Today’s comic by Ruben Bolling is The N.R.A. provides the solution to North Korea's nuclear weapons:
If Trump manages to complete his term in office, he has 1,202 days left.
• All five living former U.S. presidents will appear at benefit concert for hurricane relief:
All five living former US presidents will participate in a benefit concert to raise money for hurricane relief efforts in Texas later this month, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation announced today.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will appear at Reed Arena at Texas A&M University on October 21 for the "Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal" concert.
The event will also feature rock and country musicians including ALABAMA, the Gatlin Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Sam Moore, Yolanda Adams, Cassadee Pope and Stephanie Quayle. Country music artist Lee Greenwood will emcee the event.
• Not that GOP will ever admit it, but liberal groups seem to have gotten IRS scrutiny too:
Groups that were selected for review waited months — years, in some cases — for their applications to be reviewed and were subjected to onerous and, in some cases, improper requests for information on their donors and activities.
For instance, IRS personnel were told starting in 2010 to watch out for groups that had affiliations with ACORN, a national network of community-based organizations that had collapsed amid allegations of wrongdoing by conservative activists. Ultimately, at least 13 applications for tax exemptions were flagged for scrutiny based on possible ACORN ties, and most of those groups waited over a year for their cases to be resolved, the report said — mirroring many of the allegations leveled regarding conservative groups.
• A Texas Methodist church won’t officiate any more weddings until it is allowed to marry same-sex couples:
A Texas church recently voted to stop hosting weddings as long as its denomination prohibits clergy from officiating same-sex marriages.
The First United Methodist Church in downtown Austin announced on its website that its congregation had voted 93 percent in favor of the new resolution “to align its wedding policies with its strongly-held principle of full inclusion of all persons.”
• Yeah, well, but what if he is telling the truth?
Police say a central Wyoming man they arrested for public intoxication claimed he had traveled back in time to warn of an alien invasion. [...]
The man told police he was only able to time travel because aliens filled his body with alcohol. He noted that he was supposed to be transported to the year 2018, not this year.
• Storms spur $22 billion investment in battery-pack grids:
Growing demand for more resilient power supplies will spur $22.3 billion of global investment in battery-backed local energy systems over the next decade, according to Navigant Research.
Villages and homes in far-flung places will drive the expansion of
microgrids, small-scale solar systems with batteries that can retain power until it’s needed. Navigant expects 14.9 gigawatts to be in operation in 2026, up from 238 megawatts this year, according to a
report Tuesday. [...]
“The storms helped raise awareness of what’s available,” Eller said in an interview. “For the next couple years, remote microgrids will make up about half of global installations.”
• How racism may contribute to infant mortality:
Another enigma is why babies of African-American mothers with higher income and educational levels and healthier behavior than white mothers are still at a much higher risk of dying.
According to several public health and epidemiology researchers across the country, the reason is racism.
“If women who are African-American, who have great jobs, great education, live in safe neighborhoods, have access to insurance and medical care, and their babies are dying still at a higher rate, what does that say?” said Tatjiana Loncar, health educator with South Phoenix Healthy Start, a federal program dedicated to maternal and infant health. “If you take away all of that, what’s the difference?” she said.
• “Bump” stocks sell out, apparently, over fears they may be banned:
Bump stocks are selling out across America as momentum gathers in Congress to ban the rifle modification used by the Las Vegas shooter to obtain catastrophically high rates of fire.
The devices are sold out or temporarily unavailable from all the largest gun and ammunition retailers in the US, as fear of an impending ban has sent many gun enthusiasts hoarding.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump stayed on script in Vegas because white people. Greg Dworkin says the Nobels are stuck in the past. Charlottesville rally organizer could end up in jail. Should we take a deal on bump stocks? Paula Apynys’ series on Gop domestic abuse, Part 4.