March 2, 2019

Bernie Sanders on Late Night with Seth Meyers

February 26, 2019

VOTER SHAMING: MAILER SENT TO CHICAGO VOTERS CLAIMS TO TELL WHICH NEIGHBORS HAVE VOTED IN RECENT ELE

https://abc7chicago.com/politics/voter-shaming-mailer-sent-to-chicago-voters-claims-to-tell-which-neighbors-have-voted-in-recent-elections/5152212/

Friday, February 22, 2019 06:28PM
CHICAGO (WLS) -- With an election just days away, Chicago mailboxes are filled with election mailers, but there is one that caught the eye of Old Town resident Charlie Thompson that did not seem right.

"It seem very odd when we got it, it kind of looked official, kind of not," said Thompson.

He and his wife received separate letters from something called "The City of Chicago Voter Report". As a tactic to get people out to vote, the mailer lists the Thompsons' voting record and a number of their neighbors records for the past 3 elections.

"I think it is super important to get out and vote I have no problem sharing whether I voted or not, it's the idea they would try to scare people in doing it seems wrong," said Thompson.

The mailing did not come from the Chicago Board of Elections. On Friday, the Board received several complaints from voters, primarily from North side wards. Because voting records are public, the mailers are legal.

"These are really a nuisance for voters, these are irritating for voters, the best thing you can do is pitch it and don't pay attention to it," said Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen.

So, who sent the mailers? Because they were sent to more than one ward, the Election Board assumes a mayoral candidate is behind it.

While the City of Chicago Voter Report is a bogus name, the return address, 55 E. Monroe Suite 3800, does exist as office space. With his mailer in hand, voter Wayne Foraker came to the building looking for answers, only to find "The Voter Report" doesn't exist.

"I was told to be aware of the Chicago way, I now know what the Chicago way is and I'm intimidated as a voter," said Foraker.

Like Foraker, some voters say the mailer may have an opposite effect and shame them into not voting. The Board of Elections says the mailer tactic is not unique to Chicago, it has been used in other states, usually when elections are expected to be close.

Video at the link.

February 22, 2019

As Amazon Air Expands, FedEx And UPS May Suffer.

February 21, 2019

Operation Divide the Left': Analysis Shows 2020 Online Disinformation Campaign Already Well Underway

It looks like the 2020 presidential primary is going to be the next battleground to divide and confuse Americans."
As the pool of candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president continues to grow, so does a "sustained and ongoing" push to spread lies about them on social media—with one key aim being to sow division among progressive voters—according to an alarming Politico report published Wednesday.

Citing analyses by and conversations with data scientists and digital campaign strategists, the outlet reported:

Researchers and others interviewed for this story say they cannot conclusively point to the actors behind the coordinated activity. It's unclear if they are rogue hackers, political activists or, as some contend, foreign state actors such as Russia, since it bears the hallmarks of past foreign attacks. One of the objectives of the activity, they say, is to divide the left by making the Democratic presidential primary as chaotic and toxic as possible.

Research by the pro-democracy tech firm Guardians.ai found that Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as well as former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas)—who has not formally announced his candidacy for president—appear to be the top targets.

"As it relates to information warfare in the 2020 cycle, we're not on the verge of it—we're already in the third inning."
—Brett Horvath, Guardians.ai

"It looks like the 2020 presidential primary is going to be the next battleground to divide and confuse Americans," warned Guardians.ai co-founder Brett Horvath. "As it relates to information warfare in the 2020 cycle, we're not on the verge of it—we're already in the third inning."

*Snip*
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/20/operation-divide-left-analysis-shows-2020-online-disinformation-campaign-already

February 19, 2019

Five Best Friends Elected to Colorado's State Senate NBC Nightly News

February 15, 2019

Democrats Announce Plans For Early Debates in 2020 Campaign Rachel Maddow MSNBC

February 8, 2019

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez On Democratic Party, Green New Deal, 2020 Candidates MTP Daily

January 10, 2019

Sen. Kamala Harris on fellow Democrats AOC and Rashida Tliab.

January 10, 2019

The American crises Trump has ignored

The American crises Trump has ignored


President Trump, and vast parts of the federal government, have been consumed with caravans, walls and a border “crisis” since at least Oct. 16. While the definition of a crisis is highly debatable, the extent of other problems with wider reach and much higher death tolls is not.

Why it matters: The border is a big deal, and the problems are real, but often lost in the shutdown madness is whether the crisis is bigger than other wrongs and injustices impacting American lives.


Since Trump's Oct. 16 tweet about the caravan, 547 people have been shot in Chicago, and 111 people have been killed, according to data from the Chicago Tribune.

86 people were killed in the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Trump did visit after the fires — but he's now blaming California for not exercising "proper Forest Management" and threatening to cut off emergency aid to the state.
An average of around three men are killed every day in the U.S. by police officers, according to one estimate in the American Journal of Public Health — which would mean around 255 American men had been killed by law enforcement since Oct. 16.

There's no real-time data on deaths from the opioid crisis, but with 67,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. every year, according to CDC, it's likely that roughly 16,000 Americans have died of drug overdoses — including opioids — since October.

Suicide rates continue to climb, year over year, despite a healthy economy.
Seven U.S. military officers were killed in Afghanistan since Oct. 16, including six combat deaths. Trump signaled a strategic shift but never addressed the nation about it.
In Syria, at least 191 civilians were killed by the U.S.-led coalition between Sept. 10 and Nov. 17, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
And rather than address a devastating report by government scientists in November on the economic impacts of climate change, Trump simply said he doesn't believe it.

The big picture: Per CNN, there are already 31 active declared national emergencies in the U.S., similar to the kind he's thinking of declaring to build his border wall without Congress.

These national emergencies, which allow the president to use special powers to respond to a pressing danger, have ranged from imposing sanctions on foreign nations that interfere with U.S. elections to holding accountable those in Yemen threatening the peace or security of the nation.
Be smart: Imagine if Trump invokes emergency power to build the wall and the Supreme Court ultimately backs him. Future presidents could unilaterally impose their will broadly — because a crisis is in the eye of the beholder.

https://www.axios.com/american-crises-trump-ignored-immigration-border-d2dbafb3-1c5d-49c7-93de-485bde5b1ac8.html

The Wall, The Wall...