Calendar

Tuesday, 18 April to Friday 21 April

•  Tuesday, 18 April – Today in History: Tiananmen Square Massacre.
  • 1:15 pm – President Trump arrives in Wisconsin where he will tour “Snap-on Tools” Kenosha manufacturing plant followed by the signing of his “Buy America, Hire America” executive order. This is the one meant to give Commerce Secretary Ross a review option of 60 current free trade agreements to ensure mutual reliance and limit H1B visas to skilled workers, among other things.
  •  Vice President Pence has made Japan his second stop on his Asian tour after a Sunday stay in Seoul. He met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a working lunch where they discussed “security issues,” then later the VP spoke with Deputy PM, Taro Aso. “The vice president’s team has said that the main purpose of his visit is to increase US access to Japanese markets, as well as to push for more investment in the US.”
  • 18th to 23rd – US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will travel to Riyadh, Cairo, Doha as well as Israel and Djibouti. In Saudi Arabia, the Secretary’s first stop, he “will meet key international counterparts to strengthen commitments to the US-Saudi security partnership,” according to the Pentagon. Saudi Arabia wants U.S. help removing Iran-backed Houthi rebels by supplying the UAE with “intelligence, aerial refueling, and other military assistance.”
• Wednesday, 19 April – Today is Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day.
  • 9:02 am, 1995 (CDT) – Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols detonated a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killing 168 people, 19 were children. Until 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing was the most devastating terror attack in US history.
  • A unanimously approved, bipartisan VA Choice Program bill sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) along with Jon Tester (D-Montana), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) is expected to be signed by the President. The bill, in essence, extends current appropriations beyond the original law’s August 7th cutoff thereby allowing veterans to confirm appointments past the deadline. It is a positive step towards reforming the VA.
  • 2 pm (EDT) – An American Delegation of Congressional leaders including Paul Ryan will address a UK think tank, Policy Exchange, in London. The UK is the delegation’s first stop on a week-long NATO unifying tour in response to recently strained relations with Russia. The eight members will continue to Norway, Poland, and Estonia, “a nation seen to be on the front lines of Russian aggression toward the West.”
  • The New England Patriots will join President Trump at the White House for a congratulatory slap on the back for their fifth SuperBowl win. There are a few conscientious objectors who have declined the visit, but Tom Brady has expressed no ill-will toward his intolerant brethren, “‘It really is a great experience,’ Brady said. ‘Putting politics aside, it never was a political thing. At least, it never was to me. It meant you won a championship and you got to experience something cool with your team, with your teammates. Everyone has their own choice.'” Trump, on the other hand, can be expected to confound rationally minded adults by expressing his discontent at a yet undetermined o’Dark-thirty tweet.
• Thursday, 20 April – Today in History. Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win an IndyCar race.
  •  9:56 pm, 2010 (CDT) – Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. It will take nearly three months to cap the rig, 11 rig workers would die, and it is still the worst environmental disaster in US history. It would later be called Obama’s Katrina because of his inept response to the catastrophe.
  • Italy’s Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, will meet with the President as a precursor to the G7 summit in Sicily next month. The two newly elected leaders will likely discuss Russia, who was ejected in 2014 thus widdling G8 down by one.
  • Mattis’ next meet will be in Egypt who the Secretary sees as a strategic partner securing peace between Israel and Palestine as well as security in general in the Middle East.
  • VP Mike Pence arrives in Indonesia today for a two-night visit departing the 22nd.
• Friday, 21 April – Today is National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day!! Recipe.
  • Today the Secretary of Defense travels to Israel. “‘Mattis’ visit to Israel will take place against the backdrop of efforts by Washington and Jerusalem to reignite the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Mattis has said in the past that he believes the Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise was ‘obstructing the possibility of a two-state outcome’ between Israelis and Palestinians,'” reported IsraelHayom.
  • Britain’s Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 91st birthday. Actually, today is the day of her birth, but she’ll celebrate her birthday in June when the weather is warmer.

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