WcP.Tomorrows.History's blog

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15 December 2018
Trump's surprise visit to Arlington in the rain
On Saturday, Trump arrived around 2.15pm at Arlington National Cemetery unannounced for wreath laying, which decorates the graves of fallen troops for Christmas.

19 December 2018
independent.co.uk Trump orders full and immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria
The US has more than 2,000 troops in Syria. US officials said on Wednesday that a full withdrawal had been requested by Mr Trump. One official told Reuters that the pullout could take up to 100 days. Shortly after news of the plans emerged, the president appeared to tweet confirmation.

*update*
21 December 2018
BBC Trump to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan
The Trump administration is planning to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan, US media say. Reports, citing unnamed officials, say about 7,000 troops - roughly half the remaining US military presence in the country - could go home within months. The reports come a day after the president announced the country's military withdrawal from Syria.

24 December 2018  read more »

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2 Koreas Make History Marching Under Unified Flag In Olympics Opener
The nations, split by war, are using the Winter Games as an opportunity to seek a rapprochement.

North Korean and South Korean athletes participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics marched as one during Friday’s opening ceremony, gleefully entering the ring as a unified team sharing a flag.

Spectators were visibly moved, HuffPost Korea reported, with some in the audience tearing up at the sight. The unified flag shows the Korean peninsula in blue, set against a white backdrop.

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Photo courtesy @HuffPost

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23 January 1368 In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.

The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 - 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder and first emperor of China's Ming dynasty.

In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues, and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Chu Yuan chang rose to command the force that ended the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, forcing the Mongols to retreat to the Central Asian steppes.

Zhu was born into a desperately poor peasant tenant farmer family. He had seven older siblings, several of whom were "given away" by his parents, as they did not have enough food to support the family. When he was 16, severe drought ruined the harvest where his family lived. Subsequently, famine killed his entire family, except one of his brothers.

Destitute, Zhu accepted a suggestion to take up a pledge made by his brother and became a novice monk. He did not remain there for long, as the monastery ran short of funds, and he was forced to leave.

For the next few years, Zhu led the life of a wandering beggar and personally experienced and saw the hardships of the common people. After about three years, he returned to the monastery and stayed there until he was around 24 years old. He learned to read and write during the time he spent with the Buddhist monks.  read more »

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The pollution-beleaguered country plans to increase forest coverage to 23 percent of its total landmass by the end of the decade.
Outdoor air pollution contributes to the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people in China annually (that's 4,400 people a day). Meanwhile, less than 20 percent of the water from underground wells used by farms, factories and homes is fit for drinking or bathing thanks to industrial and agricultural contamination. But with the recent news that the country will no longer be the world's dumping ground for plastic waste, and other ambitious green initiatives - nixing new coal-fired power plants, investing in renewable energy, et cetera - China is showing the world that it is changing its ways.

The latest chapter is a massive reforestation plan, as reported by David Stanway at Reuters, in which the country plans to plant 6.6 million hectares of forest by the end of the year. One hectare is equal to 2.47 acres, meaning that the country will be getting 16.3 million acres of trees. Stanway writes:
“Planting trees has become a key part of China's efforts to improve its environment and tackle climate change, and the government has pledged to raise total coverage from 21.7 percent to 23 percent over the 2016-2020 period, said the China Daily, citing the country's top forestry official.”

China to create new forests covering area size of Ireland: China Daily  read more »

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6 September, 2017
A temporary restraining order Wednesday spared a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from being taken down — just hours after the Dallas City Council signed off on the removal.

14 September, 2017
A statue of Robert E. Lee was removed from a Dallas park Thursday after a series of delays that included a brief court stay and a fatal accident involving a crane assigned to remove the statue. Fox 4 News reported that workers took nearly three hours to remove the statue from its pedestal and place it on a trailer that would take it to a storage facility until a final decision is made on the statue's fate. Fox 4 News reported that workers took nearly three hours to remove the statue from its pedestal and place it on a trailer that would take it to a storage facility until a final decision is made on the statue's fate.

*update* 28 September, 2017
Fox News: Growing debate over the removal of Confederate monuments Which Confederate statues were removed? A running list
Annapolis, Md.
Under cover of darkness, city workers removed a statue on Aug. 18 of former Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney that had been on the State House’s front lawn for 145 years.

Bradenton, Fla.  read more »

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29 Dec 2016
Priebus on Russia: Trump 'Not Interested in Going to War' - Wants to Have 'Relationships'
Thursday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," while discussing the sanctions President Barack Obama announced today against Russia, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said while he can not yet comment on President-elect Donald Trump plans to address Russia once in office he did say Trump is "not interested in going to war." Instead he said that Trump was interested in "having relationships."  read more »

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Dec 19, 2016
Michigan elector Michael Banerian wants to cast his vote for Donald Trump, but says he’s been overwhelmed with thousands of emails, Facebook messages, letters and even death threats since the billionaire businessman won the election.
“I’ve had people that have been talking about putting a bullet in the back of my mouth, burning myself and my family, sending pictures of nooses saying if I don’t vote for Hillary Clinton, they’ll get me,” he told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.

Dec 14, 2016
Electors around the country are being harassed with a barrage of emails, phone calls and letters — and even death threats — in an effort to block Donald Trump from being voted in as president by the Electoral College on Monday.

The bullying is overwhelming Sharon Geise’s tech devices, but not her resolve to support Trump. The Mesa, Arizona, grandmother woke up Wednesday morning to more than 1,500 emails demanding she not carry out her legal duty to vote for the president-elect. “They just keep coming and coming,” Geise told The Post, estimating she’s received more than 50,000 emails since the election. “They’re overpowering my iPad.”
Reports of GOP electors being badgered have been reported in numerous states, including Georgia, Idaho, Tennessee, Arizona, Utah and Michigan.  read more »