Today’s comic by Matt Bors is Trump's tweet storm:
• Newspaper endorsements are said not to be worth what they once were. Nonetheless, here’s a running list from Mother Jones of who the largest circulation papers are endorsing for president. If you’re looking for Donald Trump’s name, forget it.
• Advocates for utility-backed solar initiative in Florida spend $760,000 on ads: Constitutional Amendment 1 is a snare and a delusion, according to SaintPetersBlog. While the ballot initiative declares that Floridians "have the right to own or lease solar equipment," several newspaper editorials and environmentalists, including the Sierra Club, say it’s tricksy:
Solar supporters say the measure is not good for consumers, and bears a deceptive name. Critics say the "Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice" would allow utilities to monopolize the solar industry. The constitutional amendment would allow state and local governments to impose fees "to ensure that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do."
• Clowns continue to have a bad year:
A Connecticut school district has banned clown costumes and other "symbols of terror" from this year's Halloween celebration as local police continue to investigate disturbing clown Instagram posts in the area. 2016 is fun!
The posts, coming from the Instagram account @newhavenclown, have threatened schools and individuals alike by posting images of bloodied clowns with a list of targets in the caption. Investigators say that the clowns pose no real threat—no one has been harmed—but that they aren't taking any risks with the district's children.
• Fixing the nation’s awful sex education:
AMERICAN SEX ED sucks. It’s 2016, a time of easy-access porn and sex(t) positivity, yet we still spend millions on abstinence-only programs and outdated lesson plans. Not only is the approach puritanical, it’s also ineffective: Kids aren’t getting the information they need to make healthy decisions about sex when the time comes. That’s why Amy Schalet wants to rewrite the status quo. A sociologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she has devoted her career to making our conversations about adolescent sexuality smarter, safer, and more current. And a little more Dutch.
• Early voting is already underway, and Electionland is watching closely:
Election Day is still a month away, but some Americans are already casting ballots. About 20 states and the District of Columbia have early voting programs, several of which have already begun. It’s estimated that about one-third of the country will have voted by the time polls open on Nov. 8.
The Electionland coalition is also beginning its work. We’ve started looking for problems that prevent eligible voters from exercising their right to cast a ballot before the polls close. Using a combination of social media posts, data about web search trends, and call center records from a coalition of election lawyers, we’ll be looking at the process of voting to help make sure that nobody is shut out because of long lines, improper procedures or inadequate resources.
• Human lifespan seems stuck at about 115 years, and that may be the case for a long, long time.
• On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, host David Waldman (remember him?) outsources debate review to Greg Dworkin & Joan McCarter, though Mike Pence insists we did not do that. Yesterday’s Matt Schlapp citation chased down. Paul Ryan: handsome martyr. Ayotte put on the spotte.
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