Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On the History Of the World

As a new Week dawns, we hereby present a History of the World: 

Notations From the Grid (Special W-End Edition): On @POTUS Watch W-End

It has been quite a week in the United States as the Debate over Immigration got heated and the United States Got a jolt in light of recession fears--Some of the discourse on this as the #TrumpRecession was trending was noted below: 

On the Foreign Policy Front, The President of the United States urged Israel to bar the entry of two sitting members of Congress.  The US Ambassador to Israel expressed support for the move and Senior Members of the House Congressional Leadership including Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana expressed support for the move--in spite of the fact that Israel had agreed one month before to grant them visas which was welcomed by the US House Democratic Leader and the US Republican Leader which will undermine the Israeli stance on bi-partisanship.     What is also of note is how as Aaron David Miller noted that the BDS movement was given a gift.   

Our team complied a note on the reactions to the move by the Government of Israel that the Deputy Foreign Minister called Moral: 

The Deficit continued to grow as noted by the Washington  Times:

Deficit hits $867B with two months left to go in the fiscal year The federal budget deficit hit $867 billion for the first 10 months of the fiscal year the Treasury Department reported Monday. The deficit, which represents the difference between spending and revenues, is set to exceed $1 trillion for the current fiscal year. The deficit for fiscal year 2018 was $779 billion, which was the largest shortfall since 2012. Read the full story here  The Congressional Budget Office came out with its' long-term Budget outlook as well: The 2019 Long-Term Budget Outlook in 23 Slides This presentation summarizes the findings of CBO’s recent report The 2019 Long-Term Budget Outlook. CBO has also provided a narrated presentation highlighting the key aspects of the agency’s extended baseline projections.

Notations From the Grid (Special Edition): On the Protection of Journalists

Our team has made an editorial decision to feature this newsflash courtesy of the team at the Committee to Protect Journalists which will be featured on all our key Virtual Properties for the Week --as we will do our part to not complain but to make things:

Stepping up journalists’ digital safety know-how

CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team released in July an updated Digital Safety Kit to provide journalists with the latest information on how best to protect themselves and their sources through secured digital accounts, devices, and online communications. The kit also provides practical advice to help journalists navigate digital threats like phishing attacks and specific concerns related to crossing borders, when authorities may seek to inspect devices.

Available in English, French, Spanish, and Russian, journalists and media organizations may freely use and share the text under the terms of our Creative Commons license. News of the kit was well-received on social media, garnering hundreds of likes and retweets, and was distributed to partners, who welcomed the resource and shared it through their networks. 

Separately, CPJ went to Cúcuta, Colombia, in July with a partner organization to educate Venezuelan journalists on digital safety. Journalists working in Venezuela have been facing rampant harassment both online and offline, and CPJ has been advising individual journalists and media outlets on the ground on how to strengthen digital security practices. The three-day meeting in Cúcuta, a safe location that is relatively easy for Venezualan journalists to reach, was designed to build expertise in a small group of journalists that they can then share with colleagues inside Venezuela.