Trump’s mercurial personality and temperament are reflected in defections and personnel shuffles in just the first week since the election…--Ben Carson shows wisdom, declines a gig, as Mike Rogers exits and Elliot Cohen warns others to “stay away”
--corporate media start to focus on the massive conflicts of interest presented by Trump’s business interests
--Obama’s expanded precedents, especially regarding drone strikes, will pass unchecked to the unpredictable Trump
--at Shadowproof, Kevin Gosztola critiques the Obama legacy and the expanded powers available to Trump
--Gosztola’s takedown of Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald is a delicious read
--on farewell world tour, Obama stops in Athens, cradle of democracy, to warn of the rise of a “crude sort of nationalism”
--a reminder of one of Obama’s failures: Egyptian court overturns death sentence of former president Morsi, who was ruthlessly discarded by the US
--CIA and US military face possible indictment for war crimes at International Criminal Court
--combat resumes in northern Syria, with Turkey joining Russia and Syria in bombing raids
--UN special envoy for Syria warns that a full victory for Assad would trigger Sunni terrorist attacks
--as Mosul operations continue, Daesh distracts with suicide attacks in Falluja and Karbala
--emboldened by Trump victory, pipeline operator sues Corps of Engineers to force approval of pipeline route at Standing Rock
--Google and Facebook promise to crack down on fake news posts
--in oped, Zeynep Tufekci uses Facebook’s own research to debate Zuckerberg comments on fake news posts
--PBS Newshour anchor Gwen Ifill dies of cancer at age 61
--my journalist friend Richard Rapaport is remembered in the S.F. Chronicle
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