Episodes
Friday Jun 14, 2019
Friday Jun 14, 2019
Bernie Sanders gives a major speech defending democratic socialism and introducing a 21st Century economic bill of rights. Bernie just keeps on widening the space of possibility in American politics.
Participants in the first round of the Democratic Party presidential debates are set. All but four people made the cut: Four candidates didn’t make it: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton; former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam. New Monmouth University poll shows Warren moving into the #2 spot at 19% ahead of Bernie’s 13%. Biden still holding onto the top spot at 36% among “likely caucus-goers.” Latest head-to-head national polls showing six (6) Democratic presidential candidates beating Trump in a hypothetical matchup: Biden +13, Sanders +9; Harris +8, Warren +7.
Cadre, a real estate company partially owned by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received more than $90 million in dark money from foreign investors. The money was funneled through secret accounts in the Cayman Islands. Jared may not have too much to worry about since Elaine Chao has stepped into the corruption spotlight this week.
Nancy Pelosi further stymies moves to opening impeachment inquiries at the Peterson Foundation’s 2017 Fiscal Summit. The Peterson Foundation has long been criticized for its role in making the case for gutting social programs and advancing unbridled free trade.
Ahead of this week’s hearing on Medicare for All before the House Ways and Means committee, Committee Chair, Democrat Richard Neal of Massachusetts gathered his fellow Democrats behind closed doors and told them not to use the phrase “Medicare for All” during the hearing. Instead, Neal told them to use “universal health care” or “universal health coverage” instead. He was not very successful. Neal is known to be resistant to Medicare for All and some of his largest financial backers are insurance companies and big Pharma. The hearings did show, however, that Mike Kelly, the Republican representative from PA’s 16 District is an anti-Medicare-for-All crusader.
Carbon emissions from the global energy industry increased at the fastest rate since 2011, according to BP’s annual global energy report. According to the report, emissions increased by 2% because the demand for energy significantly outstripped the rollout of renewable energy resources and infrastructure. BP’s chief economist, Spencer Dale, told The Guardian, “At a time when society is increasingly concerned about climate change and the need for action, energy demand and emissions are growing at their fastest rate for years.” Yes, said that was BP’s chief economist.
Look...the Green New Deal is a disruptive initiative whose time has come. Time for people over “jobs.” I’ll tell you a little about what I mean by that.
In this week’s report from Gilead, due to Alabama lawmakers recent passage of an extreme anti-abortion bill - a bill that provides no exception even in the case of rape or incest - rapists may be able to get custody of a child resulting from rapes they committed. That’s because last month those same lawmakers removed language from a bill that would have denied rapists parental rights.
Code Pink is seeking a permit to fly the Baby Trump Blimp on the National Mall during Trump’s July 4th address from the Lincoln Memorial. And, the symbolic “tree of friendship” planted at the White House by Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron has died.
Governor Wolf says he’ll veto a bill designed to increase the EITC tax credit program that diverts money away from public schools toward private, for-profit, and religious schools.
Will there be an increase in the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage? Not so fast. House Republicans told Patty Kim that House Republicans haven’t had the “time” to come up with a proposal to raise the wage from $7.25 to $15/hr.
PA House Dems looking to do an end around Daryl Metcalf to get Wolf’s Restore Pennsylvania infrastructure plan out of committee and to the House floor for a full vote.
PA Republicans refuse to support funding for updating all of PA’s voting machines before the 2020 election. Gov. Wolf has pushed for a $15 million plan to update all voting machines, but Republicans won’t include it in the budget. Last year Wolf began pushing for voting machines with paper backups following new reports showing new Russian attempts to interview with our elections.
A year old black bear made its way into Midtown, Harrisburg and into an oak tree. The bear quickly became a learning opportunity for all of the neighbors when the local game warden allowed everyone to see the bear up close when it was sedated.
Eric Blanc, author of Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics, was just in Harrisburg and will be in Bethlehem on Monday to talk about his book and discuss working class politics. The event is sponsored by the DSA of the Lehigh Valley and will take place from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at Color Me Mine at 25 E. 3rd Street in Bethlehem. Details HERE.
Trump dumps on NASA’s moon plans. He tweeted:
“For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!”
Could it have anything to do with Chinese space initiatives and the current trade war? I wonder. NASA administrator and Trump appointee Jim Bridenstine, says nothing has changed with their plans to land on the moon in 2024.
NASA spots Star Fleet logo embedded in Martian dune.
Sean got his car inspected. Fer realz.
If you’re looking for a good beer for Father’s Day this Sunday and you are in the Kutztown area, I don’t know how you can resist picking up a couple 4 packs of Dad Jokes from Saucony Creek. Dad Jokes is a Brut-style IPA. Here’s the description from the brewery: Dad Jokes “makes you think you're getting another one of today's juicy sweet IPA's but engages your palate with a clean, refreshing, bone-dry finish. Late additions of Amarillo and Motueka lend juicy tropical flavors with balanced hop bitterness.”
While you’re there ask about their annual July 4th Pig Roast from 11:00 am till 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25, which includes slow roasted pork and choice of great sides including Mac & Cheese, coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked beans, roasted potatoes, and watermelon salad Live Music from Nick Cerniglia from 4-7PM.
Friday Jun 07, 2019
Friday Jun 07, 2019
Time to party like it’s 1988! Joe Biden, yes that Joe Biden, was caught plagiarizing parts of his climate change plan. Hitting control C and control V on your keyboard is not an acceptable climate change plan. The worst thing is that he’s plagiarizing from a Fossil Fuel industry-backed organization, the Carbon Capture Coalition as well as the labor and environmental group the BlueGreen Alliance.
And this week, Biden says he’s for repealing the Hyde Amendment, then he’s against it. This morning his campaign says he’s for repeal again. He must have been watching Elizabeth Warren’s town hall on Wednesday and decided to steal some her strategy too. Recall that the Hyde Amendment poor, working class, and young women from using government-backed health insurance to help pay for safe and legal abortion. Speaking of Warren’s town hall, that’s how you do it. Democrats should take lessons in how to answer questions from Warren.
Meanwhile, Bernie went to Wal-Mart shareholders meeting while calling on supporters to show up on picket lines in support of striking graduate student workers at the University of Chicago.
The DNC is out on the vanguard again, saying they will absolutely not hold a debate on climate change that has been called for by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and former Obama cabinet official Julián Castro, along with the Sunrise movement. Worse still, the DNC threatened to ban Inslee from the official DNC debates is he participated in a debate on climate change held by another organization. Tom Perez must have missed a new report out of Australia says that “planetary and human systems [are] reaching a ‘point of no return’ by mid-century, in which the prospect of a largely uninhabitable Earth leads to the breakdown of nations and the international order.”
Democrats fail to consider the political costs of NOT impeaching Trump. We’ll see how long Pelosi can stick to her line that she doesn’t want to impeach Trump, she wants him in prison.
David Dayen’s got a great new piece in the latest edition of In These Times on how Amazon is taking over our lives. It’s an excellent report and analysis on why we’ve got to limit the power of these mega-corporations.
A new report from the accounting group Deloitte shows that the net worth of Americans between the age of 18 and 35 has dropped 34% since 1996.
Governor Wolf released his “Restore PA” plan that aims to rebuild Pennsylvania’s aging infrastructure. The plan would lock in natural gas drilling for the next two decades. Progressive Democrats such as Elizabeth Fiedler, Daniel Otten, Sara Innamorato, and Summer Lee opted out of putting their names on the bill and climate scientist Michael Mann told the Capital Star that he “hopes [Governor Wolf] will reconsider this misguided plan.
Daylin Leach goes full Trump by exonerating himself and leaking a preliminary version of the Senate investigation into his allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. His actions forced Jay Costa, Vincent Hughes, Art Haywood, Larry Farnese, Lindsey Williams, Tim Kearny, Maria Collett and everyone else in the Party to call for his resignation.
The Pennsylvania Senate voted Mike Turzai’s egregious EITC tax credit and charter school give away legislation out of committee and just in time for the budget season. The bill would add $100 million to the EITC tax credit program and would increase the administrative fees from 10% to 20% so billionaire-backed special interests groups like the Commonwealth Foundation can make more money off the backs of Pennsylvania’s poorest children.
Plain View Project releases a report showing racist, misogynist, and violent Facebook post by 330 Philadelphia police officers.
Summer Lee’s UNITE PAC gets the goods.
U.S. Navy looking to get support for its new rail gun by tying it to NASA’s lunar base plans. The electromagnetic railgun will be tested on a U.S. warship soon, could be used to launch payloads off the moon toward Earth or into deep space without the use of chemical propellants.
Free Will Brewery’s new release this weekend is Angel: Hop Blend no. 2 - the second iteration of their “No Boil IPA was brewed with local malt from Deer Creek Malthouse and heirloom bloody butcher corn from Castle Valley Mill.”
On Wednesday, June 12th, Free Will Brewing joins with Tré Locally Sourced to present "Grilled & Chilled" as their latest sour cellar series. Grilled and Chilled will be a 5-course pairing will feature some of your favorite brews and soon to be favorite dishes.
Friday May 31, 2019
Friday May 31, 2019
Robert Mueller speaks! He must have been listening to our special Tuesday edition of the podcast this week. Mueller basically made is crystal clear that the ball is in the hands of the Democratic Party majority in the House. Impeachment is the Constitutionally available next step. But that will require the Democrats to actually exercise their power - not something they have a recent history of doing.
Black voters in Philadelphia and around the country begin to make demands on House members to move forward with impeachment, according to a New York Times article published yesterday. As 60-year-old Philadelphia florist shop owner Paulette Beale-Harris put it, “It’s time for Congress to do something. It’s time for them to stop being afraid to do what has to be done for the country.”
Apparently, Bernie Sanders finally heard the message, too. Speaking at a town hall in Nevada, Sanders explicitly called for impeachment hearings to begin. Nancy Pelosi and Jerry Nadler, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee who would need to call for an impeachment inquiry, are still messaging “all options are still on the table.” We’ll talk a bit about Democrats fear of their own power.
Huge developments in Supreme Court case about Trump administration’s move to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census. It probably won’t be too much of a surprise to you that the real reason for the question was to dilute the Hispanic vote and give more weight to white voters. But now, thanks to the estranged daughter of the GOP’s “Michelangelo of gerrymandering,” Thomas Hofeller, there is documentary proof. Not only may this affect the Supreme Court case, but we may have more proof of Trump administration officials lying to Congress.
Louisiana passes radical “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban, becoming the latest addition to the right-wing moves to bring a case against Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court. The state’s Democratic Governor, John Bel Edwards, says he’ll be thrilled to sign it.
After Missouri’s Republican Governor signed that state’s extreme abortion ban into law last week, the state’s last remaining clinic offering abortion may be shut down today. That depends on the outcome Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit currently before a judge. It’s not clear when the judge will issue a ruling. Supreme Court takes a pass on Indiana’s extreme anti-abortion bill that would have banned abortion motivated by race, gender, or disability such as Down syndrome. We’re sure that Mike Turzai is throwing a hissy fit right about now.
The Midwest continues to be ravaged by massive floods, tornados, and severe weather in a picture of our climate future. Even USA Today is headlining articles about the relationship between severe weather and climate change after this week’s weather.
U.S. Department of Energy decides to change the image of oil and gas. No longer fossil fuels; now it’s “freedom gas” and “molecules of freedom.” Can’t make this shit up. The Department of Energy was promoting the expansion of liquified natural gas at a Texas facility. Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, said he was "pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world."
The Sunrise Movement calls for mass protests this summer at the second Democratic debate in Detroit. The Sunrise Movement hopes to mobilize tens of thousands of young people to travel time Detroit for the July 30th debate to pressure Democratic presidential candidates to make 2020 a referendum on climate action. The UK-based Extinction Rebellion is planning to shut down Heathrow Airport with drones and road closures to demand immediate climate action and to stop the construction of yet another runway at the nation’s busiest airport.
California Assembly passes a bill to reclassify Uber drivers and other “gig economy” workers as actual employees, not independent contractors. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, it will represent the first major push back to the gig economy.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announces the world’s first “wellbeing budget.” The new budget will shift priorities away from “growth” to the wellbeing of the most vulnerable and New Zealand society as a whole.
Mitch McConnell still an asshole.
Pennsylvania saw days of severe weather, including multiple tornados and significant flooding over the past few days. Pennsylvania averages about 17 tornados a year, but this year we are already up to at least 22.
Harrisburg Teachers, who have been working without a contract or a raise for over a year, were set to go on a one-day strike today because of how the administration was trying to use the district’s recovery plan to force a bad contract onto the union. The teachers’ strike threat had overwhelming support from the community and it forced the administration to withdraw those plans and brought them back to the bargaining table.
The things you learn working the polls for a local school board election. Kevin worked the polls for the Pennridge school board elections last week and now has more questions about what the hell is going on around here.
Remember those Proud Boys and alt-right activists from the Sports, Beer, and Politics? Well, they’re now getting involved in local Philadelphia politics. Vico Bertogli made is a Republican nominee for the Abington School Board and Charles Matthis, a Philly GOP Committee person who provided security for these rallies is running the campaign for Philadelphia Republican At-Large candidate Matt Wolfe.
The main news out of Japan this week was the White House ordering the Navy to cover John McCain’s name on the destroyer named for him and his father ahead of Trump’s visit. So, you might have missed the fact that the U.S. will now partner with Japan in landing humans back on the moon and establishing a permanent presence. Japanese companies have ramped up their play to be major players in the commercial space sector, including developing commercial lunar landers.
Lego is releasing a special 1087 piece model of the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander tomorrow. The release is Lego’s way of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first humans to visit the moon. One giant step.
Two big releases at Free Will Brewing tomorrow.
- Double Race Against Time - brewed in collaboration with our friends at Chatty Monks Brewing this Double IPA was made with oats, oranges, vanilla, and milk sugar. 8.5% ABV
- Saison 1387. It’s a collaboration with Platform Beer Co. Filled with peach aromatics, and tasting notes of pineapple and lemon custard, with a dry and refreshing finish. 6.3% ABV
And a new documentary focusing on PA’s craft brewing industry was released this week. “Poured in PA,” is a two-year journey two visiting more than 50 Pennsylvania breweries. The film is a production of Harrisburg-based GK visual and you can stream it now on Amazon Prime, even if Dick Yuengling is in the film.
Tuesday May 28, 2019
Tuesday May 28, 2019
Dems can’t quite get themselves to impeachment. It’s getting more and more difficult to sustain a rationale for not beginning at least an impeachment inquiry.
It turns out the White Knight Robert Mueller doesn’t want to testify in public. Something about not wanting to tarnish his personal brand. Really? What’s up with all the walking-on-eggshells around the Special Counsel?
As the Trump administration prepares to go after Julian Assange for espionage, investigative journalism is in the crosshairs. Make no mistake about it, this move is less about Julian Assange and more about gagging the muckraking press.
And right-wing extremism is on the rise in Europe. Right-wing parties from France to Italy to Poland to Bulgaria came out strong in this past weekend’s EU elections. And, of course, Steve Bannon was all over the place. Theresa May steps down as Prime Minister of the UK on Friday. Make room for Boris Johnson. And, in perfect character, Tony Blair emerges from his dusty vault to blame Corbyn.
Tom Corbett’s - yes you heard that correctly - Tom Corbett’s Charter Appeals Board met last week to grant an appeal to Catalyst Charter School in Pittsburgh and they will be meeting again in a couple of more weeks to possibly grant appeals for Eastern University Charter School in Philadelphia and Propel Charter School in Pittsburgh.
Eastern University Charter School had their charter renewal application denied by the Philadelphia School Reform Commission & Propel had their application denied by the Pittsburgh School District and Pennsylvania Department of Education. Propel has 8 Charter Schools across Allegheny County and they are looking to establish their own quasi-school district in Western, Pennsylvania. The issue with the Charter Appeals Board is that it is dominated by five Corbett appointees whose terms expire in 2015
In today’s Last Call, SpaceX’s new launch of 60 Starlink satellites freaks out a bunch of people who thought aliens were finally invading. Meanwhile, astronomers are pissed saying Starlink will permanently alter the night sky. Elon Musk says he hears the concerns...the next batch will not be so shiny. Despite all of Tesla’s problems, SpaceX raised over $1 billion in two rounds of funding...in large part due to its new Starlink system.
Sean YOLOing at ArtsFest. Sean says nothing else happened in PA this past week and a half. Totally unrelated, we’re looking for someone interested in covering what’s happening in PA to come on the podcast from time to time.
Free Will held its 4th Annual Pints & Paws at Free Will event last weekend and brewed up something extra special with our Friends from Harley’s Haven for the cause—Haven, a New England-style IPA hopped with Cashmere, Mosaic, and Citra. $4 from every 4-pack sold will be donated to Harley's Haven Dog Rescue.
Monday May 20, 2019
Monday May 20, 2019
Joe Biden’s Revisionist History Tour kicked off in Philadelphia this weekend. Biden goes all in on a middle of the road climate policy? Really? How do you cut a deal with a climate crisis, Joe?
Welcome to the gates of Gilead. Extreme abortion bans set the stage for a Supreme Court challenge to Roe v. Wade. 8 states now have passed anti-abortion bills this year, the worst, of course, being this week's bans in Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. Elizabeth Warren announces one of the most aggressive plan to defend reproductive rights. If you have not read Rebecca Traister’s article in New York Magazine this past week, do yourself a favor and read it. Her piece “Our Fury Over Abortion Was Dismissed for Decades As Hysteria,” resonates on so many levels. Your anger is an asset and when a political party tells you otherwise, there is a problem with the party.
What do you do after you say the president is the biggest threat to American democracy? You fight hard for robocall legislation, of course.
Really, Bill de Blasio? Good luck to you and your pals from Montana and Colorado. Beto O’Rourke will certainly be your friend. Where’s the ball? Where’s the ball? 23 Democrats now in the race.
AOC gives her staff 3 months of paid parental leave. I would love to be a fly on the wall of Congress right now.
While we were away, noted Islamophobe Stephanie Borowicz was caught taking selfies with white-nationalists from the American Guard.
The Pennsylvania House passed another unconstitutional abortion ban. This time outlawing abortion of fetuses that may have down syndrome. Fifteen Democrats reached across the aisle to support this bill and even though this bill cleared the House, it passed with the lowest vote total an abortion ban has had in decades. And for the legislators who voted against the bill, well, they got an email from Pennsylvanians for Human Life that compared their votes to Hitler and the Holocaust.
APSCUF and PA State System approve an early retirement plan outside of the contract. They say this is what “working together” looks like. The public chumminess leaves out the fact that the plan allows for an expansion of the part-time faculty cap.
Martin Tower, the former international headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, is no more. The building was imploded on May 19th.
I’ll be working the polls in tomorrow’s PA primary election. I’m out there for One Pennridge for the Pennridge School Board election. The team of Kelley Peloquin, Peter Yarnell, Kyle Esposito, Lisa Wilson, and Alex Rajan are the folks to pull the lever for on Tuesday - that’s tomorrow.
A new study warns that unless we start setting rules now, future plans to mine the solar system could destroy our little corner of the Milky Way. The study calls for designating 85% of our solar system as protected wilderness.
Dogfish Head Brewery merging with Sam Adams.
What we were up to during our break.
Friday May 03, 2019
Friday May 03, 2019
Barr’s testimony shows that we are one step closer to full-blown authoritarianism.
House Dems troll Barr’s no-show with chicken.
The Sunrise Movement gets profiled in Rolling Stone as young activists gear up to ensure that climate action is front and center in the Democratic primary debates and the 2020 election. The first-ever hearing on Medicare for All took place in this House this week. Pramila Jayapal gets it done. Stacey Abrams passes on a Georgia Senate run.
Cecile Richards, Alicia Garza, and Ai-jen Poo join forces to launch a new PAC called Supermajority. Supermajority will partner with different groups to educate and train two million women in activism and political participation across the country. According to a press release sent to ELLE.com, Supermajority not only aims to ensure a women's agenda is represented at the ballot box in 2020, but also to drive change around issues like the wage gap, childcare costs, maternal mortality rates, family leave, and family separation at the border.
Old School Labor makes a strong, white showing for Biden in Pittsburgh this week. Michael Bennet is running for president. Googling “who is Michael Bennet” now. Eric Levitz of New York Mag nails it in his piece, “Why I — a Bland White Guy You’ve Never Heard Of — Am Running for President.”
Knock Down the House is now out on Netflix. The film is directed by Rachel Lears and it follows the 2018 primary campaigns of four progressive Democrats taking on entrenched, big money politicians - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin.
Navy sailors aboard the USS. Harry Truman in Norfolk, VA encouraged to greet Vice President Mike Pence by “clapping like we’re at a strip club.”
Harrisburg may have actually hit Peak Stupid this week.
On Tuesday, Daryl Metcalfe invited roughly 150 anti-vaxxers and their disease-carrying, unvaccinated, children to the Pennsylvania Capitol and gave their conspiracy theories a platform by hosting a press conference and introducing legislation to protect anti-vaxxers.
If that wasn’t enough, on Wednesday, the Senate Republican Policy Committee tried to one-up Metcalfe by hosting another sham climate change hearing that had Koch Brother funded geographers, meteorologists, and geologists. One big takeaway from the hearing is that Senator Scott Martin added “novice Hurricane tracker” to his resume.
Summer Lee along with PA House and Senate Dems held a police accountability rally in the wake of the Antwon Rose verdict. Speakers included local community leaders and Antwon’s mother, Michelle Kenney.
Looking forward to next week, March on Harrisburg will be arriving on Monday fighting for gift bans.
Galactic Capitalists test the waters, joining Vice commander of Air Force Space Command Lt. Gen. Thompson to make the case that the Space Force is going to be awesome for business. That case was made at this past week’s Future of War Conference in D.C.
China plans on building a moon base in the South Polar region, once again confirming that if you want to know the direction of space exploration, you need to read Kim Stanley Robinson. His latest, Red Moon, features China’s dominance on the moon...centered in the South Polar region.
Virgin Galactic clears another hurdle on its way to its first round of space tourism. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo completed its fifth successful test flight. The $250,000 tickets are going fast now.
Free Will has got ANOTHER double-can release on Saturday:
- Kangaroo Mob - A No Boil IPA brewed in collaboration with Birds Fly South Ale Project (Greenville, SC) featuring rye malt, Lemondrop hops, Gunpowder green tea, and local lemongrass from Barefoot Botanicals. 5.3% ABV
- A Ride Down the 5 - Perfect for Cinco de Mayo. Mexican style amber lager with a soft, bready character, a touch of malt sweetness, and a balanced hop profile with a crisp and clean finish. 5.4% ABV.
Shout out to friend-of-the-show Mike, who gave me two of his latest homebrew stouts: Rogue Bear Chocolate Stout and Old Rumpole Chocolate Stout. I’m breaking them open this weekend. Thanks, Mike!
Sean has a recap from Forest and Main’s 7th Anniversary Party and an awesome photo shoot in the coming week.
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Biden announces through a video that he’s running in 2020. His first stop is a high-dollar fundraiser at the home of the chief lobbyist of Comcast, the notorious anti-union, enemy of net neutrality based right in the heart of Philly. Joe Biden suffers some Social Media 101 fails in 2019.
And, in an attempt to clear obstacles to his presidential run, Biden called Anita Hill a few weeks ago to offer “regrets” about what he put her through in the 1991 Judiciary Committee hearing with the then-Supreme-Court-nominee, Clarence Thomas. “Hey, Anita, here’s a gaslight for your troubles.” Hill was having none of it and spoke at length to the New York Times saying that she sees “Biden as having ‘set the stage’ for last year’s confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who, like Justice Thomas, was elevated to the court despite accusations against him that he had acted inappropriately toward women.”
Elizabeth Warren has one hell of a policy week. She calls for impeachment hearings to begin in the House and makes the case for tuition-free college. Warren’s plan goes even further than other tuition-free college proposals.
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, joins the on-going UK protests by Extinction Rebellion and other climate activists groups. She continues to be a catalyst for more militant action on climate. As proof of concept, former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are helping launch a handbook about how to become an Extinction Rebellion activist, according to The Guardian. The handbook will “feature instructions on everything from organizing roadblocks to dealing with arrest.”
Turning Points USA invited Trump Jr. to speak at Penn State on Wednesday, but little Donnie wasn’t the only Trump cretens in Pennsylvania this week.
Alex Isenstadt and Holly Otterbein from Politico reported that Trump sent top campaign operatives to Harrisburg to try and triage the tire fire that’s happening at the Pennsylvania GOP Headquarters. Trump sent David Urban, Lou Barletta, and others to meet with party officials. And did we have a Scott Wagner sighting in the middle of the fracas?
An In These Times employee reached out to Sean for a photo of Summer Lee from Swearing-In Day. They will be publishing a story in June on DSA candidates who made it to office and will run the photo as part of that issue.
Tricia Nadolny drops a story about Bloomsburg University president Bashar Hanna’s long history of misconduct that’s been suppressed by several university administrations. It’s a story about how university administrations pay off bad actors and help them fail upwards. Yours truly was one of her sources.
PennLive gets a paywall.
Shields up! A group of undergraduate students at Drake University in Iowa is developing a magnetic shield to defend interplanetary astronauts from the intense cosmic radiation between Earth and Mars. According to LiveScience, “Their MISSFIT (Magneto-Ionization Spacecraft Shield for Interplanetary Travel) design uses a powerful magnetic shield that, like Earth's magnetosphere, protects the planet from high-energy particles.”
Forest and Main is having their 7th Anniversary Party in Ambler this Sunday - rain or shine! This year they’re turning it into a block party!
Weyerbacher sold a 55 percent majority stake to a private investment firm and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Why? Blame it on pumpkin beer, they say.
Free Will has two new can releases on Saturday. Satisfying Chaos, an Imperial Chocolate Stout and Bold Bubbles a Brut IPA brewed with dragonfruit and hopped with the 2019 Pink Boots Society hop blend featuring a combination of Sabro, Mosaic, Simcoe, Loral, and Glacier hops. Bold Bubbles is brewed by the women of Free Will as just one part of the Pink Boots Society - Greater Philadelphia Regional Chapter Collaboration Brew Day.
Friday Apr 19, 2019
Friday Apr 19, 2019
The Mueller Report drops and, yes, it’s pretty damning for the Trump administration. The biggest challenge for Democratic party leadership now seems to be how to continue to fan the flames of Russian outrage while not pulling the impeachment trigger. But will calls for impeachment growing sharper by the day, you’ve gotta wonder what kind of political gymnastics they will perform now that they have everything they said they needed to call for impeachment hearings. Still, Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer prefers to punt, instead of exercising the House’s Constitutional oversight authority.
Bernie Sanders puts Fox on its heels at a town hall in Bethlehem. Later in the week, he said he’ll ban fracking and all new fossil fuel projects. Elizabeth Warren calls for a ban on all new fossil fuel leases offshore and on public lands. And, I’ve gotta agree with Doug Henwood on this one. Writing in Jacobin, Henwood’s article title says it all, “I Can’t Believe Elizabeth Warren Is Losing to These Guys.”
Kirsten Gillibrand uses Ilhan Omar to stake out her “both-siderism” creds. But when it comes down to it, Gillibrand is right in line with the official party line as Democratic party leadership is failing horribly when it comes to responding to attacks on Ilhan Omar. It seems only the most progressive legislators have got Omar’s back.
Stockton, California begins an 18 month pilot of a University Basic Income for 130 residents.
On the brink of the first strike in Rutgers history, the faculty win a huge contract, proving once again that organizing for power pays off.
NextGen is doing some serious organizing on the ground in Pennsylvania. Activists are getting students at Penn State registered to vote ahead of a special election in the PA 12. While a win for Democrat Marc Friedenberg will be an uphill battle, NextGen already has its sights set on 2020. On Wednesday of this week, NextGen held a town hall on West Chester’s campus with U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
It was the season finale of Star Trek Discovery last night and launch of the final season of Game of Thrones last Sunday night. It’s been quite a week. I began watching Netflix’s new series, “Our Planet,” featuring the iconic narration of David Attenborough. It is a beautiful and devastating nature show that places climate change front and center. The BBC also aired David Attenborough’s special, “Climate Change - The Facts” on Thursday.
Naomi Klein, and Avi Lewis team up with The Intercept to release “A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” a beautifully animated letter from an imagined future in which the Green New Deal passed and has been put into practice.
Free Will releases a brand new fruited IPA for you this Saturday, 4/20. Sleight is a fruited Double IPA with passionfruit, coconut, and a touch of vanilla. 9.1% ABV. On draft and 4-pack cans available this Saturday in both Perkasie and Peddler’s Village taprooms.
Thursday Apr 11, 2019
Thursday Apr 11, 2019
It’s a special Thursday night episode of Out d’Coup. Kevin’s heading to Philly tomorrow and Sean is heading back home...so here we are. Thursday night with Fresh King Cake and Sunny Side Up.
On today’s show, The Guardian published a bombshell investigative story this week. They reported that Governor Tom Wolf’s office and DEP officials halted environmental studies during the permitting process for Energy Transfer Partners Mariner East - 2 Pipeline in order to fast track the pipeline’s construction.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Senate Democrats renew their push for abuse survivors in the wake of the Catholic Church’s grand jury report.
It’s spring in PA. That means it’s budget cutting time at Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. Kutztown University president Kenneth Hawkinson sends email to faculty and staff waving the flags of austerity as we head into the final weeks of classes. And we hear a new student fee is on the horizon. Oh, joy! What will be the response from faculty, staff, and students? We shall see.
Awesome space news this week...For the first time, SpaceX lands all three boosters after a successful satellite launch, we got the first-ever image of a black hole, this week was the 35th Space Symposium, and investment in space companies hit an all-time high of $3 billion. But, we’ll get to most of that maybe next week.
Cool beer release at Free Will. It’s Vulgar Display of Fruit. An “Imperial Sour Ale brewed with an obscene amount of apricot and black currant purées, and finished with a touch of vanilla.” Sean treks home for his brother’s housewarming. Sciencing in Philly.
Friday Apr 05, 2019
Friday Apr 05, 2019
Trump breaks the news that windmills cause cancer. Oh, and there are oranges in the Mueller report.
Socialists win big in Chicago! Chicago DSA members will now hold 10% of Chicago’s alderman positions. Why don’t you put that in your pipe and smoke it, Rham?
Working Families Party-backed candidates win big in Milwaukee's school board elections. They now control 5 of the 9 seats on the board. That’s good news in the wake of the loss of a State Supreme Court seat in the badger state.
White power symbols found after fire destroys part of the Highlander Research and Education Center outside of Knoxville, TN. Highlander was instrumental in training activists for the civil rights movement and has been one of the most important organizing institutes in U.S. history.
Bernie Sanders leads the field of presidential candidates in fundraising with $18.2 million dollars. MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt tweeted out this week,
“If we used the metrics of ANY other year and applied them to Bernie he would be called a frontrunner ( came in 2nd last time; almost won Iowa, won NH; near the top of early polls; huge fundraising numbers; proven appeal to the base of the party) And yet he gets ignored. It’s absurd”
As “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg’s presidential campaign shows surprisingly good fundraising numbers, a new poll shows that nearly 70% of Americans are just fine with a gay presidential candidate.
It was not such a good week for former Vice President Biden who’s rapidly earning the nickname of “Creepy Uncle Joe.”
Pam Iovino defeats D. Raja in the special election for the PA 37th Senate District. It’s the first major red to blue flip for the 2020 cycle that puts the Pennsylvania Senate in play. Iovino withstood attack ads linking her to AOC, Bernie, the Green New Deal, Universal Healthcare, support for abortion, and socialism.
Mike Turzai was caught calling pro-choice advocates “Nazis” at a Real Alternatives awards dinner and when called out on it, he said that his quote was “taken out of context.”
A new poll shows that Pennsylvanians are become increasingly concerned about climate change. What do you say, Governor Wolf? Still going with the “drill, baby, drill,” approach?
Bernie Sanders agrees to do a Fox News town hall in Bethlehem, PA on April, 15th. Yeah, that’s tax day. The Sanders Campaign also hired Becca Rast from Jess King’s campaign to run Sanders’ national field campaign.
Congratulations to the faculty and staff at the Community College of Philadelphia who finally have a tentative agreement after three long years of negotiations. It was only when they were on the brink of striking that the City got serious about negotiations.
The Robots are coming...Well, they’ve actually been here for a while in Giant Food Stores across PA. But they will begin arriving in “waves” soon, according to Giant’s parent company Ahold Delhaize USA. UFCW is not fooled by the company’s claims that the robots will not lead to the loss of jobs. In December, Walmart rolled out their 360 autonomous, mini-Zamboni-like robots who clean floors and “collect data.” According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, as many as $800 million people may lose their jobs to robots by 2030. What do you think, can we get that UBI, like yesterday? Yang, 2020.
Looks like the Lunar South Pole is a potential landing site for NASA’s 2024 humans-back-to-the-moon goal. Why? Protection from radiation and promising potential for water ice. That means...rocket fuel. Yes, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Moon officially needs to be required reading.
Despite last weeks ISS wardrobe malfunction which prevented the history all-women space walk, NASA says another medium-sized space suit not likely anytime soon.
If you’re getting a little uneasy about inaction on climate change, you might be comforted...or horrified...by this week’s United Nations roundtable about creating “Floating Cities” to handle mass refugees and the flooding of coastal cities. And, you bet there’s a company called Oceanix - no, this is not Peter Theil’s baby. They have plans.
“He who controls the spice, controls the universe!” Totally psyched that Dune is going into production. The new version of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi series will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, who did an awesome job with the 2017 sequel of Blade Runner.
Sean has been playing with his new toy with awesome results.
Shout out to my colleague Sandi Leonard and her co-creators for their really cool role playing game, MajiMonsters. It's like a cross between Dungeons and Dragons and Pokemon. Very cool. The game is available from DriveThru RPG after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Free Will releasing “Acai Mash” on Saturday. This beer is brewed with 850 pounds of acai puree, milk sugar, and vanilla. It comes in at 7.5% ABV and will be available in 4 packs at both the Perkasie and Peddler’s Village locations.
If you’re looking for something a little different, you might want to check out Free WIll’s special event, a “Toast to Cheese,” next Wednesday, April 10 as part of their cellar pairing series. There will be 4 courses of fine, locally produced cheese from Calkins Creamery (Honesdale, PA). Each accompanied by a delectable bite of specialty toast and, of course, some of our favorite brews.