Wednesday, August 03, 2016

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

********************************************
 ATTENTION,
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!
******************************************** 
    
Headlines

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.
 
(Editor's note: Kinsey is lucky to be alive. My personal take on it is that the cops were itching to shoot the Black man. Too many cops act like Black men are cockroaches to be splatted as vigorously underfoot as possible--killed quickly and completely so they can't come back to life and crawl up your pants leg and contaminate you with cockroach germs. For more about this story--cops apparently abused both Kinsey and his autistic client--check out "Democracy Now!" below.)

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.
   
********************************************
 
 
******************************************** 

Mailbag

VoteVets

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.

Add your name to the Gold Star family members calling on Donald Trump to apologize to the Khan family.
  
------------------------------------------------
   
 
Mike Pence just promised that if Donald Trump is elected, Roe v. Wade will be sent to the ash heap of history. Will you chip in $15 to help make sure that never, ever happens?
Donate Now
Mike Pence just said it out loud: If Donald Trump is elected president, Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Michigan last week, Pence promised that with Trump in the White House, Roe v. Wade will be sent, in his words, "to the ash heap of history."1
And you know what? He's right. If Trump gets to fill Antonin Scalia's seat, the court will be just one vote away from overturning Roe—with three more pro-Roe justices likely nearing retirement. Will you chip in $15 to make sure that never happens?
    
------------------------------------------------
    
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
   
------------------------------------------------
    



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
  
------------------------------------------------
     
Just Foreign Policy

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.

Take Action

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.org/donate


Please support our work. Donate for a Just Foreign Policy

   
------------------------------------------------
   
CREDO action
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:
Sign the petition ►
   
------------------------------------------------
     
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!
    
------------------------------------------------
   
Just Foreign Policy

Dear Friend,


Urge Congress to reinstate Glass-Steagall and break up the big banks.

Take Action

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.org/donate

 

Please support our work. Donate for a Just Foreign Policy

   
------------------------------------------------
   
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.
    
------------------------------------------------
   
Consumers Union



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.
--A checking account interest rate that is up to 100 times higher than that offered by the Big Banks.
--Sustainable, fossil fuel-free, firearm-free investment options
--Customers choose the fee they think Aspiration deserves – even if it is zero.
--And Aspiration donates 10% of every dollar to charity.

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.”

Click here to quickly and easily sign up for an Aspiration account.

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.

Aspiration creates financial products that let you make money and make a difference. For example, Aspiration and the Sierra Club have joined forces to democratize sustainable investing. Aspiration’s sustainable investing strategies are not only fossil fuel-free and firearm-free, but invest in companies whose environmental, labor, diversity, and governance practices are likely to make them more profitable over time. Instead of sacrificing your returns, it could mean your returns are even higher. And you can invest with as little as $500.

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
   
********************************************
 
 
******************************************** 

Democracy Now!

Stories


On Tuesday, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton announced he is resigning next month. Bratton has served as the NYPD commissioner twice. He's also served ... Read More →

Imprisoned Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning faces new charges after she tried to commit suicide last month. The Army reportedly told Manning she is being investigated ... Read More →

When you woke up this morning, chances are your morning routine was touched in some way by a private equity firm. From the water you drink to the roads you drive to work, to ... Read More →

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton has announced he is resigning next month. Bratton was a lead advocate of the so-called broken windows theory that ... Read More →

Headlines →


Stories


In North Miami, the city's police department is facing growing criticism after one of its officers shot an African-American behavioral therapist who was attempting to help ... Read More →

While all eyes have been on the Republican and Democratic platforms decided at the national conventions earlier this month, a broad coalition associated with the Black Lives ... Read More →

The U.S. military carried out two airstrikes in Libya against ISIS fighters on Monday in the latest escalation of the U.S. war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The strikes ... Read More →

As Donald Trump continues to attack Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died in Iraq, we turn to a side of the Khans few have seen. In 2008, the ... Read More →

On Monday, hundreds of activists gathered at New York City Hall demanding the defunding of the New York Police Department, the firing of New York City Police ... Read More →

Headlines →


   
******************************************** 
Friends don't let friends
vote Republican
 
Government is like a car:
"D" for forward
"R" for reverse
******************************************** 

Daily Kos--these headlines are not to be missed today!
  
  • The Khans give America the voice it's been missing
  • Trump refuses to back Paul Ryan and John McCain in their primaries
  • A masterstroke by Barack Obama
  • Another historic Donald Trump first: His convention managed to make him look worse than before!
  • Cartoon: How bad was slavery, really?
  • Republicans who want to keep their Senate seats really don't want to talk Trump
  • Donald Trump could go nuclear in seconds, and there's no mechanism to stop him
  • Trump: 'I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This is much easier'
  • Politics at the nail salon
  • Signature needed: Restore the Voting Rights Act. This is the first presidential election in more than 50 years without it and the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) wants it restored. sponsored
  • Donald Trump is not right ... but is he actually crazy?
  • Add your name to stand with Hillary: Stop Donald Trump in his tracks. sponsored
  • Trump, 'healthiest candidate ever to run for president,' got a medical deferment from the draft
  • Trump appeals to House and Senate Republicans to back him up on smearing U.S. soldier's family
  • Nuclear weapons expert on Trump: 'Does he understand just how F'ing dangerous that is?'
  • President Obama: Donald Trump is 'unfit' for office
  • Donald Trump boots woman and her crying baby from rally: 'Get the baby out of here'
  •   
  • Trump asked 3 times in an hour national security briefing why we can't just use nuclear weapons
  • OUCH! Newsweek exposes Trump as the business fraud he is.
  • Donald Trump is a bad father. Tremendously bad. The worst!
  • Help Get Out The Vote to beat Trump. Chip in $3 to Daily Kos now.
  • No bottom: Trump, allies declare Khizr Khan a Muslim radical, smear dead son as 'double agent'
  • Trump can't lose ... he can only be cheated out of a win
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's statement about the Khan family and America's values is a must-read
  • The wheels are coming off the Trump train
  • French president: Donald Trump 'makes you want to retch'
  • Air Force mother gets booed at Pence town hall for asking about Khan
  • Sign if you agree with Everytown: Congress should make it illegal for people convicted of violent hate crimes to buy or possess guns. sponsored
  • Maryland police shoot young mother after hours-long standoff
  • Capt. Khan's commander in Iraq: 'The Khan family is our family.' His troops didn't know he was Muslim.
  • Hillary Clinton more than doubles Trump's fundraising in July, Trump still brags
  • America is becoming 'a more perfect union,' so of course Republicans hate it
  • Democrats are already gearing up for our next redistricting battle in 2020
  • Delaware effectively abandons the death penalty
  • The most thorough, profound and moving defense of Hillary Clinton I have ever seen
  • So you want to change the Democratic Party? Have you been involved at the grassroots level to move the party more to the left? Log in or sign up for a Daily Kos account, and write a blog post about your experience—and advice you can give to all who are new to the game. When publishing your story, please use the tag #emailprompt.
  •  
  • Trump in full meltdown mode threatens to revoke New York Times press credentials, lashes out at CNN
  • Pence responds on Capt. Khan—if you can stomach it
  • Another disturbing aspect of the Trump/Khan story
  • Like the Daily Kos Recommended email? Chip in $1 to support the team that brings progressive news to your inbox every day.
  • Donald Trump now calling Gold Star father a terrorist sympathizer
  • VFW releases statement on Trump and it's bruising
  • Retiring Republican congressman calls Trump a 'national embarrassment,' says he'll vote for Clinton
  • Strong column by E. J. Dionne for Monday's Washington Post
  • Guess what happens when a White Lives Matter rally only attracts one neo-Nazi?
  • Jeb Bush's top adviser leaves the Republican party, will vote for Hillary in close race: 'Donald Trump cannot be elected president.'
  • Add your name if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA): With Republicans disenfranchising voters, we need to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA) now! sponsored
  • Trump says general election is 'rigged'
  • I haven't noticed Hillary going after the grieving Benghazi mother for her RNC speech. Have you?
  • Spineless Republicans stick with Trump
  • Obama: 'I'm pretty tired of some folks trash talking' our troops
  • People paying respects at Capt. Khan's grave today
  • Database of Texas deaths in custody launched
  • When progressives get confused with opportunists
  • The most thorough, profound and moving defense of Hillary Clinton I have ever seen
  •   
    ********************************************
     


    ******************************************** 

    AlterNet
    By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
    It goes beyond emails and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Epic fail. READ MORE»

    By Peter Dreier, The American Prospect
    Both men are kindred spirits, with long histories of bullying women. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    "Racism is not getting worse; it's getting filmed," Smith told Stephen Colbert. READ MORE»

    By Robin Scher, AlterNet
    A growing number of Republicans are expressing doubt in their party's nominee. READ MORE»

    By Matt Bors, AlterNet
    Fox News's revisionist history. READ MORE»

    By Robin Scher, AlterNet
    Most studies that support any evidence are designed by the floss manufacturing industry itself. READ MORE»

    By Scott Eric Kaufman, Salon
    Cuomo issued the directive after state senators demonstrated 73 percent of the game was within a half-block of sex offenders. READ MORE»

    By Marcia G. Yerman, Huffington Post
    Last year, Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva introduced a bill to protect the greater Grand Canyon as a national monument. But it has stalled. READ MORE»

    By Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon
    No, white people, you don't get to say the N-word—a lesson Karlie Hay should have learned earlier in life. READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    So we're all in agreement.  READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    Trump has already called Clinton "the devil."  READ MORE»

    By Chip Berlet, talk2action.org
    The term was hijacked by right-wing ideologues in the late 1980s to marginalize concern for basic human rights.  READ MORE»
       
    By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet
    There's no love lost between the billionaire brothers and the Republican candidate, but Trump will still benefit from their efforts. READ MORE»

    By Robert Hennelly, AlterNet
    West is ready to turn his back on the Democratic Party. READ MORE»

    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    Bill Bratton stoked fear over ISIS-style terror and the "war on cops" until his resignation. Expect the NYPD to stay on course. READ MORE»

    By Jim Sleeper, AlterNet
    Shattering the "glass ceiling" is great, but privileging the wealthy is regressive politics. READ MORE»

    By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
    Three-term Republican Rep. Richard Hanna said Trump is "unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country." READ MORE»

    By Jamie McGurk, Truthdig
    There were two conventions going on in Philadelphia—the formal Clinton coronation and the Sanders insurgency operating on different planets. READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    So we're all in agreement.  READ MORE»

    By Hannah Gold, The Washington Spectator
    Now that the Bush-era wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have dragged on for well over a decade, many of its soldiers are returning home to publish records of their time in the service. READ MORE»

    By Sylvia A. Harvey, Yes! Magazine
    By partnering with local farmers, the Department of Agriculture has begun to tackle its racist past. READ MORE»

    By Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele, AlterNet
    We should not intimidate the college football player out of sharing his anti-Trump opinions. READ MORE»

    By Vijay Prashad, The Hindu
    The Chilcot inquiry is a story of deceit. READ MORE»

    By Nassim Elbardouh, Rethinking Schools
    We cannot leave our students in a situation in which they have to defend themselves in the face of racism and religious discrimination. READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    "I love babies," says Trump. READ MORE»
      
    By Elizabeth Preza, AlterNet
    Maybe just don't attack the family of a fallen soldier in the first place? READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Korryn Gaines was fatally shot by the Baltimore County Police during a standoff, and her son was injured during the incident.  READ MORE»

    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is refusing to answer questions about Saudi Arabia's assault on civilians in Yemen. READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    "Why are you allowed to have anything to say?" READ MORE»

    By Joan McCarter, DailyKos
    Sexually harassed at work? Just get a new job, says Donald Trump. READ MORE»

    By Jen Sorensen, AlterNet
    For a moment, it was nice to see people genuinely excited by the first female presidential nominee. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Booing civil rights icon John Lewis? Maybe check your white privilege! READ MORE»

    By Patrick Lawrence, Salon
    Leaked revelations of the DNC's latest misconduct bear a disturbing resemblance to Cold War red-baiting.  READ MORE»

    By Farron Cousins, DeSmogBlog
    Senator Jim Inhofe's granddaughter asked him why he doesn't understand global warming. His reply is frightening. READ MORE»

    By Brad Reed, Raw Story
    The Miss Universe Organization called her comments unacceptable, but apparently not enough to lose the title. READ MORE»

    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Recent unhinged rants have raised questions about the candidate's mental state. READ MORE»

    By Robert Kuttner, Huffington Post
    Is Sanders the best thing that's happened to Clinton? READ MORE»

    By Max Blumenthal, AlterNet
    Another mass shooting conveniently attributed to terror contains elements of workplace racial harassment. READ MORE»

    By Crystal Ponti, Salon
    The consumer dream of minimalism and living small has nothing to do with my family — 5 people in a 1-bedroom home. READ MORE»

    By John R. MacArthur, Le Monde diplomatique
    Hillary has already shown her hand. READ MORE»

    By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
    Voting rights advocates have won a number of major victories that could reshape the November election. READ MORE»

    By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch
    For the environmental activist and Hollywood A-lister, it's clear why you can't stay home on November 8READ MORE»

    By Paul Buchheit, AlterNet
    In the real world, inequality is destroying the middle class. READ MORE»

    By Peter Laarman, Religion Dispatches
    In the 19th century, widespread emancipation without separation of the races was unthinkable. READ MORE»

    By Yasser Louati, AlterNet
    There’s a feeling of déjà vu with this latest atrocity, but no lessons have been learned by France’s elites. READ MORE»

    By Laurie Levy, AlterNet
    A new book from an early childhood education expert says that when it comes to our littlest learners, we're getting things all wrong. READ MORE»

    By Brad Reed, Raw Story
    “When you question a mother’s pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us." READ MORE»

    By Amir Zarrabi, The Conversation
    The vasectomy is currently the only reliable contraceptive available to men. But a new option could give men more family planning power. READ MORE»
       
    ********************************************
     
     
    ******************************************** 

    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
      
    ********************************************