see who would end up with the family business.
David and Charles were more ruthless and ended up paying off the other two, Bill (the youngest) and Fred R (the oldest and still alive), with a few billion each.
David and Charles took the larger pile of wealth and used it to pollute the environment, manipulate, and subvert politics in the United States for decades.
Bill and Fred took their single-digit billions and became art collectors and donated money to museums, et al. In addition, Bill likes sailboats.
The Fake-Tan King has spoken.
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Trump Blames Energy-Saving Bulbs for His Orange Appearance
The fluorescent president complained: “I always look orange. And so do you. The light is the worst.”
Most of the light bulbs in my house are LEDs and I haven’t turned into an ORANGE, yet.
Here is a rerun of the Presidential debate. Some may have missed it.
ABC News Democratic Debate – WATCH THE FULL DEBATE (2019)
Streamed live on Sep 12, 2019
ABC News
Kamala Harris is calling for the impeachment of Brett K, the Supreme Court Justice. Oh well, I can’t eliminate all the K’s because it is in the NYT link.
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Kamala Harris: I remember sitting through Brett K’s confirmation hearings — listening to him lie to the U.S. Senate and, most importantly, to the American people.I remember walking out of the Judiciary Committee when it became clear that Republicans leaders had enacted a sham process to confirm K that quite frankly was an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice. I remember listening to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who had the courage to tell her story in front of the entire country. I’ll never forget it. Last night, a New York Times article unveiled new “sexual misconduct allegations” against K — and new evidence that he lied under oath and should not be on the Supreme Court.
From The New York Times:
Brett Kavanaugh Fit In With the Privileged Kids. She Did Not.
Deborah Ramirez’s Yale experience says much about the college’s efforts to diversify its student body in the 1980s.
Trump is seriously, frighteningly unstable – the world is in danger | Robert Reich
Sun 15 Sep 2019
It is almost too late for impeachment. The 25th amendment is untested. The ballot box offers our only remaining hope
In retrospect, what’s most disturbing about “Sharpiegate” isn’t Trump’s clumsy effort to doctor a National Weather Service map or even his brazen move to get the same agency to lie on his behalf.
It’s how utterly petty his motive was. We’ve had presidents trying to cover up a sexual liaison with an intern and a botched burglary, but never have we had one who went to such lengths to cover up an inaccurate weather forecast. Alabama being hit by a hurricane? Friends, this is not rational behavior.
Trump also cancelled a meeting with the Taliban at Camp David. The meeting was to have been secret. It was scheduled for the week of the anniversary of 9/11. He cancelled it by tweet.
Does any of this strike you as even remotely rational?…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/15/donald-trump-nuts-impeachment-25th-amendment-2020-election?CMP=share_btn_link
I think Sharpiegate is old news now and has been replaced with LEDgate. I read a day or two ago that Trump blamed energy-saving LED lights for his orange-tinted skin instead of his addiction to the tanning booth.
Lloyd Lofthouse: I thought Trump used artificial tanning products that left, after many years, that orange color. How can he fit time for tanning into his busy schedule? Golf, Fox ‘news’, travel to his golf courses and eating takes up almost all of his day. I’m sure he’s busy composing more love letters to Kim Jong Un.
He only gives Melania a card for her birthday and refers to his son as ‘her son’. What a great person.
Trump isn’t writing any letters to Kim. He has to hire a ghostwriter to do his writing for him and then he finds a way to cheat the ghostwriter after they turn over the finished product that Trump doesn’t have the time to read even if it would only take him three minutes.
Forget the 25th amendment. Trump surrounds himself with sycophants.
K__________ should not be on the Supreme Court. The FBI should be investigating and their COMPLETE, HONEST, time consuming, detailed report should be given to the people. K________ gives a bad name to the elite. Hopefully, most are honest and have some sense of morality. Unfortunately, money seems to protect the wealthy from consequences. [Trump picks the best. Sexual predators have to stand up for each other.]
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Donald J. Trump
Verified account
@realDonaldTrump
Follow Follow @realDonaldTrump
Brett K______ should start suing people for libel, or the Justice Department should come to his rescue. The lies being told about him are unbelievable. False Accusations without recrimination. When does it stop? They are trying to influence his opinions. Can’t let that happen!
6:47 AM – 15 Sep 2019
29,625 Retweets 110,716 Likes
28,150 replies 29,625 retweets 110,716 likes
Reply 28K Retweet 30K Like
Trump is SO FANTASTIC! I can hardly believe it. Wow. Such thriving because of the tax cuts and the removing of ‘burdens that used to weigh down American energy producers’. Yes, we can all breath better with filthy air and know that dirty water grows really good crops. Windmills cause cancer. Got to get rid of them and do more fracking and drilling for oil on federal lands.
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This comes from the WH:
President Trump left for New Mexico this afternoon, the first stop of a three-day trip for the President out West. The timing couldn’t be better, as families across “the Land of Enchantment” feel the economic revival happening under this Administration.
New Mexico’s economy is flourishing, and it’s not difficult to see how—and when—it started happening. Since President Trump’s election, New Mexico’s unemployment rate has dropped from 6.5 percent to 4.9 percent. Nearly 35,000 jobs have been added in that span, many going to workers in the state’s blue-collar industries.
The state’s economic future looks bright, as well, with applications to start new businesses—the lifeblood of innovation and wage growth—up 29 percent in that time.
What explains the success? One reason is the rebirth of American industry under President Trump. One crucial sector to New Mexico’s economy, for example, is energy. In addition to general pro-growth policies such as tax cuts, the Trump Administration has prioritized removing burdens that used to weigh down American energy producers.
Today, crude oil production in New Mexico has skyrocketed more than 110 percent, hitting a record high last year. The state’s natural gas production has seen phenomenal growth, too, increasing by 40 percent since President Trump’s election.
These industries provide real value for middle-class families across America—and good-paying jobs for workers in places like New Mexico and elsewhere.
And as a border state, of course, no one knows firsthand more about the importance of real border security than New Mexico families and law enforcement officers. Otero County declared a state of emergency earlier this year while President Trump pressured Congress to help him address the security and humanitarian crisis at the border.
President Trump’s efforts are paying off, especially after successful negotiations led Mexico, Guatemala, and other countries to step up and do more to help American officials end the surge of illegal immigration and crime spilling across our border.
The border wall is going up fast!
FRONTLINE: The Man Who Knew
As an FBI agent who specialized in counter-terrorism, John P. O’Neill investigated the bombing of the American embassies in Africa, the USS Cole in Yemen, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the first attack on the World Trade Center. O’Neill came to believe America should kill Osama bin Laden before Al Qaeda launched a devastating attack, but his was often a lonely voice. A controversial figure inside the buttoned-down world of the FBI, he was forced out of the job he loved and entered the private sector – as director of security for the World Trade Center.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/showsknew/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share_button