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Activism, politics, and beer from PA-based Raging Chicken Press
Episodes
Monday Mar 07, 2022
Monday Mar 07, 2022
On this episode, I welcome Alyssa Bowen to the show. Alyssa has a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is currently senior researcher and managing editor for the progressive watchdog group True North Research where she tracks and writes about dark money in U.S. politics. She has written for The Nation and is a regular contributor to Truthout.
We’ll be talking about her new article in TruthOut, “Dark Money is Behind ‘Women’s Groups’ Attacking Biden’s Supreme Court Pick.” In that piece, Alyssa shines a bright light on the deep pockets funding right-wing women’s groups such as the “Independent Women’s Forum” and “Concerned Women for America” who are seeking to sink Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to fill Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat. We’ll also talk about her research and reporting on the dark money funding “concerned moms” groups leading the extremist charge in local school boards.
- Follow Alyssa on Twitter: @AlyssaAnnBowen
- Check out her writing on TruthOut: https://truthout.org/authors/alyssa-bowen/
- Check out the great work by True North Research: https://truenorthresearch.org/
- Follow True North Research on Twitter: @itstruenorth
- True North's Substack: https://truenorthresearch.substack.com/
Additional Resources (from Alyssa):
- Judd Legum's Popular Information
- Documented
- Dave Sirota’s newsletter The Daily Poster
- Unkoch my Campus
- Center for Media and Democracy
- DeSmog
- Greenpeace
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV
Friday Mar 04, 2022
Friday Mar 04, 2022
On this week's Friday Politics Roundup, I welcome guest host, Amy Knect, back to the show. On today's show, we're be digging into the great Universal Basic Income (UBI) debate and check in on the latest school board meeting in the Pennridge School District. Yes, the school board carrying out a right-wing extremist experiment in undermining public education.
Earlier this year, Philadelphia announced that it will begin a very limited guaranteed income pilot program as soon as this month. The pilot program would give a maximum of 60 people $500/month for at least 12 months. The 60 people are drawn from a pool of about 1,100 who have received federal support through TANF, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, for five years. The funds will come without any strings attached, unlike traditional social welfare programs. Philly now joins a growing list of U.S. and cities around the world piloting programs to give people money as a way to provide an economic floor for individuals and families.
UBI is not just one thing. They range from libertarian proposals - to give people money and wipe out other social welfare programs such as TANF, Medicaid, and Social Security - to more democratic socialist programs - to give people money as a baseline for being part of a given society while maintaining or expanding existing programs (think Medicare for All).
We'll take a look at some of the preliminary results of Stockton, California's UBI experiment - the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) to see what $500/month did for 125 individuals in that pilot. We'll also talk about the report, "Becoming Visible: Race, Economic Security, and Political Voice in Jackson, Mississippi." That report investigates " how policies created through racial exclusion and oppression are maintained behind a veneer of race-neutrality, and to reject reform efforts that tinker at the margins of this system."
We'll also be checking in with the Pennridge School District school board meeting this past Monday. We're starting to see an organized pushback in the community to the board's thinly-veiled extremism. Amy Knecht was there for the meeting. Looking forward to this one!
- Magnolia Mother’s Trust: https://springboardto.org/magnolia-mothers-trust/
- Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED): https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/
- Policy Paper: “Becoming Visible: Race, Economic Security, and Political Voice in Jackson, Mississippi,” https://bit.ly/34eEEu1
- Center for Guaranteed Income Research, UPenn: https://www.penncgir.org/
You can help support homegrown, progressive media by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month: https://www.patreon.com/rcpress
Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Monday Feb 28, 2022
On this week's Out d'Coup LIVE, I welcome Connor OHanlon to the show. Connor is a progressive Democrat running for state representative in PA's 29th legislative district in Bucks County.
Connor currently works as an auditor (CPA) and specializes in audits of SEC companies in the online gaming and casino industry. Additionally, Connor has worked as a licensed realtor and conveyancer in and around Bucks County which has furthered his familiarity and relationship-building with local officials and professionals serving the community. Connor has been a resident of Doylestown Township since 2007 and went through the Central Bucks Public School District from Groveland Elementary to Central Bucks West High School. Connor is a licensed Certified Public Account (CPA) and has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Certificate of Real Estate from Penn State University.
Assuming all the state legislative districts remain relatively the same after potential court challenges, Connor will be running in a contested primary in a district where the incumbent Republican representative just retired. That makes the 29th up-for-grabs and ripe for a Democratic pick up. The question is, what kind of Democrat? Connor is banking on his plan for a PA New Deal for creating a strong PA economy, strengthening our infrastructure, and protecting the rights of Pennsylvanians.
Follow Connor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConOHanlon
Check out Connor's website: https://www.connorohanlon.com/
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Today I am joined once again my Amy Knecht - yes, my Bucks County Pravda co-conspirator. Thanks for the moniker, Andy Meehan.
On today's show we're focusing in on this week's Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rise of authoritarianism, and the Pennridge School Board Committee meeting that went off the rails!
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Monday Feb 14, 2022
Monday Feb 14, 2022
On tonight’s show, I welcome Diana Leygerman back to the show. Diana is a writer, teacher, activist, and former Central Bucks school board candidate. In another example of how elections have consequences, this past week the Central Bucks School Board - dominated by increasing right-wing members - cancelled a field trip to the National Holocaust Museaum in D.C. Why? Well, turns out D.C. strict vaccine and mask mandates was too much for the anti-mask snowflakes to handle. And, as it turns out, the son of one of the school board members was supposed to go on the field trip, but he is not vaccinated. Another perfect example of board members exerting their extremist views with consequences for all the children in the district.
Diana Leygerman pointed all of this out on Twitter and her tweet went nuts. Over 90,000 people viewed her tweet, which helped bolster continued organizing among parents, students, and community members. Looking forward to getting a lay of the land in Central Bucks.
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Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Monday Feb 14, 2022
On today’s show, I welcome Stephen Caruso to the show. Stephen is the House reporter for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. He previously covered Pennsylvania state government for The PLS Reporter. He’s been
Stephen is joining me today to talk about redistricting, voting, and map, maps, and more maps. Once again the PA State Supreme Court will be drawing Pennsylvania’s Congressional maps after deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats could not be bridged. Pennsylvania continues to play a critical role in the balance of power in the House of Representatives. New State legislative maps were approved last week, however some controversy remains. For example, some Lehigh Valley Latino leaders are saying the new maps dilute the influence of Latino voters. We’ll get into all of this in more on today’s show. You can follow Stephen on Twitter: @StephenJ_Caruso.
Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
On this week’s show, we’ll catch up with Cyril about his latest article in the Bucks County Courier Times, “Combat the climate crisis before there’s nothing to build back” and hear about his new gig with the recently launched Bucks County Beacon. His first weekly column just dropped this past Friday in which he sounded the call for progressive independent media in Bucks. We’ll also take a look at what’s happening with his newsletter and get a sneak peak into some of the things he’s working on.
You should also sign up for Cyril’s newsletter on Substack: https://cyrilmychalejko.substack.com/
And make sure to join our Discord Server to continue the conversation all week long. Just click on the link in today’s show notes: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV
Monday Feb 07, 2022
Monday Feb 07, 2022
On today’s show…we’ll take a look at what’s turned out to be one heck of a news day. I’ll fill you in on some books I’m reading. Who knows where we’ll go from there!
News:
- Canadian protests against vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions. Or, to put it in the slogans of the truckers and protests locking down Ottawa: “Freedom.”
- Supreme Court reinstates Alabama congressional voting maps that a lower court found in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
- PA Judge says PA Supreme Court should choose GOP congressional maps./
- National Archives recovers 15 boxes of Trump White House documents from Mar-a-Lago
- Pennridge school board meets tonight
Friday Feb 04, 2022
Friday Feb 04, 2022
Today I welcome Amy Knecht as our guest co-host for this weeks Friday Politics Roundup. For the bulk of today’s show, Amy and I will be talking about right-wing organizing in Bucks County, PA. In particular, we’ll be focusing on Andy Meehan's organization, Right for Bucks. Meehan has built a well-organized, well-funded, and growing organization bent on taking control of the Bucks County Republican Party with a far-right "America First" agenda. In the lead up to the 2022 midterm elections and emboldened by the raging culture war battles in local, regional, and national school boards, Right for Bucks is front and center in the “America First,” election conspiracy, Trump cult. But, you’re going to be surprised at what it’s like inside Right for Bucks organizing meetings. How do we know? Well, this week Amy attended a public Right-for-Bucks Zoom event. She’s going to take us inside that meeting and let us all know why we have our work cut out for us.
Before we get there a few headlines:
It’s official, more than 900,000 people have died of COVID in the United States. 100,000 people have died since December 13, 2021. And, as expected, the highest death rates are occuring in states with lower vaccination rates and minimal COVID mitigation efforts. Pennsylvania has the 5th highest death rate, according to an NBC News analysis.
The United States turns to assassination again in it’s never-ending war on terror. Biden announced yesterday that a US raid on Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi’s home, led to his death. Early reports say that at least 13 people, including six children and four women were also killed.
A new study shows that as of 2015 the world’s richest 10% now account for nearly half of all global carbon emissions - up 15% from the previous study released in 2010.
According to the study's author Aimee Ambrose, “In many ways, the rich are being largely insulated from the spike in energy costs.But addressing excessive personal consumption is something that isn’t on the agenda for the government and policymakers. This is bad news for the planet and our prospects of reaching net zero.”
Staff at an elite Democratic consulting firm, Inside Authentic, are in revolt over being asked to work on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s projects. One staffer told Politico, “I’m doing the Devil’s work.” The unionized staffers are pushing back. Taylor Billings, organizing director of the Campaign Workers Guild told Politico, “The Authentic Union views Sen. Sinema’s recent actions to block voting rights legislation as an affront to their company’s values, which they’re proud of and committed to upholding.”
Valerie Arkoosh drops out of the PA Senate race.
Pennsylvania ranks in the bottom half of states for gender representation in politics. The state has never elected a female U.S. senator or governor. There are four women, all Democrats, in a congressional delegation of 18 — up from zero women before the 2018 elections. The state legislature is about 26% female.
Yet another no-knock warrant leads to the killing of black man by police. Minnesota police killed Amir Locke who was not named in any police warrant, but was in legal protection of a handgun. Locke was asleep at the time he was woken up by police and killed.
Facebook loses users for the first time in its 18 year history. Over 500,000 users left the platform over the past 3 months. While King Zuckerberg says it’s because of competition and a new focus on the Metaverse virtual world project, others suggest it might have something to do with recent revelations from whistleblowers about Facebooks abusive practices and violations of privacy.
And, NASA announced that it will crash the International Space Station into the Pacific Ocean in 2031, bring to an end one of the most successful orbital scientific research endeavors in history. As expected, NASA will turn over space to the galactic capitalists for future orbital science. Hey, gotta clear the way for privatization of space before the Artemis missions to the Moon, right?
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Welcome to this week's episode of Out d'Coup LIVE. What's on YOUR mind?
Chatting about Trump's weekend rally and call for violence; Starbucks union efforts grow; Courier Times elections analysis; "The Great Faculty Disengagement;" hope in organizing; and more.
Articles from tonight's show:
- "Philly to pilot a guaranteed income experiment, giving cash to some needy residents" : https://bit.ly/3KZ5sPp
- “At Texas rally, Trump all but promised a racially charged civil war if he’s indicted" | Will Bunch: https://bit.ly/34ipKm5
- "The Great Faculty Disengagement" : https://bit.ly/3odNQWn
- "Two Starbucks locations in Philadelphia file petitions to unionize" : https://bit.ly/3ogCWim
Books mentioned:
- On Compromise: Art, Politics, and the Fate of an American Ideal, by Racel Greenwald Smith. https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781644450604
- The Apocalypse and the End of History: Modern Jihad and the Crisis of Liberalism, by Suzanne Schneider. https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781839762413
- Join The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, PA Budget and Policy Center, All Voting is Local and We The People - Pennsylvania as part of our series of forums on democracy in Pennsylvania for a discussion with Chris Ullery, Government and Development Reporter, Bucks County Intelligencer and Courier Times.
- LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rduCrrz4oH9wu6CzNuyI6s2QpPGlYjGIF
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV