Former President Donald Trump's United States of America

[Biljet]

Yup, Europe is disintegrating before our eyes...

Jeremy Cliffe@JeremyCliffe
10 hours ago
Refugee crisis has crippled Germany so much that, err, its budget surplus is at a 27-year-high of €24 billion. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/39064795

The budget figures, published by Germany's Federal Statistical Office, showed that income was higher than spending in all areas of government - federal, state and local government, as well as social security.

The office said the main factors improving revenues were the large increase in income tax and property tax payments as well as the "good employment situation", which led to a "considerable growth" in social contributions.

In terms of expenditure, a big factor was increased spending by state and local governments on things such as accommodation for refugees, as well as payments to them for living expenses.

Germany has taken in more than a million migrants over the past two years, mainly from Africa and the Middle East.

If it does, I bet we will have another major conflict on the continent within 15 years... They cannot coexist peacefully for too long it seems

 

[W. K. Lis]

The Department of Propaganda slows develops.

From link.

White House blocks several news organizations, including the New York Times and CNN, from briefing

The move comes shortly after U.S. president Donald Trump repeated a startling attack on the U.S. news media, calling it the “enemy of the people” at a speech on Friday.

Journalists from at least three U.S. news organizations were prohibited from attending a briefing by U.S. President Donald Trump’s press secretary on Friday, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps.

Reporters from The New York Times, CNN and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, for the scheduled briefing. Aides to Mr. Spicer allowed in reporters from only a hand-picked group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed to attend.

Organizations allowed in included Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings. Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News also attended.

Reporters from Time magazine and The Associated Press, who were set to be allowed in to the briefing, chose not to attend in protest of the White House’s actions.

“Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the press corps, quickly rebuked the White House’s actions.

“The W.H.C.A. board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House,” the association president, Jeff Mason, said in a statement. “We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.”

The move comes shortly after U.S. president Donald Trump repeated a startling attack on the U.S. news media, calling it the “enemy of the people” at a Friday speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

 

[ttk77]

Well I guess this puts to rest any doubt that Trump is a fascist dictator.

 

[TheKingEast]

I can't even remember all my passwords. What a mess.

 

[salsa]

What a mess. Travelling to the US with a valid passport?

Don't forget that you may need to provide every password to your social media accounts (possibly banking info, too). Endure insults about your religion and ethnic background from officials. Detainment at the border can last up to 10 hours.

The Globe and Mail@globeandmail
10 mins ago
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s son detained at Florida airport, asked ‘are you Muslim?’
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//new...im/article34137579/?cmpid=rss1&click=sf_globe

Officials questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”
Mancini says officials continued questioning Ali Jr. after acknowledging that he was Muslim. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia and holds a U.S. passport.

Nicholas Kristof@NickKristof
3 hours ago
Australian children's author Mem Fox detained by US border control: 'I sobbed like a baby'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...control-i-sobbed-like-a-baby?CMP=share_btn_tw

Fox, who is famous worldwide for her best-selling books including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Possum Magic, was en route to a conference in Milwaukee earlier this month when she was stopped.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she was questioned by border agents for two hours in front of a room full of people – an experience that left her feeling like she had been physically assaulted.

“I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness,” Fox said.

“I felt like I had been physically assaulted which is why, when I got to my hotel room, I completely collapsed and sobbed like a baby, and I’m 70 years old.”

Even people on domestic flights are being harassed now. Some were detained and interrogated because on their race or nationality.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

What a mess. Travelling to the US with a valid passport?

Don't forget that you may need to provide every password to your social media accounts (possibly banking info, too). Endure insults about your religion and ethnic background from officials. Detainment at the border can last up to 10 hours.

Which is why we are getting this: http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/u-s-tourism-industry-debates-impact-of-trump-travel-ban-1.3276579

I can't even remember all my passwords. What a mess.

This is a mental strip search, and I draw the line at that.

AoD

 

[ttk77]

This is a mental strip search, and I draw the line at that.

AoD

I agree 100% with this assessment. I've already decided I'm not heading down there for pleasure as long as this nonsense is going on. I'm worried about work though, as I occasionally get asked to travel down there on business. There's no way I'm surrendering this information at the border.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The new "normal" for travelers to the United States.

Muhammad Ali’s son detained at Florida airport, asked ‘Are you Muslim?’, lawyer says

Lawyer Chris Mancini says officials questioned Muhammad Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

From link.

A lawyer says the son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained by immigration officials at a Florida airport.

Chris Mancini tells the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky that 44-year-old Muhammad Ali Jr. and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the second wife of Muhammad Ali, arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from Jamaica.

Mancini says officials questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

Mancini says officials continued questioning Ali Jr. after acknowledging that he was Muslim. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia and holds a U.S. passport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they “cannot discuss individual travellers; however, all international travellers arriving in the U.S. are subject to CBP inspection.”

Expect more tourists to Canada, except from the United States. Returning tourists may have a problem, even if U.S. citizens or U.S. born.

 

[Videodrome]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!

Wuss...

 

[W. K. Lis]

Wuss...

Maybe Alec Baldwin will stand in for Donald Trump, at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year?

 

[Videodrome]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/nominee-for-navy-secretary-to-withdraw-235418

A well oiled machine!

 

[W. K. Lis]

Power is getting into the heads of the U.S. border agents. See link. She was born in Canada, using a Canadian passport, but turned back.

U.S. denied entry to Canadian citizen, told her she needed a visa

Manpreet Kooner said she’s perplexed why she was barred from entering the U.S. given she was travelling on a Canadian passport and has no criminal record. Kooner said she was with two friends — both white — who were not questioned by border officials.

A Montrealer who is a Canadian citizen by birth says she was barred from entering the United States and told to get a valid visa if she ever wants to cross the border.

Manpreet Kooner said she was turned away at a crossing along the Quebec-Vermont border on Sunday after a six-hour wait where she was fingerprinted, photographed and questioned before being refused.

She said she was told she was an immigrant without a valid U.S. visa.

Kooner, 30, is of Indian descent and was born in Montreal to parents who came to India from Canada in the 1960s and have lived in the same LaSalle district duplex for decades.

There have been several reports of Canadians encountering issues at the U.S. border, including a Canadian Muslim woman from Quebec who believes she was denied entry because of her religion.

Kooner said she’s perplexed given she was travelling on a Canadian passport and has no criminal record.

The only issue she had was a computer glitch that prevented her from crossing into New York state for 24 hours in December.

Kooner didn’t think much of that snafu until Sunday when she was stopped at Highgate Springs as she was travelling with two white girlfriends.

Her friends were not questioned but she was asked about the December incident.

“At the end of it, they told me I was not allowed going in and that I would need a visa if I ever went in the States again,” Kooner said.

Kooner claims the border agent told her, “I know you might feel like you’re being Trumped,” in reference to U.S. President Donald Trump — a statement she found odd.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said Monday the department can’t comment on individual admissibility inspections, but noted that possession of a valid travel document does not guarantee entry to the United States.

Asked how she feels, Kooner said, “Just so bad, I feel like I’ve done something wrong, like I’m a criminal or something, but I’m not.”

Kooner went to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, as suggested at the border, and was told the situation was “odd” and that a visa isn’t necessary for Canadians.

“Maybe there is no valid reason, maybe this is something that I can’t shake because I’m born like this,” Kooner said of her skin colour.

Her travel plans are up in the air: Kooner is supposed to go to a U.S. music festival at the end of March and her bachelorette in Miami in May.

“I’ve never had issues before, that’s the part that kills me,” Kooner said. “Now I’m just debating whether I should cancel.”

Her experience came up in the House of Commons on Monday as the NDP peppered the Liberals with questions about her case and about allegations of racial profiling against Canadians at the border.

“We are talking about a Canadian citizen, born in Canada, illegally turned back at the U.S. border, and we want a prime minister who knows how to stand up,” NDP Leader Tom Mulcair told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during question period.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said each country has the sovereign right to control its own borders.

“We also have the high expectation that all of our citizens will be treated respectfully and in a fair manner,” Goodale told reporters.

Montreal-area MP Anju Dhillon is looking into the Kooner case to help remedy the situation.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I imagine the US Embassy wouldn't even issue a Visitor VISA to a Canadian passport holder.

 

[Freedom]

Manpreet isn't telling the whole story, that much is obvious. Why don't reporters ask some basic questions so people can understand what happened? For example, is she a dual citizen? What was the "computer glitch"? What questions did they ask her and how did she respond?

It's impossible to make any judgements based on the low information reporting I've seen. All that said, it is not a right to travel to any country and that right can be revoked for any reason. People get turned back all the time but you only hear about it now because of the current political climate.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Manpreet isn't telling the whole story, that much is obvious. Why don't reporters ask some basic questions so people can understand what happened? For example, is she a dual citizen? What was the "computer glitch"? What questions did they ask her and how did she respond?

It's impossible to make any judgements based on the low information reporting I've seen. All that said, it is not a right to travel to any country and that right can be revoked for any reason. People get turned back all the time but you only hear about it now because of the current political climate.

She had a CANADIAN passport that included her Canadian place of birth (translation: she was BORN in CANADA). Have you even looked at your own passport to see what is on it?