White House Woes

The Trump Presidency

First 7 Months in Trumpland

Volume II - September onward

TRUMP NEWS

Early Trump News (January-August 2017)

Latest News Briefs

May 9: Michael Cohen, the president's personal lawyer and alleged "fixer," reportedly received millions of dollars from corporations to provide "insider access," explaining how to deal with Washington in the Trump era. (The New York Times)

May 9: North Korea releases three imprisoned Americans, who are met by Trump as they return to the country.

May 10: Trump tweets that his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in Singapore, on June 12.

May 11: Shifting gears after backing out of the Iran agreement, Trump turns to pharmaceutical prices as his next task.

May 11: White House aide is said to have mocked ailing Senator John McCain, stating that his vote was unimportant because “he’s dying anyway.” Critics demand apology, but White House fails to respond.

May 14: U.S. Embassy officially opens in Jerusalem. Move from Tel Aviv fulfills a Trump promise to supporters, but triggers massive protests in Gaza, with 60 Palestinians killed in two days. An estimated 2,800 are injured, shot (typically in leg) by Israeli military. UN Ambassador Nikky Haley asserts that embassy move is unrelated to Gaza violence.

May 15: Responding to joint military activities by South Korea and U.S., North Korea warns that meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump could be cancelled.

May 21: Trump "demands" that special counsel be appointed to investigate origin of investigation into his campaign's ties to foreign meddlers. He charges that FBI sent informant to infiltrate Trump campaign, for "political purposes." (The New York Times)

May 24: Trump cancels June 12 meeting with North Korean leader, citing tremendous anger and open hostiity" from Kim Jong-un.

May 31: Trump administration announces major rollback of auto-emissions regulations, allowing cars to emit more pollutants.

May 31: Meeting with North Korea is considered back on track, still planned for Singapore on June 12.

June 2: Citing phrasing in the Constitution, Trump's lawyers claim he cannot be ordered to face questioning by Robert Mueller in the Russia probe.

June 4: President tweets that he has the "absolute right" to pardon himself, but will not do so because he has "done nothing wrong." Not only is the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt," he asserts, but it's "unconstitutional."

June 8: Trump arrives late at G-7 conference in Quebec, Canada after alienating long-standing allies and calling for readmission of Russia to the group.

June 9: Departing early from G-7 conference, Trump refuses to sign joint communique and, in tweet from plane enroute to Singapore, calls Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau "very dishonest and weak." CNN reports Senator John McCain's statement to U.S. allies: "Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn't."

June 10: Two presidential advisors escalate the verbal assault on Canadian prime minister. Peter Navarro declares that there is a "special place in hell" for any world leader who engages in "bad faith diplomacy" with Trump.

June 11: Attorney General Jeff Sessions tightens rule on asylum-seekers who flee domestic violence or gang attacks, making it far more difficult for them to be allowed into U.S. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, Italy and Malta turn away a rescue ship carrying more than 600 refugees from Africa.

June 12: Historic summit between U.S. president and Kim Jong-un results in agreement to continue talks, but few details. Trump supporters hail the session as a diplomatic victory, while critics charge that the North Korean leader gained considerably more than he gave up.

June 13: Citing coverage of Singapore summit, Trump calls the media, led by NBC and CNN, America's "biggest enemy."

Recent News Briefs

April 18: Trump warns that if meeting with Kim Jong-un "isn't fruitful," he will walk out.

April 20: Democratic National Committee files lawsuit charging Trump campaign team, Russian officials, and Wikileaks with conspiring to disrupt 2016 election.

April 25: HUD director Ben Carson outlines Trump administration plan to raise rents sharply for residents in federally-subsidized housing.

April 26: EPA chief Scott Pruite faces Congressional questioning on ethical issues related to excessive use of government funds, including frequent First Class flights and a costly soundproof phone booth for his office.

April 26: Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump's choice to head Veterans Administration, drops out amid allegations of troubling behavior during his stint as White House physician.

April 28: For second year, Trump skips annual Correspondents' Dinner, opting to lead a campaign rally in Michigan. President unleashes barrage of harsh, angry words at immigrants, Democrats, and the media.

April 29: "Caravan" of migrants from Central America arrives at U.S.-Mexican border in Tijuana, hoping to apply for asylum. Immigration officials warn that children may be taken away from parents. who may be placed in detention for months, awaiting decision.

April 30: The New York Times reports that special counsel Robert Mueller has about four dozen questions to ask Donald Trump, to assess whether the president obstructed justice with respect to the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

For additional details, as well as previous News items, please click here.

Toil & Trouble

Countdown to Trumpland, our new section on the Trump phenomenon and its potential impact on so much of American life, was our main story until Inauguration Day on January 20, 2017. Since then, we've provided news and commentary on the Trump presidency, in a section called White House Woes. Mr. Trump's candidacy and election has led to a crucial urgency among progressives and others who feared a barrage of disastrous decisions from his Administration.

Meanwhile, Tirekicking Today has been developing this section on work, labor, and consumer concerns. Toil & Trouble builds upon the uncommon views in Work Hurts, one of our Books in Progress. In addition to notable news items related to work and labor, this section will feature critical essays and editorials.


"No man is good enough to be another man's master."
George Bernard Shaw,
in Major Barbara


Work/Labor News Headlines and Victories


• In mid-January 2018, Amazon announced that 20 cities were on the "short list" of possible sites for the company's second headquarters. Each city has offered massive incentives in its quest to attract Amazon, which promises to make some 50,000 jobs available in the winning locale.

Before a final decision is made, residents of those cities might want to read a vivid description of the working life in an Amazon warehouse, in one chapter of a recent book. Nomadland, by Jessica Bruder, chronicles lives of "houseless" Americans, many of them elderly, who live in vans and RVs, working at seasonal and short-term jobs (including Amazon warehouses) to survive.

• March 5: West Virginia teachers high on enthusiasm, on 8th day of strike for higher pay. State ranks 48th in nation for average teachers' salary.

• March 6: Victory for jubilant West Virginia teachers, as state employees win 5-percent salary increase. A century earlier, West Virginia was in forefront of America's vibrant labor movement.

• April 2: Teachers strike in two additional states: Kentucky and Oklahoma.

• April 26: Arizona teachers engage in strike action.

• May 1: May Day, celebrated by workers in much of the world, is again largely overlooked in U.S. In Chicago, however, a large crowd assembles at Haymarket Memorial, singing labor songs and marching toward downtown Loop. Haymarket Square was the site of one of the most notable events in labor history, in 1886.

• North Carolina teachers walk out – the sixth state to see striking teachers in 2018.

• 2018 Labor Notes Conference took place April 6-8, near Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Tirekicking Today covered the event, and a report will be posted soon. A record number of workers and labor advocates attended, exhibiting enthusiasm reminiscent of the early days of the labor movement.

• The New York Times reports that Stockton, California will test "universal basic income" program. Similar programs have been tried recently in Finland, Canada and elsewhere, hoping to reduce income inequality. (June 1)

• On June 1, Department of Labor reports lowest unemployment rate (3.8 percent) since 2000

Additional Labor news items will be posted soon. Please check again.


"No Human Being Is Illegal"
Sign carried by protester marching in support of "Dreamers" on January 19, 2018


The Dunning-Kruger effect: "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."
Charles Darwin


“You know what the weirdest part about having a job is? You have to be there every day, even on the days you don’t feel like it.”
Jemima Kirke as Jessa Johansson, in episode 4 of the HBO series Girls, created and written by Lena Dunham


Labor-related Essays:

• Own Nothing, Owe Nothing
• Surprise! Some of us like to pay taxes
• Reject! For some applicants, job search is futile exercise
• Overview: All too often, Toil Is Trouble
• Needed Now: Jobs, Not Careers
• New Ways To Look at Work
• Solidarity Forever?
• Quit calling us consumers!
• Let's break the chain of consumer debt
• Prioritize! Living with Less and Liking It

New essays on labor, work, money and other topics will be added regularly.


"He that has to obey the will of another is a slave."
Samuel Fielden (1886)


“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Typically attributed to Winston Churchill, but actual source is uncertain.


UPDATED: June 13, 2018

After 23 years of covering cars and the auto industry, Tirekicking Today has shifted gears, with a new focus on social issues and current affairs - led by the unprecedented ramifications of the Trump presidency

VANTAGE POINTS
News/Opinion


March for Our Lives protests draw millions of gun-control advocates

CHICAGO (March 24) – Anyone who thinks teenagers cannot accomplish what their elders failed to do should have been in the crowd at one of the “March For Our Lives” protests, held around the country on Saturday, March 24.... Click here for full report.

Essays and reports on a variety of subjects will appear in this space, replaced regularly.


Third book from TK Press Is Now
On Sale in print and e-book form
... and it's Incompetent

TK Press, the book-publishing division of Tirekicking Today, has issued three titles since 2014. Each has been written by James M. Flammang, author of more than two dozen previous books.

The latest is INCOMPETENT: Coming Up Short in a World of Achievement. Whether it's sports, business, personal relationships, the arts, or any other area of life, some of us score a flat zero in the skills and talents department. Blending serious concerns with a humorous tone, each chapter covers a specific area of incompetence with which the author, amazingly, is all too personally familiar.

Incompetent is available NOW in print (paperbound) and e-book form, at these and other retailers:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
ISBN (print): 978-0-9911263-2-3 ($10.50)

Excerpts may be seen at Bublish.com.

Also On Sale NOW:

• Mr. Maurice Knows It All ... and tells you so. Available in print (paperbound) or e-book form at various retailers, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
ISBN (print): 978-0-9911263-3-0 ($8.50)

In 78 concise chapters, the debonair yet down-to-earth stuffed pig known as Mr. Maurice–who just happens to know everything–unleashes a torrent of acerbic, humorous, delightfully wise words on subjects ranging from work to movies, from money to citizenship, from status to guilt. An emigrant from Britain, with obviously French heritage, Mr. M. manages to combine strictly contemporary attitudes and piercing opinions with a gallantry and sophistication reminiescent of the era of Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce.

Note: Mr. Maurice ... was re-launched in 2016 by a different distributor and printer.

Books in Progress (outlines and excerpts)

Editor James M. Flammang, the author of more than two dozen books (including six for children), is at work on several more. Each title views its subject from an oblique and lighthearted – yet serious – perspective. Preliminary outlines and excerpts may be seen by clicking on each title.

Absurdities: Logical Lapses in everyday life and thought is a comprehensive collection of stinging essays that gaze with disbelief at various aspects of modern life. Chapters are arranged in sections, including Work, Money, Identity, Communication/Technology, Consumption, Politics and Law, Pastimes, Sex, and Transportation. Scheduled to go on sale in spring 2018.

• Untied Knots - Fiction by Flammang: two groups of short stories, each with a tangy twist. One group is travel-based; the other focuses on stay-at-home folks.

• Fraidy-Cat: Surviving a lifetime of unwarranted fear and fright. A personal look backward, focusing on lessons learned about debilitating fear and anxiety, including ways to cope and survive.

• Work Hurts: Reflections on a wasted life questions the conventional wisdom on work and careers. For untold millions, including many with "good" jobs, each day's toil delivers no joy and little reward.

• Hotel Life, subtitled "Living small in an age of large," assesses the satisfactions of simpler living and minimal consumption, while chronicling the joys (and drawbacks) of residing in low-end accommodations.

Also under consideration for future publication:
• Steering Toward Oblivion is a caustically critical but humorous observation of the car culture and auto business. Note: Outline will be updated to reflect current conditions.

For further information, please contact us at JF@tirekick.com.


• Articles and essays on topics related to current affairs, and occasionally about relevant automotive subjects, will be posted here periodically.


• New editorials, automotive and non-automotive), will be posted periodically.



• Occasional reviews of current vehicles and disussions of auto-related issues, including self-driving cars, will appear in this space.

Editor James M. Flammang also contributes to vehicle reviews at NewCarTestDrive.com.

Tirekicking Today editor James M. Flammang, a veteran independent auto journalist, has contributed countless product reviews and feature articles to such publications as autoMedia.com, New Car Test Drive, CarsDirect, and Kelley Blue Book. He has written extensively for a variety of major outlets, including J.D. Power, cars.com, and the Chicago Tribune. Flammang is a member of the Freelancers Union, the International Motor Press Association, and Midwest Automotive Media Association (past president). The author of more than two dozen books, mostly on auto history, also has contributed extensively to Consumer Guide publications and to such trade publications as Ward's Dealer Business. TK Press, established in 2014 as a division of Tirekicking Today, has already published three books by Flammang.



"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."

Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002)
Paleontologist, The Panda's Thumb

Countdown to Trumpland

Early January, 2017

Leading Up to Inauguration

Delight or Disaster?

Trump presidency signals either his promised return to a “Great” America, or the demise of Constitutional Democracy, with economic tragedy for lower and middle classes.

As the New Year begins, Americans face a political scene that can only be called unprecedented. To about half the voters in November’s election, the arrival of Donald Trump as president-elect demonstrated a fresh start for the country. To the other half, seeing this willfully ignorant, ill-behaved, flagrantly self-absorbed bully prepare to take the reins of government – despite fierce distaste for so many of the principles and values upon which this nation was founded – is an occasion for dread, distress, and abject hopelessness....

Click here for more.

As soon as Donald Trump entered the White House, Tirekicking Today halted its section “Countdown to Trumpland." Our follow-up series (at right, above) is titled “White House Woes: The Trump Presidency."

In addition to articles on specific issues that President Trump deals with, we include news items on the latest actions and words emanating from, and about, the Trump Administration.


For latest commentary, as well as details on protests and resistance, please click here.

For commentary and protest reports from the first seven months of the Trump presidency, please click here.


For Latest News on Trumpland, please click here.


For news from first seven months of Trump Administration, click here.




News Headlines
in the Auto World

• Environmentalists fear that Trump administration, as part of its program to roll back regulations, will ease fuel-economy requirements for future cars.

• In December 2017, a U.S. Volkswagen executive is sentenced to prison for diesel emissions cheating.

• Ford promotes 50th anniversary of Mustang Bullitt. The original Bullitt was driven by Steve McQueen in popular film of that name, including what many regard as the best car-chase scene ever.

• Subaru unveils Ascent three-row crossover, its largest-ever SUV.

• Super Bowl commercial to promote Ram trucks uses words from famed sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., drawing flurry of criticism. (February 5)

• Ford issues "do not drive" notice to owners of 2006 Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series compact pickups, due to faulty Takata airbags.

• Ford announces that sedans sold in U.S. will cease production, including Fiesta, Fusion, and Taurus, as company turns solidly to SUVs and trucks.

• Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz will not participate in Detroit's 2019 auto show. (May 10)

• Trump White House is reportedly reconsidering intent to roll back fuel-economy standards established under Obama.

• The New York Times reports that Trump is considering imposition of tariffs on imported vehicles. (May 24).

• Trump administration submits plan to ease auto-emission standards, permitting cars to emit more pollutants. (May 31)

• Automakers are among the manufacturing companies concerned about Trump administration's imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada or Mexico.

• In June, U.S. president complains that too many German cars are imported, suggesting the possibility of a 35-percent tariff. Majority of those German-brand vehicles are made in America.



All editorials, essays, and articles are available for reprinting.
Editors are invited to contact us for rates and full details.

TIREKICKING TODAY began in 1993 as a monthly print publication. Created by widely-known automotive writer/editor James M. Flammang and associate editor Marianne E. Flammang, it went on the Internet in 1995. TIREKICKING TODAY has given consumers, enthusiasts, and industry leaders an abundant supply of valuable automotive information, incuding new-vehicle reviews, used-car buying advice, editorial commentary, and feature articles. By 2016, we were ready to ease away coverage of automobiles, and take the publication on a completely different track - focusing primarily on topics that had become far more crucial than cars.

©All contents copyright 1997-2018 by Tirekicking Today.
Material may not be reused in any way without express permission from Tirekicking Today.
For information on reprinting and syndication rights,
please contact us at JF@tirekick.com.
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