President Donald Trump

[Soriambi]

Diplomacy at it's finest, folks.

Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April - sources

Source: Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers for a U.S. visit by the Chinese president and will travel to Russia later in the month, U.S. officials said on Monday, a step allies may see as putting Moscow's concerns ahead of theirs.

Tillerson intends to miss what would be his first meeting in Brussels with the 28 NATO members to attend President Donald Trump's expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said.

The decisions to skip the NATO meeting and to visit Moscow risked feeding a perception that Trump may be putting U.S. dealings with big powers before those of smaller nations that depend on Washington for their security, said two former U.S. officials.

Trump has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tillerson worked with Russia's government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm U.S. businesses.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...KBN16S04I?il=0

Reuters is one of the most unbiased sources out there, but I think that heading is a bit misleading. It doesn't seem like the Russian trip has anything to do with skipping the NATO meeting, but the headline definitely implies that. I'm not sure how normal skipping a NATO meeting is if there's a major meeting happening with a major power in your own country in this type of situation.

[montrealer]

The second to the last person in the world I want to run this country is Mike Pence. However, as things are going so far, Donald Trump is the last person I want in charge. He had every chance to deliver...a majority in the House and Senate and a solid base. But he blew it. Nearly all of his promises were unattainable but he still could have delivered some big wins. All he's done so far though is spit out one lie after another while continuing to hold campaign style rallies, attack the media and play golf. His proposed budget is worrisome. His health care plan is a mess, and on and on. If he has any chance of moving forward he has to gain some credibility with the citizens of this country, as well as international communities, and I just don't see that happening. Let Pence finish the term. Some of us may not agree with the direction he steers the ship, but at least he'll steer straight. Trump steers like Gilligan.

Pence is a Right Wing Religious nut bag............he still thinks earth is flat........

[BRenninger]

Pence is a Right Wing Religious nut bag............he still thinks earth is flat........

Agreed 100%. Pence knows how DC works where 45* is just a mumbling buffoon in DC who failed to surround himself with aides who know what the hell they're doing.
Pence and his stances on same sex couples, women's rights, and all other social stances would set back this country 100 years and he would think that's brilliant.
Pence is dangerous.

[BRenninger]

Reuters is one of the most unbiased sources out there, but I think that heading is a bit misleading. It doesn't seem like the Russian trip has anything to do with skipping the NATO meeting, but the headline definitely implies that. I'm not sure how normal skipping a NATO meeting is if there's a major meeting happening with a major power in your own country in this type of situation.

The Hill is reporting the same instances.
http://www.thehill.com/policy/intern...-russia-report

Actually I think it's 45* and his decimated State Dept. flipping the bird to NATO. 45* has been bellowing his disdain for NATO.

[Gregorius Chant]

Electricity company Dayton Power & Light said on Monday it would shut down two coal-fired power plants in southern Ohio next year for economic reasons, a setback for the ailing coal industry but a victory for environmental activists.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/two-ohio...bite-the-dust/

[melon]

Agreed 100%. Pence knows how DC works where 45* is just a mumbling buffoon in DC who failed to surround himself with aides who know what the hell they're doing.
Pence and his stances on same sex couples, women's rights, and all other social stances would set back this country 100 years and he would think that's brilliant.
Pence is dangerous.

Hey now....why are we discussing on which one we'd prefer? This is a situation where you can have your cake and eat it too!

You'll get Trump/Pence in '20.

And win or lose, you'll get Pence in '24!

[BRenninger]

45* bellowing at a rally (campaign) in KY tonight that the Keystone Pipeline is using US steel by his insistence. The steel being used is made in Russia. He knows that. Weeks ago he was told the steel was already in place and being used.
And his fans cheering wildly at his lies.

[NerfBall55]

I'll give you Hillary, DWS and the Donna Brazile's of the world, but if he could have run again, Obama would have won a 3rd term by a bigger margin than 08 or 12.

Regardless, his failures led to Trump, just like those listed above.

[Gregorius Chant]

Regardless, his failures led to Trump, just like those listed above.

His "failures" should have led to a semi-normal GOP candidate. Racism led to Trump.

[BRenninger]

I thought Comey's idea of when to have an investigation was meaningless, and that he had no credibility. I know I read that somewhere. Where could it have been?

Just seeing this now. The fact that he acknowledged the ongoing FBI investigation in to Russia/45* started in July? Not a word from him. HRC and her e-mails? One press conference and a publicized letter regarding findings. Dropped the ball twice.

[BRenninger]

His "failures" should have led to a semi-normal GOP candidate. Racism led to Trump.

Just imagine if Obama ran for POTUS with 3 different wives and 5 children on his resume'.

[Mr Coffee]

Just imagine if Obama ran for POTUS with 3 different wives and 5 children on his resume'.

He would have been fine as long as Hillary was the other option.

[awy]

majority of the stuff you guys hold against hillary are just plain false. i'd blame the people for being wrong here.

[Gregorius Chant]

majority of the stuff you guys hold against hillary are just plain false. i'd blame the people for being wrong here.

You're right but...oh god no. Please. No.

[montrealer]

https://youtu.be/claPetUPO7s


Lol...........this is awkward........

[montrealer]

Agreed 100%. Pence knows how DC works where 45* is just a mumbling buffoon in DC who failed to surround himself with aides who know what the hell they're doing.
Pence and his stances on same sex couples, women's rights, and all other social stances would set back this country 100 years and he would think that's brilliant.
Pence is dangerous.

If some how Trump doesn`t make it to the mid-terms the women vote becomes the catalyst to end this insanity.........The Republicans would love to have Pence as POTUS...........

[Mr Coffee]

majority of the stuff you guys hold against hillary are just plain false.

Sure.

[fredgmuggs]

He would have been fine as long as Hillary was the other option.

Well sure. Sir Edmund Hillary is dead and wasn't an American citizen.

[Gregorius Chant]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/21/news...ica/index.html

This would seem to make no sense for a number of reasons.

[Mr Coffee]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/21/news...ica/index.html

This would seem to make no sense for a number of reasons.

The official said the move is partly based on intelligence that they believe indicates Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is close to being able to hide explosives with little or no metal content in electronic devices in order to target commercial aircraft.

In February 2016, a bomb hidden inside a laptop detonated aboard a Daallo Airlines flight out of Mogadishu, Somalia. The bomber was killed and a hole was blown in the side of the fuselage. The aircraft landed safely.

You can disagree with the policy, but there's definitely a reason. At least US intelligence thinks there is.

[Texsahara]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/21/news...ica/index.html

This would seem to make no sense for a number of reasons.

It's absurd. But thank Allah Trump is here to keep us safe.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...s-tsa-airports

“It’s weird, because it doesn’t match a conventional threat model,” said Nicholas Weaver, researcher at the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. “If you assume the attacker is interested in turning a laptop into a bomb, it would work just as well in the cargo hold.”

He added: “If you’re worried about hacking, a cell phone is a computer.”

Some experts, and even the Federal Aviation Administration, have also increasingly raised concerns that the shipment of lithium batteries in airplane cargo, poses a serious fire risk.

Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, called the new rules an “onerous travel restriction”.
“From a technological perspective, nothing has changed between the last dozen years and today. That is, there are no new technological breakthroughs that make this threat any more serious today,” he said in an email. “And there is certainly nothing technological that would limit this newfound threat to a handful of Middle Eastern airlines.”

Paul Schwartz, professor at the University of California, Berkeley law school, also noted that the 9/11 hijackers had a cell in Hamburg, Germany: “One potential problem with this approach where you single out countries is that you ignore the extent to which the terrorist threat is kind of state-less. The terrorists have cells throughout the entire world.”

[Texsahara]

You can disagree with the policy, but there's definitely a reason. At least US intelligence thinks there is.

Do you agree with the policy?

[ojo]

It's absurd. But thank Allah Trump is here to keep us safe.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...s-tsa-airports

Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, called the new rules an “onerous travel restriction”.
“From a technological perspective, nothing has changed between the last dozen years and today. That is, there are no new technological breakthroughs that make this threat any more serious today,” he said in an email. “And there is certainly nothing technological that would limit this newfound threat to a handful of Middle Eastern airlines.”

Paul Schwartz, professor at the University of California, Berkeley law school, also noted that the 9/11 hijackers had a cell in Hamburg, Germany: “One potential problem with this approach where you single out countries is that you ignore the extent to which the terrorist threat is kind of state-less. The terrorists have cells throughout the entire world.”

This is what immediately popped into my mind...

[Mr Coffee]

Do you agree with the policy?

It depends on the intelligence that have.

If, for example, they picked up a guy who was building bombs into laptops that weren't detectable by the airport carry-on x-ray thing, or if they found a laptop bomb like that, then yeah.

If it's just a theory, then probably not.

[Mr Coffee]

This is what immediately popped into my mind...

They will never make the world completely safe. This is about reducing risks.

As un-PC as it may be, the majority of people that want to blow things up here come from the middle east. To act otherwise is ridiculous.