Join us today at 6 PM ET for our live-blog of the second-string Republican debaters. We'll also be on hand for the main attraction at 8 PM ET.
- Today's comic by Matt Bors is Feel the burn:
- Former House Speaker Hastert pleads guilty to lying to the FBI:
Judge Thomas M. Durkin scheduled the sentencing for Feb. 29 after the 73-year-old Republican entered his plea.
A May indictment says Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to someone referred to only as "Individual A" to hide past misconduct. The Associated Press and other media have cited anonymous sources in reporting the payments were to conceal claims of sexual misconduct.
- It's National Chocolate Day: But it's not the only chocolate-related "day." Throughout the year, there are 13 chocolate days, including National Chocolate Macaroon Day and National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day. Altogether, when some drinks are included, there are 287 official and semi-official food-related days acknowledged in the U.S.
- These Daily Kos community posts were the most shared on Facebook October 27:
Nuclear Waste Fire Explodes from the Ground in Nevada, by Joieau
Republicans In The Exam Room: It's Not Just Reproductive Health Anymore, by joedemocrat
Humans Would be Steamed to Death in the Persian Gulf States if Global Warming Continues, by FishOutofWater
- Check out the cleanest and dirtiest energy states. Eco-Watch notes:
Modernize, a site that helps people make energy efficiency upgrades to their home, such as adding solar panels, has put together an extensive report on the state of renewable energy in America. Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) from 1960 to 2013, America’s Cleanest and Dirtiest Energy States analyzes everything from total energy production from renewable sources to carbon dioxide emissions over time.
Many have urged a swift transition to renewable energy in the U.S. and worldwide. Last month, Greenpeace released a report claiming 100 percent renewable energy is possible for all by 2050. And earlier this summer, researchers from Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley developed a state-by-state plan to convert the U.S. to 100 percent renewable energy in less than 40 years.
- Soon-to-be Speaker Ryan is a far-right extremist—on climate, too:
As Adele Stan argues in The American Prospect, “were Ryan to win the speaker’s gavel, the Koch brothers’ control of Congress will be virtually complete.” Ryan is totally on board with the Kochs’ agenda of preventing climate action, rolling back environmental, labor, and public health regulation, slashing social spending, and handing out huge tax breaks to the rich.
Ryan does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change, and he has voted to revoke the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
- Just discovered Halloween asteroid will come closer to Earth than any object in 20 years:
The asteroid, nicknamed “the Great Pumpkin” and “Spooky” but technically known as TB145, is an estimated 1,300ft (400 meters) wide – 20 times bigger than the meteorite that screamed across the Russian sky and exploded over Chelyabinsk in 2013, shattering windows with shock waves and debris that injured more than a thousand people.
The Chelyabinsk object entered the atmosphere at about 12 miles (19km) per second. TB145 will fly past at around 22 miles per second (78,300mph), about 300,000 miles (483,000km) from Earth, slightly farther than the moon.
- In this "Best of" episode, Team Blackness talks about reproductive rights.
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- On today's Kagro in the Morning show: Another toddler #GunFAIL. Greg Dworkin reviews 2016 headlines & previews the Gop debate. Joan McCarter discusses the budget (not shutdown) deal. Their IRS case debunked, Republicans move to impeach the commissioner.
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