Tuesday, May 02, 2017

The Resistance is working! But, alas, the pro-death party won a deadly victory today...

4 May 2017 update:

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

I'm still behind the eight-ball today--walked back into the office after my stellar trip with le dadster only to find mountains of work with very tight deadlines. So I got home late, and I am tarred [sic]. Ugh...but it's all good.

That is, until the repukes take away my employer health insurance...which brings me to the gruesome victory that the pro-death party won today: House Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with tRumpcare 2.0, which is even crueler and nastier than the original tRumpcare was.

According to some reports, either version of tRumpcare is worse than simply repealing Obamacare outright and not replacing it.

But even that wasn't cruel enough for the teabags.

Srsly, have you been following these murderous thugs on Twitter? They're all for themselves, and they're only too glad to let others less fortunate suffer and die.

Hell, they were positively gleeful after their vote to murder tens of millions of innocent, hard-working Americans.

They're even going to celebrate!

Ayn Rand Paul Ryan surely creamed his jeans in his ecstasy--murdering innocent Americans has been his dream ever since his college kegger days.

What kind of sick, twisted bastards ARE these people?!??

If you do follow Twitter, and if you follow yours truly there, you'll see that I am calling for every last one of them to be made to live like they want the rest of us to live.

Failing that, they need to put in at least 100 hours of volunteering to serve the less fortunate so they can see the suffering first hand and learn that these are REAL PEOPLE, no less valuable than themselves, that they want to destroy.

Optimally, it should become a requirement before your name goes on the ballot if you want to serve in public office that you have to live like "the least of these" and put in at least 100 volunteer hours serving them so that maybe, just maybe, the jackholes who are in it for power and money acquire just a modicum of decency, humanity, and compassion.

The other minimum requirements I propose--in addition to those we already have--include at least the last five years of tax returns, a passing score on the citizenship exam, and passing a psychiatric exam to show that any would-be candidate is mentally healthy, reasonably well adjusted, and not a pathological liar, kleptocrat, malignant narcissist devoid of empathy, psychopath devoid of conscience, axe murderer, etc.

Srsly, is any of this really so much to ask?

Unless you're the orange fuckwit that is tRump--he couldn't pass a one of these requirements!

And now, with a "May the fourth be with you," let me slawg on with le blawg.

*****

Choo choo time headlines

Business Insider: Jared Kushner didn't disclose ties to Soros, Thiel, Goldman Sachs
...From the teaser: when he filled out his SF-86 (the form you fill out to get a government clearance), "Jared Kushner didn't disclose business ties to George Soros, Peter Thiel, and Goldman Sachs, or that he owes $1 billion in loans"--well, as Rick "Do these glasses make me look c-a-t smart?" Perry would say, "Oops!" Except that it-snot an oops. Kushner knew that owing somebody...anybody...$1 BN amounts to a YUGE conflict of interest. As in, OF COURSE he'd use his position and influence to ensure that his creditors got the sweetest possible deals so they in turn would let him write off his debt for pennies on the dollar. Um, duh. How much ya wanna bet that the trumpanzees think this is all hunkey dokey?

Patheos: Ben Carson: Homeless Shelters Shouldn't Be 'Comfortable'
...According to Uncle Ben, Christian love MEANS punishing teh poorz. I say he's got a pernt--let's make government so uncomfortable that REPUBLICANS don't want to stay there any more!

The Daily Beast: Ex-Trump Staffers Register as Lobbyists, Despite 'Ban'
...Just one more case of tRump-Republican lies, hypocrisy, and graft.

American Magazine: Nancy Pelosi says pro-life Americans are welcome in Democratic Party 
...In other words, she's perfectly happy to write off women's right to bodily autonomy...she's fine with the Republican-Christian biblical notion that women's bodies are the property of men, including those in government, to do with as they please. As I tweeted Ms. Pelosi: imagine that the government could decide to rip out one of your kidneys to save the life of someone they deem more important than you.

NBC News: AP Court Revives Gay Couple's Case Against Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis
...I hope they win, and I hope she pays. If she couldn't do the job, she should have gotten another job!

DutchNews.nl: Dutch passed on information about Trump's aides and Russia: NYT
...It wasn't just our friends the Brits supplying our government with critical information on Russian interference in our election: our friends in the Netherlands were helping out, too. Thank FSM for small large favors. If only all their hard work had spared us all the grief and suffering that comrade tRumPEWtin and his Russo-Republican congress-critters are daily inflicting upon us....

Find.net: Trump order to ease opt-out of employer-covered birth control
...This headline originally appeared in The Guardian, where I read it. Oh well. As far as the content goes, it's a good thing that nuns don't get migraines or go through menopause because, if they did, they might need birth control--you know, hormones like what're covered by teh ebbil Obummercare. Good thing gawd cures nuns by magic so they never need no sciencey stuff like medicine anyway!

And now, a word from The Guardian:

House Republicans pass healthcare bill in first step toward replacing Obamacare 
...Thanks, Comey. If anyone dies because of this, their blood is on YOUR hands, you fucking millionaire ex- still-Republican bastard. Do you even care that your fellow Repukes didn't even read the bill and voted on it without so much as getting a CBO score? You know, asshole--all the niceties they insisted on for Obamacare?

Rex Tillerson: 'America first' means divorcing our policy from our values
...As I tweeted, if we divorce our policy from our values, it means that we have no values.

Google Docs users hit with sophisticated phishing attack in their inboxes
...Friends, beware this scam! It looks legit--almost identical to the real thing--but you don't want to find out first-hand what happens if you fall for it.

James Comey: I feel 'mildly nauseous' to think I may have affected the election
...Well, Comey, you prick, maybe you only feel mildly nauseous, but the truth is that you're extremely nauseous. I saw your video, and, as I tweeted, you were way too animated--you looked like a total phony. I personally think your explanation was shit, and I will never forget or forgive you for what you've already put this country and the citizens of the world through. As I tweeted, yes, you had a choice: conceal that both tRump and Hillary were under investigation, or reveal that both tRump and Hillary were under investigation. You chose to reveal one and conceal the other--you will forever be culpable for that. As I tweeted, Comey, you un-American traitor, you now have blood on your hands, starting with all the post-election violence and the bombs that tRump has already dropped. If tRumpcare passes, that's so much more blood on your hands--as will be the deaths from global warming and any ickle war-wars tRump starts. Sleep tite--nitey nite, you sick prick.

Obama unveils plans for presidential library center on Chicago's South Side 
...He and Michelle are also donating a cool $2M to help the less fortunate now that he's collected $400k in speaking fees. Is it time for me to be outraged now? Srsly, folks--Obama is center-right and always has been, just like the Clintons. As Dot Calm would say, doesn't make him a bad person. Let's keep our eye on the prize: #tRump-Russia. Babies are not gonna die (as Dot Calm would say) if Obama takes $400k in speaking fees--but babies ARE already dying because of comrade tRumPEWtin and the Russo-Republicans!!!!!

Steve Bannon's giant to-do list revealed in photo with rabbi 
...Well, well. Who knew that lovable reality star Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (of "Shalom in the Home" fame) was a ban'em-fan? Is Shmuley really an alt-right goy boi like the Christo-fascists? Doesn't he realize that ban'em and the alt-right HATE Jews?!?? Boy-howdy, politics sure makes for strange bedfellows.... (Either that, or ban'em thot that Shmuley was a rabbit rather than a rabbi, and ban'em was hankering for Trix...)

New York Times wants to offer diverse opinions. But on climate, facts are facts
...A-a-a-a-a-and this is why I refuse to subscribe to the NYT.

James Comey defends Clinton email decision but warns of threat from Russia
...What Comey did was indefensible--the nation and the world suffer already and will likely suffer a whole lot more unless we can bring down orange twAtler haste post haste...and I wouldn't want to bet that Comey's whole heart is into helping. But Comey is right--Russia is still at it. And, as I keep Resistbotting my congress-critters, every day that our government toddles along pretending this is all business as usual, they are complicit in every crime PEWtin and his cock holster tRump commit. They are, in effect, telling PEWtin, "Hey, it's perfectly fine that you dicked with our election. We don't give a shit--have at it."

Jimmy Kimmel reveals the heartlessness of healthcare in America
...Yup--Republicans said, "Fuck your baby that nearly died, and fuck you, Jimmy Kimmel." It was almost that literal. Mo Brooks said that people who live good lives don't get pre-existing conditions, so engineers like me are trying to figure out what Jimmy Kimmel's baby should have been doing in utero instead of whatever it was doing in there that damaged his heart (Mo Brooks is a Christian, so the fetus was probably masturbating...but I thot that made you blind...?). I can tell you what the problem is here, friends: Jimmy Kimmel's baby was born--according to Republicans, only the unborn are free from pre-existing conditions and therefore entitled to live; the rest of us can suck it. As I tweeted, when Republicans run the show, we should all be walking around in safe wombs.

JP Morgan to move hundreds of jobs out of UK due to Brexit
...This is what nationalism does, friends. It isolates nations, destroys their economies, and weakens them by destroying their alliances. We really are stronger together--especially when our adversaries are making concerted efforts against us deliberately to weaken us. Like our bestest BFF Russia.

Hillary Clinton: I was on way to presidency until leaks raised doubts
...There's also Hillary Clinton: I'm to blame for election loss but outside interference cost me. Friends, conservabots are howling--howling, I tell you
--about this. There-snot one piece that doesn't offend those pweshush ickle snowflakes. Mor00ns like McCain ran for president multiple times--so did tRump--but nobody ever declares them irrelevant and dismisses them, demanding they go away after one failed run. And this is after all the "where the hell is she?" crap when the poor woman just needed a minute to catch her breath after the debacle that was election night. As for me, I fail to see the problem: Hillary takes responsibility for losing but acknowledges that her campaign was materially damaged by James Comey, Jason Chaffetz, Vladimir Putin, and Julian Assange--not that she'd ever name them as directly as I just did. But that's the truth right there, friends--it took all these piece-of-shit men plus Republicans suppressing the vote plus media that's lusted for Hillary's blood since Bill became president to take Hillary down just enough to lose the electoral college by some 70,000 votes. She still won the popular vote by some 3,000,000. I think the media are pissed that she won't go away--now she's a welcome member of The Resistance, thank FSM--because her face is a reminder of what a shit job the media have done all along in covering attacking her while normalizing tRump.

Jordan Edwards shooting: Texas officer who killed 15-year-old fired
...Friends, I haven't been able to go there when it comes to the death of this poor kid and what his family is going through right now. This was one of Dot Calm's hot-button issues...mine, too. There are just no words to capture the grief, the outrage, .... At least they fired the bastard. Too bad they didn't either avoid hiring him or fire him before he murdered an innocent, unarmed kid who had his whole life ahead of him.

Trump and Putin had 'good' talk about ending Syria war, White House says
...tRump and PEWtin sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g...!

Czech girl Scout stands up to neo-Nazi at rally
...*sigh*...At least not all the n00z is bad!

Red alert: Kofi Annan on the photos that capture our choking planet
...Thanks, Comey. Go fuck yourself now, please and thank you--you've already fucked all of us. As some brilliant soul said on FB, at least you could have bought us all dinner first.

*****

Daily Kos, AlterNet, and Democracy Now! headlines

Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



***

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
Americans getting health care at work can also see benefit cuts. READ MORE»


By Travis Gettys, Raw Story
The airline has issued a tepid apology for what the family "experienced." READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"Mildly nauseous? Maybe it's morning sickness." READ MORE»


By Jen Hayden, DailyKos
The House is on the brink of passing legislation that would strip protections for tens of millions of Americans. READ MORE»


By Bob Cesca, Salon
The president plans to ransack the country's health insurance coverage, and his voters seem entirely unfazed. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"Let’s be honest about it. This does not cover people with preexisting conditions." READ MORE»


By Ilana Novick, AlterNet
Angry protests await the president for his first trip to the Big Apple as commander-in-chief. READ MORE»


By Anthony Cuthbertson, Newsweek
The renowned physicist assesses mankind's prospects for survival.  READ MORE»


By Keith Knight, AlterNet
It's all about the joy of seeing tech bros and rich kids stranded in the middle of nowhere.  READ MORE»

By Jefferson Morley, AlterNet
Who’s the worst of the worst among the president’s favorite dictators? READ MORE»


By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
"Those guys in the red trucker hats—he’s pissing in their faces." READ MORE»


By Sarah Posner, The American Prospect
There are key insights for how Evangelicals embraced one of the country's least religious and least biblically literate presidents ever. READ MORE»


By Don Hazen, Kali Holloway, AlterNet
The artist and musician has a new vision for community and sustainable farming—and yes, he is Warren's son. READ MORE»


By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
Beneath Trump's idiotic Andrew Jackson rant lies a real history of neo-Confederate sentiment and overt racism. READ MORE»


By Jim Hightower, AlterNet
The true political spectrum in our society does not range from right to left, but from top to bottom. READ MORE»


By Todd Gitlin, BillMoyers.com
How much of America is locked into a looking-glass world? READ MORE»


By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
The Trump Cabinet has many Southern Conservatives exercising a lot of power. READ MORE»


By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
Handel says the tweet was "a mistake," as the race for the highly competitive seat heats up. READ MORE»


By Teesta Setalvad, AlterNet
The world’s largest democracy faces questions about discrimination and violence against religious minorities. READ MORE»


By Brent Johnson, NJ.com
Dude sounds like he's channeling the ghost of Harry Anslinger.  READ MORE»


By Leo Gerard, AlterNet
Don't believe the voodoo economics: Trump is not here to protect workers. READ MORE»


By Amanda Lotz, The Conversation
The crisis at ESPN developed because of the lack of competition. READ MORE»


By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
"It's a nice place to go when you want to have a conversation with somebody and you don’t want somebody on top of you listening in." READ MORE»


By Samuel Alexander, AlterNet
On a finite planet, the economy can’t grow forever. READ MORE»


By Cassie Kelly, EcoWatch
Some of the world's finest grapes are unlikely to survive the impacts of climate change. READ MORE»

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
House GOP scrambles to paper over bill's macabre reality that Sarah Palin famously once warned of. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
President Trump released his first 2020 ad on Tuesday—the earliest of any sitting president in American history.  READ MORE»


By Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian
Kentlake high school postpones trip to protect undocumented students. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"It’s like going back to the first day all over again." READ MORE»


By David Edwards, Raw Story
Despite centuries of evidence to the contrary.  READ MORE»


By Richard Eskow, Blog for Our Future
Meet America Rising, an organization that does nothing but "post inappropriate Democratic utterances and act as a clearinghouse for information on Democrats.” READ MORE»


By Charlie May, Salon
Carson's "listening tour" was blasted by residents who called his visits "staged."  READ MORE»


By Tom Porter, Newsweek
The claims that Trump has had many achievements in his first 100 days. READ MORE»


By Bob Brigham, Raw Story
The controversy began with an Inauguration Day retweet of a crowd comparison with Barack Obama’s 2009 swearing-in. READ MORE»


By Justin Elliott, ProPublica
State Department hiring raises further questions about the Trump administration’s vetting process. READ MORE»

By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
Trump got an F. READ MORE»


By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
President Donald Trump has more kind words for foreign dictators than for Democratic congresswomen. READ MORE»


By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
Getting rid of Dodd-Frank triples the odds of another financial debacle. READ MORE»


By Jennifer Berkshire, Have You Heard
Many parents, teachers and local school boards have seen enough. READ MORE»


By Reynard Loki, AlterNet
The new ads underscore the importance of climate science while promoting free-market carbon pricing as a pro-growth climate solution. READ MORE»


By D. Watkins, Salon
Another innocent black boy shot and killed by a police officer. Will history repeat itself?  READ MORE»


By Rashmee Roshan Lall, The Arab Weekly
Now, the terrorist attack may be mutating into a speculative investment for monetary gain. READ MORE»


By Joanna Walters, The Guardian
President’s daughter and adviser wants to "debunk the superwoman myth"—by saying she didn’t even have time to meditate during the election. READ MORE»


By John Light, BillMoyers.com
Polar photographer Paul Nicklen is capturing some of Earth's most remote places before they disappear. READ MORE»


By Ben Norton, AlterNet
Fact-checking the pro-Israel letter all 100 U.S. senators sent to the United Nations, which fails to mention Israel's illegal occupation or settlements. READ MORE»


By Matt Gertz, Media Matters
Trump people undermine journalists by flooding press conferences and briefings with an array of radical right-wing, pro-Trump propagandists. READ MORE»


By Vijay Prashad, AlterNet
Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American who is unapologetic about her support for her people, is a lightning rod for attack. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"Why do you hate the American people?"  READ MORE»


By Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect
Los Angeles, a quarter-century after the Rodney King riots. READ MORE»


By Laura Flanders, The Laura Flanders Show
How to continue the momentum from the decentralized "flourishing of street protests." READ MORE»

By Ilana Novick, AlterNet
A 61-year-old woman has been charged with attempting to "impede and disrupt" the proceedings. READ MORE»


By David Edwards, Raw Story
Even the president's inner circle admits its worried about his mental state. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
The "Late Show" host gets a little help from the ghost of Abe Lincoln. READ MORE»


By Heather Digby Parton, Salon
Our president, who is "like a smart person," knows it all. READ MORE»


By Taylor Link, Salon
The late show host revealed his newborn son had open-heart surgery protected under the ACA. READ MORE»


By Jen Hayden, DailyKos
Is the White House so fragile that it won't stand for a Democrat being celebrated? The answer appears to be yes. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
The documentarian's theater debut will appeal to Obama-turned-Trump voters. READ MORE»


By Jen Sorensen, AlterNet
Whose the real snowflake?  READ MORE»

***

Stories


Ammar Mohrat was a political and media activist in Homs, Syria. He fled Syria in 2011 due to political persecution and death threats. Mohrat was granted ... Read More →

Florida lawmakers have apologized for what happened to four young African-American men in Groveland, Florida, nearly 70 years ago in 1949. The men, known as ... Read More →

We turn now to the case of Marissa Alexander, the African-American mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing what she maintains was a ... Read More →

Headlines →


Stories


President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday during a phone call to work together to seek a ceasefire in Syria. The phone call came the same ... Read More →

NC Lawmakers Side with Factory Farms as Communities of Color Suffer from the Spraying of Hog Manure
In eastern North Carolina, residents are battling with one of the state's largest industries: hog farms. Last week, North Carolina lawmakers passed House Bill 467, which ... Read More →

The Haitian-American community is now facing a looming deportation deadline. Up to 55,000 Haitians could be forcefully repatriated to their fragile, struggling ... Read More →

Headlines →


*****

Moar m00bies!











There's an even funnier version of this on Twitter...I'm trying to track it down...with Rachel Maddow's reactions, which are hilarious. I mean, tRump's "best people" can't even work the goddamn phones! They couldn't work the light switches, either, remember? Hee HEE!

Walp, that's it from here, friends--try to have a nice weekend, and don't forget to RESIST!

- Dot Calm's shadow

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

2 May 2017 post:

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

Why do I always seem to be behind the eight-ball?

Could it be because I have a full-time job, a partially-disabled dad to take care of, and the personality of a firebrand that won't take Republican bullshit quietly without a fight?

Ehhhh...could be!

This time, I'm behind the eight-ball because I just got back in town from a family trip to celebrate a big decade birthday. What a refreshing and fun change from...funerals. Anyhoo, the dadster and I had a great trip and, as a result, are planning several more family trips in coming months.

So, please be patient with me today--there's way more n00z than I can do justice to!

Last time, I clued you in to my clever plan to hijack tRump's 1-855-48-VOICE (6423) hotline and start reporting all the crimes being done by evil Russian agent comrade tRumPEWtin and his accomplices right here on American soil (oh noes!).

Today, I'd like to remind you that Melania is exactly the sort of person of interest that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) needs to know about: she worked here illegally under (IIRC) a tourist visa and, according to The Independent, would be a prime candidate for deportation under the tRump administration's new guidelines.

In other words, feel free to call the VOICE hotline and turn her in.

You'll be saving America from a dangerous criminal who violated our immigration laws and who is costing us between NYPD estimates of  $127,000 and $146,000 a day and  up to $410,000 per day during the school year.

Apparently, we should be grateful that the rumors that Melania and Barron were going to stay in NYC because the boy has "soccer" were just that--rumors (thanks, NY Daily News).

If ICE does its job under the new guidelines and sends Melania back to Slovenia, I'm taking bets: will tRump even miss her? Will he even know she's gone?

***

Walp, friends, lemme tell ya: Resistbot works!

I promised myself to send so many faxes to my congress-critters over Resistance Recess that I'd run their machines out of paper.

One of them (the chickenshit corporate Democrat) ran out of paper--or at least stopped answering--for daze but is back online now.

The other one--the chickenshit Republican who lies during her phoned-in town halls--called me this morning to set up a meeting to discuss "some of my concerns."

I guess she decided it would be cheaper and faster to meet face to face than to spend all the time and money on paper and postage it would have taken to answer all my faxes, which ended in "I expect your answer in writing."

So, friends, I got this awful woman's attention! Thanks to us in The Resistance, Republicans are running scared.

Good.

They should run scared, after what their fat boi in the White House keeps saying he wants to do to us. He has us running scared, so the least we can do is give them a little taste of their own bad medicine.

GOOD.

***

Like the hacked-up hairball on comrade tRumPEWtin's haid, tRumpcare is the zombie that will not die.

Unless we fight it, that is.

Friends, this is why I love following George Takei on Twitter: he tweeted trumpcaretoolkit.org for us to call and tweet targeted members of Congress to reject repealing the ACA once and for all.

I've already done all the tweets. It takes a few attempts because Twitter will only let you send so many at a time. After it refuses to send one of the tweets, just wait an hour or so and resend it and work your way down the list until it balks again. I think it took me three rounds total to get all the tweets sent.

We killed tRumpcare last time; tRumpcare 2.0 is even worse--even more cruel--so, if we fight just as hard, we should be able to kill it again. Please, friends--don't let this opportunity slip. I heard on CNN that we're already close to killing it--we just need one more Republican to vote "no," and even the corporate chickenshit Dems have no intention of supporting the bill.

Thank Atheist God for small wonders.

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

*****

Choo choo time headlines

Samuel-Warde: DNC Hackers Allegedly Paid By Trump Organization, But Were Under Putin's Control
...Where there's this much smoke, there hasta be fire.

Although there are "Democracy Now!" headlines below, Imma leave this here: People's Climate March: A Protest Against the Fossil Fuel Industry Taking Over the U.S. Government

The rest are all from The Guardian today--enjoy! (Really! Some of them are not bad news!)

People's Climate March: thousands rally to denounce Trump's environmental agenda
...According to https://peoplesclimate.org/, more than 300,000 marched in DC and across the country. Given that, according to PolitiFact, tRump's inauguration attendance numbers may have been as low as 250,000, that's saying something,

Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner: full frontal on Trump and media

Fear of neofascism keeps Emmanuel Macron ahead of Marine Le Pen

France's terrorism is largely home grown – yet both Macron and Le Pen look away

'Spicer facts' and weird handshakes: 100 days of Trump in memes

*****

Daily Kos, AlterNet, and Democracy Now! headlines

Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



Daily Kos Recommended



***
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
By one count, 22 Republicans say they'll vote no. One more defection kills it.  READ MORE»


By Joanna Walters, The Guardian
She has a White House job and a global business empire modeled on her image. But experts warn Ivanka Trump is deep in an ethical danger zone. READ MORE»


By Jefferson Morley, AlterNet
The president's claim that Jackson would have prevented the war between the states is a fantasy. READ MORE»


By Jeff Schechtman, WhoWhatWhy.com
Here's an in-depth look at potential triggers for the 25th Amendment. READ MORE»


By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
Starts off bad, and then gets worse. READ MORE»


By Matthew Rozsa, Salon
President calls the country's founding document "archaic" and "bad for the American people." READ MORE»


By David Edwards, Raw Story
Trump's ignorance about American history staggers pundits. READ MORE»


By Robin Scher, AlterNet
Fasten your seat belts—it's going to be a bumpier ride. READ MORE»


By Marty Kaplan, AlterNet
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was making progress on one of society's biggest problems. It didn't matter to Trump. READ MORE»


By Jack Healey, Huffington Post
Millions of people are facing famine and drought in Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, but how many countries are paying attention?  READ MORE»


By Michael Sheng, History News Network
Taking a look at our not-so-distant history may be the key to solving the rising tension with North Korea. READ MORE»


By Victoria de Grazia, The Guardian
A historical examination of Hitler and Mussolini’s early days examines how different Trump’s path is from the dictators of the 1930s. READ MORE»


By Sean Williams, International Business Times
Despite Trump, we are seeing an all-around softening of attitudes toward marijuana, and that's good for the pot business. READ MORE»


By Cherri Foytlin, AlterNet
“I am at the climate march to send a message to our government that our generation is here, we are awake." READ MORE»

By Jefferson Morley, AlterNet
His invitation to Filipino strongman Rodrigo Duterte shows his taste for the cruel and the criminal. READ MORE»


By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
"On Tyranny" author Timothy Snyder says we have less than a year to save our democracy. READ MORE»


By Trita Parsi, AlterNet
A shameless new hit piece on the nuclear deal could hold deadly ramifications. READ MORE»


By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
It's not an accident that he's inviting Rodrigo Duterte to the White House. READ MORE»


By Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story
Polling data can be deceiving. No one wants to admit that they've been had. READ MORE»


By Laura Clawson, DailyKos
The president reveals his profound ignorance of American history in a mortifying new interview. READ MORE»


By David Smith, The Guardian
The Massachusetts senator believes her party has lost its way on the economy. READ MORE»


By Kathy Kelly, AlterNet
“At least 3,200 civilians have been killed and 5,700 wounded since coalition military operations began." READ MORE»


By Dayanita Ramesh, John Kerr, Kevin Kalhoefer, Media Matters
Research finds broadcast news devoted 66 percent less time to the subject in 2016 than it did the year before. READ MORE»


By Brian McFadden, AlterNet
We've heard this song many times before. READ MORE»



By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
Part of this domestic fog is the stunning notion held by many of Trump’s working class supporters that he’s got their back. Really? READ MORE»


By Rick Perlstein, The Washington Spectator
Behind the far-right’s “counter-resistance.” READ MORE»


By Fatima Bhutto, The Guardian
This examination of today’s tech-zombie epidemic is worth putting your phone down for – at least for a while. READ MORE»


By Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Salon
Focusing on Trump's lies, or his personal flaws, won't get it done. We must change the American consciousness. READ MORE»


By Don Hazen, AlterNet
Los Angeles and New York lead the way as diverse communities of workers and immigrants fight for their rights against the Trump administration.  READ MORE»


By Adam Johnson, FAIR
Headlines full of alarmist claims, without any evidence to back them up.  READ MORE»


By April M. Short, AlterNet
The girl's chess coach was disgusted with the “disturbing incident." READ MORE»


By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
“They went way beyond what people should do." READ MORE»


By Stéfanie Khoury and David Whyte, Open Democracy
Trump’s first one hundred days: corporate rights trump human rights. READ MORE»


By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
How could Trump's "populist mask" fool so many people for so long? READ MORE»


By Teesta Setalvad, AlterNet
Zakia Jafri's complaint makes allegations against 62 government officials, police officers and private citizens. READ MORE»


By Sarah van Gelder, YES! Magazine
We must protect the parks, pathways, and gardens that connect us to each other and to the ecosystems of our home. READ MORE»


By April M. Short, AlterNet
Opponents fear the bill could be interpreted as an invitation to mow down protesters. READ MORE»
 
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
Los Angeles and New York lead the way as diverse communities of workers and immigrants fight for their rights against the Trump administration.  READ MORE»


By Andrew Bacevich, Sister Simone Campbell, Angela Glover Blackwell, Simon Johnson, and Mike Lofgren, BillMoyers.com
Moyers' guests weigh in on the import or impotence of the early days of the Trump administration. READ MORE»


By Vijay Prashad, Frontline (India)
The U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan seem to be more about Trump acquiring a “presidential” aura and legitimacy than about making the world a safer place.  READ MORE»


By April M. Short, AlterNet
The U.S. economy is so divided we now have a two-class system, often divided by race, Peter Temin argues in his new book. READ MORE»


By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
A trio of academics compare the tactics to Wall Street's raiders. READ MORE»


By Lorraine Chow, AlterNet
As uneaten food rots in landfills, it releases a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. READ MORE»


By Adam Johnson, FAIR
David Ignatius on Saudi Arabia: “Reform plans appear to be moving ahead slowly but steadily”–as always. READ MORE»


By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
“He brought out the map, he said, ‘Aren’t you impressed by this map?’” Rucker explained to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.  READ MORE»


By Taylor Link, Salon
Conservatives have long complained that the sports network blatantly pushes a liberal agenda. READ MORE»


By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Gorsuch is already proposing the high court water down one of defendants’ most basic rights. READ MORE»


By Crystal Ponti, YES! Magazine
It is so common for self-employed people to have ADHD, the disorder could be renamed “the entrepreneur’s trait.” READ MORE»


By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
In addition to providing handouts to the ruling class, the plan will blow up the deficit by an estimated $3-7 trillion. READ MORE»

By Jefferson Morley, AlterNet
How the ex-president’s buckraking can pay off for Democrats. READ MORE»


By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
Talk radio hosts are angrily comparing the first daughter to Hillary Clinton. READ MORE»


By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
At least 12,000 positions have moved or are in the process of being moved abroad since late January. READ MORE»


By Michael Klare, TomDispatch
It would cost just $4.4 billion to save 20 million African lives, but the world won't pony up. READ MORE»


By Ilana Novick, AlterNet
When it comes to resistance activities, this is shaping up to be the biggest—even in red states. READ MORE»


By Gary Legum, Salon
Trump has staffed the West Wing with low-grade hucksters, and his deal-making skills are just bad poker bluffs. READ MORE»


By Jessica Valenti, The Guardian
Echoes of Trump's America are there, but the series is most compelling in its depiction of everyday sexism. READ MORE»


By Michael Hout, The American Prospect
A new book examines the steep decline of male employment.  READ MORE»


By Marshall Allen, ProPublica
Every year nursing homes nationwide flush, burn or throw out tons of valuable prescription drugs. READ MORE»


By Brian Tashman, Right Wing Watch
And the family values posturing of Evangelicals has been exposed for the sham it's always been. READ MORE»


By Tibi Puiu, ZME Science
They both calm the gut, scientists say.  READ MORE»


By David Barash, TarcherPerigee
One of the central Buddhist precepts is ahimsa, which means "non-harming." READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
A new PBS documentary explores our violent intervention in the Middle East.  READ MORE»

By Jacob Sugarman, AlterNet
The New York Times columnist compares the president to one of Rod Serling's most memorable inventions. READ MORE»


By Heather Digby Parton, Salon
The president has proven time and again that he's highly susceptible to suggestion. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"I think it is unfortunate that the president is doing this." READ MORE»


By Mark Sumner, DailyKos
The job is more demanding that sparring with Gary Busey and Meatloaf. Who would have thought? READ MORE»


By Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story
The conspiracy theorist's attorney argued Jones was playing a "character" on InfoWars. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"Has anyone tried putting a resignation letter in front of him?"  READ MORE»


By Eleni Cresci, The Guardian
The Fyre Festival was billed as Coachella in paradise. It's been a "complete disaster." READ MORE»


By Keith Knight, AlterNet
It's like they're filling a quota of lethal injections. READ MORE»

By John Cavanagh, Sarah Anderson, Domenica Ghanem, AlterNet
New social movements are making their power felt in ways that would have been unimaginable before Trump took office. READ MORE»


By Lulu Friesdat, AlterNet
Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. READ MORE»


By Neal Gabler, BillMoyers.com
Trump, promised to disrupt the country. He has—and more. READ MORE»


By Adele M. Stan, The American Prospect
Fifty-three percent of white women voted for Trump, and Ivanka was one of the reasons. READ MORE»


By Heather Digby Parton, Salon
Legislative accomplishments? Zilch. But in terms of building the family fortune for the future, it's all going well. READ MORE»


By Ilana Novick, AlterNet
The People's Climate March is part of more than a week of intersectional direct action, beginning with the March for Science and ending with May Day. READ MORE»


By Vijay Prashad, AlterNet
The Western media should pay more attention to the Palestinian prisoner strike. READ MORE»


By Robert Weissman, AlterNet
The Trump administration is off to a roaring start on delivering the goodies to Big Business. READ MORE»


By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
"We could be in that fight up to our eyeballs this very week with the new budget coming through." READ MORE»


By Jill Hopke, The Conversation
Approximately seven in 10 Trump voters may be reachable on climate issues—but march organizers need to consider how to engage them. READ MORE»


By Jim Hightower, AlterNet
Contrary to the Washington Post's report, the nation's public post offices racked up a $610 million operating profit last year, and a $1.2 billion profit the year before. READ MORE»


By Amanda Marcotte, Salon
Trumpcare 2.0 will make the opioid problem only worse by slashing the Medicaid funds that get people treated. READ MORE»


By Ryan Carrigan, Move Buddha
How much of a draw is the right to have and use weed? READ MORE»


By Ilana Gershon, University of Chicago Press
In Ilana Gershon's new book "Down and Out in the New Economy," the employer power dynamic is called into question. READ MORE»


By Sam Pizzigati, OtherWords
Graef Crystal proved that corporations won't police themselves. Maybe good policies can. READ MORE»


By Jack Burns, The Free Thought Project
Terrell Thomas's death was a murder, not an accident. READ MORE»

***

Stories


Around the world, millions of workers took to the streets Monday for May Day, also known as International Workers' Day. In the United States, the marches were led ... Read More →

It has been nearly six months since voters in North Carolina elected Democrat Roy Cooper as governor. Republican lawmakers responded by waging what many ... Read More →

In Raleigh, North Carolina, more than 100 people braved the rain to take part in a May Day rally outside the state Capitol to protest a series of proposed anti-worker and ... Read More →

In March, state Republican lawmakers in North Carolina struck a deal to overturn a law denying transgender people the use of the bathroom, changing room or ... Read More →

We look at the increasing power of states in the South to shape national politics. Our guest, Chris Kromm, writes in his latest piece that Southern states gave 160 ... Read More →

Headlines →


Stories


As President Trump marked his 100th day in office on Saturday, up to 200,000 people took to the streets of Washington to take part in the People's Climate March. ... Read More →

The People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., was held in the sweltering heat as the temperatures soared over 90 degrees. Activists and organizers came in from ... Read More →

The People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., was led by people from front-line and indigenous communities, whose lives are most impacted by the ... Read More →

At the People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., many protesters called attention to the close ties between the Trump administration and the fossil fuel ... Read More →

Just days before the People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., a group of Democratic senators and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to ... Read More →

At the People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., many protesters called attention to the close ties between the Trump administration and the fossil fuel ... Read More →

The People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday came as extreme, climate-fueled weather is already causing havoc across the world. In the U.S. over ... Read More →

Headlines →


Stories


To mark the 100th day of Donald Trump’s presidency, thousands of climate activists from around the country are converging in Washington, D.C. on Saturday for the ... Read More →
100 Days of President Trump
Just hours before a deadline, Congress has averted a government shutdown by working on a short-term spending bill and a broader deal to fund agencies ... Read More →
Trump's Tax Plan & Push to End Net Neutrality
As President Trump marks his first 100 day in office, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) argues many of his plans have increased inequality. "The tax plan is one where the ... Read More →
Trump's "Reckless" Threats Toward North Korea
The Trump administration sent mixed signals on North Korea Thursday, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. is open to direct negotiations with Kim Jong ... Read More →
House Oversight Dems Demand White House "Paper Trail" on National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
Our guest Congressman Peter Welch explains why he joined his Democratic colleagues on the House Oversight Committee in demanding White House  ... Read More →
Vermont Lawmaker: Residents of Sanctuary Cities Reject "Dragnet Approach" on Immigration
As we broadcast from Burlington, Vermont, which is a sanctuary city, Vermont Rep. Peter Welch says there has been enormous citizen support toward undocumented ... Read More →

Headlines →

Arkansas Puts Kenneth Williams to Death in Fourth Execution in 8 Days

Trump Admin Considers North Korea Talks as Trump Warns of "Major Conflict"

House Republicans Abandon Latest Effort on Healthcare

Pentagon Investigating Michael Flynn Over Foreign Payments

President Trump to Sign Executive Order Expanding Offshore Drilling

Atmospheric CO2 Levels Reach Record 410 Parts Per Million

Senate Bill Would Phase Out Fossil Fuels by 2050

Activists Ready a Massive "People's Climate March" on Washington

Texas House Approves Anti-Immigrant "Show Your Papers" Bill

Government "Alien Crime" Hotline Trolled by Calls about Space Aliens

Syria: Two Hospitals Bombed Amid Spate of Attacks on Medics in Idlib

Palestinians Strike in Solidarity With Hunger-Striking Prisoners

Court Upholds Sentence Against Former Chadian Dictator Hissène Habré

Brazil: Unions Call General Strike Against Pension Cuts

Chicago Union Authorizes a Strike of 5,000 Nursing Home Workers

United Airlines Settles With Passenger Beaten and Dragged off Flight

Free Speech Radio News to End After 17 Years of Grassroots Reporting

New York: Hundreds Rally on One-Year Anniversary of Mass Arrest

*****

M00bies!




Friends, I love Randi so much. She give you the n00z you need in depth, but she's funneh, too. This video is insane...chimpie's ethics advisor, Richard Painter, who's a career Republican, has called tRump-Russia "treason" and called for cheeto benito's impeachment on Joy-Ann Reid's show on MSNBC. He has referred to what's been done as "espionage" and confirms that a foreign power undermined our democratic process. Painter also said that Michael Flynn accepted emoluments and lied--a criminal offense. Painter also called out tRump for taking foreign emoluments and not disclosing his taxes. He chided Republicans for covering up all these offenses and not working with Democrats to get to the bottom of it all. And did I say that Richard Painter is a career Republican?!??


This will make your day!


Of course, as a Republican, tRump has no qualms with the idea of owning people...


I gno! Let's sell our entire future for a few quick bux today...!

So, tRump and Co. both lie and are st00pit...?!

Unreal. tRump really wants to be a dictator. In reality, though, he doesn't hafta accomplish one everlovin' thing to satisfy his ickle base--all he hasta dew is tell them he did it. They'll believe it!

Then again, tRump isn't all that concerned about actually keeping his working-class base happy. He's all about systematically destroying them, just like in that song he loves so much: "The Snake."

More on moron Flynn...and how his name seems to panic trump deze daze

So. The Government actually advertised Mar-a-Lago...

Have you noticed tRump's weird American flags? Ever? He lurves the 39-star flag! But there is no such official American flag. Ever! tRump is all about messaging. I wonder what he's trying to say...

She is such a piece of bleached-blonde trailer-trash chickenshit...

tRump is panicking about Russia

More on morons voting against their own interests

Hasan Minhaj was sooooo funneh at the WHCD...!

Ba-hahahahaha!

Yay--another Randy Rainbow!!

 
*****

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

And don't forget to follow

@AlexJonescopy

unless, as he says, you're a total globalist. "It's not a parody account--it's performance art!" He also urges us to retweet everything he says unless we want the globalists to win. (Srsly, friends--he's a riot. Don't drink coffee while reading his tweets.)

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