59 days left until the November midterm elections
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Today’s comic by Mark Fiore is Embrace your inner Kavanaugh:
• What’s coming up on Sunday Kos …
- Remembering the massive devastation of Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, by Denise Oliver Velez
- If this former homophobe could change, so could a racist Trumpist, by Egberto Willies
- Three stories of media failure, by Jon Perr
- No one speaks for all veterans, by Mark E Andersen
- Ranking the states: An early look at the places to watch on election night, 2018, by Steve Singiser
- The Deep Steady State calls are coming from inside the White House, by Frank Vyan Walton
- There are no ‘well meaning’ anonymous White House sources, by David Akadjian
- The republic can be saved, but the Republican Party cannot, by Laurence Lewis
- Democrats’ midterm edge: more political action, bigger growth in voter turnout, by Sher Watts Spooner
- At long last, Republicans, have you no patriotism, by Ian Reifowitz
- International Elections Digest: Stabbing throws Brazil's presidential race next month into chaos, by Daily Kos Elections
• $26 trillion ain’t exactly chickenfeed:
Last year, President Trump said he intended to pull out of the Paris accord because the agreement posed “draconian financial and economic burdens” on the United States. But, according to a new report, countering the effects of climate change could actually make the world economy a ton of money. Hear that, Trump? Mitigating the effects of climate change = cash money.
In a report published yesterday, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate — an international group of policy experts, government heads, and business leaders — says taking bold action now could result in trillions in economic benefits over the next decade. Continuing with a business-as-usual approach means we miss out on $26 trillion. And the study says that’s a conservative estimate!
“Unless we make a decisive shift, by 2030 we will pass the point by which we can keep global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees C,” the authors of the study noted in their key findings.
MIDDAY TWEET
• Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis made a surprise six-hour visit to Kabul Friday.
• Pugnacious, abusive conspiracy-theorist and liar Alex Jones now banned from Twitter:
Twitter has permanently banned right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, along with the official account of his website Infowars, the social media company announced Thursday. The action came a day after Jones posted a video taken outside of a congressional hearing where he berated CNN reporter Oliver Darcy, mocking his appearance and calling him “fake news.” That same day, Jones had accosted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during a break of the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings where Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg testified.
Twitter said the actions by Jones and Infowars on both Twitter and Periscope, the live-streaming app owned by Twitter, on Wednesday violated its abusive behavior policy.
• Study says large-scale solar and wind installations in Sahara and Sahel could supply all of Earth’s electricity needs and then some: Extensive renewables development there would raise local nighttime temperatures while increasing rainfall and growth of vegetation, as well as cutting back greenhouse gas emissions—all good things for the region. The entire planet now has a electricity demand of 18 terawatts, but the 3.5 million square miles of the Sahel and Sahara are capable of generating 79 terawatts. Of course, transmitting that electricity everywhere in the world is another matter. But massive solar and wind development in the region could power desalination plants along the coast and supply electricity to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Meanwhile, it would bring economic and environmental benefits to the sparsely populated Sahel, one of the poorest regions of the world.
• Connecticut woman blows off several fingers when she mistakes dynamite for a candle during power outage: Nobody else was injured. Police did not say why she had the dynamite in the house, but they did find another explosive device and removed it.
• From the Economic Policy Institute:
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump holds another bat$#*t rally, and effectively will "take the 5th" on Muller's questions. Brett Kavanaugh is the Forest Gump of Gop malfeasance (and server hacking). His email correspondent, Grassley staffer Barbara Ledeen, is a piece of work, too.