Vox: All Posts by Ricky Zipphttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2018-02-27T13:10:02-05:00https://www.vox.com/authors/ricky-zipp/rss2018-02-27T13:10:02-05:002018-02-27T13:10:02-05:00Why China banned a ton of words
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<img alt="Chinese leader Xi Jinping" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ac2qkCkTpMjseTWMh7a8A0R-paU=/0x0:2667x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58839099/GettyImages-179480220.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Chinese leader Xi Jinping (Getty) | Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It’s all about President Xi Jinping’s power grab.</p> <p id="55eVtP">In a move that shows how quickly China is moving towards authoritarianism, the country’s censors have now started banning the very language that people use to express dissent.</p>
<p id="D8wVwZ">Just days after the Chinese Communist Party <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/26/17053220/china-xi-jinping-constitution-thought-term">announced</a> that presidential term limits could be abolished, opening the door for President Xi Jinping to continue his rule indefinitely, Chinese government censors issued an<strong> </strong>extensive list of newly banned words on the popular microblogging site Weibo.</p>
<p id="gn8CR3">The terms “my emperor” and “lifelong control” were banned from use, along with references to George Orwell’s dystopian novels <em>Animal Farm</em> and <em>1984</em><em>, </em>which describe worlds where authoritarian leaders strictly control the populations under them.</p>
<p id="82b7rT">One of the more interesting choices was the phrase “to board a plane”; the China Digital Times, who <a href="https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2018/02/sensitive-words-emperor-xi-jinping-ascend-throne/">published</a> the full list, said that it was a homophone for the Chinese term “to ascend the throne.”</p>
<p id="zHxmO7">And in perhaps the most blatant example of curbing free speech, the word “disagree” is now illegal to post on Weibo.</p>
<h3 id="wJYGWv"><strong>Censors blocked both social media posts and searches</strong></h3>
<p id="G1Fp8j">Social media users <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics/china-pushes-back-against-criticism-of-plan-for-xi-to-stay-in-power-idUSKCN1GA040">began to criticize the term limit announcement</a> shortly after it was made, but posts that were critical of the proposed amendment were quickly deleted by Chinese censors and word bans were put into place.</p>
<p id="1qQglT"><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbc63376-1ab2-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6">When users attempted to publish banned terms</a> over Weibo, a message said: “Sorry, the content violates the relevant laws and regulations or Weibo’s terms of service.”</p>
<p id="kPRvds">The condom manufacturer Durex even <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/chinas-weibo-it-forbidden-disagree-president-xi-jinpings-plan-rule-822052">found itself in the political censorship battle</a> after a past advertisement was circulated with the phrase “doing it twice is not enough,” referencing the possibility of Xi continuing to rule after he serves his two presidential terms.</p>
<p id="l04tZm">Internet searches for similar terms were blocked by censors along with social media posts. Searches for the terms “immortality,” “incapable ruler,” and “I oppose” were all blocked from the microblogging site.</p>
<p id="IBr7h1">There was also a dramatic increase in web searches for the term “migration” a few hours after the proposed amendment was announced, which lead to it being banned from searches.</p>
<p id="sa4HTA">Chinese censorship is not something new, not even for the Xi presidency. <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/2/16019562/china-russia-internet-propaganda-media">The government usually allows</a> for there to be some form of dissent expressed; however, it will step in if there is a possibility the dissent and the threat of protests gains momentum among the populace.</p>
<p id="OK77VY">The latest round of censorship may be an attempt to keep any negative opinions of the proposed ammendment from spreading before the March vote.</p>
<p id="PsQsTR">“Internet censorship will aim to manage the narrative that this is reform and not a fallback to one-man rule,“ Michael Davis, a senior fellow at Hong Kong University, told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbc63376-1ab2-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6">Financial Times</a>. “Many Chinese people, with some collective memory or what one-man rule was like under Mao [Zedong], might justifiably be sceptical.”</p>
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https://www.vox.com/2018/2/27/17058074/china-banned-words-jinpingRicky Zipp2018-02-20T17:40:01-05:002018-02-20T17:40:01-05:00The Assad regime just launched the bloodiest attack in Syria in the past 3 years
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<img alt="Assad posters in Damascus (HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YkZEqMstX1N6p6LcLM9s-w3fIWQ=/223x0:2734x1883/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58761201/GettyImages-102848671.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Assad posters in Damascus. | HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty</figcaption>
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<p>And it could get worse.</p> <p id="Aq7w0y">Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has launched one of the bloodiest bombing campaigns against anti-government rebels the country has seen in the past three years, killing nearly 200 people in just three days — and it may be just the beginning. </p>
<p id="HGUiIV">The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group based in the UK, <a href="http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=85244">says</a> 194 people, including 52 children and 29 women, have been killed and hundreds more injured in three days of attacks on Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held suburb of Damascus. </p>
<p id="eVQXfp">The Syrian state news agency SANA reports that rebel forces have responded to the bombings with mortar attacks, killing eight people, including three children.</p>
<p id="ePDblO">But the worst may still be to come: SOHR <a href="https://apnews.com/b286b967a78d4b2ab2bfb18369387b8c/Activists:-98-dead-in-assault-on-rebel-held-Damascus-suburb">told the Associated Press</a> that pro-government forces have brought in reinforcements in the past few days and that a larger offensive by the Assad regime may be coming. A video showing the commander of an elite Syrian military force threatening an attack has also been circulating on pro-Assad social media accounts in recent days, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/world/middleeast/syria-eastern-ghouta.html">the New York Times</a>.</p>
<p id="kobkSN">“I promise I will teach them a lesson, in combat and in fire,” Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, commander of the elite Tiger Forces, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKRvkSqCM1c&feature=youtu.be">says</a> in the video. “You won’t find a rescuer. And if you do, you will be rescued with water like boiling oil. You’ll be rescued with blood.”</p>
<p id="PSRAy8"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/middleeast/syria-aleppo-civilians.html">Closing off supply routes</a> and repeatedly conducting bombing and missile attacks was a similar tactic used by the Russia-backed Assad regime during the retaking of Aleppo, one of the largest cities in Syria that was once under rebel control.</p>
<p id="hqPgiw">The Syrian government has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/starved-and-abandoned-a-suburb-of-the-syrian-capital-is-bracing-for-new-attacks/2018/02/17/4fe42632-132b-11e8-a68c-e9374188170e_story.html?utm_term=.0fdca1a3fd57">denied</a> that it is preventing humanitarian organizations from entering Eastern Ghouta. However, the Syrian government has complete control over who is allowed to enter and who is not. The United Nations has made only one delivery to the regions since November 2017, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/statement-panos-moumtzis-regional-humanitarian-coordinator-syria-1">according</a> to a UN official.</p>
<p id="aJYaqz">After Assad recaptured Aleppo in December 2016, Eastern Ghouta became one of the final key areas held by the rebels — and it could now be facing a similar fate as Aleppo.</p>
<p id="2BhxZK">More than 800 people were killed and 3,500 injured in Assad's final efforts to retake Aleppo, according to a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/aleppo-battle-latest-putin-assad-civilians-condemned-to-death-bombing-a7464151.html">report</a> shortly before the city was retaken.</p>
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<strong>These attacks could cripple </strong><strong>the</strong><strong> struggling region</strong>
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<p id="g4wVwZ">Panos Moumtzis, the UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said in a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/statement-panos-moumtzis-regional-humanitarian-coordinator-syria-1">statement</a> Monday that there are nearly 393,000 people currently living in Eastern Ghouta and that these recent attacks could dramatically impact the delivery of humanitarian aid, which is already nearly nonexistent.</p>
<p id="aNiJ4R">“Overall access to East Ghouta remains woefully inadequate,” Moumtzis said in the statement. “No convoys were undertaken in December and January due to limited access,” he added, and “just one convoy was allowed to the town of Nashabieh on 14 February.”</p>
<p id="pJ8Y9A">Moumtzis called for the attacks to stop and went on to say that this lack of aid delivery has led to food shortages and extreme increases in food prices. As an example, he said the price for bread in the area is 22 times Syria’s national average.</p>
<h3 id="HXLZdo"><strong>After a seven-year war, Assad continues to gain control of the country</strong></h3>
<p id="vXewoo">The war in Syria <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12791738">began in March 2011</a> when Syrian citizens attempted to overthrow the government led by Bashar al-Assad after security forces fired on and killed anti-Assad protesters in the streets of Deraa.</p>
<p id="wa4QQ2">More than 5 million people have fled Syria since the war began, and 6.1 million more are currently internally displaced within the country, <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/syria-emergency.html">according</a> to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.</p>
<p id="OfPEx9">The Assad regime has been criticized by the international community in the past for the use of chemical weapons and violations of human rights. President Donald Trump directly <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/6/15215230/trump-syria-attack-bombing">attacked Assad targets</a> in April 2017 after reports that Assad had used chemical weapons on civilians.</p>
<p id="nDIEZK">In January, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned Assad’s actions and <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/01/277493.htm">said</a>, "A stable, unified, and independent Syria ultimately requires post-Assad leadership in order to be successful." </p>
<p id="xlumwY">Despite these actions and outcries, Assad continues to gain control of the country with the support of Russia and Iran.</p>
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/20/17032640/assad-syria-bombingsRicky Zipp2018-02-20T13:10:04-05:002018-02-20T13:10:04-05:00A Trump tweet echoed RT and Breitbart criticisms of the FBI’s Russia distraction
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<img alt="Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to guest gathered during a campaign event at the International Air Response facility on December 16, 2015 in Mesa, Arizona." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OHqrtkWijmSiN5bb34yC5sEKa8I=/416x0:2843x1820/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58755295/GettyImages_501657342.1519140385.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ralph Freso/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The anatomy of a Trump tweet.</p> <p id="zVVwf7">In a span of four days, a controversial former police chief’s theory linking the FBI’s Russia investigation and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/17/17023582/emma-gonzalez-florida-shooting-trump-student">Florida school shooting</a> made its way to the president of the United States’ Twitter account, where he <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/965075589274177536">shared</a> it with his 48 million followers.</p>
<p id="vtBdhh">Of course, it’s not the first time Trump has tweeted something controversial. But the fact that the president used a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/18/17024862/trump-russia-school-shooting-fbi-investigation">national tragedy</a> to disparage the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia is raising some eyebrows.</p>
<p id="dxMUIw">On February 17, the president tweeted:<strong> </strong></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/965075589274177536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2018</a>
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<p id="fetDg7">This idea originated with Bernard B. Kerik, a former NYC police commissioner, who tweeted his theory on February 15 — two days earlier, and less than 24 hours after the school shooting that left 17 people dead.</p>
<p id="uBx0pk">Kerik — who was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/nyregion/19kerik.html">sentenced</a> to four years in prison in 2010 for tax fraud and lying to White House officials — said the Bureau was “wasting resources” on the Russia investigation, and implied that this was why the agency had failed to stop the attack.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBI</a> knew about Cruz, they knew about the bomber in NJ/NY, they knew about the husband and wife in San Bernardino, and they knew about the Boston bombers, yet we're wasting resources chasing Russian collusion and harassing <a href="https://twitter.com/GenFlynn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GenFlynn</a>. Time for <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffsessions?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jeffsessions</a> to do something! <a href="https://t.co/2XhKkLzvNP">https://t.co/2XhKkLzvNP</a></p>— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) <a href="https://twitter.com/BernardKerik/status/964149809643913216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2018</a>
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<p id="I2yXc6">Kerik’s tweet was picked up by <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/418945-ny-florida-fbi-russia-collusion/">RT</a>, the Russian government-funded news agency, in a matter of hours. They included the tweet in an article that outlined how the FBI mishandled previous tips about the potential danger of the Parkland shooter, citing a <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/the-fbi-was-warned-about-a-school-shooting-threat-from?utm_term=.qigOoMv5D#.qpR0dKDBA">BuzzFeed</a> article published early Thursday morning. </p>
<p id="YBKe1n">Breitbart, the far-right news site formerly headed by once-White House strategist Steve Bannon, ran with the story on Friday morning. Their headline read:</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F5P3bz1p5FvNw8JNIgqmZdMO7Jw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10258463/Screen_Shot_2018_02_19_at_4.31.03_PM.png">
<cite>Breitbart headline, screenshot.</cite>
<figcaption>Breitbart headline from February 16.</figcaption>
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<p id="6dH1D2">Four days later, the president tweeted out a very similar version of Kerik’s theory, accusing the FBI of being distracted by the Russia scandal and doing a poor job.</p>
<p id="rHcDx7">After the president’s tweet, the idea continued to cycle through conservative media and was referenced on Sunday’s episode of Fox New’s popular morning show <em>Fox & Friends</em>.</p>
<p id="vJlU80">"You have the leadership of the FBI distracted, trying to go follow this trail of Russia collusion which, by the way, the indictment now says no Russia collusion," co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/02/18/fox-friends-sunday-defends-trumps-use-florida-school-shooting-attack-fbi-s-russia-investigation/219421">said</a>. "This is why the president’s frustrated. We’ve wasted a year on this."</p>
<p id="w5sPw3">There’s absolutely no evidence or basis for the theory that Kerik put forth and that Trump tweeted, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/18/17024862/trump-russia-school-shooting-fbi-investigation">Trump has been criticized</a> for attempting to distract from special counsel Mueller’s ongoing Russia investigation.</p>
<p id="c06Nzm">On Friday, Mueller issued <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/2/16/17020966/russia-indictments-mueller-internet-research-agency">indictments</a> for 13 Russians and three Russian companies for using propaganda tactics over social media to influence US voters in the 2016 presidential election.</p>
<p id="fs6OKx">Trump responded over the weekend with a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/19/17027906/trump-russia-social-media-indictment-lies">tweetstorm,</a> saying that these indictments prove there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.</p>
<h3 id="N0YpAF"><strong>Russia aside, the FBI acknowledged that they failed to follow protocol</strong></h3>
<p id="S566Xs">Early Thursday morning, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/the-fbi-was-warned-about-a-school-shooting-threat-from?utm_term=.qigOoMv5D#.qpR0dKDBA">BuzzFeed reported</a> that the FBI was tipped off about the violent intentions of accused shooter Nikolas Cruz and the information was not passed along according to the FBI's protocol.</p>
<p id="PNR80G">The FBI released a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-the-shooting-in-parkland-florida">statement</a> on Friday saying they received a warning from someone close to Cruz who had talked about “Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts.” </p>
<p id="wJNjDQ">In the statement, the Bureau admitted that Cruz should have been "assessed as a potential threat to life." The tip was also not referred to the FBI Miami field office, which could have started an investigation.</p>
<p id="KXQUVG">FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was quoted in the statement, expressed his condolences to the victims and said they would do better. “When members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly,” Wray said.</p>
<p id="8gskH0">The shooting took place Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cruz was arrested shortly after the shooting and will <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/florida-shooter-nikolas-cruz-guilty-plea-murder-charges-death-penalty-a8215911.html">reportedly</a> plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder.</p>
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/20/17029860/trump-rt-breitbart-fbi-russiaRicky Zipp2018-01-30T23:47:59-05:002018-01-30T23:47:59-05:00Trump just signed an executive order that will keep Guantanamo open
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<img alt="A soldier at Guantanamo Bay." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rJGxNqKRupsNycV1uMyUowavESk=/0x0:1847x1385/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58515243/484942901.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>His State of the Union address reversed Obama's plan to close the infamous military prison.</p> <p id="z0PqK6">President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night during his<a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/26/16925600/trump-state-of-the-union-address-2018"> State of the Union </a>address that he will keep the controversial US military prison at Guantanamo Bay open, overriding former President Barack Obama’s official policy.</p>
<p id="5eUoSO">The White House also released an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-protecting-america-lawful-detention-terrorists/">executive order</a> from President Trump that revokes Obama’s 2009 executive order to close the detention facility, and states that the US may “transport additional detainees” to the military prison.</p>
<p id="OsqnD2">“In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield,” Trump said during his Tuesday night address. He said that he had signed an order directing the secretary of defense “to reexamine our military detention policy, and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.”</p>
<p id="9rjiz6">The prison at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, colloquially known as “Gitmo,” opened on January 11, 2002, <a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1858364,00.html">to hold</a> prisoners captured during President George W. Bush’s war on terror in response to the 9/11 attacks. </p>
<p id="cG10PA">Guantanamo became notorious for its<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/16/gitmo-outdated-images/24874103/"> treatment of prisoners</a>, which included reports of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/americas/guantanamo-bay-prisoner-book/">abuse</a> and the prolonged detention of suspects without formal charges. It came to be known as a symbol of US human rights abuses during the war on terror.</p>
<p id="qH917Z">The news of the executive order, which is Trump's first official policy announcement about the prison, was first reported by <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/trump-guantanamo-gitmo-leaked-document-369687">Politico</a> last week after it obtained a leaked State Department cable. </p>
<p id="Zdg3bd">Karen Greenberg, director for the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, called Trump’s new Guantanamo policy “extremely significant” in an interview on Tuesday night before the speech, and wondered if it was a symbolic return to “old practices of the war on terror that we thought we had sufficiently gotten rid of.”</p>
<h3 id="6T73RI">The Obama administration promised to close the prison but failed </h3>
<p id="mzH8fr">On his second day in office in 2009, President Barack Obama signed <a href="https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-13492.htm">Executive Order 13492</a>, which stated that the prison would be closed “as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order.” </p>
<p id="olCVe6">Obama was attempting to follow through on his campaign promise to close the infamous military prison, which <a href="https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/guantanamo-numbers">has housed 780 prisoners</a> since it opened in 2002.</p>
<p id="2ISaeM">He attempted to speed up the notoriously slow military commission trial process in 2009, when the five accused conspirators of the 9/11 attacks — including the accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — were transferred to the US to be tried in the federal court system. However, after public and political backlash, they <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/us/05gitmo.html?mtrref=undefined&gwh=2F442808325B514B2FBDD9415615BE77&gwt=pay">were transferred back</a> to the prison by then-Attorney General Eric Holder and re-charged by the military commissions.</p>
<p id="TzekjV">In December 2011, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/guantanamo-bay-how-the-white-house-lost-the-fight-to-close-it/2011/04/14/AFtxR5XE_story.html?utm_term=.aefb7db88548">Congress</a> placed restrictions on transferring detainees to the US, for either detention or trial. The move hindered Obama’s efforts, and he ultimately failed to close the military prison before he left office. </p>
<p id="U9wXfW">George Clarke, a lawyer for a prisoner who has been detained for 15 years and was approved for a third-country release in 2010 but remains in Guantanamo, told me on Sunday that he has had no direct conversations with the government about potential release dates since Trump took office.</p>
<h3 id="WZalnW">It’s still unclear whom Trump would send to the prison under his new policy</h3>
<p id="sIRpPj">The announcement is not a total surprise. During his campaign, Trump talked about his desire to keep Guantanamo open, and even said that he would “load it up with some bad dudes” at a campaign event in February 2016. But what exactly that means in practice is yet to be determined.</p>
<p id="2mqz4Y">The executive order released late Tuesday night uses a provision from the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force that says the US can detain people associated with the Taliban and al-Qaeda as well as "associated forces engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners."</p>
<p id="0OfB7B">The order also says that the US is currently in an armed conflict with ISIS and that "the United States may transport additional detainees to U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay when lawful and necessary to protect the Nation."</p>
<p id="5uab5P">This may leave the door open for Trump to begin sending people to the prison who have not traditionally been held there before, including members of ISIS.</p>
<p id="CrCBj0">But as for the fate of the 41 prisoners who are still in Guantanamo today, there are still no concrete answers. </p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/30/16953208/trump-executive-order-guantanamo-openRicky Zipp2018-01-24T16:21:55-05:002018-01-24T16:21:55-05:00Trump finally responds to the Kentucky shooting, nearly 24 hours after Trudeau
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<img alt="President Donald Trump." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OaQ0Iqx9Evrvn4q10UZ2IC3AsxE=/0x0:4000x3000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58441383/GettyImages_845640392.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The prime minister of Canada responded the same day.</p> <p id="nPEiLL">A few hours after news of Tuesday’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/23/16923890/kentucky-high-school-shooting-marshall-county">deadly school shooting in Kentucky</a> broke, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/955927331989843968">tweeted</a> that he had spoken with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and said that Canada’s “hearts go out” to all those affected by the tragedy. </p>
<p id="pyaTVq">Yet it took President Donald Trump nearly a day and a half before he publicly commented about the event. Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he’d spoken earlier in the day with Gov. Bevin:</p>
<div id="GH6t85">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Earlier today, I spoke with <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMattBevin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovMattBevin</a> of Kentucky regarding yesterday’s shooting at Marshall County High School. My thoughts and prayers are with Bailey Holt, Preston Cope, their families, and all of the wounded victims who are in recovery. We are with you!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956261892640604161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2018</a>
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<p id="6AW9yh">Before that tweet, the only thing Americans had heard from their president in the wake of this tragedy was an <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?440162-1/white-house-briefs-special-counsel-seeks-question-president-trump">assurance</a> from the White House press secretary that Trump had been briefed on the situation.</p>
<p id="d1Jk8y">“Our thoughts and prayers are with victims’ families,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the daily White House press briefing Tuesday afternoon. “And we offer our sincerest appreciation to the heroic Marshall County deputies who apprehended the shooter.”</p>
<p id="HI6VXt">All of which raises a troubling question: Why was the <em>Canadian</em> prime minister able to reach out directly to Kentucky’s governor and offer his public condolences a full day before the <em>United States president </em>was? </p>
<p id="vuAWlX">It turns out that Trump seems to have had other things on his mind that he evidently felt were more important to talk about on Twitter. </p>
<h3 id="Uvm4lP">Here's what Trump has been tweeting about instead of talking about the school shooting</h3>
<p id="EiWrnY"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/23/16923890/kentucky-high-school-shooting-marshall-county">The Kentucky school shooting</a> took place at Marshall County High School on Tuesday morning. At least two people were killed in the shooting, and 18 were injured. A 15-year-old male student was taken into custody by local law enforcement, but his identity is currently unknown to the public.</p>
<p id="80Ypww">Late Tuesday night, many hours after news of the Kentucky school shooting, Trump mocked Schumer on Twitter for his “humiliating defeat” in the recent showdown between Democrats and Republicans over funding for the border wall and the status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy that led to a brief government shutdown:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956015565776277510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2018</a>
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<p id="ucC3VD">Trump also tweeted about <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/1/23/16923126/missing-fbi-texts-strzok-page">the lost text messages of two FBI agents</a>. The story of the missing texts between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok — who was formerly part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation — has gained steam over the past few days as conservative media outlets have used it to suggest a supposed plot to undermine Trump’s presidency.</p>
<div id="byIPZc">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok? Blaming Samsung!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956012274942128128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2018</a>
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<p id="6rGp6P">And Wednesday morning, Trump praised investments being made by American companies and said that tax reform and "Massive Regulation Reduction" is making America a "powerhouse" once again.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tremendous investment by companies from all over the world being made in America. There has never been anything like it. Now Disney, J.P. Morgan Chase and many others. Massive Regulation Reduction and Tax Cuts are making us a powerhouse again. Long way to go! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956134228726558720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2018</a>
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<p id="tJR9gv">In the past, Trump has been criticized for his inconsistent reactions to violent events over social media. </p>
<p id="75Eahp">For example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/8/12/16138666/donald-trump-tweeted-different-statement-charlottesville-rally-white-nationalist">he was criticized by both the media</a> and politicians for his failure to explicitly condemn white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August, while waiting mere hours after a November terror attack in New York City to tweet that the suspect — an Uzbek immigrant — was a “sick and deranged person.”</p>
<p id="zdtS3t">After the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, Trump was quick to respond. At 4 am the day after the shooting, Trump gave his condolences to the victims and families of the shooting on Twitter:</p>
<div id="6pUsez">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914810093874671617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="Um56FS">Trudeau’s quick and direct response to Tuesday’s shooting shows a level of compassion and leadership toward the American people that took the US president over 24 hours to match.</p>
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/1/24/16928676/trump-tweet-texts-kentucky-shooting-trudeauRicky Zipp2018-01-23T15:40:02-05:002018-01-23T15:40:02-05:00Republicans and Democrats have never been more divided over Israel
<figure>
<img alt="Israel Palestine" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TEafpsbIoJMyVjXiCMWWyrz6xeE=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58428571/exe-221-israel-palestinethumbPost.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Vox</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, both parties have flipped by 45 percent in their opinions of Donald Trump versus Barack Obama.</p> <p id="E5Smxq">A new Pew Research Center <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2018/01/23/republicans-and-democrats-grow-even-further-apart-in-views-of-israel-palestinians/">survey</a> shows that the divide between Democrats and Republicans regarding their support for Israel over the Palestinians is at its largest in the past four decades.</p>
<p id="YieLgH">The report shows that while 79 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israel, only 27 percent of Democrats do. This is the largest divide between the two parties’ views on the issue since the poll was first conducted in 1978. That year, the divide between the two parties was a mere 5 points; since that time, the gap has widened steadily. </p>
<p id="eP5M9v">The survey also shows that Republican sympathy toward Israel has grown by 29 points since 2001, while support for Israel by Democrats has <em>declined</em> by about 11 points over the same time.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y41FK-iFp6KAhZh2idvZMvMcE4c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10085143/Screen_Shot_2018_01_23_at_2.29.13_PM.png">
<cite>Pew Research Center</cite>
<figcaption>Pew Research Center survey about Americans’ opinions regarding Israel and Palestine.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="41rRMa">The division between the two political parties exists with religious affiliation as well.</p>
<p id="MP9abt">The religious demographic with the highest support for Israel is white evangelical Protestants: 78 percent said they sympathize with Israel, while only 5 percent said they sympathize with Palestinians. Twenty-six percent of those who said they were unaffiliated with a religious group said they sympathize with Israel.</p>
<p id="sMoUoh">When asked whether President Donald Trump is “striking the right balance” with Israel, support was similarly divided. Seventy-three percent of Republicans and 21 percent of Democrats said that Trump was striking the right balance.</p>
<p id="I8FplM">Both parties have flipped by 45 percent in their opinions of Trump versus Barack Obama. In April 2010, 66 percent of Democrats believed that Obama was striking the right balance with Israel, and only 28 percent of Republicans felt the same way.</p>
<p id="st8eSe">The poll was conducted a little more than a month after <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/12/6/16741528/trump-jerusalem-speech-israel-tel-aviv">Trump announced </a>that he would move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.</p>
<p id="At2iIC">The poll comes out on the same day that Vice President Mike Pence — who is an evangelical Christian — is in Israel at the end of a four-day trip to the Middle East. </p>
<p id="TjaCE1">According to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/prospects-of-peace-elusive-as-pence-wraps-up-visit-to-israel/2018/01/23/65e0499a-002d-11e8-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?utm_term=.2e08cb4eb45d">Washington Post</a>, Pence received a warm welcome from Israeli officials during his two-day stay, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited Jerusalem's Western Wall. </p>
<p id="bshKFc">During his speech to the Israeli parliament, called the Knesset, Pence announced that the move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem could happen as early as 2019. This move was previously expected to take several years.</p>
<p id="8j7lGU"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mike-pence-israel-knesset-speech-protest-jerusalem-us-embassy-palestine-palestinian-a8173271.html">However, not everyone responded positively</a> to Pence's time in Israel. Arab politicians interrupted Pence's speech, holding up signs that said "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine," and were forced to leave.</p>
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/1/23/16924184/democrat-republican-israel-palestinians-poll-trumpRicky Zipp