StrangeSox

How the State Department looks right now: Blue X's are unfilled positions, Red X's are resignations. I'd be curious to see how the Obama, Bush and Clinton SD's looked at this point.

Something else that's not getting a lot of attention thanks to the Muslim Ban stuff is that Trump filed for candidacy in the 2020 election the day he was inaugurated. That's highly unusual, and it brings up all sorts of questions about fundraising/bribing and potentially how non-profits are allowed to go after him as President vs. as a "candidate"

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 11:25 AM) And I have to be honest, I think most of them should be. Confirmation process isn't about whether the Senate likes them or not. The President should have wide latitude to nominate people and have them confirmed. The key is, if they are just complete disasters. So for people like DeVos (who is laughably unqualified) and Tillerson (who is unqualified AND has huge conflicts of interest), I'm all about blocking them. But many others, not so much. When I called our Senators last week, I stressed DeVos, Tillerson and Sessions.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 10:31 AM) What is this obsession by conservatives that people who protest don't have jobs. Like it's some how impossible to do both. That idea that we should always be so busy working that we have no time for civic or political engagement is toxic anyway, but trying to trot out "get a job!" on a weekend is pretty sad. Trump signs another EO to implement his "repeal 2 regulations for every 1 new one" idea.

Full Text of Draft Dissent Channel Memo on Trump Refugee and Visa Order

some good news: That's six times what they get in a whole year in a single weekend.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 09:17 AM) LOL, and after the White House repeatedly claimed this wasnt a ban, Trump tweets about it calling it a "Ban". See, stuff like this is why I'm a little hesitant to jump on the "they're playing 11-dimensional chess!" stuff. This is all being run by a bunch of incompetent chucklef***s. Evil, fascist chucklef***s for sure, but still chucklef***s.

Bannon taking over the security apparatus and forcing out the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as the Director of National Intelligence is probably the most frightening thing that happened over the weekend. He is a straight-up white nationalist. For example, Steve Bannon's longtime suspicion of successful immigrants is the key to this weekend's chaos

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 08:18 AM) This story of a doctor on residency at a Cleveland clinic getting forced out is just so cruel https://www.propublica.org/article/clevelan...tent=1485734179 That's what this was-cruel and malicious. This order will make Americans less safe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/polit...rder-chaos.html

Saw that too, but waiting for more confirmation. If that's actually true, we're waking up to a completely different America tomorrow.

Lawful permanent residents are still going to be considered on a "case-by-case" basis. https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/8258...src=twsrc%5Etfw

The ACLU is reporting that the CBP is still ignoring the court order and denying some of those detained access to legal counsel. Sen. Hollen of Maryland is claiming that a 5 year old US citizen has been detained as part of the immigration, as well. http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/01/29/s...ined-at-dulles/

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2017 -> 10:18 PM) @yashar POTUS signed an order this afternoon which removed the Director of National Intelligence from National Security Council + added Steve Bannon Congrats. Our Joint Chiefs now have an anti semite. I've read that they also removed the Dept. of Energy representative as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bannon's also been one of the two main guys running the show for this horrible immigration EO. And at least per Guilliani, Trump thinks of this EO as a "Muslim ban" Bannon and Miller intervened to make sure that the order applied to legal permanent residents, as the original interpretation was that it didn't. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics...-ban/index.html

Someone leaked audio of the recent Republican meetings to the press. Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare

The president of the united States has accused two senators who have released a statement critical of his Muslim ban of "looking to start world war 3." https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/...src=twsrc%5Etfw

Week 2 kicking off with a potential constitutional crisis, sweet. https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/...src=twsrc%5Etfw

Student visas were being revoked before the immigration order was given. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/offici...ecutive-n713546

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2017 -> 10:18 PM) @yashar POTUS signed an order this afternoon which removed the Director of National Intelligence from National Security Council + added Steve Bannon Congrats. Our Joint Chiefs now have an anti semite. Oh good the Nazi has even more power now. Spicer claimed an "imminent threat" prevented them from notifying anyone before this EO. https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/825754...src=twsrc%5Etfw And it appears they're ready to ignore court orders? https://twitter.com/AymanM/status/825755230...src=twsrc%5Etfw Merkel had to explain the Geneva convention to trump https://twitter.com/Kevinliptakcnn/status/8...src=twsrc%5Etfw

"it can't happen here!"

This is where we stayed: http://www.barharbormanor.com/ It was nice, recently renovated (or built? newish anyway), good on price and only a couple of blocks from the main street. I don't know if we had a "favorite" hike there, just lots of good ones.

Yes, that was the point I was trying to make originally which may not have come across clearly.

Agree with ss2k5--Canadian side is way better. The town on that side has a very Wisconsin Dells vibe to it, which could be good for kids. My wife and I did a road trip from Boston up to Bar Harbor, Maine and back last summer. Once you're in Maine, there are all sorts of little resort beach towns all along Highway 1 on the coast, with plenty of family-friendly activities. If your kids are at all into hiking like you and your wife are, Acadia NP would be a great place to stop. That's the most accessible trail system we've been on so far, with plenty of trails ranging in difficulty and terrain all starting right off the roadways running around Mt. Desert island.