Episodes
Friday May 11, 2018
Friday May 11, 2018
New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman resigns after explosive New Yorker article features four women who reveal Schneiderman as serial abuser. Trump found a new best friend in the “very honorable” Kim Jong-Un. They’ll have their bromance meet up in Singapore. Three Americans freed from North Korea. Trump looks to gut CHIP on the same day Melania re-releases Obama pamphlet on cyberbullying under her name. Trump advisor says trouble with Nazis is that they didn't keep going. Comments at Turning Point USA event.
White House looking to hire private spies to counter “deep state” enemies. Jeff Sessions wants to take kids from their parents at the border. Rudy Guiliani resigns from law firm over tv appearances. Hugh Hewitt allowed to keep his job at MSNBC and The Washington Post after doing favors for Scott Pruitt.
Historic wins for women during Tuesday’s primaries across the country.
Massive University of California statewide strike. National Nurses United engage in “sympathy strike” with striking AFSCME workers. After three days of a strike, the fight goes on. North Carolina Teachers next to strike? Bernie Sanders introduces “Workplace Democracy Act.” Mass murderer Don Blankenship not elected. Fracking will probably cook the planet, but no one is listening. And a week filled with stories about white people calling the police on black people for living normal lives.
Recap on Bernie Sanders barnstorm of PA in support of progressive candidates. Dom Costa mounts GOP write-in campaign for fear of Sara Innamorato victory in Democratic primary in PA District 21. Progressive candidates Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee - both facing members of the Costa family in Democratic primaries - are matching fundraising numbers with the Costas. A Democratic Party member writes letter to the editor wondering why Democracts should let the DSA dictate the rules? Because we need better Democrats, maybe?
We welcome back Lou Ryan to Raging Chicken! Her new articles follow the fight against gentrification in Organizing against gentrification in the East Liberty neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Jordan Peterson, who has claimed that feminists have “an unconscious wish for brutal male domination,” referred to developing nations as “pits of catastrophe” coming to the Tower Theater in Upper Darby. Colleen Bradley and her legal team ready their Writ Of Certiorari for the U.S. Supreme Court.
In space and beer news, CubeSats head for Mars. Marco. Polo. Space workers strike against United Launch Alliance. Americans have fewer vacation time than your average medieval peasants. Free Will Brewing is releasing Chasing the Dragon release today. Dandelion Saison in the works.
Friday May 04, 2018
Friday May 04, 2018
Trump train wreck strategy continues as Rudy talks funnelling money to lawyers to pay porn stars. Michelle Wolf rocks it. California and 17 other states sue Trump over vehicle efficiency standards. Scott Pruitt saga continues. Glorious May Day protests around the country to mark the true American born international Labor Day. Is there a neo-Nazi really running as a Republican for U.S. Senate in California? Snopes gets to the bottom of it.
Daryl Metcalfe his annual gun rally, and members from the Oathkeepers, Three Percenters and Pennsylvania Patriots United showed up. Skinheads from American Guard were also there. Raging Chicken has exclusive audio from the Capitol. More false choices as debate over Mariner East pipeline pits jobs against catastrophic climate change and safe water. Bernie Sanders barnstorms PA on Saturday in rallies with Jess King, Gregory Edwards, and John Fetterman. And, is Bernie building a progressive media empire?
In today’s Last Call, Space Force is back! Sean visits Ever Grain Brewery in Camp Hill. Then he geeks out on a lens he is renting for the Bernie/Jess King rally. Free Will has MAJOR sour release this week. A trio of deliciousness was released on Wednesday. Their margarita-inspired sour, 5th of May, will be released Saturday on Cinco de Mayo.
Plus, great sound!
Monday Apr 30, 2018
Monday Apr 30, 2018
Arizona teachers are the latest to walk off the job en masse to demand livable wages and full public school funding. More than 1,000 Arizona public schools were closed on Thursday as #RedforEd took to the streets and marched on the state Capitol. Arizona teachers were joined by their neighbors to the Northeast as Colorado teachers also walked off the job for better pay and full funding of public schools.
A new report, “Advancing White Supremacy Through Academic Strategy,” exposes massive campaign funded by the Koch Brothers and other right-wing billionaires to push alt-right agenda on college campuses.
The Intercept published secretly taped audio of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer trying to pressure a progressive candidate to get out of the race for Colorado’s 6th legislative district. DCCC had already picked a corporate lawyer and Army vet, Jason Crow, to back in the race. Republicans in Congress are now pursuing a technical strategy to dramatically roll back regulations. They want to use the 1996 Congressional Review Act to “defund the administrative state.”
Things still crazy in Trumplandia. Trump loses it on Fox and Friends; Michael Cohen has a burner phone collection; Dr. Ronny “The Candy Man” Jackson will not be the next VA Secretary; and, Scott Pruitt gets grilled on his improprieties. And, let’s not forget that the week started out with yet another white, male “sovereign citizen” killing four people in a Waffle House in Tennessee with an AR-15.
Meek Mill released from prison after spending five months in prison. Pennsylvania has the worst parole system in the country. Pennsylvania GOP sees staffers leave en masse and only have $16,000 in the bank for payroll. Right-wing PA Republicans got what they paid for Wednesday as their RAND Corporation commissioned study recommends dramatic changes for PASSHE universities. The one thing the study did not consider was properly funding PASSHE schools. Currently, PA ranks 47th out of 50 states in per-capita funding for public higher education. Kutztown University votes to implement new “Campus Support Fee” on students in the amount of $488 beginning next academic year.
The second part of Raging Chicken’s exclusive interviews concerning the Colleen Bradley whistleblower case is released. Kevin Mahoney interviews Bradley’s legal team, Daniel Kearney and Ed Mazurek, about the Constitutional implications of her case.
And in today’s last call, Sean has a weekend off for the first time in a long time. He contemplates buying a new camera lens. A racist golf club to hold a “Swingo de Mayo” celebration on the heels of owners calling police on a group of black women for Golfing While Black. In space news this week, NASA begins talking up the Orion missions to the Moon and plans for a Deep Space Gateway.
Friday Apr 20, 2018
Friday Apr 20, 2018
Comey, Comey, Comey. Yeah, that’s how you sell them books. That’s right...that was some weird shit. All eyes on Michael Cohen as speculation grows that he will flip on Trump. Former Trump divorce lawyer says that Cohen’s fear of prison rape will push him to flip. Those speculations come on the heels of the big Hannity Factor reveal as part of a Monday court order demanding the release of Michael Cohen’s third client. And, Rudy’s back! On Thursday, Trump tapped his pal Rudy Giuliani for his legal team after every other lawyer with half a brain gave Trump the cold shoulder. Giuliani pledges to end the Mueller investigation in a couple of weeks.
Teachers continue to upend the poisoned apple cart. Yesterday, Arizona teachers voted to walk out of school beginning on April 26. Teachers rejected a carrot of 20% pay raises, demanding significant increases in school funding. Colorado teachers stage a huge rally in the state Capitol on Monday. Teachers in the two largest school districts - Denver and Jeffco - plan on back-to-back walkouts on April 26 and 27 for major rallies at the state Capitol for increased school funding. At this point, it is not known how many other school districts will join in the walkouts. And, after Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin told the world that he “guaranteed” that students were sexually assaulted, physically harmed, ingested poison and/or were introduced to drugs for the first time b/c of teacher walkout he says sorry-not-sorry. Teachers and state Democrats reject Bevin’s non-apology.
According to a new article in the journal Nature, the Atlantic Ocean circulation has slowed down; it hasn’t been this sluggish in over 1,000 years. The “The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation” which brings warm waters to Europe and is largely responsible for Europe’s more temperate weather, is slowed by the melting of freshwater from glaciers in Greenland and elsewhere. Now would be the perfect time to read Kim Stanley Robinson’s Science in the Capital series. That trilogy plays out what would happen if the AMOC stops. Spoiler: it’s not good. On the other side of the climate ledger, NYC votes to divest city funds from fossil fuels. That’s freaking huge.
The Brennan Center reports that bills expanding voting rights now outnumber those seeking to restrict voting rights. That report came out right as New Jersey voted to enact automatic voter registration in the state. The new law will not register voters as part of motor voter registration. And Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was held in contempt of court this week after he failed to follow through on the Court’s order to notify thousands of Kansans that they were eligible to vote in 2016. Kobach was, of course, the face of Trump’s voter fraud commission. Sweet justice.
Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer is barnstorming around the country, funding impeachment ads and progressive candidate forums (see: DesMoines Reg | Milwaukee Journal | CNN | PRI | WaPo). Steyer’s NextGen America hosts the first town hall in PA-7. Morganelli was the only Democratic candidate to not raise had when asked if candidates support abortion rights. And today is #NationalWalkoutDay - students working for greater gun control are walking out again across the nation on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine Massacre.
PA House passes a bill banning aborting fetuses with Down syndrome. Charlie Dent announces early retirement; will necessitate a special election BEFORE November under old congressional lines. Wait...did Daryl Metcalfe actually threaten Chris Raab with a gun? Some kind of State Street Capitol dual? Huge anti-gerrymandering rallies in PA Capitol. Activists packed the Capitol rotunda on Monday...crowds were as high as the fourth floor. And, Sean cracks into the establishment and begins writing for Third and State, a PA Budget and Policy Center blog. His first piece, “The Trump Tax Bill Wasn’t for You,” was published on Tuesday.
In today’s last call, space news is back! NASA and Space X launched TESS - the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Next month, NASA launch a new Mars Rover, InSight, which will the first-ever interplanetary West Coast launch. Billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced more details Tuesday about how his department will become "a one-stop shop" for regulating the burgeoning space industry. Says space already $300,000 business and expects to balloon to $1 trillion quickly. Moon will be a gas station for Mars. Mike Pence says the U.S. is getting serious about space junk. Bridenstine advanced to head NASA - BARELY. Questions remain about his use of a non-profit to benefit himself.
And Sean winds up his stint at Pizza Boy. We’ll take a few moments to remember the good times.
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Friday Apr 13, 2018
Friday Apr 13, 2018
Mahoney is in State College, PA for APSCUF's last Legislative Assembly of the academic year. Last big meeting to talk about the impending Janus decision.
State Policy Network releases memo attacking striking school teachers. Pittsburgh teachers vs lower income parents and children is the State Policy Network plan.
Daryl Metcalfe eviscerates gerrymandering reform and replaces it with a power grab. Millcreek Township School District gives 500 mini bats to teachers in order to stop an active shooter. Sticks and stones is how we role in the Keystone state. Colleen Bradley whistleblower case update.
Yellow crowned night herons return to Harrisburg. Midtown neighborhood is the location of their only breeding colony in the state is located. Pretty cool. And, Sean is moving on to bigger and better things...movin' on up!
Friday Apr 06, 2018
Friday Apr 06, 2018
On today's show...more Trump chaos. Alt-right Twitter troll "Ricky Vaughn" doxed by white nationalist running against Paul Ryan.
Watch out for House State Government Committee to vote on PA Supremes impeachment resolutions next week as the committee has two hearings scheduled on Tuesday. One hearing is at 10:00 am and the other at the “call of the chair." The Fairness Center sets up shop one floor above Scott Wagner’s campaign office. Christina Hartman drops out of PA 10. Push Poll targets Greg Edwards and Susan Wild in PA 7 but forgot to mention John Morganelli.
Rally for Tuition-Free higher education at West Chester University. Turning Point USA will hold a big event at IUP on Monday. PA Student Power has called a statewide day of action on Monday, April 9 for every campus to denounce and deny school funding to hate groups. Students and Faculty rally to get rid of Edinboro U president H. Fred Walker. This week Raging Chicken released Part 1 of Kevin Mahoney's interview with whistleblower Colleen Bradley. We update you on her case and discuss its national implications.
In today's last call...lighter lagers for Sean. Kevin makes a trip to Marcy Discount Beverages in Utica, NY and harvests some goodies. Celebratory Bourbon Barrel Aged Dragonslayer 2017.
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
On today’s Out d’Coup Xtra, Kevin Mahoney interviews Colleen Bradley and her lawyer, Dan Kearney, about her whistleblower case that is knocking on the door of the U.S. Supreme Court. Colleen Bradley was the former Director of Budget and Financial Planning at West Chester University who blew the whistle in 2014 about fraudulent budget practices at WCU and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. When she outed the fraud to the university community, she was fired. Bradley’s suit initially appeared to be a textbook case of an employer retaliating against an employee for blowing the whistle on corruption and financial malpractice. However, the U.S. Third Circuit Court denied Bradley First Amendment whistleblower protection in a manner that threatens to dramatically narrow whistleblower protections for every public employee in the nation. Bradley is in the process of filing a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision.
If the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to review the lower court’s decision, the rights of public employees - and all potential whistleblowers - will be gutted.
Raging Chicken Press reported on Colleen Bradley’s case when she filed her 62-page complaint against West Chester University and PASSHE in 2015. The documents Bradley filed confirmed Raging Chicken’s ongoing reporting on PASSHE’s dishonest and deceptive budgeting schemes (e.g. “Wall Street on the Susquehanna”; “PASSHE’s Austerity Magic”; and, “The Persistence of Crisis at KU”). Her case also provided concrete evidence in support of an independent audit commissioned by the faculty union APSCUF in late 2014, which raised concerned about PASSHE’s creative accounting practices. And yet, despite reams of evidence, the people responsible for the fraud at West Chester and other PASSHE universities have not been held accountable and, as the recently released “Bunsis Report” showed, the same deceptive practices continue.
And now, PASSHE’s decision to retaliate against Colleen Bradley for blowing the whistle on their deceptions has the additional consequence of putting all future whistleblowers at risk. Today’s Out d’Coup Xtra focuses on the legal issues at stake in her First Amendment whistleblower case. Raging Chicken is also conducting in-depth interviews with Bradley and her lawyers. We will be releasing those interviews in the coming days.
Monday Mar 26, 2018
Monday Mar 26, 2018
On March 24, 2018, millions of people across the country - and the globe - turned out for #MarchForOurLives to end the gun violence that infections our nation. Raging Chicken's Seth Goldstein was on the streets of Doylestown, PA talking to student organizers about why they are marching and the change they seek to bring about.
Friday Mar 23, 2018
Friday Mar 23, 2018
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wiley gives us a window into the political persuasion industry and the way Steve Bannon and right-wing billionaire Robert Mercer weaponize data. Hidden cameras capture Cambridge Analytica’s CEO Alexander Nix boasting about using prostitutes, bribery sting operations, and honey traps to discredit politicians. Following what seemed like an endless silence, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for what he calls “mistakes” made when it comes to sharing third-party data. And as the Washington Post began reporting this week, Facebook was certainly not alone. David Remnick of The New Yorker says the case amounts to a “moral reckoning” in Silicon Valley. And last night, the Daily Beast broke the news that Guccifer 2.0 was traced back to a Russian intelligence officer. Guccifer was exposed after the officer forgot to turn on the VPN client before logging on.
More chaos in the White House as Trump boots National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and brings in the war-hawk John Bolton. Bolton has openly advocated for war against Iran and North Korea. The “former U.N. Ambassador” under George W. Bush was famous for saying that “There is no such thing as the United Nations” and “If the U.N. Secretariat building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a lot of difference.” This week Trump’s lead lawyer in the Special Counsel Inquiry, John Dowd, resigned after a reported “disagreement on strategy.” Trump turns once again to Fox News for his replacement. He named the conspiracy pushing pundit Joseph diGenova and, apparently, his Clinton-uranium-mine-conspiracy advocate wife Victoria Toensing, to join legal televangelist Jay Sekulow, to round out his legal team. And this just in...apparently Trump is threatening to veto the spending bill because no money for his beautiful wall.
Illinois Nazi Arthur Jones is now a Congressional candidate for the Republican Party after more than 20,000 Illinois Republicans voted for this open Nazi. [Blues Brothers quote]. Somehow saying “I just voted the straight-party ticket,” doesn’t really cut it when it comes to voting for an ACTUAL Nazi. And tomorrow, March 24, is the gun control action March for Our Lives in DC and cities around the country. The D.C. march will be spearheaded by the students from Parkland, Florida. Meanwhile, Pennridge high school students face the second of six rounds of detention Saturday morning. Last weekend supporters showed up ahead of the detentions in support of students who joined the national student walkout on March 14. The NRA also showed up. More solidarity actions are expected this weekend, but there are concerns that the national attention received by the Pennridge students will draw greater numbers of right-wing extremists as well.
In Pennsylvania, state GOP caught canvassing at a gun rally put on by Three Percenters, Oath Keepers and Pennsylvania Lightfoot Militia. If you need a refresher, those are the groups that provided security for white nationalists and racists in Charlottesville. In signs that the grassroots resistance that emerged following the 2016 election is firmly rooted in PA, 94 candidates filed petitions for Pennsylvania’s congressional primary. That’s the most in 25 years. Chris Dush and ten other Republicans introduce articles of impeachment against Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices over their gerrymandering decision. Gubernatorial candidate Senator Soprano...I mean Wagner is on board. Greg Edwards picks up to more big endorsements. Democracy for America and 350 Action are now backing his as well. And as you heard in today’s intro, the Superintendent of Blue Mountain schools is deploying “buckets of river stones” in every classroom so students can stone attackers. Go on Susie...just like David and Goliath.
In today’s last call, Pizza Boy put on a six-pack called “Get a Grip.” And Free Will is teasing a huge canning project and an upcoming Mojito Sour. That’s about it this week as we were buried under a foot of snow.
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
It's been a week dominated by a computer crash at Raging Chicken studios. The frustrations are front and center in today's abbreviated show. We talk Conor Lamb's huge victory in this week's special election in the PA-18. About 225 students at Pennridge High School are given detention following Wednesday's walkout. Sean is heading to check out the gun nuts at a rally at the Capitol today. And, Kevin previews how a West Chester University whistleblower case may have national implications for rights at work, not to mention the truth.