Tuesday, April 25, 2017

What we're fighting for vs what we have--make your VOICE heard!

27 April 2017 update:

Hello again, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!

Have you heard about tRump's "hotline" for people to report "crimes" committed by "illegal aliens"?

Silly tRump--according to The New York Times, several studies report that immigrants are less likely than native-born Americans to commit crimes.

According to Business Insider, immigrants--legal and illegal--are a LOT less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

Not that tRump or his adherents would ever let facts get in the way of their hate.

So...

Like I said, tRump has set up a "hotline" to report a-a-a-a-all these imaginary crimes being committed by immigrants, documented or otherwise, so that tRump can demonize them even moar and maybe even get more trumpanzees to commit hate crimes against them!

Unfortunately for tRump, his hotline is getting trolled...bigly.

Allegedly, pranksters have been calling the hotline, dubbed "Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE)" and run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and reporting Close Encounters of the ET kind. The Daily Caller article in the link features some of the relevant tweets, which are pretty damned funny...


But, I bethought myself, why stop at funneh if I can hijack tRump's own hotline and wield it as a weapon of The Resistance?

With that, I bring you Dot Calm's shadow's script, stats, and tawking points to make your VOICE heard!

It's easy--just call 1-855-48VOICE and use as much or as little as you like of the italicized text below to bitch about tRump, Sessions, Burr, Chaffetz, Kushner, and the rest of the Russo-Republican agents and rebuke their heinous agenda of crime, cruelty, and violence against innocent Americans, including teh poorz, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+, people of color, etc.

-----

Hi. I--I'm really scared, and I want to report horrific, deadly crimes committed by a pack of Russian agents right here on American soil!

That's right--there is a pack of Russian agents fomenting all sorts of cruelty and violence and theft against me and my family and people I care about. I don't think they're going to stop until they kill us!

Like, there's this one Russian agent who consistently incites violence. Why, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, just during the month after the 2016 election, he incited over a thousand hate crimes against people of color, women, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ+. Indians and Sikhs, who aren't even Muslim, have been murdered by this agent's supporters! People have been attacked, beaten, harassed, molested, mugged, threatened--and there has been a lot of vandalism and property loss, too.

This Russian agent holds human life so cheaply that people fighting on his behalf abroad don't even care if they murder civilians any more--according to Newsweek, his military operatives have already killed a thousand civilians since late this January!

But that's just foreign people! You should hear what he wants to do to us Americans! He wants to murder tens of millions of innocent Americans by taking away their health insurance so that, if they get sick with something like cancer, they can either just die, or they can spend all their money, go bankrupt, and then die.

And he wants to poison everyone by allowing the corporations to dump toxins freely into the air and waterways.

And that's not even counting the oil leaked from pipelines. Did you know that it's not a question of "if" but "when" an oil pipeline will leak? According to Ecowatch, there were over 220 "significant" oil pipeline leaks in 2016--and each oil leak leaves a dead zone that we have no way of recovering, like around the Deepwater Horizon. 2016 had some nice oil pipeline explosions for good measure. And this crazy Russian agent wants to build even more dangerous pipelines, like the Keystone XL which will just transport Canadian tar sand oil through the United States--we don't even get to use that oil...all we get are maybe 36 permanent jobs for the low, low price of selling off our future.

You'd think that that would be enough for this Russian agent, but this guy wants to rework our tax system to rob the poor and give all their money to the rich. Isn't that nuts? He wants to take money away from innocent, hard-working Americans who need it to survive and give it to people who already have more than they'll ever spend in a lifetime. Is that criminal or what?

But wait--there's more! This guy doesn't believe in reality--he wants to put American workers out of decent clean energy jobs so that he can fry the whole planet so that EVERYBODY dies!

Wouldn't you say he's a menace to society and a danger to humanity?

I would!

Want me to drop the dime on who he is and where to find him?

His name is donald trump, and you can pick him up for questioning at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, on some weekdays and at his vacation house at 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, on every weekend.

And he's got accomplices!

Lots and lots of accomplices!

And THEY'RE all Russian agents, too--I mean, they're all on Putin's payroll, so that makes them Russian agents, right?

According to sources like


and


they include

Mike Flynn
Carter Page
Paul Manafort
Jeff Sessions
Rex Tillerson
Ivanka trump
Jared Kushner
J.D. Gordon
Roger Stone
Richard Burr
Jason Chaffetz
Devin Nunes
Betsy DeVos and her brother Erik Prince
mega-donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer
Felix Sater
 
These people are known criminals.

We're talking people who value money over human life--like Rex Tillerson, who values oil profit too much to lift a finger to stop global warming, which his company, Exxon, has known about since 1977, according to Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/).

We're also talking Russian spies, agents, and mobsters who have taken money from Putin and his agents to cause dire harm to America.

For example, Jeff Sessions and Jared Kushner have already committed felonies by lying on their SF-86 forms--they omitted their Russian connections to gain Top Secret security clearances illegally!

And yet trump treats these felons like valued public servants!

Of course, this is only a partial list, but it's a great place to start!

Once you pick up trump and the rest of these unsavory aliens, you'll probably reduce the crime rate in America by 90%!

Go get 'em!

-----

Heh heh heh.

With that, allow me to slawg on with the blawg.

*****

Choo choo time headlines

Sorry, loves--choo choo time headlines are off today!

Instead, let me just remind you of a couple really important things:

1. Please sign MoveOn's petition to suspend Jared Kushner's Top Secret (!!!) clearance: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/suspend-jared-kushners-1

2. Please call or write your representative and urge him or her to support Maxine Waters's No REX Act. As the wonderful Ms. Waters tweeted, "I just introduced the 'No Russia Exemption for Oil Production Act' - the No REX Act. The bill blocks Trump from ever granting Exxon's waiver."

If you'd rather fax or let someone else mail your letter to your rep, then text "Resist" to Resistbot at 504-09, text your message and send it, and don't forget to donate!!!!! It's safe--I did it today!

Hopefully, choo choo time headlines will be back next week. Or not. You never know with me.

*****

Daily Kos, AlterNet, and Democracy Now! headlines

Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



***

Why Is the New York Times Elevating a Climate Skeptic and Right-Wing Ideologue to Its Op-Ed Page?
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The Grey Lady's newest columnist confirms he's every bit as reactionary as his writings would suggest. READ MORE»
Stephen Colbert Has a Pitch-Perfect Analogy for Trump's Horrifying Tax Plan
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"Look at the brackets: It's poor versus middle class, and rich versus nobody, because they win." READ MORE»
Robert Reich: Trump's Latest Tweetstorm Is Grounds for Impeachment
By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
An assault on the federal judiciary is an abuse of the president's constitutional authority. READ MORE»
Trump's Nightmarish First 100 Days Gets the 'Simpsons' Spoof It Richly Deserves
By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon and Ivanka Trump all make cameos. READ MORE»
Perverse New Missouri Law Could Sentence Grade Schoolers to Four Years of Prison Time
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The school-to-prison pipeline is now sucking up children who get into fights during class. READ MORE»
'Law & Order' Rips Its Newest Episode Straight from the Headlines About Fox News' Toxic Culture
By Melanie McFarland, Salon
"The Newsroom" helps illuminate why sexual assault victims so rarely step forth. READ MORE»
Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Replacement Is a Favorite Television Personality of Neo-Nazis
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Tucker Carlson may not be a neo-Nazi himself, but he's got them eating out of the palm of his hand.  READ MORE»
Senators and Movement Leaders Introduce 100 Percent Clean Energy Bill
By Dani Heffernan, 350.org
The legislation comes ahead of the People's Climate March on April 29th. READ MORE»
 
6 Reasons Trump and Sessions Are Constitutional Idiots When It Comes to Threatening and Punishing Sanctuary Cities
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
The White House is throwing threats against the wall, and they’re not sticking. READ MORE»
Noam Chomsky: The Republican Party Is the 'Most Dangerous Organization in World History'
By Noam Chomsky, Peter Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott, Seven Stories Press
Outlandish? Well, no. "The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organized human life. There is no historical precedent for such a stand." READ MORE»
White Florida Principal at Majority Black School Told Staff to Put White Students in Same Class
By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
Principal Christine Hoffman is being transferred to a new school.  READ MORE»
Are American Voters Actually Just Stupid? A New Poll Suggests the Answer May Be 'Yes'
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ABC News poll suggests that if we ran the election all over again, Trump would still win—by more. What gives? READ MORE»
Trump’s Tax Plan Could Cost Government $6 Trillion
By Graham Lanktree, Newsweek
The cuts "create a gigantic loophole for high-income individuals." READ MORE»
The Serious Dangers of Tampons—And You Have to Pay Taxes on Them as Well
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Now that we’re living under a political regime hostile to women's health, there's more risk than ever for those using this essential commodity. READ MORE»
Ben Carson Is Proving to Be the Bizarre and Incompetent Secretary of Housing and Urban Development We Expected Him to Be
By Alex Kotch, AlterNet
Nothing like getting thrown out on the street with two kids and a $7.25-per-hour job to give you the tools to achieve the American dream.  READ MORE»
Diane Ravitch Urges Boycott of Standardized Tests, Saying They Do Nothing for Kids But Make Testing Companies Rich
By Diane Ravitch, DianeRavitch.net
"Defend Your Child. Defend Learning. Opt Out."  READ MORE»
Trump Team Sharply Divided Over Paris Climate Agreement
By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch
As the world's largest economy, the United States' withdrawal from the accord could significantly weaken the global pact. READ MORE»
A Display of Unbelievable Ignorance: In a Real Country With a Real President, Trump's AP Interview Would Destroy Him
By Bob Cesca, Salon
Our president thinks the Pentagon is a company, terrorism was a recent invention and 9/11 was a ratings coup.  READ MORE»
Can Bill Nye—or Any Other Science Show—Really Save the World?
By Heather Akin, Bruce W. Hardy, Dietram A. Scheufele, Dominique Brossard, The Conversation
What deserves to be successful isn’t always what ends up winning hearts and minds in the real world.  READ MORE»
The Price for Killing Workers Must Be Prison
By Leo Gerard, AlterNet
Nationally, at all workplaces, one employee is killed on the job every other hour. READ MORE»
Turkey Deeply Divided After Vote
By Stephen Quillen, The Arab Weekly
Secular Turks fear Erdogan will use his new powers to further the Islamization of society and restrict freedoms. READ MORE»
Secret Trumpcare Confab Revealed with Insurance Execs and Freedom Caucus (Satire)
By Rick Gell, AlterNet
Don't worry, you can still do your minimum wage job with just three fingers.  READ MORE»

10 Signs Trump's Top Homeland Security Cop Wants to Drag America Into a Paranoid Apocalyptic Police State
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly tells critics to change the law or "shut up." READ MORE»
Why Trump's Ex-National Security Adviser May Be in Deep Legal Trouble
By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
The head of the House Oversight Committee suggests Michael Flynn may be in deep trouble.  READ MORE»
100 Days of Gibberish—Trump Has Weaponized Nonsense
By Lindy West, The Guardian
The Trump White House approaches language with the same roughshod entitlement he’s applying to the presidency. His sloppy lies and vague promises must not stop us holding him to account.  READ MORE»
What Barack Obama and Bill Clinton Don't Want You to Know About Trump's Frightening Deportation Machine
By Aviva Chomsky, TomDispatch
Some ugly history that both former presidents would rather we wouldn't remember. READ MORE»
Rupert Murdoch's Appalling Corporate Legacy: An International Empire of Sexual Harassment and Law Breaking
By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters
Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes are only the tip of a corrupt iceberg. READ MORE»
Try Seeing If You Can Tell the Difference Between Dictators' Palaces and Trump's Own Home
By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
The similarities are shocking. READ MORE»
Republican North Carolina Judge Resigns—and Slams the GOP on the Way Out
By Bob Brigham, Raw Story
In a three-sentence resignation, Judge McCullough has proven that not all Republicans put up with the party's shenanigans. READ MORE»
Major Weaknesses of New Orleans Charter Schools Have Been Laid Bare
By Bill Quigley, AlterNet
Louisiana state standards are among the lowest in the nation, and the charter school lobby is only making it worse. READ MORE»
Animals Raised for Food Have Deep Cognitive and Emotional Lives—So Why Do We Treat Them With Such Cruelty?
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There is a misperception of pigs and other farm animals as stupid and unfeeling. READ MORE»
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By Phillip Smith, AlterNet
Conference finds the roots of the problems in capitalism and deep-seated racism. READ MORE»
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By Teesta Setalvad, AlterNet
A mosque was destroyed due to false propaganda. READ MORE»
Is Pope Francis the World's Most Powerful Advocate for Climate Stability?
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Ten ways he could use his power for the good of the earth.  READ MORE»
 
***

Stories

The White House has outlined a plan to give the nation's millionaires and billionaires a massive tax break while adding trillions of dollars to the U.S. deficit. The plan ... Read More →

As Donald Trump approaches his 100th day as president on Saturday, his approval ratings are the lowest any president has had at this stage in ... Read More →

A Mexican immigrant named Arturo Hernández García was arrested Wednesday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hernández García had ... Read More →

Headlines →


Stories

As President Trump prepares to mark 100 days in office, we spend the hour with the world-renowned linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky. Amy Goodman spoke to him ... Read More →

On Monday night, Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman spoke to world-renowned linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky at the First Parish Church in Cambridge ... Read More →

Over the last month, the Trump administration has escalated tensions between both North Korea and Iran. Vice President Mike Pence has warned North Korea, ... Read More →

The journalistic monitoring group Airwars says 17 civilians, including nine children, reportedly died in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the Syrian city of Tabqa in ... Read More →

Last week, the Trump administration reportedly prepared an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the ... Read More →

Headlines →

*****

Moar m00bies!










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

25 April 2017 post:

Hello again, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!

So, dear ones. Why do I do this? Why do I spend hours and hours twice a week putting together these blawg posts?

Because I can't stop thinking about what we're fighting for vs what we have.

What are we fighting for?

Picture, if you will, a civil society in which the children can go to thriving, well-funded public schools...like those in Finland...where kids of all income levels mix...where nutritious food is served without kids having to bring money or be shamed by their schools and classmates if their families can't afford it...where critical thinking skills are taught, along with a sound basis in reality...and the children feed their minds with awe, wonder, and the vastness of information to scratch the itch of their curiosity...and, as a natural result of natural, pro-child, pro-reality, pro-civil-society education, the children excel in their studies and outperform every other nation on the planet in standardized tests.

Picture, if you will, a civil society in which health care is understood without question to be a human right for everyone on the planet...where women alone get to determine what happens to their own bodies...where evidence-based medicine is wielded instead of faith healing and woo...where there is no such thing as for-profit health care or pharmaceuticals so that every penny invested goes straight toward making and keeping people healthy and well...where prevention and wellness are emphasized...and where health decisions are made by doctors and patients together, not by for-profit insurance companies...and every citizen, regardless of age or condition or ability to pay, has access to the health care he or she needs whenever he or she needs it...and those with the will and the wherewithal to pursue cosmetic services pay reasonable fees for those services out of pocket...and no one goes bankrupt for cancer, MS, organ transplant,....

Picture, if you will, a civil society where the citizens run the government and are represented proportionally by demographics...where neither the government nor the citizens are afraid of each other because both behave responsibly, obviating fear...where citizens are automatically enrolled at 16 to vote when they turn 18...where election day is a holiday so that people can go vote...where there are enough voting machines with paper records for every voter in every district to vote without having to wait for hours on end on lines...where registered voters can vote by mail if they choose and receive receipts showing that their votes have been counted...and where districts are drawn up as equitably as possible to allow the best ideas rather than the most corrupt gerrymanderers to win elections...and where no individual, corporation, PAC, or other organization can donate more than $2000.00 per candidate per election...and where elections are funded publically...and candidates are free to televise their ideas and hold debates on those ideas without interference from corporate media, millionaires or billionaires, corruption, or foreign interference...with fact checking in real time so that the voters can evaluate the candidates on their own merits and compare them fairly and accurately.

Picture, if you will, a restoration of accountability...where no candidate can be placed on a ballot without releasing his or her tax returns and passing tests for psychological fitness, ability to understand and use evidence-based decision-making, and understanding of basic civics, government, and current events...where no government or private official can commit a crime unpunished...where any organization considered "too big to fail" is broken up and made into co-ops for its workers to run, profit from, and use to contribute to rather than drain society...where corporations that commit crimes against society are disbanded, and all profits made from the crimes are returned to the victims...where the workers reap the benefits of their hard work and earn living wages for 40-hour workweeks...where unions are strong and the middle class is thriving...where those who can most afford to pay taxes in fact pay the most taxes, without loopholes...and where the justice system is truly blind, treating individuals of all races and income levels equally.

Picture, if you will, media that are free from the taint of profit and corruption, with real-time fact checking because democracy depends on an educated, informed public to function wisely and well.

Picture, if you will, a civil society based on compassion and love...which takes care of the young and old...the needy...the sick...those injured in military service...everyone...regardless of race, religion, income, gender, gender identity, etc.

What do we have?

If you said, "The exact opposite of what we're fighting for," you'd be right! Go get yourself some chocolate and pour yourself a Fireball as a reward!

With that sickening thot, dear ones, lemme slawg on with the blawg.

*****

Random commentary

Hey, media--quit your wargasms!

***

Have you heard that the official State Department website got caught promoting War-a-LagEWWW?

Can you imagine how the teathugs would react if it had been Hillary hawking the Clinton Foundation on an official government website?

They'd riot, shut down the government, and start impeachment hearings within 30 seconds of the story breaking--whether or not it was tr00!

Note to the so-called president: there is ONE White House; it's located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, and it is in operation 24/7/365, so keep your fat double-wide trailer-trash ass THERE. Capiche, asshole?
 
***

Have you heard about tRump's incoherent interview with the Associated Press?

Be afraid...be very afraid!

Caution: although every patriotic American owes it to him or herself to read the entire transcript, your IQ will drop if you do. Luckily for you, I've posted a "physics made easy" vid from Lawrence Krauss in todaze m00bies to bring your IQ back up (I promise--the video is painless, hilarious, and great fun).

Apparently, the most intelligible parts were the ones marked...wait for it..."unintelligible."

Here's a link to the fact-check from PolitiFact.

Spoiler: tRump lied.

Yep--every claim was false, mostly false, or grossly exaggerated.

So what else is new?

Here's PolitiFact's guide to our worst dystopic nightmare and the end of our democracy as we know it tRump's first 100 daze.

Spoiler: we're in hell.

***

Dr. Strangelove's White House...?

Today, Congress got back from yet another vacation; Friday, the government's funding runs out--they could shut down the government. (And blame OBUMMER, of course!)

Repukes plan to "finish" with their even crueler Obamacare replacement by then--tRump plans to withhold insurance funding, and Republicans plan to drive up premiums.

They are LITERALLY playing with Americans' lives.

Just like they did with North Korea--or by threatening Iran, which has been COMPLYING with the treaty set up by Obama.

Apparently, teapukes have NO idea that NK has nukes, so tRump is threatening them...just as he's threatening Iran, which DOESN'T have nukes yet. Is tRump trying to get us all killed because he knows he's either going to jail or getting hanged by the neck until dead?

***

Julian Assange's seething hatred of Hillary may just get him imprisoned by his boi-toy and crush, tRump.

Like Jill Stein (who dined with PEWtin) and the Greens, Assange came out strongly in support of tRump.

And now dumbald "I LOVE WIKILEAKS"  tRump wants to bite the hand that fed him the presidency.

Assange calls himself a "journalist." He-snot, but that label is turning out to be uber-useful to dark-side KKKeebler elf Jeff Sessions, who wants to punish every media outlet for every leak so's to shut our media down.

Friends, our media may not be perfect--which is why I use independent media!--but it's all we've got! We must stand up for our media, such as they are, and fight to restore accountability to them so that they can go back to serving us, not their corporate overlords.

I wonder about the timing of this move to arrest Assange. Methinks perhaps that the tRump-Russia investigations are getting close enough to home that tRump wants to kill the media so he can drive his own coverage and cover the whole goddamned thing up--as if he could stop his own impeachment just by hiding it from the public.

I wouldn't put such st00pidity past him.
 
***

Perjuring, misogynist, racist, bigot Jeff Sessions dismissed Hawaii as "an island in the Pacific."

Should I tell him that Hawaii is, erm, more than one island and that it's actually one of the United States?


I guess KKKeebler elf Jeff Sessions never watched "Hawaii Five-O" like I did when I was a kid. He probably never was a kid--he probably sprang fully wrinkled formed from Gollum's dry, dusty loins a few million years ago (there was an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine).

***

So. Who else can't believe that we actually had to march to defend reality?

As we in the SOPROUD Rapid Response Team wrote to our elected officials...

Science is the process of learning about reality by observing it, analyzing those observations, developing provisional explanations based on those observations, and testing those explanations by making predictions based on them and collecting further observations to see if the explanations hold water.

Science is a self-correcting process because scientists the world over compare observations and provisional explanations, trying to correct and one-up each other.

No one ever discovered a new drug, vaccine, or technology by praying in his or her prayer closet. No one ever figured out where to drill for oil based on some holy book.

No--it was all done by hard work, each discovery standing on the shoulders of the previous discoveries that make up today's body of knowledge.

We tried rule by religion, superstition, and ignorance. It was called the Dark Ages.

For the future of yourself, your children and grandchildren, and life on this planet, please fight Republican zeal to throw us back into the Dark Ages. Please base your decisions and policy on evidence, not woo.

You--and we--will be glad you did.

...Feel free to send any or all of this letter to your elected officials! You--and we--will be glad you did!
 
***

Tweeted (by me) in response to a CNN headline saying that you can't out-crazy Kim Jong-un:
"I can hear @realdonaldtrump now: hold my beer."

***

Okay, now, kiddies--don't forget to write to President Javanka!
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500

*****

Choo choo time headlines

The Palmer Report: Report: Trump gave $10 million in Russian money to Jason Chaffetz
...tRump gave Chaffetz the Russian money when Chaffetz leaked the FBI letter from James Comey to Congress about Hillary Clinton's e-mails--you know, the letter that forced Comey to speak publically about the whole thing. Apparently, Chaffetz is now under FBI investigation for campaign finance fraud...meaning the $10 million that tRump donated to his campaign the day after he leaked the letter?!?? Srsly, friends--every last one of these TRAITORS needs to be hanged by the neck until dead. NOW!!!!!

The Guardian: When Nigel Farage met Julian Assange

War on the Rocks: Why Mattis versus Kim Jong-Un Will End Badly for Us All

BuzzFeed: Inside the Hunt for Russia's Hackers

Reuters: Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 US election
...The original entry for this headline marked it as an exclusive with documents.

The Guardian: World stock markets hit record highs as Macron relief rally continues

The Guardian: March against madness - denial has pushed scientists out into the streets

The Guardian: Wealthy murder suspect freed on bail as man accused of welfare fraud stuck in jail
...Guess which one is Black and which one is white!

The Guardian: Arkansas carries out first double execution in the US for 16 years
...According to todaze "Democracy Now!" the world is pissed at us for our disgusting inhumanity, cruelty, and sadism as a society that we should allow death row prisoners to be killed at all, let alone tortured to death. America is sick, sick, sick, sick. Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next" rubs our collective nose in just how sick we are. Republican cruelty and austerity have us so caged that we have no idea how much better our lives could be--just like, provincial as we are, we have no idea how much better people's lives are in civilized countries that value life over profits. But us? In the age of tRump, we're barbaric and proud of it.

The Guardian: Hello, Dolly! review – Bette Midler is irresistible in a riotous delight
...So. How do I get my dad to a showing? He'd lurve it!

*****

Daily Kos, AlterNet, and Democracy Now! headlines

Daily Kos Recommended


 
***

WATCH: Disillusioned Trump Voter Goes Off on Supporters Still Making Excuses for the President
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The president has yet to pass a single piece of legislation, all while promising the moon. READ MORE»
The 10 Best and Worst States to Raise Healthy Kids
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A comprehensive new study examines health care costs, coverage rates and more. READ MORE»
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Surrounded by Fox News and fried chicken. READ MORE»

How Trump Anxiety Is Spawning Business Opportunities and Marketing Campaigns Across America
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The Trump era has unleashed a cascade of consumer trends. READ MORE»
4 Scary Implications of the French Election
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Europe's left-right political order is dying and Bannonite populism is stronger than ever. READ MORE»
Jim Hightower's Tips for Resistance: Donald Is Deranged, but People Are Fighting Back From Coast to Coast
By Jim Hightower, AlterNet
The resistance is solidifying into a widespread grassroots insistence on a genuine populist agenda—one rooted firmly in our people’s democratic ideals of economic fairness and social justice. READ MORE»
10 Weird Takeaways from Trump's Latest Interview
By Jeremy Binckes, Salon
Trump brings up the 9/11 terrorist attacks while talking about his ratings—and more from a weird interview with the Associated Press. READ MORE»
Is Hannity Next to Fall? Fox Guest Says Anchor Tried to Pressure Her Into Hotel Room Sex
By David Ferguson, Raw Story
Former contributor Debbie Schlussel said Hannity propositioned her after a taping. READ MORE»
Just Because the Label Says 'Organic' Doesn't Make It So—Study Reveals Big Marketing Deceptions
By Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian
Many brands use the word "organic" on labels when their products are not certified as such, warns Soil Association. READ MORE»
An Apolitical Profession Wakes Up: Trauma Surgeons Speak out About Gun Violence
By Amanda Marcotte, Salon
Trauma surgeons push for more research into the causes of gun violence, 20 years after such efforts were silenced. READ MORE»
The Problem With Moral Nuance on Abortion for Democrats
By Patricia Miller, Religion Dispatches
Voters will smell the stink of abortion equivocation a mile away. READ MORE»
How Climate Change Leads to Violent Conflict Around the World
By Razmig Keucheyan, Polity Books
Drought, desertification and deforestation are some of the climactic phenomena that have led to environmental racism and violence in postcolonial regions. READ MORE»
There’s No Strategy Behind Trump’s Wars—Only Brute Force
By Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus
Trump's wars are now all over the map. The peace movement can fight back by joining already thriving intersectional campaigns. READ MORE»
6 Flint Residents Arrested at Water Crisis Town Hall
By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"They were roughing people up about taking off their hats."  READ MORE»
Who Needs Trump? It Takes Only a Few Countries to Kickstart Shift to Low Carbon Energy System
By Cindy Baxter, AlterNet
A small group of countries could trigger a global transformation of our energy systems. READ MORE»

***

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On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of scientists and science supporters took to the streets around the world in a global March for Science on Earth Day. More than ... Read More →

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On Saturday, tens of thousands of people descended on Washington, D.C., for the first-ever March for Science. Among those who took to the stage were a number of ... Read More →

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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald responds to reports that the Trump administration has prepared an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian ... Read More →

As Vice President Mike Pence railed against ISIS-linked terrorism Thursday, we speak with longtime investigative journalist Allan Nairn about his shocking ... Read More →

Headlines →


*****

M00bies!


Don't forget that it's also YUGELY BIGLY about destabilizing America and the West. The half a tril is just bonus. I mean...if oil prices are dropping because even the Saudis are going solar, then how lucrative is this deal really going to be long term?


The Mercers own tRump...PEWtin owns tRump...China owns tRump...Deutsche Bank owns tRump...thus, tRump owes allegiance and favors galore to everyone and everything BUT the United States of America.

I think the Palmer Report has it right: Chaffetz is under FBI investigation for campaign fraud, and he received $10 million (a campaign donation?) in Russian money from tRump the day after he leaked the FBI letter on Hillary's e-mails. Coincidence?
 
 
 
Hum. It's looking like Dianne Feinstein wants to get primaried.
 
 
 
This is wild. There's a $100+ million slush fund floating around that was ostensibly for tRump's tiny inauguration when Obama's 2009 largest-inauguration-in-history cost only $50 million.... So, where did all tRump's excess inauguration money go? Inquiring minds want to know!
 
Remember how the teapukes were shitting their pants over Hillary being a pay-to-play politician? Well, their boi tRump is doing pay-to-play out the yin-yang. His real estate is a nice big fat way to slip him a few mil to curry his favor, donchaknow.
 
Um...isn't this the sort of thing that the State Department is supposed to handle? Is this why the bastards don't want to publish the visitor logs? IMPEACH, IMPEACH, IMPEACH!
 
Remember how Pam Bondi called off joining in on the tRumPEW lawsuit when tRump's foundation illegally gave her a $25,000 campaign contribution? Well, tRump's hiring one of Bondi's bois...
 
tRump works for Blackstone now...that explains a lot!
 
 
Is tRump TRYING to crash the economy AGAIN? Of course he is! That's how teapukes make their money--taking away houses from us pee-ons when we all lose our jobs so they can resell our houses full price once Democrats get back into office and pull the economy out of the shitter. Works a treat for them...not so much for us.
 
This will make your blood boil. Remember my essay above...when I mentioned school lunches and shaming poor kids? Some hateful, toxic motherfucker actually had to order the stamper that says "I need lunch money" with a fucking smiley face. I'd really, really like to take every single Republican and make them all live exactly the way they want to inflict on the rest of us--especially poor Blacks. Republicans have no decency, humanity, or compassion. Making them live the way they want to make the poorest and most vulnerable among us live may be the only way to make those monsters human again. I'd settle for sending them all to Mars and leaving them there. Then again, even that would be too good for 'em.
 
I see where Keith is going with this, but the problem is that tRump's patrons are the uber-wealthy, not us pee-ons. And the uber-wealthy are champing at the bit to fork over their millions to tRump to curry his favor. Anyone else got a bright ideaR--am I missing a way this could work?
 
 
 
Jared attractive? Please, John--you're being too kind. Jared is as plain of a twink as a twink could be. By comparison, Jared makes water seem to have a flavor.
 
 
LOCK HIM UP! LOCK THEM ALL UP! THEN STRING THEM ALL UP!!!
 
Here's the Physics Made Easy video by Dr. Lawrence Krauss I promised you...and I promise you, you'll love it!!
 
So...yummy!!
 
 
*****


Well, friends, that's it for today. Until we meet again, don't forget to RESIST with Resistbot:

text "Resist" to 50409

...and check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website so you can protect your online privacy:
https://www.eff.org/

...and don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
  
Randi Rhodes's Homework page
DCReport.org
MaddowBlog
Michael Moore's FB page -- go here first and do whatever activism he suggests
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Democratic Underground
Boing Boing
Vox
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
God, the Good Lord Above
...skip the media outlets in the boycott list unless you want trump propaganda. And TELL their advertisers WHY you are boycotting those media outlets!

On the lighter side:
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
      
And check out these great channels:
...or, if you just want something mindless and fun, try Tested

Also, don't forget to add these to your Twitter feed if you haven't already:
 
@joyannreid
@georgetakei

And now you can add me, too!

@dotcalmsshadow

Peas, friends. Take care of yourselves for me. Trust me--you're worth it! And go have a Fireball and some chocolate while you still can, will ya? Time is short now that the mouth of trump hell has opened...
  
- Dot Calm's shadow

Consider the preemptive Blogger phuqued-up phormatting disclaimer to be in effect. Grrr.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
      

posted by Dot Calm @ 8:37 PM