Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Was 2017 the Craziest Year in U.S. Political History?
Politico | author | 12/29/17

Imagine how future historians might try to summarize 2017: A U.S. president, his family and his political aides came under investigation by a special counsel for possibly helping a foreign government meddle in the election. Talk of impeachment swirled through Congress, where the fracturing Republican Party was in the midst of an identity crisis--and the Democrats were, too. Twitter became a source of official U.S. policy. A wave of sexual harassment allegations took down U.S. senators and congressmen, top judges and reporters, and high-profile political candidates--but not the president, who had been caught on tape admitting to grabbing women "by the pussy." We learned that the Pentagon has secretly been studying UFOs. All while the leaders of North Korea and the United States exchanged threats to rain down nuclear "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

But as unbelievable and unprecedented as this year seemed, how wild was it really? Does it come in No. 1 in the pantheon of American political chaos? Or, alongside the Civil Wars, assassinations, race riots and Watergates, does it not even rank? We asked some of the nation's smartest historians to tell us whether 2017 was indeed the craziest year in U.S. political history, and, if not, what year's got it beat. Here's what they had to say. --Elizabeth F. Ralph ... Read more

Trump Boasts He's Signed More Laws Than Any President Since Truman. He's Actually Signed the Fewest.
Slate | Elliot Hannon | 12/27/17

You know if Donald Trump is pushing some sort of record or achievement or a Time cover, you should probably run the numbers again, you know, just to double-check. On Wednesday, while totally not golfing at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Trump reflected on his first year in office in a way only Trump could. That is, he basically made it up. Ruminating on what he considered his achievements, Trump explained at an event with firefighters in West Palm Beach that he had set a record for the most legislation passed in a year. At least that's what it appears he was trying to say:

Donald Trump said: We got a lot of legislation passed ... I believe--and you would have to ask those folks who will know the real answer--we have more legislation passed, including the record ... was Harry Truman, a long time ago. And we broke that record, so we got a lot done."

That is, predictably, not the case. In fact, Trump's version of history is the exact opposite of reality. Trump has signed fewer bills into law than any other president in his first year in office since Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, according to GovTrack.
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Click to zoom in Trump Breaking Records? | TYT | 12/28/17 | 8:29

Trump Veers Away From 70 Years of U.S. Foreign Policy
NYT | Mark Landler | 12/29/17

President Trump has transformed the world's view of the United States from an anchor of the international order into something more inward-looking and unpredictable.

That is a seminal change from the role the nation played for 70 years, and it has lasting implications for how other nations chart their futures. ... Read more

26 Photos That Show The Natural Disasters Humanity Faced In 2017
HP | Chris McGonigal and Damon Dahlen | 12/27/17

For those in the United States, 2017 will probably always be associated with the record hurricanes that caused widespread damage in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. In California, raging wildfires destroyed thousands of structures.

But around the world, millions faced other natural disasters as well, including volcanic eruptions in Indonesia and massive flooding in Peru.

Read more
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*The Laura Flanders Show: Immigrants Dream of Sanctuary | Laura Flanders Show | 12/28/17 | 26:22

13 Days in July: The Trump White House's crucible
AP & wisconsingazette.com | Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller | 12/28/17

They were 13 days that transformed the White House. Even for an administration that spent most of 2017 throwing off headlines at a dizzying pace, events in the second half of July unfolded at breakneck speed. And they yielded aftershocks that reverberate within the White House even as the calendar turns to 2018.

The two-week span laid bare the splintering of Donald Trump's relationships with two influential Cabinet members; foreshadowed the reach of the Russia probe into the interior of his orbit; saw the dramatic, last-minute defeat of one of the president's signature campaign promises; and featured a senior staff shakeup that reset the rhythms of this presidency. ... Read more
*How Two Weeks In July Transformed The White House | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/28/13 | 14:28

*32 Tweets That Encapsulate President Donald Trump's First Year | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/28/13 | 6:49

*'Terrible Numbers' For Donald Trump In New Poll | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/28/13 | 8:44

*How Will The Tax Bill Impact Americans Next Year? | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/28/13 | 4:27

*Rex Tillerson Takes Aim At China, Russia In New Op-Ed | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/28/13 | 5:13

Steve Bannon Blasts 'Javanka' As Everything Wrong With The White House
HP | Mary Papenfuss | 12/23/17

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has attacked President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner as the "railhead of all bad decisions" in the White House.

Bannon picked apart the problems of the White House and derided the couple as "Javanka" in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair published Thursday. He said Ivanka was a "fount of bad advice during the campaign," and claimed he once called her to her face "the queen of leaks." Vanity Fair also reported Bannon considers Kushner an elitist with no political experience who is in over his head and is out of touch with Trump's constituency. ... Read more

Amb. Nikki Haley Negotiates Cuts To US Contributions To United Nations | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC | 12/26/17 | 2:41

**This Should Freak Everyone Out: The Arctic Will Never Be Frozen Again
MotherJones | Eric Holthaus | 12/26/17

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Last week, at a New Orleans conference center that once doubled as a storm shelter for thousands during Hurricane Katrina, a group of polar scientists made a startling declaration: The Arctic as we once knew it is no more.

The region is now definitively trending toward an ice-free state, the scientists said, with wide-ranging ramifications for ecosystems, national security, and the stability of the global climate system. It was a fitting venue for an eye-opening reminder that, on its current path, civilization is engaged in an existential gamble with the planet's life-support system. ... Read more
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The Arctic Report Card 2017

The Arctic as we once knew it is no more. The region is now definitively trending toward an ice-free state, the scientists said, with wide-ranging ramifications for ecosystems, national security, and the stability of the global climate system. It was a fitting venue for an eye-opening reminder that, on its current path, civilization is engaged in an existential gamble with the planet's life-support system.

Trump visited his properties over 100 times this year
CNN | Dan Merica | 12/22/17

West Palm Beach, Florida (CNN)President Donald Trump, fresh off of signing his signature tax legislation, arrived in Florida on Friday for a prolonged visit at Mar-A-Lago, his private club that sits on this tony spit of land in Southern Florida. With him comes a host of White House aides, an abundance of Secret Service agents and the ongoing controversy around the President boosting his private businesses by making frequent visits to properties that bear the Trump name.

Trump's Friday arrival to Mar-A-Lago will mark the 106th day Trump has visited one of his properties as President, a fact that critics argue helps the businessman-turned-politician boost the bottom line at The Trump Organization. Trump transferred his business holdings to a trust run by his sons before taking office earlier this year, but stopped short of selling off his holdings. ... Read more

Trump Visited Properties More Than 100 Times | TYT | 12/25/17 | 5:05

Report: Hundreds of EPA employees leave under Trump
CNN | Sophie Tatum | 12/22/17/span>

Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency employees have exited their posts at the agency over the course of President Donald Trump's first year in office, a report by the New York Times and ProPublica said Friday. The Trump administration has touted efforts to roll back regulations at the agency, and an internal memo obtained by CNN in April revealed a buyout program that was aimed at curbing employment.

... In April, CNN reported that John O'Grady, president of AFGE Council 238, the union that represents EPA employees, said the Trump administration's goal was to cut "at least 3,100 full-time employees." ... Read more
Hundreds Fleeing Trump's EPA | TYT | 12/25/17 | 6:28

Where is Trump's Cabinet? It's anybody's guess.
Politico | Emily Holden | 12/26/17

Agency heads are carrying out the Trump administration's agenda largely in secret, in many cases shielding their schedules from public view.

The Cabinet members carrying out President Donald Trump's orders to shake up the federal government are doing so under an unusual layer of secrecy -- often shielding their schedules from public view, keeping their travels under wraps and refusing to identify the people and groups they're meeting.

A POLITICO review of the practices of 17 Cabinet heads found that at least seven routinely decline to release information on their planned schedules or travels -- information that was more widely available during the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. Four other departments -- Agriculture, Labor, Homeland Security and Education -- provide the secretaries' schedules only sporadically or with few details. The Treasury Department began releasing weekly schedules for Secretary Steven Mnuchin only in November.

In addition, at least seven Cabinet departments don't release appointment calendars that would show, after the fact, who their leaders had met with, what they discussed and where they traveled -- a potential violation of the Freedom of Information Act, which says agencies must make their records "promptly available to any person." At least two departments -- Education and the Environmental Protection Agency -- have released some of those details after activist groups sued them. ... Read more

Trump eyes former aides as West Wing staffers depart
Politico | Andrew Restuccia | 12/21/17

Behind closed doors, the president has lately been talking up the outside advisers who helped usher him into the White House, fueling speculation about new additions in 2018.

Speculation about additions to the cast of characters in Season 2 of Trump’s West Wing has ramped up as the administration braces itself for a wave of staff departures expected in the coming weeks, according to a dozen White House aides and outside advisers who have spoken with the president.

In recent weeks, these people say, Trump has been particularly high on Larry Kudlow, an outside economic adviser to the president and a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan. He helped lobby senators on the tax bill and was on hand at the White House on Wednesday for the South Lawn celebration after it passed. ... Read more

Tax Bill Is Great for Accountants -- Unless They Have Holiday Plans
NYT | Tiffany Hsu | 12/22/17

Jonathan Traub was supposed to spend his family vacation in Breckenridge, Colo., skiing and roasting marshmallows. Instead, Mr. Traub, the head of Deloitte’s tax-policy practice in Washington, has been holed up in the resort town, producing tax-analysis documents and recording podcasts for clients, trying to explain sweeping tax changes in real time.

What’s in the Final Republican Tax Bill
NYT | Wilson Andrews | 12/15/17

House and Senate Republicans have released a final plan to resolve the differences between their tax overhaul bills. The legislation would cut taxes for corporations. American taxpayers, in large part, would also get cuts, though most of the changes affecting taxpayers would expire after 2025. Read more

Trump taunts Democrats as he touts tax reform win
Politico | Louis Nelson | 12/21/17

President Donald Trump predicted Thursday that the package of tax cuts passed Wednesday by Congress "will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves," proving wrong Democrats who he said "hate these big cuts" and the media, who he said "is desperate to write badly" about the White House-backed legislation.

"The Massive Tax Cuts, which the Fake News Media is desperate to write badly about so as to please their Democrat bosses, will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Companies are already making big payments to workers. Dems want to raise taxes, hate these big Cuts!"

The bill, which the president is expected to sign, is the first major legislative victory for Trump and the culmination of a career-long goal for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), long a tax policy wonk who once served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Wrapped up in the legislation were other GOP priorities, including a repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil drilling. ... Read more

Ryan: 'Nobody Knows' If Massive Tax Cuts Will Pay For Themselves
TPM | Matt Shuham | 12/20/17

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Wednesday that "nobody knows" if Republicans' tax bill, which would overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the wealthy while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit, would pay for itself.

"Are you saying that the growth you're going to get from this tax cut will equal the amount it would cost on the deficit side, so that it's a wash?" Savannah Guthrie asked Ryan in an interview Wednesday.

"Nobody knows the answer to that question, because that's in the future," Ryan said. "But what we do know is that this will increase economic growth." Read more

*How Trump makes extreme things look normal | Vox | 12/21/17 | 7:24

*How tax breaks help the rich | Vox | 10/09/17 | 8:46

Paul Ryan gets a big win with a massively unpopular bill: Now it gets worse
Salon | Sophia Tesfaye | 12/20/17

As promised, only days before Christmas, Republicans are poised to fulfill the first major overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years. But instead of running a slow victory lap into the 2018 midterm elections, Republican ideologues in Congress -- led by House Speaker Paul Ryan -- appear determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the name of discredited supply-side dogma.

Even though the postcard-size tax return that President Trump promised every American won't be coming anytime soon, Republicans are delivering on three major orthodoxies with a singular bill. In addition to a dramatic slashing of the corporate tax rate, the Republican tax bill does away with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Short of stacking the Supreme Court with eight other justices in the mold of Clarence Thomas, no single act of Congress could succinctly meet such a wide-array of long-term Republican goals. ... Read more

Democrats Express Outrage As GOP Tax Cuts Inch Closer To Completion
HP | Rebecca Shapiro | 12/20/17

Democrats were quick to react after the Senate voted along party lines to pass a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code. The unpopular piece of legislation overwhelmingly favors big business and the wealthiest of Americans and adds a whopping $1.4 trillion to the national debt.

Ahead of the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the Tax Cut and Reform Bill "a disgrace" on the Senate floor. He then blasted the GOP in a tweet and accused Republicans of favoring the wealthy.

"The bill that the Republicans jammed through the Senate tonight isn't tax reform," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said. "It's a heist. Let's call this out for what it is: Government for sale." ... Read more

Here's animatronic Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape | HP | 12/18/17 | 0:23

The "backlash" against Star Wars: The Last Jedi, explained
Vox | Todd VanDerWerff | 12/19/17/span>

A divide between movie audiences and critics happens all the time -- especially with blockbusters.

Consider the recent case of Justice League, which brought together a bunch of big-name superheroes, to the delight of 79 percent of those who saw it and bothered to register their opinion on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics, however, only liked the film to the tune of a 40 percent score -- a 39-point gap. There's also 2016's Suicide Squad, with a 26 percent score from critics and a 61 percent score from audiences, for a 35-point gap.

These gaps are normal. If you've bought a ticket for a movie -- as opposed to having seen it at a free critics screening -- you're far more likely to have self-selected as a fan already, and thus, you're far more likely to be into the movie. (If you were to make the argument that Rotten Tomatoes is a deeply flawed system at best and actively harmful to the future of criticism at worst, well, I wouldn't stop you.) ... Read more

Jeff Sessions Reportedly Revives Probe Of Uranium One Deal
HP | Alana Horowitz Satlin | 12/21/17

The Justice Department is reviving an inquiry into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the government's controversial approval of the Uranium One deal, NBC News reported on Thursday.

A now-dormant FBI investigation into whether Clinton had ties to the deal has not found evidence of wrongdoing. But NBC, citing "multiple law enforcement officials," reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has in recent weeks directed Justice Department prosecutors to ask FBI agents to explain evidence uncovered in the probe.

Uranium One, a Canadian mining company with major U.S. holdings, was sold in 2010 to a Russian firm. Before the sale could go through, it needed approval from nine U.S. agencies, including the State Department. Because some of the people who stood to benefit from the sale were Clinton Foundation donors, conservative media and other critics of the 2016 presidential nominee have alleged a quid-pro-quo, even though the State Department said it didn't have the power to green-light or veto the deal and Clinton herself was not involved in the approval process. Read more

The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller
Politico | Darren Samuelsohn | 12/19/17

Sowing public doubt about the special counsel's Russia investigation can give the president cover for pardons, even if the investigation is allowed to proceed.

In the last week, investigators on Mueller's team have been publicly accused of being biased against Trump and of violating criminal procedure to get documents related to his transition. The purpose of the onslaught, according to people close to the White House, isn't to encourage the president to oust the special counsel, a move that could precipitate a crisis in the Justice Department and potentially a move to impeach Trump.

Rather, these people said, the goal is to sow public doubt about Mueller and his prosecutors in advance of upcoming criminal trials -- and to give the president political cover if he wants to start issuing pardons to any current or former aides swept up in the Russia scandal. ... Read more

Demoralized I.R.S. Faces Monumental Task With New Bill
NYT | Patricia Cohen | 12/19/17

The agency, upbraided for years by the Republicans, must now interpret the new bill. It has been struggling with a budget cut of nearly $1 billion since 2010, and a 23-percent reduction in personnel. ... Read more

Trump, upset about Gorsuch's criticism of his attacks on judges, talked of rescinding nomination
WashingtonPost | Ashley Parker | 12/19/17

President Trump has boasted that appointing Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court ranks high among his signature achievements. But he vented angrily to advisers earlier this year when Gorsuch called Trump's repeated attacks on the federal judiciary "disheartening" and "demoralizing," according to people with knowledge of the discussions. ... Read more

How much of a threat are Russia and China to the US?l | Aljazeera: Inside Story | 12/19/17 | 25:10

Author Brian Klaas: Is Trump an "aspiring despot" or a "bumbling showman"? Yes!
Salon | Chauncey Devega | 12/19/17

Author of "The Despot's Apprentice" on the "long-term corrosion of democracy" that won't end when Trump is gone

The presidency of Donald Trump has forced the American people to confront questions most of us had never before considered possible. What happens when a president has no respect for the Constitution and the country's democratic institutions and traditions? When a president and his allies consider themselves above the law, what is to be done? If a president creates his own version of reality by behaving like a political cult leader, what forms of resistance are effective -- or even possible? Is the president of the United States a fascist and demagogue who may be under the influence of the country's enemies?

Too many Americans believed their country to be exceptional and unique. This blinded them to the threat to democracy embodied by Donald Trump -- as well as other members of the extreme right-wing -- until it was too late to stop him from stealing control. Moreover, the rise of Trump's authoritarian movement (dishonestly operating under the mask of "populism") has both empowered and revealed the tens of millions of Americans who have authoritarian or fascist leanings. The threat to American democracy is deep; it will take a long time to purge this civic sickness and political disease from the body politic.

In an effort to understand the true dimensions of Trump's rise to power as a direct threat to American democracy, I recently spoke with Brian Klaas. He is a fellow in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. In addition to writing columns and essays that have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs and numerous other publications, Klaas is the author of several books. His latest, published in November, is "The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy." ... Read more

The Republican Tax Bill Provides Huge Benefits to People Who Don't Work. But Only if They're Rich.
MotherJones | Noah Lanard | date

After passing their tax bill, Republicans plan to impose work requirements on safety net programs.

The Senate tax bill gives business owners nearly three times more benefits than workers with wages and salaries, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Adam Looney, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The New York Times that if the bill becomes law it would be the first time that "wage earners were substantially penalized" by the tax code.

The diverging treatment comes from how the tax bill treats the 95 percent of businesses that are structured so that profits are taxed as individual income. Republicans portray these businesses, which are known as "pass-throughs," as "ma and pa bakeries and family-owned salons." In reality, most pass-through income goes to people in the top 1 percent -- including the Trump family.

The House tax bill cuts the top income tax rate for pass-throughs from 39.6 percent to 25 percent, which would cost taxpayers nearly $600 billion over 10 years. About 86 percent of small business owners would not benefit because all of their income is already in the 25 percent tax bracket or lower. Republicans' much-touted ma and pa shops usually don't earn make enough to be in the top tax brackets, which kick in at $153,000 of taxable income for couples. ... Read more

'He Would Probably Be a Dictator by Now'
Politico | Susan B. Glasser | 12/18/17

Last year, Eliot Cohen rallied dozens of fellow veterans of Republican administrations, people like him who had served in the upper reaches of the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council, to warn against Donald Trump winning the White House. He would become, the group open letter Cohen organized said, "the most reckless president in American history."

A year later, Cohen, a top official in President George W. Bush's administration, and another charter #NeverTrump proselytizer, his fellow conservative Max Boot, hardly back down when asked whether their predictions of global gloom and doom had been proven right in the first year of the Trump presidency. Both men, lifelong Republicans and historically minded policy intellectuals, offered unequivocal yeses in a joint interview for this week's Global Politico podcast -- and castigated former friends inside the party they've both now renounced as "Vichy Republicans" for collaborating with a president they believe is not fit to hold office. ... Read more

Friction Rises Between Trump Lawyers and Mueller's Team
NYT | author | date

President Trump repeated on Sunday that he was not considering firing Robert S. Mueller III, even as tension escalated between the special counsel and the White House.

A lawyer for Mr. Trump said investigators improperly acquired emails, prompting a rare statement of defense from the special counsel. ... Read more

Donald Trump is convinced Robert Mueller will exonerate him personally: report
Salon | Matthew Rozsa | 12/18/17

There is a disconnect between reports of how President Donald Trump is privately feeling about Robert Mueller's probe and how his political allies are publicly attempting to discredit that investigation.

Trump has privately expressed confidence that Mueller will soon exonerate him completely from accusations that he colluded with Russian government officials in order to win the 2016 presidential election, according to CNN. Even though the president's cheery attitude could change after his private lawyers meet with Mueller later this week, for the time, being Trump seems convinced that his legal woes involving Russia will soon be over. ... Read more

Washington Sheriff: 'Multiple Fatalities' Reported, Exact Number Unknown | MSNBC | 12/18/17 | 1:57

How the loss of net neutrality could change the internet
Politico | Margaret Harding Mcgill | 12/14/17

Supporters of the repeal say it will free up internet providers to innovate, while opponents fear the online world will become more like cable TV.

The Federal Communications Commission's party-line vote Thursday to dump the Obama-era rules, which required internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally, opens the door for companies like Verizon and AT&T to experiment with new business models free from government regulation.

ISPs point to an array of possible pro-consumer outcomes like "family friendly" broadband packages that block content not suitable for children, or guaranteed fast speeds for health-related mobile applications. But net neutrality advocates paint an array of troubling scenarios -- from smaller websites like the crafts marketplace Etsy and streaming service Vimeo forced to pay tolls to reach consumers, to cable giants like Comcast blocking or slowing disfavored sites while giving priority to their own content. ... Read more
and/or theverge.com
Net Neutrality Officially Dead | TYT | 12/14/17 | 11:50
Try to Watch This Video And Not Cringe | TYT | 12/14/17 | 4:46

It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America by David Cay Johnston

Bestselling author and longtime Trump observer David Cay Johnston shines a light on the political termites who have infested our government under the Trump Administration, destroying it from within and compromising our jobs, safety, finances, and more.

No journalist knows Donald Trump better than David Cay Johnston, who has been following him since 1988. It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America goes inside the administration to show how the federal agencies that touch the lives of all Americans are being undermined. Here is just some of what you will learn:

The Wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told President Trump that Mexico will never pay for the border wall. So, Trump is proposing putting a tariff on Mexican imports. But a tariff will simply raise the price of Mexican goods in the US, meaning American consumers will end up paying for the wall -- if it ever gets built.

Climate Change. Welcome to the new EPA, run by Scott Pruitt, a lawyer who has spent much of his career trying to destroy the agency he now heads. Secrecy reigns at the new EPA because Pruitt meets with industry executives to find out which clean air and clean water provisions they most want to roll back, and keeps staffers in the dark to make sure these pro-pollution plans don't leak prematurely.

Stocking the Swamp. Contrary to his promise to "drain the swamp" in Washington, DC, Trump has filled his cabinet with millionaires and billionaires, from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs and hedge fund veteran who made much of his fortune foreclosing on homeowners to billionaire heiress Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has already put the interests of bankers ahead of debt-burdened students and their families.

The Kleptocracy. Under Donald Trump conflict of interest is passé. When Trump isn't in Washington, he stays at one of his properties, where the taxpayers pick up the tab for staffers, Secret Service, and so on, all at full price. And back in Washington, everyone now knows that the Trump International Hotel is the only place to stay if you want to do business with the administration. Meanwhile sons Donald Jr. and Eric run an eyes-wide-open blind trust of Trump holdings to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest -- but not the reality.

Trump's Lies vs. Obama's
NYT | David Leonhardt | 12/14/17

After we published a list of President Trump's lies this summer, we heard a common response from his supporters. They said, in effect: Yes, but if you made a similar list for previous presidents, it would be just as bad.

We've set out to make that list. Here, you will find our attempt at a comprehensive catalog of the falsehoods that Barack Obama told while he was president. (We also discuss George W. Bush below, although the lack of real-time fact-checking during his presidency made a comprehensive list impossible.)

We applied the same conservative standard to Obama and Trump, counting only demonstrably and substantially false statements. The result: Trump is unlike any other modern president. He seems virtually indifferent to reality, often saying whatever helps him make the case he's trying to make. ... Read more
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I talked to people signing up for Obamacare. Here's what I learned
Salon | Myles Ma | 12/15/17

For the past few weeks, health care has been a regular interruption in my life as I've interviewed strangers about their health insurance for a series focused on people shopping the state and federal exchanges. I wanted to know how former President Barack Obama's polarizing health care law affects the people it's meant to insure in a year when the law's existence is more precarious than ever.

I looked online and in person for people to profile. Most exchange shoppers who were willing to go on the record were in favor of "Obamacare," though some ultimately couldn't find affordable coverage on its exchanges this year. Only one person is totally against the law. These profiles aren't a scientific cross-section of America. They're meant to be an up-close look. But some clear patterns emerge when you look at the law in action. ... Read more

Democrats cool to Trump's infrastructure pitch
Politico | Lauren Gardner | 12/14/17

Officials likely have their work cut out for them in wooing Democrats after a year of partisan bickering over nominations, health care and taxes.

The White House is preparing to unveil its long-awaited $1 trillion infrastructure plan soon after President Donald Trump signs the GOP tax overhaul, hoping to begin 2018 with another big legislative win -- but its approach is already drawing resistance from Democrats who are in no mood to cooperate.

The plan set for release in January is expected to call for as much as $200 billion in federal spending over the next decade, with the rest coming from private investment, state or local funding and cuts to other federal programs. An administration official added new details this week, telling POLITICO that a wide variety of projects -- from bridges to broadband -- would have to compete for federal assistance, while showing they're prepared to put their own money on the table. ... Read more

Will Trump's lows ever hit rock bottom?
USA Today | author | 12/13/17

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday dismissed the president's smear as a misunderstanding because he used similar language about men. Of course, words used about men and women are different. When candidate Trump said a journalist was bleeding from her "wherever," he didn't mean her nose.

And as is the case with all of Trump's digital provocations, the president's words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment. ... Read more
USA Today's Epic Takedown Of Donald Trump | TYT | 12/13/17 | 9:31

When Will Paul Ryan Step Down?
HP | Matt Fuller | 12/13/17

As Republicans finish their long-sought rewrite of the tax code, some lawmakers are beginning to wonder just how much longer Rep. Paul Ryan intends to remain speaker.

The Wisconsin Republican has made no indication he's quitting any time soon, but the possibility that Ryan finishes the tax bill and decides he no longer wants to continue in Congress has begun to loom over internal Republican conversations. Read more

Legionnaires' Disease Is Rising At An Alarming Rate In The U.S.
HP | Lauren Weber | 12/14/17

While the waterborne bacterial disease is relatively rare -- with 6,238 cases nationwide so far this year -- there has been a 13.6 percent increase in cases since this time last year. That's nearly double the increase of 7.8 percent from 2015 to 2016 in the same time period. The disease is not contagious. It's contracted when people breathe in water droplets contaminated with Legionella pneumophilia bacteria.

"A person acquires Legionnaires' disease from mist,"Julien Martinez, assistant press secretary at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told HuffPost in October. "Most cases of Legionnaires' disease can be traced to plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems." ... Read more

Following molestation allegations, Kentucky lawmaker dies in apparent suicide
Politico | Akela Lacy | 12/13/17

... "There's a whole lot of rumors and speculation that the speaker may step aside," one GOP member told HuffPost this week, a sentiment that was expressed by a number of Republicans who, perhaps tellingly, wouldn't go on the record to speak about Ryan's future.

The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting on Monday released a seven-months-long investigation outlining claims by Maranda Richmond that Johnson assaulted her in the basement of his home. ... Read more

Alabama Elects Doug Jones, The State's First Democratic Senator In 25 Years
HP | Amanda Terkel | 12/12/17

This time, Donald Trump's playbook didn't work. Republican Roy Moore faced serious accusations of sexual misconduct in his bid to become Alabama's next senator. But instead of bowing down and backing out, he stayed in the race and went on the attack ? just like Trump did in last year's presidential race. He accused the media and the establishment of orchestrating a conspiracy against him, and cast the race as pitting good against evil, Christians versus everyone else. ... Read more

PICTURES: On The Road Of Destruction To The Thomas Fire
HP | Matt Ferner | 12/12/127

HuffPost's reporter headed up the SoCal coast, encountering a trail of haze, smoke and burned-out devastation along the way.

It's Monday morning at 10 a.m., and I'm driving north up California's famously stunning coastline toward the Thomas fire, the largest and most uncontrolled of five massive wildfires that have brought devastation to Southern California for the past week. I can see the enormous gloom ahead from 50 miles away ? brown smoke hovering over the southern edge of a fire that had consumed a staggering 230,000 acres so far. ... Read more

Trump Administration Halting Student Loan Forgiveness | TYT | 12/12/17 | 6:57

Democrats call for halt to GOP tax bill until Jones is seated in the Senate
WashingtonPost | Mike DeBonis | 12/13/17

Senior Republican aides said that they did not expect the election of Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama to slow down the tax push. ... Read more

Newtown to Mark Five Years After Sandy Hook Shooting Quietly. No Media, Please
WSJ | author | 12/13/17

Five years after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, how the community marks the grim occasion hasn't changed: privately, quietly and with a request for the media to stay away. ... Read more

Will Trump's lows ever hit rock bottom?
USA Today | author | 12/13/17

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday dismissed the president's smear as a misunderstanding because he used similar language about men. Of course, words used about men and women are different. When candidate Trump said a journalist was bleeding from her "wherever," he didn't mean her nose.

And as is the case with all of Trump's digital provocations, the president's words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment. ... Read more
Will Trump's lows ever hit rock bottom? | USA Today | 12/13/17 |

50 World Leaders Gather In Paris For Climate Summit. Trump Was Not Invited.
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 12/12/17

On Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the adoption of the historic Paris Agreement, 50 world leaders planned to gather in the French capital to attend an invite-only climate change conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the World Bank and the United Nations. In attendance will be British Prime Minister Theresa May, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, among other global leaders and heads of state. There, however, will be one conspicuous absence: Donald Trump.

Macron had said pointedly in November that he had not extended an invitation to Trump, who in June announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. Macron said that he could be persuaded to change his mind about the invitation if Trump showed a willingness to "join the club" to fight global warming. ... Read more

Trump Lawyers Want A Second Special Counsel
HP | Willa Frej | 12/12/17

One of Trump's lawyers said the president's legal team wants a second special counsel -- one to investigate the investigators -- after a Fox News report unearthed what the lawyer called a conflict of interest in the Department of Justice.

Fox News reported late Monday that Nellie H. Ohr, the wife of a senior Justice Department official who was demoted last week for not being forthcoming about meetings with Fusion GPS, the firm behind the anti-Trump dossier, worked for Fusion for a part of last year. The dossier reportedly contains salacious but unverified allegations against Trump. ... Read more

16 Women and Donald Trump | Brave New Films | 11/15/17 | 3:33

Trump's proposed federal budget will slash climate change--related NASA missions
Salon | Nicole Karlis | 12/11/17

The administration wants to NASA to reprioritize the moon and Mars, and forget "Earth-centric research" -- One small step for Trump, one giant leap towards Earth's catastrophic demise.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that America will once again "reach for the moon." According to a White House press release, Trump signed a space policy directive enabling NASA to "pursue extraterrestrial exploration," meaning Mars and moon missions. This newfound focus doesn't come without a sacrifice though, one that wasn't clearly noted in the administration's press release. ... Read more

Kirsten Gillibrand fires back after Donald Trump's sexist Twitter attack
Salon | Charlie May | 12/12/17

After being attacked in a tweet by President Donald Trump, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand fired back by letting him know that she, as well as other women, will not be silenced.

In a tweet on Tuesday morning, which was described by many as a form of sexual harassment, Trump whined about Gillibrand and said that in the past begged him for campaign donations and added that she "would do anything for them." ... Read more

Suspect Captured After Explosion Near New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal
HP | Willa Frej | 12/11/17

... The bomber's device appears to have detonated prematurely, according to media reports. The Fire Department said a total of four people were being treated for "non-life-threatening" injuries.

The 7:30 a.m. blast, in the subway near Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, was of "unknown origin," police said in a statement, and immediately gripped the commuter hub with chaos. The A, C and E subway lines were being evacuated, Sgt. Brendan Ryan told HuffPost, and the busy Port Authority bus terminal was temporarily shut down. Other trains were bypassing Times Square and Port Authority stations. ... Read more

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President by Bandy X. Lee

Since the start of Donald Trump's presidential run, one question has quietly but urgently permeated the observations of concerned citizens: What is wrong with him? Constrained by the American Psychiatric Association's "Goldwater rule," which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to answer this question have shied away from discussing the issue at all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both.

In THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, twenty-seven psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health experts argue that, in Mr. Trump's case, their moral and civic "duty to warn" America supersedes professional neutrality. They then explore Trump's symptoms and potentially relevant diagnoses to find a complex, if also dangerously mad, man.

Philip Zimbardo and Rosemary Sword, for instance, explain Trump's impulsivity in terms of "unbridled and extreme present hedonism." Craig Malkin writes on pathological narcissism and politics as a lethal mix. Gail Sheehy, on a lack of trust that exceeds paranoia. Lance Dodes, on sociopathy. Robert Jay Lifton, on the "malignant normality" that can set in everyday life if psychiatrists do not speak up.

His madness is catching, too. From the trauma people have experienced under the Trump administration to the cult-like characteristics of his followers, he has created unprecedented mental health consequences across our nation and beyond.

What Alabama People Think of Roy Moore
Why These Alabama Voters Are Sticking By Roy Moore (HBO) | 12/08/17 | 7:31

Phil Robertson
Duck Dynasty Star's Advice: Marry 15-Year-Old Girls | TYT | older, 2015 | 6:13

Duck Dynasty Star's Bizarre Rape & Murder Speech Against Atheism | TYT | older, 2015 | 6:29

Duck Dynasty Sex Tip: Have 'Biblically Correct Sex' To Avoid STDs | TYT | older, 2015 | 8:12

Video Shows Daniel Shaver Pleading for His Life Before Being Shot by Officer
NYT | Vivian Wang | 12/09/17

The graphic video, which was released after a jury on Thursday acquitted the officer of murder and manslaughter charges, stoked outrage on social media and renewed calls for reforms in law enforcement.

"This, to me, is the most horrific shooting I've ever seen," Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the widow and the 5- and 8-year-old daughters of the man, Daniel Shaver, 26, said in an interview on Saturday. Mr. Geragos, who said he had seen thousands of body camera videos, said the footage was evidence of "the criminal justice system at its worst." ... Read more
Cop Murders Man Begging For His Life | TYT | 12/08/17 | 12:31

Behind Trump's plan to target the federal safety net
Politico | Andrew Restuccia | 12/11/17

Under the banner of welfare reform, the administration is eyeing changes to health care, food stamps, housing and veterans programs.

The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are hoping to make the most sweeping changes to federal safety net programs in a generation, using legislation and executive actions to target recipients of food stamps, Medicaid and housing benefits.

The White House is quietly preparing a sweeping executive order that would mandate a top-to-bottom review of the federal programs on which millions of poor Americans rely. And GOP lawmakers are in the early stages of crafting legislation that could make it more difficult to qualify for those programs. ... Read more

Trump's 'fake news' mantra a hit with despots
Politico | Jason Schwartz | 12/08/17

Leaders or state media in at least 15 countries use the president's favorite denunciation to quell dissent, question human rights violations.

Authoritarian rulers across the globe are adopting President Donald Trump's favorite phrase to limit free speech, with prominent leaders or state media in at least 15 countries using his "fake news" line to denounce their critics, according to a POLITICO review.

By aligning themselves with Trump's words, despots have been able to use the U.S. president as a shield for their attacks on press freedom and human rights, said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"I'm seeing it more and more," he said. Trump, he added, "is providing a context and framework for all sorts of authoritarian leaders--or democratic leaders and others who are dissatisfied or upset by critical media coverage--to undermine and discredit reporting." ... Read more

Time Square CAM | | 12/08/17 | Live

Trump Lights the Middle East on Fire
TYT | author | 12/07/17

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers clashed Thursday in Jerusalem, Ramallah and other places in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with some demonstrators burning American flags and posters of President Trump a day after he sided with Israel by announcing U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as its capital. But at nightfall, after the skirmishes died down, the region was bracing for worse.

More than 100 people were injured Thursday, according to the Palestine Red Crescent, despite the deployment of several extra battalions of Israeli troops. The critical test comes Friday, when larger demonstrations are expected as crowds leave mosques after the weekly noon prayers.

In Gaza, the Islamist movement Hamas urged its followers to ignite a third intifada, or uprising, against Israel. The Palestinian Authority called for a general strike. Shops were shuttered in Jerusalem's Old City.

*The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot Discusses -> The Dark Side of Allen Dulles: The Greatest Untold Story of American Power - U.S. History (2015) | CSpan Book TV | 2015 | 1:10:35

*The Dulles Brothers by Stephen Kinzert Discusses -> The U.S. Has Overthrown Governments for 100 Years: A Compelling and Provocative History (2006) | CSpan Book TV | 2006 | 38:47

Allen Dulles: The Powerful, Moneyed World of International Finance & Politics (2002) | CSpan Book TV | 2002 | 1:00:22

*The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government by David Talbot (2016)

An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful--and secretive--colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers.

America's greatest untold story: the United States' rise to world dominance under the guile of Allen Welsh Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA. Drawing on revelatory new materials--including newly discovered U.S. government documents, U.S. and European intelligence sources, the personal correspondence and journals of Allen Dulles's wife and mistress, and exclusive interviews with the children of prominent CIA officials--Talbot reveals the underside of one of America's most powerful and influential figures.

Dulles's decade as the director of the CIA--which he used to further his public and private agendas--were dark times in American politics. Calling himself "the secretary of state of unfriendly countries," Dulles saw himself as above the elected law, manipulating and subverting American presidents in the pursuit of his personal interests and those of the wealthy elite he counted as his friends and clients--colluding with Nazi-controlled cartels, German war criminals, and Mafiosi in the process. Targeting foreign leaders for assassination and overthrowing nationalist governments not in line with his political aims, Dulles employed those same tactics to further his goals at home, Talbot charges, offering shocking new evidence in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

An exposé of American power that is as disturbing as it is timely, The Devil's Chessboard is a provocative and gripping story of the rise of the national security state--and the battle for America's soul.

*The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War by Stephen Kinzer (2014)

Anyone wanting to know why the United States is hated across much of the world need look no farther than this book. "The Brothers" is a riveting chronicle of government-sanctioned murder, casual elimination of "inconvenient" regimes, relentless prioritization of American corporate interests and cynical arrogance on the part of two men who were once among the most powerful in the world.

John Foster Dulles and his brother, Allen, were scions of the American establishment. Their grandfather John Watson Foster served as secretary of state, as had their uncle Robert Lansing. Both brothers were lawyers, partners in the immensely powerful firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, whose New York offices were for decades an important link between big business and American policy making.

John Foster Dulles served as secretary of state from 1953 to 1959; his brother ran the C.I.A. from 1953 to 1961. But their influence was felt long before these official appointments. In his detailed, well-­constructed and highly readable book, Stephen Kinzer, formerly a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now a columnist for The Guardian, shows how the brothers drove America's interventionist foreign policy.

Trump White House Weighing Plans For Private Spies To Counter "Deep State" Enemies
TheIntercept | Jeremy Scahill | 12/04/17

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer -- with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal -- to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering "deep state" enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Donald Trump's presidency.

The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration's political agenda. "Pompeo can't trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him," said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. "It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books," this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. "The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly." ... Read more
*REPORT: Trump Wants His Own Private CIA | TYT | 12/06/17 | 14:12

White House Press Secretary Issues Bizarre Non-denial of Private Spy Network Plans, While White House Official Confirms It
TheIntercept | Lee Fang | 12/05/17

THE WHITE HOUSE press secretary did not directly dispute the revelation that Blackwater founder Erik Prince and former Iran-Contra figure Oliver North pitched a plan to develop a private spy network to members of the Trump administration.

The plan, detailed in a story broken by The Intercept on Monday, is to develop a private intelligence network to counter perceived "deep state" enemies within government ranks. Prince denied the report, and North did not respond to The Intercept's request for comment. ... Read more

The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Hardcover - December 5, 2017 by Daniel Ellsberg

Here, for the first time, former high level defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg reveals his shocking first-hand account of America's nuclear program in the 1960s. From the remotest air bases in the Pacific Command, where he discovered that the authority to initiate use of nuclear weapons was widely delegated, to the secret plans for general nuclear war under Eisenhower, which, if executed, would cause the near-extinction of humanity, Ellsberg shows that the legacy of this most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization--and its proposed renewal under the Trump administration--threatens our very survival. No other insider with high level access has written so candidly of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, and nothing has fundamentally changed since that era.

Framed as a memoir--a chronicle of madness in which Ellsberg acknowledges participating--this gripping expose reads like a thriller and offers feasible steps we can take to dismantle the existing "doomsday machine" and avoid nuclear catastrophe, returning Ellsberg to his role as whistleblower. The Doomsday Machine is thus a real-life Dr. Strangelove story and an ultimately hopeful--and powerfully important--book about not just our country, but the future of the world.

Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World by Isa Blumi

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led international coalition of forces -- supported by Britain and the United States -- has waged devastating war in Yemen. Largely ignored by the world's media, the resulting humanitarian disaster and full-scale famine threatens millions. Destroying Yemen offers the first in-depth historical account of the transnational origins of this war, placing it in the illuminating context of Yemen's relationship with major powers since the Cold War. Bringing new sources and a deep understanding to bear on Yemen's profound, unwitting implication in international affairs, this explosive book ultimately tells an even larger story of today's political economy of global capitalism, development, and the war on terror as disparate actors intersect in Arabia.

Empire Files: Abby Martin Exposes What Hillary Clinton Really Represents | TRNN | older, 04/17/16 | 27:07

Leaders Around The World Incensed Over Trump's Jerusalem Decision
HP | Willa Frej | 12/06/17

Everyone from the Pope to the Kremlin expressed concern that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would threaten regional stability.

President Donald Trump sparked an uproar among leaders across the world after he signaled that he would be recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. embassy there, upending decades of American foreign policy and potentially thwarting any hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Trump called Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of several U.S. allies on Tuesday to break the news. He is expected to formally announce the decision in a speech on Wednesday. Abbas warned Trump "of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world," Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement after Trump's call. The Palestinian leader also called for three days of protest beginning Wednesday.

The embassy move would represent the "kiss of death" to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, said Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian representative to Britain ? an issue Trump has delegated to Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and adviser. Jordan's King Abdullah II and Saudi Arabia's King Salman made similar warnings.

"Mr. Trump, Jerusalem is the red line of Muslims," Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. He additionally threatened to cut Turkey's diplomatic ties with Israel.... Read more

Putins Revenge part 1 | PBS Frontline | 10/26/17 | 54:10

Top Frustrations With Tax System: Sense That Corporations, Wealthy Don't Pay Fair Share
magazine | author | date

Fewer are bothered by the amount they pay in taxes

A majority of Americans now view the federal tax system as unfair, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats. But partisans differ in their concerns about the tax system, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to express frustration that some corporations and wealthy people don't pay their "fair share."

Among the public overall, 62% say they are bothered "a lot" by the feeling that some corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes, and 60% say the same about some wealthy people not paying their fair share. About four-in-ten (43%) say they are bothered a great deal by the complexity of the system. But with the April 18 tax filing deadline approaching, only about a quarter (27%) say they are bothered a lot by the amount they pay in taxes. And just 20% say that about the feeling that the poor do not pay their fair share of taxes. ... Read more
What Bothers Americans about the Federal Tax System?
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The GOP's Latest Gun Bill Would Be Catastrophic For Women Fleeing Abuse
HP | Melissa Jeltsen | 12/06/17

A potential nightmare situation for victims of domestic violence is brewing in the U.S. House, which is expected to vote this week on a bill that would allow many domestic abusers banned from carrying firearms in their home states to obtain concealed carry permits elsewhere.

The bill, from Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), allows anyone with a permit from one state to carry hidden, loaded firearms into all other states. Opponents of the legislation, known as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, warn that it would allow the states with the loosest permitting standards to define the laws of the nation and would undermine states' rights to protect their own residents. ... Read more

*Climate Risks from Equatorial Atmospheric Super-Rotation | Paul Beckwith | 12/04/17 | 14:58

Populism died on Saturday
WashingtonPost | Catherine Rampell | 12/04/17

It croaked on a birthday of sorts. This month marks 10 years since the Great Recession -- and thereby the social movement it unleashed -- was born.

This obituary begins in December 2007, when the spark of the financial crisis grew into a fire. The conflagration would go on to blaze through more than 8 million jobs, trillions of dollars in wealth, millions of foreclosed homes and half the value of the stock market.

Older and middle-age workers would lose jobs and nest eggs. Younger workers would get stuck in dead-end careers, if they could find careers at all, and fall behind on milestones of adulthood such as homeownership and marriage. And millions of children would grow up watching their parents stress about money. Some would come to wonder whether socialism was really such a dirty word after all. ... Read more

Trump's uncontrollable tweeting triggers deeper anxiety among advisers
Politico | Andrew Restuccia | 12/03/17

By Sunday, he had already claimed Michael Flynn was fired in part for lying to the FBI and had moved on to accusing the nation's top law-enforcement agency of being 'in tatters.'

It took nearly 24 hours for President Donald Trump to tweet about the news that his former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents -- a delay that Trump's advisers said was not uncommon for the president, who often tweets after catching up on cable news.

Many Republicans at first saw the radio silence as a welcome sign of restraint. But by Sunday, the notoriously hot-headed president had already claimed Flynn was fired earlier this year in part for lying to the FBI and had moved on to accusing the nation's top law-enforcement agency of being "in tatters."

"Worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness," he tweeted. The tweets all combined to reignite fears among people close to Trump that the president is not taking the special counsel's investigation seriously enough and is getting bad advice from his legal team. ... Read more

Stephen Colbert made Billy Bush watch the 'Access Hollywood' tape -- and it was awkward
WashingtonPost | Emily Yahr | 12/05/17

... Bush's New York Times editorial is titled "Yes, Donald Trump, You Said That." So you can imagine what he thinks of reports that Trump has been privately saying he doesn't think that it's his voice on the bus audio.

"You don't get to say that. Because I was there, and the last 14 months of my life I have been dealing with it," Bush said. "You dealt with it for 14 minutes and went on to be the president."

Bush said that Trump's denial really upset him, particularly after he read an article in which multiple women nade allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump. ... Read more

Watch John Oliver grill Dustin Hoffman about sexual harassment allegations | WP | 12/05/17 | 12:00

Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues
scientificamerican.com | author | report

Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said

About a third of the world's soil has already been degraded, Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.

The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming. The earth under our feet is too often ignored by policymakers, experts said. ... Read more

Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump by Joseph E. Stiglitz

In this crucial expansion and update of his landmark bestseller, renowned economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz addresses globalization's new discontents in the United States and Europe. Immediately upon publication, Globalization and Its Discontents became a touchstone in the globalization debate by demonstrating how the International Monetary Fund, other major institutions like the World Bank, and global trade agreements have often harmed the developing nations they are supposedly helping. Yet globalization today continues to be mismanaged, and now the harms -- exemplified by the rampant inequality to which it has contributed -- have come home to roost in the United States and the rest of the developed world as well, reflected in growing political unrest.

With a new introduction, major new chapters on the new discontents, the rise of Donald Trump, and the new protectionist movement, as well as a new afterword on the course of globalization since the book first appeared, Stiglitz's powerful and prescient messages remain essential reading.

Billy Bush: I Believe The Women Accusing Donald Trump Of Sexual Misconduct
HP | Rebecca Shapiro | 12/04/17

"I will never know the fear you felt or the frustration of being summarily dismissed and called a liar..."

Billy Bush penned a sobering op-ed published in the New York Times Sunday night, in which the former "Access Hollywood" host said he believed the women accusing President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct.

He also slammed the president for engaging in "revisionist history" after reports indicated that Trump has been questioning the authenticity of the "Access Hollywood" tape in recent months. The tape, which features Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women, derailed Bush's career but had no bearing on Trump being elected president. ... Read more

Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright

Robert Wright famously explained in The Moral Animal how evolution shaped the human brain. The mind is designed to often delude us, he argued, about ourselves and about the world. And it is designed to make happiness hard to sustain.

But if we know our minds are rigged for anxiety, depression, anger, and greed, what do we do? Wright locates the answer in Buddhism, which figured out thousands of years ago what scientists are only discovering now. Buddhism holds that human suffering is a result of not seeing the world clearly -- and proposes that seeing the world more clearly, through meditation, will make us better, happier people.

In Why Buddhism is True, Wright leads readers on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age. At once excitingly ambitious and wittily accessible, this is the first book to combine evolutionary psychology with cutting-edge neuroscience to defend the radical claims at the heart of Buddhist philosophy. With bracing honesty and fierce wisdom, it will persuade you not just that Buddhism is true -- which is to say, a way out of our delusion -- but that it can ultimately save us from ourselves, as individuals and as a species.

Trump responds to Flynn's guilty plea
Politico | Louis Nelson | 12/04/17

... Trump, who spoke briefly with the White House press pool before boarding Marine One to begin a day trip to Utah, suggested Flynn has been treated unfairly compared with 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"Well, I feel badly for Gen. Flynn. I feel very badly. He's led a very strong life and I feel very badly. I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and they destroyed his life. I think it's a shame," Trump said. "Hillary Clinton on the Fourth of July weekend went to the FBI, not under oath. It was the most incredible thing anyone's ever seen. She lied many times, nothing happened to her. Flynn lied and it's like they ruined his live. It's very unfair." ... Read more

After a dizzying weekend, the White House is rattled: What next?
Salon | Heather Digby Parton | 12/04/17

President Trump had quite a week. He lied about his "Access Hollywood" tape, attacked CNN International -- prompting authoritarians all over the globe to follow suit -- made a racist slur in front of Native American war heroes and tweeted out far-right conspiracy websites and anti-Muslim videos, prompting a major diplomatic crisis with America's closest ally. It didn't get any better over the weekend.

The Daily Beast reported that Trump had been worried for a while that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had "turned on him" and that the president was "personally hurt" by the news Flynn was potentially cooperating with the special counsel. When it turned out on Friday that Flynn had agreed to plead guilty to lying to the FBI in exchange for telling the prosecutors everything he knows, Trump pretty much lost it. From the tenor of his tweeting over the weekend, hurt has given way to panic. ... Read more

Republicans Rewrite Portions Of Tax Bill Hours Before Vote
HP | Matt Fuller | 11/30/17

Senate Republicans avoided the most embarrassing scenario for their tax bill Thursday ? an unexpected floor defeat that would have sent the legislation back to committee ? but they are still facing a significant stumbling block and, hours before a vote, are still changing portions of their bill.

The "trigger" proposal from Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), which would have set off certain tax increases if Republicans didn't hit revenue targets, was struck down by the Senate parliamentarian on Thursday afternoon. (Because of the restrictions that allow Republicans to pass their tax plan with a simple majority, provisions that don't materially affect fiscal policies could be ruled subject to 60 votes.)

So when the parliamentarian informed Corker that his trigger proposal wouldn't fly, the GOP bill suddenly faced a problem. Without that provision, Corker didn't feel comfortable voting for the bill, and he had reinforcements. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has also been concerned about how much debt the bill would produce, as well as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has concerns about pass-through business tax provisions, both refused to vote against a Democratic motion to send the legislation back to committee until a fix could be worked out. ... Read more

Cotton cements his rise under Trump
Politico | Eliana Johnson | 11/30/17

The Arkansas senator, under consideration as a potential successor to Mike Pompeo as CIA director, has chosen to shape the president rather than railing against him.

Now a freshman senator, Cotton is expected to head to Langley if President Donald Trump decides to nominate current CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to two senior administration officials.

Cotton's appointment would cement his meteoric rise in Republican politics, the result of qualities that have taken him, in a matter of years, from freshman congressman to the youngest serving U.S. senator to, potentially, the youngest CIA director in American history: loyalty, brains and raw ambition. He also embodies one of the GOP's responses to Trump. Having already shared some of the president's populist leanings, he has worked to co-opt and shape the president rather than rail against him. ... Read more

The CIA could be permanently damaged
WashingtonPost | Jennifer Rubin | 12/01/17

The White House has readied a plan to oust embattled Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who has become one of the most personally loyal and politically savvy members of President Trump's national security team, two administration officials confirmed Thursday ...

Under the plan, Pompeo would probably be replaced at the CIA by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), one of Trump's most steadfast defenders and a confidant to some leading members of the foreign policy team, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House has not publicly announced the moves.

While Pompeo may or may not do better than Tillerson, it is far from clear that any star player would be asked or would take a job in the three-ring Trump circus. The much more problematic part of this is Pompeo's replacement. ... Read more

Trump tells confidants that a government shutdown might be good for him politically
WashingtonPost | Josh Dawsey | 12/01/17

The president's mixed messages on a partial shutdown has hampered Republicans ability to negotiate with Democrats on spending legislation. Trump also is said to be focusing on his hard-line immigration stance as a way to win back supporters unhappy with his past outreach to Democrats. ... Read more

*Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer Outrage: Dumping Tillerson Would Remove the Adult in Trump's Administration | truthdig | 11/30/17 | 2:56