 21 October 19 Switching to Emergency Mode on Donations
Due to a total lack of donations for October the organization’s funding situation has become critical. We are going to have to stop the train and focus solely of bringing in the relatively few donations we need to function.
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Marc Ash
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20 October 19
Joe Biden Isn't an Electable Candidate
Hadas Thier, Jacobin
Thier writes: "Joe Biden joined the Democratic presidential primary race in April as the anointed frontrunner. Inevitably, as some had predicted, the more attention he received, the more his popularity tanked. Five months and countless gaffes and nonsensical ramblings later, he is barely holding on to his lead."
Hadas Thier, Jacobin
Thier writes: "Joe Biden joined the Democratic presidential primary race in April as the anointed frontrunner. Inevitably, as some had predicted, the more attention he received, the more his popularity tanked. Five months and countless gaffes and nonsensical ramblings later, he is barely holding on to his lead."
EXCERPT:
A Winnable Campaign
Bernie puts forward a political vision that not only “energizes” his base but actually mobilizes it. As David Sirota, a speechwriter for Sanders, told the Daily Beast, it’s an approach they’ve dubbed “show, don’t tell,” which showcases Sanders “as a movement leader who can attract voters by giving them a vision of the presidency he’d lead.” It involves “actions like attending an annual Walmart shareholders meeting to confront the owners of the company, marching into a recent Iowa Democratic Hall of Fame dinner with McDonald’s workers protesting low wages, and using the campaign’s email list to support and encourage attendance at labor protests around the country.”
Bernie’s appeal was borne out in the 2016 Democratic primary, at a time when many fewer people knew who he was, much less believed he could win. Yet Sanders came close to winning the nomination, and he fared particularly well in those states that the Democrats must win back in this election. He won Michigan and Wisconsin, taking all but one county in Wisconsin.
His ability to do so rests on his commitment to the issues that working people, young voters, and those disaffected with the status quo care about. Bernie’s capacity to speak to a much wider audience than Biden ever could was on display at a Fox News town hall this spring. He dominated the appearance, at one point even leading “the network’s audience in a call-and-response that found them cheering loudly for his policies.”
According to a study by the Progressive Change Institute, among “drop-off” voters, who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but did not vote in the 2014 midterm elections, the policies that would motivate them to vote in 2016 were debt-free college, universal pre-kindergarten education, and a living-wage job guarantee. A recent Pew Research Center study found that among the top issues listed as “very big problems” among US adults are: health-care affordability (67 percent), ethics in government (67 percent), and affordability of education (63 percent).
The issues that Bernie stands on are those same issues that animate the hopes of millions of people. As Luke Savage has argued: “Add to the geographic breadth of his support the considerable popularity of policies associated with him — like Medicare For All, higher taxes on the wealthy, a $15 minimum wage, and the Green New Deal — and there’s a strong case to be made that his campaign can assemble a broad, working-class coalition the likes of which American politics hasn’t seen for decades.”
Biden’s appeal to “normalcy” and more of the same has already fallen flat. Judging by one metric, campaign contributions, we can see a deep contrast in mobilizing capacity. Bernie has raised more money than any other candidate in the Democratic primary. This, in and of itself, is nothing short of remarkable given the fact that he has banned corporate donations, PAC money, and private, high-dollar fundraisers from his campaign — and that his average campaign contribution is $18.
The establishment’s “electable” shoo-in, Biden, has only raised $15 million in contributions; Bernie has raised more than $25 million.
Most important, Bernie’s war chest comes from more than a million donors, whose top employers are Starbucks, Walmart, and Amazon, and the most common profession among them is teacher.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (photo: AP)
'Bribery' Is Right There in the Constitution. Trump Could Be Impeached for That.
Ari Melber, The Washington Post
Melber writes: "Trump's statements and actions with regard to Ukraine appear to fit one of the few offenses the Constitution specifically lists as impeachable: Bribery."
READ MORE
Ari Melber, The Washington Post
Melber writes: "Trump's statements and actions with regard to Ukraine appear to fit one of the few offenses the Constitution specifically lists as impeachable: Bribery."
READ MORE
Michael Cohen exits the federal court in New York on Aug. 21. (photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg)
Trump Cheated (Shocker!) on Property Tax; But Will Anyone Go to Jail?
Martin Sheil, The Daily Beast
Sheil writes: "Is this just the usual Trump mendacity, or can prosecutors see this as part of a pattern? And if so, could it be prosecuted? Who would be tagged as the defendant(s)? If not, what more is needed to bring the guilty parties to justice?"
READ MORE
Martin Sheil, The Daily Beast
Sheil writes: "Is this just the usual Trump mendacity, or can prosecutors see this as part of a pattern? And if so, could it be prosecuted? Who would be tagged as the defendant(s)? If not, what more is needed to bring the guilty parties to justice?"
READ MORE
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings ran for Maryland governor in 2017. (photo: Brian Witte/AP)
Elijah Cummings' Wife Maya Rockeymoore Expected to Run for His House Seat
Karu F. Daniels, The Root
Daniels writes: "Late congressman and civil rights activist Elijah Cummings' grave isn't even cold and there's already news swirling about someone gunning for his House of Representatives seat."
READ MORE
Karu F. Daniels, The Root
Daniels writes: "Late congressman and civil rights activist Elijah Cummings' grave isn't even cold and there's already news swirling about someone gunning for his House of Representatives seat."
READ MORE
Emmet Till, 14, was kidnapped, beaten and killed in 1955, hours after being accused of whistling at a white woman. Mamie Till Mobley weeps at her son's funeral in Chicago. (photo: AP)
Emmett Till: New Memorial to Murdered Teen Is Bulletproof
Associated Press
Excerpt: "A new memorial to Emmett Till was dedicated on Saturday in Mississippi after previous historical markers were repeatedly vandalized. The new marker is bulletproof."
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Associated Press
Excerpt: "A new memorial to Emmett Till was dedicated on Saturday in Mississippi after previous historical markers were repeatedly vandalized. The new marker is bulletproof."
READ MORE
Hong Kong protesters. (photo: Getty)
Hong Kong Protesters Stage Major Rally; Tear Gas, Petrol Bombs Shatter Calm
Anne Marie Roantree and Marius Zaharia, Reuters
Excerpt: "Hong Kong riot police and protesters exchanged tear gas and petrol bombs on Sunday as an illegal anti-government march that attracted tens of thousands descended into chaos, with hundreds of shops trashed and Chinese banks and metro stations targeted."
READ MORE
Anne Marie Roantree and Marius Zaharia, Reuters
Excerpt: "Hong Kong riot police and protesters exchanged tear gas and petrol bombs on Sunday as an illegal anti-government march that attracted tens of thousands descended into chaos, with hundreds of shops trashed and Chinese banks and metro stations targeted."
READ MORE
In March, Stiles Najac buried her partner, Souleymane Ouattara, at the Rhinebeck natural cemetery and looked forward to returning with their baby son, Zana, to picnic in the woods near his dad. (photo: Meredith Heur/YES!)
Return to Nature: Why We Choose Green Burial
Lynn Freehill-Maye and Phillip Pantuso, YES! Magazine
Excerpt: "Each year, burials in the U.S. use more than 827,000 gallons of dangerous chemicals and 1.6 million tons of concrete, materials that can be toxic to produce and damaging to the environment."
Lynn Freehill-Maye and Phillip Pantuso, YES! Magazine
Excerpt: "Each year, burials in the U.S. use more than 827,000 gallons of dangerous chemicals and 1.6 million tons of concrete, materials that can be toxic to produce and damaging to the environment."
EXCERPT:
Since the Civil War, American death rituals have become increasingly elaborate, complete with artificial embalming, concrete vaults, and satin-lined metal caskets. But in 1963, writer Jessica Mitford’s witty exposé of the funeral industry, The American Way of Death, sold every copy the day it was published. (Spoiler: Plenty of material is wasted along the way, but lavishly buried bodies still decay, perhaps even more spectacularly than their pine-boxed counterparts.) The book changed the way Americans thought about funerals and contributed to the growth of cremation rates, from 2% then to more than 50% today.
Still, cremation has limitations in both cost and impact. In 2017, the median cost of an American funeral with viewing and vault was $8,755, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The median cost of a comparable cremation wasn’t dramatically less, at $6,260.
In the age of climate change, environmental concerns have also prompted more people to cremate. For example, a conventional burial contributes to the production of about 230 pounds of CO2 equivalent, according to Sam Bar, quality assurance and manufacturing engineer at Green Burial Council, a California-based nonprofit that advocates for “environmentally sustainable, natural death care.” But burning isn’t as eco-friendly as many assume. Cremation relies on fossil fuels, produces about 150 pounds of CO2 per body, and releases mercury and other byproducts into the air. Burning one body is equivalent to driving 600 miles. And scattering “cremains” isn’t good for soil.
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