Federal Judge Blocks Trump Effort To Indefinitely Detain Migrant Families - CBS News

“A federal judge rejected a Trump administration effort to detain migrant families and children for longer periods of time than currently allowed, saying it violates the very court settlement the government sought to scrap with its plan.”

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Trump Told Russians He Was Unconcerned About Their Election Interference - The Hill

“In a May 2017 Oval Office meeting, Trump told Russian officials that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the election because the US did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed officials to limit access to the remarks.”

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NRA Acted As A 'Foreign Asset' To Russia Before 2016 Election - The Guardian

“Drawing on contemporaneous emails and private interviews, an 18-month probe found that the NRA underwrote political access for Russian nationals Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin more than previously known — even though the two had declared their ties to the Kremlin.”

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Alleged cover-up, secret server and more in Trump whistleblower complaint - CNBC

Trump is abusing the power of his office, soliciting foreign interference in our elections, running a shadow foreign policy via a civilian with no known security clearance, and covering up evidence of his actions.

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Trump Offered His State Department's Assistance to Ukraine to Dig Up Dirt on Biden - Washington Post

The transcript shows Trump urging Ukraine to work with Atty Gen. Barr and Rudy Giuliani in pursuit of dirt on political opponents and bashing US officials. It shows a president with little concern for U.S. interests, only his own.

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Why Is Greta Thunberg Scary To Certain Men? - Irish Times

“Greta Thunberg hints at the emergence of new kind of power, a convergence of youth, popular protest, and irrefutable science. And for her loudest detractors, she also represents something else: the sight of their impending obsolescence hurtling towards them.”

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Explainer: The Trump Whistleblower Scandal - Reuters

The whistle-blower's complaint, which has not yet been turned over to Congress, involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” made by Trump, with the whistle-blower's allegations centering on Ukraine.

Donald Trump is in a standoff with leaders of the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives over a whistle-blower complaint from within the intelligence community. 

The whistle-blower's complaint, which has not yet been turned over to Congress, involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” made by Trump, with the whistle-blower's allegations centering on Ukraine.

Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the U.S. Intelligence Community, is tasked with determining if a complaint is credible and involves an urgent concern. If it meets these requirements, Atkinson is required to pass it along to the acting director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, who in turn “shall” forward it within seven days to the congressional intelligence committees. 

Atkinson has said in a letter to congressional leaders there were reasonable grounds to think the Aug. 12 whistle-blower complaint was credible and involved an urgent concern, and forwarded it to Maguire.  After consulting with lawyers from Trump's Justice Department, Maguire blocked the complaint from being forwarded to Congress, effectively overriding Atkinson.

Dan Meyer, a former head of the intelligence community whistle-blowing program, said Maguire’s decision to withhold the whistle-blower's complaint from Congress was unprecedented.

“This has never happened before,” said Meyer, a managing partner at the law firm Tully Rinckey.

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U.S. Has Spent 6 Trillion On Wars That Killed Half A Million Since 9/11 - Newsweek

The United States has spent nearly $6 trillion on wars that directly contributed to the deaths of around 500,000 people since the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs published its annual "Costs of War" report Wednesday, taking into consideration the Pentagon's spending and its Overseas Contingency Operations account, as well as "war-related spending by the Department of State, past and obligated spending for war veterans' care, interest on the debt incurred to pay for the wars, and the prevention of and response to terrorism by the Department of Homeland Security."

The United States has spent nearly $6 trillion on wars that directly contributed to the deaths of around 500,000 people since the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

The final count revealed, "The United States has appropriated and is obligated to spend an estimated $5.9 trillion (in current dollars) on the war on terror through Fiscal Year 2019, including direct war and war-related spending and obligations for future spending on post 9/11 war veterans."

"In sum, high costs in war and war-related spending pose a national security concern because they are unsustainable," the report concluded. "The public would be better served by increased transparency and by the development of a comprehensive strategy to end the wars and deal with other urgent national security priorities."

The report found that the "US military is conducting 'counter-terror' activities in 76 countries, or about 39% of the world's nations, vastly expanding [its mission] across the globe." In addition, these operations "have been accompanied by violations of human rights and civil liberties, in the US and abroad."

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Debunking The 9/11 Myths - Popular Mechanics

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, a wave of conspiracy theories swept the nation. The destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City was an inside job, they claimed, the work of the federal government, and "truthers" filled the internet with supposed proof of the vast conspiracy.

It was in this climate that Popular Mechanics took on the task of debunking the myths about the 9/11 attacks. Our first report appeared as the cover story for the March 2005 issue.

The reporting grew into a 2006 book with a forward by Sen. John McCain, which was updated with a new version in 2011.

To investigate 16 of the most prevalent claims made by conspiracy theorists, Popular Mechanics assembled a team of nine researchers and reporters who, together with PM editors, consulted more than 70 professionals in fields that form the core content of this magazine, including aviation, engineering and the military.

In the end, we were able to debunk each of these assertions with hard evidence and a healthy dose of common sense.

We learned that a few theories are based on something as innocent as a reporting error on that chaotic day.

Others are the byproducts of cynical imaginations that aim to inject suspicion and animosity into public debate. Only by confronting such poisonous claims with irrefutable facts can we understand what really happened on a day that is forever seared into world history.

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