Today’s comic by Ruben Bolling is The disgusting, unspeakable satire that is being hurled at Turkey's president (illustrated):
• Former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, an early tea party target, is dead at 82: He succumbed to pancreatic cancer and a stroke on Wednesday. First elected in 1992 after a long career in corporate management, Bennett was one of the richest members of the Senate during his three terms. Bennett’s father, Wallace, was a four-term senator from Utah, serving from 1951-1974. The family had a long history in Utah and in the Mormon establishment, the younger Bennett’s maternal grandfather and his wife’s grandfather having both been president of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Bennett was a staunch, free-market conservative, although eager to lard his home state with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federally budgeted earmarks. He was especially attuned to fighting government regulations, but also had a reputation for working with Democrats on some areas of broad interest. Though he strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act, it wasn’t good enough for tea party rebels, and they toppled him during his fourth run for the Senate in the 2010 wave.
• Today is the second day of a two-week program of global action to break free of fossil fuels: See the link for actions in your area.
• Elon Musk wants a revolt against fossil fuel companies: In an interview at his Fremont, California, factory Wednesday, Tesla CEO Musk said, “The fundamental issue with fossil fuels is … every use of fossil fuels comes with a subsidy.” Not only is the industry subsidized to the tune of $6 trillion, he said, but it doesn’t pay for the damage it causes to the environment. He likened what the industry does to a person dumping garbage in the street while refusing to pay for garbage pickup. Cheap oil and gasoline prices, he said, help prevent motorists from switching to electric cars and also weakens efforts to deal with climate change.
• Arizona packs its Supreme Court by adding two members:
Arizona Republicans are about to get two more justices on the state Supreme Court thanks to a bill approved by the legislature and heading to Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk that will expand the court from five to seven members and allow the Republican Ducey to appoint the new justices.
The move is being called a naked power grab and an obvious example of court packing -- an accusation seemingly backed by the fact that the five current justices have said there’s no need for additional justices
•Neither George H.W. Bush nor George W. Bush will endorse Trump.
• U.S. wildlife advocates seek to stop the export of bobcat and wolf pelts: The group WildEarth Guardians is seeking a court order to stop a government program that permits the exports for sale in the international fur market. Official statistics show that 57,000 bobcat pelts and a handful of wolf pelts were exported from the United States in 2014. WildEarth Guardians want the program halted until a study is conducted of its impact on wildlife populations.
• An 1,109-carat diamond dug up in Botswana could sell $70 million, Sotheby auctioneers say: The size of a tennis ball, the transparent diamond is the largest found in more than a century. They’ve named it Lesedi di Rona, which means “our light” in the South African Tswana language. The largest gem-quality diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond found in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into nine pieces, all of which are part of the UK Crown Jewels.
• Verizon strikers are holding 400 protest actions across the nation today.
• On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, Greg Dworkin reminds us once again of the difference between #StopTrump & #NeverTrump. Admiral Ackbar, Political Theorist. What might Trump do with classified info? Superdelegates & what to do with ‘em. Is anything the bathroom panickers say that’s even remotely true?
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