January 30th – The Day’s Most Fascinating News

Delta had some technical problems, protesters were in the way, and Senator Charles Schumer teared up while discussing Trump’s immigration ban. According to the president, those were the causes of delays and chaos at airports. When it comes to implementing the ban, “All is going well.”

+ Here’s my take on the situation: You don’t have to be pro-immigration or give a damn about refugees to think this ban is nuts: Five Reasons to Ban the Ban.

+ Trump has said this is not a Muslim ban. Rudy Giuliani sure seems to think it is: “So when [Trump] first announced it, he said, ‘Muslim ban.’ He called me up. He said, ‘Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'”

+ “Halfway into the briefing, someone on the call looked up at a television in his office. ‘The president is signing the executive order that we’re discussing,’ the official said, stunned.” How Trump’s Rush to Enact an Immigration Ban Unleashed Global Chaos.

+ Trump promised more unity. Well, with the ban, he definitely managed to unify his opposition. Here are scenes from airports where thousands of people came out to protest the executive order. Think about that. The last time you protested at an airport it was because your flight got delayed. Meanwhile, the ACLU’s legal fight to halt the ban made some progress in court, and even more on social media. “In under 48 hours, the ACLU had received $24 million in online donations, far more even than the $7.2 million the organization received five days following Trump’s election, and around six times the organization’s average intake — per year.”

+ Charles Koch is against the ban, and Goldman Sachs broke with Government Sachs.

+ “Numerous Foreign Service officers and other diplomats have drafted a dissent memo expressing opposition to President Donald Trump’s executive order.”

+ All that said, Trump’s ban has plenty of supporters too: “I do feel safer. Nobody’s angry with them (immigrants), nobody hates them. We just need to protect ourselves.” And in conservative media, the executive orders have been a home run.

+ Another segment that is quite enthusiastic about the ban: Jihadist groups.

+ Here are the latest updates on Trump’s ban and its reaction, including the first response from Obama.

+ Trump’s executive orders have Steve Bannon’s fingerprints all over them. And now Bannon is set to gain even more power and influence. From the NYT: Bannon Is Given Security Role Usually Held for Generals

“It’s a murderous act directed at a specific community. I think the majority of citizens, not just in Quebec but elsewhere, would describe it that way … We are with you. You are at home. And you are welcome at home.” So said Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard after a shooting at a mosque left six people dead a and nineteen injured. Police have arrested a suspect.

“Whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.” President Trump’s latest executive order sets new rules for getting rid of old rules, as he seeks to roll back regulations on businesses.

You can argue that Donald Trump is the wrong vehicle through which to express anger, but you can’t argue that the anger many Americans feel isn’t justified. “The U.S. spends only 0.11 percent of its gross domestic product on labor market adjustment programs, which ranks far below other developed countries.” From Pacific Standard: This Chart Helps Explain Why People in the Rust Belt Are Fed Up.

+ “This divergence in fortunes for those with and without higher education has coincided with another divergence—that between America’s growing cities and its struggling rural regions.” Alana Semuels in The Atlantic: America’s Great Divergence.

+ NYT: Wanted – Factory Workers, Degree Required.

+ Silicon Valley is taking away jobs. More production is moving offshore. While those who seek to polarize us often pit Hollywood against industrial America, it turns out that both are facing some of the same global forces. From Nick Bilton: Why Hollywood as we know it is already over. (Even Baristas are getting squeezed out…)

“The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior.” In a very interesting piece, Andrés Miguel Rondón explains how populism works, and maybe more importantly, how to fight it. (Hint: it’s pretty much the opposite of what most people are doing right now.) How to let a populist beat you, over and over again.

+ “Many conservative foreign-policy and national-security experts saw the dangers last spring and summer, which is why we signed letters denouncing not Trump’s policies but his temperament; not his program but his character. We were right.” A hawkish neocon explains why this is a clarifying moment in American History.

“Until a few months ago, such thinking flourished only on the wilder shores of the alt-right. But now the far-right has found a home in the White House, in the form of Breitbart publisher turned senior presidential counsellor Steve Bannon.” From The Guardian: Calling the Holocaust ‘sad’ is the first step towards denying it ever happened.

+ Sean Spicer chimed in on the debate: “The statement was written with the help of an individual who is both Jewish and the descendants of Holocaust survivors. To suggest that remembering the Holocaust and acknowledging all of the people — Jewish, gypsies, priests, disabled, gays and lesbians — I mean, it is pathetic that people are picking on a statement.” I am the “descendant” of Holocaust survivors. And like me, they think that is a giant load of bullshit. (I’m translating from the Yiddish.)

The New Yorker’s Adrian Chen on the human toll of protecting the internet from the worst of humanity. “He developed symptoms of P.T.S.D., including insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, and auditory hallucinations. He began to have trouble spending time around his son, because it triggered traumatic memories.” (If you’ve never worked on a site where people share content or perform searches, trust me, you have no idea…)

China is developing technology and spending a lot of money, all with one key goal: To make it rain. “The multi-million dollar budget allocated by the National Development and Reform Commission will reportedly cover the cost for four new aircraft and updates to eight existing planes, nearly 900 rocket launch systems and over 1,800 digital control devices.”

You have thousands of terrible photos that you’ve been meaning to cull through. You have tens of thousands of emails that you still haven’t deleted. Maybe you’re just overwhelmed or a little bit lazy. Or maybe you’re a digital hoarder.

+ TrumpWeek: All the News You Wish Was Fake.

+ Here’s a great idea for a way to redesign nutrition labels in a way that might actually motivate you to cut down on sugar.

+ The industry where America is really way behind China: Selfie-enhancing apps.