Trump's history of breaking decorum with remarks on race, ethnicity  —  A career intelligence analyst who is an expert in hostage policy stood before President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last fall to brief him on the impending release of a family long held in Pakistan under uncertain circumstances.

Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star's Silence  —  Agreement just before election required woman to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, people familiar with the matter say  —  A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment …

Sen. Tim Scott: Graham says reports of Trump's ‘shithole countries’ comment ‘basically accurate’  —  U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said he talked to fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham about hearing President Donald Trump's “shithole countries” comment and Graham confirmed to him the president said it.

Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers  —  A BuzzFeed News review of every sale of a Trump-branded condominium in the United States provides the first comprehensive look at how many went to unidentified buyers who paid cash, an indication of possible money laundering.

'This is CNN Tonight.  I'm Don Lemon.  The president of the United States is racist.'  —  It's not every day you hear a television news anchor unabashedly calling a public figure “racist.”  Broadcast journalists tend to tread lightly when describing racism, using terms such as “racially charged” or “racially tinged.”

US ambassador to Panama resigns, saying he can no longer serve under Trump administration  —  US Ambassador to Panama John Feeley, a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, has resigned, telling the State Department he no longer feels able to serve President Donald Trump.

Cybersecurity firm: US Senate in Russian hackers' crosshairs  —  PARIS (AP) — The same Russian government-aligned hackers who penetrated the Democratic Party have spent the past few months laying the groundwork for an espionage campaign against the U.S. Senate, a cybersecurity firm said Friday.

Biden Trashes Millennials in His Quest to Become Even Less Likable  —  In an apparent effort to make himself an even less appealing 2020 contender, former Vice President Joe Biden had some harsh words for millennials while promoting his new book on Wednesday.  Here's what he said in a conversation with Patt Morrison of the LA Times:

How The Alt-Right — And Paul Ryan's Challenger — Coordinate To Fight The “Jewish Media”  —  When Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and other conservatives cut ties with far-right activist and congressional candidate Paul Nehlen, he turned to his private Twitter direct message group, CityRevoltVoteNehlen.

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos to Fund 1,000 College Scholarships for Dreamers $33 million donation the largest ever for TheDream.US  —  Jeff Holmes jholmes@skdknick.com 860-575-6870  —  Desiree Vodounon dvodounon@skdknick.com 917-499-5101

David Brooks Picked a Bad Week to Say Trump ‘Runs a Normal, Good Meeting’  —  Four days ago, David Brooks broke the news in the New York Times that President Trump is actually a sober-minded and competent public servant.  “People who go into the White House to have a meeting …

Time to Say It: Trump Is a Racist  —  When it comes to President Trump and race, there is a predictable cycle.  He makes a remark that seems racist, and people engage in an extended debate about whether he is personally racist.  His critics say he is.  His defenders argue for an interpretation …

Trump waives Iran sanctions for what administration says is last time  —  will again waive sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, the White House said Friday.  —  But the Trump administration is imposing new, nonnuclear sanctions in response …

AJC poll: Trump's approval ratings in Georgia erode  —  President Donald Trump's approval ratings have crumbled in Georgia over his first year in the White House, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released Friday that shows nearly six in 10 registered voters disapprove of his performance.

Social Media Is Making Us Dumber.  Here's Exhibit A.  —  This week, a video surfaced of a Harvard professor, Steven Pinker, which appeared to show him lauding members of a racist movement.  The clip, which was pulled from a November event at Harvard put on by Spiked magazine …

Fits and fitness: Trump gives his skeptics plenty of fodder  —  A new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll shows that 55% of Americans (and 54% of independents) think Trump's mental fitness is a legitimate issue.  But this is as partisan as any other question, with most Republicans saying the questions are “unfair and politically motivated.”

The Dossier Rehab Campaign  —  Congress should work quickly to declassify documents and let the public decide.  —  There's no such thing as a coincidence in Washington, so why the sudden, furious effort by Democrats and the media to give cover to the Steele dossier?

The Other Scary Foreign Hacking Threat Trump Is Ignoring  —  Russia didn't just meddle in the U.S. election: it's trying to hack our critical infrastructure-and Trump may be keeping Americans in the dark.  —  BY SARAH KENDZIOR5 MINUTE READ  —  On June 13, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified …

JUST when you thought things were calming, TRUMP's THURS was wild from wire to wire — POTUS says he won't go to UK embassy opening because of bad Obama deal, but BUSH cut the deal — DINA POWELL's going away party  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  A HEADLINE TRUMP WON'T LIKE — “Obama …

Diurnal cloud cycle biases in climate models  —  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2706-06201,2 &  —  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9378-207X1,2  —  Abstract  —  Clouds' efficiency at reflecting solar radiation and trapping the terrestrial radiation is strongly modulated by the diurnal cycle of clouds (DCC).