Trump Reimposes Iran Nuclear Deal Sanctions

The Trump administration announced Monday the reimposition of sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of a nuclear agreement with the country. The sanctions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and follow through on the order President Trump gave when he withdrew from the nuclear pact in May. 

In announcing the sanctions action, administration officials touted Iran’s ongoing civil unrest and economic woes and reiterated Trump’s openness to meeting with Iranian leaders. 

Seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to tear up what he’s called the “worst deal ever negotiated,” Trump announced in May he was withdrawing the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal. The accord, negotiated with Iran under the Obama administration alongside Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, gave Tehran billions in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. 

The sanctions that will come back into effect after midnight target transactions with U.S. dollar banknotes; trade in gold and precious metals; direct or indirect sales of graphite and metals such as steel and aluminum; certain transactions related to the Iranian rial; certain transactions related to issuing Iranian sovereign debt; and Iran’s automotive sector. Additionally, authorizations will be revoked for the import of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuff and the export of commercial aircraft. 

The second wind-down period, which ends Nov. 4, will be the more significant one, as that is when sanctions on oil sales snap back.

Andrew Cuomo to Run Against Trump?

Real Clear Politics gives 5 reasons why Andrew Cuomo would run against Trump. 

Cuomo is a New Yorker. He knows Trump's New York act. He knows that almost anything could come out of Trump's mouth and can see a sucker punch a mile away. 

Like Trump, Andrew Cuomo promotes his family roots in the working borough of Queens. When running for New York attorney general in 2010, Cuomo made clear that Queens formed him. "That's where we grew up," he said. "I lived in Queens. I went to school in Queens. I worked in Queens."

Cuomo is a centrist skilled at juggling various constituencies. Sure, he's friendly with Wall Street. Wouldn't you be if financial services provided your state's largest payroll? His father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, was a master at negotiating the culture war. He famously announced his personal opposition to abortion while not restricting it.  

Cuomo is unafraid of the left flank. His quest for another term as governor has encountered a speed bump in the form of actress Cynthia Nixon. Nixon has zero experience in government but uses her celebrity to draw attention to her hot lefty rhetoric. This was enough to win her the endorsement of the Working Families Party. The WFP is a small party but big enough to act as spoiler in a close general election. 

Barbs from the left notwithstanding, Cuomo has a solid progressive record. He raised the minimum wage, launched a paid family leave program and secured significant new funding for education. He is pushing to divest the state's enormous pension funds of fossil fuel investments and has an ambitious plan to switch the state to green energy.

Mass Shootings in Chicago Over the Weekend

74 people were shot in one of the most violent weekends of the year in Chicago. There was a 7-hour period early Sunday morning when 40 people were shot. Between 3:00PM Friday and 6:00AM on Monday morning, 11 people were killed and 63 were wounded. The ages of the victims ranged from 11 to 62 years old. 

The large weekend numbers resulted in a press conference on Sunday morning, during which Chicago police chief of patrol Fred Waller blamed the violence on gang members who shoot into summer crowds at night. Over the weekend, shooters targeted large groups at a block party, a funeral, and other outdoor gatherings. 

1,785 people have been shot this year. That is 480 fewer than 2017. 309 homicides have been reported in Chicago up to this point.

Anarchy Breaks Out in Portland

For more than five weeks, as many as 200 people had occupied the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Portland to demand ICE’s immediate abolition. A mob surrounded ICE’s office in Southwest Portland June 19. They barricaded the exits and blocked the driveway. They sent “guards” to patrol the doors, trapping workers inside.

Signs called ICE employees “Nazis” and “white supremacists.” Others accused them of running a “concentration camp,” and demanded open borders and prosecution of ICE agents. Along a wall, vandals wrote the names of ICE staff, encouraging others to publish their private information online. 

At night protesters laid on the street, stopping traffic at a critical junction near a hospital. Despite requests for help, police stayed away. 

Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler also doubles as police commissioner. Wheeler has been the Mayor of Portland since 2017. One of Wheeler’s first actions was to make initial assignments of city departments to the five commissioners, of which the mayor is one. He assigned to himself the Portland Police Bureau, the Portland Development Commission, and the Portland Housing Bureau.

Police were ordered to stay away from the ICE Office by Portland’s Mayor. “I do not want the @PortlandPolice to be engaged or sucked into a conflict, particularly from a federal agency that I believe is on the wrong track,” he tweeted. “If [ICE is] looking for a bailout from this mayor, they are looking in the wrong place.”

Portland Police Bureau’s Response to the ICE protests, “At this time I am denying your request for additional resources,” the Portland Police Bureau’s deputy chief, Robert Day, wrote to federal officers who were pleading for help.

Berkeley Police Arrest 20, Seize 'Dozens of Weapons' at Opposing Protests

Berkeley, California, police arrested 20 people on Sunday and confiscated "dozens of weapons" as members of so-called "alt-right" and far-left groups gathered in the city for opposing protests.

Two groups of alt-right protesters had announced plans for a "No to Marxism" rally at the city's Civic Center Park earlier in the week. That prompted plans for a "Sweep Out The Fascists" march and counter-rally that drew hundreds of people downtown. 

City officials said neither group had sought or obtained a permit for their respective rallies. On Friday, police issued rules prohibiting masks and items that could be used as weapons. 

In addition to the arrests, officials said three people suffered minor injuries after a group of "extremists" threw "explosives" believed to be fireworks and flares at police and Alameda County Sheriff's officers. No members of law enforcement were hurt. 

Berkeley police also said that extremists damaged 21 city vehicles, setting one on fire, and slashed their tires. The group also set fires in trash bins.

Survey Shows Shocking Percentage of Americans Are Unable to Name a Single First Amendment Right

According to the Freedom Forum Institute's annual “State of the First Amendment” (SOFA) survey, a shocking number of Americans are unfamiliar with their First Amendment rights. 

Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed in May and June of this year, only one person was able to name all five First Amendment rights. 40 percent of people surveyed couldn't name any. About one-third of respondents (36%) could name one freedom, but only 3% could name four of the five freedoms. 

Question: As you may know, the First Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution. Can you name any of the specific rights that are guaranteed by the First Amendment?

2018:               2016:

• Freedom of the Press              13%                 11%
• Freedom of Religion               15%                 17%
• Freedom of Speech                 56%                 54%
• Right of Assembly                  12%                 12%
• Right to Petition                      2%                   N/A

Put your phone down! Growing Backlash is Calling Out Our Terrible Tech Manners

New research from Ofcom finds that, on average, people check their smartphones once every 12 minutes during their waking hours. The sudden loss of our manners where phones are concerned has not gone entirely unremarked. And in the last few months the backlash, it seems, has gone mainstream.

Apple itself jumped on board. At its annual developers' conference the same month, the tech giant announced a range of apps that limit time spent on iPhones and allow parents to set device "allowances". 

The new tools would warn iPhone and iPad users if they were spending too long on their devices, while iOS 12 would include a timer that would lock users out of apps after a certain period. 

Google announced something similar in May, with warnings to discourage users from long YouTube binges and options to receive a single daily summary of notifications. 

A number of restaurants have been catching on, too. Last November, Grand Central Chelmsford, an American eatery, introduced phone-free Fridays, a weekly fixture in which customers received 10 per cent off their bill if they put their phones away in an envelope for the duration of their dinner. 

Earlier this year, the Fat Boar pub and restaurant in Wrexham announced a similar scheme - mobile-free Monday - offering diners a 25 per cent discount on their food bill if they locked up their mobile phones at the door 

In 2012, two studies at Essex University found that if a mobile is even visible during a conversation, it causes people to feel less positive towards their interlocutor. According to the researchers, the sight of our phones may automatically trigger thoughts about wider social networks, reducing in turn the degree of empathy and understanding in face-to-face interactions.

Mail Time!

• I disagree with you, Bill. President Trump's base will not tire of his taking on the press. Not going to happen. 

• With NFL preseason games firing up next week I "fear" the National Anthem thing will again become a distraction to the games themselves. It must be a big thing to a lot of people or there wouldn't be a drop in attendance and viewership. I don't really get this because I don't recall seeing the playing of the anthem on TV so without the press hype I wouldn't even be aware of the issue.

• Bill, you're missing the easiest target related to Democratic Socialists - Free College. If I'm a plumber and my son wants to be a plumber, why should I pay taxes for someone to become a lawyer and charge me $300/hour? Not everyone WANTS to go to college. Some people don't even want to finish high school. Why should they pay for people who do? Is it going to be paid for strictly by increased taxes on the rich? If so, why not use those taxes for something that benefits everyone?

Word of the Day: Bilge