general political shit

It is early days in the Trump administration. (I know it doesn’t feel like it. Check your calendar.) But there have already been disturbing signs of how the administration intends to treat science and government scientists.

Vox’s Brian Resnick and Julia Belluz have rounded up the strands of evidence from various agencies, and Brad Plumer has a post focusing on ominous moves at the Environmental Protection Agency.

It is worrying that the agency has frozen its grant program, that the climate change page has been taken down, and that the spokesperson for Trump’s EPA “beachhead team” — none other than Doug Ericksen, the climate-denying, regulation-hating leader of the Washington state senate — told NPR that that EPA scientists will need to run any new scientific findings past the Trump team before they are published or publicized.

But allegedly these “freezes” on new agency grants and communications will end today. So, as Brad says, if you look at all these moves with maximum charity, you can still see them as more or less typical for a new administration. You can argue that it’s not yet time to panic, not yet clear whether Trump will launch a war on science to rival George W. Bush’s or Stephen Harper’s.

Still, color me pessimistic. For some reason, of all the disturbing stories this week, the one that struck me most as a harbinger of our science future is a goofy little story that most people didn’t hear about.

You can only trust Trump, says science guy
On Monday, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, who has previously praised Trump’s “stamina” and “conviction,” gave a floor speech in the House in which lauded the president, celebrating his many accomplishments. According to Smith, you may not be familiar with those accomplishments, because the media won’t tell you.

“Better to get your news directly from the president,” Smith said. “In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.”

Let that sink in.

President Donald Trump’s net approval rating dropped by eight points in his first week in the Oval Office, according to daily polls tracked by Gallup.

On Sunday Jan. 22, two days after being sworn in, 45 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s job performance and 45 percent approved. By Friday Jan. 27, the percentage who disapproved rose to 50 and percentage who approved dipped to 42.

Hate crimes in the US increased by 6.8% in 2015, according to data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday (Nov. 14). Much of that increase can be attributed to a surge in attacks against Muslims, which rose 67% from the previous year.

The data are the most exhaustive available in measuring hate crimes reported across the country. They build on reporting by other monitors about an alarming rise in reported hate crimes during the latest presidential election cycle. On Nov. 12, president-elect Donald Trump addressed the rash of racist attacks that followed Election Day in an interview on 60 Minutes. “I am so saddened to hear that, and I say stop it. And if it helps, I’ll say it right to the cameras: Stop it.”



The FBI numbers are based on information collected from 1,742 local and state police departments around the country. Nearly 15,000 law enforcement agencies participate in the FBI’s Hate Crimes Statistics Program. The FBI classifies hate crimes as traditional offenses like murder, arson or vandalism motivated by bias against race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.

There were a total of 5,850 criminal hate incidents in 2015, compared with 5,479 in 2014. There were 257 incidents against Muslims last year, up from 154 in 2014. Anti-Muslim offenses accounted for about 4.4% of all incidents in 2015, up from 2.8% in 2014.

More than half (56.6%) of the hate crimes reported were committed on the basis of race, the FBI reports. Out of 3,310 race-based incidents, 52.7% were anti-black. Religiously-motivated hate crimes accounted for 21.3% of the total incidents.

Incidents against other religious and ethnic groups also increased in 2015. The FBI reported that anti-black crimes were up 7.6%, while anti-Jewish incidents rose by almost 9% in 2015.

Days until achieving MAJORITY disapproval from @Gallup

Reagan: 727
Bush I: 1336
Clinton: 573
Bush II: 1205
Obama: 936

Trump: 8. days.
12:04 PM - 29 Jan 2017

A little more than week after Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz introduced a bill calling for the disposal of 3.3 million acres of federal land in 10 Western states, the fifth-term Republican announced late Wednesday on Instagram he was withdrawing H.R. 621.

“I’m a proud gun owner, hunter and love our public lands,” he wrote below a photo of himself in camouflage hunting gear, holding his hound. “Groups I support and care about fear it sends the wrong message. I hear you and HR621 dies tomorrow #keepitpublic.”

President Donald Trump has announced he will "get rid of and totally destroy" a 60-year-old rule that blocks tax-exempt religious groups from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

The so-called Johnson amendment was introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B Johnson in 1954. It threatens churches and other religious institutions with the loss of their tax-exempt status should they overstep the mark.

At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on Thursday Mr Trump said: "Jefferson asked, 'Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution—I will do that."

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY Sean Spicer asserted at Thursday’s press briefing that Iran had attacked a U.S. naval vessel, as part of his argument defending the administration’s bellicose announcement that Iran is “on notice.”

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday said he was  “officially putting Iran on notice” following the country’s ballistic missile test and an attack on a Saudi naval vessel by Houthi rebels in Yemen (the Houthis are tenuously aligned with Iran’s government but are distinct from it).

The White House press corps wanted to know what being put “on notice” entailed, and Spicer responded by claiming that Iran’s government took actions against a U.S. naval vessel, which would be an act of war. “I think General Flynn was really clear yesterday that Iran has violated the Joint Resolution, that Iran’s additional hostile actions that it took against our Navy vessel are ones that we are very clear are not going to sit by and take,” he said. “I think that we will have further updates for you on those additional actions.”

Major Garrett of CBS News quietly corrected him, saying “a Saudi vessel,” and Spicer then responded almost inaudibly: “Sorry, thank you, yes a Saudi vessel. Yes, that’s right.” He did not in any way address his false claim that it was an Iranian attack, however.

Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw federal funds from the University of California at Berkeley after protesters caused a talk by the senior editor of Breitbart News to be cancelled.

Demonstrators hurled smoke bombs, started fires and smashed windows ahead of Milo Yiannopoulos’ scheduled visit on Wednesday.

“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” the President tweeted. It was unclear how the threat would be carried out.

WASHINGTON — President Trump loves to set the day’s narrative at dawn, but the deeper story of his White House is best told at night.

Aides confer in the dark because they cannot figure out how to operate the light switches in the cabinet room

Brendan McDonald ‏@ProducerMcD 10h10 hours ago
Not, "Hey, let’s call someone who knows the ins and outs of this place & ask them what's up."

Brendan McDonald ‏@ProducerMcD 10h10 hours ago

Not even, "Hey, we’re too dumb/proud to call someone but at least let's go to a place where the lights are on, like a Chili’s or something."

Brendan McDonald ‏@ProducerMcD 10h10 hours ago
No. Instead it’s, "Let’s just sit here & meet in the fucking dark like a bunch of mongoloids."

Pete Souza
‏@PeteSouza

The light switch is on the wall right by the door.

President Donald Trump's top White House counselor on Thursday asked Americans to support the fashion line of Trump's daughter Ivanka, potentially violating federal government ethics rules.

Appearing on "Fox & Friends," the counselor, Kellyanne Conway, dismissed Nordstrom's decision to drop Ivanka Trump's line. She also claimed the president's daughter was the victim of online mockery from retail executives, though it wasn't clear whom she was referring to.

"I do find it ironic that you have some executives all over the internet bragging about what they've done to her and her line, and yet they're using the most prominent woman — she's his daughter — who has been a champion for women empowerment, women in the workplace, to get to him," Conway said.

She added: "Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would say. I hate shopping — I'm going to buy stuff today."