Oregon decided it will go along with the federal government’s tougher standards for driver’s licenses, so the state’s travelers may not have to show a passport to board a plane.
The state has missed a federal deadline for compliance with federal Real ID laws, so if the federal government doesn’t grant a fourth extension on the requirements, Oregon’s ID will not get you on a plane beginning Jan. 22.
Lawmakers are hoping their 56-1 vote in favor of Real ID for Oregon — in Senate Bill 374 — Thursday will demonstrate the state is making “serious and significant” progress and the feds will grant the extension.
If the feds grant an extension, Oregon’s current IDs will continue to work at the airport and federal facilities until the state begins issuing compliant IDs. Continue reading
“President Donald Trump has held roughly 50% more meetings with foreign leaders than President Barack Obama did over the same amount of time in their respective first terms in office. A review of both presidencies reveals that Obama met with about 20 foreign leaders through July 6, 2009, not including international summits or the United Nations and other institutions. Trump has met with about 30 leaders through June 6, 2017 – not including summits, the UN, or the Palestinian Authority. …Trump’s ambitious foreign policy schedule contradicts critics’ attempts to portray his foreign policy as “isolationist,” or to suggest the 45th president is not interested in foreign affairs.” –
“French president Emmanuel Macron has declared he will govern France like Jupiter, the Roman king of the gods, shortly after officials told the media his thought process was “too complex” for journalists to understand.” –
“A European court has ruled that the parents of a critically ill baby cannot privately pay for him to go to the United States for “experimental treatment”, and the child must stay in a British hospital to “die with dignity.” The parents of 10-month-old Charlie Gard are reported to be “utterly distraught” after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) denied them a final effort to save their dying son.” –
Australia’s highest-ranking Roman Catholic clergyman, Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell, has been charged by Australian police over sex allegations from “multiple complainants.” The Vatican has released a statement of support for Pell, citing his “honesty.”
“In this context, most worrisome to me is the persistent flirtation by the President of the United States, throughout his campaign and soon thereafter, with a return to torture. We are now told the US Army field manual will not be redrafted, and the US Secretary of Defence is guiding the White House on this. For now there is little danger of a return to the practice of so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques,” a euphemism that dupes no one. The mood in the US could of course change dramatically, if the country were at some stage to experience a gruesome terrorist attack. And, mindful of how the American public has, over the last ten years, become far more accepting of torture, the balance could be tipped in favour of its practice – and destroy the delicate position the Convention Against Torture is in.” –
A man rammed his car into and destroyed a newly-installed monument to the Ten Commandments outside of Arkansas’ State Capitol — less than 24-hour after it was unveiled by politicians.
“Administration officials have eliminated 2016 plans to fund Islamic groups allied to former President Barack Obama, and declined to schedule a 2017 Islamic ‘Iftar’ dinner where those groups were able to show their political influence to the ambassadors of wealthy Islamic countries. The turnaround was made public on Friday when the Department of Homeland Security announced a revised list of the organizations which are getting DHS funds to help prevent young Muslims from becoming jihadis. The 
“The National Space and Aeronautics Administration has done some amazing things for the United States over the years: the initial short flights into space, then the longer orbiting missions, the moon visits, the space station and even unmanned trips to every sidewalk in the solar system. But now it has some new goals: Find aliens. And prove evolution.” –
“Pope Francis has appointed 45 new ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, according to