promoearn: Veterans to Trump: Show McCain some respect

Monday, August 27, 2018

Veterans to Trump: Show McCain some respect

Trump flip-flops, lowers White House flag back to half-mast

In this file photo taken on September 5, 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain pauses while addressing a campaign event at the Freedom Hill Ampitheatre in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The White House flag is back to half-mast following national freak-out

The U.S. flag flying over the White House was abruptly brought back down to half-staff Monday afternoon after an outcry erupted when it was raised after the death of Arizona Sen. John McCain. Why the big deal? Flags are lowered by presidential proclamation, so the president decides who receives the honor. The recent tradition for senators who die in office has been to have flags lowered in their honor from their death until their burial. But the White House raised the flag two days after McCain's death. In his first formal statement on McCain's death, President Donald Trump said he respected McCain's service and ordered the flags back down. "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment," Trump said. The move came after Veterans groups on Monday criticized Trump, saying he should show greater respect for the late Republican senatoor and issue a presidential proclamation in honor of the Vietnam War hero.

In case you missed it, here are some of our top stories about McCain:

•	John McCain may have lost the presidency, but still became larger-than-life
•	John McCain dies 9 years to the day after Ted Kennedy – of the same kind of cancer
•	'"e are Americans first, Americans last, Americans always." John McCain's most powerful quotes
•	Six memorable moments when John McCain earned a reputation as a "maverick"
•	Sen. John McCain's farewell letter: "I lived and died a proud American"

Trump says NAFTA is finished (or at least the name is)

President Donald Trump has had the North American Free Trade Agreement in his crosshairs for years, and on Monday he announced he had taken the massive deal down. The U.S. reached an agreement with Mexico after five weeks of talks to revise parts of NAFTA, which Trump assailed as the " worst economic deal in U.S. history" during the 2016 campaign. Trump said the new agreement would be called the United States-Mexico trade agreement and that "we'll get rid of the name NAFTA ," which has a "bad connotation." But NAFTA is not dead yet. Congress still has to sign off on the deal and it's still uncertain what will happen with Canada, the third party in the trilateral trade pact.

US astronauts have been hitching rides to space on Russian rockets. Next year, that'll change

NASA Administrator James Bridenstine has all but guaranteed his agency will soon be back in the business of carrying humans into low-Earth orbit in 2019 . "Without question, by the middle of next year, we'll be flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," he told USA TODAY. The pronouncement underscores his agency's confidence in two aerospace companies – SpaceX and Boeing – that are contracted to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. The last NASA space shuttle – Atlantis – carried a crew to the orbiting lab in 2011. Since then, NASA has been hitching rides on Russia's Soyuz rockets for $82 million a seat. Looks like those days may soon be over.

Why? Authorities search for motive in shooting at video-game tournament

Authorities continue to search for answers after a player at a video-game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, fatally shot three people and wounded nearly a dozen others on Sunday. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said the suspect, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, killed himself and authorities are working to determine his motive. Some media reports said Katz was upset about losing an intense game. Shane Kivlen, a friend of one of the victims, said Katz didn't talk much with fellow gamers, either online or when they met face-to-face for Madden tournaments. Kivlen said Katz was smart, "but something was off about him."

The iPhone is getting even bigger, folks

Prepare to flex your hands on the largest iPhone, ever. Apple will officially announce the 2018 crop in early September, but analysts we've spoken to expect three new iPhone models:

•	The largest iPhone ever: This is an iPhoneX Plus of sorts, which is expected to have a 6.5-inch screen. The current iPhone X has a 5.8-inch screen.
•	iPhone X gets an update: The phone will have the same screen size and features, but possibly a new name, such as XS.
•	The phone that may put some money back in our pockets: A third iPhone, with a 6.1-inch screen, is expected to have a lower price than the other two, in the $800 range, and a lower-resolution LCD screen. The other iPhones are expected to have more pricey OLED screens.