The Progressive Wing

T & R, LD! This guy HAS to win.

https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1022885952799236096

We can’t keep getting more of the same. We just can’t!

Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots

I was going to have a good laugh, but “The false matches were disproportionately of people of color.”

Amazon wrongly IDed 28 members of Congress, and they’re not happy about it

In the wake of the American Civil Liberties Union’s test where 28 members of Congress were wrongly identified as arrestees via its Rekognition facial recognition service, some of those lawmakers have now raised serious concerns to the tech giant.
For now, Amazon has neither answered their questions, nor Ars’.

“We request an immediate meeting with you to discuss how to address the defects of this technology in order to prevent inaccurate outcomes,” wrote Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), in a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos.

Those two members of the House of Representatives were among the 28 that were falsely identified as being amidst a group of 25,000 mugshots.

The 28 also included Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), who separately wrote to the company on Thursday and asked the company to answer specific questions and requests, with a deadline of August 20.

Works perfectly say the old R keep off the grass types that are looking to buy this for business use

Hey Democrats: Take a Hint from Labour and Ocasio-Cortez and Try Moving Left

On July 18, House Democrats unveiled their new campaign slogan ahead of the 2018 midterm elections: For The People. At first glance, the message may appear similar to “For The Many, Not The Few,” the title of the manifesto put forward in 2017 by the UK’s Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn. And while both slogans place the public as the center of political action, the Democratic Party still has much further to go in comparison to Labour, which embraced a bold, redistributive agenda as a means to grow its power.

The Labour manifesto called for such policies as nationalizing rail and electric utilities, getting rid of tuition for public colleges, banning fracking, investing in clean energy, controlling rent increases and massively taxing the rich and corporations. The Democratic Party establishment, meanwhile, has so far steered clear of adopting such unabashedly left proposals.

Yet the recent primary victories of democratic socialist candidates such as Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato in Pittsburgh and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York against powerful incumbents within the Democratic machine signal that the energy and enthusiasm within the party lies on its left flank. These candidates, along with many other democratic socialists across the country, have run on platforms that are largely in line with Labour’s manifesto.

In response to the victories by candidates such as Ocasio-Cortez, many U.S. pundits and political insiders have either written off the rise of democratic socialism as marginal or warned against the Democratic Party embracing “extremism.”

Such a reaction is familiar. Soon after UK Prime Minister Theresa May called for a surprise general election to take place in June 2017, pundits across the political spectrum repeated a narrative reducing Corbyn to a scruffy, unelectable old-school socialist who would return Labour to the electoral obscurity of the 1980s rather than a viable alternative to the Conservative status quo.

The accidental leaking of the Labour Party’s manifesto during the 2017 general election seemed to give Corbyn’s critics another chance to accuse him of disorganization and incompetence. However, the leak ended up working in Labour’s favor, as the electorate was able to understand Corbyn’s vision of a progressive Labour-led Britain at face value and without spin. The manifesto proved popular: Labour’s poll ratings instantly rose, with 7 in 10 voters welcoming its pledges.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: Bail has criminalized poverty and undermined the tenet of ‘innocent before proven guilty’

n a country in which we pride ourselves on the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” we should not be keeping hundreds of thousands of people locked up before they have actually been convicted of a crime.

And yet in 2016, more than 65 percent of the over 700,000 people in county or city jails on any given day in the United States were “unconvicted” — meaning that more than 400,000 people were in jail who had not been convicted of a crime, often because they lack the money to pay bail. In other words, we have criminalized poverty.

That is not acceptable. Pretrial detention should be not based on how much money a person has, what kind of mood the judge is in on a given day, or even what judge the case happens to come before.

Last night I watched the documentary, “The Queen of Horses”, which was about a muni fraud case. $53M was embezzled from the town of Dixon, IL (yes, the hometown of the St Ronnie) for a time period of 21 years. The town was $21M in the hole at the time of the woman who kept the books. No one caught it.

The woman who was caught paid a bail of $4500 for a $53M white collar crime. At the time she was caught, only 2-3M was discovered.

The film is available on Netflix, Prime, and google play, I believe. The forensic accounting used in the discovery phase actually pretty interesting. Huge failure on the bank, the city, the city council, the accounting firm, and the lack of an independent audit. I’m certain this will be a case study for accounting classes across the country.

How Bernie Sanders Evolved on Criminal Justice Reform

I was very disappointed in The Root this morning when I saw this:

Bernie Sanders explains how to deal with racist economic systems like cash bail, but still doesn't make direct connection to institutional racism: https://t.co/XytuiZTDBm pic.twitter.com/x2JBymluOZ

— The Root (@TheRoot) July 26, 2018

The piece is written by Terrell Jermaine Starr who, of course, has been very critical of Bernie for years.

Bernie Sanders Takes on Unjust Cash Bail System, but Still Doesn’t Make Direct Connection to Institutional Racism

Obviously everyone, even Bernie, always has room for improvement. But what does the article actually accomplish?? Will Bernie read it? I doubt it. So all it achieves is to drive a wedge between Bernie and the black community.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of evidence that the premise of the article is just downright wrong. Even if you only have time to watch the first 30 seconds…

And, of course, even Bernie admits that he’s still learning and evolving on issues involving racism. Wouldn’t it be more effective and productive to encourage Bernie’s evolution, rather than to try to tear him down?

From Shaun King:

“It’s disgusting, Shaun, that our country is basically criminalizing poverty. I’ll be honest with you. I really didn’t know this was happening. I had no idea hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly African-Americans, were being held in jail, for months or years, even though they’ve never been convicted of a crime, simply because they can’t afford bail,” Sanders told me in a tiny dressing room backstage before the event.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he continued. “I see the racial disparities clearer than ever. I want to help – just tell me how I can best help and we’ll do it.” I was touched. He wasn’t reading from a script. He was admitting to me, as he soon would from the stage, in front of thousands of people, that he hasn’t always gotten this quite right.

Moments later, Sanders met with Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter and a brilliant organizer around justice reform in Los Angeles. When she told him that the city was planning on spending $2.5 billion on constructing a new jail, Sanders was instantly appalled. “What a waste. Imagine if that was spent on education and job training,” he quipped.

Cullors then welcomed to the room the most amazing, fierce, experienced group of activists in Los Angeles – all black and Latina women – who immediately communicated to Sanders how essential it was to have him firmly speak out against the construction of the jail and the horrible use of cash bail as a tool of oppression throughout the city. When Sanders asked about the impact of cash bail on families in Los Angeles, organizer Ivette Ale immediately interjected, “Not only are people losing their jobs because they can’t afford the bail for a crime they haven’t even been convicted of, they are often losing their homes, and even their children. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. If a single mom is arrested — she could be completely innocent — but if she can’t afford bail, her kids are going to be home on their own and sometimes become wards of the state.”

Sanders was clearly listening to Cullors and Ale. In his speech just a few moments later, he skillfully integrated their very thoughts on the outrageous cost of the proposed jail and the horrible consequences of cash bail right into his message.

Sanders is primarily known for speaking about how unfair and unequal the nation’s economy is, but his critics have frequently said that he has communicated this message at the expense of race and racism in America. I’d tend to agree with them and have said so publicly. This was not the case at our event in Los Angeles. Backstage and before the audience, Sanders openly identified race and bigotry as essential primary factors in why two very different justice systems exist in this country.

It appears as if some fact checking is in order for the Root article.

The very-viral article from @TheRoot – claiming evidence that Russians changed actual votes, and referring to them several times as "Soviets" – has been taken down pending review pic.twitter.com/EM8Yvw6s3D

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 27, 2018

Ouch!

Here’s another one about the formulas and breast feeding, mags.

Trump Has Found a Way to Make Enemies of Breastfeeding Mothers (Although AFAIK, most admins have favored formula, just bc corpses make it and this article discusses some of the history.)

I also have close relatives whose family line seems to have that same milk shortage. I think that if breast feeding were more easily discussed and supported by the government, rather than pressure women to do this on their own by one group, which can lead to the harm to the baby that you described, we’d have specialists in lactation who would be one of the first people a medical team might call if the baby is crying too much. And just helping mothers with babies that do have problems of any kind.

In helping out with babies, I’ve seen moms home alone with the baby + and it can be so overwhelming to even know everything they’re expected to know on their own and then to understand that the crying is not their fault and the baby and/or they need help, sometimes professional. And that accepting help is natural and good, not a sign of weakness. Community is soooo important. I know that I want to build it up more in my own life.

Breast-Feeding or Formula? For Americans, It’s Complicated

Thanks polarbear. I’m the oldest sibling and my mom says she made all of her mistakes on me, poor dear. She was not in a helping environment when she had me and would have greatly benefited by being nearer to my gram at that time. She resented me for years because she said I cried all the time and it made her feel inadequate.

My friend is very skinny, as I mentioned, no excess body fat and could be described as ‘flat’ if you know what I mean. Do people ever use wet nurses anymore? Imo, that should be an honored profession.

This NYT article pretty well lays out a summary of the history of formula.

Wet nursing, which began as early as 2000 B.C., was once a widely accepted option for mothers who could not or did not want to breast-feed, but it faced criticism during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The profession eventually declined with the introduction of the infant feeding bottle in the 19th century.

In 1977, labor, religious and health organizations boycotted Nestlé, one of the biggest producers of infant formula, in response to rising infant mortality rates in developing countries.

Then, in 1979, at a conference sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, the baby food industry agreed to ban the promotion of infant formulas that discouraged breast-feeding.

A couple of years later, in 1981, the W.H.O. voted 118 to 1 to adopt a nonbinding code restricting the promotion of infant-formula products. The United States, under President Ronald Reagan, was the lone dissenting vote.

Mrs. WI had already made up her mind when we decided to have kids to breastfeed. She was able to do that for all 3. Their were way to many benefits for the infants not to. Nature can do a lot better job by far than anything corporate America can make up with artificial this and additive that. I’m glad that she was able to pump and produce enough milk during that time of our babys life as we realized that some moms couldn’t and had to resort to the other option.

My mom was unable to breastfeed.

Sometimes that happens. Things not always so..simple. But you certainly seemed to have turned out great! 🙂 (thank goodness for you & for us)

Yay for Mrs. WI. {hug} to her. So awesome that she was able to do that.

Child-bearing SO underrated.

Damn right it is ,and in Benny’s case I don’t think their are any other options but the Mom is so important in those early years. Just thought I would throw this out their
Breast feeding Dads

Boy, 6, Has Skin-to-Skin Contact with Newborn Brother After Mom Previously Suffered a Miscarriage

Big bro wanted a brother so badly. I imagine that being exposed to his brother’s immune system didn’t hurt l’il bro, being brothers after all. Baby a preemie in this pic, was born less at less than 2 lbs. But he’s doing just fine now.

The Elite Fixation With Russiagate

No single act of Donald Trump’s presidency has engendered more criticism than his performance at the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. For declining to endorse US intelligence claims that the Kremlin meddled in our election and faulting both countries for the poor state of US-Russia relations, Trump was roundly accused of “shameful,” “disgraceful,” and “treasonous” behavior that has sparked a full-blown “national security crisis.”

But does the American public at large share the prevailing elite assessment? Save for a White House vigil led by two longtime Hillary Clinton staffers and a few scattered rallies—and in stark contrast to mass protests over Trump’s misogyny, Muslim ban, and zero-tolerance immigration policy—Americans have not poured into the streets to confront the “crisis.” A poll by The Hill and the HarrisX polling company found 54 percent support for Trump’s now-scuttled plan for a follow-up summit with Putin at the White House. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that Trump’s post-Helsinki approval rating slightly increased to 45 percent. While the uptick does not necessarily signal an embrace of Trump’s behavior, it is not difficult to see why his numbers did not plummet. In a recent Gallup poll on problems facing the country, the “Situation with Russia” was such a marginal concern that it did not even register. While an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 64 percent believe Trump has not been tough enough on Russia, it also saw a near-even split on whether Putin is a foe or an ally, and 59 percent support for better relations.

The gap between elite and public priorities highlights an endemic problem that long predates Trump. Since his election, however, the elite fixation on alleged Russian meddling and the president’s suspected collusion has exacerbated that divide.

..

Amid fervent speculation that Trump may be a Kremlin asset, Israel’s brazen (and actually documented) foreign meddling barely registers, joining an innumerable number of critical issues that the Russiagate frenzy has sidelined. It has gotten so extreme that even Trump’s new threats of war on Iran, coupled with an escalating administration campaign to destabilize its government, has been ignored or even downplayed as an effort to distract us from his Russia woes. But in the absence of publicly available evidence, and an outburst of both panic and chauvinist warmongering, it is arguably we who are distracting ourselves. Under one of the most dangerous administrations in US history, that willful and heedless diversion may be the far most serious national-security crisis we face

While these allegations are somewhat serious, it’s deflecting on what else is going on in Congress. Plus, the elite still can’t believe that their candidate lost. They’ve not gotten over it.

Should Dems play up Russia in midterms?

Democratic strategists say party candidates running in the midterm elections should up the ante and highlight President Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the hope of appealing to independents.

Strategists, pointing to recent polls, say voters are increasingly frustrated with Trump’s handling of Putin, particularly at last week’s Helsinki summit, as well as Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“This is a huge issue,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. “There are a number of Republican members of Congress squirming over this issue because they don’t know how to handle it.”

Lake said emphasizing the Russia debacle accomplishes three things: It persuades older voters who lived through the Cold War with the former Soviet Union; energizes Democrats; and depresses enthusiasm among Republicans.

..

But former Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who heads up the Fight Back California superPAC aimed at winning seven competitive districts in the Golden State, said her goal is to highlight domestic issues that matter more to voters.

“Local local local,” she said when asked about the focus of the races. “When you ask voters what the most important issue in their area in the Orange County Congressional districts they say homelessness, nothing about Russia or foreign policy.”

Democratic strategist Eric Jotkoff agreed.

“The most important thing I tell every candidate I speak with is: ‘Let the Russia probe play out in D.C. and on cable news. Don’t try to be a pundit,’” Jotkoff said. “‘Instead, focus on the issues important in your community. Address the issues that Republicans in Washington have tried to tackle as they spend all their time and energy protecting Donald Trump. Talk about health care, education, economy and environment. And to the extent that the Russia probe comes up, speak about it in a way that focuses on restoring accountability to Washington and highlights what Republicans haven’t gotten done as they use their power to defend Trump rather than help Americans.’”

LoneStarMike

Democratic strategists say party candidates running in the midterm elections should up the ante and highlight President Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the hope of appealing to independents.

That’s what the Democrats always do when they don’t have any policies to offer the American people.

View post on imgur.com

Don midwest

you forgot about their main line

VOTE. VOTE.

without making a huge deal about election integrity

in other words, VOTE and keep me looking like I am legitimate, but don’t expect me to attend to the destruction of democracy

as long as the dem party is not totally committed to know solutions to election integrity, they continue to be a sham

LoneStarMike

VOTE. VOTE.

without making a huge deal about election integrity

View post on imgur.com

iirc, it was lee camp who compared voting to a toddler “driving” a fire engine. AND i forget if it was camp or englehardt that we still MUST vote bc we need overwhelming numbers to even have the possibility of winning. I agree. That’s why I worked so hard for Obama. And of course, Bernie. And will work harder if we get a true progressive anywhere that I can help elect.

If anyone cares to recd this diary at TOP, do drop by: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/27/1784077/-Tad-Devine-CT-and-Suckers-on-Daily-Kos

I might add I tipped the diarist because it was a gutsy move as a Clinton supporter to write the diary. I did not rec’d it.

I think that all Dems should use Henry Kissinger to justify talking about other important issues, as opposed to this current litmus test vis-à-vis Russia, and explain to voters in a direct, non-condescending, way why just hating on Russia all time is unproductive.

Per the article I posted yesterday, Kissinger is now pushing Trump to ally with Russia to contain China (who seems to be seen nowadays as a rising threat to the U.S. global interests).

I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with Kissinger, myself.

But I think that talking to voters about how our relationship with Russia is far more of a complicated matter than many think might help many people gain a wider perspective that would hopefully include room to discuss other issues!

All politics is local and if an Russian influence question comes up? The most simple response for me is that their are a lot of hackers out their that are not friendly to the US. We need to do a better job with cyber security at the local,state and national level and protect our voter machines not only from hacking but have a verifiable paper trail for them.

The missing photo from the 2hr meeting

The United States Was Failing Long Before Donald Trump

The American experiment in democracy may be coming to an unseemly end.

Don midwest

yes

TomDispatch.com

part of The Nation project (magazine)

2 to 3 posts per week. Mostly on foreign policy. Many on war and international relations.

We’ve had several warnings since Ike warned us of the MIC, So will what ultimately happen? Allowing the corporate controlled govt continue and let it eat itself from within until collapse. Rule 1 of empires they all collapse and are replaced with something else. The wild card is climate change if we don’t address that, the something else wont be mankind.

Former top Sanders adviser assisting in Manafort prosecution: report

Tad Devine, a consultant who served as the chief strategist for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential bid, will assist federal prosecutors in the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Devine previously worked with Manafort on behalf of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. A partner in his current consulting firm told BuzzFeed News in a statement that Devine had been asked to assist in Manafort’s prosecution.

“The Special Counsel has asked Tad Devine to assist in the prosecution of their case against Paul Manafort regarding his firm’s work on media consulting on past political campaigns in Ukraine,” reads the statement provided by Julian Mulvey, a partner at Devine Mulvey Longabaugh.

“When the Special Counsel sought assistance from us in its ongoing investigation, we readily provided it,” it adds.

..

The statement provided to BuzzFeed by Devine’s firm says that it had been “assured by the special counsel’s office that we have no legal exposure and did not act unlawfully.”

Oh noes! Devine convinced Bernie to not concede the primaries and a Bernie staffer was caught with the data breach in Dec 2015! That means Bernie worked with the Russians to make the baroness lose! (this is what the kiddie pool at TOP is discussing this morning–I am not linking to that piece of fake news/commentary/lack of analysis garbage diary).

unfrackingbelievable.

Diarist got bojo’d. Thank goodness. I think it was a zombie–possibly Sally allbright.

lol.

Sadly some at the TOP will believe it as gospel☹

Its so hard to keep it all straight because I thought she was behind the Uranium One deal and so was cool with Putin and now he wanted her to lose?

Truth is I dont think Putin cared who won, but I wouldnt put meddling in way to stir discord beneath him either.

I think her hawkish statements on wanting a no-fly zone over Syria edged Putin’s preference to Trump. Not that I think that made much of a difference in the election (other than with people like me who didn’t appreciate her apparent willingness to bring on war with Russia..).

Connecticut Is a Mess. Can Ned Lamont Clean It Up?

Twelve years after his epic battle with Joe Lieberman, he’s running for governor.

Obama at the Hamilton Project, 2006: “This is not a bloodless process.”

I sent Ned a donation 12 years ago as I despised Lieberman for wrecking the Dem Party.

Don midwest

one of the big disasters of Obama was to campaign for Joe Lieberman after he lost the primary to Lamont.

obama had sold out long before the pulled this crap.

I may have posted this before, but this is a rhetorical analysis of Obama’s speech to the founding meeting of The Hamilton Project and thanks bob rubin for teaching him about economics. Will we ever find out how this manchurian candidate came to be selected?

the author is one of the 2 main bloggers at Naked Capitalism. Note the use of color coded ways to highlight the rhetoric

rhetoric was zapped by Plato, One of the reasons was that rhetoric could be used in the agora (assembly) to sway people. The truth was in mathematics, not in rhetoric. After Plato, in Aristotle’s academy, half the day was on rhetoric.

not bloodless

fuck you

the future is on the way

globalization and finance are the future

so, not only fuck you, but bloodless killing you

which is what we have seen.

***

As is my way, Bruno Latour is being read by people in rhetoric. There is a book Doing Rhetoric with Bruno Latour which I don’t own because it is too expensive, so far.

***
In any case, the rhetorical analysis of Obama is insightful for understanding how politics speech works, or speech in general.

***
crap. cannot stop without more from Latour. He views political speech as a circular, not linear, not a pure rational process. Politicians are given the right to lie because they have to bring together various groups. How to learn to move beyond the rationality of the Enlightenment to open up space for more diverse views like learning from indigenous people and their ways.

That is only a snapshot of his work. Along with the political theorist Hannah Arendt, these are the two who present politicians in what they really do and how important they are.

Obama was a master. Even this fairly jaded old timer spent so much energy and money on the hopes that he would be a new FDR. Used to play Les Miserables songs on YouTube and feel the feeling! Prolly why I can’t stand him now.

Obama was a master orator. Still is. After that, he’s pretty transparent. Definitely a Raygun fan and a YUPPIE. I always had questions and doubts about him from the time he ran in 2008. Wish I had been wrong, believe me.

I had the same hopes but that was extinguished quickly. He could have been so much more.

https://ctmirror.org/2018/07/25/bond-commission-oks-10m-tolls-study/

Don’t even get me started!!! If Lamont loses, it’ll be mainly because of Malloy!!!!!

I hear Malloy is taking another look at highway tolls. He just got a plan to spend more money to ‘study’ the issue, at a cost of $10 million dollars!!!!

This is electoral suicide, and I’d bet that you couldn’t find ONE voter who thinks tolls, or wasting $10 Million dollars, is a good idea, but what does Malloy care?? Is he getting paid under the table? I’ll certainly be watching for where Malloy lands after he FINALLY leaves. He’s been a nightmare for the state of CT.

This is from one of those who voted No on authorizing the bond to fund this ‘study’:

“That’s what we have heard time and time again from the people of Connecticut: They don’t see a need or a desire to have a $10 million study,” Davis said.

The Republican Davis is right!!

“People in Connecticut don’t want tolls,” Fasano said

That Republican is right too!

Just last May the CT General Assembly voted down a similar proposal to ‘study’ the tolls. So for Malloy to just go ahead and do it anyway?? right before midterms??? Why? 🙁

Lembo was the only constitutional officer on the bond commission seeking re-election. And while the comptroller did not raise the campaign as an issue, other Democrats questioned privately whether Malloy had hurt his own party by putting an unpopular issue before the public in an election year.

At least Lamont had the spine and good sense to issue a statement:

Democratic gubernatorial contender Ned Lamont issued a statement before the bond commission meeting even had ended, calling the study “a wasteful way to reinvent the wheel.” Lamont noted the state had commissioned a study in 2009, though Redeker said that analysis was more limited in scope than the latest one would be.

“Given our financial challenges, we need to instead be investing in solutions, not studies,” Lamont said. “We already know our roads are congested, our infrastructure improvements are underfunded, and Connecticut residents have paid the bill for far too long.”

Lamont said he would “utilize existing data to determine how much revenue Connecticut can generate from tolling the out-of-state trucks that are damaging our roads at taxpayer expense.”

The comments under the article are brutal.

Whom Is the DSA Reaching? The Teens.

Since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise primary victory late last month, there has been a renewed interest in the Democratic Socialists of America. Outlets have run pieces exploring the group and its positions, and thousands have signed up to join its ranks. Across the country, DSA-endorsed candidates like Julia Salazar are challenging the status quo of party-backed incumbency. Even Cynthia Nixon has embraced the socialist label.

This has also been a banner year for high-school organizing, from the students in Parkland, Florida, taking on the NRA to the high schoolers organizing against Chicago’s $95 million police academy. High-school students’ getting involved in organizing and activism is nothing new, but some students are taking their resistance even further—they’re calling themselves socialists. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Salazar and thousands of people across the country who have joined DSA, these students are committing themselves to a politics that imagines a world where everyone can live comfortably with access to free education and health care, where no one lives in fear of immigration agents or police, and where poverty has been eradicated.

Decades ago, a generation of students learned to fear the specter of communism as public schools bore a purge of teachers at the Cold War’s height. Now, in high schools across the country, teens are not only joining the Democratic Socialists of America, they’re starting up chapters in their schools.

Democrats Shouldn’t Defend Bad Policies Just to Resist Trump

When Trump strikes a populist tone, expose him as a fraud—don’t back the corporate stance.

If only. They believe in the corpse stance.

American Society Would Collapse If It Weren’t for These 8 Myths

Lee Camp. Too chock full to even try to pull out of AND fairly short. Go Lee. 😉 So glad to see him in CD.

Nice link PB sad but true.

An Unhappy Birthday for Medicare and Medicaid

The importance of Medicare as a source of women’s health coverage can’t be over-emphasized.

Older and disabled women make up more than half the total beneficiaries, and two-thirds of those 85 and over. This budget from hell takes a giant step toward privatizing the program by allowing insurance companies into the Medicare marketplace, which means benefits could be caught in a race to the bottom and become too paltry to cover all but the barest of medical needs.

Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides low-income people with health care. The proposed Republican budget repeals the Medicaid expansion that came with Obamacare, which will cause 14 to 17 million people to lose coverage.

The Medicaid remnants that survive would be turned into block grants, allowing states to pick and choose who gets covered and what kind of benefits they get — no doubt with little or no federal oversight. That approach makes it easier to cut the program without saying how many people would be dropped, or how much benefits would be lowered.

Since poor women under retirement age and their children are the biggest group of beneficiaries, it stands to reason they’d also be the biggest losers.

But there’s more. Because women have more chronic health conditions like arthritis, hypertension, and osteoporosis, they’re more likely to need institutional care. Since Medicare generally doesn’t cover nursing home care, Medicaid provides such care for those with disabilities and/or very low incomes — and 60 percent of those folks are women.

A World Designed by Playground Bullies

And Donald Trump, malfunctioning cog or not, has contributed to the Deep State’s invisibility simply by accusing it of being the cause of his troubles, thus making it possible for the president’s opponents — almost two-thirds of the country — to dismiss the whole thing as a conspiracy theory and maintain the feel-good assumption that the United States is still a darn-good democracy.

The reality, however, as Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens point out in their book Democracy in America? (as quoted by Paul Street), is that government policy “reflects the wishes of those with money, not the wishes of the millions of ordinary citizens who turn out every two years to choose among the preapproved, money-vetted candidates for federal office.”

Back to the border, then. Back to Yemen and all our other ongoing wars. Back to the 800-plus U.S. military bases located around the world. Back to our militarized police departments. Back to every political and bureaucratic cruelty “our team” commits in defiance of the likely wishes of a true democratic majority.

One consequence of this game is to keep humanity on the surface of what’s possible. We’re living, I fear, in a world designed by playground bullies, with institutions focused primarily on self-perpetuation and indifferent to the harm they create. Rules matter. Values don’t.

Life is sacred? Not at the border. Not across the ocean and “over there.” And if life is only sacred for some, it is, in fact, sacred for no one.

139 House Democrats Join GOP to Approve $717 Billion in Military Spending

“How are they going to pay for this? Oh wait, that question only gets asked when it comes to social programs that benefit the working class.”

Exactly.

LoneStarMike

View post on imgur.com

Great graph.

GAG!!!!

Crops Are Dying. Forests Are Burning. This Summer’s Heat Wave Has Fueled Natural Disasters Around the World.

This has been a summer of soaring temperatures and catastrophic fires. It has been so hot all over the world that even the Arctic is getting scorched: temperatures in Deadhorse, Alaska, which is along the Arctic Coast, reached 80 degrees on Wednesday—the average high for July is 56 degrees. And Europe saw its second hottest June on record.

In fact, June had higher than normal temperatures across the globe. The average temperature worldwide was the fifth-hottest on record for the month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The ten warmest Junes on record have occurred since 2005.

Scientists have no doubts that climate change is driving the searing temperatures. “There’s no question human influence on climate is playing a huge role in this heatwave,” Myles Allen, a climate scientist at the University of Oxford, told the Guardian this week.

Here’s a look at the climate

Every year is scarier than the next. The sci-fi books I read as a kid are coming to life, one by one.

Researchers Mapped “Marine Wilderness” for the First Time Ever—And the Outcome is Bleak

For most people, the term “wilderness” evokes imagery of the terrestrial sort: coniferous forests, sandy deserts, rolling grasslands, icy white tundra. But now, for the first time ever, a group of international researchers has mapped wilderness of the marine variety, specifically, areas in the ocean with little impact from human activity. And—surprise, surprise!—they discovered there isn’t much area left.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, the researchers found that only 13 percent of the world’s oceans can be classified as “wilderness,” and the areas are primarily located in the Arctic, Antarctic, and high seas. In all, it’s a total area of about 55 million square kilometers, or about three times the size of Russia. (The story on land is at least slightly better, where about 23 percent, or 30.1 million square kilometers, has been classified as wilderness.)

What’s even worse is that less than five percent—or about 2.7 million square kilometers—of marine wilderness is currently protected. That’s just roughly an area the same size as Argentina. The immense vulnerability of marine wilderness is largely a result of the fact that most of it falls outside of national jurisdictions and in international waters, meaning that no single country can protect it and rather countries must cooperate to do so.

Don midwest

The New Climate Regime has been the most important political actor for the last 30 years

if you know me, you can guess who said that….

Scott Walker trailing Dem challenger by 13 points

Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) is trailing Democratic challenger Tony Evers by 13 points in the upcoming Wisconsin gubernatorial race, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Of the registered voters surveyed in the NBC News/Marist poll, 41 percent backed Walker in the race, compared to the 54 percent who supported Evers.

When asked if Walker deserves to be reelected, 34 percent of the voters agreed with the statement. Sixty-one percent said a new person should be given a chance, and 5 percent were unsure.

woot woot!

Don midwest

woot woot

wait how is this spelled?

well, anyway

woot woot woot woot !!!!

:O)

Well yes, but:

A new poll shows state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers leading Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a hypothetical match-up, while about 40 percent of Democratic voters still don’t know who they’ll support in the primary.

I guess I hope Dems pick Evers? It’s an extremely crowded field with I think ten candidates in the Dem primary. I hope it all works out well!

Wonder why there are so many. Maybe there’s a progressive who just has no name recognition, but would still win?

Watching for wi60’s input on this.

Good move.

@wi60? Are you out there?

Yes im here, Ivers is the state superintendent of schools for Wi thus having the most name recognition of the candidates, None of them are as progressive as Bernie or some of the other candidates (Beto-etc) reported on this site. The mayor of Madison Soglin has his moments, Healthcare is a target of most of the 10 but each adopting a “Bernie idea” but not more than one or 2 of Bernie’s platform ideas. I think the candidates are being somewhat “moderate” right now to attract the middle of the road voters especially indys that broke for Trumpcorp. I suspect that Ivers will be the candidate to take on Walker. I would love for the Marist poll to be accurate BUT the JS Marquette Poll has usually been historically spot on with their polling and has Ivers currently behind Walker but within the margin of error. Suffering thru Walker for 2 terms i’ll take any D. Once the Primary is done next month we’ll see what the winners platform is against Walker and then the fun begins. Maybe Bernie will endorse the candidate as well? Seems to be working for Baldwin as she’s maintained a good lead in several polls but expect that to tighten as well. If the Dems turn out like a Presidential year Walker will go down. Its all about the Dem turnout in Wi come Nov. as Walkers R’s will show up even through buffalo blizzard to vote for him. Looking more forward to polling in Sept to see how this sets up. Right now Walker is touting himself as a champion for Public education and of course the Foxxconned deal–The bile rose in my throat yeesh!!!

Thank you so much wi60!!

Hey, does the number on your posting name keeping changing? You and me, we may have something else in common. 😉

(Can you believe how fast the years fly by??? {birthday hug} )

Thx Mags, Yep another of those annual things that come up every year so I decided to have a little fun with the avatar name

GOOD RIDDANCE TO SUPER BAD RUBBISH!! HE CAN TAKE SICK ROTT WITH HIM!!

Check out our new 30-second TV ad!@IronStache has spent over $500,000 on TV, but the polls show our August 14th Democratic Primary is a dead heat!

Chip in $23, or whatever you can afford, to help us get this on TV and win! https://t.co/aQMXls85z0 pic.twitter.com/bvnCdU4Vqd

— Cathy Myers (@CathyMyersWI) July 27, 2018

This is one where Bernie may have jumped the gun, but in a way this is good for Cathy because its showing she can take a tough fight and push through which will make her an even better candidate. Truth is i wasnt sure she had it in her but if she pulls this off she has my greatest respect.

I just hope Bernie admits his error here is she wins, hes human and can make mistakes like any of us, but I hope he doesnt make the double mistake of not admitting it.

With you all the way. Plus, it meant that the normally establishment donut twitter crowd reflexively moved to her as soon as they heard about Bernie’s endorsement.

In an ideal world, for me, Cathy wins the primary, Bernie is humble and graciously asks if she would accept his help, and she wins, and she does great things.

Anyone know what poll she cited?

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/democratic-establishment-favorite-randy-bryce-no-longer-leading-in-his-primary

Maybe this one?

Despite his massive cash advantage and national profile, Randy Bryce is in a dead heat with Cathy Myers just over a month before the two are set to face off in the Democratic primary for the seat of outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, according to a new poll obtained first by the Washington Examiner.

The survey was taken among 1,020 likely 2018 Democratic primary voters from July 8-9 by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Ryan. Asked which candidate they would vote for if the election were held today, 34 percent of respondents said Myers, 33 percent said Bryce, and an additional 33 percent said they were undecided. The poll’s margin of error is ±3.06 percent.

From July 11th.

Thx mags, maybe his past discretions have swung voters her way, it seems its anyones to win .And its the year of the Woman for Dems!!!!

Clinton’s loss in Wisconsin emblematic of Dem Party’s ‘abandonment’ of working class

Author Dan Kauffman on Thursday argued that Hillary Clinton’s loss in Wisconsin during the 2016 presidential race was reflective of the Democratic Party’s abandoning the labor movement and the working class.

“It’s quite well known, she [Clinton] never campaigned during the general election in Wisconsin, which was a shock to many people,” Kauffman, who wrote “The Fall of Wisconsin,” told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball on “Rising.”

“It’s emblematic of the abandonment of the national Democratic Party for things like the labor movement. The real core, the grassroots, the rank and file people, the foot soldiers in elections, they have been abandoned,” he continued.

“It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton. During the recall election against Scott Walker in 2012, President Barack Obama did not come to Wisconsin to show any kind of support for the protesters or the Democratic candidate,” he said.

Kauffman went on to explain how the Democratic Party establishment used to be more aligned with working-class interests. He claimed that changed during former President Bill Clinton’s tenure in the White House.

“The donors and the funding has moved more toward professional, managerial class, and that was shown in Wisconsin,” he said. “They [the Democratic Party] didn’t really do that much if anything to help, and these were teachers, corrections officers, I mean really just the bedrock of citizens that formed the bulk of their voters.”

The dem party in Wi was a mess and disorganized at that. They were forcing endorsement of candidates instead of letting the people decide. That lead to some people staying home as lot of voters in WI don’t like to be told whom they had better vote for.
Act 10 has finally taken its toll on correctional facilities and teachers. Correctional officers are working 72 hours a week in forced OT and some schools are offering starting salaries that exceed what 10 year teachers are making just to compete for teachers to fill positions and those veterans are pissed. As far as correctional officers go their finally getting raises for the first time since act 10 but to little to late as retirements of veteran officers retireing due to act 10 has finally taken its toll and lead to numerous “Jamming” of double shifts. Since walker “protected” the local, county, state patrol and fire fighters from Act 10 numerous Correctional officers use the DOC positions as a stepping stone to move into those positions as that experience helps on a resume along with credits in criminal science. It not unheard of 200 or more people applying for those positions leaving a vicious circle for those that remain with the DOC that creates excessive overtime schedules. This is extremely dangerous for the correctional officers working under these conditions as their overtired, overworked and in any job when your working under those conditions that’s when mistakes happen. I happen to have 2 close freinds that work in this field basically tell me where would you want to work start as a correctional officer at $16 dollars an hour or get into the protected jobs exempt from act 10 and start at 19-21 dollars an hour with very little “jamming”?

Those hourly wages are ridiculous! Not to mention those hours!! What a mess.

Around here, elderly home care pays $10/hr. Are you kidding me?? Something has to be done.

This is a Walker mess that gets ignored in WI media, My friends say assault’s on staff are way up a fact that’s hidden as much as possible by Walkers DOC.(its like getting answers from Huck-Sanders)I fear that it will take a deadly riot by inmates in a maximum prison to get Walker to address this problem. But from what I understand he’s never set foot in one.From what im told the inmates hate him as he was the main author of “Truth in sentencing” basically an inmate has to serve full terms even for low level crimes and the due to act 10 most officers wouldn’t stop the inmates from getting to Walker.

AOC on Trevor Noah’s show last night. Link is within The Week. http://theweek.com/speedreads/787206/trevor-noah-grills-alexandria-ocasiocortez-how-pay-all-ideas

Don midwest

I watched it

well, well, well,

she has the same kind of political speech as Bernie

an authentic politician

only because of the Bernie effort will it be impossible for the dems to kill her off

well, is hoping for the impossible too much?

what if Nixon defeats Cuomo in the primary

all the establishment dems support him

can Obama’s legacy not be hurt if he went all out for Cuoma and campaigned for him like he did for Ned Lamont?

and, my most favorite candidate, Zepher Teachout

she didn’t take offense when starting to talk with her a couple of years ago at a NetRoots nation conference, with tears in my eyes, I gave her a tug and thanked her for being in politics

what if she wins the atty general race?

***
oh crap, I jumped the track onto my broken record and I should leave the above comment without bringing my hero Burno Latour.

in his 15 modes of existence, one is the LAW. And he says that it is the least influenced by The Enlightenment. Religion had to kiss ass to science to survive. Law is a mode of being that is tied to an institution.

The republicans are hell bent to kill off institution so there is less constraints in their greed. They have done an excellent job to attempt to kill off the integrity of the law through judicial appointments.

still shocked that Justice Kennedy is enabling the takeover of the Supremes.

I may have to use that at another blog, especially if either of the Kansas Berniecrats wins. Excellent!

Nice!!!!!!!

Emails show Columbus officers may have targeted Stormy Daniels for arrest: report

A series of emails sent by a Columbus, Ohio, police officer suggest that adult-film star Stormy Daniels may have been targeted when she was arrested at a strip club earlier this month, according to a new report.

Daniels, who is suing President Trump over claims related to her alleged affair with him, was arrested during a performance at Columbus’ Sirens Gentlemen’s Club, a strip club, on charges of illegally touching a patron. The charges were dropped later in the afternoon.

But emails obtained by the Fayette Advocate through open records requests reveal that one of the arresting officers, Shana Keckley, used her personal email account to send herself photos and information about Daniels two days before the arrest.

..

The emails appear to contradict the police department’s statement following the arrest, which claimed that Daniels and two other performers were arrested “as part of a long-term investigation into allegations of human trafficking, prostitution, & other vice related violations.”

A Columbus police spokesperson told CNN that an internal investigation into the arrest is underway, and declined to comment further.

Don midwest

yep

at least they didn’t beat the shit out of her

**
heard on local low power radio today from a group of Jews exposing and fighting against Zionism

one of the leaders in talking with a Palestinian said it would be an example of a good year if police only came once to my house.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas

I was thinking yesterday about all the media getting up in arms about the CNN reporter being blocked from a WH event and how the very same media was quick to throw one of their own Helen Thomas, to the wolves for daring to criticize Israel in even the slightest of terms.

Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com, on the White House grounds with his son and a teenage friend[51] for a May 27, 2010, American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day,[52] questioned Thomas as she was leaving the White House via the North Lawn driveway.[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] When asked for comments on Israel, she replied: “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.” and “Remember, these people are occupied and it’s their land. It’s not German, it’s not Poland…” When asked where Israeli Jews should go, she replied they could “go home” to Poland or Germany or “America and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries?”

..

Thomas’s agency, Nine Speakers, Inc., immediately dropped her as a client because of her remarks.[69][70] Craig Crawford, who co-authored Listen up, Mr. President, said “I … will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects.”[71] Her scheduled delivery of a commencement speech at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, was canceled by the school.[72] The White House Correspondents’ Association, over which she once presided, issued a statement calling her remarks “indefensible.”[73] In January 2011, the Society of Professional Journalists voted to retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement.[54][74]

On June 7, Thomas abruptly tendered her resignation from Hearst Newspapers.[54] The next day, in an interview on NBC’s Today Show, President Obama called her remarks “offensive” and “out of line” and said her retirement was “the right decision.”

Don midwest

sacrifice “others”

born in US, citizen, but parents Lebanese immigrants

so someone with another reason to discount her

and she questioned Zionism

for shame, for shame

the US government is firmly committed to supporting genocide

how can she bring this out?

and we continue this policy as we speak

Imran Khan Declares Victory in Historic Elections: Pakistan Has Chosen Meaningful Change Over a Failed Status Quo

Imran Khan has claimed victory for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) in an historic election for Pakistan. The PTI represents a populist swing away from the legacy mainstream parties PML-N and PPP that both fared poorly during the election. Additionally, religious extremist parties fared particularly poorly compared to the previous two elections and also when contrasted with the expectations that many theocratic parties set for themselves prior to polling day. Lastly, the deeply controversial MQM ended up losing both seats and electoral momentum in its Karachi heartland, surrendering its erstwhile momentum to PTI.

..

While the final votes are still being counted, PTI’s decisive victory across Pakistan’s regions and major cities is indicative of a wider moment for radical change that has been embraced throughout the nation. In this sense, Imran Khan’s victory is a genuine national victory for all of the regions of Pakistan.

Imran Khan began his victory speech by thanking voters throughout Pakistan for defying threats and turning up at polling stations throughout the 25th of July. In particular, Imran Khan paid tribute to the people of the province of Balochistan who came out to vote in spite of a Daesh claimed terrorist attack early in the day.

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister continued highlighting his goals for reform in Pakistan stating that resources will be more evenly distributed between and within Pakistan’s diverse provinces, while offering young people a better education and job opportunities represents the key to a better future for the country as a whole. Imran Khan promised that the perennially difficult matter of effectively collecting and distributing the proceeds of taxation will be dramatically improved under a PTI government. He also pledged to turn opulent government owned buildings into either public education facilities or tourist attractions that can become revenue generating sources for the wider nation.

From his victory speech:

The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best – all of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers … for our poor farmers, who work all year and get no money … 45 percent of children have stunted growth, they don’t reach the right height, or their brains don’t develop.

There are countries with less than 25 million people, and we have that many children out of school.

My effort will be that we try our best to raise these people up, that all of our policies be focused on human development. I want the whole country toi think like this.

No country can prosper when there is a small island of rich people, and a sea of poor.

Don midwest

Moon of Alabama has a good piece on this

akistan has long been a puppet state of the U.S. and its Saudi wallet. It was abused for the U.S. proxy war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union and never recovered from that. The corruption and religious fanaticism that came with that war did not leave when it was over. Since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan the country’s military used it as a racket. It demanded large payments for enabling the necessary U.S. transports through Pakistan while at the same time supporting the Taliban resistance against the U.S. occupation. In the end the U.S. lost the war. Imran Khan has led protests against the U.S. war of terror and its drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. In his victory speech he touched on the unequal relation:

Imran Khan can not take on the Pakistani military – at least not now. To clean up the endemic corruption and to solve the basic economic problems of his country are already huge tasks. If he proves to be successful with those he may get a chance to slowly wrestle back control over foreign policy form the military’s oversized power.

The election of Imran Khan is a break with Pakistan’s oligarchic past. As he wants to implement his anti-corruption and social programs he will have to fight an entrenched establishment that does not mind playing dirty. He may well win that fight but only if he continues to receive support from the military. For that he will have to follow the Generals’ demands on foreign policy. Only a second term in office would give him the standing to tackle that relationship.

For now he is Pakistan’s best chance. I wish him luck.

Pakistan’s ‘Populist’ Wins The Election

A shoutout to LSM–great reading you here! 🙂 And….T and R to the usual TPW suspects!!

Don midwest

agree!!!

great to see you LSM

and to hear the move to the left in TX, among other things

Wrong button ORL !!!!!!! Damn mouse time for a new one

Don midwest

Going to see movie “Dark Money” this evening

Central Ohio supporters of Move to Amend,

Here’s an opportunity to be among the first to view an important documentary shining a light on the huge amounts of untraceable corporate (and perhaps foreign) money that has been and continues to exert a major un-regulated effect on our elections. Whether it’s a local, county, state, or federal election this “Dark Money” can show up anywhere in our election system, and there’s no way to know who/where it actually comes from.

The film

ABOUT THE FILM
DARK MONEY, a political thriller, examines one of the greatest present threats to American democracy: the influence of untraceable corporate money on our elections and elected officials. The film takes viewers to Montana—a frontline in the fight to preserve fair elections nationwide—to follow an intrepid local journalist working to expose the real-life impacts of the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Through this gripping story, DARK MONEY uncovers the shocking and vital truth of how American elections are bought and sold. This Sundance award-winning documentary is directed/produced by Kimberly Reed (PRODIGAL SONS) and produced by Katy Chevigny (E-TEAM).

They thought this was Trump country. Hell no
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders visited Wichita, Kansas, to woo progressives in support of congressional candidate James Thompson. Is the red state ready to turn blue?

I hope you have lots of popcorn to munch on because this sounds intense and you might need to have something good to do with your hands.

Please do a Don Midwest Review? A DMR?

If you’re up for it, please do it as a single post so that, with your permission of course, I can post it on twitter.

Cheers.

Don midwest

born and raised in Kansas, Bernie and AOC came to state

This might have already been posted, but it is worth to see again.

A link to people who might be on the fence

jcitybone

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/27/politics/democratic-civil-war/index.html

It’s a distinction that can be difficult to apprehend in the heat of an election season, especially the first of the Trump era, but for all the yelling, ferocious online bickering and increasingly competitive blue district and state primary contests, Democrats this year have mostly maintained a functioning, if increasingly ideologically diverse political coalition.

There is credit to go around. The progressive left, with Sanders as an example, has mostly steered clear of fights that could damage party unity (and prospects) in November. The Democratic establishment, meanwhile, has taken steps to embrace more grassroots politics. And where those tactics haven’t been tried or taken, there is always the specter of Trump.

The political left, in the broadest of terms, is uniform in its disgust with him, his administration, and its policies. While a democratic socialist, like Ocasio-Cortez, and a liberal moderate, like her fellow New Yorker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, would surely differ in their analyses of how and why Trump came to power, their most pressing, immediate goal is the same: help elect Democrats to the House, Senate, state legislatures and governors’ mansions.

This era of good feelings, of course, comes with a pretty well fixed expiration date.

Come November 7, or perhaps sometime late the night before, Democrats will enter a less peaceful phase. With the midterms done, factions within the party will begin drawing up instant 2018 post-morterms with an eye on “what it means” for 2020.

The presidential primary that follows figures to be a few million degrees hotter and more fraught. Only a decade of Democratic policy hangs in the balance, along with the potential — if things go wrong — of four more years with Trump in the White House.

Good news….

Congratulations to the courageous workers and their unions at Disneyland for their wonderful victory. They are an inspiration to low-wage workers all over this country who are struggling for justice and dignity. https://t.co/0mqtTULIQl

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 27, 2018

Proves unions are necessary for service sector workers. Collectively, only way to fight back.

very good news! the more big ones that do this, the better for the cause.

I liked that tweet a lot. So cool that Bernie called them courageous and “an inspiration”. So positive!

Can’t believe Rep Grijalva is one of the co-sponsors to extract energy and minerals from our federal lands…

NEW: Dems reverse course on White House parks plan https://t.co/NLElwDMJni pic.twitter.com/5rcXoEni9p

— The Hill (@thehill) July 26, 2018

What is he thinking? awful, just awful. must be some AZ or other money–wonder if progressives are not supporting him?????? dam

Don midwest

oh shit

this is how hard it is to stand for the earth

Gaia forces change in everything

rocky road to get there

I was SO surprised to see Grijalva up there at the podium! Is there more to this than meets the eye?

Reading up on it there are two versions, the Senate which only applies to new resources and the House version that effects all extraction including current and hes behind the House bill.

What I see is that it takes current extraction we get nothing for and gives the nation a revenue from it and its possible he sees one or the other is going to pass so better to get behind the good one than let it play out more random.

I tbink he’s seeing some internal polls. And I am guessing the race has tightened a bit.

https://twitter.com/NACHOAVERAGEMA/status/1022125261305917441

A movie worth watching?? (That’d be a nice change, imo)

The review is at least:

You Say You Want a Revolution? The Anti-Capitalist Film “Sorry to Bother You” Shows the Way

In a partisan nation often consumed with a fight over the corporate center, identifying as an anti-capitalist can make for a lonely existence. But things are changing.

The revolution may not be televised, but it’s certainly influencing content.

Ahed Tamimi scheduled to be released on Sunday, 29 July https://t.co/Pb17xAfqNx

— Joe Catron 🇻🇪🌹🇵🇸 (@jncatron) July 27, 2018

Ahed Tamimi, 17, the Palestinian teen activist whose detention has drawn global outrage and solidarity, and her mother Nariman Tamimi, are scheduled for release from Israeli occupation prisons on Sunday, 29 July. Both are leaders in the indigenous, anti-colonial land defense movement in their village of Nabi Saleh, which faces land confiscation and even the theft of its well from the illegal, Jewish-only colonial settlement of Halamish.

After their release, the Tamimi women are planning to resume their activism immediately, heading directly to the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, targeted for demolition by Israeli occupation forces for a press conference. Their family eagerly awaits their release; Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father and Nariman’s husband, said in an interview with Reuters that “time is an eternity for those who wait, it is mixed feelings. Our home and hearts are open to reunite with her, hopefully we will meet soon.”

House Democrats introduce bill to require two years of debt-free college across the US

i hate the overused centrist jokes as much as anyone but the democrats literally proposed “make exactly half of college free” https://t.co/K5ztinGpsr

— frank furtschool (@osamabishounen) July 27, 2018

I can’t even.. ^.^

you’d think that the party of compromise would at least understand the basic concept that you’re supposed to compromise *after* entering into negotiations

I think that this is in part due to the Dems new motto:

“It is better to do things half-assed rather than not at all.”

It looks like a winner. LOL

Obama did the same thing on the ACA, the difference between the establishments is the Repubs want to give us nothing and the Dems only want to give us as close to nothing as possible so they can be less bad.

Really their motto should be:

At least we will give you crumbs!

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/399286-pelosi-pledges-aid-for-puerto-rico-during-visit

Duh! How long ago was that hurricane?

Once again too little too late. Sure smacks of pandering to me.

H
ouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pledged to focus on further recovery efforts for Puerto Rico during a visit to the island territory on Friday.

Pelosi accused the federal government of not honoring its agreement with the island’s more than 2 million U.S. citizens while addressing residents and reporters, as reported by The Associated Press.

“There is a contract with the federal government and people that was not fully honored, in my view,” Pelosi said. “We need perhaps in our legislating, in our advocacy, to find a way to speed things up, to cut red tape, to reduce bureaucratic obstacles…Time is the most valuable commodity. It makes a big difference in people’s lives.”

Pelosi slammed Republicans in Congress for not doing more while hundreds of Puerto Rico’s residents remain without power and the island’s congressional representative says that at least 28,000 people have been denied aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

no kidding. it’s like they’re looking around, trying to find places they can sound like they care without alienating their overlords.

Seriously. I think Lou Dobbs is in need of some help!

There seems to be a few screws loose.

Lou Dobbs Calls Diamond and Silk's Political Punditry 'the Definitive and Authoritative Forecast' for Future Elections https://t.co/CjH4ffr0ur pic.twitter.com/Mpe9vQlukB

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 27, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/leggett-not-ready-to-endorse-jealous-some-other-democrats-are-tepid/2018/07/26/3031eafe-8f7c-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.85bb25b56fb7

If they keep this up Trump is assured a 2nd Term.

Maryland gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous needs all the help he can get to unseat incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan (R), but he’s facing resistance from some fellow Democrats uneasy with his left-wing platform.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is declining to endorse Jealous for now because of concerns that Jealous’s positions on taxes, school funding and Amazon.com’s second headquarters would penalize Leggett’s constituents in the state’s most populous jurisdiction.

Long-serving Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (Calvert), an influential moderate, offered only tepid backing for Jealous while praising Hogan for “governing from the middle.”

Other top Maryland Democrats, while voicing strong support for Jealous, disagree with him on issues such as his support for state-based, single-payer health care. They include U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (Anne Arundel), all of whom say they favor the goal of universal health care but question whether Maryland can afford it.

Like those of us who will not always vote for a neolibcon, they go just as far if not farther. If they could get away with outright campaigning for the Republican, many, many would.

We are no longer even in the same party, but I would argue that they are the ones who left my Democratic Party long ago.

Sickening and scary as far as changing from within.

May I add that their concerns are bull.