White House

Shortly after Barack Obama delivered his first (free) speech today since leaving the White House in Chicago before an invitation-only crowd of college students, community organizers and other fans, Fox News' Charlie Gasparino reports that in what may be his first paid speaking arrangement, Obama will be paid $400,000 to speak at Cantor Fitzgerald's healthcare conference this September, setting the benchmark for how much an hour of the former president's time will cost going forward.

With president Trump optimistic, but already laying plans for a possible government shutdown - which incidentally would take place on the symbolic 100th day of Trump's administration, incentivizing Democrats to be especially confrontational - White House budget director Mick Mulvaney tried to talk down concerns of an imminent government closure, and said talks between Republicans and Democrats in Congress could reach an agreement to avoid a government shutdown as early as Sunday.

By Theodore A. Postol, professor emeritus of science, technology, and national security policy at MIT.  Postol’s main expertise is in ballistic missiles. He has a substantial background in air dispersal, including how toxic plumes move in the air.

Authored by James George Jatras via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

If anyone is worried whether the prospect of a major war, which many of us considered almost inevitable if Hillary Clinton had attained the White House, is back on track, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Moscow was cold comfort. From his remarks together with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov, there is now little reason to expect any improvement in US-Russia ties anytime soon, if ever, and much reason to expect them to get worse – a lot worse.

“North Korea is a problem,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “The problem will be taken care of.”

JUST IN: Trump says "North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of". https://t.co/qUerjlvzRB pic.twitter.com/9lbR7yUyIj

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) April 13, 2017

Which prompted North Korea's rebuke of US President Trump's "aggressive words," overnight.

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