Out d’Coup Podcast

Internment camps? Prison camps? ProPublica’s audio of kids crying in cages after being separated from families finally gets people’s attention. Right before the dam broke, Trump was receiving the highest approval ratings of his presidency, according to last weekend’s Gallup poll. Hungary - homeland to Sebastian Gorka and his Fascist loving dad - passes “Stop Soros” laws and bans aid to undocumented immigrants.

In a feat of astonishing tone deafness, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week, “On World Refugee Day, we join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and our international partners in commemorating the strength, courage, and resilience of millions of refugees worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to persecution and conflict….This commitment to the world’s most vulnerable individuals remains a critical component of America’s national security policy.” Democrats helped set the table for this shit show, by the way. Just listen to Chuck Schumer’s speech at Georgetown Law in 2009.  Oh, yeah. Hey, media….the brutality and racism IS THE FREAKING POLICY. Did we mention that the US backed out of the UN human rights commission?

Sinclair Media forces its affiliates to air segments blaming media for overreacting about child separation. Trump encourages Washington Post employees to strike hours after it dropped huge scoop on Russian collusion. And it was good to see Rachel Maddow off the Russia story for a bit. Good to have you back.

LOCK HIM UP! Paul Manafort goes to prison for witness tampering. Gets put in “solitary confinement” for his own protection? Ocasio-Cortez faces off against Joe Crowley for the heart and soul of the democratic party this Tuesday in New York City.  Ocasio-Cortez is endorsed by groups like Our Revolution and the Democratic Socialists of America

Still waiting for the Janus v. AFSCME ruling to drop. Looks like Monday at this point. Republican-oriented polling firm releases poll showing ⅔ of Americans and majority of union households would support a ruling in favor of Janus.

Melania wears a jacket that says “I really don’t care. Do u?” on an airplane to visit immigrant children separated from their families. Elon Musk registers a domain named “Pravda” that would rate journalists credibility. Speaking of Elon Musk, Musk goes on a twitter claiming that he is a socialist and Marx was a capitalist because he wrote a book on capitalism.

Closer to home in PA, the budget is done. Protests to shut down the Berks Detention Center. 17-year-old Antwon Rose was unarmed and shot and killed by East Pittsburgh. Police.  Colleen Bradley files Petition for Writ of Certiorari to SCOTUS. We’ve got the hard copy. Now is the time to pay attention, step up, and get behind this case.

In today’s last call, Trump’s Space Force is officially “Separate but Equal to the Air Force” and may be used to fight Asteroids. Epic dust storm on Mars covers the planet.

Canada legalizes pot. Free Will hosts Sour Sunday #3 this coming Sunday and they are bringing out The Pomisher (2018) – Sour Ale Aged in Oak Casks with Pomegranate – 6.3% ABV. And...yes there’s an and...Blushing Apricot – Sour Ale Aged in Oak Casks with Apricots – 5.3% ABV.

Kevin Mahoney of Raging Chicken Press is teaming up with Colleen Fitzgerald from A Home, Stony Run, to bring you a new podcast: Free Range. Free Range focuses on food, politics, and communities of resistance...or community as resistance. What a better way to ground our political organizing than in the very ground we walk upon. The people, places, and processes of sustenance.

We’ll be posting all show updates and information about the project on our Facebook page. Just look for Free Range on Facebook and be sure to like us. 

Kevin: Hey. This is Kevin Mahoney from Raging Chicken Press

Colleen: And, this is Colleen Fitzgerald from A Home, Stony Run.

Kevin: We’ve come together to bring you a new podcast called Free Range. Free Range focuses on food, politics, and communities of resistance...or community as resistance.

Colleen: What a better way to ground our political organizing than in the very ground we walk upon. The people, places, and processes of sustenance.

If you like what you hear, check out our projects and leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

Kevin: You can find my work at RagingChickenPress.org. You can also check out Raging Chicken’s weekly podcast called Out d’Coup. Each week I talk to Raging Chicken’s muckraker-in-chief, Sean Kitchen, about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. And, of course, make sure to like us on Facebook and follow @rcpress on Twitter.

Colleen: You can find my work at TracedLines.com. Each week I write about my local farms, farmers, artisans, artists, and activists. You will find recipes, reflections, and photography that work to develop and discuss ways we build communities  Follow me on at @mzccfitz on Instagram.

Kevin: Hope you’re loving Free Range as much as we love making it. Bread and roses, all.

Colleen: Vive la résistance!

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Trump consummates his relationship with Kim Jong Un in the Philippines, earning him double-authoritarian-experience points. Trump organization celebrates by releasing a 4-minute movie trailer on Trump and North Korea. “Destiny Pictures” (aka the National Security Council) presents, “A Story of Opportunity.” Meanwhile, Trump blows up the G7.

The FBI will release report on Hillary’s emails later today. Trump organization is drooling in anticipation. Net Neutrality dead...say it with me...elections have consequences. Good thing is that we’ll have more corporate giants after a court gives the green light to the AT&T and Time-Warner merger. Next up to the plate, Comcast, Disney, CVS...and so many more. Your safe for now Amazon. Google. Larry Kudlow suffers a heart attack, showing at least someone in the Trump administration has a heart.

Amazon also in the news for successfully pressuring Seattle city council to take back a new tax that would have helped homelessness. Cal-Exit?!? A plan to split California into three separate states made it on the November ballot as a ballot initiative.  Virginia Republicans nominate Corey Stewart for the US Senate. Stewart has ties to white nationalists and neo nazis who organized the Charlottesville hate fest.

Michelle Wolf 1, Sarah Huckabee Sanders 0. Sarah “Fact Burner” Huckabee CBS News reports that Sanders is reportedly on the way out. Sanders says she was at kindergarten and knows nothing about it.

Tom Wolf takes John Fetterman out shopping for a tie.  He’ll need one of them for when he presides over the Senate. Sean meets up with David Daley, author of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count, in the Pennsylvania Capitol this week. Daley was in town to witness and research Pennsylvania Senate Republicans’ horrific gerrymandering bill. PA Republicans are seeing to gut and existing gerrymandering reform bill and add a provision to gerrymander the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Court, and the Superior Courts. The result of the bill could be guaranteed GOP majorities for as far as the eye can see. [Get up to speed on Daley's work: New Yorker review; Vox; Majority Report]. 

And we’re happy to introduce a new podcast! Kevin Mahoney of Raging Chicken and Colleen Fitzgerald of A Home, Stony Run, are collaborating on a Free Range podcast focusing on food, policy, politics, and communities of resistance. Their inaugural episode launches today. Check out and like their Facebook page.

In today’s Last Call, Senator Wagner gets his Jimmy Johns boxed lunch in the Capitol. All that campaigning has him hungry. NASA head Jim Bridenstine all in with galactic capitalism and a Moon colony. Sean heads home. Free Will gets ready for a big Father’s Day weekend.

Kevin Mahoney of Raging Chicken Press and Colleen Fitzgerald of A Home, Stony Run have been talking about collaborating on a podcast for a while. Now it's a reality. 

Free Range will explore intersections of sustainability and resistance; politics and community; the urban and the rural; national policy and local practice. And there will be tangents. Yes, the organic stuff that critical conversations welcome. 

The first episode of Free Range will drop on Wednesday, June 13th. We hope you’ll stop by.

For a flavor of our conversations, listen to this short preview.

Preparing for the coming autocracy, Trump talks about pardoning himself. US Ambassador to Germany says he is interested in helping bolster the far-right in Europe. Giuliani tells the Wall Street Journal that Kim Jong Un got “on his hands and knees and begged” American diplomats to come to the June 12 Summit in Singapore as originally planned. That should go over well. Trump disinvites the Philadelphia Eagles after no one from the team was going to show to the white house. 

No Cake for you! Supreme Court rule that religious baker had the right to not bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. According to a recent report from Zillow Research, the next recession is expected by 2020. 

Jahan Wilcox, a spokesperson for EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, calls a journalist a “piece of trash” when asked for comment about recent resignations. Conservative Stanford Professor asks his students to do oppo research on a progressive undergraduate student - “get the dirt, he said in emails”. Great piece in the Columbia Journalism Review on class and funding journalism. 

Bronx Activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez taking on the Democratic Machine in her challenge of the 4th most powerful Dem in the House, Joseph Crowley. David Koch steps down from Koch Industries and the Koch political machine. UN report says Donald Trump’s administration is forcing millions of Americans into financial ruin and poverty.

Senator Scott "Soprano" Wagner resigns from the PA Senate. Wagner’s first political stunt since leaving office involved going into a poor minority community of Philadelphia to browbeat the city because the grass at a local park wasn’t mowed. Scott Wagner compared to The Penguin from Batman?  Is that a bridge too far? Is it immature? Have we really lost our sense of decorum? Marcel Groen punches down.

PA Promise was introduced on Wednesday (finally). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is killing political cartoons that are critical of Trump. PA Judge rejects attempts by the Catholic Church to delay publishing a grand jury report about sex abuse by priests and cover-ups by religious leaders. The grand jury report focused on six of eight Catholic dioceses: Allentown, Scranton, Harrisburg, Erie, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh. 

Philly DSA members join Poor People's Campaign to rally for a healthy environment and health care for all. Philadelphia Berniecrats win South Philly ward seats that were once controlled by Johnny Doc and his machine. 

New week we launch “Free Range” a collaborative podcast with Colleen Fitzgerald from, A Home, Stony Run.

Air Force Space Command hands over responsibility for fighting hackers in cyberspace to the Air Combat Command. NASA’s new climate denying administer, Jim Bridenstine, says it’s time to bring in the privateers to the International Space Station and space exploration. NASA’s International Space Station, not actually for sale. Think of it more like a mall. NASA reveals that Antarctica’s largest iceberg is about to melt away near South America. 

Free Will has some great stuff out this week and hit the canning hard this week to have lots in stock. Check out: 

• Guerrilla Grafting – Pastel IPA with rice, milk sugar, and lychee fruit – 8.7% ABV released this week. That’s a collaboration with Levante Brewing
• Another Levante Brewing collab is out, DDH Cloudy² – Double Dry Hopped New England-style IPA – 6.7% ABV
• Race Against Time – Orange Creamsicle-inspired IPA – 7.2% ABV, a Collaboration with Chatty Monks Brewing
• still going to recommend checking out last week’s release of Judo Financing, New England-style IPA with Key Limes; and, DEFINITELY check out Duct Tape and Zip Ties – House Pilsner
• If you’ve got some beer tips that you think we should give a shout out to, send us an email at ragingchickenpress@gmail.com with the subject line “Last Call Tips.”

Sean talks about his latest pictures and his new prints. Check out kitchen.snapz on Instagram. 

Roseanne Barr fired for popping off a racist tweet over the weekend. She said it was the Ambien. Ambien maker says racism is not a known side-effect of taking their product. Donald Trump goes on a Padron-Palooza. Issued pardon for Dinesh D'souza and ponders pardons or commutations for Martha Stewart and Rod Blagojevich. North Korea summit.  Is it on or off? Trump signs right to try drug legislation. Dick’s sporting goods says that ending sales of assault weapons has not hurt its sales as expected. 

Recent Supreme Court ruling that prevents workers from joining in class action lawsuits if signed “forced arbitration” clause is already smacking down Chipotle workers. Federal Reserve votes to ease regulations on the big banks, setting the stage for the next financial meltdown. Ireland votes overwhelmingly to end abortion ban. Tom Perez pisses off progressives with Cuomo endorsement. 

Scott Wagner to resign from the Senate June 4th.  Not like there’s a budget to complete or anything like that. Wolf campaign turns up the heat in response. Sean goes to Raise Wage demo. Tomorrow (Friday), Lou Barletta press conference in Capitol Rotunda. 

Sean watched Star Wars. Sean got some awesome art. Sean’s looking to sell some prints. Working for Elon Musk is Hell. Jeff Bezos saves The Expanse then lays out plans for Moon colony. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross says “Moon Base will be a reality sooner than you think.” Free Will new can release. Judo Financing is a great New England style IPA with key limes. Free Will also stocked with Miscommunication and their house pilsner, Duct Tape and Zip Ties. Hill Farmstead Owner Shaun Hill goes on the record about alcohol and mental health issues in the craft beer industry, then blames the journalist for reporting on the interview.  Oops.

SCOTUS rules against workers. Workers must abide by forced arbitration clauses. Welcome to the privatization of our court system. Justice Neil “Elections-have-consequences” Gorsuch wrote for the majority. The ruling has potentially significant implications for #MeToo movement. The highlight of the ruling was Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s blistering dissent.

Trump formally announces new gag rule barring family planning clinics that receive federal funding under Title X from providing abortions or referring patients to abortion services. And court challenges are dubious because...say it with me...elections have consequences. On the positive side of the ledger. court rules that Trump can’t block people on Twitter. No troll-free zone for your highness.

Last week we learned of Trump’s bromance with Kim Jong Un and their meet-up in the Philippines. Now, North Korea is yanking Donald’s chain, warning of a nuclear showdown and calling Mike Pence a “political dummy.” And this just in this morning...Trump cancels the Philippine summit. There goes the Nobel Peace Prize.

We were not recording last Friday when the latest school shooting went down in Santa Fe, Texas. The NRA death cult has been feverishly going through their post-child sacrifice rituals. Guns don’t kill people...guns don’t kill people...guns don’t kill people.

A report released earlier this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration found an unexpected increase in emissions of CFC-11, a chemical banned under the 1987 Montreal Climate Protocol. Scientists say this suggests someone may be secretly manufacturing the pollutant in violation of the international accord. Who wants to bet we’ll find out in the end that Jared Kushner and the Emir of Qatar will be involved in some way.

Huge news out of Georgia. Stacey Abrams becomes the first African American woman to ever win a major party nomination for governor. Not only that, she won her primary running against a centrist Democrat - Stacey Evans who ran on the typical corporate Democrat line of shifting to the right.

A former executive of Frisco Hospice in Texas admitted to overdosing patients to “hasten their deaths” so the company could rake in the bucks. The $60 million scheme with Nova Health Services owner Bradley and Amy Harris made patients “go bye-bye” when the company could no longer profit. Also in Texas, Texas Lt governor Dan Patrick thinks that banning doors on school buildings will stop mass shooters. He clarifies his statements later saying that guns don’t kill people, video games and movies kill people.  

NFL bans taking a knee during the national anthem, because freedom. And in other sports news, City of Milwaukee releases video showing rookie NBA player getting tased for parking in a handicapped spot.

PA legislators want their nothing burgers medium rare with a side of per diems.  #PAHouse not expected to vote on much on this rare Thursday session day because @PAHouseGOP caucus can't get enough support on some controversial bills. PA Senate passed the pipeline protest criminalization bill with the happy support of several Democrats. Word has it that the House doesn’t have the energy to take it up. PA Democrats all shaky after DSA wins.

Scarnati pushing hard for open primaries in PA now. What’s going on with that? Poor people’s campaign back in the Capitol loud and proud. Several demonstrators arrested for...what...tug-o’-war? Sean was there and got some great pics and vids of the action. 

In a secret process. Daniel Greenstein, a former director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success program, was chosen to be the next Chancellor of PASSHE. Everyone is jumping on the positive PR blitz...and that may pan out. But right now there’s few specifics and lots of fawning over Dr. McDreamy...just look at that hair. [he’s a doctor]. Look, Greenstein might turn out to be great...but we’re going to hold off on that until we’ve “done our research” and see some specifics.

And, Colleen Bradley readies her writ of certiorari for the U.S. Supreme Court.

In today’s Last Call, the Syfy channel cancels The Expanse just when it’s getting good. Amazon may play hero.

Does craft beer have a worker problem? A great new piece in Splinter about the issue.

Kevin was in Chicago last weekend...which is why we went a little early last week. I got to see an awesome comedy show at Up Comedy Club of Second City in Chicago. The show was an all-women show, #SheThePeople. It was an awesome feminist review.

I got to sample some great beer from Revolution Brewing while in Chicago. I had their tasty American IPA, Anti-Hero - Their Flagship IPA. That went nicely with some great grub at Corcoran’s Grill and Pub in Old Town. I also had Yum Yum by 3 Floyds Brewing at Corcoran’s. That was a light session Pale Ale.

My favorite, though, was The Defender American Stout by Haymarket Brewing. Brewed with Roasted Barley, Chocolate Malt, Dark Crystal Malt and Oats then hopped and dry-hopped with Cascade, Chinook, and Amarillo. It was nice drinking that on the 10th-floor balcony of Cindy’s rooftop restaurant in the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, overlooking Millennial Park.

Philly beer week kicks off from June 1 - 10.

We will not have our regularly scheduled Friday show this week, but we just had to bring you a post-PA primary recap. It was a huge night for PA's progressive future. 

John Fetterman defeats Mike Stack for Lt. Gov. Stack becomes first Lt. Gov. to lose reelection. 

4 DSA Candidates Make it to the general election. DSA Members Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee take down the Costa family machine in Pittsburgh. They easily defeat Dom and Paul Costa by 2-1 margins. Elizabeth Fiedler wins a four-way primary with a majority of the vote in South Philly. Kristin Seale will be facing off against DelCo Republican Chris Quinn in November.

PA Democrats flip a Bucks County state house seat that Republicans have controlled for over 35 years. Helen Tai, daughter of Chinese immigrants, will be representing that seat for the next 6 months.  Mary Gay Scanlon, a Ballard Spahr lawyer, defeats Johnny Doc and Bernie-backed Rich Lazer in the crowded PA 05 primary.  Ballard Spahr enjoys breaking unions, supports charter schools, and works with Comcast. Progressives were torn over Bernie backing Lazer. Madeleine Dean wins her primary in the PA 04. Greg Edwards came up short in the PA-7, but at least Morganelli was defeated. Susan Wild will head to the general election in November. 

Scott Wagner pulls out a victory in the Republican primary for Governor. Governor Wolf's campaign comes out swinging before the ink is dry on the primary results. And, anti-immigrant Lou Barletta will take on Bob Casey this fall. 

Rick Saccone loses, again.  He’ll have to take his waterboarding towel and free meals from lobbyists somewhere else. At least he's got his godly heritage. 

 

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.

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!