Out d’Coup | 4th Dem Debate Hot Takes; Bernie’s Big Endorsements; Syria; RIP Elijah Cummings; Mark Sanford Hikes to PA; Lebanon Co Fix; UAW & CTU Strikes; Space News; Free Will Releases

It was Democratic Debate night this past Tuesday. Sean and I will give you our hot takes from the night. Medhi Hasan of the Intercept says, there should only be two front runners right now: Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. No questions on climate change. Warren still stumbling with the question about paying for Medicare for All. Buttigieg makes a move for the Biden lane, abandoning any progressive pretenses. Biden sounds like a Trump lackey when talking about his son’s job in Ukraine. 

Big endorsements for Bernie from Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

Trump pulls the rug out from under the Kurds in Northeastern Syria. That led almost immediately to over 100,000 Kurdish fighters and families having to flee from advancing Turkish forces. Mike Pence then headed to Turkey to give Erdogan everything he wanted, signing off on the slaughter of the Kurds.  

Mick Mulvaney earns a new nickname “quid pro quo.”  Trump says fuck you, we’re going to Doral for the G7. 

And RIP to Elijah Cummings. Want to know how to go out like a Boss? How about signing two subpoenas getting documents related to the detention of immigrant children and refugees.  

Mark Sanford - yes, that Mark Sanford.  The former South Carolina governor most famous for telling everyone he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail while going on the lam to spent time with his Argentinian mistress kicked off his longshot primary campaign against Donald Trump in Philadelphia and Harrisburg on Wednesday.   

Thousands of Mack Trucks UAW workers went on strike in the Mid-Atlantic region this week and that includes hundreds of workers at the Macungie and Middletown assembly plants.

The Pennsylvania capital star reports on how the fix is in for Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold to replace Mike Folmer in the Pennsylvania Senate.  Sorry to Matt Brouillette. 

Chancellor Greenstein comes to Kutztown and says we’re bad kids. 

This morning, two women NASA astronauts made history.  Christina Koch and Jessica Meir ventured outside the International Space Station early this morning for the first all-female spacewalk. 

NASA unveils new spacesuits for the #Artemis era of space exploration. Yes, we get red, white, and blue suits for lunar surface and orange prison jumpers for spaceships. In particular, they unveiled the spacesuits that will be worn by the first woman on the moon. 

Not to be outdone, on Wednesday, Virgin Galactic unveiled their new spacesuits designed by UnderArmor that will be worn by passengers on Virgin’s edge of space flights.

Free Will Brewing has two new releases on Saturday, 10/19: 

• Cranberry Wheat - Free Will’s Wheat Ale Fermented with cranberries - 5% ABV.
• Universally United - another collaboration. This time, their first collaboration with DuClaw Brewing Co. and Is Beer a Carb. It’s a Hazy IPA with Pomegranate. Brewed with flaked oats and flaked corn, hopped with Experimental 06277, Idaho 7, and Amarillo, then fermented with pomegranate purée - 7.1% ABV⁣.

Out d’Coup | Ukraine Arrests; Impeachment; Wagner Billboard Remembrance; Free Will Releases; and, Life Chaos

It's a Free-For-All Friday, folks! Life is crazy; our politics are crazier. Welcome to another week in 'Merica. 

On this day in PA, we will never forget the gift that kept on giving: Scott Wagner's failed campaign for Governor. 

Out d’Coup | Trump Treason; Day One Agenda; Sanders Hospitalized; Warren Surges; Yang Up 257 Percent; Bernie’s Fundraising; Eric Levitz; PA Pot; PA Joins Climate Group; Free Will Releases; Sputnik

Trump doubles-down on enlisting foreign countries to interfere in U.S. 2020 election. What else did you expect? 

The American Prospect releases their “Day One Agenda,” detailing all the actions that a progressive Democratic president could take without executive orders. That’s right, David Dayen and the crew over at the American Prospect did in a couple of months what the Democratic Party leadership should have been doing for years.

Bernie Sanders was briefly hospitalized due to chest pains after a campaign event on Tuesday. He had two stents inserted and seems to be recovering well. We wish him all the best. Elizabeth Warren’s response? Send dinner to his campaign staffers, because that’s what human beings do. 

Speaking of Warren, new polls find Warren surging ahead of Biden in the early primary states of New Hampshire, Iowa, and California. And for the first time, Warren has edged out Biden in several national polls. 

Polling is one thing, organization and fundraising are another. On Tuesday, Bernie Sanders’s campaign announced it had raised $25.3 million over the past three months, more than any other candidate in any other quarter. By contrast, Biden’s fundraising fell off a cliff, falling behind Bernie, Pete Buttigieg’s $19.1 million. That represents a 30% drop off for Biden. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has yet to announce their numbers. The big surprise was Andrew Yang whose fundraising jumped 257%, which translates into about $10 million for the third quarter. Yang called out MSNBC and CNN for excluding his campaign from their on-screen graphics while including Cory Booker who only raised $6 million. 

And, Eric Levitz was on the Majority Report this week talking about his article “The Bernie vs. Warren Debate We Need.” A key argument he makes is that policies on the left are what are both sensible and required at this moment in history. However, he also cautions that the left - in particular, the socialist left in America - can be heavy on superstructure, light on base. That is, as much influence the left has had, we need to be clear about the limits of our organizational base. 

Montana saw upwards of four feet of snow last weekend and Ireland is spared the worst of Hurricane Lorenzo, as the once-powerful Category 4 hurricane is downgraded to a post-tropical storm, still carrying winds of 80 mph. 

Pennsylvania bill would legalize marijuana and make the state the sole seller in the state. As you’ve heard Sean argue on this podcast before, House Bill 1899 would put the sale of pot under the umbrella of the PA Liquor Control Board. 

Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Dept. of Environmental Protection to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and implement a cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. That means PA will finally join 9 other Northeast states to take more aggressive climate action. 

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania joined with the Shutdown Berks Coalition to call for the closure of the Berks County Immigration detention center. 

On this day in 1957, Sputnik 1 becomes the first human-made satellite to orbit the Earth. 

Free Will releases this week. Hop Nugz, Hop Blend 2 - No Boil IPA brewed in collaboration with our friends at Imprint Beer Company and Wolf Brewing Co. Several bottles in their flower series - like Lilac, Chamomile, and Honeysuckle. Free Will will also release their Paw Paw Saison on Saturday. If you’re lucky, they might have some of their first stout of the season left on tap as well. Hunter’s Brunch - Oatmeal Stout brewed with a marris otter malt base and oats.

Out d’Coup | Impeachment Week; Climate Change Not Going Away; SEIU Shuts Down Rittenhouse Square; Green New Deal at Work; Free Will Releases; Good-bye Down to Earth Cafe and Bread Box Bakery

Impeachment. Will the Democrats try really, really hard to drop the ball? Which way forward?

What’s up with AFT President, Randy Weingarten, backing away from Medicare for All.

CNBC reports that Democratic Wall Street donors may back Trump if Warren is nominated. 

UN Climate Report released to Monumental change already hear for the worlds oceans. Meanwhile, Trump addresses UN Assembly to say the future does not belong to the Globalists. And that’s after taking to Twitter to mock 16-year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg. 

Thousands of janitors from SEIU 32BJ shut down Rittenhouse Square yesterday to let residents know that their contract is set to expire on October 15th and that they’re ready to strike. 

Solidarity event with UAW strikers in Langhorne. 

Gov. Tom Wolf getting behind legalizing pot. 

Climate crisis and the workplace. If we accept the urgency for action to combat climate change, how do we use collective power in our workplaces to demand action? Kind of like Green New Deal laboratories. In August, Jared Odessky of Data for Progress released a short report focusing on what unions can do - and are already doing - to win green contracts focusing on targeting their workplaces for climate action.

This week’s release from Free Will: Hello, From Somewhere is a Hefeweizen brewed with a near 50/50 split of wheat and local Deer Creek Malthouse pilsner malt. Sad closing of Down to Earth Cafe and Bread Box Bakery in Perkasie. 

Out d’Coup | Climate Strikes; UN Climate Action Summit; U California Divests; AOC Turns Up Impeachment Heat; Tuition-Free NM; Turzai Fumbles @ DeVos Event; Scamming Vets; Free Will Releases; Fleabag

Historic climate strikes around the world have put the issue of climate change front and center. More than 4 million people around the world took to the streets. While climate strikers filled the streets, GOP leadership was in private meetings with the fossil fuel industries. According to The Intercept, “On September 18 and 19, as Thunberg met with lawmakers, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., hosted fundraisers with oil and gas lobbyists to raise cash for the Scalise Leadership Fund, a political action committee used to dole out cash for battleground House races across the country.”

Today is the U.N. Climate Summit in New York City. International leaders are signaling they will make new “concrete” emissions reductions. The United States is not expected to join the rest of the world.

Texas drowning again under one of the wettest storms in U.S. history. Tropical storm Imelda dumped up to 42 inches of rain on Southeastern Texas and has caused at least 5 deaths. The University of California system announces it is ending all investments in fossil fuels. UC’s divestment is the largest fossil fuel divestment yet. According to Vox, “By the end of September, the UC’s $70 billion pension fund and $13.4 billion endowment will no longer hold any stakes in companies involved with extracting fossil fuels.”  And, California is suing the Trump administration over auto emission standards. 

The Trump administration ignored reports from officials from the Customs and Border Protection that climate change is one of the key factors driving record immigration from Central America.

AOC makes the case that Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to get behind impeachment is a bigger scandal then Trump’s lawlessness. 

New Mexico announces a plan to give all residents tuition-free college regardless of income. 

Weekly rant on left forgetting that power lies with the people, not political messiahs.

63% of Pennsylvania 10th congressional district voters believe in climate change, but Scott Perry recently signed off supporting resolutions attacking the Paris Accords. 

PA Senator Mike Fomer has resigned following being charged with possession of child pornography. 

Betsy DeVos was in Harrisburg on Thursday to visit Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School and promote school vouchers, but it was House Speaker Mike Turzai who sucked all of the air out of the building as he called a retired school teacher “special interest people” who don’t care about the children. 

Victory Media scams vets. 

APSCUF notifies its members that they have reached an “agreement in principle” on their expired contract. Now members will have to wait and see if the leadership can turn principles into contract language. Members have little idea about what principles have been agreed to. We shall see. Of the agreement, APSCUF President Ken Mash said:

“I believe that the agreement in principle represents a historic advance in the process of creating a shared vision of how our universities should operate to best serve our students.”  Looks like we’re in a new era of Silicon Valley win-win discourse - or, as Anand Giridharadas has dubbed it, “the elite charade of changing the world.”

 Free Will had some freaking awesome releases this past weekend. 

• Blackberry Raspberry Mash - Sour Ale brewed with blackberry and raspberry purée, vanilla, and milk sugar. 7.5% ABV
• Black Currant Chocolate Mash - Sour Ale brewed with black currant purée, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and milk sugar. 7.5% ABV

Fleabag scores big at the Emmy’s.

Out d’Coup | Dem Debate Hot Takes; DisOrder in the UK; B-bye CAP; Scott Perry Goes to TN; Robot Rocket Launchers; Free Will Releases; and, more!

Presidential debate hot takes - Biden indignant word mashing; Bernie needed a cough drop; Warren feeling campaign momentum; Beto calls for mandatory buy-backs of assault weapons; Castro goes after Biden with the dementia card; Andrew Yang plays Oprah...You get a UBI! You get a UBI! 

Remember, people, no messiahs this time round. Put faith in our movements, not any political candidate. 

ORDER! UK goes off the rails as Parliament is suspended, Scottish court rules that the suspension is unlawful, as the clock ticks down to a no-deal Brexit. 

The Center for American Progress shuts down in a classic union-busting move. Center for American Progress...you can stick it where the sun don’t shine. 

California legislators pass a landmark bill that strikes at the heart of the gig economy. App-based employers like Uber and Lyft must now classify workers at employees, not independent contractors. 

Amazon workers at the company’s headquarters in Seattle planning to walk off the job due to climate inaction. 

Scott Perry officially unveiled part of his plan to reach out to voters in the Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District this week.  It included speaking to voters in a swanky upscale suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.  Yup, that’s correct. Congressman Perry doubled and tripled down on his support of Donald Trump in front of Tennessee voters at a local “coffee group” hosted by a local GOP official.  Perry shared the floor with Jim Demint, from the Heritage Foundation, and Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows’ wives.      

Reading Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells has got me looking forward to any new beer release I can get my hands on. 

Visit to Riverhorse Brewery in Ewing, NJ. Great Sour Triple Belgian.

U.S. Army joins up with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to test robotic, battlefield rocket launchers in Estonia. That’s going to end well. 

Free Will releases:

"Crowd Party - Hazy IPA brewed with flaked oats, vanilla, and milk sugar, hopped with Cashmere, Vic Secret, Loral, and Ekuanot. Notes of peach cobbler, blueberry freckle ice cream, strawberry cheesecake, and mango Dole Whip. 7% ABV⁣" * 

"Barrel Aged Saison de Rose - Farmhouse Ale aged in barrels with hibiscus, grapefruit, lemons, ginger, and peppercorns and aged for 9 months in wine barrels. Bottled conditioned for one year, this beer strikes a balance between delicate fruit, flowers, and lively determined spiciness. 6.9% ABV"

* descriptions from Free Will FB page. 

Out d’Coup | Dem Presidential Campaign Heats Up; Biden Annoys Philly Labor; Dorian Slams Bahamas; Greta Thunberg in NYC; U.S. SpaceCom; Free Will Releases

A poll last week from Monmouth University showed a three-way tie between Sanders, Warren, and Biden. Polls since then seem to show that poll as an outlier, but as the campaign season heats up, we’ll be watching this more closely.

Biden is annoying some Pennsylvania labor leaders. Biden has not committed to attending a Philadelphia AFL-CIO candidate forum on Sept. 17-18. President of Philly AFL-CIO Pat Eiding went on NPR to express his frustration.

Trump moves to rescind more environmental rules that will increase the pace of climate change. Trump now has worked to roll back a total of 84 environmental rules. 

Category 5 hurricane Dorian is battering the Bahamas. This is the most powerful storm to hit the Bahamas in recorded history. Trump said he never heard of a Category 5 hurricane. Meanwhile, some Christians gathered on Florida beach to pray the hurricane away. They have a good track record. 

Greta Thunberg arrived safely in NYC this week for the UN Climate summit and climate actions. Activists greeted her onshore chanting, “Sea levels are rising, and so are we!” And the right-wing responds as you would expect, criticizing her looks and her Aspergers. Thunberg responded on Twitter and Instagram saying, “When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning!” 

Star Wars is back on. Trump formally reestablished the U.S. Space Command at a White House ceremony this weekend.

Free Will had another double can release this past weekend: Village Fest - Their annual Märzen style Lager and Angel, Hop Blend 3 - No-Boil IPA brewed with local Deer Creek Malthouse Keystone Pale malt, flaked oats, and Castle Valley Mill Bloody Butcher corn. 

Out d’Coup | Ding Dong the Koch is Dead; Bernie and Warren Surge; Biden Promoting Lesser of Two Evils; Summer Wrap Up; Free Will Releases and Sour Sunday

It's the last of our Summer Sessions! Sean is back from a week-long, grueling mission to get all his laundry done. We review the news of the week and do a little reflecting on the summer and look forward to the political landscape as we head into 2020. 

A reminder that this weekend features Free Will Brewing's last Sour Sunday of the summer. That will feature three new awesome bottle releases: Orchestrated, Mojito. and Honey Gone Wild. They also are releasing Relax & Chill - Hazy Pale Ale on Saturday.

We will be back next week as we prepare for campaign season to shift into full swing. 

Out d’Coup | Trump Can’t Buy Greenland; Climate Action; No APSCUF Contract; Sean Had to Do Laundry; Raging Chicken’s Future; Free Will Releases

Trump really wants to buy Greenland...I guess with all those melting glaciers, there will be lots of new land for golf courses. However, Greenland’s foreign minister has made it clear that Greenland is not for sale. 

Greta Thunberg, the sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist, is sailing across the Atlantic to attend the UN Climate Action Summit and climate action protests in NY. 

Some miners in West Virginia making the turn toward a Green New Deal. 

APSCUF’s “interest-based bargaining” continues as faculty preparing to head back to campus without a contract. APSCUF chapter presidents met in Harrisburg yesterday. Chapter presidents serve as the Negotiations Committee, which is theoretically supposed to set the priorities for bargaining. Bargaining is slated to continue Aug. 19–20 at the APSCUF office and Sept. 14–18 at Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.

Sean’s not here today. He had to do laundry. 

What’s in store for Raging Chicken?

Free Will Releases.

Out d’Coup | Dem Debates Round 2; Rep. Scott Perry’s Town Hall Fail; No APSCUF Contract Yet; PA Student Power at KU; Space News; Free Will Releases

The Debates. Sanders and Warren rocked it. Delany leading neoliberal, private sector attack dog, Harris has got to ditch Democratic Party consultants. Tim Ryan goes after Medicare for All because using unions? 

As of now, only 8 candidates have qualified for the third Democratic presidential debate. Candidates will need 130,000 unique donors and at least 2% in the polls. They have until August 28. Those debates will be in Houston on Sept. 12 and 13th. 

Scott Perry’s handpicked townhall turns into a disaster.  Perry blamed the “fake news” and local Indivisible groups for conspiring to make the room look empty when it was actually empty.

APSCUF is still without a contract. Negotiations resume on August 8

PA Student Power Network is starting a chapter on Kutztown’s campus this fall. 

Trump-appointed NASA chief administrator, Jim Bridenstine, gets behind the industrialization of low earth orbit spearheaded by the increasing commercial use of the International Space Station. Kevin’s daughter wraps up her week at the Da Vinci Science Center’s NASA Space Camp today. 

Free Will has two can releases Saturday. DDH Love Letter From the 90’s - Hazy IPA brewed with oats, milk sugar, and Bloody Butcher cornmeal from Castle Valley Mill, then double dry-hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra. 7.2% ABV⁣⁣. ⁣⁣And, Cloudy³ - Hazy IPA brewed with oats and milk sugar and hopped utilizing INCOGNITO™ Citra and Mosaic in the whirlpool, with a substantial dry hop consisting of Citra and Ekuanot hop pellets, as well as Mosaic lupulin powder. It’s a collaboration with Levante Brewing. 6.5% ABV