President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Saturdaythat removed the nation's top military and intelligence advisers as regular attendees of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, the interagency forum that deals with policy issues affecting national security.

The executive measure established Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon as a regular attendee, whereas the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence will be allowed to participate only "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed."...

A 'shadow National Security Council'

The Washington Post's Josh Rogin reported before Trump was sworn in that Bannon, Jared Kushner, and Reince Priebus comprised an informal "shadow national security council" that "sits atop the Trump transition team’s executive committee and has the final say on national-security personnel appointments."

Jared Kushner is Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser. Priebus is Trump's chief of staff.

"Bannon has been working on the long-term strategic vision that will shape the Trump administration’s overall foreign policy approach," Rogin reported, citing transition officials. He "is committed to working on the buildup of the military and is also interested in connecting the Trump apparatus to leaders of populist movements around the world, especially in Europe."

Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Bannon was the CEO of the far-right website Breitbart News — a website known for its antiestablishment, white-nationalist positions on issues such as immigration and trade. A week into his presidency, Trump has already prioritized a number of agenda items that reflect Bannon's own nationalist views, including a border wall and a crackdown on immigration and refugee admissions. He also echoed Bannon's claim that "the media is the opposition party."

Breitbart's role inside the Trump White House is growing: Sebastian Gorka, an editor for National Security Affairs at Breitbart who was paid by Trump's campaign for policy consulting, is expected to join the National Security Council. Julia Hahn, a hardline immigration writer for Breitbart, will join the administration as a special assistant to the president.

Continue reading here, please.

Repost from NYT Sunday Review January 8, 2017; A powerful essay; read-more includes 7 min. video clip

As Donald Trump Denies Climate Change, These Kids Die of It
Nicholas Kristof JAN. 6, 2017
 
TSIHOMBE, Madagascar — She is just a frightened mom, worrying if her son will survive, and certainly not fretting about American politics — for she has never heard of either President Obama or Donald Trump.
What about America itself? Ranomasy, who lives in an isolated village on this island of Madagascar off southern Africa, shakes her head. It doesn’t ring any bells.

Yet we Americans may be inadvertently killing her infant son. Climate change, disproportionately caused by carbon emissions from America, seems to be behind a severe drought that has led crops to wilt across seven countries in southern Africa. The result is acute malnutrition for 1.3 million children in the region, the United Nations says.

Trump has repeatedly mocked climate change, once even calling it a hoax fabricated by China. But climate change here is as tangible as its victims. Trump should come and feel these children’s ribs and watch them struggle for life. It’s true that the links between our carbon emissions and any particular drought are convoluted, but over all, climate change is as palpable as a wizened, glassy-eyed child dying of starvation. Like Ranomasy’s 18-month-old son, Tsapasoa.

Southern Africa’s drought and food crisis have gone largely unnoticed around the world. The situation has been particularly severe in Madagascar, a lovely island nation known for deserted sandy beaches and playful long-tailed primates called lemurs.

​But the southern part of the island doesn’t look anything like the animated movie “Madagascar”: Families are slowly starving because rains and crops have failed for the last few years. They are reduced to eating cactus and even rocks or ashes. The United Nations estimates that nearly one million people in Madagascar alone need emergency food assistance.

#EARTH2TRUMPJoin the Resistance to Trump's Attack on Our Environment and Civil Rights

The #Earth2Trump Roadshow is coming to a town near you in January.
The roadshow is rallying and empowering defenders of civil rights and the environment to resist Trump's dangerous agenda. Stopping in 16 cities on its way to Washington, D.C., it will bring thousands of people to protest at the presidential inauguration.