Trump, in angry Twitter spree, declares ‘the complete power to pardon’
Colin Campbell 14 hours ago 
Editorial: Trump names an anti-science blowhard as ‘chief scientist’. Help! Congress….MercuryNews.com 13 hours ago President Trump’s disdain for science apparently knows no bounds. He has now nominated climate change skeptic Sam Clovis, a talk radio host, to serve as the Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist — a slap in the face of the scientific community and a disservice to those responsible for the integrity of the USDA’s research.The Senate should should reject the nomination. Naming an anti-science blowhard to a job meant for a scientist would be like Ford picking a CEO who rides a horse to work.If confirmed as the Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary of research, education and economics, Clovis would be responsible for implementing the department’s mission of providing leadership on agriculture and natural resource issues “based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.”The post, created in 1994 by Congress, demands someone who commands the respect of scientists. The 2008 farm bill clarified the requirements, saying the undersecretary “shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.”Clovis has none of these qualifications. His degree is in political science, and his chief claims to fame are as a conservative talk radio host and Trump’s national campaign co-chair.Like our Facebook page for more conversation and news coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.The most recent undersecretary, Catherine Woteki, had a Ph.D in human nutrition, a bachelor of science in biology and chemistry and had served as Director of of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences.Woteki, under the direction of the Obama administration, had focused the agency’s research dollars largely on trying to help farmers get a better understanding of how to deal with the impact of climate change — droughts, for example — on their crops.She was vocal about this: “We really need to increase the amount of research that we’re doing to face challenges like we’re facing with this variable weather, and how can we increase productivity both in crops as well as in livestock to be able to produce more food on the same amount of land or perhaps less, depending on how climate might change over the next 30 to 40 years.”It was bad enough that Trump’s choice as USDA Secretary, Sonny Purdue, thinks climate science is “obviously disconnected from reality” and “a running joke among the public.” This even though polls show 70 percent of Americans favor aggressive action to slow global warming.Clovis calls climate change “junk science” and “not proven.” That goes against the consensus of more than 90 percent of climate scientists.He’s entitled to his opinion. He’s perfect for today’s talk radio. He is not a scientist, let alone qualified to be a “chief scientist.” Congress needs to take a stand.
RICHARD LARDNER,Associated Press 11 hours ago 
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U.S. lawmakers reach deal on Russia sanctions billWASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats announced Saturday that a bipartisan group of House and Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on a sweeping Russia sanctions package to punish Moscow for meddling in the presidential election and its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said lawmakers had settled lingering issues with the bill, which also includes stiff economic penalties against Iran and North Korea. The sanctions targeting Russia, however, have drawn the most attention due to President Donald Trump’s persistent push for warmer relations with President Vladimir Putin and ongoing investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign.Passage of the bill, which could occur before Congress breaks for the August recess, puts Congress on possible collision course with Trump. The White House had objected to a key section of the bill that would mandate a congressional review if Trump attempted to ease or end the sanctions against Moscow. But if Trump were to veto the bill, he risks sparking an outcry from Republicans and Democrats and having his decision overturned. The sanctions review was included in the bill because of wariness among lawmakers from both parties over Trump’s affinity for Putin.The precise mechanics of how involved House Democrats would be in the review process had been a key sticking point, but Hoyer said he was pleased with the outcome.”The legislation ensures that both the majority and minority are able to exercise our oversight role over the administration’s implementation of sanctions,” Hoyer said.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the sanctions legislation „strong” and he expected the legislation to be passed promptly.”Given the many transgressions of Russia, and President Trump’s seeming inability to deal with them, a strong sanctions bill such as the one Democrats and Republicans have just agreed to is essential,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.Early Saturday morning, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy posted a legislative business schedule that shows the sanctions bill will be considered Tuesday. McCarthy had pushed to add the North Korea sanctions to the package. The House had overwhelmingly passed legislation in May to hit Pyongyang with additional economic sanctions, but the Senate had yet to take up the bill.The Senate last month passed sanctions legislation that targeted only Russia and Iran. Congressional aides said there may be resistance among Senate Republicans to adding the North Korea penalties, but it remained unclear whether those concerns would further stall the legislation. The aides were not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.”A nearly united Congress is poised to send President Putin a clear message on behalf of the American people and our allies, and we need President Trump to help us deliver that message,” said Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.The House and Senate negotiators addressed concerns voiced by American oil and natural gas companies that sanctions specific to Russia’s energy sector could backfire on them to Moscow’s benefit. The bill raises the threshold for when U.S. firms would be prohibited from being part of energy projects that also included Russian businesses.Although there is widespread support for the legislation, the bill stalled after it cleared the Senate over constitutional questions and bickering over technical details. In particular, House Democrats charged that GOP leaders had cut them out of the congressional review that would be triggered if Trump proposed to terminate or suspend the Russia sanctions. But Republicans rejected the complaint and blamed Democrats for holding the bill up.The review requirement in the sanctions bill is styled after 2015 legislation pushed by Republicans and approved in the Senate that gave Congress a vote on whether then-President Barack Obama could lift sanctions against Iran. That measure reflected Republican complaints that Obama had overstepped the power of the presidency and needed to be checked by Congress.According to the bill, Trump is required to send Congress a report explaining why he wants to suspend or terminate a particular set of sanctions. Lawmakers would then have 30 days to decide whether to allow the move or reject it.The North Korea sanctions bill included in the package bill cleared the House by a 419-1 vote and House Republicans became frustrated the Senate didn’t move quickly on the measure given the vast bipartisan support it received. The measure bars ships owned by North Korea or by countries that refuse to comply with U.N. resolutions against it from operating in American waters or docking at U.S. ports. Goods produced by North Korea’s forced labor would be prohibited from entering the United States.The sanctions package imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure would apply terrorism sanctions to the country’s Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.Related:
Trump, in angry Twitter spree, declares ‘the complete power to pardon’Trump, in angry Twitter spree, declares ‘the complete power to pardon’_Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rplardner
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Protesters demand the Minneapolis mayor be the next to goMinnesota officials have identified and located a key witness to the officer-involved shooting that killed an Australian bride-to-be in Minneapolis last weekend. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced in a press release Friday night that its agents interviewed the witness, who was seen riding a bike in the area immediately before the shooting and stopped at the scene to watch as two Minneapolis police officers provided medical assistance to Justine Ruszczyk.”The individual has been cooperative and provided an interview today,” the agency said in the 
World Hungary’s leader: EU and Soros seek to „Muslimize” Europe PABLO GORONDI,Associated Press 15 hours ago
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — European Union leaders and Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros are seeking a „new, mixed, Muslimized Europe,” Hungary’s anti-migration prime minister said Saturday.Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a visit to Romania that Hungary’s border fences, supported by other Central European countries, will block the EU-Soros effort to increase Muslim migration into Europe.While Hungary opposed taking in migrants „who could change the country’s cultural identity,” Orban said under his leadership, Hungary would remain a place where „Western European Christians will always be able to find security.”Orban, who will seek a fourth term in April 2018, said Hungary’s opposition parties were no match for his government.”In the upcoming campaign, first of all we have to confront external powers,” Orban said at a cultural festival in Baile Tusnad, Romania. „We have to stand our ground against the Soros mafia network and the Brussels bureaucrats. And, during the next nine months, we will have to fight against the media they operate.”Soros has become a key target of Orban and his government.Recent legislation in Hungary seeks to close or expel the Budapest-based Central European University, founded by Soros in 1991. There are also new rules about non-governmental organizations funded at least partly from abroad — which critics say stigmatize the NGOs, many of which are backed by Soros’ Open Society Foundations.Orban reiterated his charge that Soros-funded NGOs want to weaken Hungary’s security with their advocacy for asylum-seekers and said Hungary had managed to stop the „migrant invasion” with razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia.A recently ended anti-Soros billboard and poster campaign in Hungary has been criticized by Jewish groups for its anti-Semitic overtones.In the speech broadcast by Hungarian state media, Orban repeated his claim that the EU leadership was encroaching on member states’ rights and trying to apply policies, such as increased immigration, which he said were opposed by most Europeans.Orban said Poland, which is under pressure from the EU because of attempts to put its Supreme Court under political control, had replaced Hungary as the target of the EU’s „chief inquisitor,” whom he identified as European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans.”The main target of the inquisition, the example of national governance to be weakened, destroyed and broken is Poland,” Orban said, vowing to defend the Polish government. „Hungary will use every legal possibility in the European Union to be in solidarity with the Poles.”Asked about choosing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orban answered with a joke about a Pole being asked in the communist era to choose between Hitler and Stalin.”He answered that he chooses Marlene Dietrich,” Orban said with a laugh. „What I want to say with this is that you can’t give a good answer to a bad question.”Orban first expressed his support for Trump a year ago, while Putin has visited Hungary twice in two years. Hungary is expanding its energy ties with Moscow, including Russia’s construction of new reactors at Hungary’s only nuclear power plant.Orban said „Hungarian interests” would be the „guiding star” of his country’s foreign policy, not „Trump, Putin or (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel.”Orban said Hungary’s low birth rate made the country an „endangered species,” and that the government was using taxes on multinational companies to fund social policies that would spur families to have more children.
