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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
September 20, 2019
Global Climate Strike Begins as Hundreds of Thousands Gather in Australia, Europe and Africa
Jamie Ross
Updated 09.20.19 7:13AM ET /
Published 09.20.19 7:02AM ET
Global Climate Strike Begins as Hundreds of Thousands Gather in Australia, Europe and Africa
https://www.thedailybeast.com/global-climate-strike-begins-as-hundreds-of-thousands-gather-in-australia-europe-and-africa?ref=homeGlobal Climate Strike Begins as Hundreds of Thousands Gather in Australia, Europe and Africa
Jamie Ross
Updated 09.20.19 7:13AM ET /
Published 09.20.19 7:02AM ET
The global climate strike kicked off Friday morning in Australia with “well over” 300,000 people gathering across the country, according to organizers. Climate activists are expected to gather in cities and towns around the world Friday in what organizers have predicted will be the biggest day of climate demonstrations in history. It’s the third global climate strike inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg. Thunberg tweeted early Friday: “Incredible pictures as Australia’s gathering for the #climatestrike... Australia is setting the standard!” Tens of thousands of people have been pictured gathering in the streets of cities including London, Berlin, and Nairobi. Organizers say they expected people in 150 countries to join the global climate strikes throughout the day.
September 20, 2019
Democrats Target More Than 26,000 Races
September 20, 2019 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Democrats Target More Than 26,000 Races
https://politicalwire.com/2019/09/20/democrats-target-more-than-26000-races/Democrats Target More Than 26,000 Races
September 20, 2019 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“Contest Every Race, a new coalition of Democratic groups, is launching a seven-figure campaign to challenge Republican incumbents in 26,849 down-ballot local races,” Axios reports.
“2020 is more than just the presidential election. Democrats are getting serious about trying to gain more power at the local level, whether through city council seats, school boards, or state legislatures.”
“There are 520,000 elected offices in the country. As many as 75% go uncontested, per the group, ceding many of those seats to Republicans.”
“2020 is more than just the presidential election. Democrats are getting serious about trying to gain more power at the local level, whether through city council seats, school boards, or state legislatures.”
“There are 520,000 elected offices in the country. As many as 75% go uncontested, per the group, ceding many of those seats to Republicans.”
September 20, 2019
Ilhan Omar’s 16-year-old daughter is co-leading the Youth Climate Strike
By Eric Holthaus on Mar 13, 2019
Get your daily dose of good news from Grist Subscribe to The Beacon
Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is championing one of the boldest climate policies in America. The Minnesota representative grew up in Somalia before immigrating to the United States as a refugee, so she was able to see firsthand the consequences of drought and make deep connections between climate change and all aspects of human society.
But Omar is not the only environmental influencer in her family — her daughter Isra Hirsi, 16, is one of the three youth leaders planning the U.S. component of Friday’s International Youth Climate Strike, in which young people will walk out of class in order to call for urgent climate action.
Use our Climate Issues Guide to find your political soulmate
I had a chance to talk with Isra about how her efforts are already making a huge impact, and how her passion for the environment has influenced her family.
Update: In response to this piece, Omar wrote on Twitter: “Proud mom here! I hope other Members of Congress will join me in this strike. We need to listen to the wisdom of our kids!”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
more...
https://grist.org/article/ilhan-omars-16-year-old-daughter-is-co-leading-the-youth-climate-strike/?utm_content=bufferd67e7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3mxzdNwMbmYR9FR4VXFvueSdRsOBEzpZL9AaL8XXLydoGFo6U0rxiRUrM
Ilhan Omar's 16-year-old daughter is co-leading the Youth Climate Strike
Ilhan Omar’s 16-year-old daughter is co-leading the Youth Climate Strike
By Eric Holthaus on Mar 13, 2019
Get your daily dose of good news from Grist Subscribe to The Beacon
Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is championing one of the boldest climate policies in America. The Minnesota representative grew up in Somalia before immigrating to the United States as a refugee, so she was able to see firsthand the consequences of drought and make deep connections between climate change and all aspects of human society.
“I’m one who is urging my colleagues to really take this opportunity to not just issue resolutions and talking points, but for us to actually put a real bill on the table and to allow us to have a real conversation on this issue,” Omar recently told Minnesota Public Radio.
But Omar is not the only environmental influencer in her family — her daughter Isra Hirsi, 16, is one of the three youth leaders planning the U.S. component of Friday’s International Youth Climate Strike, in which young people will walk out of class in order to call for urgent climate action.
Use our Climate Issues Guide to find your political soulmate
I had a chance to talk with Isra about how her efforts are already making a huge impact, and how her passion for the environment has influenced her family.
Update: In response to this piece, Omar wrote on Twitter: “Proud mom here! I hope other Members of Congress will join me in this strike. We need to listen to the wisdom of our kids!”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
more...
https://grist.org/article/ilhan-omars-16-year-old-daughter-is-co-leading-the-youth-climate-strike/?utm_content=bufferd67e7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3mxzdNwMbmYR9FR4VXFvueSdRsOBEzpZL9AaL8XXLydoGFo6U0rxiRUrM
September 19, 2019
Exclusive: The Climate Crisis Will Hit Hard in Mayor Pete’s Lifetime. Here’s His Plan to Fight It.
We sat down with Buttigieg in his home town of South Bend.
Rebecca Leber
Pete Buttigieg wants Americans to understand that the climate crisis isn’t only about encroaching seas and shrinking glaciers—it affects everything and everyone in between.
snip//
It was South Bend’s recent floods that inspired Buttigieg’s climate plan. “One thing we’ve learned from recent disasters—including the place we’re sitting right now—is that there is a complex overlapping bureaucracy when it comes to getting disaster relief,” he said. “The last thing you want somebody to have to do when they’ve been put out of their homes by a disaster is have to navigate all these different agencies to get help.”
Buttigieg says he has a plan to fix that in his first 100 days in office by setting up a Disaster Commission that coordinates local and federal response to extreme weather events. And his climate strategy emphasizes collaboration between Washington and individual communities. The first of his climate plans, an 18-page $2 trillion plan that endorses the Green New Deal, proposes an AmeriCorps-style volunteer Climate Corps, federally issued World-War-II-style bonds for climate change and renewable energy projects, and regional “resilience hubs” that would work together with a new clean energy bank to loan funds for new technology and infrastructure projects.
Buttigieg’s timelines and investments for hitting zero pollution in the major sectors are not quite as aggressive as his competitors’. He aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, with goals along the way to double clean electricity by 2025, clean up new cars by 2035, followed by trucks the following five years. By comparison, Bernie Sanders, who described his climate plan in an exclusive interview for the Climate Desk and Weather Channel series, has the same 2050 goal, but claims he can clean up transportation—currently the biggest source of pollution—by 2030.
Buttigieg also embraces two policies that have lost some popularity among the environmental left (and Sanders): He supports carbon capture and storage, and he plans to slap the fossil fuel industry with a carbon tax, repaid as a dividend for taxpayers.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/exclusive-the-climate-crisis-will-hit-hard-in-mayor-petes-lifetime-heres-his-plan-to-fight-it/
Exclusive: The Climate Crisis Will Hit Hard in Mayor Pete's Lifetime. Here's His Plan to Fight It.
Exclusive: The Climate Crisis Will Hit Hard in Mayor Pete’s Lifetime. Here’s His Plan to Fight It.
We sat down with Buttigieg in his home town of South Bend.
Rebecca Leber
Pete Buttigieg wants Americans to understand that the climate crisis isn’t only about encroaching seas and shrinking glaciers—it affects everything and everyone in between.
snip//
It was South Bend’s recent floods that inspired Buttigieg’s climate plan. “One thing we’ve learned from recent disasters—including the place we’re sitting right now—is that there is a complex overlapping bureaucracy when it comes to getting disaster relief,” he said. “The last thing you want somebody to have to do when they’ve been put out of their homes by a disaster is have to navigate all these different agencies to get help.”
Buttigieg says he has a plan to fix that in his first 100 days in office by setting up a Disaster Commission that coordinates local and federal response to extreme weather events. And his climate strategy emphasizes collaboration between Washington and individual communities. The first of his climate plans, an 18-page $2 trillion plan that endorses the Green New Deal, proposes an AmeriCorps-style volunteer Climate Corps, federally issued World-War-II-style bonds for climate change and renewable energy projects, and regional “resilience hubs” that would work together with a new clean energy bank to loan funds for new technology and infrastructure projects.
Buttigieg’s timelines and investments for hitting zero pollution in the major sectors are not quite as aggressive as his competitors’. He aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, with goals along the way to double clean electricity by 2025, clean up new cars by 2035, followed by trucks the following five years. By comparison, Bernie Sanders, who described his climate plan in an exclusive interview for the Climate Desk and Weather Channel series, has the same 2050 goal, but claims he can clean up transportation—currently the biggest source of pollution—by 2030.
Buttigieg also embraces two policies that have lost some popularity among the environmental left (and Sanders): He supports carbon capture and storage, and he plans to slap the fossil fuel industry with a carbon tax, repaid as a dividend for taxpayers.
“For me the idea [of a carbon tax] is about making sure our prices more accurately reflect the true cost, including the cost to our own future, of things like fossil fuels,” he told CityLab’s Sarah Holder. “The beauty of the carbon tax and dividend is it does a lot of that work in terms of realigning the signals in our economy.”
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/exclusive-the-climate-crisis-will-hit-hard-in-mayor-petes-lifetime-heres-his-plan-to-fight-it/
September 19, 2019
Turnout Among College Students Doubled for Midterms
September 19, 2019 at 8:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Turnout Among College Students Doubled for Midterms
https://politicalwire.com/2019/09/19/turnout-among-college-students-doubled-for-midterms/Turnout Among College Students Doubled for Midterms
September 19, 2019 at 8:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Washington Post: “College students across the United States more than doubled their rate of voting between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections, according to a study published Thursday by Tufts University — a dramatic spike in political engagement that could draw unprecedented attention to these voters in next year’s presidential election.”
“The study found that 40% of students who are eligible to vote cast ballots last year, up from 19% in 2014.”
“The study found that 40% of students who are eligible to vote cast ballots last year, up from 19% in 2014.”
September 19, 2019
Texas teacher who tried to contact Trump to have her students deported is officially fired
I can't even... 
Teachers are supposed to be allies. 
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/18/1886285/-Texas-teacher-who-tried-to-contact-Trump-to-have-her-students-deported-is-officially-fired?detail=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0HVmlucPQyyflws9nnzXzgLsNC9RsZiL-Xk3ehnsRfGpExWssoyDZrxDk
Texas teacher who tried to contact Trump to have her students deported is officially fired
Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday September 18, 2019 · 12:39 PM EDT
A Texas school board voted unanimously to fire a teacher whose xenophobia was exposed by her own inability to properly use social media.
In June, The Washington Post got its hands on tweets sent to Donald Trump from Fort Worth high school teacher Georgia Clark. Those tweets asked Trump to “clean up” Fort Worth, and get rid of the undocumented students from her district. She also had other racist things to say, such as “Texas will not protect whistle blowers. The Mexicans refuse to honor our flag.” Clark said she thought the tweets were “private,” though of course they weren’t. Clark’s terrible mindset and social media skills unearthed investigations of previous infractions by Clark that seemed to run along racial lines. Examples included calling a group of students “Little Mexico,” and telling a girl that her hair was “nappy.”
Almost immediately, the Fort Worth Independent School District board voted 8-0 to terminate Clark’s employment. Clark appealed her firing but on Tuesday, the Fort Worth ISD unanimously overruled her challenge and made its previous decision final.
Clark told an ABC 8 reporter earlier this summer that “God was telling me, it’s time, you’ve got to do this now.” What was God telling her? Supposedly to report undocumented students in her school district. Such a strange God. Well, maybe she forgot the part where God told her that she could lose her job? Clark can still appeal the this decision but neither she nor her attorney were present, so whether or not she will remains to be seen.
September 19, 2019
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mike-pence-role-model-vice-president-dick-cheney/story?id=42170897&fbclid=IwAR0RDelQzO6o3CjBCR1lfpbuRoPPSDl6jTubWrkCrTglaGZvN2mE6PZsVhc
Mike Pence Says His Role Model for Vice President Is Dick Cheney
By ines de la cuetara
Sep 18, 2016, 9:04 AM ET
GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence said his role model for the number two spot is the last Republican to hold the job -- Dick Cheney.
“I frankly hold Dick Cheney in really high regard in his role as vice president and as an American,” Pence said on ABC’s "This Week."
Pence said that, like Cheney, he hoped to be “a very active vice president.”
“Vice President Cheney had experience in Congress as I do, and he was very active in working with members of the House and the Senate,” he said.
Asked by ABC News' Martha Raddatz about criticism that Cheney had too much influence over President George W. Bush, Pence said that he admires vice presidents who are “able to take the vision of the president and champion that on Capitol Hill. “
Pence often touts his experience in Congress on the campaign trail and just last week was on Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
Mike Pence Says His Role Model for Vice President Is Dick Cheney
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mike-pence-role-model-vice-president-dick-cheney/story?id=42170897&fbclid=IwAR0RDelQzO6o3CjBCR1lfpbuRoPPSDl6jTubWrkCrTglaGZvN2mE6PZsVhc
Mike Pence Says His Role Model for Vice President Is Dick Cheney
By ines de la cuetara
Sep 18, 2016, 9:04 AM ET
GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence said his role model for the number two spot is the last Republican to hold the job -- Dick Cheney.
“I frankly hold Dick Cheney in really high regard in his role as vice president and as an American,” Pence said on ABC’s "This Week."
Pence said that, like Cheney, he hoped to be “a very active vice president.”
“Vice President Cheney had experience in Congress as I do, and he was very active in working with members of the House and the Senate,” he said.
Asked by ABC News' Martha Raddatz about criticism that Cheney had too much influence over President George W. Bush, Pence said that he admires vice presidents who are “able to take the vision of the president and champion that on Capitol Hill. “
“I would hope that my relationships over my 12 years in Congress and my four years here as governor of Indiana would help carry Donald Trump's vision to make America great again to people who would be crafting the legislation to put that into practice,” he said.
Pence often touts his experience in Congress on the campaign trail and just last week was on Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
September 19, 2019
Members of the Gang of 8 who might/should be
called upon to hear what "the promise" was that uttered out of dt's mouth to so alarm the whistleblower.
Members
Under the "gang of eight" system, the executive branch of the United States discloses highly sensitive intelligence information to the following members of Congress:[6]
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:
Adam Schiff (D-CA-28), Chair
Devin Nunes (R-CA-22), Ranking Member
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
Richard Burr (R-NC), Chair
Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair
Leadership in the United States House of Representatives:
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), Speaker of the House
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), Minority Leader
Leadership in the United States Senate:
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader
Under the "gang of eight" system, the executive branch of the United States discloses highly sensitive intelligence information to the following members of Congress:[6]
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:
Adam Schiff (D-CA-28), Chair
Devin Nunes (R-CA-22), Ranking Member
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
Richard Burr (R-NC), Chair
Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair
Leadership in the United States House of Representatives:
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), Speaker of the House
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), Minority Leader
Leadership in the United States Senate:
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader
September 18, 2019
Quote of the Day
September 18, 2019 at 1:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
"I practiced at home yesterday with my two-year old."
https://politicalwire.com/2019/09/18/quote-of-the-day-2351/Quote of the Day
September 18, 2019 at 1:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
“I practiced at home yesterday with my two-year old.”
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), telling KCBS Radio how he prepared for Corey Lewandowski’s combative testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), telling KCBS Radio how he prepared for Corey Lewandowski’s combative testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
September 18, 2019
Ina Fried
29 mins ago
Obama swipes Trump on watching TV and using Twitter
Former President Barack Obama said at a tech conference Wednesday that one key to his decision-making was relying on staff and surrounding himself with a diversity of viewpoints, before adding:
Why it matters: Obama has largely avoided major criticisms of President Trump, but he used his comments Wednesday to draw a contrast between the two administrations.
Other highlights: Obama said there are tough calls you have to make as president, citing the decision to go after Osama Bin Laden as a 50-50 call and bailing out Chrysler as a 60-40-type decision.
Obama swipes Trump on watching TV and using Twitter
https://www.axios.com/barack-obama-trump-tv-social-media-95b62fb3-fce7-4fc8-9ea7-ac3419bdba4b.htmlIna Fried
29 mins ago
Obama swipes Trump on watching TV and using Twitter
Former President Barack Obama said at a tech conference Wednesday that one key to his decision-making was relying on staff and surrounding himself with a diversity of viewpoints, before adding:
"The other thing that is helpful is not watching TV or reading social media."
Why it matters: Obama has largely avoided major criticisms of President Trump, but he used his comments Wednesday to draw a contrast between the two administrations.
Obama admitted during his speech that he made mistakes in hiring. "I won’t say we enforced perfectly the no jerk rule' but its a pretty good rule. I won’t say who violated that rule."
He then added: "I'm proud of the fact we didn’t have indictments. I’ve said that before but that is pretty rare in modern day." Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation resulted in the indictments of 6 former Trump advisers.
He then added: "I'm proud of the fact we didn’t have indictments. I’ve said that before but that is pretty rare in modern day." Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation resulted in the indictments of 6 former Trump advisers.
Other highlights: Obama said there are tough calls you have to make as president, citing the decision to go after Osama Bin Laden as a 50-50 call and bailing out Chrysler as a 60-40-type decision.
To make those calls, Obama said, you need the facts without spin or sugar-coating, as well as a diversity of opinion.
Obama added that it's also important that the people who serve in the administration aren't there for fame or money: "Are folks here because they want to serve the American people?"
Obama added that it's also important that the people who serve in the administration aren't there for fame or money: "Are folks here because they want to serve the American people?"
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: NY
Home country: US
Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 171,481