Blue Cross Forms Alberta 2017: Fill & Download for Free

There are a few correct answers here. The most notable and least interesting one is that Amazon announced their purchase of Whole Foods some two weeks prior to Blue Apron’s IPO, which signalled that Amazon (with their insurmountable logistics advantages) was coming for Blue Apron’s lunch. Investors have not historically gotten very rich betting against Amazon, especially on core focus businesses. Hence interest in the IPO dropped, and they ended up pricing at the bottom of their range, well below their $2bn peak valuation.But the more fundamental (and more interesting) answer is that Blue Apron’s business model was always terrible. Food subscription boxes do make sense, but not as standalone operations. The economics just don’t work, as virtually every entrant into his space is slowly learning one after another.To illustrate why, let’s take a brief trip in the time machine.2014I’m in northern Alberta sitting with a consulting client: a rural grocery store. Among other things, I’m trying to convince them to get into meal kits.As to why:They were a good 25-30 minutes from the nearest large city, and nearby dining options were limited.Locals had pretty high incomes.It was agriculture country, meaning that sourcing costs were pretty low (for anything not available via their normal distribution channels).One big topic of discussion was price. The owners felt that most meal kits available at the time were pretty expensive. How could they produce something comparable without either offending customers or losing money on production?To answer, I went back even further in time.2007I’m working at NuComm: a group of contact centers with a consulting arm, where all clients want us to help improve the efficiency of their customer service operations.I’ve just been put in charge of one team in a very interesting division.In brief:Most large clients (e.g., Comcast) wanted hundreds to thousands of reps per campaign. The smallest teams that we’d traditionally put together would be 25 or so. But even that was rare. Most smaller projects were just handled in-house, as the work of outsourcing wasn’t worth it.But there was a weird hole in the market, where campaigns were too small for our normal model but also too small for an in-house alternative. Case in point: Sony with their Wheel of Fortune-related rewards program. Most of the call volume came during times when said show was airing live. But if they only staffed for that, those workers would be super part time. And then they’d still have the problem of handling the trickle of other calls that came throughout the day.One particular problem here is the balance between occupancy and service level. The first measures what percentage of paid time a worker is occupied with revenue-generating work. The second measures what percentage of customers get their call answered within x seconds (with 80/30 being a common target). As call volume increases, you can balance the two pretty well. But with very small volumes, balance is essentially impossible. You might only get two calls in an hour, and both at the same time. To hit service-level (keeping both customers and regulators happy), you’d have to significantly over-staff, which would be prohibitively expensive.We solved this problem for clients by cross-training our agents across as many as 20 smaller campaigns each. (The logic of how to best route calls between them gets notoriously complex and is really very interesting, but is also well outside our scope here.)This arrangement was great for clients. While they paid a hefty per-minute rate, their bill was far, far less than what it would cost to hit service level otherwise. And this arrangement was obviously great for us, as we made more per man-hour than almost anyone else. We paid our agents generously, which let us attract and keep a higher level of talent.But anyway, the rub here is that one particular contract confused me at first. They gave us direct mail to process (basic data entry), and paid a piece-rate that was more or less capped at $8-9 per hour. Given that our all-in staffing costs were maybe triple that, where was the logic?The answer I got was as simple as it was non-intuitive: reps not doing productive work make us $0, and doing data entry doesn’t remove an agent’s availability to take a phone call in the way that taking another call does. And by extending that same logic: the more work we take on profitability, the larger we can grow our team, and thus the more we can shift people around so as to offer more client flexibility.If the highest we could get occupancy (while maintaining service levels) was 60%, that means agents were doing nothing 40% of the time. If they filled three-quarters of that with data entry, we’d goose our revenues by something like $2.50 per man-hour without harming service levels. This means the employees stayed busier (making time go faster), and that their bonus checks would improve. And so on the positive cycle would go.That all in mind, back to Blue Apron.2017Imagine you’re an analyst looking at Blue Apron’s S-1 side by side with the Amazon / Whole Foods announcement. You want to determine how significant Amazon’s competitive advantages are (and, by extension, the likelihood of other grocers who already have strong logistics infrastructure getting into this space):Whole Foods pays lots of cashiers and clerks and so on. At any given moment most of them have something productive to do (checking out customers, facing product, stocking shelves, etc). But their occupancy is never 100%. There’s always slack somewhere, which you can only really reduce by expanding the staff’s range of productive tasks.If Whole Foods wants to prepare meal kits, one thing they can do is cleverly shift around existing employees during their slack time to reduce the work required for the full-time packers.While this isn’t likely to make a large a difference as it would for a local grocer (whose employees have more slack), Whole Foods also has the advantage of shifting employees between projects. If they want to scale one team up or down to meet demand, they can cross-train and apportion accordingly — all at a very low cost.In contrast, Blue Apron has zero of these advantages. Either they have to pay a contractor to do it (bye-bye margins) or they have to balance occupancy / service level on a lower volume and more limited range of work (which would require actual magic).So, basically we have a scenario where:Smaller grocers could easily assemble their own kits using slack, beating you on price.Larger grocers could throw larger teams at it without incurring nearly the same variable staffing costs.Both categories of grocers are also killing you on volume pricing. That tomato that costs you $.18 might cost them $0.15 (or less).Both categories of grocers are also killing you on marketing costs. They have customers already coming in, and can just put the product in front of them. You have to buy a billion podcast and Facebook ads to broadcast your existence.Now imagine that one of those grocers is also owned by the best logistics company in the world, and that there are rumours that Walmart is likely to follow. Oh, and imagine that the market has funded like eight other businesses that do exactly what you do, ensuring that your only chance of winning share is deep discounts that will ensure sticker shock when customers realize what normal pricing is.Basically you end up with a company that only makes sense for high-income couples/families, and even then probably not as your better-positioned competitors get around to destroying you on price.(Sidebar: Blue Apron’s market cap had dropped to like $40m a few weeks ago. It’s now at $160m thanks to speculation that COVID is going to change consumer preferences. I find this assumption deeply curious given that discretionary spending is currently going over a cliff. Blue Apron might have a few good months thanks to those with deeper savings accounts, sure. But you can’t win a war when your competitors are better capitalized and have massive pricing advantages. I’m not in the business of giving financial advice here, but I will say that, as a matter of education, their stock is on the NYSE still and is available to be shorted…)

Alaska Boundary DisputeFacebookTwitterGoogle+ShareHave you ever wondered why the Alaska / Canadian British Columbia border looks so very odd, what with a slim panhandle running one third of the way down the BC coast? Alaska was once owned by Russia. Their right was based on the establishment of fur trading locations at places such as Wrangell and Petersburg. and was confirmed in a treaty between Russia and the UK in 1825.Canada Alaska Boundary DisputeWhen the US purchased Alaska in 1867 they took over what Russian maps showed to be Alaska. However the Russian maps showed more land belonging to them than stipulated in the treaty of 1825, which was the last document to have set the boundary.In 1872 British Columbia petitioned for an official survey of the boundary. The U.S. repeatedly dismissed the request, deeming it too expensive.In 1898 a joint high commission met to discuss the Alaska Boundary Dispute at which time both sides agreed to a compromise. Unfortunately news of the compromise got out, and the western states vehemently protested, forcing the U.S. to meekly drop the compromise.Later that same year Britain and the U.S. met to decide on a tribunal to settle the Alaska Boundary Dispute. They could not find a compromise and discussions were halted.When Teddy Roosevelt won the presidency, he applied his motto, “speak softly and carry a big stick,” towards solving the dispute. Americans began a series of harassment measures against Canada. Canadian miners in Alaska were denied certain legal rights, because of a loophole in the Alaskan Homestead act of 1899. The U.S. also erected settlements along the Southern Panhandle border. The final harassment was policy unofficially adopted by U.S. shipping companies, which slowed Canadian shipments and sped up U.S. shipments.Finally in 1903 the Hay/Herbert Treaty called for a six member tribunal, made up of three Americans, two Canadians and one British member, to make a decision.In January of 1903, the U.S. and Britain agreed on a format to address the boundary dispute arbitration. Each side was to appoint three impartial judges of repute. Legal teams would present their cases and the tribunal would then render a decision.Theodore Roosevelt made his three impartial selections. He appointed Elihu Root, Secretary of War; Henry Cabot Lodge, Senator from Mass, and George Turner Ex-Senator from Washington. Using his Big Stick policy, Roosevelt sent word that if the panel didn’t find correctly he would send marines in to secure U.S. rights.So much for impartiality!On the other side Britain appointed Baron Alverstone, the Lord Chief Justice of England; Sir Louis A Jette, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Quebec; and Allen B. Aylesworth, K.C., From Toronto. Canada was confident they would receive British support due to the help they gave the British in the Boer War.The reality of the situation was that Britain was more concerned about their relations with the U.S. than with Canada. British needed U.S. Steel and sympathies for an arms race with Germany. Canada was a British Dominion. Thus its interests were relegated to bargaining chips. The other reality was that the Canadian Legal team had a weak case.After three weeks of discussion and pouring over every document that was relevant to the dispute, The tribunal… surprise, surprise… voted in favor of the U.S. The Alaskan Boundary was established on paper, and various expeditions were ordered to properly survey the area. The Alaskan Boundary Dispute then faded from American recollection.This is not true for the Canadian Collective memory. The deciding vote came from Baron Alverstone, the British member of the tribunal. Canada thought the British would protect their interests, and consequently view the dispute as a betrayal.The Canadian Government reacted by changing its policy in the North. They had been told that they could not keep the Alaska Panhandle because they did not assert Canadian sovereignty there, so they changed this by sending Northwest Mounted Police to areas in the far North that were in danger of a similar dispute, such as Hershal Island in the northern Yukon Territory.(This fact goes along ways to justify exerting our sovereignty over the northern ocean!)Soon after the Alaska Boundary Dispute the Canadian Government raised the duties to bring goods across the border. This hurt the economy of Skagway, the primary border town in the Yukon region. Also, after gold was discovered in Atlin, B.C., the government restricted the ownership of claims to those holding Canadian citizenship. Both policies- the expensive duties and ownership rights- were directed at Americans, apparently in revenge.The Yukon initially reacted negatively to the Council’s decision, but positive results have come from it with increased American investments in the Yukon and a strong Canadian Presence with the Northwest Mounted Police.Since the final decision was made on October 20th, 1903 the outcome of the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal has never been seriously challenged by the US and Canada.Canadian-Alaska-Boundary-Dispute-MapSpecial Note:A recent note from a reader pointed out a problem with this article. It may sound to some that the Alaska Boundary Dispute was over the actual Alaska handle. We did not mean to leave that impression. The dispute was rather over the location of the border down the handle. As you can see in the image to the left (sorry about the quality), the red line indicates the Canadian declaration of the line. The blue is the American case. The yellow line indicates where the border finally ended up.It is interesting to note than neither the American nor Canadian claim went as far south as the yellow line. I wonder how that happened?SummaryArticle NameAlaska Boundary DisputeDescriptionHave you ever wondered why the Alaska / Canadian BC border looks so very odd, learn about the Alaska Boundary Dispute.AuthorBruce RickettsPublisher NameMysteries of CanadaFacebookTwitterGoogle+SharePost Tags - Canadian Border DisputesWritten by Bruce RickettsAuthor of Mysteries of CanadaLeave a ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *CommentThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.12 Responses to “Alaska Boundary Dispute”By THOMAS TWELLS - 5 May 2017 Replyso how do we get it back? this is ours,any court in the world would agree with CanadaBy Diana Graham - 2 May 2017 ReplyDear Canadians,Friendly American here. I think you guys should give us that last strip of land and that island down there near the southern end of Alaska. How’s about a trade of some kind? Like maybe you guys would like to have the state of Maine? Just an idea. My urge to snatch up that bit down there is driven only by my sense of aesthetics. The maps would look better if that stuff belonged to us, and Maine belonged to you. That is all.And, HEY! Why all the hate for the US, Canada? Americans LOVE you guys.By Joe Jordan - 17 February 2018 ReplyAmerica didn’t get enough. We should have a nice hunk of western BC so we can travel between Alaska and the lower forty eight without ever entering Canada. Besides I kind of like Maine. I like Florida too so we should reserve sales there for non Canadians only. Americans just love you guys.By Joseph - 18 June 2016 ReplyI think anybody with any ounce of common sense can see the bias or land grabbing greed of the US in obtaining or (Taking) this ‘Alaskan handle’ alongside their purchase of Alaska, during an era of US Empire building…All one has to do is just look at the map with their naked eyes and you can see clearly that the Alaskan handle is an inherent part of Canadian territory much like the California peninsula belongs to Mexico. I guess, ‘speak softly and carry the Big stick’ does come in handy after all !! And the uneducated shout, U S A, U S A, U S A……By G Prentice - 31 May 2016 ReplyI had no idea the Alaska border looked like that until I looked up the location of Port Protection after watching the National Geographic channel. It has got to be one of the strangest borders in the world.By Gary - 12 April 2016 ReplyThe yellow line at the bottom represented a part of the border where both Canada/Britain and the U.S. were in agreement. They agreed that the border would follow the Portland Canal up to its head and from that point, or actually at latitude 56°, the border was in dispute. British Columbia had an entirely different southern starting point with it going up Clarence Strait instead of the Portland Canal, and that would have given dramatically more of the panhandle to Canada. You can see B.C.’s claim on the map on Wikipedia’s page on the dispute.By MICHAEL HARRISON - 21 March 2016 ReplyI just noticed this ridiculous border after looking up the location of Haines AK. I noticed the “panhandle” border and thought whats going on there ? After reading up on it I think it is another case of the US bully boy whose only objective is World Domination. It clearly should belong to Canada. Im impartial by the way I live in the UKBy Ronald - 26 December 2015 ReplyThose UGLY AMERICANS THINK THEY OWN CANADA first of all the russians stole the north east from Canada and the americans bought stolen land from russia. This land should be returned to canada known as alaska today??????By Joe - 10 January 2016 ReplyLol you’re madBy DD - 16 April 2016Sounds like a rebuttal from an american who thinks that only US citizens live in america and is not very well informed just prejudicedBy Don - 12 January 2017This mentality goes back many years,you know “if your not sure but your bigger just Take It” Not any different than Putin trying his Ukraine power dance crap. I say it time Canada revisit this bogus border claim and take our Rightful land mass and most importantly OUR Coastline!!! The way I see it they can have the string of Volcanic Islands. However the straight line that separates us from alaska needs to be drawn down to were it meets the Pacific. That’s all and that’s FAIR…. IMO I Am a pissed off Canadian that doesn’t give a shit about T Roosevelt’s so called “Carry a Big stick Policy”By Don - 12 January 2017There is nothing mad about wanting justice for blatant theft….←→SearchMost Popular ArticlesOak Island Money Pit Treasure 151,561 viewsLouis Riel – Martyr, Hero or Traitor? 121,828 viewsOak Island Money Pit: Latest Developments 97,464 viewsTen Famous Black Canadians 66,852 viewsBeothuk Indians – What happened to them? 35,060 viewsThe Lost Lemon Mine Mystery 34,429 viewsAlbert Johnson – The Mad Trapper of Rat River 25,070 viewsAlaska Boundary Dispute 20,827 viewsQuebec Bridge Collapse 19,167 viewsWhat Time is it in Canada – Canada Time Zones Map 18,710 viewsRecent ArticlesKelly Chamandy- Canada’s Last Bear Oil SalesmanThe Curse of Oak Island: Season 6, Episode 10- Fingers Made of StoneThe Great Canadian MythThe Curse of Oak Island: Season 6, Episode 9- As Above, So BelowThe Curse of Oak Island: Season 6, Episode 8- UnearthedThe Curse of Oak Island: Season 6, Episode 7- Rock SolidGhostly Tales of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton, AlbertaThe Curse of Oak Island: Season 6, Episode 6- Precious MetalPrince Rupert of the RhineFamous People Who Canadian Places are Named AfterCategoriesAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCanadaCanadian Political SystemFirst NationsManitobaMilitaryNew BrunswickNewfoundland and LabradorNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioPrince Edward IslandQuebecSaskatchewanVictoria Cross RecipientsYukon

"55 Ways Donald Trump Structurally Changed America in 2017 Daily Intelligencer (Nick Tabor)" (Dated 12/21/2017)Nick Tabor has written an excellent article about Trump's accomplishment in 2017. Please read ( It’s a comprehensive listing)1) Travel from eight countries is bannedAfter 11 months’ worth of legal dueling, Trump has effectively delivered on a version of his Muslim ban. With the Supreme Court’s blessing, he’s halted nearly all travel from Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Chad, plus North Korea and (in some cases) Venezuela.2) All refugees from 11 countries have been blocked from entering the U.S.Trump’s infamous “travel ban” executive order in January also decreed that refugees could no longer come here — no matter which country they were fleeing. Again because of lawsuits, that rule has been watered down, but Trump has successfully banned refugees from ten majority-Muslim countries plus North Korea, leading to a 40 percent drop in overall refugee admissions and a 94 percent drop in Muslim refugees.3) Protections for the Dreamers have been rescindedThe Department of Homeland Security will start cutting off protections for the nearly 700,000 Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children — in March, by decree from Trump. There’s still a chance, however, that Congress will pass a new law in the interim offering them legal residency or a path to citizenship.4) A program for child migrants fleeing violence in Central America is being phased outMore than 2,700 children, mostly from El Salvador, had received tentative approval to move here — but this year the State Department abruptly turned them away. It has also stopped accepting new applications for the program, which has been around since 2014, and plans to abolish it altogether.5) The U.S. has backed out of the U.N.’s migration pactU.S. representatives had been involved in a United Nations’ council on migration since the inaugural meeting this past spring. The idea is to coordinate help for more than 60 million people who have been driven from their homes by wars, poverty, or climate change. But the U.S. announced in December that it was quitting; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed that participating would undermine American sovereignty.6) Spouses and children of refugees have lost their path into the U.S.A program that helps refugees reunite with their families has been suspended by the State Department and other agencies — until when no one knows.7) Immigration agents are now required to treat the claims of asylum-seekers more skepticallyHomeland Security is telling its asylum officers to take a more critical stance on the stories of immigrants who say they are fleeing violence or persecution. If the interviewees seem nervous, the agents are to avoid factoring in that it might be caused by trauma or culture shock.8) Green cards are taking longer to obtainHomeland Security now requires in-person interviews for certain kinds of applications — something they had stopped doing ten years ago because it was a colossal waste of time. Immigration lawyers told CNN it could mean millions of fewer immigrants will be admitted here by 2020.9) Federal prosecutors have been stripped of their discretion and ordered to seek maximum penaltiesAttorney General Jeff Sessions issued the order in May, with a specific intent that prosecutors pursue stiff sentences for drug-dealing, gun crimes, and gang violence. But the mandate applies to every kind of case.10) A police-department reform program has been cut offAfter the Department of Justice sued the police in Ferguson, Missouri, and ordered the department to clean up its act on race relations, the DOJ created a program where other police departments could seek similar guidance, but on a voluntary, cooperative basis. Police departments in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, among others, took advantage of it. Sessions effectively cut off the program and channeled the money to groups like police unions instead.11) Local police are once again stocking up on military weaponsAfter police in Ferguson used military weapons against protesters in 2015, Obama took measures to end the militarization of police. Sessions rescinded those rules, so police can once again obtain surplus grenade-launchers, bayonets, and armored vehicles for free or with federal dollars.12) Half a million fugitives are now allowed to buy gunsIn February, the DOJ narrowed the definition of “fugitive” to people who have crossed state lines to escape prosecution or avoid testifying, which cleared 518,670 alleged criminals for gun purchases, according to the FBI.13) Predatory loan companies now face less scrutinySince its founding in 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has gone after lenders for taking advantage of students; in one case it got $480 million in loans erased for the students of a for-profit college. In August, though, the Department of Education said it would stop sharing student information that the watchdogs depend on.14) It’s easier for for-profit colleges to rip students offObama’s Department of Education had a plan to stop colleges from collecting on loans if their students didn’t land jobs that paid enough. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stopped the plan from taking effect and said it would have to be rewritten — for the colleges’ sake.15) Transgender students aren’t guaranteed the right to use their bathroom of choiceIndividual schools have the prerogative to keep the protection intact, but the DOJ and the Department of Education have killed the rule that guaranteed it nationwide.16) Schools have more leeway on how they investigate sexual-assault reportsUnder Obama, schools were told to come down against the accused students if there was more evidence of guilt than of innocence. Now, thanks to DeVos, they’re allowed to raise the bar for establishing guilt, which some advocates fear will discourage victims from coming forward.17) A plan to reduce racial disparities in schools is being delayedUnder a plan released in the waning days of the Obama administration, the states would have to review districts where minority students are disciplined or sent into special education disproportionately often. It was set to take effect next year; DeVos has pushed it back to 2020 and may end up scrapping it altogether.18) The U.S. has rescinded its commitment to the Paris climate accordThe U.S. submitted its formal notice of withdrawal from the Paris climate accord in August. Besides the implications for domestic energy policy, this means the U.S. will renege on promises to provide aid to poorer countries for climate measures, and may also cause diplomatic and economic blowback around the world. However, the country technically can’t back out until November 4, 2020, at the earliest, and even then the next president could rejoin.19) The EPA is dismantling its Clean Power PlanThe Clean Power Plan was intended to make sure the U.S. met its overarching goal in the Paris deal: i.e., to reduce carbon emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025. It would limit carbon pollution from energy plants and would encourage states to invest in alternative energy. Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has said he wants to replace the plan with new guidelines, but meanwhile, the repeal is underway.20) The Dakota Access pipeline is now open after its final construction phase was greenlighted by the ArmyThe pipeline runs more than 1,100 miles from North Dakota to southern Illinois. Its construction sparked months’ worth of protests last year; representatives from the tribes expressed worries that it would spring leaks and contaminate water supplies that millions of people depend on. Obama’s administration halted the construction, but in January, Trump ordered the Army to review that decision, posthaste. The pipeline opened in June.21) And the State Department has approved construction of the Keystone XL pipelineThe Keystone pipeline is designed to ship oil from Alberta, Canada, down to Texas, via the Canadian firm TransCanada. Obama rejected TransCanada’s application, saying the pipeline would undercut the U.S.’s “global leadership” on climate change. Trump invited the company to reapply, and in March the State Department approved its plans.22) Thousands of acres besides national monuments have been auctioned off to oil and gas companiesIn total, the Bureau of Land Management has sold the gas and drilling rights to some 54,000 acres of public land in Utah — including some near Dinosaur National Monument — and another 33,000 acres in Utah. To the Bureau’s surprise, though, demand has turned out to be fairly low; rights to additional swaths of land failed to sell for the minimum price of $1.50 per acre.23) The Arctic and Atlantic Oceans have been opened for more offshore drillingObama banned drilling in the seas near Alaska and in the canyons lining the East Coast, but in the spring, Trump signed an order to offer them up for oil and gas leasing — a process that will likely take about two years. Environmentalists worry it will devastate marine life and lead to oil spills.24) The Department of Interior has given coal companies a break on land-leasing pricesCoal companies get 40 percent of their product from public lands, and the royalty rates haven’t been updated in three decades — which, by some estimates, costs taxpayers hundreds of millions every year. Obama’s administration tried to remedy this, but Trump’s Department of Interior canceled the update before it took effect.25) Energy companies are no longer required to capture methane leaks when they drill on public landThe Methane Waste Prevention Rule, also developed in the Obama years, would force energy companies to capture methane — a potent greenhouse gas — from leaks when they drill on public lands. After some setbacks in court, the Bureau of Land Management has worked out a plan to delay the implementation until 2019. So far it’s unclear whether it plans to scrap the rule entirely.26) The EPA has canceled limits on the pollutants power plants can dump into waterwaysSteam electric plants unload aluminum, arsenic, mercury, and other pollutants into streams, which has been linked to fish die-offs and other environmental problems. Obama’s EPA passed limits on how much they could discharge, which it said would keep 1.4 billion pounds out of the waterways each year. But under Trump, the agency has retracted those limits and said it will come up with new guidelines instead.27) Plastic water bottles are once again allowed in national parksIn 2011, the National Park Service banned plastic bottles, a rule intended to keep the parks clean. The Trump administration decided, however, that it trampled on the visitors’ right to choose “how best to keep themselves and their families hydrated” — “particularly during the hot summer months.” It might also have had something to do with the $1.2 million the bottled-water industry spent on lobbying.28) Hunters are free to use lead ammunition in national parksThe Obama administration banned lead ammunition at the end of 2016, along with lead sinkers for fishing, on the grounds that lead is widely known to be toxic. The Department of Interior, led by outdoorsman and former oil-company-board-member Ryan Zinke, lifted the rule in March.29) The bar has been raised for protecting endangered animalsThe Fish and Wildlife Service declined in October to put 25 animals on the endangered-species list, saying there wasn’t enough evidence that they were truly in peril. Environmentalists were especially upset about the Pacific walrus, given that its habitat in the Arctic is eroding due to global warming. The Barbour’s map turtle, the Big Blue Springs cave crayfish, and the San Felipe gambusia were also left off the list.30) Oil and mining companies no longer have to disclose their payments to foreign governmentsThe Dodd-Frank financial regulation law required these companies to make public any payments they made to foreign governments to secure mining and drilling rights — a measure intended to curb bribery and corruption in places like Russia and the developing world. As the CEO of Exxon, Rex Tillerson had lobbied vigorously against it, and the first bill Trump signed after taking office annulled the rule.31) Financial advisers are not legally required to put their clients’ interests firstThe Obama administration spent years working on the “fiduciary rule,” which would have required financial consultants to put clients’ interests first when advising them on their retirement accounts. It was supposed to take effect on June 1, but the Department of Labor has refused to enforce it, and the administration is trying to repeal it entirely.32) Cities have been blocked from creating retirement accounts for private-sector workersNew York, Philadelphia, and Seattle were considering setting up retirement accounts for workers who don’t have access to them through their jobs — amounting to 13 million people in the three cities. Obama’s Department of Labor had provisions to help them, but Congress passed legislation in the spring to halt the project. Investment banks were reportedly irked about the competition.33) Loopholes for inheritance taxes will survive untouchedObama’s Treasury Department came up with a reform package that would have closed loopholes on estate taxes, but under the new leadership of Steven Mnuchin, the agency has abandoned it. “Obviously,” Mnuchin said in a speech this past fall, cutting the estate tax “disproportionately helps rich people.”34) The Labor Department is backing off on overtime enforcementObama tried to cut off the exemptions that companies use to avoid paying overtime to millions of workers. But his plan was challenged in the courts, and over the summer, Trump’s Department of Labor announced it wouldn’t defend it but would instead write its own new guidelines.35) The government is no longer fighting pay discriminationUnder Obama, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ordered companies to start submitting detailed data on employee pay, categorized by race, gender, and type of work — starting in September 2017. Lobbyists found it “unnecessarily burdensome,” so Trump’s administration dropped the requirement.36) The DOJ has decided transgender people are no longer protected by sex-discrimination lawsIn 2015, the DOJ helped a transgender university instructor sue her employer for discrimination, eventually netting her a $1.1 million award. Under Sessions, however, the DOJ has changed its position: It now says employers are free to discriminate against transgender people, and it plans to argue that position in any future court cases.37) Government contractors won’t face extra scrutiny for workplace conditionsThe Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, signed by Obama in 2014, had several parts: forcing companies to fix safety hazards if they wanted to compete for large government contracts, requiring them to give workers more information about their paychecks, and protecting women’s right to sue in open court for sexual harassment or discrimination. Industry lobbyists called it a job-killer, and Trump revoked it in March.38) The subsidies that undergirded Obamacare have been wiped outThe federal funds went to insurance companies so they could offer cheap plans to poor people. Trump abolished them in October, and as a result, premiums for those cheaper plans have already jumped by 7 to 38 percent, and, paradoxically, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that it will add $194 billion to the federal deficit by 2026. There’s still a chance, however, that Congress will replace the funding.39) Employers can now refuse to cover birth controlIn contrast to the original Obamacare rules, any employer can now opt out of paying for contraceptives for employees by claiming they have moral or religious objections. Hundreds of thousands of women may lose their access to contraceptives. The government is also paying some of the legal fees for groups that sued the Obama administration to get this mandate overturned.40) The right to sue banks in class-action lawsuits won’t be expanded after allBanks and credit-card companies often put fine print into contracts, stipulating that customers can’t join class-action suits against them no matter what (say, for example, when they defraud customers en masse). The Obama administration spent five years working on a vast rule that would have encouraged more class-action suits, but in October, Congress voted to strike it down, and Trump swiftly signed the bill.41) The FCC has abolished net neutralityThe 2014 net-neutrality rules required internet-service providers like AT&T to deliver all content — from news stories to pornography to cat videos — at the same speed, and prevented companies like Netflix and Facebook from buying faster access than small companies. The FCC voted in December to revoke those rules. It also voted to reduce its own influence over broadband companies, which will constrain future regulatory efforts.42) The FCC is letting a conservative media conglomerate buy more local TV stations than allowed by lawSinclair Broadcasting, which buys up local TV stations and requires them to run laudatory segments on Trump, already broadcasts to 38 percent of U.S. households — which is just below the legal limit. But in August, the FCC found an obscure loophole that will let Sinclair buy 42 more stations and expand its reach to as much as 72 percent of the country.43) The FCC is targeting rules meant to protect local journalismThe FCC has taken other measures to help Sinclair as well. In October, it knocked down the “main studio rule” from 1940, which required broadcasters to have a physical studio in any area they had a license to transmit from. The rule helped protect the connection between local communities and their news organizations. And in November, the agency removed limits on how many stations or newspapers any company can own in a single local market.44) Planned protections on internet privacy have been canceledObama’s FCC designed rules to make internet providers like AT&T and Verizon obtain their customers’ permission before using the customers’ precise geolocation and information on their health, finances, children, and web-browsing history for advertising and marketing. The House and Senate both voted to repeal the rules — without a single Democrat’s support — and Trump signed the action into law.45) Federal broadband subsidies for the poor are being revokedThe FCC gives $9.25 each month to households below a certain income level so they can afford internet or phone service. In November, its board voted to impose a cap on the subsidies, and it also approved a measure that will force most poor households to find a new internet provider. However, the changes haven’t been finalized yet — a public-comment period is still ongoing.46) The EPA has decided not to ban a ubiquitous pesticide from farmsChlorpyrifos, which farmers use to kill pests on fruits and vegetables, has been known to cause headaches and nausea at high doses and to harm fetal development. There’s little research on whether residue on vegetables is harmful, but the pesticide has been banned from household and garden use since 2000, and the U.K. has banned it on almost all crops. Scott Pruitt rejected a ban on its use in agriculture — against the urging of EPA scientists.47) The military and CIA have eliminated measures that protected civilians from drone strikesIn the fall, Trump approved two changes to the use of military drones, according to the New York Times. One change allowed the military and CIA to target low-level jihadists with no particular skills or leadership roles. The other removed the requirement for high-level vetting before an attack is carried out. All told, this administration has killed more civilians while fighting ISIS than Obama’s administration did in three years.48) Syrian rebel groups no longer receive U.S. weapons or suppliesThe CIA had been backing certain rebel groups since 2013, with Obama’s tacit approval. The White House quietly ended its support in July — which wasn’t a surprise, since it had already said deposing Bashar al-Assad was not a priority.49) Travel and business transactions with Cuba have been severed againJust as it was before Obama’s overtures in late 2016, Americans can only travel to the island nation in tour groups and can’t stay at certain hotels or eat at certain restaurants. A similar ban is in place for businesses.50) FEMA has dropped construction standards meant to help with flood preparationThe agency issued construction standards in 2015 for roads, housing, and other infrastructure built with federal money, in response to climate change. One provision, for instance, would have required buildings to be elevated from the reach of rising water. Trump struck the rules down less than two weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit.51) A rule aimed at combating housing segregation has been suspendedThe Small Area Market Rent Rule, which was scheduled to take effect next year, would give bigger subsidies to some Section 8 recipients so they can afford to move out of impoverished areas. Under Ben Carson’s leadership, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has delayed implementation for two years, though advocates are suing to end the delay.52) The USDA is making it harder for small farmers to sue big agriculture companiesA rule set to take effect in February would have made it easier for farmers to prevail in lawsuits against companies they work with when they feel they’ve been shafted in business deals. That provision was delayed, then thrown out in October.53) Many federal agencies are being less generous with public information.The FBI’s first major crime report this year had 70 percent fewer data tables than the version from last year, making it harder to assess trends in violent crime. Data on workplace deaths have been removed from OSHA’s homepage and relegated to the website’s interior. EPA scientists have been restricted from speaking in public about climate change. The White House no longer keeps logs of its visitors, which would reveal who has had direct access to the president. The same is true at Mar-a-Lago. And the administration has refused to release the names of some members serving on its deregulation teams.54) States’ ability to defund Planned Parenthood has been restoredNumerous state legislatures have worked since 2015 to defund any health clinics, including Planned Parenthood, that provide abortions. A rule from the Obama administration blocked their efforts for a few months early this year, but Congress quickly voted to undo it, and Trump signed the bill in April.55) International nonprofits that provide abortions can be defunded, tooThe Mexico City Policy, announced by Reagan in 1984, revoked federal funding for any nongovernmental organization, anywhere in the world, that provides abortion counseling. It has been repealed and reinstated several times since, depending on which party is in power, and Trump reinstated it in January.Besides the 55 Items listed above, I have added the following Items:56) Coal mining companies are allowed to dump mine waste and toxic chemicals into local rivers and stream without violating the Clean Water Regulations.57) The Department of Education is implementing major changes involving public education, Federal funding for religious-based schooling, Charter Schools and Home Schooling without input from educational experts and the public.58) The State Department is being dismantled from the inside resulting in a massive loss of decades of expertise which is a direct threat to national security and future diplomacy.59) Trump has lied to the public and the media over 1000+ times during 2017.Trump supporters will label this "Fake News" and the rantings of left-wing liberals. I did not list the 150+ items on my listings. Trump and his supporters continue a direct assault on our democracy, undermining of our existing government institutions, and betrayal of our most fundamental values as a nation and our beloved Constitution.