Wednesday, September 07, 2016

STOP the Dakota Access pipeline! That, and I think Hillary would be a better President than O'Bama!!

Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!

I'm just home after a long day and have several urgent tasks to attend to, but todaze post is too important to let me focus on all that (and hopefully relax a little afterward) without blogging first.

Two things kicking around inside my haid...

1. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Hillary would be a better president than O'Bama (as Dot Calm insisted on spelling it) has been. According to recent polls, the race between sanity (Hillary) and utter destruction (Trump) has been tightening. This worries me, so I figured I'd g'head and pipe up with my two-bits for y'all to read after the Commander In Chief Forum.

Mostly, I've been happy with O'Bama. He has been a decent president, especially considering all the non-stop disrespect and obstructionism from the Republicans. On the down side, he's been a little slow on the draw militarily, which I'd ordinarily be OK with (being something of a pacifist myself), but I tend to think that a stronger, faster response would have been much better for dealing with threats like ISIS, which he took too long to take seriously. Hillary has been around this block before. She is no nuclear hawk--like Donald Trump, who asked three times why we can't use nukes if we have 'em--and she would bring a more balanced approach to using force than either O'Bama did or than the ever-gormless Trump would...or could.

My other big beef with O'Bama is that I wish he'd expanded Medicaid for everyone before making people buy "hunting licenses," as I call it. What I mean is that forcing people to buy health insurance in no way guarantees them actual health care. I'm grateful that Obamacare has led to historically-low numbers of uninsured Americans (a Vox headline I posted below backs up this assertion). However, I also keep hearing
--including from liberal and libertarian friends whose opinions I respect--that Obamacare has made a very pretty hash out of our health insurance, resulting in extremely high deductibles and proportionally low coverage...not to mention tons of confusion and complications...or the website fiasco. Hillary could fix the health care access problem with a public option, which we desperately need just to remain competitive in the world, and/or by regulating Chamber of Commerce participants (like Wall Steet, Big Oil, and Big Medicine and Pharma) to reduce their excessive profits for not only the public good but also for their own sustainability. The latter is most definitely a long shot that someone will have to bite the bullet and do because the current profit-over-people economic model that most Democrats and all Republicans hold dear is not sustainable. I dunno about you, but I'd rather not wait for the corporations to decide to do the right thing. They seem all too happy to fiddle with themselves while Rome burns.

I'm also less than pleased with O'Bama's reneging on so many of his campaign promises--like his failure to shutter baby Bush's illegal domestic spying program and Gitmo--and his too-habitual siding with the corporations over the people, especially when it comes to climate change from global warming. O'Bama's tremendous knowledge of the Constitution should have allowed him to restore what the Bush junta dismantled. It's a Very Big Deal that he hasn't followed through on these promises--not least, perhaps, because Trump would just l-u-r-v-e to fill Gitmo to the rafters with all sorts of lovely people to torture for fun and profit. Hillary would make a lot of political hay if she followed up on these issues. If the public is concerned enough about these issues to get them onto her radar, I feel convinced that she would pick up where O'Bama leaves off and push things through--provided she's not dealing with an equally obnoxious, obstructive Republican Congress.
(VOTE BLUE ALL THE WAY DOWN!!!!!)

I realize that O'Bama's entire presidency has been all about walking a tightrope...how loudly could he speak or forceful could he be without getting pushback for being "uppity"? IMHO, this is why he strove to be so respectful of other nations' leaders. Because we've seen strong female leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel succeed on the world stage, I don't think Hillary would have that barrier at all--I'm convinced she could and would let her badass flag fly without anyone except our very own Republicans shitting their knickers over it. Ha--let them!

So, yeah, overall, I think Hillary would be a better, more balanced, and more experienced president than O'Bama. I think she'd be a stronger leader at home and abroad who would not alienate our allies or drive our adversaries into attacking us, like Trump would. And you know that O'Bama will be ready to advise her on what did and didn't work for him. So, yeah, if we as a nation can manage to hang onto enough sanity to put her into the White House, I think we'll be pleasantly surprised with what she will do for us there.

2. Friends, we HAVE to STOP the Dakota Access pipeline. "Democracy Now!" has broadcasted segments both yesterday and today about the private security company's attack on peaceful Native American protectors of their sacred and tribal lands. The protectors went to plant their tribal flags on the land last Saturday only to find that their burial ground was already being bulldozed! The security company in question not only maced the protectors' faces but also set attack dogs on them. The dogs bit people's faces, arms, and legs--without provocation, as protectors remarked. The dogs' mouths and noses were full of blood, as Amy Goodman herself witnessed. Historically, the American government has taken so very much away from these First People. Now, the First People in the Dakotas and farmers in Iowa are faced with losing their lands to a private company profiting from public laws of eminent domain. The corporate argument is that maybe, eventually, a teensy weensy little dribble of the oil being transported to the Gulf of Mexico may find its way back to Iowa and the Dakotas...but there's no guarantee, and, given dwindling domestic demand, there's an excellent chance that the oil will be exported--thus obviating any argument of taking the lands to provide a public good. That, and the pipeline end up being abandoned altogether, in which case the lands are gone, unusable, for no good reason. We could lose those waterways and farmlands to poisoning from oil leaks and spills, and our native friends will lose their ceremonial, sacred, and burial places--and for nothing that benefits them in the slightest. Is corporate profit really so much more important than safe food and water or than people's heritage? How would you feel if the government came along and bulldozed the cemetery where your parents and grandparents--where most everyone you ever knew--had been laid to rest after they passed on? When is America going to start honoring its treaties with its aboriginal peoples?

Please sign the petitions below and read or listen to the two DN! segments.

Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:

Daily Kos
AlterNet

Peas, friends. Take care of yourselves for me. Trust me--you're worth it!
  
- 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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 Voting Republican
Is Like Staying In An Abusive Relationship
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Headlines

DailyKos: Here's a Shocker: Donsie Wonsie Is Stiffing the Staff 
   
Vox: For the first time ever, America's uninsured rate has fallen below 9 percent
    
Vox: Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines's less racist but more murderous Donald Trump, explained
   
FiveThirtyEight: Election Update: Clinton's Lead Keeps Shrinking
    
Vox: The swing state math still looks terrible for Donald Trump
   
Vox: Partisan polarization on climate change is worse than ever
   
FiveThirtyEight: We Haven't Seen Many Storms Like Hermine
...and that's because of global warming, which has given us 3-6 degree warmer mid-Atlantic ocean water temperatures than usual this summer. That allows that part of our east coast to sustain a himmicane just sitting around, hanging out, and dumping water on us for a week or so...long enough to saturate a lot of land, create more than a little flooding, and maybe even make a sinkhole or two.
    
Vox: 5 racist stereotypes that historically were the opposite of what they are .today
   
Vox: Donald Trump is doing worse with Latinos than the previous 6 Republican presidential candidates
    
Vox: This study shows American federalism is a total joke
    
Vox: Against transparency
...If anything, Hillary Clinton's e-mails show that government is too transparent. It seems counterintuitive until you think about it. There has to be a time and place for the people making policy to "make sausage." It serves no one except the tin-foil hat brigade to air all of those only partially considered notions before they're ready for prime time. All we do by treating e-mail like formal memoranda is force politicians to find and use work-arounds. Balance is good, but this isn't balance!
    
Vox: The US and China just joined the Paris climate deal — making it harder for Donald Trump to scrap it
    
Vox: Obamacare was supposed to make all birth control free. As a doctor, I see it's not happening.
   
Vox: Fox settles Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit for reported $20 million, issues apology
...Here's some irony that will make you want to punch the nearest wall: Roger Ailes got $40 million as a golden parachute for being a sexual predator; Gretchen Carlson got half of that out of FUX for being his unwary victim. Even in a predator-prey scenario, FUX has managed to pay the woman half what it pays the man!
   
Vox: What a liberal sociologist learned from spending five years in Trump's America
...She went down to bayou country, in Louisiana, and saw that the poor whites there rightfully resent having been gobbled up by the same greed monster that devoured their Black counterparts who used to be lower than they on the economic ladder. This I why I champion the cause of "the least of these"--if we don't save those less fortunate than we, then we'll get gobbled up, too, by whatever we allow to devour our brethren and sistern [sic]. NEWS FLASH, Hillary: these are the people YOU should start fighting for! If you can make them feel heard--and they don't feel heard right now--then maybe, just maybe, you could start swinging them toward voting FOR their own best interests instead of throwing up their hands and voting against their own needs.
   
BuzzFeed: This Taco Truck Was Literally On The Corner Of A Donald Trump Event
...According to the Daily Kos headline below, it really raked in the bucks! Speaking of taco trucks, I saw one on my way to work this morning! Oh, NOES! ...And so it begins!!
   
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Don't Believe in Global Warming?
How's Your Homeowner's Insurance...
Rising Like the Sea Level?
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Mailbag

From UltraViolet--Let Rachael Maddow moderate a debate

Tell the Presidential Debate Commission: It's 2016. Women are as capable as men in moderating a debate. Choose more women to moderate the presidential debates.
Sign the petition
   
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From 350.org--Tell Obama to revoke the Dakota Access pipeline permit

Friends,

Over the weekend, peaceful protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline were met with guard dogs and pepper spray while defending sacred burial grounds from bulldozers. This is shocking and saddening, but it's also a wake up call.

If built, Dakota Access would carry toxic fracked oil from North Dakota across four states and under the Missouri River, immediately upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. That makes it a threat to the sacred land and water of Native communities and a disaster for the climate. 

Tribal leaders are taking the Army Corps of Engineers to court over the unjust pipeline approval process, but President Obama could step in any time and say "no" to this whole thing -- like he did for Keystone XL.

Tell President Obama to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Sign the petition today.
   
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Abortion is a medical procedure, plain and simple.

But anti-choice politicians across the country continue to work ruthlessly to pass legislation restricting our access to abortion, imposing restrictions that apply to no other type of medical care.

That's why we need the Women's Health Protection Act: It would protect our right to safe and legal abortion by stopping these restrictive regulations and laws in their tracks and work to open up abortion access for all.

We're partnering with a dozen other organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the National Women's Law Center, and Daily Kos, to call on Congress to protect women’s health by passing WHPA.

Will you join the campaign? Sign the petition calling on Congress to pass the Women's Health Protection Act and improve access to abortion care.
   
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Donald Trump recently unveiled the outlines of a new tax plan that would benefit himself and his family very handsomely, as well as big multinational corporations.

Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund has identified five major features of Trump’s new tax plan that are particularly objectionable:
  1. Gives multinational corporations with $2.4 trillion in profits stashed offshore a tax cut of up to $550 billion;
  2. Cuts taxes on hedge funds, real estate developers (like himself) and other wealthy partnerships by $1 trillion;
  3. Slashes the corporate tax rate by nearly 60%;
  4. Reduces individual income tax rates on billionaires (like himself) and millionaires; and
  5. Eliminates the estate tax to boost the inheritances of millionaires and billionaires—which will give his heirs an extra $4 billion to $7 billion.
Click here to check out Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund’s new website and learn more about what makes Donald Trump’s tax plan a disaster for American taxpayers.
   
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Update from Public Citizen

Public Citizen is leading the ongoing grassroots outcry over price gouging by Mylan — the corporation that makes the EpiPen.

Now we’re putting the hammer down.

Tell Congress: Make Mylan’s CEO testify over the company’s EpiPen price gouging.

The EpiPen is a pocket-sized medical device that can be a literal lifesaver for millions of children and adults in the U.S. who are at risk of fatal allergic reactions from common occurrences like getting stung by a bee or accidentally consuming peanuts.

And even though an EpiPen contains only a few dollars’ worth of medicine, Mylan has been increasing the price over the past decade — from about $100 in 2007 to over $600 today.

Many people who could die without an EpiPen can’t afford one.

By the way, an EpiPen two-pack is just $85 in France.

But Mylan’s immoral price gouging in America results in profits from the EpiPen alone of $1.2 billion a year.

Meanwhile, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch’s salary has gone up from $2.4 million to almost $19 million.

Sign the petition demanding that Congress require Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to testify.

As this story broke in recent weeks, Public Citizen led the consumer revolt that has Mylan on its heels.

And, with allies, we delivered more than 700,000 petitions to Mylan’s headquarters in Pittsburgh demanding that the company roll back the price.

Our criticism and analysis have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, on NBC Nightly News, Fox Business News and Democracy Now, and in many other media outlets.

Mylan is awfully vulnerable.

Under enormous consumer pressure, Mylan sought to shift blame to insurance companies. Then it said it would offer discount coupons. Then it said it would offer a half-priced generic version of its own product.

Not good enough.

We will not let up until Mylan lowers the price back to where it should be — around the $100 it was when Mylan acquired the brand in 2007.

Until Mylan drops the price, Heather Bresch must be made to answer to We the People.

There’s a lot for her to explain, beyond how she lives with herself (though she should be made to answer that question, too). For example:

  • How much has Mylan been charging the government for the EpiPen, and has it been providing the discounts mandated by law?
  • What are the licensing arrangements regarding the EpiPen, and how much profit do EpiPen sellers make in countries like Canada or France, where the price is just a fraction of what it is in the United States?
  • How has Mylan maneuvered to block EpiPen competitors from entering the market?
If we keep the pressure on, we’re going to win this fight — and pave the way for fundamental challenges to Big Pharma’s monopolies and price gouging.

Add your name to those demanding that Congress require Heather Bresch to testify.

Thank you for taking action.

Onward,

Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen
    
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From Deluge via ActionNetwork.org--Stop gun violence

Congress has failed to act time and again on the scourge of gun violence in our communities. They wouldn't act when one man massacred six and seven-year-old children with their teachers, or any of the times when white supremacists targeted peaceful worshippers, or when one of their own colleagues nearly lost her life in an assassination attempt. Members of Congress have been told how deadly the presence of a gun can make a situation for women trying to leave controlling, violent men. No more, please.

There are too many early graves dug in the United States due to gun violence. Tell Congress that it's time to stand up and be counted on the side of their bereaved constituents, and those whose voices were tragically cut short.

Sign the petition: Congress must address epidemic gun violence.
     
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CREDO action
President Obama: Keep fossil fuels in the ground
The petition to President Obama reads:
“Continued fossil fuel extraction on public lands is incompatible with stopping runaway climate change. Stop all new coal, oil, and natural gas leasing on public lands and waters.”
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
   
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Combating Climate Science Denial--A Brief Case Study posted in Daily Kos

I recently had a friend tell me that the number of hot days in the United States has declined over the last eighty years, thus proving that if the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is having an effect on climate, it must be cooling the United States. (He verbally added a /sarc tag.) To prove this claim, he showed me the graphic I include below.
A quick Google image search revealed the graphic was taken from climate science denier Tony Heller, aka "Steve Goddard," via his conspiracy website ironically titled "RealClimateScience." (I won't link to it because I don't want to increase his income from views to the ads on his site.)
No, the graphic he showed me wasn’t one at the top of this post. I’ll have it after the break.
The graphic below purportedly compares the number of weather stations reporting temperatures over 105 degrees F so far this year to the number reporting temperatures over 105 degrees F in 1936. I haven't checked whether his data is accurate. Let's take it as given.
1936-2016-105f1010.gif
Taken from Tony Heller. We should probably give it back.

There's quite a lot wrong with this graphic, and with the claim made by my friend. In the interest of showing how dishonest climate science denial memes work, let's list a few of the problems.
1) Incompleteness. The summer of 2016 isn't over yet, so even on the surface, it's not a good comparison.This is only a minor problem however, compared to the other ways in which this graphic is misleading and dishonest.
2) Oddity. The year 1936 was in the midst of the Dust Bowl era, a time when much of the United States was experiencing an historic drought which was caused (or at least, substantially worsened) by incredibly bad land management in the American southwest. Overfarming, overgrazing and deforestation turned perhaps a hundred thousand square miles of arable land into near-desert, leading to dry and overheated conditions in much of the continent. Comparing the U.S. today to any time in the 1930s is like comparing a vibrant city to a place that has been firebombed. It's not a valid comparison. It's a comparison that is so obviously faulty it had to be made on purpose.
Incidentally, notice also that this rather defeats any argument that human influence can't affect climate. The extreme temperatures in the continental U.S. in 1936 were caused, in some measure, by human activity, and were not entirely a function of natural variation. But let's move on.
download_%286%29.jpg
Not good. Don’t do this.
3) Cherry picking. The comparison here is of one (1) year (1936) to one (1) other year (2016). No sensible statement can be made about climate trends by comparing the current year to some cherry-picked previous year.
Imagine a worker (call him Tony) whose wage income increases smoothly by $1000 every year over a period of forty working years. But other things affect his income as well. Maybe in 2005 Tony made an extra $50,000 by selling his dad's old vintage Studebaker. Comparing his 2005 income to his 2016 income will not give you a good feel for how his wages have changed over the last ten years, and certainly won't tell you where his income is likely to go in the future. Nor will it tell you what affect his work performance is having on his income. 2005 was an unusual year, so it makes a poor base for comparisons.
In the same way, 1936 was unusually hot in America, by random natural fluctuation as well as because of human activity. Comparing that year to this one won't say anything about underlying climate trends. As implied by Item 2) above, this unusual year was specifically chosen to give the result Heller wanted. It was a dishonest and intentionally misleading choice.
4) Inappropriate yardsticks. The point that is implicit in Tony Heller's graphic, and made explicit by my denier friend's interpretation of that graphic, is that "the number of hot days" is a good proxy for "what is happening to the climate." That's just wrong. It's an inappropriate measure.
Climate is driven by (among other factors) the total heat energy in the system. This affects rainfall, wind speed and direction, severity of storms, and a host of other factors that impact plant and animal life, growing seasons, the need for heating and air conditioning, and just about every other aspect of our lives. Total heat content can be approximated by looking at average temperatures, but not by looking at the number of days above an arbitrary limit.
As a simple example, say that one year the temperatures over a 5-day summer period in Sample City are 65, 70, 103, 105, and 72. The average for these five days is 83. Say in another year, the temperatures over the same 5-day period are 95, 96, 98, 99, and 97. The average temperature of the second series is 97. The heat energy available in the second year is much greater than in the first year, even though the first year had higher maximum temperatures.
Not only has the average substantially increased (by 14 degrees), but so has the minimum temperature in the series (from 65 to 95, a jump of 30 degrees). Again, this is despite that fact that the maximum temperatures is lower in the second series than in the first (99 as compared to 105). A region that habitually exhibits temperatures in the first range will have wildly different characteristics (vegetation, animals, rainfall, severity of storms and so on) from what you'd see in a region with the second range.
Heller's tactic of counting the number of weather stations that measure temperatures above some arbitrary limit says very little about how the overall climate characteristics of the region have changed. Looking at minimum temperatures (or, even better, the average over reasonable time spans) is far more useful and informative.
jpeg-22.jpeg
the bigger the sample, the more you get.
5) Sample size. My denier friend tried to use Heller's graphic to say something about world climate. (This is, of course, exactly what Heller wants people to do.) World climate is a complex thing, affected by geography, wind patterns, ocean currents, and a host of other factors. Not all places on Earth are affected the same way by this complex system. That's why (for example) the Sahara Desert tends to be hotter and drier than Seattle, Washington. The United States accounts for less than 5% of the total world's surface area. One can't expect this tiny cherry-picked sample to say anything sensible about climate trends that affect the whole world.
Suppose I note that my favorite baseball team won one of its last twenty games. One out of twenty is 5%, just as the continental U.S. is 5% of the globe. This fact by itself doesn't mean my team won all of those twenty games, and it certainly doesn't mean they'll win the World Series. The sample size of 5% is not large enough to tell us anything meaningful about the other games, and says nothing about the challenges my team faces in playing teams other than the one it played against in that one game.
To claim that "what happened to the continental United States" is a good proxy for "what is happening to the climate of the whole world" is senseless. Tony Heller wants people to draw unsupportable conclusions from this senseless sample.
6) Global. So let's look at what happened to the whole world's temperatures in the years before and after 1936, up to the present day. The graph below is the NASA GISS land-ocean average annual temperature index for the period 1880 to 2015 (in black), with a 5-year running mean (in red).
Fig.A2_%282%29.jpg
NASA GISS data, All true. The green lines are uncertainty bars, which sound like places where quantum physicists go for a drink.

As you can see, there was a peak in world temperatures in the early 1940s, so Tony Heller's graphic which includes particularly hot days in the continental U.S. might be expected to show some unusual warmth in 1936. You can also see, global temperatures have risen substantially since then, particularly in a rapid rise since about 1970. Since around 1980 the running mean has exceeded what it was c. 1936, and has never dropped back to that level. It is now far beyond where it was back then.
This reinforces what we said above about sample sizes and cherry-picking specific years and specific regions. If we want to draw conclusions about the world's climate (as my friend tried to do), we have to look at the world's climate. Tony Heller is encouraging his readers to avoid most of the data we have at our fingertips. He is engaging in dishonest misdirection.
Plate_1_Oophaga_sylvatica.jpg
Just some frogs to show how much nature varies things.
7) Natural variation. Although it isn't mentioned in Heller's graphic, my denier friend often draws another conclusion from memes such as Heller's. Note that in the NASA GISS graph, the world's temperature increased markedly from c. 1910 to 1940. Yet human production of greenhouse gasses (other than coal burning for household heating and industrial processes) didn't really take off until after that time. My friend argues (and with some justification) that the temperature variations prior to 1940 were mostly due to natural processes, and didn't require human activity. He then claims we therefore can't really know that the immense increase in global temperature after that time is caused by humans. It could well have been more "natural variation."
This is equivalent to saying that we can't calculate the effects of an airplane hitting a skyscraper until we know the limits of the effects of earthquakes and hurricanes on skyscrapers. Natural variation sometimes causes buildings to collapse. How do we know that the World Trade Center was brought down by being stuck by airliners?
We know because A) there were no earthquakes or hurricanes in New York on September 11, 2001, and B) we have film of the airliners hitting the World Trade Center's Twin Towers on that date. Also C) we can calculate the amount of kinetic energy those airliners imparted to the buildings when they struck, along with the effects of exploding fuel. We can also calculate the effects upon the buildings of the natural variations in weather and seismic activity on that day. It's pretty easy to tell which set of causes had more impact.
In other words, we can look at the actual causes that affected the events. We have data and we have physics. We know the concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses has increased markedly in the last century. We know the effect CO2 has on the ability of the atmosphere to retain heat. We know the various natural influences that were in effect in the 1930s, and the influences that are impacting the climate now. This isn't hard.
For this "natural variation" argument to be sensible, we have to examine the actual factors that are in force. To compare the heat waves of the 1930s to the increase in global temperatures today, we need to look at the conditions that occurred in those two time periods. We know what they are. We can calculate the results.
It's not enough to say that since something happened before, it can happen again. We have to look at what caused it to happen before, and see whether the same thing is causing events today. It's not honest to say that we need to know the limits of natural variation before we can calculate the impact of new influences. We already know quite a lot more about both natural variation and human intervention than deniers pretend we know.
The sorts of errors I describe above are common when climate science deniers try to dispute the impact that human activity has on planetary climate. (These are, in fact, only a few of the many errors in this one graphic.) Science disinformers like Tony Heller intentionally mislead unwary victims who don't skeptically examine the dishonest claims and false memes.
It is the responsibility of all of us to help inform the public about the errors and disinformation being spread by science deniers. Rational decisions cannot result from dishonest propaganda.
   
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CNN actually admits media bias against Clinton, 'expectations are higher for her' than Trump posted in Daily Kos

Wtf? The truth comes seeping out on CNN and don’t kid yourself, what Dana Bash is saying here is exactly how other media outlets are treating Clinton.

Hillary is being held to a higher standard and Trump, with all his hate and scandals is being given a pass because he is not quite the polished politician.

This is breathtaking and piss poor journalism.

CNN’s Dana Bash said what many voters have long suspected. The media has lowered the bar for Donald Trump and goes easier on him with their coverage because they expect less out of the GOP nominee.
www.politicususa.com/…

Bash was talking about the presidential debates when she provided a perfect example of the media’s double standard in the way they cover Trump and Clinton.
Dana Bash said, “I think the stakes are much higher in this debate and all the debates for Hillary Clinton because the expectations are higher for her because she’s a seasoned politician. She’s a seasoned debater. You know, yes we saw Donald Trump in the primaries debate for the first time, but he is a first-time politician. So um, for lots of reasons. Maybe it’s not fair, but that’s the way it is. The onus is on her.”
Since when does being a first-time candidate mean that the media expects less and grades on a curve?
Instead of objectively reporting the facts of the election, some in the press have decided that Trump must be graded on a curve.
The sort of journalistic malpractice that some members of the media are engaging is not only a threat to journalism, but it is how a completely unfit and unqualified candidate could become the next president.
   
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From AlterNet on behalf of EMILY's List



It’s 2016 and America still has a gender pay gap that isn’t shrinking fast enough. For full-time work, the average woman makes only 79 cents for every dollar a man makes.

It’s time to end this gender discrimination.

Now more than ever, we need to elect women to Congress who will fight for equal pay to support women and families across the country.

Over and over, we’ve seen Republicans vote against key legislation to make progress on equal pay. Republicans in the Senate have opposed legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Equal pay for equal work is an issue that affects working families in every state. By expanding economic opportunity for women, we can guarantee more income to households across America, lifting up entire families. When it comes to supporting key efforts to shrink the wage gap, EMILY’s List candidates are up to the task.  

Equal pay is long overdue, and families can’t afford to wait any longer. Help us elect pro-choice Democratic women to Congress who will fight for America’s families and make equal pay a reality.
   
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CREDO action
Tell President Obama: Stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline. #NoDAPL
The petition to President Obama reads:
"The Dakota Access pipeline would fuel climate change, cause untold damage to the environment, and significantly disturb sacred lands and the way of life for Native Americans in the upper Midwest. Direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the permits under 'Nationwide Permit 12' and stop the Dakota Access pipeline once and for all."
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
   
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Democracy Now!

Stories


In Washington, D.C., a federal judge has ruled that construction on sacred tribal burial sites in the path of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline can continue. Yesterday, ... Read More →

As a temporary restraining order that halts construction on part of the Dakota Access pipeline was issued Tuesday, about 100 people again shut down construction on another ... Read More →

The Dakota Access pipeline is also facing legal resistance in Iowa, one of four states through which it passes. We go to Des Moines to speak with Bill Hanigan, an attorney ... Read More →

In an exclusive interview, we speak with a woman held for nine months with her four-year-old daughter at the Berks County Residential Center in Pennsylvania as they seek ... Read More →

How long is too long for a child to be held in detention? At least five families have been held for a full year in the Berks Residential Center in Pennsylvania while their asylum case ... Read More →

We get an update from Mohammad Abdollahi, immigration activist, on sit-ins planned today at the office of Senator Tim Kaine by formerly detained women, calling on him to ... Read More →
  • Obama Does Not Apologize for Secret U.S. Bombing in Laos

  • Judge Rules Dakota Access Construction on Sacred Burial Sites Can Continue

  • 88 Retired Military Leaders Endorse Donald Trump

  • More Questions About Trump and FL Attorney General Pam Bondi

  • NYT: Trump Fined Multiple Times for Campaign Contribution Violations

  • FBI: Clinton Mobile Phones Were Smashed by Hammer

  • Fox Settles Host Gretchen Carlson’s Sexual Harassment Suit for $20M

  • Afghanistan: Taliban Bombings in Kabul Kill 35

  • Iraq: ISIS Car Bombing Kills 10 in Baghdad

  • Syria: Rescue Workers Say Government Dropped Chlorine Bombs

  • Ethiopia: 23 Die in Disputed Circumstances at Addis Ababa Prison

  • State Department Calls for Release of Bahraini Activist Nabeel Rajab

  • Northwestern Professor Says She’s Been Banned from Campus

  • Bolivia: Trans Activists Celebrate New ID Cards
  •    

    Stories


    On Saturday in North Dakota, security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they resisted the ... Read More →

    On Saturday in North Dakota, security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they resisted the ... Read More →

    Only hours after lawyers representing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed evidence in federal court documenting how some of the Dakota Access pipeline’s proposed route would ... Read More →

    Over 1,000 people representing more than 100 tribes are gathered along the Cannonball River by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to resist the construction of the $3.8 ... Read More →

    On Saturday in North Dakota, security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they resisted the ... Read More →
  • U.S. & China Formally Commit to Paris Climate Agreement

  • Oklahoma Officials Order Fracking Disposal Wells Closed After Earthquake

  • Obama Tries to Convince Asian Nations U.S. Will Ratify TPP

  • Obama on Kaepernick: "He’s Exercising Constitutional Right"

  • Obama Pledges $90 Million to Clear Unexploded U.S. Bombs in Laos

  • Obama Cancels Meeting with Filipino President Duterte
  • Syria: 40 Die in ISIS Bombings as U.S. & Russia Fail to Reach Ceasefire Deal

  • Dakota Access Pipeline Contractors Attack Native Americans with Dogs, Pepper Spray

  • NYT: Clinton Raised $50 Million at Elite Fundraisers in Two Weeks

  • Did Trump Pay Off FL Attorney General to Avoid Investigation of Trump U.?

  • Brazil: Police Attack Protesters at Massive Pro-Rousseff March

  • Black Lives Matter Activists Shut Down London City Airport

  • Hundreds Shut Down Puerto Rico’s Largest Wal-Mart

  •     
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    Daily Kos
         
  • Donald Trump changed his immigration speech—because a tweet made him mad
  • The Trump-Bondi bribery scandal
  • Is an electoral landslide in the works?
  • Sign if you agree with Everytown: Congress should make it illegal for people convicted of violent hate crimes to buy or possess guns. sponsored
  • Bachmann: Hillary will let scary brown people take over the country—'This is the last election'
  • 'Trumpettes': Tacky vulgar rich people support one of their own for president
  • Trump's deportation plan will throw people out—but they won't be brown
  • Gallup study suggests most Trump supporters have probably never met an undocumented immigrant
  • WT actual F, Arizona Republicans? Bullet holes on a 'wanted' poster of Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick?
  • Thank you, helpful stranger. I did not know my baby was crying.
  • Sign if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA): Republicans are disenfranchising voters. We must fight to protect and restore voting rights, from automatic registration to vote-by-mail. sponsored
  • Black folks have long memories, Mr. Trump
  • New York Times: 'Flooding of coast, caused by global warming, has already begun'
  • Cartoon: Modern medical marvels
  • The Dakota Access Pipeline guards unleash attack dogs on our American Indian Water Protectors
  • Cartoon: 21st century news cycle
  • So I Went to North Dakota
  • Sign if you agree: Stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline
  • Standing Rock Sioux Aren’t Backing Down To Oil Pipeline Developers
  • Breaking News: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe seeks TRO against Dakota Access Pipeline
  • Madame Secretary, It's Time to Speak Up, Speak Out, and Stand with the Sioux.
  • Yesterday, protectors stopped Dakota Access construction again, despite being attacked. Our turn!
  • The Black Snake II: Oceti Sakowin Prepares to Battle Another Oil Pipeline
  • Sacred tribal sites still in danger from DAPL
  • Another Side of the North Dakota Pipeline Protests

  • Taco truck sets up next to Trump appearance and makes a killing
  • I met Bill Clinton in a grocery store today
  • Trump raids RNC donor haul for a big pay day at Trump properties
  • Want to help Get Out The Vote for Democrats? Chip in $3 to Daily Kos now.
  • There are some real winners among the 88 retired military leaders who signed letter endorsing Trump
  • Clinton denies reporters one of their favorite whines by doing impromptu press conference
  • E-Ghazi: The FBI report that exonerates Clinton
  • Are you one stunning moment of entitlement away from life in prison, too?
  • Dallas Morning News endorses first Democrat in 75 years: Trump's 'open admiration of Russia's Vladimir Putin is alarming'
  • Paul Krugman says Hillary is being Al 'Gored'—urges media to stop publishing false innuendos
  • Sign if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA): It's time to make voting easier--move election day to a weekend. sponsored
  • Florida attorney general solicited 'contribution' directly from Trump, but Trump denies speaking to her
  • Here's Donald Trump on video, saying he will release his tax returns if he runs for president
  • Robert Reich: When media doesn't refute Trump lies, more Americans believe Trump lies
  • In his typical upsidedownist style, Trump calls anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly 'champion of women'
  • Santa Clara Police Union threatens to boycott 49ers over Kaepernick protest
  • The election post Labor Day final stretch
  •       
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    AlterNet

    By Elizabeth Preza, AlterNet
    Despite being from Texas, the Trump spokesperson seems unaware of the paper's conservative history.  READ MORE»

    By John Cavanaugh, AlterNet
    With paper and pencils, artist Fred Branfman helped Laotian farmers use drawing to bring justice. READ MORE»

    By Robin Scher, AlterNet
    "Try this again and we'll shoot you," is the message some protesters had for Turner.  READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Then there were the antics of Trump's most prominent African-American surrogate, Ben Carson. READ MORE»

    By Elizabeth Preza, AlterNet
    The campaign is desperate to control the conversation around Donald Trump. READ MORE»

    By Bob Cesca, Salon
    For writing the truth about Trump, Paul Krugman is absurdly being painted as a Clinton shill.  READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    Hall would not let A. J. Delgado change the subject. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Colbert as the photographer: "I want your eyes to be dead!"  READ MORE»

    By Laura Clawson, DailyKos
    Priorities USA uses Trump's words against him in new attack ads.  READ MORE»

    By Lane Moore , The Frisky
    Sia and Kendrick Lamar make us cry with their beautiful tribute to the victims of the Orlando massacre.  READ MORE»

    By Martin A. Lee, Project CBD
    Cannabis isn't the only substance that triggers the brain's endocannabinoid receptors, and some are quite tasty, too.  READ MORE»


     
    By Arlie Hochschild, The New Press
    Exploring the "Great American Paradox": The people who need government support the most want it the least.  READ MORE»

    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    There are serious questions about the story online extremist-turned-FBI informant Jesse Morton told to reporters. READ MORE»

    By Heather Digby Parton, Salon
    Many Americans think Clinton is a congenital liar—that's because of the right and the media, not her. READ MORE»

    By Alan Levinovitz, Religion Dispatches
    For Cox, every economic phenomenon has its religious parallel. READ MORE»

    By Bill Fletcher Jr., AlterNet
    A historical argument for why Hillary can't rest on her laurels. READ MORE»

    By Jim Sleeper, AlterNet
    Political correctness may seem excessive, but so is free-speech absolutism. READ MORE»

    By Desirae Hoover, AlterNet
    It won't solve everything, but it can help a lot. READ MORE»

    By Michael Arria, AlterNet
    Washio employees say they were underpaid—and the company just shut down. READ MORE»

    By Rachel Shulhafer, Yes! Magazine
    For the past year, the Food Literacy Project in Louisville, Kentucky, has sent its garden-on-wheels to local food deserts, connecting people to healthy eating and changing the lives of young people. READ MORE»

    By Sarah Daren, AlterNet
    Renewable energy has entered an era of extraordinary change. READ MORE»

    By Brad Reed, Raw Story
    Experts are skeptical of attempts at a late push in this crucial swing state.  READ MORE»

    By Gigi Engle, Ravishly
    The vagina should be treated as a magical and beautiful creature: with care, love and endless devotion. READ MORE»

      
     
    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Is the 2016 race a reboot of the Bush v. Gore election? READ MORE»

    By Peter Dreier, AlterNet
    Two union-sponsored website, Union Label and Labor411, help consumers identify union-made products. READ MORE»

    By Jonathan Zimmerman, Salon
    Kaepernick's protest reminds us that our commitment to free expression is what really makes America great. READ MORE»

    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    "Your soul is dark, your character corrupt." READ MORE»

    By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
    The former labor secretary says your plight has not occurred by accident.  READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    The former CNN hosts scorched journalists for performing "contortions" to try to seem fair. READ MORE»

    By Kylie Cheung, The Frisky
    Is your state one of the five outliers? READ MORE»

    By Sher Watts Spooner, Daily Kos
    All that matters is that when Trump opens his mouth, the media jump, focus the cameras, and aim the microphones. READ MORE»

       
    By Kurt Vonnegut, Seven Stories Press
    "I think you should devote your lives to creating something which this planet has never had. The planet will die, if it doesn’t get it now." READ MORE»

    By National Memo, The National Memo
    Trump can still win, of course. But his prospects are especially bleak if you believe the latest polls.  READ MORE»

    By Valerie Tarico, AlterNet
    God may have created the virus, but the Religious Right has turned it into a devastating epidemic. READ MORE»

    By Sophia A. McClennen, Salon
    With his appeals to the alt-right, Trump is upping the ante to usurp the conservative media throne from Fox News. READ MORE»

    By Phillip Smith, AlterNet
    The war on drugs plays out on America's streets and leaves a toll of dead behind. And about one out of 10 are cops.  READ MORE»

    By David Dayen, Huffington Post
    When it comes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, financiers will push lawsuits, while taxpayers foot the bill. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    "You might take a look at that word 'Americanism' ... it's the kind of term that you only find in totalitarian societies."  READ MORE»

    By Lucy Goodchild Van Hilten, AlterNet
    We have a long ways to go. READ MORE»

    By Brian Tashman, Right Wing Watch
    The GOP nominee has been busy recruiting Religious Right leaders. READ MORE»

    By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
    A woman in Sherwood, Arkansas, just spent 35 days in a county jail after she accidentally bounced a $29 check five years ago.  READ MORE»

    By Robin Scher, AlterNet
    Happier Instagrammers tend toward warmer colors.  READ MORE»

    By Sarah Beller, The Influence
    It's even worse than we thought.  READ MORE»

    By Brad Reed, Raw Story
    Mike Krawitz, a New Jersey Republican, told Daily Beast reporter Olivia Nuzzi that he hopes she gets raped by a Syrian refugee. READ MORE»

        
    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    The former Fox head has hinted at a destructive legal blow against the outlet. READ MORE»

    By Gary Legum, Salon
    Wednesday's national security forum with Hillary and Trump is more consequential than you might realize. READ MORE»

    By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
    The Dakota Access pipeline threatens the livelihood of multiple tribes.  READ MORE»

    By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet
    Squeezed out of right-wing power roles for her gender, Phyllis Schlafly led the GOP war on women for a generation. READ MORE»

    By Brian McFadden, AlterNet
    America sure seems to have a lot of authorities on effective activism. READ MORE»

    By Michael Winship, BillMoyers.com
    This new price gouge is the latest example of a corrupt system that hurts regular Americans—but we will hold accountable those who are responsible. READ MORE»

    By Will Lawn, The Conversation
    Long-term cannabis use may not impair your motivation. READ MORE»

    By Keith Knight, AlterNet
    Trump's team says taco trucks will soon invade. READ MORE»

    TeleSur
    The hip-hop star famously urged young people to vote more than a decade ago, but now he counsels political abstinence. Or support for Clinton... or Trump. READ MORE»

           
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    Movies!

    Didja like our science time Monday? Here's some moar!

    Here's a podcast from Seth.

    Sorry, Loves--that's all I had time for this time!

    'Til next time, check out these great channels:
    ...or, if you just want something mindless and fun, try Tested
      
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    ...Except by accident, as one commenter said--hehe!

    ********************************************
     Donald Trump disapproved so strongly
    of the Clinton Foundation
    that he only donated $100,000.00.
    Chump change!
    If the donor had been baby Bush,
    the dough woulda been chimp change.
    -- Dot Calm's shadow
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