Migrant Caravan moves through Mexico

On Friday, October 26, the migrants reached Mapastepec, Mexico nearly 1,000 miles away from the U.S.- Mexico border and is estimated to reach the McAllen,Texas border, the closest border to them, in about two weeks. Exhausted by their long journey, many have decided to return home or seek asylum/refugee in Mexico.The Mexican government estimates the caravan has been reduced to about 3,600 migrants from more than 7,000.

Trump has tweeted many things about this situation saying there are “unknown Middle Easterners” mixed in the caravan without specific evidence to back up this claim. He also said he will be cutting off foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador but the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Acts prohibits him because the money is appropriated by Congress.

Trump is also planning to sign an executive order to shut down the southern border and to send an additional 1,000 national guards to the border. Despite all of Trump’s threats the migrants are still willing to suffer through dehydration and hunger to find a better life and escape all the violence and persecution in their Latin countries.

Do you think Trump's plans are appropriate?

Sources:

https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/10/28/americas/migrant-caravan-profiles/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

https://www.foxnews.com/world/migrant-caravan-stops-in-mexico-same-day-mattis-says-us-military-is-deploying-resources-to-border

Climate Change Neglected By U.S. Government

    In 1992, the United Nations framework convention on climate change had its ratification that some leading nations such as the US should report on the state of the world climate. Since then, the US has submitted its report on a timely manner. But this year’s report which was due January 1st 2018, the US has failed to submit its findings. It did not have any explanations nor time table for not doing so. So far the US has remained silent on this issue.

    One environmental group has filed a lawsuit urging the US to sum it the report, but no significant results or progress have been made. The latest filing submitted by the justice department makes arguments that have ignored this important obligation. This certianinh is bad news for the world because the environmentalists heavily rely on the data reported by the US government, yet the current US policy refuses to report the data. A few of the other countries also have a similar practice, which makes the rest of the world puzzled if the major countries are actually living up with their pledges. The irony is that the US has long been the leader in setting up the rules, norms, and treaties related to the world economies. Now the US has indeed failed its obligation as a leader.

    Some Americans have tried to fix the issue and problem left by the Trump Administration. They try to communicate with the United Nations actively claiming that the US is still in the game and is still willing to play a role in the world’s climate change. They want to cooperate. Their effort actually is quite significant. They form a coalition of the US cities, states, and businesses, as well as individuals and corporations, trying to lead the climate change reform. Even though the Trump Administration does not care. There report shows that the US is working hard and cooperating well to reach its emission standards by reducing by at least 26% by 2025. This issue has reviewed the fact that the Trump administration has not been fulfilling the role as a leader in the world affair.  

Mail Bomber Arrested

Authorities have arrested 56-year-old Florida resident Cesar Sayoc in connection with more than a dozen suspected mail-bomb devices sent to prominent Democrats. The mail-bombing campaign was aimed at critics of US President Donald Trump. Fourteen items have been sent to figures including ex-President Barack Obama and actor Robert de Niro.

How was he caught?
A single fingerprint taken from a mail bomb sent to Representative Maxine Waters helped investigators catch the bomber. Officials also said DNA and mobile phone data were used to track the suspect down. Mr. Sayoc was charged with five counts including interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives and making threats against former presidents. The Department of Justice said he faced up to 48 years in jail.

Who is he?
Cesar Altieri Sayoc is a passionate Trump supporter. His white van was plastered with stickers supportive of Trump. One piece of artwork depicted President Trump standing on a tank and another showed Hillary Clinton with a bullseye superimposed on her face. There were also images of the president’s critics with red targets over their faces and a large decal that read “CNN sucks.



How did Mr Trump react?
The president praised law enforcement for the quick arrest of the suspect, describing the search as looking for a "needle in a haystack". He has stated that "these terrorising acts are despicable and have no place in our country." The president has also suggested the incidents, which he described as "'Bomb' stuff", were slowing Republican "momentum" in early voting. In another tweet, the president has accusing US media of exploiting the latest case. "We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican party." On Friday, President Trump said that the news media was more focused on covering “this ‘Bomb’ stuff” rather than politics. The president has also rejected any suggestion that his rhetoric had contributed to the attacks. When asked by reporters whether he is to blame for the actions of the alleged bomber, he replied “No, not at all” 




Questions
Do you agree with Mr. Trump's reactions?

Resources
Wall Street Journal
BBC

Pittsburgh Synagogue Anti-Semitic Shooting

A 46-year old armed man named Robert Bowers is suspected for the massacre of 11 congregants that occurred within a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday, October 27, 2018. He came into the synagogue with an AR-15 assault rifle as well as three Glock 57s, yelling anti-semitic statements and shooting. Similarly on social media, he compared Jews to Satan, remarks about interracial relationships, lynching, and the usage of the n-word in previous posts.

The names of the victims are Joyce Fienberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Rose Mallinger, 97; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; Cecil Rosenthal, 59; his brother David, 54; Bernice Simon, 84; her husband Sylvan, 86; Daniel Stein, 71; Melvin Wax, 88, and Irving Younger, 69.

On October 28, 2018 a statement was released that he was charged with 29 federal charges. 11 counts being of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 4 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer and of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

In response to the shooting, President Trump suggested that the synagogue should have armed guards so the situation would’ve been different, in which the Mayor of Pittsburg disagrees with and sees that we should have stricter gun laws.

How do you feel about Donald Trump’s view on the shooting? Do you agree that if there were armed guards within the synagogue that the situation may have been better?

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/statement-filing-federal-charges
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/us/pittsburgh-shooting-robert-bowers.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/28/victims-expected-be-named-after-killed-deadliest-attack-jews-us-history/?utm_term=.11e787ecf358
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46013066
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46003665
https://nypost.com/2018/10/28/pittsburgh-mayor-hits-back-at-trump-armed-guards-arent-the-answer/

US Mail Bombs

On October 22, 2018, a package was found containing explosive power and components that of a bomb. It was found near the home of George Soros, a major donor to the democratic party. Within 5 days there were 15 intercepted packages. They were addressed to the following: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Former Attorney Eric Holder, Democratic US Rep. Maxine Waters, John Brennan, Actor Robert De Niro, Former Vice Pres. Joe Biden, Democratic US Sen. Cory Booker, Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Democratic US. Sen. Kamala Harris, and Democratic donor Tom Steyer. Inside the "mail bombs" were a PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, wiring, and energetic material, in some cases the packages also included a photo of who it was addressed to marked with a red "X".

The US mail bomb suspect is Cesar Sayoc, a 56 year old man. They were able to catch him because of an alleged fingerprints found on one of the packages. After his arrest, footage of what is believed to be his truck his shown with images of anti-CNN and Pro-Trump images on

the windows of the van.

However although the suspect is caught there have been theories and speculation about the whole thing. Radio host Michael Savage, talks about how the US mail bombs are “set up as a false flag to gain sympathy of for the Democrats”, others like Rush Limbaugh say that, “it’s not a republican thing to do”.

Blaming the victim for bombings, isn’t something new. In the 1950’s - 60’s during the civil rights, bombs were used a political intimidation. Black homes and black churches were being bombed. People believes that the motive was black people were bombing their own homes and churches in order to raise money and gain publicity. People believe that the motive for the pipe bombs is to gain sympathy in upcoming mid-term election.

Why do you think about the conspiracy theories? Why do you think people like to shift the blame?

Do you think this might inspire people to commit political acts of violence?

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/27/661110544/blaming-victims-for-mail-bombs-carries-echoes-of-civil-rights-bombings

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45996655

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/politics/pipe-bombs-suspicious-packages-what-we-know/index.html

Two winners split the Powerball jackpot at $688 million

Do your parent's or adults you know buy lottery tickets? The most recent drawings were on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27. The most recent Mega Millions lottery was at about 45 million dollars and the Powerball lottery was at about 688 million dollars. This Powerball jackpot is now the runner-up to the world record of the highest Powerball jackpot which was around 1.6 billion dollars.

The odds of winning the national lottery is 1 in 45,057,474. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning. For this most recent drawings, there were two winners for the Powerball. The winning numbers were 8, 12, 13, 19, 27 and Powerball of 04. Although their identities haven't been released yet, we do know the tickets were sold in Iowa and New York. The winners have two choices for methods of receiving their jackpot: they could choose to receive the cash on the spot or they could choose to receive annual payments over the next 30 years.

How does this have to do with our government? Well actually, from the total pot of the Mega Millions and Powerball, only 50% goes to prizes that we can win. The other half is given to states for their intended spending. For example, in Colorado, they funded new parks and in Florida, they funded new classrooms for public schools. In California, they fund public schools too. Since the Proposition 37 amendment in 1984, the California lottery has funded over $31 billion to public schools from ticket sales.
 


https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/28/winning-numbers-for-powerballs-688-million-jackpot-drawn.html
https://www.calottery.com/win
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mega-millions-lottery-lottery-money-states/story?id=58661412
https://www.calottery.com/giving-back/education/mission

Trump Signs Opioid Bill to Fight U.S. Drug Addiction

On Wednesday, October 24, 2018, President Trump signed into a law a bill that is meant to combat the drug addiction crisis in the United States. The bipartisan bill, called the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, overwhelmingly passed in the House 393-8 and in the Senate 99-1 in September, and on Wednesday it was put forth for the President to pass.

The bill is a response to the significant amount of deaths caused by drug overdose; according to government statistics, about 115 Americans die because of drug overdose, more specifically opioid drugs, everyday. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 72,000 Americans died because of overdose in 2017.

The legislative package increases access to addiction treatment through direct funding for federal agencies and states as well as a lift on restrictions on Medicare and Medicaid coverage. It also includes prevention of overprescription, and training for law enforcement to intercept shipments of deadly drugs like fentanyl at the borders.

Members of both the Democratic and Republican parties support the bill, which is rare. Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan stated, “We have to treat this as a starting point. We have a lot more work to do.” Republican Senator Rob Portman also said, "It will help in terms of both reducing some of this poison coming into our communities, but it also helps with regard to getting people into treatment." The drug crisis in the United States is getting out of control, and this law and the government have the potential to help those affected by the scourge of drugs.

Is this a good step in the right direction to remedy the nationwide drug and opioid crisis?

Could there be better ways the federal government can address it?

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/24/660205718/signing-opioid-law-trump-pledges-to-end-scourge-of-drug-addiction

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-signs-sweeping-opioid-bill-vow-end-scourge-drug-addiction-n923976

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-signs-sweeping-opioid-bill-expect-to-hear-about-it-on-the-campaign-trail/2018/10/24/1328598c-d7a9-11e8-aeb7-ddcad4a0a54e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.626d784c81c3

Russians Accused of Interfering in Midterm Elections

In 2016, 13 Russians were indicted for interfering with the election by stealing American identities of political activists and using them to  rile up citizens on controversial topics to influence them to vote for Trump. Recently a Russian woman, Elena ALekseevna Khusyaynova, was charged trying to interfere with the midterm elections. She managed the budget that was created to "'sow division and discord' in the American political system. Khusyaynova worked for many entities under the ownership of Yevgeny V. Prigoshin, a wealthy business leader that has a lot of political influence, who was one of the 23 Russians that were meddling with the election prior. 

It was shown during the indictment in 2016, that the Russians were already trying to promote discord in the United States since 2012. But the ways they try to run a muck are about the same. Through creating or taking American identities and their social media accounts they are able to influence people’s views on controversial issues, such as guns, women’s rights, immigration, and more. Through these posts, Russians are able to effect the way people vote, which impact the polls and our government. 

Social media can influence a lot of citizens especially young citizens and the upcoming generations that will be voting soon. Many political campaigns are now promoting themselves to get through to the younger generation. We have more and more police departments, governors, and presidents on twitter, and other social media platforms.

What do you think about what the Russians did? 

Knowing that more people are getting on social media, how much do you think does social media really influence the polls? Why?

These are examples of social media posts that were used to influence people.


Resources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/politics/russia-interference-midterm-elections.html?module=inline
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/politics/the-issues-that-russian-operatives-used-to-divide-americans-in-their-own-words.html?action=click&module=inline&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/politics/russians-indicted-mueller-election-interference.html?module=inline

Asian Americans vs. Harvard

A lawsuit was filed against Harvard for discriminating against Asian Americans during the
admission process. The group of Asian Americans claimed that every year, Harvard limits
the number of Asian Americans enrolled to keep the student population diverse. However,
they feel that by limiting the number of Asian Americans, the reverse of affirmative action
occurred. This is a very controversial topic. Some say that if the Asian Americans win this
lawsuit, it may mean that no colleges will take into account a student’s racial background.
Students may not be able to talk about their interests or passions in their application if it
relates to their race. Others say that affirmative action allows minorities to receive a higher
level of education and that affirmative action is a way to keep a school diverse. This case may
lead to a Supreme Court case. With our current Conservative court, it may change the face of
how college admissions work.

What do you think the rule of this case should be? How do you feel about affirmative action?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/us/harvard-affirmative-action-asian-americans.html

https://www.foxnews.com/us/harvard-discrimination-trial-reveals-ivy-league-schools-different-sat-standards-for-asian-americans

Trump Administration Plans to Exclude Transgenders from Definition of Gender

In 2017, the Trump administration decided to ban transgender citizens from participating in the military. Now, they want to remove transgenders from being recognized under federal law by narrowing the definition of sex. In a memo, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) writes that it is trying to redefine gender and sex as “...a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth. This means that a person’s gender is determined by their birth sex/genitalia, and cannot be changed unless genetic testing proves otherwise. The DHHS argues that the definition is necessary because it is “grounded in science”. This new definition of sex would be put under Title IX, a federal law that bans gender discrimination in government-assisted education programs.

This new potential definition for sex could bar people that identify as transgender from
having civil rights benefits, and sweeps the transgender community (about 1.4 million people)
under the rug. This is, in part, efforts from the Trump administration to remove Obama-era rules
on gender, which were lax and more accepting.

How do you feel about the new potential definition of sex? What effects do you think it will have
on the LGBTQ+ community?

Will this affect the Trump administration’s popularity? If so, do you think it will have any effect on
the midterms coming up in a few weeks?

Sources:
New York Times

CNN

Trump Administration Plans withdrawal from the INF Treaty

National Security Advisor John R. Bolton is directed to warn the Russian President Putin that the US will be leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

Ever since the Obama Administration, the US has been accusing Russia of the violation of the treaty. The INF Treaty is a US-Soviet treaty signed by Reagan and Gorbachev. It bans all intermediate-range and land-based cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers from Europe. The treaty was historic since it was made as a way to reduce the risk of war with Europe, thereby signaling the end of the Cold War. However, for the past four years, the US has argued about a violation of the treaty because they claim that Russia is deploying tactical nuclear weapons in order to intimidate and threaten European nations and Soviet states.

In addition to Russia supposedly violating the treaty, the Trump Administration wants to leave the treaty because it limits the flexibility of deploying new arsenal. More specifically, the US is planning to leave the treaty so that they can counter a Chinese arms buildup. China is building up their missiles as a way to assert their dominance in the Western Pacific and to keep American Naval Forces at bay. Because China was not a signatory to the INF Treaty, they have no limitations as to what kind of weaponry they can or cannot build.

There are many officials who are against withdrawing from the treaty. Eliot Angel, a representative of New York from the House of Foreign Affairs Committee, says that “withdrawing from the INF Treaty before adequately consulting our allies and exploring diplomatic avenues to resolve Russia’s violations jeopardizes American and European Security.” Additionally, he says that the withdrawal will be a win for Russia and provide a means for the US to expand its military arsenal. Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear expert on the National Security Council during the Obama Administration, says that “this will be another hand grenade in the middle of NATO to split the Allies.”

How do you feel about the US claiming to leave the INF Treaty?

Will leaving this treaty increase the Cold War-like tensions between the United States, Russia, and China?

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/politics/russia-nuclear-arms-treaty-trump-administration.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/19/trump-tell-russia-us-pull-out-nuclear-treaty/

Partisan Divide Grows On Political Vaues

As midterm elections approach, evidence of a larger political divide brings up concerns. Surveys and research conducted by Pew Research Center distinguish not only a divide in political teams but a difference in what they believe is a big problem, with both parties agreeing only that affordable health care, ethics in government, drug addiction, and the federal budget deficit are “big problems”. Although both political parties agree that there is a great divide, their ideas to settle the problems do not coincide with each other’s values. For example, both parties agree that the federal budget deficit is a "very big" problem. Yet Republicans' recent tax overhaul helped balloon the deficit, leading to a recent 31 percent drop in corporate tax revenues. When it comes to shrinking the deficit, Republicans tend to advocate for cutting entitlement programs — something many Democrats strongly oppose. Many of the problems are heavily seen in the upcoming election, with Republicans campaigning for immigration and Democrats have made health care the policy centerpiece of their midterm election bids.


What do you think the effect of this divide will be on the 2020 presidential election?

Do you believe that the government is still very effective under this large political divide?

Could Trump be Associated with the Khashoggi Murder?

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, disappeared On October 2 while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to receive divorce/marriage documents. President Trump first responded to the controversy on October 10 stating that he had spoken to Saudi officials at “the highest level,” and he thinks “we'll get to the bottom of it.”

In this past week, Trump continues to side with the king and prince by comparing the murder to Brett Kavanaugh’s case. “Here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent," he told the Associated Press.

Financial ties between the US and Saudi Arabia caused American citizens to speculate Trump working with the Saudi government create a cover-up story. Trump tweeted on Tuesday: “For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter).

Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS!”

It’s confirmed that Khashoggi was killed in a fight at the consulate. On Saturday, Trump said in an interview that there was "deception" and "lies" in Saudi Arabia's explanation, saying he had found their story to be credible previously.

It is important to know the full story and Trump's true intentions. It is hard to trust the government because of the things that happen behind closed doors.

Do you think Trump was trying to help the Saudi government cover-up? If so why?

How does this affect citizens' trust towards the government?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/opinion/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-turkey.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/khashoggis-alleged-murder-says-as-much-about-america-as-saudi-arabia/2018/10/18/1184258a-d316-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.27dc689a308d

T.I.'s video release of Melania Trump Controversy

Rapper T.I. has recently tweeted out  a video promoting his new album, ‘Dime Trap’. His tweet said “Dear 45, I ain’t Kanye”. The video showed T.I. in the oval office, and a Melania look alike portrayed as a stripper wearing only the controversial Zara “I really don’t care, do U?” jacket. The lookalike, Melanie Maren then starts to dance on top of the desk.

In response, Melania’s spokesperson has some out to call the video “disgusting” and to “boycott T.I”  and “disrespectful and disgusting to portray her in this way simply because of politics.”

Melanie Maren has now been getting death threats due to the video, “Somebody was going to take a baseball bat to me. Somebody wished me to get raped and then killed." She defends herself by claiming she wasn’t trying insult the first lady.  "The first lady's husband does a lot of bullying himself," she said. "So they've got some thick skin. If I was insulting her and degrading her, then it would be one thing, but I don't think I was."

Many people are not showing sympathy towards Melania Trump due to her nude photoshoot with a french men’s magazine. Other’s are defending T.I because he is using his right of freedom of speech.

Do you think T.I is being offensive towards the the President, or he is utilizing his right to express himself?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/16/politics/melania-trump-ti-video/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/10/19/melania-trump-t-video-received-death-threats-stephanie-grisham/1694648002/

 

Migrants from the U.S- bound caravan are being held in Mexico-Guatemala border

A caravan with 3,000 people desperate for work and had no other choice sought entrance into Mexico. Left on the bridge dividing the borders of Guatemala and Mexico but was stopped by Mexican federal police and fences. October 19, 2018,  men, women and children stuck waiting on the bridge with no resources, food or water pushed and climbed the barrier- tearing it down. Fifty people managed to get through but were faced with pepper spray. Immigration agents slowly began letting small groups of people who are interested in applying for refugee status. Others got tired of waiting and jumped off the bridge into Suchiate River while others paid a wooden raft to take them back home. That same day, a Mexican marine official announced that there will be trucks coming to take the migrants into a humanitarian attention center in Tapachula, a border city but he didn’t announce when it will come.

On Thursday during Trump’s Arizona rally he responded by threatening to close the southern U.S border with Mexico and cutting off aid to Central America if the government of Mexico failed to deal with the situation.

Should the United States be watching from a distance or should they jump in and help? How could the U.S help this situation? Do you think Donald Trump response was appropriate?

Resources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hundreds-of-migrants-u-s-bound-caravan-cross-mexico-guatemala-border-2018-10-20/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/19/americas/caravan-mexico-border/index.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hundreds-of-migrants-u-s-bound-caravan-cross-mexico-guatemala-border-2018-10-20/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/20/migrant-caravan-honduras-migrants-mexico-border/1709896002/

US Ambassador to NATO "Accidentally" Threatens Russia

On October 2nd, the United States ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, warned Russia that the U.S. would "take out" their missile if they did not halt the development of their new cruise missile. Hutchison repeatedly implied that the U.S. would launch a preemptive against Russia saying, “The countermeasures would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty.” An hour later on Twitter, Hutchison clarifies her statement.

The issue is that Hutchison claims that the U.S. would launch defense missile to counter the Russian missiles. However it becomes dangerous for Russia when the U.S. is able to convert defensive missiles into offensive missiles.

Last year Russia secretly deployed a ground-launched cruise missile and was considered by Washington to have violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The existence of the missile was known back in 2008, however, in 2014 the Obama administration announced that it had violated the INF treaty. Moscow denies these claims.

Was Hutchison’s statement just a mistake on her choice of words? Do you think what she said could cause further conflict with Russia? After all the evidence suggesting that Russia is developing and testing a missile, Russia still denies them. Do you think the evidence is true or do you believe that Russia is telling the truth?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/us-ambassador-nato-russia-kay-bailey-hutchison

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/15/this-is-the-ground-launched-cruise-missile-that-russia-has-reportedly-just-deployed/?utm_term=.888d930654d4

https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1206014/if-you-say-kay/

Missing journalist can imperil ties with U.S.-Saudi relations

Jamal Khashoggi is an Arab journalist who moved to the United States after becoming critical of the Saudi Arabian government and its prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for persecuting activists, writers, and businessmen inside the country. Khashoggi continues to debate about the Saudi government as a writer for The Washington Post Global Opinion section.


On October 2, Khashoggi went in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to get papers proving his divorce so that he could remarry. After eleven hours of waiting, his fiancee reported him missing when the consulate closed.

It is currently unknown how Khashoggi disappeared. Turkish authorities claim it was ordered from Saudi Arabia’s royal court, but others state the Saudi state is not the blame. If Saudi Arabia is found responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance or death, the U.S.-Saudi relationship could overturn. 

In May of last year, a $110 billion USD arms deal between President Donald Trump and Prince Salman was signed to modernize the kingdom and its economy. The media and Congress are pressuring Trump to halt arms sales with the kingdom, but Trump is reluctant to do so in fear of hurting the United States' economy and jobs.

Questions:

• How should the U.S. government respond to this?
• Should President Trump cancel the $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia?
• Should repercussions on the Saudi Arabian government be guaranteed if they are found responsible for the disappearance of Khashoggi?

Sources:

• https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/did-the-saudis-murder-jamal-khashoggi
• https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-jamal-khashoggi-turkey-accuses-saudi-arabia-of-murdering-reporter-2018-10
• https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/us-saudi-relations-are-imperiled-by-journalistjamal-khashoggis-disappearance.html

60 MINUTES OF TRUMP

Recently Trump had a interview with 60 minutes, regarding about all the current issues, from North Korea to Justice Kavanaugh. Trump’s thoughts on North Korea is that he did a favor to Untied States since trump befriended Kim Jun Un, there is no threat of attack from North Korea. In addition, Trump mentions that he feels as if the world of politics and the White House is very untrustworthy and “vicious.” He also wants to impose more tariffs on China because he wants China to change to an open market. Also, Trump global warming issues as an issue that will resolve it self in the future, but most definitely exist. Last but not least, he addresses Kavanaugh’s accuser saying they treated her with respect, even after saying she faked her story and dissing the #MeToo movement. This is important to America’s government because it mentions international relationships and political issues.

Do you feel as if Trump is being to public with his opinions by interviews or tweets? Do you agree with some of the issues Trump addresses? 

https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/10/14/politics/trump-60-minutes-interview/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-interview-60-minutes-full-transcript-lesley-stahl-jamal-khashoggi-james-mattis-brett-kavanaugh-vladimir-putin-2018-10-14/
posted for Naomi, who was having internet connectivity issues

Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes

On October 2, 2018, The New York Times released an investigation detailing the Trump
family’s engagement in suspicious tax activities that allowed the Trump clan to avoid
paying millions of tax dollars.

Trump’s involvement with suspect tax activities is traced back to when he was a toddler.
His father, Fred Trump, funneled over $1 billion in wealth to the Trump children while paying
only 52.5 million of the 550 million dollars of gift tax that was imposed on gifts and
inheritances. He did this by naming the children owners of various of businesses where they
received the income.

Near Fred Trump’s death, the Trumps began transferring ownership of most of Fred Trump’s
empire. The assets were passed down with GRATs, a method of passing down assets where
only gift taxes need to be paid. The gift tax in GRATs are based on the value of Fred Trump’s
assets. The Trump family took advantage of it and had Fred’s assets appraised at a much
lower value than it actually is, allowing the Trump children to receive the assets without paying
hundreds of millions of dollars of tax money.

Despite this investigation, it is unlikely that anyone will be criminally prosecuted because of the
how long ago these events happened.

Do you think Trump should be prosecuted for these suspect tax activities?
Do you think that this should have been investigated before Trump ran for office? Why?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/insider/donald-trump-fred-tax-schemes-wealth.html