Trump pulled out the oil industry playbook and players for Paris | Benjamin Franta | Environment | The Guardian

Since President Trump announced on June 1 that the U.S. would cease implementation of the Paris Agreement, pundits have argued about whether the American pullout will truly affect greenhouse gas pollution one way or another, since, after all, the Paris Agreement was not legally binding to begin with.

We don’t know the future, but we do know the past, and here’s something we shouldn’t miss: we’ve seen this before...

Read full story: Trump pulled out the oil industry playbook and players for Paris | Benjamin Franta | Environment | The Guardian

Daily Show: Make Trump Tweets Eight Again

You have to pretty much be a deaf, dumb and blind hermit living in a cave in deepest Mongolia to remain unaware of The Dunderhead's habit of going on long, unhinged Twitter rants, often in the middle of the night. Whatever the purpose of these ravings - and some are clearly designed to distract from whatever murderous behaviour the Republican Party is currently indulging itself in - they do betray an immature, obsessive and narcissistic mind.

So for those of you who have yet to discover it, here's a little Chrome add-on provided by the Daily Show: Make Trump Tweets Eight Again.

Try it, you won't regret it.

Incidentally, this also works for tweets embedded in a blog post or newspaper article.

How fake news is being tackled across Europe – Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology – Medium

Social media and other digital technologies have made it easier to produce, distribute and access news and information online, often without verification or editorial judgement. Research by Columbia University and the French National Institute show that 59% of links shared on Twitter are shared without being read. This has helped fake news to flourish online...

Read the full story by Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology at How fake news is being tackled across Europe – Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology – Medium

Brexit: Statement by Guy Verhofstadt and the EP Brexit Steering Group | News | European Parliament

EU Press release

The Brexit Steering group met Michel Barnier, EU negotiator for Brexit on Tuesday 25 July and issued this common statement after the 2nd round of negotiations between the EU and the UK.

“Last week was the first real round of Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. It was an opportunity for the two parties to review the main issues and map out where further explanations are necessary,” said the Members of the EP Brexit Steering group.

“However, if we want negotiations to succeed within the limited time we have, progress on more detailed content will have to be made sooner rather than later. We can only start talking about a new EU-UK relationship if sufficient progress has been achieved in the three main withdrawal areas: citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the border issue on the island of Ireland.”

“The European Parliament cannot be clear enough that sufficient progress means progress across the board, and not just in one or two areas. The European Parliament will formally and in due time indicate when the point of ‘sufficient progress’ has been reached”

“To be precise, the European Parliament will remain vigilant regarding citizens’ rights and will continue to push for full rights for EU citizens in the UK as well as UK citizens in the EU. It is a core mission of the European project to protect, not to diminish, the fundamental rights of all citizens."

“The European Parliament specifically seeks to fully safeguard the rights concerning family reunion, comprehensive healthcare, voting rights in local elections, the transferability of (social) rights, and the rules governing permanent residence (including the right to leave the UK without losing this status). Simultaneously, we seek to avoid an administrative burden for citizens and want proposals which are intrusive to people’s privacy off the table, e.g. proposed systematic criminal checks.”

“Last but not least, the European Parliament wants the Withdrawal Agreement to be directly enforceable and to include a mechanism in which the European Court of Justice can play its full role.”

You can read the original Press Release here: Brexit: Statement by Guy Verhofstadt and the EP Brexit Steering Group | News | European Parliament

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Analysis

Reading between the lines, it's very clear that the UK delegation is doing bugger-all and acting in what their EU counterparts consider to be arrogant bad faith. The members of the Brexit Steering Group may rest assured that they are not the only ones getting this impression.

Meanwhile, the futures of at least 70 million people - UK residents and UK citizens elsewhere in the EU - are hanging directly in the balance. Not just because of residence rights and all the red tape eliminated by virtue of being part of the EU. Nor just because the UK is expected to pay for accrued liabilities, such as pension rights for EU27 citizens who have worked in or for the UK. There is serious concern about the risk of violence breaking out again in Northern Ireland. What happens to Gibraltar? While both UK and Spain are in the EU, there is a truce over sovereignty there as well.

The list is almost endless. It will be impossible to get through in 1 year and 8 months, which is all that remains before the Article 50 notification period ends. An extension to that period is only possible if  all EU27 countries agree to it. Sending arrogant, incompetent, unprepared morons, to not so much negotiate as go out of their way to antagonise their opposite numbers, is exactly how not to demonstrate the good faith necessary to convince other countries to give that desperately needed breathing space and the equally desperately needed "transition period" of 5 years to get the Brexit-caused red tape sorted out without destroying too many lives.

Further reading:

• Guardian: Fail to prepare, prepare to gloriously succeed in Brexit negotiations
• David Allen Green: The true saboteurs of Brexit (FT blogs)
• Independent: Former British EU negotiator says Brexit was a 'terrible idea' and even the Government doesn't understand how bad it will be (not the snappiest of titles - AT)
• Quartz: How Brexit negotiations are going, in one photo

Theresa May's Annual RevEUw - Richard Corbett

After one calamitous year, one snap general election and a one billion pound windfall for Northern Ireland in order that the DUP would prop up her minority government, the only certainty that the first anniversary of Theresa May‘s premiership has given us is not that Brexit might be a disaster but that it will be...

Read on: Theresa May's Annual RevEUw - Richard Corbett

Listening to America Survey

So, this arrived in my inbox this week. As President Putt-shot is away from the WH, on real business for once, this may be signed by him, but it has sod-all to do with him. It's his GOP mafia using his mailing-lists to try to find new ways to bamboozle his (now assumed to be their) voters. And, of course, distract them from the increasingly damaging revelations about collusion with Russia, attempts to extract sensitive data from states in order to carry out mass voter suppression, the ongoing effort to destroy healthcare for the poor and vulnerable in order to give tax breaks to the rich, Trump family corruption, etc. There's a lot of etc.

Yes, it's offensive. Yes, it perpetuates the "us and them" myth, essentially telling the uneducated, uninformed bigots  they assume they're targeting, that people with different opinions either don't exist or - worse - don't deserve to.

So, dear American readers, I suggest you take the survey and freep their fat white male asses. NOW.

Politicians have spent too much time bickering and not enough time listening. So today we’re turning off that awful, blistering noise of Washington.

Instead, I want to hear from YOU.

I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy world.

With our six-month mark approaching, I want you to take the Listening to America Survey to tell me the true sentiments, concerns, and interests of REAL America.

The mainstream media and Hollywood dominate the airwaves and drown out the voices of the real hardworking Americans who make our country run.

They love to tell you how you feel. Enough!

The only person that can speak for you is YOU.

Just like on the campaign, I always like to go directly to the people. I asked our supporters to help prepare for our three big debates against Hillary. I asked what issues we should address. I asked for help creating our platform. And I take our message straight to you through emails and social media.

So please take this moment to turn off the very loud noise of Washington and take the Listening to America Survey before our 6-month mark approaches.

Thank you,

Donald J. Trump

Don't forget to pass the info on to as many people as possible.

Official Scottish & Welsh response to EU (Withdrawal) Bill

Responding to the introduction of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones have today issued the below joint statement.

This week began with the Prime Minister calling for a constructive and collaborative approach from those outside Whitehall to help get Brexit right. Today’s publication of The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is the first test as to whether the UK Government is serious about such an approach. It is a test it has failed utterly...

Read the full statement here.

Net Neutrality

JULY 12TH: INTERNET-WIDE DAY OF ACTION TO SAVE NET NEUTRALITY

The FCC wants to destroy net neutrality and give big cable companies control over what we see and do online. If they get their way, they’ll allow widespread throttling, blocking, censorship, and extra fees. On July 12th, the Internet will come together to stop them.

More information at battleforthenet.com.

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Go protest here: gofccyourself.com!

Conservatives are again denying the very existence of global warming

As we well know, climate myths are like zombies that never seem to die. It’s only a matter of time before they rise from the dead and threaten to eat our brains. And so here we go again – American conservatives are denying the very existence of global warming.

Working backwards from a politically-motivated conclusion

The claim is based on what can charitably be described as a white paper, written by fossil fuel-funded contrarians Joseph D’Aleo and Craig Idso along with James Wallace III. Two months ago, D’Aleo and Wallace published another error-riddled white paper on the same website with fellow contrarian John Christy; both papers aimed to undermine the EPA’s Endangerment Finding...

Read the full post: Conservatives are again denying the very existence of global warming

EU with a View: an Economist's Take on the Brexiteers' Free Trade Fantasies by @FiratUenlue

A look at data from major trading nations shows that no FTA has a cats chance in hell of closing that gap for the UK pic.twitter.com/dhL5lMR4tD

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

I find it very difficult to explain the huge merchandise gap with "EU red tape holds back UK exporters" pic.twitter.com/Ev7m3o8lIG

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

Same pattern in Korea... pic.twitter.com/cYtBuxAI9O

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

May's Brexit plan will hit rights of Britons abroad, campaigners tell EU | Politics | The Guardian

Theresa May’s proposal to protect the rights of EU citizens after Brexit is so poor, it will badly damage the rights of Britons living in Europe, campaign groups have told the European commission.

In an official response to the EU Brexit negotiating team, British in Europe and the3million have said that if May’s proposal is adopted it would represent a “severe reduction of the current rights” enjoyed by Britons in Europe.

Last week they expressed fears that Britons would be the “sacrificial lambs” in the Conservatives’ mission to reduce immigration...

Full article here: May's Brexit plan will hit rights of Britons abroad, campaigners tell EU | Politics | The Guardian

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Websites of:

• British in Europe
• the3million (EU27 citizens in the UK)