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President Donald Trump responds to questions from the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday.

My head is spinning, one White House aide says after the president also pins blame on the alt-left.

By ANNIE KARNI, ELIANA JOHNSON and NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

08/15/2017 04:27 PM EDT

Updated 08/15/2017 10:07 PM EDT

NEW YORK It took President Donald Trump two days to explicitly call out the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who engaged in violent protests over the weekend that resulted in the death of a 32-year-old Charlottesville woman.

It took him less than 24 hours to undo the damage control that had been foisted upon him by teleprompter-wielding, crisis-managing aides.

Story Continued Below

Bridling at the term alt-right, Trump attempted to redirect blame for the violence at the rally onto the other side.

What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? he said at an unplanned news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower, referring to the alt-right protesters who gathered to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from a park.

Trump also said he has yet to speak to the family of the woman killed, Heather Heyer, but promised that he would be reaching out and applauded her mothers beautiful statement, in which she praised Trump.

With no teleprompter to keep him on a message crafted for him by his top aides, like chief of staff John Kelly, Trump reverted to the many sides language he ad-libbed on Saturday remarks that earned him criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, and even pushback from his own top aides.

You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other, Trump explained Tuesday, and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible, and it was a horrible thing to watch.

He added: I think theres blame on both sides.

The free-wheeling remarks represented an about-face for the president, who after two days relented to pressure from his administration to read the statement that included the words racism is evil, while calling out specific types of hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis.

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In his only appearance in front of the press on Tuesday, Trump was originally scheduled to make a short announcement on infrastructure from the lobby of his Manhattan home. He came equipped with charts to show how his administration was cutting the regulatory red tape to make building roads less onerous. Reporters were warned he would take no questions, and that two of his top aides, economic adviser Gary Cohn and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, would take questions after the president departed.

But Trump overruled his staff.

Kelly stood off to the side while Trump spoke, staring down at the marble floor as the president doubled down on his widely criticized many sides rhetoric. Kellys stiff body language appeared to reflect the feeling among many Trump aides.

My head is spinning, texted one White House aide watching the president unleash himself on television.

When asked whether he and other officials supported the presidents views on the protest, Cohn hedged. We share the presidents view that infrastructure is really important to America, and our infrastructure is crumbling, he said.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the two family members who serve in Trumps administration, were absent from Trump Tower on Tuesday they were on a two-day, pre-scheduled trip to Vermont, a White House official said, and were planning to rejoin the president at his Bedminster, N.J. golf club on Thursday.

Trumps charged statements on Tuesday inflamed the controversy his aides had just started to contain.

After Trump's original ad-libbed comments on Saturday, his communications staff went into immediate crisis control, according to a White House official. An anonymous press statement was released, stating that the president "condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups."

The statement was put out with no name on it because press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was on a brief vacation in Bermuda, the official said. The statement was written by another more junior press aide, Jessica Ditto, and the hope was that it would gird against the backlash to the president's own words.

But by Sunday night it was clear that a statement from a nameless aide was doing little to staunch the outrage, and that only the president could clean up his own mess.

While the revised statement on Monday eased some of the outcry, Trump was quickly hit by a fresh backlash including from prominent Republicans after his Trump Tower news conference.

We must be clear, House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said the white supremacist rally organizers are 100% to blame and that its dangerous to put some of the responsibility on the counter-protesters.

The #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win.We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected, Rubio tweeted.

Later Tuesday, the White House circulated a talking-points memo to congressional Republicans emphasizing many of Trump's assertions during the impromptu news conference.

Among other things, the document asserted that "the president was entirely correct both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility." The guidance also blamed the press: "The media reacted with hysteria to the notion that counterprotesters showed up with clubs spoiling for a fight, a fact that reporters on the ground have repeatedly stated."

The talking points also blamed the media for "inciting more division."

In his remarks on Tuesday, Trump cast himself as a cautious, fact-focused president, insisting that despite a long history of celebrating vicious attacks and reveling in conspiracy theories, he was simply reserving judgment until the full story unfolded.

Before I make a statement, I need the facts, he explained. So I dont wanna rush into a statement. So making the statement when I made it was excellent.

Trump described the alt-left as a very, very violent group that charged at protesters without a permit to even assemble in Charlottesville. He reiterated that he condemned hate groups but argued that not everyone was a white supremacist or neo-Nazi.

Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee, Trump said. So this week its Robert E. Lee. I notice that Stonewall Jacksons coming down. I wonder: Is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, Where does it stop?

Trump, who appeared to relish his time battling with the press, even used the opportunity to promote one of his properties, a winery in Charlottesville.

"Does anyone know I own a house in Charlottesville? he said, pausing to continue bantering with reporters as he walked out of the lobby. I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States in Charlottesville."

Trump claimed that he did not know that David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, attended the rally. But Duke further inflamed the situation when he thanked Trump on Tuesday afternoon, via Twitter, for his honesty & courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville and condemn the leftist terrorists in Black Lives Matter and anti-fascists.

Trumps show on Tuesday also lent new skepticism to the idea that Kelly, a retired United States Marine Corps general who has been trying to instill new order in the West Wing, would be able to affect any real change on a president like Trump.

At a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Vice President Mike Pence was speaking shortly before Trumps new comments on Charlottesville, his No. 2 praised the man at the top for his forthrightness.

"We have an American President who says what he means, and means what he says," Pence said.

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Trump blows up damage control as he blames 'both sides' for Charlottesville - Politico

August 16, 2017 1:26 PM

CHICAGO (CBS) Organizers of a neighborhood summer basketball program said trash talking on social media is apparently what led to fights breaking out off-the-court at the United Center this week during the programs championship games.

Officials for the West Haven Safe Summer Basketball League said they learned after Mondays games had to be canceled, with several thousand fans inside the United Center and thousands of others outside, that 12- and 13-year olds had planned on social media to disrupt the championship event.

RELATED: Basketball Game Rescheduled After United Center Fight

Some of the individuals involved in the brawl were actually 12- and 13-years of age. They were planning to meet a rival group of individuals at the United Center and use that as a platform to engage in the activities that they did, said Program director Oji Eggleston.

Earnest Gates, executive director of the Near West Side Community Development Corporation and one of the organizers of the summer basketball league said, the difference was it went out on social media and we have no control over it and they said they were going to shake it up.

Gates became emotional as he said he wants the event to return to the United Center next year so kids will get a chance to play on the same basketball court as their NBA heroes, but hes not sure that will happen.

You have to see the look on those kids faces to appreciate what we do, Gates said.

He said the trouble caused Monday was the first in the programs nine year history.

This was the 5th year the championships were being held at the United Center. The previous four years, the event was held at Crane High School and Phoenix Military Academy. The three games canceled Monday night will be played Wednesday at Crane.

Gates does not blame the United Center security for what happened Monday night. He said there was more than enough security on hand.

The United Center has issued a statement that, since it opened in 1994, the United Center has hosted thousands of events and millions of fans, rarely encountering any security issues.

The statement goes on to say that it has supported the West Haven Safe Summer Basketball League championships for many years. It has always been our belief that when we can give back to our community with events such as this, our entire community benefits.

The United Center said the incident Monday night was initiated by a few individuals at the expense of many more.

The statement does not say whether the event would take place at the United Center next summer.

Gates calls the Safe Summer Basketball League program, a jewel and more than just that brawl.

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Safe Summer Basketball League Officials Learn Social Media Led To Fight At United Center - CBS Chicago

Oil recyling refinery still hasn't installed anti-smog devices, facing fines by Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality.

After years of dithering, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is finally trying to force a North Portland used-oil recycling refinery, American Petroleum Environmental Services, to construct and install air pollution control equipment at its plant near the Expo Center.

Last December, the agency ordered the plant to install the equipment, known as regenerative thermal oxidizers, by July 25. But when that day rolled around, the pollution control equipment was still not installed. The DEQ started issuing a $1,600 fine for every day that the plant operates without it. As of Friday, Aug. 4, the fines owed for three days of violations totaled $4,800, though none were issued last week, according to DEQ spokesman Matthew Van Sickle.

The company, also known as APES, closed down the North Portland plant from July 30 through Aug. 5, said Joe Stanaway, a company executive.

Until the oxidizers are installed, the DEQ is asking but not requiring the plant to limit its operating hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, but not on weekends.

Illegally removed equipment, no fines

A previous owner of the refinery unlawfully removed the pollution control equipment in 2006, an action the DEQ says was a violation of its air pollution permit. During the last 11 years, the DEQ never issued any fines for the unlawful removal of the equipment.

APES' air pollution permit expired in 2013, but was extended for an indefinite period of time.

DEQ rules allow the agency to extend permits for polluters who are not in compliance with their permits, without giving public notice or holding a public hearing, so long as the polluter files the necessary paperwork. In the case of the APES plant, it didn't matter that the plant had generated hundreds if not thousands of odor complaints from its neighbors since 2000.

The DEQ is preparing a new permit that is expected to go into effect later this year.

Due to a series of blunders, as reported by the Tribune on March 6, the DEQ is only just now enforcing the terms of the old permit. The DEQ made errors in the way it wrote the original permit by omitting important language pertaining to daily operating requirements, and had forgotten to follow up on an inspection in 2011 that revealed the fact that air pollution control equipment was missing. According to an APES report from 2011 that was obtained from the DEQ under a public records request, the oxidizers were removed because they were "not properly functioning" and were causing odors.

The DEQ opted to issue fines recently rather than close down the plant, although it has the authority to do so, according to rules cited by Michael Orman, an air quality manager at the agency.

In a statement provided to the Tribune, the company said it is "working tirelessly to install the Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer that will vastly improve air emissions from the facility. We have invested additional funds and deployed extra resources on this project while remaining dedicated to meeting our commitments to the state and the local community."

The plant's emissions lead to numerous odor complaints from North Portland residents, and its toxic emissions may have made some of the residents sick from a variety of respiratory and other ailments, as the Tribune reported in March.

The DEQ suspects the odors were caused by dangerous chemicals emitted by the plant known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, many of which can cause cancer and other types of disease. The thermal oxidizers are designed to destroy VOCs by burning them at extremely high temperatures. But the oxidizers are not capable of destroying other pollutants known to be emitted by the plant, such as heavy metals like chromium, which can also cause cancer, or sulfur dioxide.

Residents say they are weary of being asked to endure continuing delays as they wait for the plant to control its pollution, said Mary Lou Putman, a Hayden Island resident. Complaints on social media from area residents have dropped off this year, possibly due to the fact that the plant has reduced its operations since February.

"I am not anti-business, but I am pro responsible business," Putman said. "APES and their out-of-state investors continue to be in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Period. They act like it's a game. By not shutting them down immediately for these violations, DEQ continues to pander to polluters. What's wrong with these people?"

Meanwhile, she says the odors still persist. On Sunday morning, she was awakened by what she describes as "toxic emissions."

"At 3:40 a.m. this morning ( Sunday) I was awakened," she said in an email. Her weather vane showed that the odors were coming from the direction of the plant. "And @10:30 a.m. we detected it again."

Blaming development bureau

APES officials said the installation was delayed by the city of Portland's Bureau of Development Services, which issues building permits for large and small construction projects. BDS needed to approve a permit for the construction of a concrete pad before installation of the oxidizers could proceed.

But the DEQ blames the company for the delay. It said that on multiple occasions APES "failed to provide Portland BDS with the requested documentation to support or clarify your permit applications in a timely fashion," according to a letter to the company dated Aug. 4.

APES officials said the city, not the company, had dragged its feet.

"Despite working with experienced professionals, the project experienced repeat delays brought on by the city of Portland's ever-changing requests," company executives Joe Stanaway and Mike Mazza said in a July 28 letter to the DEQ. They said the company even offered to pay a city employee overtime to help expedite its application for a permit.

They said APES has taken several additional actions "to get the permits as quickly as possible. DEQ's contention otherwise is incorrect and misguided."

But in a recent statement to the Tribune, company executives said the city caused only a "slight delay."

"We have had a strong partnership with BDS in each phase of needed approvals," they said.

Nevertheless, installation of the oxidizers is now moving forward.

Ross Caron, a BDS spokesman, said the city issued the permit for the concrete pad on July 26, 2017, two days before Stanaway and Mazza sent the letter. Although the company declined to provide an updated timeline for completion of the project to the Tribune, the company said in a July 14 letter to the DEQ that "we anticipate requiring an additional 10 to 12 weeks to obtain city permits and complete installation."

Past violations

The APES plant has a long history of struggling to meet the requirements of city and state building permit codes, starting even before it removed the thermal oxidizers in 2006.

Last fall, the city's Bureau of Development Services notified APES of 21 building code violations at the plant, including some that occurred as far back as 2002. The notice of violations said numerous structural, electrical and plumbing projects at the plant had not been permitted or inspected. In addition, the installation of several storage tanks went ahead without obtaining necessary permits.

Although the permits and inspections do not guarantee the safety of new construction projects, they do ensure that they meet minimum standards laid out in state and local building codes, Caron said. He said the city is working with the company to correct the violations, and has issued no fines.

At plants like APES, safety is a major concern, not just for plant employees but for people in the neighborhood. In July 2009, several of the storage tanks at the plant exploded, according to news reports at the time.

"A huge explosion went off. It was just almost instantaneous. I went over and looked out the window and 20, 30, 40 foot wall of flame out there," Matt Coale, the owner of a neighboring business, told KPTV news.

Freelancer Paul Koberstein can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Pamplin Media Group - APES POLLUTION CONTROL STILL UP IN ... - Portland Tribune

The military governments so-called agreement of truth will likely include a mechanism to oversee media in the name of ensuring the press act responsibly to society by following an imposed code of conduct and professional morality.

The agreement will likely require approval from major political parties before being put into practice. But the same mechanism will also help protect media from interference and threats, ensuring them freedom of the press, Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich said on Monday. Kongcheep, a spokesperson to the junta governments committee on reconciliation building, said that the tool is necessary because media have been manipulated to provide political discourses and biased information in ways that fracture society.

While Kongcheep did not elaborate details regarding the control mechanism, the junta-appointed, now-defunct National Steering Reform Assembly earlier proposed a plan that will allow state authorities to take part in media affairs.

Their proposed media regulation draft bill called for creation of a national media council that would include two government representatives to oversee the media landscape.

Although much opposed by journalists and media professionals, the draft was eventually forwarded to the Cabinet, who will decide on what points of the NRSAs draft they agree with before forwarding it to the National Legislative Assembly to pass into law.

Kongcheeps mechanism could be the juntas latest step to create a body to regulate media with endorsements from political parties and figures.

Since the beginning of this year, the junta government has been drafting an agreement, along with seeking input from political players. The input is never detailed for the public.

Political actors are expected to approve the agreement, which also covers other social and economic issues, as another step to achieve reconciliation. How closely they will be bound to the final agreement is not yet clear.

PHOTO of Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich

Original story here.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30323792

- Phuket Gazette

Link:
Government ramping up its plans to control Thai media - Phuket Gazette

At this moment, the media must devote greater attention to crisis-reduction coverage.

In the current political environment, hard news reporters and particularly news commentators face a grave responsibility to pay more attention to how they discuss North Korea. Media cant control what key players say or do, but they can amplify or diminish certain actions, decisions, statements and events in helpful or unhelpful ways. Unfortunately, much of the media commentary in the US has hyped the North Korean threat and made it more difficult to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The United States last stumbled into a land war in Asia with a fairly complicit media.[1] However, unlike the Vietnam War era, the American media landscape is now tumultuous, diverse and highly politicized, polarized and partisan. Despite these conditions, the mainstream and right-wing media both must take a few key principles to heart to help avoid a tragic set of errors on the Korean peninsula.

Of particular note, reporters and commentators at this moment have a responsibility to:

The first element is important because North Korea has been building in a number of conditionalities and off-ramps into its statements. Yes, Pyongyang is blustering and dramatic. Yes, Pyongyang should exercise more caution given the military capacities they now wield. But Pyongyangs statements can be framed in alarming ways or in nuanced ways.

For example, the Newsweek headline NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO STRIKE U.S. WITH POWERFUL NUCLEAR HAMMER may technically be true. But it obscures the fact that this phrase was part of an if/then conditional sentence: Should the U.S. dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow. The article does deal with the context and background of the current crisis a few paragraphs down, but the headline is what leaves an impression with general readers and the news-obsessed Commander-in-Chief. By conveying the impression that North Korea is poised to conduct a nuclear Pearl Harbor, it encourages unwarranted panic among Americans and helps drive combative rhetoric from the White House.

Another problem is the medias obsession with technical issues. Of course, these details are important, but they are often presented without context, which also adds to the atmosphere of fear. This five-minute ABC News segment, for example, worries about President Trumps rhetoric, but then mostly dwells on North Koreas capabilities. ABCs analyst uses fancy graphics to show what North Koreas weapons could do and potential US military responses. There is no discussion, however, of what North Korea is trying to do with its weapons. Is Kim waiting to negotiate only after feeling that he has enough military might? Is he hoping to have cover for skirmishes and other kinetic actions across the border with Korea? Does he think he is deterring the US from toppling his regime?Instead, audiences are left withthe overwhelming impression that the Norths growing capabilities are simply to start a nuclear war.

This is amped up by the idea that Kim Jong Un is crazy and thus presents a unique threat to the United States. But in reality, Kim is not crazy and there are many learned people available to explain this to people like, say, Joe Scarborough, who refers multiple times to Kim as a madman in this segment from last month.

The media should instead explain that the United States is not in danger of suffering a nuclear first strike. North Korea will never intentionally start a nuclear exchange with the US since it knows it would suffer obliteration. Moreover, Pyongyang will never have enough nukes to do that. But what it does have now is a tool that can potentially drive a wedge in the US-ROK alliance, a very real strategic goal of Pyongyangs nuclear weapons and missiles. In that sense, the medias hyping of the North Korean nuclear threat is exactly what Kim Jong Un wants. That wedge is happening already.

Senator Lindsey Grahams, If thousands die, theyre going to die over there, comment is the most egregious expression of the idea that South Korea can be sacrificed in this crisis. When US leaders imply or openly threaten to bring a devastating war to Korea because Pyongyang now may have the potential to hit America with an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Koreans understandably start to view the United States as an unreliable ally and patron. What good is the US nuclear umbrella if it doesnt stop aggression? What good is the alliance if the mutual prosperity it once supported can be so quickly unraveled?

Several people in South Korea whom Ive spoken to fret that President Trump is the person pushing the peninsula towards war. (Though according to Gallup, 60 percent of people here think there has been no increase in the chance of war32 percent think it has become more likely than before.) It is not beyond imagination that South Korean public opinion could rapidly shift against the United States in a way that might permanently damage the US-ROK relationship and, by extension, Americas position in Northeast Asia.

The US media landscape is atomized today like never before, often attracting self-proclaimed experts with many opinions but little knowledge or expertise. News writers and producers should actively seek to balance the more heated, panicked rhetoric with more sober voices among its pundits and commentators as well as more experienced policymakers and experts with deeper knowledge of North Korea. Covering North Korea has never been easy to do well, but the stakes are now just too high to go about business as usual.

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The American Media - 38 North