July 30, 2019

Seth Meyers - Trump Tweets Racist Attacks on Elijah Cummings Amid Investigations: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at Trump’s racist Twitter attacks against Rep. Elijah Cummings.




Late Night's Jenny Hagel on the Political Protests in Puerto Rico



Late Night writer Jenny Hagel comments on the political protests in Puerto Rico.

July 30, 2019

The Daily Show: Trump Tells Congressman to "Go Back" to "Rat-Infested" Baltimore

Trump floats tariffs on French wine as retaliation for France’s taxes on American tech companies, blames Obama for the White House’s shifty A/C, and takes shots at Rep. Elijah Cummings and his home city of Baltimore.

July 29, 2019

How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill in the Arctic

Every year, hundreds of petroleum industry executives gather in Anchorage for the annual conference of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, where they discuss policy and celebrate their achievements with the state’s political establishment. In May 2018, they again filed into the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, but they had a new reason to celebrate. Under the Trump administration, oil and gas development was poised to dramatically expand into a remote corner of Alaska where it had been prohibited for nearly 40 years.

Tucked into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a bill signed by President Donald Trump five months earlier, was a brief two-page section that had little to do with tax reform. Drafted by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the provision opened up approximately 1.6 million acres of the vast Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, a reversal of the federal policy that has long protected one of the most ecologically important landscapes in the Arctic.

The refuge is believed to sit atop one of the last great onshore oil reserves in North America, with a value conservatively estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. For decades, the refuge has been the subject of a very public tug of war between pro-drilling forces and conservation advocates determined to protect an ecosystem crucial to polar bears, herds of migratory caribou, and native communities that rely on the wildlife for subsistence hunting. The Trump tax law, for the first time since the refuge was established in 1980, handed the advantage decisively to the drillers.

One of the keynote speakers at the conference that afternoon was Joe Balash, a top official at the Department of the Interior. Balash, who grew up in a small town outside Fairbanks and describes himself as “a local kid,” referred to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a “jewel,” and predicted that the entire North Slope region was “about to change in some pretty astounding ways.” The executives were there to hear him talk about what was going to come next: Before development could begin, Interior needed to complete a review of potential environmental impacts, and then get the first leases sold to industry. He recounted for the audience that on his second day on the job—right around when the tax bill was passed—then-Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt sat him down and told him that he would be “personally responsible” for completing the legally complex environmental review process for the wildlife refuge and “having a successful lease sale.”

“No pressure,” Balash said to audience laughter.

The pressure, in fact, couldn’t be greater.


Much more: https://www.politico.com/interactives/2019/trump-science-alaska-drilling-rush/




Top: The Arctic Village is a Gwich’in Athabaskan community reliant on the caribou that calve on the coastal plain of the Refuge each spring. Bottom Left: Two bull musk oxen face off in the land that will be leased. Bottom Right: The proposed drilling area is located across from the bed of the Canning River, where it flows close to its delta into the Arctic Ocean in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nathaniel Wilder for Politico Magazine

July 29, 2019

While the planet overheats, Ohio's coal industry gets a bailout

Leah C Stokes
I have spent five years investigating state efforts to roll back clean energy laws. Ohio just passed the worst legislation yet

Bowing to the interests of a few deep-pocketed utilities, Ohio has enacted a controversial new law, dubbed HB 6, subsidizing dirty, decades-old coal plants and gutting the state’s clean energy programs.

I have spent the past five years researching states’ efforts to roll back clean energy laws. This Ohio bill – which Governor Mike DeWine signed the day it was passed – is the worst yet.

The legislation reflects an unfortunate national pattern: electric utilities pushing to delay climate action, bolstered by a president similarly interested in dragging our country’s feet. For years, FirstEnergy and AEP have been trying to dismantle Ohio’s clean energy policies and bail out their dirty coal plants. Since President Trump took office, these companies have found a receptive audience.

FirstEnergy’s CEO has met with Trump personally. Last year, the company asked his administration to invoke emergency powers to save its struggling coal and nuclear plants. Just a few months ago, an Ohio Republican operative who has a major role in Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign called several House Republicans who were on the fence to persuade them to vote for HB 6.

These companies have spent several million dollars on deceptive advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions to help elect politicians sympathetic to their cause.

In return, these politicians have proven dutiful beneficiaries, working diligently to secure almost a billion dollars of ratepayer subsidies for FirstEnergy and AEP.

As lobbying goes, not a bad return on investment.

This isn’t just happening in Ohio. Utilities across the country are pushing to delay climate action and stall the growth of renewables, which are already a cheaper source of electricity than continuing to operate three-quarters of US coal plants.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/28/planet-overheats-ohios-coal-industry-gets-a-bailout



‘Ohio energy companies have been trying to bail out their dirty coal plants for years. Since Trump took office, they’ve found a receptive audience.’ Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

July 29, 2019

Minnesota town makes do without being connected to power grid

SKIBO, Minn. - Television time is restricted in David Fondie’s house. Surfing the internet has time limits, too.

That’s because the remote Iron Range hamlet where he lives has no electricity — at least not the conventional kind. Fondie must fire up a generator to produce his own power, as does everybody in Skibo. The town is not connected to the grid.

“My son is in college and he tries to explain to his buddies why we don’t have power,” said Fondie, who lives in Skibo with his wife and daughter. “?‘How can that be?’ is their reaction. The lines just don’t go that far.”

Skibo, tucked into the Superior National Forest, is home to at least 20 residents, though all but four are seasonal, said Joe Fondie, David’s dad and a sort of de facto mayor of the unincorporated town, which is in the service territory of Lake Country Power.

Cooperatives such as Grand Rapids-based Lake Country brought electricity to the American countryside beginning in the 1930s, stringing wires to sparsely populated places where for-profit utilities feared to tread.

But while data on the topic is hard to find, Lake Country CEO Greg Randa said there are still several rural nooks in Minnesota like Skibo that were never connected.


Read more: http://m.startribune.com/iron-range-village-makes-do-without-being-connected-to-power-grid/513321162/

July 29, 2019

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - Boris Johnson

John Oliver explains how Britain’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, has succeeded – not despite his bumbling persona, but often because of it.

July 29, 2019

There's no place like home for the 'The Brady Bunch'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — There’s no place like home for “The Brady Bunch,” even if was just a facade.

An HGTV renovation of the Los Angeles house that was used for exterior shots of the TV sitcom reunited six cast members and rekindled the show’s spirit.

“We enjoy being together, doing other projects, but this is the first time the magic is back,” said Susan Olsen, who played Cindy on “The Brady Bunch.”

Maureen McCormick (Marcia) and Eve Plumb (Jan) agreed. They and the other actors who played blended-family siblings took part in a Q&A with TV critics Thursday to promote “A Very Brady Renovation.” The four-part series debuts Sept. 9.

Interior house scenes for the 1969-74 comedy were shot on a soundstage, with sets that bore no resemblance to the private home destined to become a photo-op magnet for “Brady” fans.

When the house went on the market in 2018, HGTV won a bidding war that drove the price up to $3.5 million — or $1.6 million over the listing price for the then-2,400-square-foot residence.


Read more: https://apnews.com/7bed1b711ef84efba7b5cc24d17fdbb2



Members of "The Brady Bunch," cast, from left, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, Mike Lookinland, Christopher Knight and Barry Williams participate in HGTV's "A Very Brady Renovation" panel at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)

July 29, 2019

The Daily Show: Back in Black - Perils of the Beach

Lewis Black details just a few of the reasons to avoid the beach, including shark attacks, flesh-eating bacteria and umbrellas gone wild.

July 27, 2019

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 7/26/19

Joe Biden Says He's Not Using Barack Obama As A Crutch



Joe Biden and Cory Booker are getting some pre-debate bickering out of the way before taking the stage for the next round of Democratic debates. One key topic: Biden's penchant for bringing up his good pal Barack Obama.




Alert Your Book Club! Donald Trump Jr. Is An Author



The President's son is releasing a book, "Triggered," that he hopes will get under progressives' skin.




Stephen Colbert's Audience Q&A: Keys To A Successful Marriage



Every night before the show, our host takes a few questions from the audience. This time, he shared some advice for a newlywed couple, and weighed in on an existential question: what's up with Chicago-style pizza?




Say Goodbye To Nice Guy Joe Biden



Former Vice President Joe Biden has signaled that the gloves are coming off when he enters the next Democratic debate.

July 27, 2019

Seth Meyers - Rudy Giuliani Is Serving as President Trump's Lawyer for Free - Monologue - 7/25/19

Fred Armisen, Art Aficionado: Portrait of an Artist by David Hockney



Fred Armisen describes the history behind a famous piece of art by David Hockney titled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).




Seth's Favorite Jokes of the Week: Robert Mueller’s Congressional Testimony, T-MoBell



Seth's favorite jokes from the week of July 22.