The marmalade madman and his administration of evil doers, including one barrstard and one vamplre are really intent on mucking up the laws and traditions of our democracy. I really had a hard time digesting why our leaders want to “work” with the people who hate America and the majority of it’s inhabitants. That questionable move aside, our committee leaders continue to fight the good fight. That being said, I know we all will fight too. We resist, we persevere, we GOTV and most of all we spread the good words of the day through love and persistence. I know we are in this together, I feel it here and I feel in a few other groups I frequent here at this mighty site. The fellowship is strong, revel in it, utilize it, let it help you keep looking for the good and most of all know you are not alone in this. We will fight the good fight and we will win this battle.
Yes, I saw the movie. My son and his wife treated me, my other son talked me into it. It was amazing and I am glad I experienced it at the theater. I have not been out to the movies in well over ten years. My point is I feel like we are the Avengers, taking back OUR country from the evil forces of the political and corporate overlords. Anyhoo.
That man has brass one’s and the dumpster fire is barking up the wrong tree.
Democratic Senators called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller report.
In a Tuesday letter, led by Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Democrats accused Barr of misleading the public when he issued a four-page summary of special counsel Robert Mueller report’s on Russian interference in the 2016 election before releasing the full report.
“It is unclear what statute, regulation, or policy led the Attorney General to interject his own conclusion that the President’s conduct did not amount to obstruction of justice,” the Democratic senators wrote. “The Attorney General’s conduct is even more concerning given that the report itself identifies Congress’s impeachment authority and future prosecution once the President leaves office as possible ways to address the obstruction of justice evidence.”
They also questioned whether he had shown enough impartiality to oversee ongoing issues related to the Mueller investigation that were referred to the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In addition to Hirono, the letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Kamala Harris of California, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Patty Murray of Washington, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
I know the retrashicans will call BS and the DOJ will sit on their slimy hands but at least the Dem’s are trying.
I am including this just for informative reasons and am not trying to start the “to impeach/arrest/whatever” tit for tat. I just think options need to remain open as this all plays out.
Democrats Could Escalate Their Fight Against Trump’s Stonewalling
When past administrations have defied subpoenas, Congress has fought back by suing in federal court, where White House lawyers can drag proceedings past the next election.
House Oversight Committee chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he would consider using the congressional power of “inherent contempt” to force administration officials to comply with information requests.
“We’ll do whatever we’ve got to do,” Cummings told reporters Tuesday. “We simply can not have a situation where the Oversight Committee or any of our committees are being blocked with regard to information.”
I just want the public educated about what is truly happening and if we can’t get public testimony, how will that happen? I am on the fence over a lot of this. On the other hand I would also love to see them all go down, I mean way down, so far down we never hear or see their lying arses ever again. Sorry rant done.
One more item in regard to all of this outrage. This CNN article is well worth the read!
The Mueller report: A catalog of 77 Trump team lies and falsehoods
The Mueller report documents at least 77 specific instances where President Donald Trump's campaign staff, administration officials and family members, Republican backers and his associates lied or made false assertions (sometimes unintentionally) to the public, Congress, or authorities, according to a new CNN analysis. The plurality of lies came from Trump himself, and most of them took place while he was president.
I know a lot has been written about the NRA melt down (thoughts and prayers, ya’ll), but I had to share this:
The NRA Is A Crashed Car On Fire, Ready To Explode
The National Rifle Association is facing collapse. Membership is plummeting. Investigations are opening. And victims of gun violence are holding the organization accountable for deaths all across the country.
Those may have been the best words I have read...poor little gun nuts.
The NRA’s recent embarrassments could pale in comparison to what happens next.
Following The Trace’s report, Shannon Watts of the gun safety group Moms Demand Action said its parent organization, Everytown, had filed a complaint with the IRS over the NRA’s tax-exempt status.
Everytown “is calling on the IRS, Congress, and state charities regulators to investigate the [NRA], its officers and board members to determine if a pattern of financial mismanagement and self-dealing is so pervasive as to jeopardize their tax-exempt charity status,” Watts said in a Twitter thread.
The New York attorney general’s office said it was also launching an investigation into the group, which could further threaten its tax-exempt status.
“As part of this investigation, the Attorney General has issued subpoenas,” a spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
And for all of the NRA’s work putting Trump in office, the president has only mustered a couple of tweets on Monday calling the investigation into the group “illegal” and “unfair.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) didn’t seem too concerned by Trump’s whining, according to a statement he released Monday:
“Unlike you, President Trump, New York is not afraid to stand up to the NRA.”
Rutro Elroy:
Mueller complained that Barr’s letter did not capture ‘context’ of Trump probe
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wrote a letter in late March complaining to Attorney General William P. Barr that a four-page memo to Congress describing the principal conclusions of the investigation into President Trump “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of Mueller’s work, according to a copy of the letter reviewed Tuesday by The Washington Post.
“The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions,” Mueller wrote. “There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”
The letter made a key request: that Barr release the 448-page report’s introductions and executive summaries, and made some initial suggested redactions for doing so, according to Justice Department officials.
Dun, dun, dun. Tick tock donnie tick tock.
Speaking of a ticking clock:
Federal Judge Allows Trump Emoluments Case to Proceed
A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit from congressional Democrats alleging President Trump's private businesses violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause can move forward, The Washington Post reports. The Justice Department was attempting to dismiss the case, but U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that Democrats had the right to sue Trump over his alleged violation of “gifts or payments from foreign governments” he had received through a number of his businesses.
Aww, so sad too bad.
One more blow to the tangerine tool:
New York push to reveal Trump's state tax returns takes a step forward
A New York effort to enable the release of President Donald Trump's state tax returns is inching closer to becoming law.
On Tuesday, a bill authorizing the release of state returns to Congress moved out of the State Senate's Budget and Revenue Committee.
The bill is expected to be taken up on the floor of the State Senate next week. If passed, it will allow the state's tax commissioner to hand over any New York tax returns at the request of the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, the US Senate Finance Committee or the Joint Committee on Taxation.
State Democrats are hopeful it will present a way around the President's refusal to release his federal filings.
Keep going NY!
Moving on to other good news:
Oklahoma Supreme Court rules restricting drug-induced abortions is unconstitutional
Oklahoma’s Supreme Court on Tuesday scrapped a state law that restricts access to drug-induced abortions, according to The Associated Press.
The 2014 measure, signed by then-Gov. Mary Fallin (R), outlawed “off-label” use of mifepristone, or RU-486, an abortifacient medication, making Oklahoma the only state with such a restriction on the books. The Center for Reproductive Rights sued over the law in September 2014 and a state district court blocked it in November 2017.
The 2014 law required doctors to obey a 2000 FDA labeling protocol for medical termination of pregnancies, rather than a 2016 labeling protocol, and “place[d] a substantial obstacle in the path of women’s choice and place[d] an undue burden on the woman’s rights,” the state supreme court ruled.
This is a moving story and a prefect example of not only the need to rework our health care system but it also highlights the fact that our healthcare should not be dictated by the profits of Wall Street:
Ady Barkan makes a moral case for single payer at first-ever Medicare for All hearing
At the first-ever congressional hearing dedicated to Medicare for All on Tuesday, activist Ady Barkan underscored the urgent need to change our health care system right now.
As he told members of the House Rules Committee, Barkan would rather have been at home with his wife and son instead of making the case for Medicare for All. The renowned organizer is dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
“Every day is precious for me. I don’t have time on my side,” said Barkan, using a text-to-voice computer program because the illness has made it harder for him to use his own voice. “Americans who are dealing with the everyday realities of health care don’t have time on their side. No one should fight to be dealing with dignity again and that’s why I’m here today.”
Truly a hero!
Those scary immigrants the orange toad and his blood sucking companion always rant about, well this:
Dayton, Ohio Reaps Benefits By Welcoming Immigrants
The successful incorporation of immigrants into U.S. communities is important not only for newcomers themselves, but for everyone – in terms of avoiding the social and political conflict that can accompany demographic changes.
Consider what’s happening in Dayton, Ohio, a city that, like many Midwestern towns, has struggled with population loss in recent decades.
This a really great examination of how immigrants help in cities with declining populations. The article contains a ton of links so I just posted a bit, read the rest. By the by, both NY and Mass are making it illegal for ICE to come into the courts to arrest immigrants, good on them.
On to the environment:
Hundreds of High School Graduates May Soon Be Wearing Caps and Gowns Made of Recycled Plastic Bottles
Next spring, the high school graduates of Atlanta public schools may be the first group of students to wear caps and gowns made out of recycled plastic.
Throughout the duration of Earth Week, the Coca-Cola Company collected plastic bottles to recycle and recreate as graduation gear for the class of 2020.
The company hopes to outfit 200 high school graduates by collecting at least 7,000 PET bottles from across Atlanta and several other US cities.
The bottles’ journey to next year’s graduation will continue when they arrive at WestRock Recycling in Atlanta, where they will be sorted and cleaned before making their way to processing plant in North Carolina. There, the bottles will be broken down into pellets, returning the PET to its virgin state. The materials will then be “upcycled” and woven into polyester yarn fabric and shipped to a mill to be cut and sewn into caps and gowns.
So cool, right?
Rooftop Panels of Tiny Plants Can Cleanse Polluted Air at 100 Times the Rate of a Single Tree
Scientists have succeeded in developing the world’s first “biosolar leaf” technology to cleanse polluted city air with shocking efficiency.
Researchers say that the new BioSolar Leaf system uses photosynthesis to purify the same amount of air as 100 trees – all while taking up the same amount of space as a single tree.
The technology, which was developed in collaboration between Imperial College London and startup company Arborea, also serves to create a sustainable source of nutritious, edible food additives that can be harvested and used for plant-based nourishment.
Also cool.
London Marathon Replaces Water Bottles With Biodegradable And Edible Water Pouches
2019 is definitely the year of environmental changes around the world – some use avocado seeds to create biodegradable “plastic”, others wrap their produce in banana leaves – it is clear that there is a growing interest in environmental changes around the world. With the demand for more sustainable products growing, companies around the world are doing their best to find the most eco-friendly solutions. It seems that now, more than ever, people are beginning to notice the impact our actions have on this earth and everyone is trying their best to live a more sustainable life.
For the last couple of years, many people have stated that they would love to participate in public events such as the London marathon but hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles thrown away is a major factor when it comes to deciding whether or not they want to be involved in this type of activity. In 2018, London marathon used 920,000 plastic bottles, and the fact that it takes from 450 to even 1000 years for one plastic bottle to dissolve, proves that changes need to be made as soon as possible.
This year they have collaborated with a startup brand called Skipping Rocks Lab, who created edible water pouches called Ooho that are made from seaweed. Ooho’s main goal is to create packaging that dissolves completely and leaves absolutely no plastic behind, this groundbreaking creation is especially useful at events like this one. The packaging can be easily eaten since it has absolutely no taste or just thrown away because it is completely biodegradable.
Amazing what can be accomplished when great minds come together for the betterment of humanity.
Every time I read anything about the Obama’s I get a tear in my eye. I so miss the normalcy of our world. I know it was not entirely perfect even then but, well I am talking to the choir you know where I would be going with this. Anyway, they are doing awesome things:
The Obamas Reveal What They’re Working On At Netflix
Here’s a look at the newly announced projects that the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions will take on:
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“American Factory,” a documentary that Netflix acquired at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “takes a deep dive into a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant and hires two thousand blue-collar Americans.” The film won the festival’s prestigious Directing Award for U.S. Documentary.
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“Bloom,” a drama series about women and people of color facing discrimination while working in the New York fashion world after World War II. The series is co-created by Oscar winner Callie Khouri, best known for writing “Thelma and Louise.”
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“Crip Camp,” a documentary currently in production about a 1970s summer camp that influenced the disability rights movement.
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A movie adaptation of “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” a biography by author David W. Blight. The book just won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for history.
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A scripted series based on the New York Times’ Overlooked, the paper’s series of obituaries celebrating the lives of important women and people of color who were not covered at the time of their deaths.
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“Listen To Your Vegetables and Eat Your Parents,” a children’s series that “will take young children and their families around the globe on an adventure that tells us the story of our food.”
Sounds amazing!
Sometimes I worry about 2020. Will the people come out and show up and vote? Is there too much information overload? Well looky here:
Voter enthusiasm isn’t much of a problem ahead of 2020 race
There are plenty of interesting results in the new national CNN poll, but this was the question that stood out for me.
“How enthusiastic would you say you are about voting for president in next year’s election –extremely enthusiastic, very enthusiastic, somewhat enthusiastic, not too enthusiastic, or not at all enthusiastic?” Among registered voters:
Extremely enthusiastic: 45%
Very enthusiastic: 29%
Somewhat enthusiastic: 15%
Not too enthusiastic: 5%
Not at all enthusiastic: 5%
Just at face value, without any context, that looks pretty impressive. This survey found nearly half of registered voters are already “extremely” enthusiastic about voting in the 2020 presidential race, and when we add in those who are “very” enthusiastic, the total reaches 74%. That’s roughly three-quarters of the electorate.
Makes me feel better.
So I am sorry for gushing over End Game but it truly was amazing. This is a song from the movie. I won’t spoil to it’s placement or significance.
Anyone for Fosse/Verdon again? Sorry, loving this series, memories for me.
This is how we fight:
Your 5 weekly to-dos
- Take the #WeAreIndivisible pledge. We’ve got 11 candidates and nearly 10,000 grassroots activists signed up. But this simple ask will take all of us to uphold. So, if you haven’t already, take the pledge and add your name. And if your local group is ready to commit to our weekend of action in July 2020, register your event on the map here.
- Tell your members of Congress (MoCs) not to water down H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act. H.R. 6 is scheduled for markup (amended and voted on) in the House Judiciary Committee next week. Even though Democrats have a majority in the Committee, we’re hearing reports that they intend to weaken the bill in order to “inoculate” it from Republican attacks. Call your MoC and tell them to pass a strong H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act!
- Sign up for our May national activist call! Join us on Thursday, May 2 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT for our monthly national call. We’ll cover thoughts on Attorney General William Barr, next steps on impeachment hearings, and the #WeAreIndivisible pledge. Make sure to register here so you don’t miss out!
- Make it clear you support Medicare for All. The House is going to have the first-ever hearing on Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All Act tomorrow. The fact that it’s happening is a testament to the hard work of activists who have built momentum around this bill. It’s time to keep it up by making sure your MoC has co-sponsored the bill.
- Demand legislation to bring drug prices down. Earlier today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus came out in favor of H.R. 1046, Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s bill to bring down prescription drug prices while guaranteeing that patients will still have access to needed medications. You can use our call script to contact your MoC and tell them to sign on as a co-sponsor of this critical legislation!
Don’t forget to follow Yosef52.
”Whatever it takes” people, whatever it takes (again, tributed to Captain America). I am a nerd, okay?
Well you all know what to do from here. Share all the news I missed, share your local news and share your activism. Together, we are.
Peace!