Monday, June 26

á       The Trump administration slashed two $400,000 grants in federal funding to US groups that combat white extremism. http://tinyurl.com/ya5ywpou

Reuters reported the Department of Homeland Security announced changes to a $10 million government grant program, narrowing its focus around efforts to combat Islamist extremism. http://tinyurl.com/yblzbwfj

á       Amy Goodman reported the healthcare bill proposed by Senate Republicans would defund Planned Parenthood for a year, making breast cancer screenings and basic reproductive services more difficult for women to secure. http://tinyurl.com/ybs4lh59

á       The Supreme Court partially lifted the block on President Donald TrumpÕs travel ban. Muslims with a bona fide connection to the US, such as having family members here, or a job or a place in an American university cannot be denied entrance. http://tinyurl.com/y8yzz585

á       The Supreme Court announced it will consider if a Denver baker acted lawfully in refusing to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple. http://tinyurl.com/y96d8y3n

á       The Supreme Court refused to consider a California concealed weapon law that gives sheriffs power to require concealed weapon applicants to show a particular need. http://tinyurl.com/yba9fr9e

á       The Supreme Court ruled that taxpayer-funded grants for playgrounds available to nonprofits under a state program could not be denied to a school run by a church. http://tinyurl.com/ybl48yg2

á       Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Lockheed Martin announced a deal to make F-16 fighter jets in India. http://tinyurl.com/ybjvumxe

á       TomDispatch reported that during the Bush administration, Special Operation forces were deployed to about 60 nations. Under Obama, the number swelled to 120. Now, under Trump, itÕs up to 137 countries including Africa and Asia. http://tinyurl.com/y7nlwwhr

Tuesday, June 27

á       The Guardian UK reported that TrumpÕs attorney, Jay Sekulow, steered millions in donations to his Christian nonprofit to family members and their businesses. http://tinyurl.com/ycardkev

á       The Pentagon considered plans to cancel enlistment contracts to immigrants who served in US armed forces deliberately exposing them to deportation. http://tinyurl.com/ybncb2qa

á       The Supreme Court ordered states to list same-sex parents on birth certificates. http://tinyurl.com/ycuda92j

á       Senate Republicans announced they would postpone their vote on their healthcare bill due to lack of support. http://tinyurl.com/y9mgvjs2

á       Trump threatened to sabotage Obamacare insurance subsidies to low-income Americans if the new healthcare bill is not passed and thus playing politics with the health of the nation. http://tinyurl.com/yawf8crn

á       The Washington Post reported that a fake Time Magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in at least five of his golf resorts. http://tinyurl.com/y78aseq2

á       BuzzFlash reported that the worldÕs biggest coal company closed 37 mines as solar prices plummet. http://tinyurl.com/y87mkjmt

á       In light of US arms sales to Qatar, Senator Bob Corker wrote a letter to Secretary of State Tillerson informing him that future weapons sales to Persian Gulf coast countries would face more restrictions. http://tinyurl.com/y8cmvu6z

á       The UN warned that human-cause soil contamination, mainly from excess chemicals in soils used to grow food, threatened global food security. http://tinyurl.com/yaxyr84d

á       In response to an armed gunman who opened fire at the annual congressional baseball practice game, the House passed a resolution giving each representative a $25,000 allowance for additional security. http://tinyurl.com/u8cz4h7

Wednesday, June 28

á       A federal judge temporarily halted the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi Christian nationals who could face death upon returning to their native country. http://tinyurl.com/yc6yseao

á       The New York Times published almost every lie Trump has told since taking the oath of office. http://tinyurl.com/y74axp5c

á       EcoWatch reported that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt met with Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris before deciding to reverse an earlier EPA decision to ban the company's toxic and widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos. http://tinyurl.com/y7tum9s2

á       Trump planned to kick off his 2020 re-election fundraising with a $35,000-a-plate fundraiser at a DC Trump Hotel. http://tinyurl.com/ydgcl4fe

á       Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was allotted 10 minutes to speak via teleconference at the Economic Council of the Christian Democratic Union in Germany.  After he spoke for 20 minutes, the organizers cut his feed. The audience laughed and clapped. http://tinyurl.com/ydgmkoww

á       The EPA plans to issue a proposed rule to undo the Clean Water Rule making it easier for polluters to contaminate the nationÕs water supply for millions of people. http://tinyurl.com/y7e6ylvf

á       Inequality.org reported that the Senate Republicans' new healthcare bill would kill essential home caregiver jobs and permanently destabilize the home caregiver industry. http://tinyurl.com/yby7jxpx

á       The House passed legislation to limit medical liability to $250,000 in healthcare lawsuits where coverage for the care was provided or subsidized by the federal government. http://tinyurl.com/w28bggb

Thursday, June 29

á       US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley pledged to block any appointment of a Palestinian official to a senior UN post. http://tinyurl.com/yatqnh7f

á       Trump tweeted about Mika Brzezinski, co-host of ÒMorning JoeÓ TV show, ÒÉhow come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New YearÕs Eve, and insisted on joining me.  She was bleeding badly from a face-lift.  I said no!Ó http://tinyurl.com/yack8w49

á       Trump announced that Dennis Lee Forsgren as the EPA's water safety official. Forsgren is a former lobbyist with deep ties to a fossil fuel advocacy group that promotes the Dakota Access pipeline and offshore drilling. http://tinyurl.com/y7kvyv8t

á       The Washington Post reported that Òthe chair of President Trump's Election Integrity Commission has penned a letter to all 50 states requesting their full voter-roll data, including the name, address, date of birth, party affiliation, last four Social Security number digits and voting history back to 2006 of potentially every voter in the state.Ó http://tinyurl.com/y84wk3ee

Friday, June 30

á      EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt planned to launch a formal initiative to challenge mainstream climate science using a "back-and-forth critique" by government-recruited experts. Energy Secretary Rick Perry also favors the review. http://tinyurl.com/y876uvwd

á       Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delayed a plan approved by the Obama administration a year ago to begin allowing transgender recruits to join the US military. http://tinyurl.com/y7veubmc

á       Facing opposition from environmental and human rights organizations, the Department of Justice withdrew its request to construct a maximum-security prison atop a former mountaintop-removal coal-mining site. http://tinyurl.com/ydy8w3rb

á       The District Sentinel reported that Òthe Trump administration confirmed that it is considering the integration of two energy regulators that were split after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe due to inherent conflicts of interest.Ó http://tinyurl.com/yd7fcoj5

á       The House Appropriations Committee voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force and to revoke TrumpÕs powers to wage war. http://tinyurl.com/ycgmxdam

á       The Wall Street Journal reported that before the November election, a GOP operative, Peter Smith, with an implied connection to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, sought Clinton emails from hackers. http://tinyurl.com/yaomlden And according to The Hill, Matt Tait, the CEO and founder of UK-based security consultant firm Capital Alpha Security, claims Peter Smith attempted to recruit him to help validate the emails. http://tinyurl.com/yc9kvcpz

á       ThinkProgress reported that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and co-chair of TrumpÕs election integrity commission is laying the groundwork for voter suppression using KansasÕ disastrous voter purge as a national model. http://tinyurl.com/yc29z7ql

á       The House passed two immigration bills: one that withholds federal funding from sanctuary cities, and one that increases penalties for immigrants returning to the US after being deported. http://tinyurl.com/y7ur5goz

Saturday, July 1

á       At least 25 states have rejected TrumpÕs voter commission effort to gather voterÕs personal data. http://tinyurl.com/ybplz9oj

á       Trump continued his blitz against major US media outlets despite the wave of backlash that has followed his particularly personal attack on female MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski. http://tinyurl.com/y8y5fcmw

á       The Conversation reported that the GOP healthcare bill would cause a continuing decline in rural healthcare. http://tinyurl.com/y8nf6kqt

á       ÒIn These TimesÓ reported that ÒTrump's current plan to renegotiate NAFTA is poised to make the massive trade deal even worse. Trump is trying to craft a neoliberal NAFTA renegotiation that will include everything demanded in the recently scuttled Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and more.Ó http://tinyurl.com/y8dnmnmg

á       Trump approved the construction of a new US-Mexico pipeline that will go under the controversial border wall. http://tinyurl.com/y86758ch

á       The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Trumpcare would leave 32 million Americans without coverage by 2026. http://tinyurl.com/ybkjsqov

Sunday, July 2

á       New proposals by the Trump administration and Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin threaten the Veterans Health Administration. Shulkin unveiled a proposal that would ultimately push more veterans into the private sector. It could eventually lead to the dismantling of the VHA system entirely. http://tinyurl.com/y8ar7cp6

á       Trump renewed his attacks on the media tweeting a video that seemed to endorse violence against journalists. http://tinyurl.com/ycgmxdam

á       Four more House Democrats signed on to a bill to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump after his Twitter rampage against MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski. http://tinyurl.com/y7mwd3f3