Open thread for night owls. From the pages of The Baffler: Zucktown, USA—(Facebook's company town)

Former CIA Director John Brennan Stands By Athletes Taking The Knee

Brennan released a statement addressing freedom of expression and Trump's response to Puerto Rico in one fell swoop.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2kc5ZoN

1 Photo Stands Out After Trump Says Puerto Rico Wants ‘Everything Done For Them’

This writer served Trump some ice cold tea.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xH8sNv

Malala Asked The Internet For College Advice And People Delivered

"Protein bars. Lots of protein bars."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fBpEJF

Cartoon: Political football

The NFL pushed back against Divider In Chief Donald Trump as he attacked yet another group in the US, black NFL players who protest police brutality by taking a knee during the National Anthem portion of a football game. The kick is good!

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2g0AyJE

Nuts & Bolts: A guide to Democratic campaigns—candidate recruitment for activists

Welcome back, Saturday Campaign D.I.Y.ers! For those who tune in, welcome to the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. Each week we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns. If you’ve missed prior diaries, please visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.

This year we are following activists as they work to build up their networks and promote their cause. The most significant way that our outside groups can influence the discussion is through the effective recruiting of candidates, from top to bottom. 

Candidate recruitment into races like local water boards, school boards, city councils, mayoral races, county offices and state houses can be a lot of work. Activists often look to help find good candidates they think can succeed, as well as members within their organization they can help get on the ballot and move toward a win. But, how, exactly, can you recruit candidates successfully?

The photo attached to this diary is an example of effective recruiting. In 2016, for the first time in decades, Kansas Democrats managed to recruit candidates into all 40 Senate races. This effort caused Republicans to spend in a lot more races, and divided their resources. While Kansas Senate Democratic members didn’t win more races, the expense to save the state Senate was helpful toward our state House members, who found that competitive races above and below them helped enable 14 pickups. Not bad!

Organizations who are looking to make an impact in races also have to remember that when you are recruiting candidates, part of your goal should be about building a candidate base that is supportive of one another, and one that creates a type of candidate pyramid built to succeed.

The more localized candidates you have, the better they can help support state candidates above them. The more state candidates, the better support for your district candidates. This is because the candidate at the lowest level is likely to walk more districts and direct contact more voters. While a candidate at the very top of the ticket is likely to spend more in ad campaigns a down ballot candidate cannot afford. Having both together can make a difference in how your campaigns succeed.

So, as you recruit, don’t just focus on one set of races, focus on building up a candidate network, top to bottom.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2wptDQf

Trump "Justice" Department argues in favor of firing employees because they're gay

When it’s not too busy subpoenaing their Facebook posts to harass American citizens critical of Donald Trump, the so-called “Justice Department" under the auspices of Jeff Sessions is now arguing for the right of employers to fire Americans because of their sexual orientation:

The question came up this week, when a lawyer for Trump's Department of Justice argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ Americans from being fired because of their sexual orientation—a complete reversal of the government's position on such matters under previous presidents.

The Trump-infested DOJ has now placed itself firmly in the camp of employers who want to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation, in its interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act:

The Justice Department argument Tuesday, before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, came in the case of Donald Zarda who claims he was fired by his company, Altitude Express, for being gay.=

The Trump DOJ and its lawyer, Hashim Mooppan, felt compelled to interject themselves into this dispute, even though another Federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had already weighed in and argued on Mr. Zarda’s behalf in the case. Taking the exact opposite position, Mr. Mooppan argued that “out of workplace sexual conduct" was fair game for employers under the Civil Rights statute, because “sex" as defined under the statute was distinguishable from "sexual orientation:" 

Mooppan, explained that, under federal law, employers were absolutely free “to regulate employees’ off-the-job sexual behavior,” meaning they could discriminate against employees for adultery, promiscuity or sexual orientation.

Think about that for a minute. A lawyer for our Justice Department is saying that employers have the right to “regulate the sexual behavior” of their employees. In Mr. Zarda’s case, there was no “out of work” behavior at issue—he worked in a skydiving company and simply advised a female customer concerned about the close physical contact necessary to participate in that sport that he was “100 percent gay,” and that she had nothing to worry about. Her insecure boyfriend then apparently reported that to Zarda’s employer, who promptly fired him.

[T]he law has been interpreted to include protections for sexual orientation for decades, after multiple lower level district courts concluded beginning in 2002 that employees could not be fired simply for being gay. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in April that Title VII does in fact cover sexual orientation, noting that any other interpretation of the law would be “confusing and contradictory.”

Other federal circuit courts, however, disagree with the Seventh Circuit's opinion in the Hively case, setting up a split between the circuits that points the way for the issue to be decided by the Supreme Court. This is clearly the Trump DOJ’s intent, with the ultimate goal of fostering widespread discrimination against LGBT Americans. While several states outlaw such discrimination, other states' protections are more limited and 16 states offer no protection from such discrimination whatsoever.

One can argue about the interpretation of the “wording” of Title VII, but what was most troubling about the DOJ involvement in the case is that it was wholly unasked for by anyone—including the parties to the suit. The Trump DOJ filed an unbidden amicus brief. In other words, they deliberately inserted themselves into this matter for the sole purpose of getting this issue before the Supreme Court, and turning back the clock on the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people to live their lives without the fear of losing their jobs because of who they are.

That is the Trump agenda.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xOc2Ve

Donald Trump Is Using Puerto Rico’s Crisis To Push His War Against The Media

This isn't the first time the president dragged the news media during a national crisis.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2ygb0CO

This week in science: pushback polls

Republicans are back in the White House and the war on science is back on right where it left off in 2009. The usual suspects particularly dislike environmental science and climate research is at the top of that short shit list. But a new poll finds the public has become more skeptical of industry funded misinformation in the interim:

More than half of Americans now see climate change as responsible for the severity of recent hurricanes – an about-face from 12 years ago, when most attributed it to happenstance. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds a near-universal shift in this direction, even among formerly skeptical groups, albeit with smaller gains among Republicans and Republican-leaning groups.

The gist of if there has been substantial progress in all groups, even among a few self-identified Republican voters. Full cross tabs and methodology available here in .pdf format.

• O.M.G. Your moment of nerdish hilarity for the week!
• If this nifty Facebook ratf#k op worked to shut down Ukrainian activists, why wouldn’t it work against social media managers in a domestic campaign or cause? In fact, it might work to hamper business rivals as well.
• Scientists find evidence of bio-signatures in rocks four billion years old:

The discovery would push the origins of life even deeper into the planet's history, to a hellish time when Earth was barely cooled and constantly colliding with other bodies in the solar system.

• There is such a thing as a Saturn Nebula and it’s quite exquisite. The object got its name because it superficially resembled a ringed planet as seen by the telescopes in use back in the era when it was first discovered.
• Roy Moore has said a lot of zany things over the years. But it seems strange to have to actually correct him by saying that evolution does not suggest we evolved from snakes:

There’s no such thing as evolution ... That we came from a snake?  No I don’t believe that.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xSsNPF

Broke and desperate, adjunct professors face homelessness due to low wages and job insecurity

Often times, unfair stereotypes about the homeless lead some to believe that they are lazy and their situation could be improved simply by obtaining employment. This perspective doesn’t take into account the many reasons why someone might be homeless in the first place—including those people who work but don’t actually make enough to afford stable housing. In the case of adjunct professors, not only are many of them making poverty wages, some of them are turning to desperate means to make ends meet. 

Sex work is one of the more unusual ways that adjuncts have avoided living in poverty, and perhaps even homelessness. A quarter of part-time college academics (many of whom are adjuncts, though it’s not uncommon for adjuncts to work 40 hours a week or more) are said to be enrolled in public assistance programs such as Medicaid.

They resort to food banks and Goodwill, and there is even an adjuncts’ cookbook that shows how to turn items like beef scraps, chicken bones and orange peel into meals. And then there are those who are either on the streets or teetering on the edge of losing stable housing.

The Guardian interviewed several academics who are already or are close to becoming homeless. One of them turned to sex work so that she could make enough money to save her from eviction. These are people who have earned advanced degrees and are teaching courses at institutions but do not have full time, tenure-track positions. Without full-time employment at one institution which comes with benefits and a steady paycheck, they are forced to string together multiple course loads at different schools which doesn’t pay well. In fact, the average salary for adjunct professors is $22,041 annually compared to $47,500 for full-time faculty. Ironically, adjuncts are often teaching more courses in a term than full-time faculty—sometimes teaching as many as six in a semester.

Adjuncting has grown as funding for public universities has fallen by more than a quarter between 1990 and 2009. Private institutions also recognize the allure of part-time professors: generally they are cheaper than full-time staff, don’t receive benefits or support for their personal research, and their hours can be carefully limited so they do not teach enough to qualify for health insurance.

This is why adjuncts have been called “the fast-food workers of the academic world”: among labor experts adjuncting is defined as “precarious employment”, a growing category that includes temping and sharing-economy gigs such as driving for Uber. An American Sociological Association taskforce focusing on precarious academic jobs, meanwhile, has suggested that “faculty employment is no longer a stable middle-class career”.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2yA1qqR

Chicago Bears Linebacker Suspended After Illegal Hit Hospitalizes Player

Danny Trevathan has been suspended for two games after his helmet-to-helmet hit Thursday.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2kcgubP

Evan McMullin won 22 percent of the vote in Utah, but just one seat in the state legislature

Daily Kos Elections' project to calculate the 2016 presidential results for every state legislative seat in the nation hits Utah, a solidly red state that hosted an unexpectedly chaotic presidential race. Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 46-27, with conservative independent Evan McMullin taking 22 percent; as a bonus, we've calculated McMullin's results in each legislative district in addition to Trump and Clinton's. You can find our master list of states here, which we'll be updating as we add new states; you can also find all our data from 2016 and past cycles here.

The GOP has controlled both chambers of the Utah state legislature since the 1970s, and Team Red maintains huge majorities. The Republicans have a 62-13 House supermajority, and a 24 to five edge in the Senate. Mitt Romney, Utah's possibly future U.S. senator, defeated Barack Obama 73-25 here, taking 68 of the 75 House seats and 27 of the 29 Senate districts. But things were a lot more eventful in 2016. Trump won a plurality in 55 House seats, while Clinton took 19 and McMullin managed to carry one. In the Senate, Trump carried 23 seats and Clinton won six, while McMullin struck out.

We'll start with a look at the House, which is up every two years, and the one McMullin seat anywhere in the country. McMullin's win came in HD-63, located in the Provo area. While Romney won it 86-11, McMullin outpaced Trump 44-32, with Clinton a distant third at 19 percent. Republican state Rep. Dean Sanpei defeated his Democratic foe 79-21.

McMullin came close to winning one other seat, the neighboring HD-64. Romney won 82-15 here, while Trump only outpaced McMullin 39-34, with Clinton taking 22; GOP incumbent Norm Thurston was unopposed. McMullin also took second place in another 31 seats, all of which were carried by Trump. McMullin's weakest performance was in HD-25, which just happened to be both Obama and Clinton's best seat. Obama carried this Salt Lake City seat 70-24, while Clinton beat Trump 74-11; McMullin took just 8 percent.

Clinton won a majority of the vote in the same seven House seats that Obama carried, and Democrats represent them all. An additional 12 seats went from Romney to Clinton; half these districts have a Republican representative, and Democrats hold the other six. No Democrats represent any Trump seats.

The Democrat in the most competitive seat is Sue Duckworth in Salt Lake County's HD-22. This seat went from 59-37 Romney to a thin 35.8-35.3 Clinton, while McMullin took 20.3 here. Amidst all this chaos, Duckworth beat her GOP opponent 52-48. The Republican in the bluest seat is Craig Hall in HD-33, another Salt Lake seat. This district went from 53-44 Romney to 45-31 Clinton, with 16 going to McMullin. However, Hall won 51-49.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2kc9Z8T

Republicans hate strong, ambitious women. That's why they have their sights set on Elizabeth Warren

In her new book What Happened, Hillary Clinton has an entire chapter devoted to what it’s like being a woman in politics. In it, she addresses the rampant sexism and misogyny that women endure as political candidates and public officials. She is candid in her assessment of how men in politics are far less scrutinized, tested, and painted as hypocritical in the ways that women are. It is a harsh truth and a sad demonstration of how far we have to go toward gender equality in this country. 

Hillary Clinton isn’t likely to run for office again. However, what she describes is a phenomenon not unique to her but instead one experienced by a number of women in politics. One notable example is Elizabeth Warren. Warren is the darling of the progressive left and a number of Democrats are hopeful that she will run for president in 2020. She has announced that she has no plans to do so. But that has not stopped the right wing from investing the same level of vitriol and mudslinging in her that it did with Hillary.

Yet now, as many hope and speculate that she might run in 2020, the right is investing in a story line about Warren that is practically indistinguishable from the one they peddled for years about Clinton. And even in these early days, some of that narrative is finding its way into mainstream coverage of Warren, and in lefty reactions to it.

It’s a literal investment, one that may mean that conservatives see Warren as among the most dangerous of their future presidential opposition. [...]

But most notable was the $150,000 sunk by conservative hedge-fund billionaire and Breitbart benefactor Robert Mercer into a super-PAC called Massachusetts First, built specifically to target Warren.

It looks like the money given by Mercer is going to radio ads that target Warren as an elite, liberal professor who collected loads of money in the form of her Harvard Law School salary while her students went into debt for their education. And true to their playbook, just like with Hillary, Republicans are painting Warren as untrustworthy. 

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2kdVlhq

Secretary Tillerson acknowledges Washington has channels open to Pyongyang for starting direct talks

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Beijing for three days of talks on trade, investment, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons, hinted Saturday at the possibilities of a retreat from the overheated, bellicose threats that have recently characterized interactions between North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and Pr*sident Donald Trump. Tillerson acknowledged at a press conference that the United States is in direct communication with North Korea’s leaders, noting that it has a ”couple, three channels open to Pyongyang” and seeks a dialogue with the latest addition to the world’s nuclear weapons nations.

David E. Sanger at The New York Times reports:

“We are probing, so stay tuned,” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said, when pressed about how he might begin a conversation with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, that could avert what many government officials fear is a significant chance of open conflict between the two countries.

“We ask, ‘Would you like to talk?’ We have lines of communications to Pyongyang — we’re not in a dark situation, a blackout,” he added. “We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang,” a reference to North Korea’s capital.

Given the tensions and trepidation caused by what one highly respected retired U.S. admiral recently said is the closest the world has come to a possible nuclear exchange since the Cuban missile crisis 55 years ago, It might be tempting to make too much of Tillerson’s remarks. But they do at least offer hope there will be no need to spruce up the abandoned backyard bomb shelters some Americans built in the 1950s and ‘60s as the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union ratcheted up and thousands of nuclear warheads were manufactured and put on hair-trigger alert by both sides. 

But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.

At this stage there’s no reason to believe that Trump will back off from calling Kim a “madman” or that Kim will stop labeling Trump a “dotard” and “deranged,” with both men spouting off about blasting the other with the first nuclear weapons delivered in anger since the United States flattened half of Nagasaki, Japan, 72 years ago. On Saturday, for instance, North Korean state media issued a statement that said Trump was heading for a "suicidal act of inviting a nuclear disaster that will reduce America to a sea of flames." 

Jonathan Kaiman and Jessica Meyers at the Los Angeles Times report:

Tillerson also said it was essential “to calm things down” between North Korea and the United States and its allies. Asked if that pertained to Trump as well, Tillerson told reporters, “I think the whole situation is a bit overheated right now. I think everyone would like for it to calm down.”

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2x5KN4Y

Celebrities Come For Donald Trump After He Knocks San Juan Mayor

"[Puerto Rico] is our responsibility."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2hGa9EM

Health care is the fight that shows Democrats fight for everyone

Since the election last year, we’ve witnessed fight after internal fight about what liberals and the Democratic Party should do next. It seems like the one topic where everyone seems to have an opinion. This is a good thing because it means people are involved and engaged.

I’ve written before that many people who voted for Trump voted for him because they thought he was going to fight for the little guy.

I’ll take this fight with a billionaire any day.

Recent polling confirms this view and provides some suggestions about what fights to pick and what doesn’t work.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xRJ6MB

Philly unveils city's first statue of a black American, civil rights activist Octavius Catto

The city of Philadelphia has more than 1,700 public statues throughout the city and none of them portrayed a black American—until now. The diverse city recently unveiled a statue of Octavius Catto. Hyperallergic reports:

 Today a statue of 19th-century civil rights activist and teacher Octavius V. Catto was unveiled outside of Philadelphia’s City Hall. The 12-foot-tall bronze is at the center of a memorial that honors his extensive contributions, from rallying for the desegregation of street cars, to establishing African American baseball clubs. Emblazoned on granite pillars shaped like upended trolley cars are selections from his words: “There must come a change … which shall force upon this nation … that course which Providence seems wisely to be directing for the mutual benefit of … peoples.”

The city’s mayor hopes the statue will be the first step in recognizing the contributions this man provided to the city—and to the country as a whole. NBC 10 writes:

Mayor Jim Kenney, who first learned of Catto as a city councilman and led a 15-year crusade to memorialize the activist, called him "a true American hero" who should be revered by all Philadelphians and whose legacy should be taught to all Americans.

"My hope is that someday, every child in Philadelphia will know as much about Octavius Valentine Catto as they do about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Martin Luther King," Kenney said.

The move to honor him is particularly touching considering his untimely demise. After working tirelessly to secure voting rights for black men, he was shot and murdered on the same day black men were finally allowed to vote in October 1871.

See the photo from the unveiling below.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2yzGboR

Retired Lieutenant General: As Trump Golfs, San Juan Mayor Is ‘Living On A Cot’

"I hope the president has a good day at golf," he said.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fZS1BM

This week at progressive state blogs: GOP tax plan screws almost everybody except you-know-who

Why Jerry Seinfeld Can Still Listen To Bill Cosby And Stephen Colbert Can’t

The two shared opposing viewpoints on Cosby's tattered legacy.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2x4LCQg

Country All-Stars To Stage Benefit For People Affected By 4 Hurricanes

The funds will go toward helping people in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fzPDRI

View from the Left: Mitch McConnell finally reaps what he sowed

"Your day of reckoning is coming!" former White House aide Steve Bannon warned the Republican establishment during an election-eve rally for insurgent GOP senate candidate Roy Moore.

Bannon railed against Senate Leader Mitch McConnell Monday night for dumping tens of millions of dollars in attack ads on the Alabama race in order to prop up his chosen candidate, Luther Strange, who ultimately suffered a 9-point shellacking from Moore.

"Mitch McConnell and the permanent political class is the most corrupt and incompetent group of individuals in this country," Bannon told the crowd. They had thrown money at the race hand over fist, Bannon said, "cuz they think you're a pack of morons, they think you're nothing but rubes."

Heading into the race, McConnell did seem to be under the impression that his double-standard dealings as Senate Leader could be wallpapered over at the ballot box with some lavish advertising.

"Roy Moore is just in it for himself," charged one attack ad sponsored by McConnell's super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund. The ad accused of Moore of "getting over a million dollars from a charity he ran" and concluded, "You can't trust Roy Moore."

But on Election Day, Alabama voters responded to the charges with a collective, Who gives a f#ck? After all, McConnell spent two years looking the other way as Donald Trump—a man who plundered his own charity for personal gain—won the Republican nomination and then became president. All the while, McConnell, much like his counterpart in the House, Paul Ryan, never took a decisive stand against Trump's moral depravity.

Why McConnell ever thought he stood a chance of taming the beast Trump has unleashed after decades of grooming the GOP base to feast on raw emotion over facts is a mystery. No one has exemplified the motto that rules are for other people better than McConnell, who for a solid year blocked President Obama from fulfilling his Constitutional duty to appoint a Supreme Court justice then changed the Senate rules to pave the way for Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2fA9a4F

An Updated ‘TRL’ Gets Ready For A New Generation Of Music Fans

The music video request show that closed up shop in the age of on-demand internet is angling for a comeback.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2yMVYBP

Mr. Trump, you skeevy blowhard, shut the hell up about Mayor Cruz in San Juan

The Ultimate Pittsburgh Road Trip Playlist

According to Spotify data, Pittsburgh residents like their Wiz Khalifa.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xMQrgy

White House weighs tougher immigration rules to make up for Trump's deal on Dreamers

GOP nativists are apparently freaking out over Donald Trump's supposed deal with Democrats to provide deportation relief to Dreamers, so the White House is looking for ways to appease the hardliners. The New York Times writes:

White House officials are circulating a set of hard-line immigration proposals — including the hiring of 10,000 new immigration enforcement agents — to House Republicans alarmed by President Trump’s pledge to protect around 800,000 so-called Dreamers.

The outline, drafted by Mr. Trump’s top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, and the Domestic Policy Council, should be seen as an administration wish list rather than a set of demands, according to an official involved directly in the drafting.

Trump's new "wish list" includes beefed-up border security, new restrictions on legal immigration, and more Homeland Security agents.

But perhaps most importantly, the measures could sink entirely the framework Trump reportedly agreed to with Democrats in order to provide protections for Dreamers—of course.

A House Democratic leadership aide called the proposal a “complete nonstarter” and “not a serious document.” The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it does not reflect the agreement the president made with Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi.

Nothing good ever comes from the pen of Stephen Miller.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2x5tMrv

Hybrid Toyota pickup still under consideration

Filed under: Green,Toyota,Truck,Future,Hybrid

It's not imminent, but it's in the planning stages.

Continue reading Hybrid Toyota pickup still under consideration

Hybrid Toyota pickup still under consideration originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 Sep 2017 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The damage done to Puerto Rico's power grid alone is catastrophic

US citizens needing help in Puerto Rico probably won’t be able to register with FEMA online or by phone anytime soon. It’s been lights out since Hurricane Maria roared from one end of the island to the other last week. Mile after mile of residential power lines are down, the pole-mounted transformers that convert the transmitted electricity to voltages and currents used by households and offices are either wrecked or missing altogether, and many of the power plants themselves suffered heavy damage. The wreckage wrought by Maria to the grid alone is so extensive that it could take years to repair:

The damage is so severe that simply repairing the electrical grid may not be an option. “We really should think in terms of rebuilding at this point,” says Ken Buell, director of Emergency Response and Recovery with the US Department of Energy. Paying for it will be a challenge, however: the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, is bankrupt, with at least $9 billion in debt, The New York Times reported in July. “They’re saying as far as economic impact, we're talking probably billions of dollars of impact,” Buell says. “So it's a big deal.”

When Donald Trump isn’t busy dealing with the national crisis of football players kneeling for a few moments during a song, or hating on Republicans in Congress who are mortified at the thought of insurance companies not being able to drop children battling leukemia, he’s quick to say how great a job he’s doing in Puerto Rico. According to Trump, he’s doing such an incredible job that that officials are calling him up to compliment the tremendous job he’s doing—and all he does is work!

But PR will need drinking water, food, and fuel to power generators for months, possibly years in some places. So, at some point, people who actually know what they’re doing are going to have to put together a long term plan to help those millions of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico crawl out of the storm-induced stone age that has taken over the island.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xJ9Eh1

White House knuckles under and institutes Obama rule on vehicle emissions, but vows to repeal it

After several delays, the Trump regime Thursday surrendered in the face of an eight-state lawsuit demanding that it implement an Obama administration rule requiring hundreds of transportation agencies to measure and compare the impacts of proposed projects on vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases.

The idea behind the rule is that these carbon pollution measurements would go far toward changing thinking about the efficacy of transportation projects and spur fresh thinking to reduce their climatic impacts.

Getting the rule implemented is a major victory for environmental advocates. But it comes with a big caveat. In announcing the reversal, the Federal Highway Administration also stated that it “has initiated additional rule-making procedures proposing to repeal the measure.” Michael Laris reports:

“Today, the Trump Administration backed down and will now implement the measure as is legally required,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said in a statement. “Climate change is real. If President Trump is not prepared to admit it or to do his job of protecting our families by enforcing our environmental rules, then I’m prepared as Attorney General to call his bluff.”

California and the other states — Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon and Vermont — alleged in the suit, filed last week, that the administration had intentionally, and unlawfully, failed to give people the required opportunity to comment on the indefinite delay. Environmental groups had sued over the issue earlier, as well.

Various industry groups have opposed the rule, and the Trump regime has become notorious in some circles for working to cut federal environmental regulations, including this one. 

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2x5dbnU

Meet The Unapologetic Female Rapper Who Bumped Taylor Swift From The #1 Spot

Cardi B just became the first solo female rapper to top the Billboard Hot 100 since 1998.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2x4UtN1

Will The Reboot Of This Cult Classic Be The Same Without The Original Cast?

Disney’s remaking it's 1993 cult classic “Hocus Pocus," but the three stars of the original film won't be present.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2wqo2cy

MV Augusta and Lewis Hamilton team up again for the F4 LH44

Filed under: Motorsports,Motorcycle,Luxury,Performance,Specialty

Just 44 of these are up for grabs, and at least one's already been sold well above the rumored retail price of around 50,000 euros.

Continue reading MV Augusta and Lewis Hamilton team up again for the F4 LH44

MV Augusta and Lewis Hamilton team up again for the F4 LH44 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 Sep 2017 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda Slams President For His Attacks On San Juan Mayor

"No long lines for you," he said. "They'll clear a path."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2kbZK4v

Congressional aides are trading stocks as they help write legislation affecting those companies

Wait, what? House and Senate aides are trading stocks in the very companies their bosses are regulating or deregulating?

A POLITICO review of federal disclosures for 2015 and 2016 found that some senior aides regularly buy and sell individual stocks that present potential conflicts of interest with their work. A smaller number of staffers trade in companies that lobby Congress and the committees that employ them. In all, approximately 450 aides have bought or sold a stock of more than $1,001 in value since May 2015.

It's being done by aides to both parties; the defense by most of the staffers is that their brokers are doing the trading and they're not involved. But that's nearly impossible to check, and the possibility that staffers are buying and selling stocks based on insider information about which companies will be helped or hurt by legislation they themselves are writing is very, very real.

As Congress finalized a massive tax-and-spending package at the end of 2015, Hoppe and his wife invested in two petroleum companies that were aggressively lobbying Congress to lift the 30-year ban on oil exports, Occidental Petroleum and Devon Energy. Hoppe made the purchases 16 days before Congress announced plans to lift the ban on oil. During the fall of 2016, as Congress finalized and passed a $6 billion medical research bill, Hoppe’s spouse invested in the pharmaceutical companies Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Hoppe was House Speaker Paul Ryan's chief of staff for two years. Like most people surrounding Paul Ryan, he sounds like a real peach.

“I’m obviously older, and they don’t pay the same on Capitol Hill as I was making in the private sector,” Hoppe said. “My wife likes living in a house as opposed to living in a car.” [...]

“Is it in the realm of possibility that somebody could do that? Yes. Is it very likely? No,” Hoppe said. “But people who are dishonest will find a way to be dishonest.”

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2kbclov

Mom Of Plano Mass Shooting Victim Describes Last Week Of Her Daughter’s Life

27-year-old Meredith Hight was just getting her life back on track when her estranged husband ended it.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xEYNqV

Voting Rights Roundup: GOP launches group to raise tens of millions for 2020s redistricting battles

Leading Off

● National Republican Redistricting Trust: Back in January, some of America's top Democrats unveiled a new group called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee that plans to raise millions of dollars and coordinate the party’s redistricting efforts across the country ahead of the post-2020 congressional and state legislative remapping. On Thursday, the National Republican Redistricting Trust, a GOP organization backed by the Republican National Committee, emerged to oppose it. As demonstrated by the maps at the top of this post, gerrymandering can play a major role in manipulating election outcomes.​

Campaign Action

​As author David Daley previously reported in his 2016 book "Ratf**ked," Republicans devoted roughly $30 million to the Republican State Legislative Committee's Redistricting Majority Project, called REDMAP, ahead of the 2010 redistricting cycle. REDMAP spent money on key races the GOP needed to win to flip legislatures and gain control over drawing the lines this decade and benefitted mightily from the 2010 midterm wave. Consequently, a national umbrella organization isn't quite as big of an innovation for the GOP in 2020 as it is for Democrats, who simply had no equivalent to REDMAP heading into 2010.

However, after years of gerrymandering’s effects locking Democrats out of power in Congress and numerous legislatures, both parties are now acutely aware of the stakes involved at the national level. The Washington Examiner reports that the GOP's newly formed NRRT is setting an initial budget of $35 million, but that number could easily rise, since super PAC-like groups like NRRT can raise large individual donations from wealthy donors. Indeed, Republican groups have previously indicated that GOP redistricting spending could top $100 million.

Democrats have their work cut out for them if they want to prevent the GOP from using this decade's ill-gotten gains to lock in their partisan advantage for another decade, which is what would happen if the current partisan control of state governments doesn't change by 2021. Even nonpartisan groups simply fighting for fairer maps via ballot initiatives and the courts will have to contend with well-funded GOP opposition and the fact that many states don't allow those measures. Consequently, Democratic legislative gains that result in more shared partisan control of state governments is good for both Democrats and democracy.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2hD2VRT

Passenger Drone lives up to its name with manned flight

Filed under: Green,Videos,Transportation Alternatives,Emerging Technologies,Technology,Luxury,Specialty

The company has been quietly working on its tech for the last three years.

Continue reading Passenger Drone lives up to its name with manned flight

Passenger Drone lives up to its name with manned flight originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 Sep 2017 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After the mayor begged for help for her dying people, Trump called her “nasty.”

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2hD1cfi

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Trump is losing the war of ideas but holding his own with con jobs

This about race and the USAF and the country.

x

You need to watch this right away...trust me. Thank you Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria for your service. http://pic.twitter.com/WPUVl0mXJh

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 29, 2017

“If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect then get out.”

x

RT @thehill: Puerto Ricans: Trump's relief efforts are a "disaster" https://t.co/sX44Upjree http://pic.twitter.com/mwykSIsNUN

— Mary Agnes Carey (@maryagnescarey) September 29, 2017

The problem is Trump wanted credit faster than it was deserved, and then wanted the Puerto Rican problem to go away. He didn't understand. He still doesn’t. 

It is exactly for that reason we said he was unqualified to be president. And we were right.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xEJuhT

Margot Robbie Just Nervously Tattooed A Fan During A TV Interview

“My hands are shaking, but you don’t want to hear that.”

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fFA1jv

Trump Supporters Share Fake Snap Of NFL Player Burning The Flag

The picture went viral, but it's totally bogus.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xNmIDw

Twitter Goes Pun-Crazy Over Tom Price’s Resignation

"Price had too much baggage, overhead."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fFCUAI

Police Give All-Clear After Active Shooter Reports At U.S. Air Force Academy

"No injuries and no active shooter."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2fXxD4j

Climber Falls From Cathedral Spiral, Marking Third Yosemite Incident This Week

The accident follows a series of rockfalls on El Capitan that injured two and killed one Wednesday.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2kbXSbE

Open thread for night owls: Federal enforcer wants Wall Street bankers to police themselves

Uber's Kalanick reignites power struggle, names two to board

Filed under: Green,Hirings/Firings/Layoffs,Transportation Alternatives,Technology

The appointments were a "complete surprise" to Uber and its board

Continue reading Uber's Kalanick reignites power struggle, names two to board

Uber's Kalanick reignites power struggle, names two to board originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Sep 2017 22:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia man on death row granted stay of execution by SCOTUS due to possible juror racial bias

On Tuesday night, the Supreme Court of the United States overruled the Supreme Court of Georgia and issued a stay of execution for an inmate who has been on death row since the 1990s. Keith Tharpe was sentenced to death for the murder of his sister-in-law. He appealed the execution on the basis that a juror voted for the death penalty because he (the juror) was racist. The stay is meant to serve as temporary relief until the Court decides if they will hear his appeal.

Conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented, saying they would not have granted the stay.

In post-conviction appeals, Tharpe did not deny killing [Jacquelin Freeman]. He sought a stay of execution based in part on racist comments from a juror who has since died.

In an interview seven years after Tharpe's sentencing, juror Barney Gattie used the n-word in reference to Tharpe and other black people and wondered "if black people even have souls." Tharpe's lawyers argued that a biased juror violated Tharpe's constitutional rights to a fair trial. Furthermore, his attorneys argued Tharpe is ineligible for execution because he is intellectually disabled.

Tharpe was accused of kidnapping and shooting his sister-in-law to death as well as sexually assaulting his wife. He was initially tried and convicted in 1991. However, it wasn’t until 1998 when lawyers were looking into whether or not his detainment was lawful that they found that the juror in question may have been biased during the trial.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2hCBHe7

Tom Price Once Blasted Lawmakers Over Use Of Military Aircraft Fleet

"This is just another example of fiscal irresponsibility run amok in Congress right now," he said in 2009.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xExFbx

Canadian Couple Ends Epic Custody Battle Over Hockey Tickets

Beverly and Donald McLeod say goodbye to a 35-year marriage and hello to a split on the Oilers tickets.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xRbEFY

Even Fox News agrees: 79 percent polled support citizenship for undocumented immigrant youth

Campaign Action

We all know that Fox News is real news. CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, even that Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, all fake. Fake, fake, fake. Fox News is real news. That’s it, folks. Trust nothing else:

Large majorities of voters favor granting work permits or citizenship to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, according to the latest Fox News poll.

Sixty-two percent say it is extremely or very important Congress pass immigration law that will address the Dreamers. Voters think this is more important than passing new health care (58 percent important) or tax reform legislation (52 percent).

… Overwhelming majorities favor granting work permits (86 percent favor vs. 12 percent oppose) and U.S. citizenship (79-19 percent) to illegal immigrants under the age of 30 brought here as children, provided they pass a background check.

And that support extends beyond Dreamers: “The poll finds a record-high 83 percent of voters support setting up a system for all illegal immigrants who are currently working in the country to become legal residents,” notes real news Fox News, “up nine points since last year. Just 14 percent say ‘deport as many as possible.’”

Sarcasm aside, Fox News just confirms what basically every other poll out there has already confirmed. In a Trump era where it’s hard to get nearly 90 percent of American voters to agree on anything, Americans overwhelmingly believe undocumented immigrant youth should be able to stay, work, and live in the only country they know as home. Even Fox agrees.

And if Congress would just allow the bipartisan Dream Act to come to a vote, it could pass.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2xMO6BW

Utah warning it will have to end children's health program without federal help

Congressional Republicans are letting vital health programs for children and low-income Americans expire, choosing to forego working through tomorrow to reauthorize the programs before the fiscal year ends Saturday at midnight. One state—Utah—is warning of pending disaster if the Congress doesn't get this done fast.

Utah health officials submitted their intentions to close an insurance program for children in low- to middle-income families if Congress does not reauthorize its funding.

The state's Division of Medicaid and Health Financing sent a letter Sept. 15 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which outlined its plan to close its Children’s Health Insurance Program if Congress fails to renew its funding by its deadline Saturday. Without the necessary federal dollars, division spokeswoman Kolbi Young said the program’s funding will run out by the end of the year.

The federal and state program provides wellness exams, immunizations, doctors visits, prescriptions and other forms of health care to nearly 20,000 children in Utah. The kids typically come from families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid, the federal and state insurance program for low-income people.

Utah taking the lead here is significant, since it's their senior senator—Republican Orrin Hatch—who is responsible for the reauthorization as chairman of the Finance Committee. That makes him responsible for the 20,000 kids in Utah and for the nearly 9 million children and pregnant women on the program nation-wide. The lack of urgency he's demonstrating in getting this done isn't just a problem for Utah. A handful of other states don't have enough funds in reserve to keep their programs running until the end of the year, and most states won't have enough to extend far into next year.

This is after Hatch and his ranking member, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) reached an agreement to not just fund the program, but extend funding for five years. That was two weeks ago, and then all progress came to a screeching halt. It was more important to Senate Republicans to turn all their attention to the latest harebrained Trumpcare scheme, and for House Republicans to work on their plan for tax cuts for the rich.

Maybe the warning from Utah will be enough to light a fire under Hatch and the funding will be approved before lasting damage is done. To this program, anyway.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2yfjavm

Senate Republicans admit they don't give a damn about the deficit, or accountability, in new budget

Senate Republicans released their budget resolution for the next fiscal year. In it, they abandon—to a degree—the idea of repealing Obamacare and finally admit to the world that they don't care about deficits. At all.

The 89-page plan, which the Senate Budget Committee spent months drafting, sets up the special power of budget reconciliation GOP leaders can use to advance tax reform with just a 50-vote threshold in the Senate. Nov. 13 is the tentative deadline for tax writers to submit their plans for an overhaul to the budget panel.

Under the budget proposal, Republican tax writers can add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, giving lawmakers more flexibility as they attempt a once-in-a-generation revamp of the U.S. tax code. With more wiggle room to slash revenue, GOP legislators hope they will be able to go even lower on tax rates for individuals and corporations.

They can do tax cuts with just 50 votes in these new instructions, but didn't include Obamacare repeal—not directly anyway. The instructions it includes for the Senate Finance committee allows that $1.5 trillion in added deficits between both revenues and outlays—it doesn't rule out changes to the subsidies for Obamacare, the various taxes included in it, or changes to Medicaid expansion or Medicaid itself. So while "repeal" isn't allowed with 50 votes in the new instructions, a partial repeal is definitely in there.

Here's another tricky thing it does, as discovered by David Kamin, a former staff adviser on economic policy to President Obama: it gets rid of the Senate rule requiring a Congressional Budget Office score for votes under budget reconciliation. Without the CBO score, the old rules say, a budget resolution bill—like the one they'll have for tax cuts—would have to get a supermajority vote. Their excuse is that requiring the accountability of a CBO score is "unnecessarily restrictive to the deliberative nature of the institution."

That's a blow to both accountability and transparency. They don't want the public to know how damaging their proposals are. Period.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2fwvJqA

Questions Over The Trump Administration’s Travel Spending Won’t End With Price

Trump may have promised to “drain the swamp,” but several Cabinet secretaries appear to fit right in.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xRpCaQ

Blacks at greater risk from bankruptcy system, more likely to end up with no relief than whites

Last month, a Forbes article detailed the dire state of finances for communities of color in this country. In his article, “Median Wealth of Black and Latino Families Could Hit Zero by the Middle of the Century,” Erik Sherman explains that by 2053, the median wealth of black households will be zero. According to Sherman, it is wealth inequality that continues to disadvantage black and Latino households. Though income inequality remains persistent, “wealth transfer and the advantages wealth provides—come together in ugly ways” to disadvantage these two groups, particularly black Americans.  

But there’s more. For centuries, legal structures have been used to systemically prevent blacks from obtaining wealth. By examining the modern bankruptcy system, we find yet another way that blacks are marginalized and continue to be saddled with debt. This is particularly true in the South, Memphis in particular, which has some of the highest black bankruptcy rates in the nation.

When ProPublica analyzed consumer bankruptcy filings nationwide, the district [the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee] stood out, both for the stunning number of cases in which debtors were unable to get relief, and for the reasons why. 

In Memphis, an entrenched legal culture has made bankruptcy a boon for attorneys while miring clients in a cycle of futility. 

Under federal bankruptcy law, people overwhelmed by debt have a choice: They can either file under Chapter 7, which wipes out debts and, since most filers lack significant assets, allows them to keep what little they have. Or they can choose Chapter 13, which usually requires five years of payments to creditors before any debts are eliminated, but blocks foreclosures and car repossessions as long as debtors can keep up. In most of the country, Chapter 7 is the overwhelming choice. Only in the South, in a band of states stretching from North Carolina to Texas, is Chapter 13 predominant.

Unfortunately, many people confuse the difference between the two. Both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 prevent garnishments and debt collections—but unlike Chapter 7, the relief under Chapter 13 is not permanent and only lasts as long as payments are made for five years on outstanding debts.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2hEh6Gp

Trump said W.H. runs like a ‘fine-tuned machine.’ The record suggests otherwise.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2xEz7KJ

Sex Robot Molested At Electronics Festival, Creators Say

"Because they did not understand the technology and did not have to pay for it, they treated the doll like barbarians."

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2k7ZxPu

Prince Harry Hanging With Obama And Biden At Invictus Games Will Warm Your Heart

Swoon.

from HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News http://ift.tt/2x1MIfT

Complaint: Texas taxes for family planning services were illegally spent by forced-birther group

The nonprofit government watchdog Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint Tuesday with the Travis County (Texas) District Attorney alleging thievery by the Heidi Group because it accepted millions of dollars in state funds to provide services that it never provided. It also filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service, asking that the Heidi Group lose its tax-exempt status on the grounds it’s engaging in political activities not permitted by groups holding that status. Nicole Knight at Rewire reports:

“Texas taxpayers deserve to know where their hard-earned money has gone,” Katie O’Connor, the Campaign for Accountability’s legal counsel, said in a statement.

Texas officials contracted with the Heidi Group to provide $7 million in family planning services to families with low incomes when it barred health-care provider Planned Parenthood from the state health-care program. Reports showed the Heidi Group shifted the money to anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers, or fake clinics. A six-month investigation by the Campaign for Accountability found the Heidi Group misspent the money. [...]

Through a public records request, the Campaign for Accountability discovered the Heidi Group had spent as much as 11 percent of its annual expenditures in one year on the “Heidi Group Cruise.” The anti-choice organization allegedly engaged in unreported lobbying and prohibited acts, such as electioneering and endorsing political candidates for state and federal office.

Texas authorities chose several years ago to fund crisis pregnancy centers instead of Planned Parenthood. As noted here, CPCs are forced-birther propagandists notorious for lying to women about abortion, failing to discuss contraception, and offering few if any of the health services that Planned Parenthood has justly been widely applauded for over many decades. 

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2hBUmqj