Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Fact-checking the first Democratic presidential debate (both nights) | The Fact Checker | 06/28/19 | 2:39

SECOND Democratic Presidential Debate - June 27 (Full) | NBC News | 06/27/19 | 4:02:27

Debates highlight the space between 2020 Democrats
Axios | Alexi McCammond | 06/28/19

While Sen. Kamala Harris' confrontation with former Vice President Joe Biden will likely steal most of the postgame headlines from Thursday's second round of the Democratic debates, there were a few other major takeaways worth noting.

The state of play: Democrats are not united on everything. If one of the more progressive Dems won, they'd still have plenty of moderates telling them to get real and stop trying to offer free college to everyone or abolish private health insurance.

Sen. Bernie Sanders seemed like a sidelight: Nearly everyone else could name the first issue they'd push as president but he couldn't, or wouldn't, choose. (Biden, seeming to misunderstand the question, said: "[T]he first thing I would do is make sure that we defeat Donald Trump, period.") ... Read more

5 Takeaways From Night 2 Of The Democratic Debate
NPR | Domenico Montanaro | 06/28/19

When Sen. Kamala Harris of California launched her presidential campaign in January and drew a crowd of 20,000 in Oakland, Calif., she raised some eyebrows about the potential for her candidacy. But during the early stretch of this Democratic primary campaign, Harris struggled to catch on or stand apart -- until Thursday night.

Harris showed in the second night of the first Democratic presidential primary debate why so many thought she had such promise as a candidate from the beginning. She commanded the stage, was crisp, and showed skill and courage in going after former Vice President Joe Biden.

** FIRSTst Democratic Primary Debate:
Live Analysis
NPR | staff | 06/26/19

We may be done with this debate, but in reality we're only at the midpoint since there are another two hours tomorrow night! We'll have more analysis on NPR.org, a new NPR Politics Podcast in your feed soon and more coverage on air tomorrow. Come back tomorrow as more of the leading candidates take the stage, including former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California Sen. Kamala Harris.

... Read more

Who Won the First Democratic Debates?
TheIntecept | Deconstruction | 06/28/19

A WHOPPING 20 Democratic presidential candidates met in Miami, Florida this week for the first in what promises to be a very long season of primary debates. Pre-debate buzz centered around frontrunners like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren--or Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, who let the fireworks fly on the second night in a heated exchange over the ex-Vice President's record on school bussing. One surprise standout was former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, who made headlines on the first night for his radical immigration proposals and for clashing with fellow Texan Beto O'Rourke. Castro joins Mehdi to talk about his big night, and Intercept DC Bureau Chief Ryan Grim stops by to analyze the debates. ... Read more
Deconstructed | Mehdi Hasan
Deconstructed Podcast: Who Won the First Democratic Debates? | TheIntercept | 06/28/19 | 1hr

Democratic Presidential Debate - June 26 (Full) | NBC News | 06/26/19 | 5:04:05

5 Takeaways From The First 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate
HP | Kevin Robillard | 06/27/19

Things stayed peaceful, Warren shut down some Sanders criticism, Castro shone and Trump got off easy.

Elizabeth Warren Lays Out a Theory of Change at First Democratic Debate
TheIntercept | Ryan Grim | 06/27/19

ELIZABETH WARREN'S POLITICAL obituary was written in a thousand hot takes, each one burning hotter than the last. She seemed to be the latest challenger who President Donald Trump had trolled into oblivion, deftly exploiting identity fractures on the left. But standing center stage at the first Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday night, Warren was back.

Her presidential campaign rolled out of the gate with anemic small-dollar fundraising, raising less than $300,000. Mired in the single digits, she was eclipsed in media attention by an embarrassing pair of contenders: Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman, and Peter Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was paraded around magazine offices as the candidate with brains -- never mind the Harvard law professor

But on the ground, Warren began connecting with audiences starting the first day she hit the trail -- and launching her campaign early allowed her to more or less put "Pocahontas" behind her and reset with an endless stream of new policy ideas. So far, she has risen in the polls along with Bernie Sanders, suggesting that the left is growing its share of the vote. The second choice of most Joe Biden voters, meanwhile, is Sanders, suggesting that he and Warren could continue rising together for some time. But at some point, the two will naturally begin to cannibalize each other, which will test the good will that has long existed between their respective camps. ... Read more

The U.S. jobs market is starting to worry economists
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 06/27/19

The U.S. jobs market, having long been the bedrock of the nation's economic expansion, is starting to worry economists ahead of next week's payroll data.

What's happening: After years of remarkably smooth sailing, 2019 has brought market volatility and some concern about whether the economy can keep adding jobs at a fast enough pace to sustain the expansion.

What we're hearing: Job gains don't necessarily have to turn negative to signal trouble, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told Axios at a labor market conference hosted by payroll processor ADP this week. ... Read more

Robert Mueller To Testify Before House Judiciary And Intelligence Committees
HP | author | date

The special counsel is set to testify in open session before Congress on July 17 about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Robert Mueller agreed Tuesday to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee in an open session, marking the first time the special counsel will publicly answer questions about his investigative report.

The special counsel is set to appear before both committees in separate but back-to-back hearings on July 17, according to Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who chair the judiciary and intelligence committees, respectively. ... Read more

Axios-Newswhip 2020 attention tracker: Biden dominates
Axios | Neal Rothschild | 06/26/19

Joe Biden is dominating the 2020 Democratic field in online attention, showing the extent to which the race is being molded by the current frontrunner while other candidates are defining themselves in relation to him.

What's going on: Articles about Biden are generating far more social media interactions (43.5 million) than any other 2020 Democrat over the last 10 weeks, according to data from Newswhip exclusively provided to Axios as part of a project that will regularly update throughout the 2020 campaign. The next closest is Bernie Sanders, who lags far behind Biden with 24.8 million. ... Read more

Someone accused the US president of rape. The media shrugged
TheGuardian | Arwa Mahdawi | 06/26/19

Why the relative quiet around E Jean Carroll's allegation? Is it sexism? Outrage fatigue? Journalistic cowardice? All of the above?

Donald Trump once boasted he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone without losing any votes. While this thesis hasn't been tested -- yet -- I suspect he's probably right. Just look at the muted reaction to the allegations the president once sexually assaulted a woman on Fifth Avenue. Just look at the depressing and predictable way the E Jean Carroll story is fizzling out.

On Friday, New York magazine published an excerpt from Carroll's forthcoming book in which the writer recalls encountering Trump in Bergdorf Goodman, a Manhattan department store, in the mid-1990s. Carroll alleges that Trump violently forced himself upon her in a dressing room after asking for advice on a present he was getting for a female friend. "I have never had sex with anybody ever again," she wrote.

There was a time when an allegation that the president of the United States raped someone in a department store would have been the only thing everyone was talking about. But Carroll's story was received by many media outlets with a series of tired shrugs. It didn't even make the front page of Saturday's New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times or Chicago Tribune. Worse, the Times seemingly didn't even consider it "news" -- it put the story in its book section. ... Read more

'Climate apartheid': UN expert says human rights may not survive
TheGuardian | Damian Carrington | 06/25/19

The world is increasingly at risk of "climate apartheid", where the rich pay to escape heat and hunger caused by the escalating climate crisis while the rest of the world suffers, a report from a UN human rights expert has said.

Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said the impacts of global heating are likely to undermine not only basic rights to life, water, food, and housing for hundreds of millions of people, but also democracy and the rule of law.

Alston is critical of the "patently inadequate" steps taken by the UN itself, countries, NGOs and businesses, saying they are "entirely disproportionate to the urgency and magnitude of the threat". His report to the UN human rights council (HRC) concludes: "Human rights might not survive the coming upheaval." ... Read more

Jay Inslee Just Dropped the Most Ambitious Climate Plan from a Presidential Candidate. Here's Who It Targets.
TheIntercept | Kate Aronoff | 06/24/19

JAY INSLEE, A 2020 presidential hopeful, released an expansive plan on Monday that attempts to capture and rein in the full range of what's propping up the fossil-fuel economy, from big banks, to lax drilling laws, to federal subsidies. The Washington governor is the first candidate to call -- and plan explicitly -- for phasing out fossil fuel production writ large in the United States, through both legislative and executive actions to ban fracking and to prohibit fossil fuel leases on public lands, among other sweeping changes. The plan also explores possibilities for restricting drilling on nonpublic lands, such as instituting mandatory buffers between drilling operations and populated areas like schools, homes, and hospitals.

Inslee's "Freedom From Fossil Fuels" plan looks to take on the leadership of fossil fuel companies directly and account for their role in climate and environmental crises, in part by establishing an Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of Justice. "The Inslee Administration will ensure that polluters pay for their actions, and will not hesitate to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," the plan states. ... Read more

'Hell is coming': week-long heatwave begins across Europe
TheGuardian | Jon Henley | 06/24/19

Meteorologists said temperatures would reach or even exceed 40C from Spain to Switzerland as hot air was sucked up from the Sahara by the combination of a storm stalling over the Atlantic and high pressure over central Europe.

High humidity meant it would feel like 47C, experts warned. "El infierno [hell] is coming," tweeted the TV meteorologist Silvia Laplana in Spain, where the AEMET weather service forecast temperatures of 42C by Thursday in the Ebro, Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys and warned of an "extreme risk" of forest fires.

In France, officials in Paris set up "cool rooms" in municipal buildings, opened pools for late-night swimming and installed extra drinking fountains as temperatures in the capital reached 34C on Monday and were forecast to climb further later in the week.... Read more

(47°C × 9/5) + 32
0C = 32F
34C = 93.2F
42C = 107.6F
47C = 116.6F

The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
New Revelations: Featuring 15 explosive new chapters, this expanded edition of Perkins's classic bestseller brings the story of economic hit men (EHMs) up to date and, chillingly, home to the US. Over 40 percent of the book is new, including chapters identifying today's EHMs and a detailed chronology extensively documenting EHM activity since the first edition was published in 2004.

Former economic hit man John Perkins shares new details about the ways he and others cheated countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Then he reveals how the deadly EHM cancer he helped create has spread far more widely and deeply than ever in the US and everywhere else--to become the dominant system of business, government, and society today. Finally, he gives an insider view of what we each can do to change it.

Economic hit men are the shock troops of what Perkins calls the corporatocracy, a vast network of corporations, banks, colluding governments, and the rich and powerful people tied to them. If the EHMs can't maintain the corrupt status quo through nonviolent coercion, the jackal assassins swoop in. The heart of this book is a completely new section, over 100 pages long, that exposes the fact that all the EHM and jackal tools -- false economics, false promises, threats, bribes, extortion, debt, deception, coups, assassinations, unbridled military power -- are used around the world today exponentially more than during the era Perkins exposed over a decade ago.

The material in this new section ranges from the Seychelles, Honduras, Ecuador, and Libya to Turkey, Western Europe, Vietnam, China, and, in perhaps the most unexpected and sinister development, the United States, where the new EHMs -- bankers, lobbyists, corporate executives, and others--"con governments and the public into submitting to policies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer."

The Economic Hitmen (cartoon) | | older | 2:11

John Perkins Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Full audiobook) | | older | 9:16:09

John Perkins Confession of an Economic Hitman (Full interview) | | older | 1:08:49

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Tuesday, June 25 [15:04]

Trump Is Deepening the 'Economic War' Against Iran -- Wilkerson | TRNN | 06/25/19 | 13:34

Confessions Of An Economic Hitman | TYT | 06/24/19 | 16:12

Bernie Calls Out Media For Enabling Trump's Idiocy | TYT | 06/24/19 | 12:51

Chuck Todd To Trump: "What Are You Talking About?" | TYT | 06/24/19 | 5:42

Foresight 2020: Health Care | 1a.org | 06/25/19 | 1hr

More News

The new data capitalism
Axios | Steve LeVine | 06/25/19

Around the world, companies big and small are feverishly plotting our future lifestyle -- smart cities, driverless vehicles, wearable technology, internet-connected everything at home, and more, all of them activated by our voices and thoughts.

What's happening: For almost two decades, a tiny handful of companies -- Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and China's Alibaba and Tencent -- have sought to know every possible thing, public and private, in real time, about you and every other reachable individual on the planet -- where they go, what they do, say, and feel ... Read more

Full interview: Bernie Sanders on "Face the Nation" | Face the Nation | 06/23/19 | 23:33

***Behind the scenes: How Trump's team staffed the U.S. government
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 06/24/19

The documents are the product of a hasty, dysfunctional, thrown-together effort to put together a presidential administration. Chris Christie helmed a traditional transition effort during the campaign. Then, after Trump won, Steve Bannon fired him and tossed most of his work.

Why it matters: Trump's original Cabinet, by most counts, was a mess and many are now gone.

Some key Cabinet secretaries opposed him on core philosophical issues (see Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin.) Others had lethal ethical problems (EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.)

What they're saying: "To be honest, the process was such a disaster and such a shit-show and there were so many unqualified people coming through that the issues with [future HUD Secretary Ben] Carson don't really stick out to me," said one RNC vetter. "You know, I'm like, 'Oh gentle Ben is unqualified and thinks that pyramids store grain or whatever. Great. At least he's not beating his wife and his wife's not appearing on Oprah.'" ... Read more

Agriculture Department buries studies showing dangers of climate change
Politico | Helena Bottemiller Evich | 06/23/19

The Trump administration has stopped promoting government-funded research into how higher temperatures can damage crops and pose health risks.

The Trump administration has refused to publicize dozens of government-funded studies that carry warnings about the effects of climate change, defying a longstanding practice of touting such findings by the Agriculture Department's acclaimed in-house scientists.

The studies range from a groundbreaking discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment -- a potentially serious health concern for the 600 million people world-wide whose diet consists mostly of rice -- to a finding that climate change could exacerbate allergy seasons to a warning to farmers about the reduction in quality of grasses important for raising cattle. ... Read more

The Ivory Tower team of wonks behind Warren's policy agenda
Politico | Alex Thompson | 06/24/18

Behind Elizabeth Warren's trust-busting, Wall Street-bashing, tax-the-wealthy platform is a brain trust that extends well beyond the Beltway thinkers who often rubber stamp campaign proposals.

Instead, the former Harvard professor and her tight team of policy advisers have waded deeper into the world of academia than is usual in presidential campaigns, according to interviews with more than a dozen people her campaign has consulted and a review of the scholarship underlying her plans.

The unveiling of her agriculture policy, for example, came with bold promises to take on "Big Ag." But her policy team went into the weeds with experts beforehand, consulting texts like a recent book published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis titled, "Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities." ... Read more

Trump's Rambling Phone Interview with Sean Hannity | Seth Meyers | 06/20/19 | 11:13

Trump confirms he stopped retaliatory Iran strike
Axios | staff | 06/21/19

President Trump confirmed that his administration had readied a series of strikes against Iran in response for shooting down an unmanned drone in a Friday Twitter thread.

"We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights [sic] when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone."

The climate stakes of speedy delivery
Axios | Erica Pandey | 06/21/19

With its acceleration of Prime shipping from two days to one, Amazon established a new normal. Soon after, Walmart and Target came out with their own super-speedy shipping options.

Why it matters: Flying, trucking and delivering millions of packages a day comes with a cost -- as shoppers demand faster and faster speed, there has been a sharp environmental impact.

The big picture: Consumers have gotten hooked on speed -- and the efficiencies that e-commerce injected into retail are getting erased because now there are more deliveries of smaller numbers of packages. With this trend, emissions have grown: ... Read more

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew McCabe

In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account of his career, and an impassioned defense of the FBI's agents, and of the institution's integrity and independence in protecting America and upholding our Constitution.

McCabe started as a street agent in the FBI's New York field office, serving under director Louis Freeh. He became an expert in two kinds of investigations that are critical to American national security: Russian organized crime--which is inextricably linked to the Russian state--and terrorism. Under Director Robert Mueller, McCabe led the investigations of major attacks on American soil, including the Boston Marathon bombing, a plot to bomb the New York subways, and several narrowly averted bombings of aircraft. And under James Comey, McCabe was deeply involved in the controversial investigations of the Benghazi attack, the Clinton Foundation's activities, and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.

The Threat recounts in compelling detail the time between Donald Trump's November 2016 election and McCabe's firing, set against a page-turning narrative spanning two decades when the FBI's mission shifted to a new goal: preventing terrorist attacks on Americans. But as McCabe shows, right now the greatest threat to the United States comes from within, as President Trump and his administration ignore the law, attack democratic institutions, degrade human rights, and undermine the U.S. Constitution that protects every citizen.

Commenter/Reviewer
I wanted to read this book. I don't know much about the inner workings of the FBI and I knew this would explain a lot. It tells McCabe's own personal story and tells us just how the FBI works.
The tall tales that trump tells about Mueller, Comey and McCabe are refuted easily by this book. Knowing about the people who work there and the way they do things you will find that the idea of three Republican career FBI men being involved in a plot against the man in the White House is ludicrous. You would be just as concerned as they were and just as alarmed.
McCabe tells his own story as well as many details of working at the FBI. It's fascinating stuff. I came away proud of Andrew McCabe for coming forward despite all the horrible, raging tweets he will get from the WH. McCabe is an American hero. What he did with this book was to tell his story and that of the Bureau. I hope people come to realize that it isn't McCabe who is lying.
If you aren't as scared as I am, you aren't paying attention. Thank you Andrew McCabe for an excellent book.

Iran Crisis: Have We Learned Nothing From the IRAQ War?
TheIntercept | Deconstructed | 06/20/19

CALLS FOR MILITARY ACTION against Iran grew louder this week in response to the Trump administration's claims that the Islamic Republic was responsible for attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Many analysts and politicians, both in the U.S. and abroad, expressed skepticism of those claims. But the U.S. media appears to be falling into a familiar pattern, providing a sympathetic platform for the administration without fundamentally questioning its premises. What can we learn from the last push for a war in the Middle East 17 years ago? Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell during the run-up to the Iraq War, joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss the lessons of recent history. ... Read more
Deconstructed | Mehdi Hasan
Deconstructed Podcast: Iran Crisis: Have We Learned Nothing From the IRAQ War? | TheIntercept | 06/20/19 | ~1hr

Trump Makes INSANE Claims At Re-Election Rally (Full show) | TYT | 06/20/19 | 43:31

What to make of the Fed
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 06/20/19

Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear at the Fed's June policy meeting that the U.S. central bank is ready to cut interest rates -- just not yet.

What it means: Powell looks to be facing pressure from all sides -- President Trump, other central banks and even members of the Fed's rate-setting committee -- to lower interest rates. His press conference suggested that his heart's not in it, but he's ready to go. ...

What he said: "Uncertainties about this outlook have increased.... The Committee will closely monitor the implications of incoming information ... and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion."

Between the lines: "The Fed left rates on hold but sent a clear message -- the next move is a cut. The only question now is the timing," analysts at Bank of America-Merrill-Lynch wrote in a note to clients. ... Read more

Obama voters explain what drew them to Trump | CNN | 06/20/19 | 7:41

Alastair Campbell interviews Michael Wolff | British GQ | older 07/30/18 | 38:11

Trump holds 'MAGA' rally in Orlando to kick off 2020 campaign | FoxNews | 06/18/19 | 1:40:30

Why Trump chose Orlando for his re-election launch
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 06/19/19

There are two big reasons President Trump's campaign chose Orlando, Fla., for last night's official re-election launch, a source tells Axios: the optics of a huge spillover crowd and, more importantly, a boon for the campaign's digital operation.

When you register for a ticket, you hand over basic info. Then when you show up and get your ticket scanned, you tell the campaign more about your intensity and propensity to show up and vote.

The source said the campaign is trying to vacuum up as much Florida voter information as early as possible, so that key state can be squared away. These rallies have huge value for Trump's ongoing fundraising -- and ultimately for the campaign's get out the vote operation. ... Read more

Another Donald Trump W.H. Vetting Failure Ends In Scandal, Resignation | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 06/18/19 | 21:33

Trump's 2020 Campaign Kickoff Attracted Extremists To A City That Hates Trump
HP | Christopher Mathias | 06/19/19

ORLANDO, Fla. -- President Donald Trump announced the formal launch of his 2020 reelection campaign Tuesday evening at a rally in Orlando, attracting thousands of supporters -- including many far-right extremists -- to a city that mostly detests him.

The president's fans showed up hours before the rally began, standing outside the Amway Center in the sweltering heat and the pouring rain. Many sported "Make America Great Again" hats or T-shirts with slogans like "Make Democrats Cry Again" and "Deplorable Lives Matter." ... Read more

All of the Mueller report's major findings in less than 30 minutes | PBS | 06/17/19 | 28:35

The Mueller Report | PBS/Frontline | 03/26/19 | 1:26:42

Photograph lays bare reality of melting Greenland sea ice
TheGuardian | Alison Rourke and Fiona Harvey | 06/18/19

Research teams traversing partially melted fjord to retrieve weather equipment release startling picture

... Ruth Mottram, climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, told the Guardian: "This year the expedition to retrieve the instruments -- by dog-sled, still the most practical way to get around in this region at this time of year -- ran into a lot of standing water on the sea ice. The ice here forms pretty reliably every winter and is very thick, which means that there are relatively few fractures for meltwater to drain through. Last week saw the onset of very warm conditions in Greenland and in fact much of the rest of the Arctic, driven by warmer air moving up from the south."

She said these conditions had let to "a lot of melting ice, on the glaciers and ice sheet, and on the still-existing sea ice". The DMI weather station nearby at Qaanaaq airport registered a high of 17.3C last Wednesday and 15C last Thursday, which is high for northern Greenland, even in summer. Mottram cautioned that the numbers were provisional and would be subject to checking. ... Read more

Facebook is still betting big on products and innovation
Axios | Ina Fried | 06/18/19

Love Facebook or hate it, you can't say the besieged company is shying away from new products or big thinking.

What's happening: In the past 18 months -- amid Cambridge Analytica and all the other scandals -- the company has launched bold new moves to help find you a date, to put cameras inside your home and, now, to encourage you to adopt a whole new cryptocurrency.

Overnight, Facebook announced plans for Libra, its long-awaited cryptocurrency project. As Axios' Kia Kokolitcheva reports, Facebook is not going it alone, as Libra has other partners and will be overseen by a separate Swiss company. Still, it's the central part of a project to give Facebook a role in the payments industry. Facebook plans to develop its own wallet app for the currency and also offer Libra within its messaging services. ... Read more

US Military Keeping Secrets From Trump | TYT | 06/17/19 | 13:41

Rethink Bacon, Laundry baskets and other Tips from a Couple Who Downsized to 536 Square feet
farmers.com | author | date

They knew they'd have to jettison most of their possessions. But there were plenty of surprises after they lost 1,000 square feet of living space. They've changed the way they cook and wash clothes, for instance -- and they've acquired other unexpected skills since moving into their tiny house.

The couple's first plan had all of the fearless optimism of a trendy, DIYer's dream: they'd buy a lovely piece of rural property near Lancaster and -- using Garrett's mechanical engineering skills -- build a cute little house.

"We started looking in the spring of 2015 and quickly realized that land was ridiculously expensive, coming in at over $100,000 for a decent lot. Plus, when we crunched the numbers and factored in construction costs for a custom-built tiny house, it would have been cheaper for us to stay in our bigger house," says Claudia. "So that idea quickly went out the window." ... Read more

Mike Pompeo Said Congress Doesn't Need to Approve War with IRAN. 2020 Democrats Aren't Having It.
TheIntercept | Akela Lacy, Jon Schwarz | 06/14/19

AS THE TRUMP administration ratchets up tensions with Iran, escalating fears that the United States is looking for a possible path to another war in the Middle East, several Democratic presidential contenders are standing firm in their rejection of the White House's attempts to create a legal rationale for war. They were responding to comments Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made in a May 21 classified briefing for members of Congress that suggested that the Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, passed by Congress three days after 9/11 could provide a legal basis for a war with Iran.

In interviews with The Intercept, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as well as spokespeople for Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said it would be illegal for the U.S. government to rely on a 2001 law that authorized military force against perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks to go to war with Iran. ... Read more

Donald Trump Disregard For Rule Of Law Puts Officials In Awkward Spot | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 06/14/19 | 14:35

Impeachment: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | 06/16/19 | 20:20

Mayor Pete as commander-in-chief
Axios | Mike Allen | 06/17/19

Chatting confidently about what he'd do as commander-in-chief, Pete Buttigieg told me for "Axios on HBO" that he "wouldn't put it past" President Trump to allow the border "to become worse in order to have it be a more divisive issue, so that he could benefit politically."

What he's saying: "The president needs this crisis to get worse, even though it makes a liar out of him," Buttigieg said at his campaign HQ in South Bend, Ind. "I don't think he's worried about that. ... I don't think he cares if it gets better. But he certainly doesn't benefit from comprehensively fixing the problem."

Five other prominent Democratic senators, including 2016 vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine of Virginia and Dick Durbin of Illinois, filed a bipartisan amendment on Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, for the 2020 fiscal year to prohibit funds from being used for military operations against Iran without congressional approval. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky also joined the Democrats. ... Read more

Trump: Don McGahn's Mueller testimony "doesn't matter"
Axios | Orion Rummler | 06/14/19

President Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that former White House counsel Don McGahn's testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller, which backed some of the Mueller report's potential episodes of obstruction of justice, "doesn't matter."

Why it matters: McGahn, who is cited in the Mueller report more than any other witness, is currently not complying with House Judiciary subpoenas on instruction from the White House.

Mueller's report details how Trump instructed McGahn to have Mueller removed as special counsel. Refusals from McGahn -- and other top White House staffers -- to obey presidential directives are part of the reason that Trump may have avoided obstructing justice. ... Read more

Trump says he may not alert FBI if info is offered by foreigners on 2020 candidates. | ABC News | 06/12/19 | 4:44

The Dawn of Robot Surveillance
Axios | Kaveh Waddell | 06/14/19

There are millions of surveillance cameras in the U.S., but not nearly enough eyes to watch them all. When you pass one on the street, you can rightly expect your actions to go unnoticed in the moment; footage is instead archived for review if something goes wrong.

What's happening: Now, AI software can flag behavior it deems suspicious in real-time surveillance feeds, or pinpoint minute events in past footage -- as if each feed were being watched unblinkingly by its own hyper-attentive security guard. The new technology, if it spreads in the U.S., could put an American twist on Orwellian surveillance systems abroad.

Big picture: In a new report today, ACLU surveillance expert Jay Stanley describes a coming mass awakening of millions of cameras, powered by anodyne-sounding "video analytics."... Read more

Sarah Sanders' tenure as press secretary ended long before her exit
TheGuardian | David Smith | 06/13/19

The departing White House spokeswoman, who has not held a press briefing in 3 months, spun a web of deceit in her role

"You're fired!" Donald Trump was joking when he barked these words at his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in April -- on a night when both were snubbing the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

The truth was that Sanders had, in effect, been fired some time ago -- long before her departure was announced on Thursday. The position of White House press secretary had all been made redundant. Trump prefers to do the job himself and be his own spokesman.

During Sanders' tenure, the once daily ritual of the press briefing -- must-watch television in the chaotic era of Sean Spicer -- was essentially supplanted by the president holding court with reporters in the Oval Office, the cabinet room and, above all, on the White House South Lawn, competing with the roar of his Marine One helicopter. ... Read more

Bernie Sanders defends 'democratic socialism' at George Washington Univ. | Politico | 06/12/19 | 40:56

President Trump Full Remarks in West Des Moines, IA | FOX 10 Phoenix | 06/12/19 | 49:24

Trump downplays explosive statement that he'd accept foreign help in 2020
Politico | Andrew Restuccia | 06/13/19

President Donald Trump on Thursday sought to downplay his explosive assertion that he might not report to the FBI any offers of election help from a foreign entity, drawing a misleading comparison between such an intrusion and his recent conversations with Queen Elizabeth and other world leaders.

"I meet and talk to 'foreign governments' every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Wales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about 'Everything!'" Trump wrote on Twitter across a pair of tweets, correcting an initial misspelling of Wales. "Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings? How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again."

ABC News released a clip Wednesday night from an interview Trump gave to George Stephanopoulos this week. When asked whether a candidate should report information on an opponent if it came from a foreign agent, Trump scoffed, arguing, "It's called oppo research."

"It's not an interference, they have information -- I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI -- if I thought there was something wrong."

He also said FBI Director Christopher Wray was "wrong" for saying that candidates should report efforts by foreign agents to interfere in an election to the agency. "Give me a break," Trump said. "Life doesn't work that way."... Read more
Donald Trump Unchastened By Russia Scandal, Still Open To Foreign Help | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 06/12/19 | 26:02

Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon by Ash Carter

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the single largest institution in America: the Department of Defense. The D.O.D. employs millions of Americans. It owns and operates more real estate, and spends more money, than any other entity. It manages the world's largest and most complex information network and performs more R&D than Apple, Google, and Microsoft combined. Most important, the policies it carries out, in war and peace, impact the security and freedom of billions of people around the globe.

Yet to most Americans, the dealings of the D.O.D. are a mystery, and the Pentagon nothing more than an opaque five-sided box that they regard with a mixture of awe and suspicion.

In this new book, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter demystifies the Pentagon and sheds light on all that happens inside one of the nation's most iconic, and most closely guarded, buildings. Drawn from Carter's thirty-six years of leadership experience in the D.O.D., this is the essential book for understanding the challenge of defending America in a dangerous world -- and imparting a trove of incisive lessons that can guide leaders in any complex organization.

What the Horror of "Chernobyl" Reveals About the Deceit of the Trump Era
TheIntercept | Peter Maass | 06/05/19

IMAGINE THIS SCENE: A guilt-stricken official who worked for President Donald Trump sits down late at night to confess his agony. "What is the cost of lies?" the weary official says into a tape recorder, sitting in his dark kitchen. "It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all. What can we do then?''

This confession is not an artifact of the Trump era, however -- it is the opening of "Chernobyl," a masterful HBO drama that turns history into prophecy. The five-part series begins with a Soviet scientist, played by Jared Harris, describing his dismay about the culture of secrecy and lies that led to the near meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in 1986, followed by the cover-up of the full consequences of the catastrophe. After taping his confession, the scientist, Valery Legasov, feeds his cat, stubs out his cigarette, steps onto a chair, and hangs himself.

The theme of lies -- the destruction of truth by a regime devoted to self-preservation -- pervades "Chernobyl" in a way that is wildly relevant to America in the age of birtherism, Sarah Sanders, and "very fine people" who are neo-Nazis. The corollary is unmistakable. At one point, an engineer who is partly culpable for the nuclear accident tells an investigator that her search for honesty, and his desire to avoid a firing squad, are futile. "You think the right question will get you the truth?" he says. "There is no truth. Ask the bosses whatever you want. You will get the lie, and I will get the bullet." ... Read more

The world goes the wrong way on carbon emissions
Axios | Ben Geman | 06/11/19

Raytheon and United Technologies announce $121bn merger
TheGuardian | Dominic Rusher | 06/10/19

United Technologies and defense contractor Raytheon have agreed a $121bn merger that will create the world's second-largest defense contractor.

The new company, to be called Raytheon Technologies, which will make Tomahawk missiles, the F-35 fighter jet and space suits for astronauts among other items, would have sales of about $74bn in 2019. It will be the second largest defense contractor behind Boeing and ahead of Lockheed Martin.

The merger, the largest of the year so far, will have to be approved by competition authorities and was questioned by president Donald Trump on Monday. Trump told CNBC that he was a "little concerned" about the deal and that while he would like to see it go through he added: "I want to see that we don't hurt our competition." ... Read more

Full Sanders: 'We're Going To Try To Transform The United States Of America' | Meet The Press | 06/19/19 | 14:14

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick

Stone speaks of "a forgotten set of heroes ... who have been lost to history because they did not conform," as well as the "profound mistakes" the U.S. has made. That gives way to a fairly wonky retelling of WWII, with an emphasis on the enormous toll the conflict inflicted on the Soviet Union, whose role in defeating the Nazis, Stone suggests, has been downplayed in U.S. history.

The project really begins to gain focus, though, in the second, third and fourth installments, which center on a very clear hero and villain: Henry Wallace, Franklin Roosevelt's vice president in 1940, is the former -- a peace-loving champion of the common man who was replaced on the ticket in the next election by Harry Truman, who thus became president after FDR's death in 1945.

Truman's sins, detailed here at some length, include using the atomic bomb on Japan, ushering in the Cold War and giving birth to the CIA, with Stone noting its nickname as "Capitalism's Invisible Army."

Democrats Push Ahead With Hearings On Mueller's Russia Probe
HP | AP & Mary Clare Jalonick | 06/10/19

They will also lay the groundwork for an appearance from Mueller himself, despite his stated desire to avoid testifying.

Top Democratic leaders may be in no rush to launch an impeachment inquiry, but the party is launching a series of hearings this week on special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

The slate of televised sessions on Mueller's report means a new, intensified focus on the Russia probe and puts it on an investigative "path" -- in the words of anti-impeachment Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- that some Democrats hope leads to impeachment of President Donald Trump. ... Read more

'Is white supremacy not a global issue?' Ocasio-Cortez dissects FBI's terrorism definition | TheGuardian | 06/06/19 | 3:23

How Trump Could Be Prosecuted After the White House
Politico | Renato Mariotti | 06/06/19

The outlines of a potential civilian prosecution of a former president Trump are already emerging. While there are reports of tax dodges, illegal campaign contributions, and improper foreign contributions to his inaugural committee -- among other things -- investigations into those claims are ongoing. There is, however, an overwhelming case that the president engaged in obstruction of justice--his effort to stop the special counsel's office from probing his campaign's ties to Russia.

In the second volume of his 448-page report, Mueller sets forth evidence of obstruction of justice that any competent federal prosecutor could use to draft an indictment. And Mueller made it clear himself that his detailed report was intended, in part, to "preserve the evidence" because "a President does not have immunity after he leaves office."

Although it's impossible to know exactly what a prosecution of Citizen Trump would look like, or who would conduct it, it's already possible to project some paths a likely prosecution would take. In the eyes of a seasoned former federal prosecutor looking only at the evidence we have so far, here are the likely routes -- and what Trump has to worry about next. ... ... Read more

Saving Private Ryan 1998 (First 24:06 minutes) | 24:06

Saving Private Ryan 1998 (YouTube Movies $2.99) | 3:20:00

Bloody Battlefields: The Story Of Omaha Beach (D-Day Documentary) | Timeline | 11/09/17 | 46:06

ER bills are skyrocketing
Axios | Caitlin Owens | 06/07/19

Emergency rooms' prices are skyrocketing, and experts say that may be a side effect of the same factors that leave patients on the hook for unexpected bills.

Why it matters: Emergency rooms are collecting more money from private insurance plans, and at the same time they're also surprising patients with the news that their care wasn't covered. So whether you're covered or not, you're paying more.

The big picture: Hospitals get paid more for complex treatments than simple ones. Over the past decade, they've been categorizing more and more visits as complex, while also raising their prices for complex care. ... Read more
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Laura Ingraham Just Delivered The Most Tone-Deaf Moment In Fox News History
HP | Ed Mazza | 06/06/19

The Fox New host laughs while filming in the cemetery at Normandy with the graves of WWII heroes behind her.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham slammed Democrats on Wednesday night for using children as "pathetic political props" -- and she delivered the line without irony while using the graves of American soldiers as a prop of her own.

Both Ingraham and Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo, who joined her at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France, laughed throughout the segment, with the war dead's graves visible behind them: ... Read more
Laura Ingraham Just Delivered The Most Tone-Deaf Moment In Fox News History | FoxNews | 06/05/19 | 5:36

Saving Private Ryan 1998 (First 24:06 minutes) | 24:06

Trump's incredibly empty Cabinet
Axios | Andrew Witherspoon | 06/06/19

No president in recent history has started their tenure with as many extended Cabinet vacancies as President Trump.

Why it matters: Trump has been happy to fill many of the positions with "acting" officials, saying it "gives me more flexibility." But it adds instability when so many departments are without permanent leaders -- and acting secretaries don't go through the scrutiny and vetting that they'd get with Senate confirmation. ... Read more
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Private sector job growth plummets in May
Axios| Courtenay Brown | 06/05/19

The private sector added just 27,000 jobs in May -- the fewest in 9 years -- way below the 173,000 economists had been expecting, ADP and Moody's Analytics said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The data is typically a good barometer of what's to come in the government's official jobs report. It comes amid concerns that the stellar job market may finally be slowing down. In a press release, Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi said, "Job growth is moderating. Labor shortages are impeding job growth, particularly at small companies, and layoffs at brick-and-mortar retailers are hurting." ... Read more

Siege: Trump Under Fire by Michael Wolff

Michael Wolff, author of the bombshell bestseller Fire and Fury, once again takes us inside the Trump presidency to reveal a White House under siege.

Just one year into Donald Trump's term as president, Michael Wolff told the electrifying story of a White House consumed by controversy, chaos, and intense rivalries. Fire and Fury, an instant sensation, defined the first phase of the Trump administration; now, in Siege, Wolff has written an equally essential and explosive book about a presidency that is under fire from almost every side.

At the outset of Trump's second year as president, his situation is profoundly different. No longer tempered by experienced advisers, he is more impulsive and volatile than ever. But the wheels of justice are inexorably turning: Robert Mueller's "witch hunt" haunts Trump every day, and other federal prosecutors are taking a deep dive into his business affairs. Many in the political establishment?even some members of his own administration?have turned on him and are dedicated to bringing him down. The Democrats see victory at the polls, and perhaps impeachment, in front of them. Trump, meanwhile, is certain he is invincible, making him all the more exposed and vulnerable. Week by week, as Trump becomes increasingly erratic, the question that lies at the heart of his tenure becomes ever more urgent: Will this most abnormal of presidencies at last reach the breaking point and implode?

Both a riveting narrative and a brilliant front-lines report, Siege provides an alarming and indelible portrait of a president like no other. Surrounded by enemies and blind to his peril, Trump is a raging, self-destructive inferno?and the most divisive leader in American history.

For the stock market, it's all about the Fed
Axios | author | 06/05/19

U.S. stocks have had a major reaction after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's policy meetings, a pattern that continued Tuesday when the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq all had their largest one-day gains in five months after Powell said the central bank would act "as appropriate" to address risks to the economy.

Why it matters: The U.S. trade war that could include China, Mexico, the EU, India and others has dominated the conversation in business circles over the past month, but Tuesday's price action showed nothing moves stocks like Powell and the Fed. ...

.... What the market heard: "'Act as appropriate.' That phrase from Powell this morning has clearly opened the door to a cut in coming quarters," said BMO Capital Markets rate strategist Joe Hill. "As a result, the operative question has become whether the cut comes in June or September, and whether the move will be 25 [basis points] or 50." .... Read more

Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump by Vicky Ward
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are the self-styled Prince and Princess of America. Their swift, gilded rise to extraordinary power in Donald Trump's White House is unprecedented and dangerous. In Kushner, Inc., investigative journalist Vicky Ward digs beneath the myth the couple has created, depicting themselves as the voices of reason in an otherwise crazy presidency, and reveals that Jared and Ivanka are not just the President's chief enablers: they, like him, appear disdainful of rules, of laws, and of ethics. They are entitled inheritors of the worst kind; their combination of ignorance, arrogance, and an insatiable lust for power has caused havoc all over the world, and may threaten the democracy of the United States.

Ward follows their trajectory from New Jersey and New York City to the White House, where the couple's many forays into policy-making and national security have mocked long-standing U.S. policy and protocol. They have pursued an agenda that could increase their wealth while their actions have mostly gone unchecked. In Kushner, Inc., Ward holds Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump accountable: she unveils the couple's self-serving transactional motivations and how those have propelled them into the highest levels of the US government where no one, the President included, has been able to stop them.

***Earth's carbon dioxide level jumped by near-record amount since 2018
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 06/04/19

The monthly peak amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere in 2019 jumped by a near-record amount to reach 414.8 parts per million (ppm) in May, which is the highest level in human history and likely the highest level in the past 3 million years.

Why it matters: Carbon dioxide is the most important long-lived greenhouse gas, with a single molecule lasting in the air for hundreds to around 1,000 years. The continued buildup of carbon dioxide due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for energy, is driving global temperatures up and instigating harmful impacts worldwide.

The fact that carbon dioxide levels increased by a near-record amount of 3.5 ppm in just one year illustrates that we're headed in the opposite direction from what climate scientists have shown is needed to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. ... Read more

What Connects Meghan Markle to a Philosopher of Totalitarianism? Donald Trump's Lies.
TheIntercept | Mehdi Hasan | 06/03/19

QUESTION: WHAT IS the connection between the American TV actress (and now princess!) Meghan Markle and the legendary German American philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt? Answer: Donald J. Trump.

On Saturday, in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, ahead of his three-day state visit to the United Kingdom, the president of the United States was told that Markle, who married Prince Harry in 2018, had denounced him as "misogynistic" and "divisive" during the 2016 presidential campaign. His response? "I didn't know that. What can I say? I didn't know that she was nasty."

On Sunday, after a predictable media uproar in the U.K. and beyond, Trump took to Twitter to deny he had called Markle "nasty": ... Read more

Deconstructed with Mehdi Hasan: Trump's Top Ten Lies and Why They Matter | TheIntercept | 11/21/18 | ~1hr

Trump's Top Ten Lies and Why They Matter | TheIntercept | 11/21/18 | Article

The climate crisis is our third world war. It needs a bold response
TheGuardian | Joseph Stiglitz | 06/04/19

Critics of the Green New Deal ask if we can afford it. But we can't afford not to: our civilisation is at stake

Advocates of the Green New Deal say there is great urgency in dealing with the climate crisis and highlight the scale and scope of what is required to combat it. They are right. They use the term "New Deal" to evoke the massive response by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the United States government to the Great Depression. An even better analogy would be the country's mobilization to fight World War II.

Critics ask, "Can we afford it?" and complain that Green New Deal proponents confound the fight to preserve the planet, to which all right-minded individuals should agree, with a more controversial agenda for societal transformation. On both accounts the critics are wrong. ... Read more

Donald Trump Welcomed to the U.K. With Video of Boris Johnson Calling Him "Unfit" for Office
TheIntercept | Robert Mackey | 06/03/19

WASHINGTON AND WESTMINSTER politics seemed to merge on Monday, as Donald Trump arrived in London for a state visit -- tweeting insults from Air Force One at the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan -- just as Boris Johnson, described by the American president as "a friend of mine," officially launched his campaign to become the country's new prime minister.

Before his trip, Trump had warm words for Johnson in an interview with The Sun, Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid. Asked if he would look forward to working with a Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trump suggested that he would, in part because "he has been very positive about me."

Those comments suggest that Trump has forgotten or just never heard that Johnson had, in fact, denounced him as "clearly out of his mind" in late 2015, when the then-candidate for the American presidency first called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." ... Read more
Boris Johnson: Donald Trump 'out of his mind' over radicalised London | | older | 1:03

Trump's Golf Trips Have Cost Taxpayers a Ton Already | NowThis | 05/31/19 | 3:05

Robert De Niro and Former Federal Prosecutors on the Mueller Report | NowThis | 05/30/19 | 2:23

Jared Kushner Punts On Jamal Khashoggi In Axios Interview | Morning Joe | MSNBC | 06/03/19 |12:01