Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Australia fires: Thousands seek refuge on beaches as death toll rises
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 12/31/19

Australia's wildfires have claimed another two lives, several people are missing and thousands of people have taken refuge on beaches from the blazes at popular tourist spots in two states, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

An air quality warning was issued by the City of Sydney, which urged people sensitive to smoke or with pre-existing conditions to delay coming to the event early because of the smoke. ... Read more

The global cycle of violence, hunger and migration
Axios | David Lawler | 12/31/19

The number of people killed in armed conflicts has fallen from a recent high of 143,409 in 2014 -- the height of the Syrian civil war -- to 77,392 last year, per the Uppsala Conflict Data Program.

Zoom in: That's still more people than were killed in 2009 and 2010 combined. This year's deadliest conflicts were in Afghanistan and Syria. ... Read more

NYT Report Reveals Truth About President Donald Trump Tax Cuts | The Last Word | MSNBC | 12/30/19 | 6:20

WaPo editor: Americans may be "numb" to Trump's "15,000 false or misleading claims"
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 12/29/19

Martin Baron, the executive editor of the Washington Post, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that while Americans may be "numb" to the more than 15,000 false claims made by President Trump and flagged by the Post, the newspaper still has a responsibility to hold "government officials accountable" through aggressive fact-checking.

The big picture: Baron's comments were part of a "Meet the Press" special on the weaponization of disinformation in the era of Trump. Throughout his presidency, Trump has launched an unprecedented number of attacks against the press, often labeling journalists as the "enemy of the people" and casting them as the opposition party. ... Read more

Full Baron, Baquet: The State Of Mainstream Media In Today's Era Of Misinformation | Meet The Press | 12/29/19 | 12:44

Ivanka Trump Is a Senior Adviser to the President. She Should Be Asked Tough Questions.
TheIntercept | Mehdi Hasan | 12/30/19

THE MORNING AFTER Donald Trump became only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, his senior adviser Ivanka Trump -- who also doubles as his eldest daughter -- sat down for a rare interview with CBS "Face The Nation" host Margaret Brennan.

"Face the Nation" has been on air since 1954 and is considered to be one of the most prestigious and high-profile interview shows on American television. Yet Brennan's interview with Ivanka -- which was released in full on Sunday morning, and pegged to the new policy of paid parental leave for federal government workers -- could be considered a low point in the show's storied 65-year history. ... Read more

Ivanka Trump says paid family leave policy the result of "years of discussion and education" | Face the Nation | 12/29/19 | 9:30

Bolton, Mulvaney Wanted Trump To Release Ukraine Aid In August: NYT | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/30/19 | 7:29

Trump Lashes Out, Calls Dems Liars Over Impeachment | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 12/30/19 | 14:31

Disturbing new video, details in Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's case | Day That Was | MSNBC | 12/28/19 | 3:58

Trump delivers remarks to Turning Point USA | NBC | 12/21/19 | 1:43:59

The A to Z of Things Trump Could and Should Have Been Impeached For
TheIntercept | Mehdi Hasan | 12/19/19

On Wednesday evening, Donald Trump became the third president of the United States to be impeached. The House of Representatives voted 230-197 to charge Trump with abuse of power and 229-198 to charge him with obstruction of Congress.

It was a major moment in this car crash of a presidency -- and a major achievement for House Democrats. Still, I couldn't help but be disappointed that there were only two articles of impeachment passed against the president. Two? That's it? Why were other Trumpian offenses not included? For context, it's worth recalling that there were a whopping 11 articles of impeachment passed against Andrew Johnson in 1868. With Richard Nixon in 1974, the House Judiciary Committee considered five articles of impeachment, before passing three of them. With Bill Clinton in 1998, the House of Representatives voted on four articles and approved two of them.

The harsh reality, of course, is that Trump commits impeachable offenses on nearly a weekly basis. So here is an A to Z of such offenses -- by issue and/or by crime -- that were inexplicably overlooked or ignored by the House of Representatives. ... ... Read more

Trump's Humiliating Impeachment Trial: WH On Edge Over Rules That Can Change Anytime | MSNBC | 12/23/19 | 14:48

Michael Moore: GOP 'Dying Dinosaurs,' Impeach Them | The Last Word | MSNBC | 12/20/19 | 4:57

"Rent is obscene here": The issues forcing people in Seattle onto the street | 60 Minutes | 12/01/19 | 13:10

Anderson Cooper visits a tent city in the Seattle area and hears from some of America's more than 500,000 homeless people
CBS | Anderson Cooper | older 12/01/19

With the days getting shorter and the temperatures colder, it's sobering to think that on any given night more than half a million Americans are homeless. In the last three years, according to government reports, cities on the West Coast have seen a dramatic rise in the number of people who are "unsheltered." That's the term used to refer to anyone who's homeless, but not sleeping in a shelter. They're the people you see sleeping on streets or in parks, in tent encampments, or in vehicles. Why has the unsheltered population been going up at a time of economic expansion and low unemployment? One answer is rising rents in hot real estate markets. Take Seattle and surrounding King County, which are booming thanks to high-tech companies but now have the third highest number of homeless people in the country. The Seattle area is home to Amazon and Microsoft, but also to a homeless encampment called Tent City Three. ... Read more

Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation by Grace Blakeley

A must-read polemic about why the 'recovery' from the 2007-08 crash mostly benefited the 1%, and how democratic socialism can save us from a new crash and climate catastrophe.

For decades, it has been easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.

In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, booming banks, rising house prices and cheap consumer goods propped up living standards in the rich world. Thirty years of rocketing debt and financial wizardry had masked the deep underlying fragility of finance-led growth, and in 2008 we were forced to pay up.

The decade since has witnessed all kinds of morbid symptoms, as all around the rich world, wages and productivity are stagnant, inequality is rising, and ecological systems are collapsing.

Stolen is a history of finance-led growth and a guide as to how we might escape it. We've sat back as financial capitalism has stolen our economies, our environment and even the future itself. Now, we have an opportunity to change course. What happens next is up to us.

America's year of extreme weather and natural disasters - in pictures | TheGuardian | 12/23/19 | pictures

Deadly wildfires rage across Australia - in pictures | Axios | 12/23/19 | pictures

Saudis sentence 5 to death over Khashoggi's murder
Axios | staff | 12/23/19

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and three others were sentenced to prison, AP reports.

Why it matters: The Saudis still deny that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had any knowledge or involvement in the assassination, despite the CIA concluding last year that he gave the order. ... Read more

Unrising sun: the polar nights of Murmansk -- in pictures | TheGuardian | 12/19/19 | pictures

Top Evangelical Magazine Calls For Trump's Removal From Office
HP | Carol Kuruvilla | 12/19/19

The editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, which was founded by Billy Graham, says none of Trump's positives can balance his "grossly immoral character."

Mark Galli, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, published an editorial on Thursday telling his readers that the impeachment hearings "illuminated the president's moral deficiencies for all to see."

"The facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president's political opponents," Galli wrote. "That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral."

Trump's evangelical supporters justify their loyalty to the president by pointing to his Supreme Court nominees, defense of religious liberty, stewardship of the economy, and other achievements, Galli wrote. But none of the political wins Trump has achieved for evangelicals can justify the "moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character." ... Read more

6th Democratic Debate hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico | 12/19/19 | 3:26:47

Bernie's BEST LINE at the LA 6th Democratic Debate | TYT | 12/19/19 | 5:15

Los Angeles BEST MOMENT 6th Democratic Debate | TYT | 12/19/19 | 10:28

Democratic Debate Winners & Losers on TYT (FULL show) | 12/19/19 | 7:38:47

Lindsey Graham Through the Years | current| 1:13

Guns surpass immigration as biggest non-impeachment issue
Axios | Neal Rothschild | 12/19/19

It has hardly registered while impeachment consumes the country, but gun control has passed immigration as the issue generating the next most interest online over the last four months, according to data from NewsWhip ... Read more

Impeachment vote live: House begins floor vote to impeach Trump -- 12/18/2019 | 11:54:11

RALLY | Trump holds Michigan rally on day of House impeachment vote | PBS | 12/18/19 | 2:16:48

Fox News: Fair and Balanced Misogyny | TrevorNoah | 12/19/19 | 1:50

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of House.pdf

Read Trump's Letter to Pelosi Protesting Impeachment | NYT | 12/18/19 | article

factcheck.org website

Capitol Hill digs in as Trump's impeachment looms
Axios | Mike Allen | 12/18/19

Ahead of today's historic House vote to impeach Donald John Trump, he dispatched a seething six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi contending that a Democratic "partisan attempted coup" had treated him worse than "those accused in the Salem Witch Trials." She told reporters at the Capitol that the letter was "really sick."

Why it matters: The bitter exchange is a fitting denouement for the 86-day impeachment inquiry, which changed few minds in the country -- and none at the Capitol. The process, which is supposed to be the Constitution's death penalty, deepened a divide that has red and blue America speaking what sound to each other like foreign political languages. ... Read more

Read Trump's Letter to Pelosi Protesting Impeachment
NYT | staff | 12/17/19

We fact-checked President Trump's rambling and angry letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which he expressed his "most powerful protest" against the impeachment process. The House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump on Wednesday. ... Read more

Trump's Letter to Pelosi, Annotated by FactCheck.org
factcheck.org | staff | 12/18/19

On the eve of a House vote on two articles of impeachment, President Donald Trump sent a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, claiming the impeachment "represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power."

We annotated the Dec. 17 letter, providing brief summaries and links to more information for statements that we have fact-checked before.

The president made several false and misleading statements about the impeachment process -- for instance, claiming the whistleblower started a "hoax with a false report of the phone call that bears no relationship to the actual phone call that was made." The whistleblower's report on the call was accurate, and, in the words of Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire "in alignment with what was released" by the White House in a rough transcript of the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump also distorted the facts on several other topics, including immigration and his Electoral College victory. See our annotation for more. ... Read more

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of House.pdf

Donald Trump's Criminality Exceeds Every Past Impeachment (w/ Alan Grayson) | Thom Hartmann | 12/16/19 | 12.25

HIGH CRIMES:: The Impeachment of Donald Trump by Former Congressman Alan Grayson
"HIGH CRIMES" explains why. Here is a uniquely engaging 'take' on a political movement constantly in the news:

1. SPECIFICS -- Here, at last, is a comprehensive compendium of Donald Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors: not only the collusion and obstruction of justice addressed in the Mueller Report, but also Trump's impeachable divided loyalties, corruption, conflicts of interest, emoluments violations, pervasive obstruction of justice, habitual abuse of power, campaign misconduct, sexual misconduct, tax evasion, and incessant conduct unbecoming a President. In fact, it's hard to identify an impeachable offense that Donald Trump hasn't committed.
2. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE -- Read about not only the 'high crimes and misdemeanors' of Donald Trump, but also those of 35 other officials who have faced impeachment (including Presidents Nixon, Clinton and Andrew Johnson). Here is much-needed historical context on the subject of impeaching Donald Trump: Trump is measured against the worst scoundrels of American political history, and he comes out worse than them. In fact, Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors make them look like amateurs by comparison.
3. COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH -- No, you don't have to read them, but there are almost 500 endnotes here. (In the end, of course.) Trump's own high crimes and misdemeanors are cited directly to news reports, the Mueller Report, etc. The impeachment stories of other corrupt officials go all the way back to primary sources, like the Congressional Record, House Reports, Cannon and Hinds House Precedents, etc. -- often, in their own words, and the words of the Congressmen and Senators who passed judgment on them.
4. SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS -- Author Alan Grayson served in Congress, and he voted on two impeachments. That helps to bring the impeachment process to life.

impeach Book website

McConnell rejects Schumer's call for new witnesses in Senate trial
Axios | Zachary Basu | 12/17/19

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) call to have four White House witnesses testify in the Senate's likely impeachment trial, arguing that it's the House's "duty to investigate" and that the Senate will not volunteer its time for a "fishing expedition."

Trump Adviser Surveilled By FBI Reacts To DOJ Report About Him | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC | 12/16/19 | 9:26

George Conway and other conservative critics launch PAC to take down Trump
Politico | Abbey Marshall | 12/17/19

A group of conservative critics of President Donald Trump -- including lawyer George Conway, husband of White House aide Kellyanne Conway -- is launching a super PAC that will spend the next year working against Trump's reelection and Trump loyalism within the GOP.

"Patriotism and the survival of our nation in the face of the crimes, corruption and corrosive nature of Donald Trump are a higher calling than mere politics," the founders of the Lincoln Project wrote in a New York Times opinion piece published Tuesday. "As Americans, we must stem the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and the American character." ... Read more

More than 700 historians call for Trump to be impeached as key vote looms
TheGuardian | Martin Pengelly | 12/17/19

"We are American historians devoted to studying our nation's past," began an open letter posted to Medium, "who have concluded that Donald J Trump has violated his oath to 'faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States' and to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States'."

Two articles of impeachment will be voted on in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. They concern abuse of power, in Trump's attempts to have Ukraine investigate his political rivals, and obstruction of Congress, in his refusal to allow key aides to testify in impeachment hearings. ... Read more

Shamelessly Partisan Senators McConnell And Graham Pledge Not To Remove President Trump From | Stephen Colbert | 12/16/19 | 9:00

Senate Republicans Say They Won't Hold a Fair Impeachment Trial | Seth Meyers | 12/16/19 | 10:52

The Man Who Made Trump a Monster: Inside 'Where's My Roy Cohn?'
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ | Kevin Fallon | older 09/25/19

In a new documentary, Roy Cohn is called evil, ugly, corrupt, indecent, a hypocrite, a puppeteer, a liar, and a demagogue. And that is by his family and friends. Roger Stone, of all people, refers to him as "one of the most controversial people in the country."

So what does it say, then, that at one of the most vexing, stressful, and nearly impeachable moments in his presidency, it is reported that Donald Trump called out to his aides, "Where's my Roy Cohn?" At a moment of crisis, Trump cried out for his former friend, personal lawyer, and fixer. Some might characterize it as the president attempting to summon a demon.

"Everyone's curious about what makes a monster," says Matt Tyrnauer, the director of the new documentary that takes its name from that incident, Where's My Roy Cohn? In the film, which will be released Friday, audiences get two origin stories for the price of one. ... Read more

Where's My Roy Cohn? | Official Trailer HD (2019) | current | 2:03

Director Matt Tyrnauer On His Documentary About Roy Cohn, "Where's My Roy Cohn?" | current | 38:08

"Where's My Roy Cohn?": Film Explores How Joseph McCarthy's Ex-Aide Mentored Trump & Roger Stone | DN | current | 34:49

Citizen Cohn 1992 (Starring James Woods) | MrBollo | 02/09/19 | 1:51:37

What Donald Trump learned from Roy Cohn | CNN | 09/01/16 | 2:46

Former Attorney General Eric Holder Shreds William Barr As 'Unfit,' 'Incapable'
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 12/12/19/span>

Former Attorney General Eric Holder was unequivocal in his criticism of William Barr, the current attorney general of the United States, in a searing op-ed published in The Washington Post on Wednesday.

Holder, who served as the country's top law enforcement officer from 2009 to 2015 and as deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2001, accused Barr of shameless partisanship and of having behaved in a way that's "fundamentally inconsistent with his duty to the Constitution." ... Read more

Unbreaking America: Divided We Fall | RepresentUs | 12/09/19 | 10:01

THE AFGHANISTAN PAPERS A secret history of the war
WP | Craig Whitlock | 12/09/19

A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

The documents were generated by a federal project examining the root failures of the longest armed conflict in U.S. history. They include more than 2,000 pages of previously unpublished notes of interviews with people who played a direct role in the war, from generals and diplomats to aid workers and Afghan officials. ... Read more

Trump holds rally in Pennsylvania after Dems unveil impeachment articles | FoxNews | 12/10/19 | 1:22:20

Arctic In Dire Condition As Climate Change Ravages Long-Frozen Region, Report Warns
HP | author | date

Climate change is transforming Arctic ecosystems in unprecedented and troubling ways, causing vast sheets of ice to melt, impacting local wildlife and threatening not just indigenous populations who live there, but communities around the world, researchers warned in a dramatic new report issued on Tuesday.

... The researchers noted that the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, due in large part to the region's ice and snow. When temperatures rise and the ice melts, the color of the ground changes and absorbs more sunlight, further warming the region in a feedback loop that contributes to more climate change.

"This cycle is a critical reason why the Arctic has warmed at more than twice the rate of the global mean since the mid-1990s, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification of global warming," the report reads, which notes the Greenland ice sheet is losing about 267 billion tons of ice each year. ... Read more

The end of the magic stock market
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 12/11/19

The stock market's magnificent bounce in 2019 has been hard to explain and fueled largely by factors like stock buybacks and central bank easing.

The big picture: But to see an increase in their share prices next year, U.S. companies will have to actually increase their earnings, experts say, a factor that's been notably absent from this year's rally.

By the numbers: As of Tuesday's close, the S&P 500 has risen 25% while U.S. corporate earnings growth has been negligible. Data from FactSet shows the S&P's earnings will likely be negative in every quarter this year -- the first time it has fallen in four straight quarters since 2015--2016.

To be sure: Companies have seen earnings growth this year, but that has been almost entirely due to stock buybacks, Jill Carey Hall, U.S. equity strategist at BAML, tells Axios. "Pretty much all of it." ... Read more

Inspector General FISA Investigation President Trump - Senate Hearing | Fox10 | 12/11/19 | LIVE

Congress to Vote on $22 Billion Defense Increase One Week After Trump Slashed Food Stamps
TheIntercept | Alex Emmons | 12/10/19

DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN lawmakers in Congress's Armed Services committees released a compromise bill on Monday that would authorize $738 billion in military spending in 2020, a $22 billion increase over 2019. If passed, the bill would formally establish President Donald Trump's proposed "Space Force" as a sixth armed service and bring total annual Pentagon spending increases under Trump to more than $130 billion.

But Democrats on the left flank of the party argue that the compromise signs away important restrictions on Trump's war-making powers included in the House version of the bill, where an amendment backed by progressives would have prohibited the Trump administration from using any funds to launch an unauthorized, offensive war against Iran.

The compromise also stripped out a measure long backed by California Democrat Ro Khanna that would have prohibited U.S. military support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen and one from New Jersey Democrat Tom Malinowski that would have banned the sale of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ... Read more

RALLY | Trump holds campaign rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania | PBS | 12/10/19 | 1:42:45

'I'm inevitable': Trump campaign ad shows president as Avengers villain Thanos
TheGuardian | Luke O'Neil | 12/11/19

Donald Trump is a genocidal warlord hell bent on destroying half of existence in the universe. That's not a criticism from the unhinged leftwing media, it's apparently how the president and his team see him.

Shortly after the House brought two articles of impeachment against the president for his efforts seeking foreign interference to bolster his own political interests, the official Trump War Room re-election campaign Twitter account posted a video to social media that superimposed his face over that of the villainous Marvel comic book character Thanos.

In the scene from the movie Avengers: Endgame, Thanos snaps his fingers, attempting to destroy the diverse array of heroes from throughout the universe who've teamed up to defeat him. I am inevitable Trump/Thanos says. ... Read more

Until Avengers: Endgame comes toNetflix, watch the previous episode Avengers: Infinity War on Netflix (Thanos is still the bad guy).

Avengers: Infinity War | Netflix

At War with the Truth
WP | Craig Whitlock | 12/09/19

In the interviews, more than 400 insiders offered unrestrained criticism of what went wrong in Afghanistan and how the United States became mired in nearly two decades of warfare.

With a bluntness rarely expressed in public, the interviews lay bare pent-up complaints, frustrations and confessions, along with second-guessing and backbiting. ... Read more

Explosive investigative report says U.S. government misled public on war in Afghanistan | PBS | 12/09/19 | 5:49

'Modern-day Pentagon Papers': Comparing the Afghanistan Papers to blockbuster Vietnam War study
WP | Gillian Brockell | 12/09/19

"A massive study of how the United States went to war in Indochina, conducted by the Pentagon three years ago, demonstrates that four administrations progressively developed a sense of commitment to a non-Communist Vietnam, a readiness to fight the North to protect the South, and an ultimate frustration with this effort -- to a much greater extent than their public statements acknowledged at the time."

That was the lead of the New York Times's first earthshaking Pentagon Papers story, published on June 13, 1971. Nearly half a century later, it bears a striking resemblance to revelations about the 18-year war in Afghanistan published Monday in The Washington Post. A confidential trove of documents obtained by Post reporter Craig Whitlock shows U.S. officials made rosy pronouncements about the war they knew to be false. ... Read more

9/11: A Conspiracy Theory | 4:56

9/11: A Conspiracy Theory | 4:56

U.S. Lobbyists Prepare to Seize "Historic Opportunity" in Tory-Led Brexit to Shred Consumer Safeguards, Raise Drug Prices
TheIntercept | Lee Fang | 12/09/19

BORIS JOHNSON'S election on December 12 hinges on the British prime minister's promise to leave the European Union. Johnson has remade the Conservative Party, pushing out longtime party members wary of a firm break from the EU, to cast the election as a chance to build a parliamentary majority focused on finalizing Brexit.

The original Brexit referendum that passed in June 2016 pitted populists against the establishment, with banks funneling huge amounts of money to oppose the referendum, which was cast as a measure to return taxes and power to local British citizens, while restoring the sovereignty of the U.K.'s borders against what was cast as unfair trade and uncontrolled migration.

But the politics of the deal have shifted over time, with hard-liners gaining power within Tory leadership and demanding a radical break from the EU. Corporate lobbyists now see an opportunity to use Johnson's proposed swift exit from the EU as a way to forge bilateral trade deals, including one between the U.S. and the U.K, that would outsource local authority to rules set by an array of international business interests. A wide range of industries are primed to take advantage of the deal to evade EU consumer safeguards and drug pricing rules. Representatives from American pork to Silicon Valley and everything in between are trying to influence the negotiations. ... Read more

The Trump Impeachment Hearings - Judiciary Committee - Day 2 | PBS | 12/09/19 | LIVE

Full Frontal Rewind: American Greed | Full Frontal on TBS | Samantha Bee | 12/09/19 | 24:44

I taught at a 'for-profit' college. They're predatory disasters
TheGuardian | David Andrew Stole | 12/09/19

Students rack up debt for worthless diplomas -- debt they default on at twice the rate of their peers at traditional colleges

For a clear picture of how damaged the US postsecondary education system is, one need only look at the money-printing mill that is the for-profit college. I should know: I spent 10 years "teaching" at one of the most notorious cash-grab colleges in the country. There, I saw profoundly underprepared students racking up far more debt than their "traditional" peers -- debt they would default on at more than twice the rate of those peers, landing the costs of these wayward scholars directly on the shoulders of taxpayers.

... This week, the US Department of Education accidentally showed just how badly the problem of for-profit college debt is intertwined with predatory loan collection: in a court filing, the Department of Education jacked up its estimate of its own illegal debt collection from 16,000 former students at bankrupt Corinthian College to nearly three times that amount. All while the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, who was held in contempt of court for the department's actions, continued to refuse debt forgiveness for thousands of students ripped off by for-profit colleges. ... Read more

Pensacola Naval Air Station shooting: What we know so far
Axios | Rashaan Ayesh | 12/06/19

At least three people were killed by a shooter, who also died, at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida on Friday, according to the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.

The base, which employs more than 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel, is one of the Navy's most important -- and is the home of the Blue Angels flight team.

The big picture: Earlier this week, another shooting incident took place on a U.S. military installation when a U.S. sailor killed two people at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Shipyard in Hawaii. ... Read more

Donald Trump Quotes.pdf

The Ukraine Scandal Is Bigger Than We Realized, Democrats' Report Suggests
MotherJones | Dan Friedman | 12/03/19

The document reveals that Trump-linked lawyers secretly represented Ukrainian officials.

A 300-page impeachment report released on Tuesday by House Democrats describes how President Donald Trump used "the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election"--but it also suggests that the plot pursued by Trump and his allies in Ukraine was broader than investigators have so far revealed.

The report indicates that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) was in close contact with Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, and Giuliani's since-indicted associate Lev Parnas as they engaged in an effort to smear former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump removed from her post a few months later. The Democratic document cites records of Giuliani's calls, obtained from AT&T, which detail extensive communications in early April between Nunes, Giuliani, Parnas, and John Solomon, then an opinion writer for the Hill newspaper whose columns Giuliani used to push his agenda. This revelation raised questions about Nunes' failure to recuse himself from hearings on the Ukraine scandal. ... Read more

Stephen Colbert
Don't Even Try To Out Stupid Donald Trump | Stephen Colbert | 07/26/18 | 5:40

This Tweet Trumps All Other Horrible Trump Tweets | Stephen Colbert | 09/13/18 |8:27

Was Helsinki A 'Top Three' Worst Moment Of Trump's Presidency? | 07/18/19 | 11:20

Donald Trump is an "Idiot" and a "Liar," Americans say in New Poll

Newsweek | Celeste Katz | 12/12/17

Americans aren't damning President Donald Trump with faint praise, according to a new poll: They're mostly just damning him. When asked for the first word that pops into their head when they think of the commander-in-chief, U.S. voters gave such glowing descriptors as "idiot," "liar" and "a**hole," according to a new Quinnipiac University survey out Tuesday.

In an open-ended question, Quinnipiac asked respondents over the phone, "What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of President Trump?" A total of 53 people responded with the word "idiot, 44 with "liar" and 36 with "incompetent." Another 26 people gave the response "a**hole," while 19 respondents said "moron," 18 said "arrogant" and 17 said "disgusting." ... Read more

Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds 12/12/17
What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of President Trump?

idiot 53
liar 44
incompetent 36
leader 35
strong 35
More

asshole 26
great 21
moron 19
arrogant 18
disgusting 17
unqualified 16
crazy 15
bold 14
buffoon 12
dangerous 12
ignorant 12
corrupt 11
dishonest 11
honest 11
racist 11
businessman 10
different 10
stupid 10
business 9
change 9
egotistical 9
fraud 9
good 9
narcissist 9
president 9
American 8
jerk 8
trying 8
unstable 8
awesome 7
bombastic 7
disaster 7
pig 7
childish 6
dumb 6
evil 6
joke 6
powerful 6
courageous 5
disgrace 5
fantastic 5
hard-worker 5
insane 5

Bernie Sanders becomes top candidate for college students
Axios | Neal Rothschild | 12/05/19

Over the last two months, Bernie Sanders has overtaken Elizabeth Warren as the top 2020 Democratic candidate among college students, according to a new College Reaction/Axios poll.

The big picture: Warren's recent decline among college students mirrors polling of the general population, but while Pete Buttigieg has been gaining among all voters during that time, Sanders is the one who's gained the most among students. ... Read more

See lewd Trump moment that made Page speak out | CNN | 12/03/19 | 6:52

Here is a thread off of one of Trump tweets (pdf)

Everyone should watch, Amazon Prime Video, 'The Report'. Take it from a Guantánamo Bay lawyer
TheGuardian | Clive Stafford Smith | 12/05/19

This important film shines a light on an important story in recent history: the torture of detainees kept as forever prisoners in Gitmo

One such unfortunate was my client Ahmed Rabbani, a Karachi taxi driver sold to the US for a bounty, accompanied by the false accusation that he was Hassan Ghul, a notorious Pakistani terrorist. That was 10 September 2002; I saw him recently on my 39th visit to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held for 17 years without charge or trial. ... Read more

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee | PBS | 02/27/19 | 7:55:01

House hearing on Russia's involvement in the 2016 election | PBS | 05/05/17 | 5:25:28

Trump Impeachment Hearing - House Judiciary Committee - Day 1 | PBS | 12/04/19 | LIVE

READ: Impeachment Inquiry Report By House Intelligence Committee
NPR | Elena Moore | 12/03/19

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has released a report that outlines the findings from public hearings and closed-door interviews conducted by impeachment investigators since late September.

"The impeachment inquiry has found that President Trump, personally and acting through agents within and outside of the U.S. government, solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, to benefit his reelection," Schiff wrote in the 300-page report.

"[T]he President placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought to undermine the integrity of the U.S. presidential election process, and endangered U.S. national security," Schiff wrote. ... Read more

Full House Impeachment Report_sm.pdf

Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and the members of that committee will use the Intelligence Committee report as well as additional information requested through committee procedures to determine whether the facts support writing articles of impeachment.

If the Judiciary Committee does write and approve articles of impeachment, those articles would then go to the full House of Representatives. If the House votes to impeach Trump, the Republican-led Senate will begin a trial on whether to remove the president.

Why is Trump's White Nationalist Aide, Stephen Miller, Untouchable?
TheGuardian | Amanda Holpuch | 12/04/19

More than 100 members of Congress, dozens of civil rights groups and at least 130,800 others have called on Miller to step down, or be fired, but the White House, and the broader Republican party, has still supported Miller after it was revealed he promoted racist fears such as a conspiracy theory about the demographic replacement of white people in America.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who studies the history of fascism in Europe, said Miller was safe in the White House because he was the perfect combination of ideology and behind-the-scenes personality to appease Trump, an "attention-hungry leader" pushing far-right policies.

"Miller is a quiet extremist and they are the most dangerous kind," Ben-Ghiat said. ... Read more

Disruptor in chief Trump bulldozes into NATO gathering
Politico | Nancy Cook | 12/03/19

LONDON -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted he didn't want to disrupt Britain's upcoming elections. So, instead, he disrupted everything else. ... Read more

Climate Change Solutions Simulator | climateinteractive.org | current | 2:14

Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics and what the science really says.pdf

Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics ranked by popularity.pdf

Climate Change Guide_to Skepticism.pdf

Here Are The Latest Secret Memos From Mueller's Report
BuzzFeed | Jason Leopold | 12/02/19

BuzzFeed News sued the US government for the right to see all the work that Mueller's team kept secret. We published the second installment of the FBI's summaries of interviews with key witnesses.

The report from former special counsel Robert Mueller, detailing Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and the Trump administration's efforts to obstruct the inquiry, was the most hotly anticipated prosecutorial document in a generation. But at 448 pages, it reflected only a tiny fraction of the primary-source documents that the government amassed over the course of its two-year investigation. ... Read more

Here Are The Latest Secret Memos From Mueller's Report.pdf

Deadly winter storm strikes Northeast during peak travel weekend
Axios | Ursula Perano, Rebecca Falconer | 12/02/19

A trans-continental winter storm moving into the Northeast Sunday is tormenting travelers and being blamed for multiple deaths, AP reports.

What's happening: The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for upstate New York and New England, where nearly a foot of snow was expected to fall. Ice accumulations were forecast for parts of Pennsylvania and California was also under a storm warning, with the Bay Area bracing for "a foot of total rainfall between Saturday and Wednesday morning," per the Los Angeles Times. ... Read more

What is Trump's best defense in the impeachment probe? | Face the Nation | 12/01/19 | 9:22

On Fiona Hill's Warning On Russia, She Is 'Entitled To Her Opinion' | Meet The Press | 12/01/19 | 8:55

"Rent is obscene here": The issues forcing people in Seattle onto the street | 60 Minutes | 12/01/19 | 13:10

What to expect from the next phase of impeachment
Axios | Alayna Treene | 12/02/19

What we're hearing: House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has given the White House until 5 pm ET on Friday to decide whether President Trump will have his counsel participate....

... What's next: The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing at 10 am ET on Wednesday examining whether Trump's actions toward Ukraine qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors. ...

... A more pivotal moment may be the presentation of the House Intelligence Committee's report, outlining the evidence Democrats have gathered so far and their recommendations for articles of impeachment, according to officials working on the inquiry. ... Read more

Trump Impeachment Inquiry: A Guide To Key People, Facts And Documents
NPR | Dana Farrington | ongoing