The view from the Left (Part 2): Today's news for March 21st

Continued from part 1...

Reuters:

Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April - sources

If you just read the headline, it sounds like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is skipping the NATO meeting to meet with the Russians instead, right? Wrong:

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China's president and will go to Russia later in April, U.S. officials said on Monday, disclosing an itinerary that allies may see as giving Moscow priority over them.

Tillerson intends to miss what would have been his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies on April 5-6 in Brussels so that he can attend President Donald Trump's expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said.

So Tillerson is completely ignoring NATO? Not exactly:

A State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would meet on Wednesday with foreign ministers from 26 of the 27 other NATO countries -- all but Croatia -- at a gathering of the coalition working to defeat the Islamic State militant group. 

In summary, the Trump administration is completely anti-Croatia.

In other views from the Left...

The Guardian:

Stephen Hawking: I fear I may not be welcome in Donald Trump's US

Stephen Hawking, the leading British physicist and cosmologist, has said he no longer feels welcome in the US under Donald Trump.

Prof Hawking is a recipient of the prestigious US Franklin medal for science and received the presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama in 2009. Now he has spoken out about his fears for the country’s “definite swing to a rightwing, more authoritarian approach”.

“I would like to visit again and to talk to other scientists, but I fear that I may not be welcome,” he said in an interview with Good Morning Britain on Monday.

The 75-year-old Cambridge scientist said he was particularly concerned about Trump’s environment policy.

“He should replace Scott Pruitt at the Environment Protection Agency,” he said. “Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it’s one we can prevent. It affects America badly, so tackling it should win votes for his second term. God forbid.” 

With all due respect to Dr. Hawking, he needs to get out in the sun more. He seems to have forgotten the impact of the big glowing ball in the center of our solar system, and how it impacts the global temperature. Then again, I hear England isn't as sunny as most places on Earth, so maybe that is his problem? He might have forgotten the sun exists.

But it is ok Dr. Hawking. You will still be welcome in America. However, as a rule of thumb, you should probably restrict your conversations to topics where you have actual knowledge.