And they're fighting tooth and nail...to lose?!??
Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom fighters, and Truth Crusaders!
Is it just me, or has the good ol' U. S. of A. well and truly flipped its collective lid?
Every time I read or hear someone on the left, he or she says that Hillary is doing everything she possibly can to give the election to Trump.
Every time I read or hear Trump or one of his minions, I think that Trump is doing everything he possibly can to give the election to Hillary.
Both strenuously claim to want the presidency, but cheez...they are both treating the position like a hot potato.
Srsly...wut?
As a wise friend of mine at work said,
"I can't wait 'til November is over...
so we can start the 2020 campaign season."
Ugh...*sigh*
Stay t00ned to this blawg for a word or three on Haiti. In short, between U.S. interventions and the old order for Haiti to pay reparations to France because Haiti's independence divested France of "its" slave labor, we have really skrooed those poor people over.
That reminds me--I made a donation this week to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF) in memory of Dot Calm because we are apparently still wreaking havoc over there. Like sending in the Marines to clean out Haiti's treasury and hand every stolen cent over to...Citibank.
Srsly--what kind of monsters are we?!??
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Conservative Clown Car--VERY pithy today!
Peas, friends. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for being extra-good to yourselves and each other. You mean a lot to me!
- Dot Calm's shadow
Consider the preemptive Blogger phuqued-up phormatting disclaimer to be in effect. Grrr.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
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ATTENTION,
REPUBLICANS!
REPUBLICANS!
Obama is coming
for your guns 'n' Bibles
November 8, 2016.
DO NOT
LEAVE YOUR HOUSE
THAT DAY
FOR ANY REASON!
The rights you save
may be your own!
may be your own!
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From the "Hands up, still shot" department...
Daily Beast: Charles Kinsey Did Everything Right. The Police Still Shot Him.
"Sir, why did you shoot me?" Kinsey says he asked the cop who shot him. "I don't know," he says the cop replied.
Miami Herald: Mom of autistic man at center of Charles Kinsey shooting: my son is traumatized
Isn't that lovely? The police created two victims.
Speaking of which, so far, the only ones in jail re police shootings and killings of unarmed Blacks are the ones photographing, videoing, and reporting the cops' misdeeds to the public. Can you say, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"? I knew you could.
Slate: Donald Trump Asked an Adviser Three Times Why the U.S. Can’t Use Its Nukes...BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!!!
The Atlantic: Judge Curiel hands Trump a fresh rebuke
Daily Dot: Donald Trump and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
They're just talking about one day: 2 August 2016!!
You can tell a man by the company he keeps. Like how his friendship with Roger Stone reflects on Donald Trump: How Trump advisor Roger Stone became Washington's sleaziest political operator from Slate...calling Stone and Trump both "ruthless slimy con men" is being kind.
Vox: The media is getting Trump's Ukraine comments wrong
as in, yes, we all know Trump is ignorant, but the truth behind Trump's Ukraine comments is far more disturbing to anti-imperialists at home and abroad than the myth that Trump has forgotten Putin's presence in the Ukraine: Trump favors Putin's policies.
Vox: Stephen Colbert's Trump takedown takes you down a memory lane of WTF
Mic: John Oliver figured out how Donald Trump can just lie and lie without consequence
Spoiler: it's the stepping-on-one-nail vs stepping-on-a-bed-of-nails effect.
Vox: The big puzzle in economics today: why is the economy growing so slowly?
Um...because we refuse to tax the people at the top fairly, so we've hamstrung ourselves?
Mic: Megyn Kelly wore a top with thin straps at the RNC, and oh boy were the viewers butthurt
Srsly--some people need to just get a life or just get some. If I looked like Megyn Kelly, I'd wear whatever the phuque I wanted and tell the haters to suck it. If I were Megyn Kelly, I'd wear a burka--the kind with the mesh over the eyes--and ask the haters, "Happy now?"
Mic: Megyn Kelly shuts down Dan Patrick's bogus clam about trans people and bathrooms
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Srsly, I don't understand why or how women could ever support or vote for the Republican party, which wants to lock them back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant...oh, and treat them like shit, as their standards bearer Donald J. Trump says.
Mic: Samantha Bee just destroyed the GOP's toxic masculinity with this perfect skit
She destroyed the Get Obama Party's toxic masculinity, eh? Too bad that ain't the only thing about Regressives that's toxic for her to destroy.
Vox: The big thing almost everyone missed about Brexit
Hint: it's health care. The "Leave" camp duped UK seniors into thinking NHS would be preserved or improved by Brexit, so they bit the bait; the "Remain" camp pitched only to the young, who were already in favor of staying, instead of addressing seniors' concerns.
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Mailbag
Yesterday morning, Gold Star mother and VoteVets Military Families Coordinator Karen Meredith, released a letter calling on Donald Trump to apologize for his treatment of Captain Humayun Khan's family.
Since then, more than 15,000 people have added their names to the note, including an additional two dozen Gold Star family members.
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This is in response to someone giving Trump a replica Purple Heart
Did you see what Donald Trump just said?
“I always wanted to get a Purple Heart. This was much easier.”
I earned a Purple Heart in combat and I know many others who have as
well. It's not something anyone 'wanted to get.' We earned them because
our country asked us to.
It's no surprise Donald Trump accepted a Purple Heart the 'easier'
way today because that's the story of his life. He never sacrifices. He
always has things handed to him.
This isn’t the first time Trump has showed a lack of understanding
and appreciation for the sacrifices of our service members and their
families either.
He claimed that his expensive military prep school experience was
akin to actual military service. He denigrated Senator John McCain’s
service as a prisoner of war. And just this week, he attacked Gold Star
parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
I’m outraged that anyone seeking to be Commander in Chief of
this great nation would show so little respect for our troops. Please
ask Donald Trump to apologize:
Thank you,
Tammy
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Just
a few minutes ago, I spoke with a 90-year-old woman in Jacksonville,
Florida. She worked in the culinary industry for her entire life, and
paid into Social Security through that work. And yet, today, she can’t
survive without help from her family.
This
is unacceptable. We live in the wealthiest nation on Earth, and we
promise our seniors peace of mind. But sadly, her story isn’t unusual.
She and thousands of seniors struggle to get by, because this year, they
haven’t had a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for their Social
Security checks, even though their cost of living has risen. And that’s
the third time that’s happened recently.
Since
1975, when Social Security COLAs began, we have cheated our seniors out
of a staggering sum – $388 billion. How? Because we have failed to make
cost-of-living adjustments based on how seniors actually spend their
money. If we had, then seniors would have received an additional $25
billion in earned benefits last year alone.
That’s
why I introduced the Seniors Deserve a Raise Act. My bill will increase
Social Security benefits right now by 2.9%. (This will make up for the
decades of cheating our seniors out of benefits with flawed COLAs.). It
will also require the Social Security Administration to use the Consumer
Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), whenever that index is higher than
the currently used CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners
and Clerical Workers). (Why have we been calculating COLAs based
entirely on the spending habits of workers, when most seniors are
retired? Square peg, meet round hole.) The CPI-E gives full weight to
the goods and services seniors actually purchase (like health care –
lots of it). These increases will apply to retired military benefits as
well.
I’ve
been honored to dedicate my time in the House of Representatives to
fighting to make a better life for seniors. This year alone, Grayson
amendments reversed brutal GOP cuts in senior housing, and increased
free tax advice for seniors by 50%. If I’m elected to the Senate, I will
continue this critical work to provide seniors with peace of mind. We
certainly owe them that much.
Together, we can give our seniors the raise -- and the dignity -- they deserve.
Courage,
Rep. Alan Grayson
CONTRIBUTE
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Dear Friend,
Please urge Rep. Hank Johnson to keep speaking out about the threat West Bank settlement expansion poses to a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Georgia Democratic Representative Hank Johnson has been outspoken in
his defense of human rights. For example, he is the lead sponsor of the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act,
challenging U.S. military and police aid to the government of Honduras
because of the Honduran government's failure to address its gross abuses
of human rights.
Recently, the Washington Free Beacon, a Sheldon Adelson-funded newspaper that supports Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, manufactured a controversy out of criticisms that Rep. Johnson made of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. Rep. Johnson clarified his remarks.
J Street wrote: "The Congressman was clearly referring to the corrosive impact of the settlement enterprise on the two-state solution and not to individuals. The Free Beacon and its headline writers have, as is their habit, taken irresponsible liberties with the words actually spoken in an effort to advance their political agenda. The proper focus of media coverage here should be on the growing political opposition to Israeli settlement growth and not on the misrepresentations by an irresponsible media outlet."
It is important that Members of Congress not conclude from this episode that they cannot criticize Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, as Peter Beinart, writing in Haaretz, suggested they might.
Urge Rep. Johnson to continue speaking out about Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank in the future by signing our petition at MoveOn.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Please urge Rep. Hank Johnson to keep speaking out about the threat West Bank settlement expansion poses to a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Take Action
Recently, the Washington Free Beacon, a Sheldon Adelson-funded newspaper that supports Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, manufactured a controversy out of criticisms that Rep. Johnson made of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. Rep. Johnson clarified his remarks.
J Street wrote: "The Congressman was clearly referring to the corrosive impact of the settlement enterprise on the two-state solution and not to individuals. The Free Beacon and its headline writers have, as is their habit, taken irresponsible liberties with the words actually spoken in an effort to advance their political agenda. The proper focus of media coverage here should be on the growing political opposition to Israeli settlement growth and not on the misrepresentations by an irresponsible media outlet."
It is important that Members of Congress not conclude from this episode that they cannot criticize Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, as Peter Beinart, writing in Haaretz, suggested they might.
Urge Rep. Johnson to continue speaking out about Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank in the future by signing our petition at MoveOn.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
------------------------------------------------
| |
| Tell Congress: Investigate Trump’s ties to Russia | |
| Tell Republican Congressional leaders:
“Protect the integrity of our electoral process by launching an investigation to ensure that there is no inappropriate relationship between Donald Trump and the Russian government.”
Add your name:
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From Daily Kos--stop the next Flint
Clean, affordable drinking water is a human right.
But in the U.S., our communities are facing a crisis. Water pipes are aging, and many are still made of lead. This is endangering kids' health.
Sign now to tell your Representative: support the WATER Act and fix our aging water systems!
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Dear Friend,
They may not agree on much. But both Democrats and Republicans included reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act - separating traditional commercial banking from Wall Street financial speculation - in their official party platforms.
"Too big to fail" banks are a threat to our economy. But they're also a threat to our democracy - and not only to our democracy, but to other people's democracies.
For twenty years I've supported efforts to reform U.S. foreign policy at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - in particular, to stop IMF "bailouts" that transfer bad bets from big banks onto public balance sheets, planning to pay for these bailouts with democracy-smashing "austerity" policies.
It's painfully obvious - after the "Asian financial crisis" in the 1990s, after Argentina, after Greece, after Puerto Rico - that we're never going to have a decent chance to meaningfully reform IMF policies until we break the political power of the big banks. And one of the best ways to start doing that is to break them up.
A yuge coalition of groups, including the AFL-CIO and Daily Kos, is working to do just that. Join us by signing our joint petition.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
They may not agree on much. But both Democrats and Republicans included reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act - separating traditional commercial banking from Wall Street financial speculation - in their official party platforms.
"Too big to fail" banks are a threat to our economy. But they're also a threat to our democracy - and not only to our democracy, but to other people's democracies.
For twenty years I've supported efforts to reform U.S. foreign policy at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - in particular, to stop IMF "bailouts" that transfer bad bets from big banks onto public balance sheets, planning to pay for these bailouts with democracy-smashing "austerity" policies.
It's painfully obvious - after the "Asian financial crisis" in the 1990s, after Argentina, after Greece, after Puerto Rico - that we're never going to have a decent chance to meaningfully reform IMF policies until we break the political power of the big banks. And one of the best ways to start doing that is to break them up.
A yuge coalition of groups, including the AFL-CIO and Daily Kos, is working to do just that. Join us by signing our joint petition.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
------------------------------------------------
From EPI Policy Center
In 1999, when Congress repealed core provisions of the Glass–Steagall Act, it provided an opportunity for traditional banks to engage in an array of high-risk activities. And that is exactly what they did—growing in size and adding activities to their portfolio that threaten our country’s financial security.
A 21st century Glass–Steagall—which has been introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and has bipartisan support—would separate traditional banking activities such as savings and checking accounts from riskier financial services such as hedge fund and private equity activities, investment banking, and more.
Please stand with the EPI Policy Center and our partners in calling on Congress to pass Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 21st Century Glass–Steagall Act and begin to rein in Wall Street’s greedy and reckless behavior.
------------------------------------------------
Congress caved to Big Food’s pressure to kill
state-based GMO labeling, and President Obama just signed this confusing
bill into law. But consumers run the market, and our campaign to get GMOs labeled is already having an effect.
Companies like General Mills, PepsiCo and Kellogg’s have already
started labeling their genetically modified foods, and they need to hear
that consumers want them to keep it up.
The new law is meant to stop GMO labeling
momentum in its tracks. It gives companies the option of using scannable
codes or 1-800 numbers instead of easy-to-read GMO labels, and delays
the new rules by two years. But many major food companies are already
doing the right thing and putting clear labels on food packaging.
------------------------------------------------
Aspiration--a better bank that even Berners can love!
Daily Kos partners with other companies that offer essential services but do so in a way that is progressive and beneficial to humanity.
Everyone needs a phone, so we partner with CREDO to give you a way to stay connected while making progressive change happen. Everyone needs to power their home, so we partner with Ethical Electric and Arcadia so that you can keep the lights on with 100% renewable energy.
Now Daily Kos is partnering with Aspiration, a way to bank and invest without supporting Wall Street financial institutions that are working against the common good.
Please read this entire email to learn more about Aspiration, and click here to start your account. When you sign up with Aspiration through Daily Kos, a portion of the proceeds will support keeping us running. You can ditch Wall Street while helping Daily Kos at the same time.
-- Chris Bowers, Executive Campaign Director, Daily Kos
It’s happened to all of us. You’re in a rush and short on cash. You don’t have time to hunt around town for your bank’s ATM. And so you suck it up and go to an out-of-network ATM. A few moments later you have the cash you need – minus the about $5 you’ve just forked over in ATM fees.
It’s annoying. And it adds up: the average bank customer spends $194 a year in out of network ATM fees.
But it’s more than that. Think of where that money goes. Every time you pay one of those ATM fees, you are funding the very aspects of the financial industry you spend the rest of your time fighting against.
There’s a better way. Aspiration is a financial firm that does things differently:
--No ATM fees ever.
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Maybe that’s why the Huffington Post wrote that Aspiration is “channeling Elizabeth Warren to change the face of banking.” And why OZY declared that “if you feel the Bern,” Aspiration is a financial company “you may actually like.”
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Aspiration’s approach sets them apart in the financial world. Each year Americans spend more than $33 billion on often outrageous bank fees. Those banks then take about $100 million of that and spend it on lobbying and campaign contributions to, among other things, try to stop efforts to reign in – you guessed it – outrageous bank fees. See how this works?
This means that every time you pay a monthly maintenance fee or an ATM fee, a portion of that money – your money – is then being used to lobby for permission to charge you higher fees or even to force down the signs on ATMs warning you of the fees in the first place.
That’s probably not where you want your money to go.
With Aspiration, you get a much higher interest rate, no ATM or monthly service fees, a financial partner you can feel good about, and you can tell the Big Banks that “enough is enough” – all at the same time. That’s why, in Money magazine’s annual issue of the “Best Banks in America,” the Aspiration Summit Account pushed past the usual Big Banks and was named “Best Checking Account in America” for 2015-16.
You can make your voice heard and get more money in your pocket at the same time.
Sign up to open an Aspiration Summit Account – Money magazine’s “Best Checking Account” in America and move your money from a Big Bank to a financial institution that shares your values.
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Profit and protecting the planet can go hand in hand. Find out more about Aspiration's sustainable investing here.
Every day you keep a Big Bank account open you are funding their anti-consumer lobbying agenda. You are paying them to lobby against what you believe in. In just five minutes, you can make today the last day you’re doing that.
Click here to get started on an account with Aspiration, and move your money to a financial institution that works for you and shares your values.
Are you sick and tired of Big Banks that gouge their customers and dominate Washington? Don’t send them a message. Send them a “Dear John.”
Thanks for all you do,
Andrei Cherny
Co-founder and CEO, Aspiration
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Democracy Now!
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Friends don't let friends
vote Republican
Government is like a car:
"D" for forward
"R" for reverse
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Daily Kos--these headlines are not to be missed today!
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AlterNet
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Movies!
John Oliver on the DNC--including taking the mickey outta the Dems and mopping the floor with Trump by his ugly yellow weasel-wig. He also refers to Tim Kaine as "a human sweater vest" and "the portrait of the vice president that came with the frame." (LOL and double LOL!) This is the full video referred to in the Vox article I posted last time: John Oliver loses it over Trump's reaction to the Khan family. This is the episode where John describes Teh Crazy spewing from Trump's ugly orange fish-lipped face-anus in terms of "stepping on one nail" vs "stepping on a thousand nails." John remarked, "The main takeaway from these two weeks is that, incredibly, we may be on the brink of electing such a damaged, sociopathic narcissist that the simple presidential duty of comforting the families of fallen soldiers may actually be beyond his capabilities, and I genuinely did not think that that was a part of the job that someone could be bad at." (Hum, John must not remember chimpie.) And John responded to Trump's "sacrifices": "No! No, they are absolutely not [sacrifices]," Oliver said. "They are self-serving half-truths from a self-serving half-man who has somehow convinced half the country that sacrifice is the same thing as success." (Except that I'd call it "selfishness" rather than "success": Trump isn't even successful--not with 4 bankruptcies; ripping off workers, contractors, and staff; constantly being sued; and being in debt to foreign creditors to the tune of, what, $630M? Isn't Trump worth a whole lot less than he claims, like maybe $100M? Is he even worth that much with all the debt and lawsuits and unpaid bills?)
Remember what I said about Hill trying to throw the election? Kyle on Secular Talk insists that to be the case. Remember what I said some posts ago about it being a Bad Thing for Hill to reward Debbie Wasserman Schultz's bad behavior by giving her a job? Well, guess what Hillary did! Yup...she's got a nice juicy job lined up for gf there. Kyle has a definite point.
John Oliver on whitewashing in Hollywood. I dunno how he does it, but he always manages to get a laugh out of every nasty or stoopit situation he addresses. Y'know what? I have a friend who's Egyptian, and he sure don't look like none o' them whiteys what they always hire in Hollywood.
John Oliver on corporations getting on Twitter...insensitively...awkwardly. Ugh.
Grrr. I can't believe that we as a nation have come to such a pass as this election. I'm pissed. I need a laugh. Yeah, yeah--I know I run this a lot, but it's always good for a giggle. Humor me.
'Til next time, check out these great channels:
The Thinking Atheist
...or, if you just want something mindless and fun, try Tested
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posted by Dot Calm @ 6:37 PM
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