February 6, 2017


News and Views


LIFE IN PLACES LIKE THIS, WITH MORE OR LESS BARREN SOIL AND HUGE, CRAGGY MOUNTAINS, IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TO LIVE WITH. IT DOES MAKE FOR STRONG PEOPLE, HOWEVER. THEY’RE ALREADY CLEARING IT UP, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/avalanches-kill-more-than-100-in-snow-battered-afghanistan/

More than 100 killed as avalanches bury entire villages
AP February 6, 2017, 9:30 AM

Photograph -- An Afghan man makes his way down a snow covered street in Kabul on February 5, 2017. GETTY


KABUL, Afghanistan -- Avalanches in Afghanistan triggered by heavy snowfall across the country have killed at least 119 people in recent days, officials said on Monday.

Wais Ahmad Barmak, the state minister for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, said that at least 89 people have been injured and 190 homes destroyed by avalanches in multiple provinces. Those figures were expected to rise as rescue teams made their way through snow-blocked roads to afflicted areas.

Many of the most recent fatalities come from Nuristan province, near the Pakistani border, where two villages were buried in snow. Barmak’s spokesman Omer Mohammadi said rescue teams have so far recovered 48 bodies from those villages and that more than 2,500 acres of farmland have been destroyed.

Mohammadi said it would take some time to establish a clear picture of the full extent of the damage.

“This will take days for us to clean up all roads covered with snow in different provinces,” he said.

On Sunday, Afghanistan’s government declared a public holiday due to the heavy snowfall across the country.

The United Nations has offered its assistance.

“I commend the efforts of the Afghan government that has quickly mobilized to respond to the disaster,” said U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan Mark Bowden in a statement. “The U.N. system stands ready to fully support the Afghan government in responding.”




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claims-that-any-negative-polls-are-fake-news/

Trump claims that any negative polls are "fake news"
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
February 6, 2017, 8:01 AM


President Trump suggested Monday morning that any polls that signal public disapproval of him, his administration or his policies should be considered “fake news.”

The president seemed to suggest on Twitter that surveys measuring the public’s opinion of his executive order that instituted the travel ban and called for extreme vetting are not accurate.

He compared any “negative” polls to the surveys released during the run-up the presidential election, which had predicted that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was leading in the race.

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
7:01 AM - 6 Feb 2017
22,988 22,988 Retweets 95,479 95,479 likes

Mr. Trump then tweeted a few minutes later, saying that he calls his “own shots.”

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
I call my own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it. Some FAKE NEWS media, in order to marginalize, lies!
7:07 AM - 6 Feb 2017
15,500 15,500 Retweets 75,336 75,336 likes

This comes as the White House wrestles with a legal battle over the travel ban after a Seattle judge’s ruling Friday put a temporary hold on the policy across the country. A San Francisco-based appeals court has already turned down the Justice Department’s request to set aside the hold.

A CBS News poll released Friday found a majority, 51 percent, disapproves of the ban and 45 percent approves it.




“A WONDERFUL PLAN”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-obamacare-replacement-plan-could-take-until-next-year/

Trump says Obamacare replacement plan could take until next year
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
February 5, 2017, 5:27 PM

Photograph -- U.S. President Donald Trump (C), flanked by Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly (R), takes the stage to deliver remarks at Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, U.S. January 25, 2017. REUTERS


President Trump is giving an extended timeline for when his administration could be expected to roll out a new plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), former President Obama’s landmark healthcare legislation.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump made the vague assertion that it could take “’til sometime into next year.”

Asked if Americans could expect a replacement plan in 2017, the president said, “yes, in the process and maybe it’ll take till sometime into next year but we’re certainly going to be in the process.”

He added that it’s “very complicated,” but urged Americans to remember that “Obamacare is a disaster.”

Amid battle to repeal Obamacare, should you still enroll?
Play VIDEO
Amid battle to repeal Obamacare, should you still enroll?

“Obamacare doesn’t work so we are putting in a wonderful plan,” Mr. Trump said. “It statutorily takes a while to get. We’re going to be putting it in fairly soon. I think that yes, I would like to say by the end of the year -- at least the rudiments -- but we should have something within the year and the following year.”

Last month, the president signed an executive order meant to minimize what the action called “unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens” of the ACA. Though the order did not require any specific actions, it gives broad authority to the Department of Health and Human Services to take actions easing the regulatory requirements from the legislation.

In recent weeks, however, some Republicans who have been long advocates of repealing the ACA have signaled an openness to repair parts of the act ahead of a full repeal.

Last week Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which he chairs that he sees Obamacare as, “a collapsing bridge.”

“You send in a rescue team and you go to work to repair it so that nobody else is hurt by it and you start to build a new bridge, and only when that new bridge is complete -- people can drive safely across it -- do you close the old bridge. When it’s complete, we can close the old bridge, but in the meantime, we repair it. No one is talking about repealing anything until there is a concrete practical alternative to offer Americans in its place.”

According to numbers put out by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, repealing the ACA without a plan to replace it could leave more than 30 million Americans uninsured by 2026.



DO WATCH THIS BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTION, WITH IT’S BREATH-CATCHING ENDING. IT’S MUCH MORE THAN A MERE COMMERCIAL.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/84-lumber-website-swamped-after-poignant-super-bowl-ad/

84 Lumber website swamped after poignant Super Bowl ad
CBS NEWS
February 6, 2017, 10:11 AM

Photograph -- The construction supply company’s first Super Bowl ad is an emotional tale of a Latin American mother and daughter embarking on a long, difficult journey. 84 LUMBER/YOUTUBE


PITTSBURGH — It appears the first national Super Bowl ad for 84 Lumber is a success, though not as its creators originally intended, CBS Pittsburgh reports.

First, Brunnerworks, the Pittsburgh advertising company that created the spot, was forced to make a change.

The original ad featured a wall blocking people looking for work in the United States, and immigrants unable to cross the border due to the wall. That apparently made FOX uncomfortable.

Super Bowl 2017: Watch the commercials

“Simply put, that was a spot that they didn’t think they would be willing to run during the Super Bowl,” said Michael Brunner, the chairman and CEO of Brunnerworks.

So the ad agency did some re-noodling.

“We changed the spot and that’s what we’ll be running on Sunday,” Brunner said.

The resulting 90-second spot directed viewers online for the conclusion.

Steve Radick, Brunnerworks’ vice president and director of public relations and content integration, said the website received more than 300,000 web requests in the first minute. The traffic was more than the site could handle. Radick said only half of the server requests could be handled every minute, but after about 10 minutes the issue was resolved.

In the end, Radick said the website received more than 6 million requests in the first hour after the spot aired just before halftime of the Super Bowl.

Brunner tells the “KDKA Morning News” the ad was viewed over 4 million times on YouTube in the first 12 hours.

Brunner adds while they had to change the ad, it worked out for the best.

“It was planned to be a 90-second spot all along, clearly we had to make some changes, and the end result; we were very pleased,” says Brunner

The 84 Lumber ad had three goals according to Brunner.

“One was to generate awareness, two was to position 84 Lumber as an employer of choice, and then most importantly is to get the recruits, to fill the number of positions [84 Lumber] has open over the course of the year,” he said.

Brunner says the ad wasn’t mean to create controversy.

“The controversy’s already out there. We were simply using that as a metaphor to talk about 84 Lumber and what they’re looking for in terms of the people they’re looking to hire,” says Brunner.

Watch the ad here: available on website by link.
84 Lumber Super Bowl Commercial - The Entire Journey by 84 Lumber on YouTube




THIS YOUNG MAN WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF TO TURN HIMSELF IN TO THE POLICE AND HAVE THE WOMAN’S BODY INTERRED DECENTLY. EVEN IF HE DIDN’T KILL HER, THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE NOW THAT NOBODY WILL BELIEVE HIM. SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL AND HAPPY GIRL, FROM HER PHOTO. GO TO THE WEBSITE AND LOOK AT HER.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/zuzu-verk-missing-remains-found-in-shallow-grave-likely-missing-student-texas-cops/

Zuzu Verk missing: Remains found in shallow grave likely missing student, cops say
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
February 6, 2017, 11:51 AM

Photograph -- Zuzu Verk CBS DFW


ALPINE, Texas -- The boyfriend of a missing West Texas college student was arrested Saturday a day after remains believed to be his girlfriend were found in a shallow grave outside of Alpine, police said.

Robert Fabian, of Alpine, was arrested at a relative’s home on a charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence by concealing a human corpse, according to Alpine police Lt. Felipe Fierro.

fabian.jpg
Robert Fabian pictured in a mugshot KOSA

Sul Ross State University junior Zuzu Verk, 22 of Fort Worth, had been missing since Oct. 12 following a date with Fabian, police said. Fabian reported Verk missing two days later, and since then declined to cooperate with police, Fierro said.

Positive identification was pending on the remains discovered Friday by a Border Patrol agent.

“Some of the information on the arrest affidavit shows that evidence at the scene, including human remains, have features that are consistent with Zuzu Verk,” Fierro said in a statement. The complete affidavit was expected to be released Monday, according to Fierro.

Formal identification was not expected until possibly next week, police said.

Verk’s mother Lori Verk told CBS affiliate KOSA she believes the remains are her daughter.

“It’s not over yet, not by a long shot,” Lori Verk told the station. “I want to find out exactly what, when, why, how, who — that’s what I want to find out.”

In a statement released to local media, the Verk family thanked the community and said they “look forward to the day we witness justice delivered for Zuzu.”

zuzu-verk-photo-boyfriend.jpg
Robert Fabian and Zuzu Verk KOSA

“As our family awaits the likely news that our worst fears have been realized, our sorrow has grown alongside a sense of relief from the constant state of not knowing,” the statement read. “Zuzu has been a bright light in our lives. It has been our greatest challenge to go forward these last months without her joyous laugh, fierce idealism and heart-melting smile, knowing we may all never have them again.”

Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson said law enforcement personnel on foot searched the brushy area Saturday with the hope of recovering additional evidence. There, they uncovered additional remains expected to be “crucial” to the identification and investigation, Dodson told the station. It was possible an animal had scattered the remains, he said.

“It’s a relief, I know for us and the family,” Dodson told the station. “We knew if we ever found her that there would be evidence at that scene that would really help us and sure enough it is.”

He declined to elaborate on what other evidence was uncovered.

Fabian was being held Saturday at the Brewster County Jail, in Alpine. Bond was not immediately set, pending his appearance before a magistrate. An attorney for Fabian didn’t immediately return messages for comment Saturday.

A prosecutor from the state attorney general’s office would handle the case, according to Dodson, since the district attorney in office at the time of the disappearance finished his term at the end of 2016.

Alpine is 210 miles southeast of El Paso.



“THE PRESIDENT DUDE” SOUNDS REALLY CUTE. IT’S JUST LIKE THE 1970’S. IT IS YET ANOTHER COMMENTARY AGAINST TRUMP’S IDEA OF DEMOCRACY, HOWEVER.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/martellus-bennett-says-he-wont-visit-trump-at-white-house/

Martellus Bennett says he won't visit Trump at White House
CBS/AP
February 6, 2017, 11:00 AM

Photograph -- New England Patriots’ Martellus Bennett appears at a news conference with his daughter Austyn Jett Rose Bennett after the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. The New England Patriots won 34-28 in overtime. CHUCK BURTON, AP


HOUSTON -- Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett says he is not worried about upsetting team owner Robert Kraft by not attending New England’s trip to the White House as Super Bowl champions.

Bennett said after the Patriots’ 34-28 win over the Falcons on Sunday night that he’s “not going to go” to the traditional meet-and-greet with the president. It will be the first visit of a Super Bowl champion to Washington since Donald Trump was sworn into office.

Trump’s positions have alienated some athletes, which has raised questions about whether some might choose to skip the trip while the new president is in office.

But Bennett said he isn’t concerned about it and thinks the team believes “in whatever I want to do.”

Kraft is a supporter of Trump and attended a celebration dinner in Washington for him the night before his inauguration.

Bennett has previously made his political views known on Twitter.

Follow
Martellus Bennett ✔ @MartysaurusRex
I'm with her.
6:18 AM - 8 Nov 2016
387 387 Retweets 1,379 1,379 likes

Follow
Martellus Bennett ✔ @MartysaurusRex
Surprised the president dude didn't ban celebrating Chinese New Year in America!!
7:13 PM - 28 Jan 2017
309 309 Retweets 1,142 1,142 likes



POLL-DOUBTERISM

President Trump’s simplistic, illogical worldview, in one tweet
By Aaron Blake
February 6 at 10:19 AM

Photograph -- President Trump speaks on the phone with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 28. (Drew Angerer/Getty Image
Play Video 1:36 -- What's in January's Washington Post-ABC News poll
Photograph -- President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office on Jan. 20 as the least popular incoming president in at least four decades. Here's what the newest Washington Post-ABC News poll says about Americans' attitudes. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)


President Trump has finally admitted to his overarching theory about which polls are right and which ones are wrong. And it's very simple:

Polls that are bad for Trump = wrong

This isn't much of a surprise; Trump has been bashing any poll that is bad for him and praising any poll that is good for him — no matter how dubious the quality — for as long as he's been a politician. But few politicians would cop to this approach so directly. And yet, here's Trump's Monday morning tweet:

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
7:01 AM - 6 Feb 2017
26,498 26,498 Retweets 110,988 110,988 likes

"Any negative polls are fake news." This is Trump signaling to his supporters that they are to dismiss any bad news about him. Never mind the methodology of a given poll or how Trump is actually doing as president; if something is negative, it has to be wrong.

This is at once a completely Trump worldview and also one that would get any student taking Statistics 101 a failing grade. Trump insists in his next tweet that he relies on the “accumulation of data” to make his decisions, but in this tweet, he is expressing contempt for any data that don't fit his preconceived notions or desires.

Poll-doubterism is an increasingly popular practice in this country, given how wrong some polls were in the 2016 election. The media largely overshot those polls' predictive qualities when it said (and we're over-generalizing “the media” here, yes) that Trump wouldn't win. And so Trump is tilling fertile soil here.

But his approach just has no basis in logic. It's almost alogical, rather than illogical. It's also allowing for Trump to do basically anything and claim a vast conspiracy against him by pollsters when they show people don't like it. Unemployment could skyrocket and Trump could start World War III by accident, and the polls showing him unpopular would just be “fake news.” There is no limit to the power Trump is attempting to assert when it comes to leading his base.

It's worth noting here that these same national polls that he's bashing were only about 1 point off in 2016 — on average — and even if they're 5 or 15 points off today, he was still the most unpopular president-elect in modern history. It's just not close.

Those very real statistics aside, Trump is throwing this blanket policy over all polling for a clear reason: Because basically every poll shows him and his policies treading water.

His average approval rating is lower than his disapproval rating, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

A new CNN poll showed 53 percent disapproved of his travel ban executive order, vs. 47 percent who approved. A CBS News poll showed Americans disapprove of it 51-45. And Gallup showed 55-42 against.

The Gallup poll showed Americans opposed his border wall, 60-38.

Gallup also showed they oppose halting the Syrian refugee program, 58-36.

The CBS poll showed people believed banning refugees went against the founding principles of the United States, 57-35.

A Quinnipiac poll last week showed people thought Trump would be a worse president than Barack Obama, 50-37.

Polls have shown 7 in 10 would like more information on Trump's finances and his tax returns.

The total picture is of a president who simply isn't doing all that well in the eyes of the American people — to varying degrees. On this point, the polls are almost completely united.

And that's completely realistic, given Trump is doing very divisive and controversial things. It's no surprise that the American people would be split on his ideas given the tenor of his policies and the tone he takes with his political opponents. If Trump were trying hard to make everyone love him, it would be one thing. He's not.

The question is whether this is what Trump truly believes or whether it's a cynical political ploy to keep his base intact in the face of troubled waters ahead. We'll leave it to others to decide which they'd prefer.



http://www.dictionary.com/browse/alogical

Origin of “alogical”
alogical – [ey-loj-i-kuh l] -- adjective

“beyond the scope of logic or logical reasoning:
alogical philosophical speculations.”

Origin: 1685-1695 AD



“Poll-doubterism”
The philosophy of Donald J. Trump

Origin: Aaron Blake, Washington Post, February 6, 2017



ANOTHER INTERESTING SPECULATION:

https://www.quora.com/Can-the-Supreme-Court-remove-a-President

Can the Supreme Court remove a President?

So lets say that a President goes crazy and his party has a majority in Congress and they refuse to impeach him. Can the Supreme Court prevent him from continuing in power?

13 Answers
**********************************************
Cliff Gilley, JD cum laude, Seattle University Class of 2000
Written 7 Oct 2016

In the US, the Vice-President (along with the Cabinet) is empowered with the authority to deem the President unfit for office, resulting in the succession of the office to the next designated official.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

If this were to happen and the President refused to step down, the Supreme Court might be called upon to rule on the appropriate use of the clause, and to issue an official order directing the President to step down.

The Supreme Court has no other Constitutional or legal authority to act against the President.

******************************
Robert Perez, CA and WA Criminal Lawyer - JD, Harvard Law '77
Written 7 Mar 2016

No. The Judicial Branch has no Constitutional authority to remove a President.

If someone with appropriate standing brought a lawsuit seeking, for example, a writ having the effect of removing the President, I could imagine the Court granting extraordinary relief in the extraordinary scenario you describe. But even if they won, there would be no one with the power to enforce the judgment. The result would be a piece of paper with extraordinary historical amusement value, nothing more.

Dont spend too much time on this question, not going to happen.

*************************************
Michael Chavez, works at St Pius V Catholic School
Written 5d ago

No. The U.S. Constitution provides for the removal of a president only by:
1.Impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate; or
2.The Vice President, with the major Cabinet members, can submit a written claim of presidential incompetence to the president pro tem of the Senate, as governed by the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.



AS LIGHTHEARTED AS THE ANSWERS ABOVE MAY BE, THE TIME MAY COME WHEN WE COULD VERY WELL NEED THIS INFORMATION. SEE THE NEXT ARTICLE FROM CBS, 2:44 PM TODAY.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claims-media-is-covering-up-terror-attacks/

Trump claims media is covering up terror attacks, citing no evidence
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
February 6, 2017, 2:44 PM

Photograph -- 2017-02-06t190559z-1491285420-ht1ed261h1jcl-rtrmadp-3-usa-trump-defense.jpg
Photograph -- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to commanders and coalition representatives during a visit to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA


President Trump on Monday said that news outlets are covering up terrorist attacks without citing any evidence that supports that claim.

He made the comment in a speech to U.S. servicemembers at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida after receiving a briefing and eating lunch with troops.

The president began talking about how “radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland” as they did on 9/11, in the Boston bombings and in San Bernardino. He said it’s also happening “all over Europe” like in Paris and Nice.

“It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported. In many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that,” Mr. Trump said.

There is no evidence that any media outlet is covering up terrorist attacks.

This comes after his adviser, Kellyanne Conway, referred to the “Bowling Green Massacre,” which never happened, in an effort to defend the administration’s travel ban. She later claimed that she misspoke and meant “Bowling Green terrorists.” Cosmopolitan said Monday that Conway had also referred to the fake massacre in an interview with one of its reporters.

During the speech Monday, Mr. Trump vowed to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and also repeated his call for members of NATO to contribute more to the alliance.

“To these forces of death and destruction, America and its allies will defeat you,” Mr. Trump said, adding that the U.S. needs “strong programs” to keep out “people who want to destroy us and destroy our country.”

He seemed to be referring to his travel ban, which has been temporarily halted by a federal judge, and his call for “extreme vetting.”

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Rebecca Shabad
Rebecca Shabad is a video reporter for CBS News Digital.