Well, well, well…. According to a breaking State Department release T-Rex will be headed to Beijing the day after tomorrow (Thursday) through Sunday.   Yup, everything proceeding swimmingly.  A very predictable plan, for an intensely smart geopolitical strategy.  Walking in a Winner Wonderland !

STATE DEPT – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Beijing September 28 – October 1 to meet with senior Chinese leaders. Secretary Tillerson will discuss a range of issues, including the President’s planned travel to the region, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment. Secretary Tillerson’s visit to China reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to further broaden and enhance U.S. economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

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“After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018.”
~ Senator Bob Corker

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

“Reminder”

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President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin are is using the newly constructed sanctions authority to punish eight North Korean banks and 26 bank workers living abroad.
The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions (full outline below) rely on an executive order President Donald Trump signed last week to target North Korea’s access to the international banking system. The Trump/Mnuchin action comes as as a separate outcome from the recently passed United Nations sanctions package targeting North Korea.

The eight banks are all in North Korea. The Treasury Department says the 26 individuals are North Korean nationals employed by those banks who work in Russia, China, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the U.S. is targeting those “across the globe” who facilitate financial transactions for North Korea. He says it’s part of the effort to isolate North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. (link)

Treasury announcement below.
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Today President Donald Trump meets with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy Brey and will be holding a joint press conference at the conclusion of their meeting.  Approximate start time 1:30pm – 1:45pm EDT
UPDATE: Video Added

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During a meeting at the White House with congressional committee members, President Trump announced he is planning to visit Puerto Rico, and possibly the Virgin Islands, on Tuesday of next week.
The visit is being timed to avoid any impact on first responders, U.S. military units and FEMA crews who are currently working in “urgent mode” to reestablish basic elements of recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s devastation.  WATCH:

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President Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and FEMA Director Brock Long have been in Puerto Rico reviewing recovery efforts and coordinating the administration’s efforts to assist the island.
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The majority of people who are providing media opinion on Puerto Rico recovery efforts really don’t have any understanding of the scale of the logistics involved when the impact zone is an island.
Hurricane Maria destroyed hundreds of vessels in and around the various PR ports making entry and exit into harbors a maze of submerged vessel and sunken debris avoidance. In addition, the ports’ infrastructure systems (power, utilities, docking equipment, pump stations, fuel depots, etc) were severely impacted, and in many ports 100% wiped out.  Buoys, markers, harbor-lights, towers, all gone – completely destroyed.

Puerto Rico is an island, so bringing in relief supplies by cargo ship is the only way to deliver massive tonnage of supplies, heavy equipment and material needed to begin any restoration and recovery effort. Without ports those supplies cannot be offloaded. Especially think about fuel shipments. See the issue?
However, in a stunning feat of skill, ingenuity and determination the harbor entries have been mapped for navigable passage by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard while simultaneously the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working on the land-based side of the port infrastructure. [The major port of San Juan was opened Sept. 23rd.]
All of this is happening while the Dept. of Defense is leading FEMA efforts and providing U.S. marine units, fixed wing and helicopter, to deliver supplies to the hardest hit areas.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

The Dallas Cowboys, together with team owner Jerry Jones, take a collective knee at the start of the Monday Night Football game to display their unity with… well, something probably.  Stick a fork in the financial future of the NFL, it’s done; finished.
The only thing that was saving the NFL from full organizational collapse was the advent of Fantasy Football Leagues and the subsequent betting and fan-based league play therein.
Never underestimate the inability of any business organization to inoculate itself with idiot resistant policies once they enter the arena of identity politics.  It has always been thus:

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There is something hilarious in the face of team owner Jerry Jones looking so smug. He thinks he’s figured out how to navigate this insufferable financial minefield. He didn’t. Now watch the slow-motion financial implosion… that smug look will change quickly as he watches his organizational bank account drain; which will be faster than it took to take the knee he promised would never happen. By Thanksgiving, we’ll see. Bigly.
I’m sorry, but I can’t stop laughing. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
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Earlier today President Trump joined with Labor Secretary Acosta, Education Secretary DeVos and Ivanka Trump to sign an executive memorandum highlighting expanded STEM and Computer Science education access to students.

[Transcript] – 3:04 P.M. EDT –  THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all. It’s a great pleasure to be here with Secretary DeVos, Secretary Acosta, and Ivanka. I also want to express my appreciation to Representatives Bradley Byrne, Susan Brooks, Lamar Smith, and Virginia Foxx. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. Thank you very much for being with us. And Mimi Walters, thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Susan.
I want to just talk about leadership. It’s the most important issue. We need leadership in this country — women and girls and for every child in America, represented by all of the incredible students here today. These are great students. Are you all good students?
PARTICIPANTS: Yes!
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