Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM

Making policy by tweet
President Trump announced on Twitter early this morning that people who are transgendered will not be allowed to serve in any branch of the U.S. military, in any capacity. The decision reverses more than two years of Pentagon policy; an estimated 5,000 transgendered Americans serve in the active military or reserves. (via New York Times)

MUSIC: What do Tone Lōc, Lee Greenwood and Crystal Gayle, Silversun Pickups, Naughty by Nature, Vince Neil and Sarah Jarosz have in common? They're all playing in Spokane or Coeur d'Alene in September and October.


IN OTHER NEWS

School board member resigns
Paul Schneider, a Spokane School Board member elected in 2015, has resigned after allegedly hitting a cyclist, two street signs and a power pole while driving drunk on June 21. Schneider, a local high school teacher, had filed to run for state Senate in early June. (Spokesman-Review)

Fool me once...
Former Texas governor and current Energy Secretary Rick Perry is the latest victim of a pair of Russian pranksters, who successfully impersonated the Ukranian prime minister on a phone call lasting 22 minutes. Previously, they've fooled Sir Elton John and Sen. John McCain, among others. (Washington Post, Bloomberg News)

Try, try again
After the latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was rejected last night, here's what's next in the Senate health care debate. Trump's latest Twitter target in the Senate? Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who's not having it. (The Hill, ABC News)

11 states sue EPA
Washington and Oregon are among 11 states suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its reversal of Obama-era safety rules pertaining to oil refineries and chemical plants. (KUOW)

No merit badge for oratory
The 29 most cringe-worthy lines from Trump's unprecedentedly political and partisan speech to more than 30,000 Boy Scouts at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia, and the thin line between openness and recklessness. (CNN, NPR)

A nation divided
A new national poll reveals a lot about America six months into Trump's presidency. (Gallup)

Football and brain injuries: another link
A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association on the brains of 202 deceased football players, 111 of them NFL veterans, has bad news for current players regarding the degenerative brain disease known as CTE. (JAMA, New York Times)