3/14 News Roundup – Pipeline Protestors Decry State Surveillance, Texas Dems Worry Bigger Rifts Ahead With National Party & More
Via DemocracyNow!:
Critics of Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana Decry State & Company Surveillance of Protesters
In Louisiana, newly disclosed documents reveal a state intelligence agency regularly spied on activists opposing construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which would carry nearly a half-million barrels of oil per day across Louisiana’s wetlands. The documents show the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness regularly drafted intelligence memos on anti-pipeline activists, including a gathering of indigenous-led water protectors who’ve set up a protest encampment along the pipeline’s route. Other newly revealed documents show close coordination between Louisiana regulators and the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners. This comes just one week after a U.S. district judge in Baton Rouge ordered a temporary injunction against construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline in order to “prevent further irreparable harm” to the region’s delicate ecosystems, while court challenges proceed. For more, we speak with Pastor Harry Joseph of the Mount Triumph Baptist Church. We also speak with Pamela Spees of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
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Tips, Comments, Complaints, Etc!
The power and patterns of pipeline protests
Against Trans Mountain, Indigenous peoples are rising up to protect their land
Texas Dems worry bigger rifts ahead with national party
Can You Beat a Billionaire by Mobilizing Young Voters?
Other than Chicago, Biss is getting little airtime (news wise ) . I hope his strategy is successful. Chris Kennedy though is the sucking noise that will likely enable Pritzker to eak out a win.
How A Twitter Fight Over Bernie Sanders Revealed A Network Of Fake Accounts
Sky-high prices of everything make US healthcare the world’s most expensive
Medicare for Y’all: Meet the Socialist Metalhead Stumping for Single-Payer
One common dominator, Large obscene salaries for their exec’s.
Stephen Hawking, physicist and inspiration to millions, dies aged 76
‘Remember to look up at the stars’: the best Stephen Hawking quotes
Waxing philosophical here: what a testament to the strength of the human will. Hawking could have given up as he experienced the disease slowly crippling his body. There was no cure. He willed himself to live and think as his brain was not affected. RIP beyond the stars, Professor Hawking. T and R to the usual TPW suspects!!
More poignant that he died on Pi Day and Albert Einstein’s b-day.
‘I haven’t achieved much recently’: Albert Einstein’s private fears revealed in sister’s archive
Stephen Hawking’s Final Warnings Urged World to Halt Climate Change
To me, that is the essential legacy he leaves.
He also had a sense of humor, such a joy in an accomplished and brilliant man. And it wasn’t beneath him to make appearances in sci-fi shows. He will be missed.
Stephen Hawking in popular culture
This one–The next gen poker game
‘Recipe for War’: Experts Warn Pick of Pompeo Intensifies Risk of US Attack on Iran
Mike Pompeo: what will the US state department look like under his control?
..
Tillerson Out and Pompeo In: ‘From Exxon’s CEO to the Koch Brothers’ Most Loyal Lapdog’
What could go wrong with the state dept. having a direct connection to the Koch Bros. whose daddy founded The John Birch Society.
WV DEP Orders Rover Pipeline To Halt Construction
GOP Now Wants Federal Prosecutors to Probe Pipeline Deal
While I do not like the ‘payoff’ its obvious the Republicans are playing politics and eventually shut up when its shown that quite a few Republican officials have signed similar agreements in other states.
A Bogus ‘Compromise’ Senate Bill Would Prolong Atrocities in Yemen
Pennsylvania special election: Democrats declare victory in setback for Trump
Democrat Leading in District Trump Won by 20 Points
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-election-republicans-20180314-story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/03/14/daily-202-pennsylvania-special-election-shows-gop-still-hasn-t-found-a-winning-midterms-message/5aa869a730fb047655a06c49/?utm_term=.387eadee9c18
Maybe certain Dems who enthuse over this victory will hede this message? Not all Trump voters are unreachable.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/14/conor-lamb-trump-supporters-461720
And MFA is popular with many, although Lamb didn’t support going that far, iirc.
No. But I bet he is al least persuadable.
https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PA18PostElectionSurvey.pdf
Trump tried to use Nancy Pelosi as an albatross around Lamb’s neck. Here was Lamb’s response in an ad:
Now I will follow that with a Guardian op-ed from yesterday.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/democrats-nancy-pelosi-congress
I’m aware there is likely some misogyny with Pelosi, but I think folks are fed up with her weathervane stances, just as they didn’t like Hillary being unprincipled either.
Agree 100%. Plus, we old wrinkles recall when Pelosi was first elected. She was a liberal firebrand and NOT senile.
Democrats ‘Fooling Themselves’ to Think Wall Street Giveaway Will Bolster 2018 Chances, Progressives Warn
Well they think they will fool the voters about the purpose of the bill (those poor community banks) and then tout how they are so bipartisan. That’s why they are furious with Warren for shining the light on the true purpose of the bill. Dems like the ones in Dem Delaware are just doing the bidding of their banker masters.
The $$$$$$ donations from Wall street, that was the underlying reason for the Neolibs that voted to cut the regs, What other reason would their be?
A video put together by Garcia’s campaign:
The party and press continue to amp up Kennedy as a new Dem hero for some reason, even despite the failings of his SOTU response.
He is so out of step on this. Did he have an allergic reaction after smoking his first joint?
I understand the addiction issues in his family history, but to me that’s all the more reason to separate marijuana from the harder drugs, not to mention alcohol.
Exactly. Alcohol is “insidious” as the Big Book says and can wreak so, so much havoc in many lives, and yet it is celebrated. Drinking and smoking are making a comeback in movies, too. If anything, alcohol is the gateway drug, not mj.
Activists plan protest of ‘Potomac Pipeline’ ahead of key deadline
World’s great forests could lose half of all wildlife as planet warms – report
A New Report Has Some Grim News About Black Babies
Study: Low birth weights linked to fracking sites
Extreme winter weather becoming more common as Arctic warms, study finds
New Zealand diplomat tells US Democrats to organise against Trump or ‘we all die’
Tower residents told to pay £500,000 to replace Grenfell-style cladding
Michael Hari: Minnesota Mosque Bombing Suspect Wanted to Build Trump’s Border Wall for $10bn
Judge agrees to issue injunction against tree sitters protesting pipeline
Keystone XL pipeline gets another delay as Appeals Court OKs one-month extension
Of course, the three judges were all appointed by Republicans
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/5th-Circuit-upholds-Texas-sanctuary-cities-law-12751213.php
Single-payer bill all but dead this year as California lawmakers craft new health package
ELECTIONS U.S. Congress, 6th Dist. Amanda Howland making another bid for office
Rashida Tlaib keeping it real
Oklahoma should prioritize students, teachers — not oil, gas companies
From Asthma to Cancer, ‘Blistering’ New Report Details Human Cost of Fracking
Democratic gubernatorial primary is one to watch
Chelsea Manning says software developers need a code of ethics
Chelsea Manning On Life After Prison, Advocacy, And Coder Ethics — SXSW
Everything you need to know about the 1st potential Muslim woman in Congress
Local schools, universities on board with today’s planned student walkout
I hope schools will not discipline students at all for wanting to walk out to protest lax gun regulations espoused in various state legislatures and by the NRA.
As Bernie said last Friday, “Enough is Enough”.
CNN just showed a rally in Brooklyn and one of the reporters spoke with Georgia, a 14 year old, wearing a bulletproof vest with the list of companies affiliated with the NRA.
http://go.cnn.com/?stream=cnn%3Fsr
#Studentswalkout #solidarity
Bernie weighs in:
Those of you with FB accounts, jump on. Bernie is with the students outside of Capitol Hill and WH. They are surrounding him like a rock star!
Yep. Saw that!
Bernie tells the students that “they are leading the nation and Congress to do whatever we (Congress) can to protect the American people. All over the country people are sick and tired of the NRA. ”
Bernie gets out in the masses to talk about issues immediately impacting our students (and public safety), thanks them and lets them know he is so proud of them.
Contrast to the baroness, who sneers at the working class in the middle of the country.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/03/fiscal-conservative-social-services-austerity-save-money
The issue is recurring costs and most administrators want one-time expenditures because they are more predictable. What’s not good is that the tax cut enacted this year is also recurring and revenues for the coffers are unpredictable, hence austerity measures are next.
Politicians In States Who Have 2/3 of the GDP in the US Often Have Offshore Accounts–Like in Hillary’s Home State of Illinois (note: the byline is by me, not the newpaper)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-jb-pritzker-bahama-offshore-shell-company-20180313-story.html
This is from the Hill, so consider the source…I’m changing the byline slightly as I don’t think people are angry…
Dems Frustrated Over Hillary Clinton’s Comments Last Weekend
If course, if you say Clinton ought to be making comments only when essential like Obama does, the squirrels at TOP come out of their dreys and tell you how sexist that would be.
That’s why Obama was president and Clinton failed. His political instincts are much better.
How A Twitter Fight Over Bernie Sanders Revealed A Network Of Fake Accounts
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democratic-bot-network-sally-albright_us_5aa2f548e4b07047bec68023
h/t Lee Fang
Dan Lipinski Raked in Rail Industry Campaign Dollars While Delaying Safety Standards
Good article from Pierce
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19430719/conor-lamb-pennsylvania-18th/