This month, Popular Information broke the news that Koch Industries continues to operate in Russia (prompting an avalanche of national coverage), revealed that Disney donated nearly $300,000 to supporters of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill (compelling the company to suspend its political donations), and exposed how oil industry lobbyists are attempting to exploit Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Today, however, I want to hear from you. What's on your mind? What topics would you like to see Popular Information take on in the weeks ahead?
You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by to participate in the discussion and answer your questions at 1 PM Eastern, for about an hour.
UPDATE (2:08 PM): I wish I had more time to respond to everyone. So many great suggestions. But I need to work on tomorrow’s newsletter! — Judd
This is the kind of thing that is very hard to report on, absent some kind of leak. And the people involved in high-profile investigations like this generally don't leak. My speculation is that Garland is an institutionalist and does no was to make the DOJ appear "political" if he can avoid it.
I have seen comments similar to yours on other media and phorae, While it is a good faith argument, it flies in the face of the facts. Garland was an employee of the Federalist society, he has deep conservative Republican roots, he and his staff have not charged any of the perps with a felony, especially sedition, simple misdemeanors for trespassing, even the more serious ones have been misdemeanors, and he is stalling on forcing the likes of Bannon and Ghouliani to present themselves to congress or go to jail.
Personally I don't believe the institutionalist excuse, but if one is predisposed to apologetics or amelioration one can concoct any excuse or rationale.
I am not of such a disposition, too worldly wise, too old and too experienced in the ways of men and the world.
I read the news from many sources daily, and this is the first time I have come across this information. Why isn't this being discussed in the MSM? Please, Judd, take up the cause. Already, a statue of limitations of one of trump's crimes has passed. We cannot let his criminality and corruption go unnoticed!
Merrick Garland was a moderator for the Federalist Society, and he was vetted to Obama by the most right wing senator at the time Orrin Hatch R-UT, because Obama didn't care about issues or values, but only wanted a win and thought that a hard right conservative would get approved by a hostile senate.
Biden is a dinosaur and artifact of an age when the political parties were essentially the same party. I am 83 and use to bemoan that the parties were Humpty and Dumpty.
Biden was mentored in the Senate by racist Democrats like Sen. Eastman, he was known in the beltway as the Senator from Wall Street (Delaware is where over 600 corporations are chartered because of their lax charter law).
He is part of the Beltway establishment, an ameliorator, a moderator, and out of touch with the current policial, social, culture environment. He can do no ore than what his past personal experiences have informed him.
And when he does break through, the corporate media gangs up on him and he shows his lack of spine by backtracking. Case in point, he and his administration should never have back tracked from calling out for Putin's replacement.
Putin is not a threat. If anything the current situation in Ukraine has proven is that the Russian military is overhyped, it's equipment is defective, and I doubt that their missiles will work any better than their communications and aircraft, even then Putin is not a threat to Europe, Ukraine has proven that, and unless he is suicidal and wants to become fall out, he won't loose his nukes, and it is highly questionable that they will even work or reach target.
The Russian military, is as Ukraine has proven, a Potemkin Village. a parade ground military, China is the same, because of the one child policy of Mao, their army is manned by spoiled and pampered troops.
Devastating a country like Ukraine is one thing, but should he try the same with NATO or even Poland, he would encounter a completely different scenario and would discover that his toosh was being thoroughly wiped.
I repeat: I want to know exactly what are the subsidies and supports that the fossil fuel industries already receive from the US government and how long have they been receiving them? We in the US have always had the cheapest gas globally for our cars due to such subsidies; resulting in strong public support for our automoblie industry and the expasion of our highway system. In Europe, where gas prices have always been high, commuter trains and subways have been accepted, resulting in less dependence on individual transportation and more support for public transportation.
Not to mention a rapid growth in popularity of relatively less efficient and expensive "truck SUVs," which digs the public yet deeper into their dependence on fossil fuels and ravages communities where large vehicles physically threaten cyclists and pedestrians.
I've been monitoring this for sure. There is a lot of great reporting on this already and I will definitely join in as soon as I identify a way to add value. In the meantime I recommend everything by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker.
I have lost faith in the Democrats in congress doing anything, especially close to the election. Instead of dispatching the Sgt at Arms to arrest Bannon and the rest who ignored subpoenas (which they have the authority to do) the cowards kicked up to Merrick garland and his band of Trump appointees in DOJ, and of course when it goes to DOJ, the right wingers that run the cabinet sees that it dies.
Thanks, but but believe it or not. I don't have a cell phone, nor do I do twitter or any social media, only fools expose themselves. Years ago I had a flip phone, used it four times to call home from the supermarket. Couldn't remember how to turn it on, so saved money cancelled the service. Got better things to do with my life that stare at a screen all day, the computer is bad enough and I only read three sites.
Unfortunately, with the current Senate it will be impossible to impeach Thomas, and only one Justice has been impeached in the history of the U.S. If anyone deserves impeachment, it's definitely Thomas, and then Alito, but resignation is what we can hope for, and pressure to happen.
The extent to which Russian propaganda is behind our global social division... the same people -- many of which are friends and family -- that support the 'Freedom' convoy, also support Putin. This initiative has been ongoing for decades and is probably the most successful enterprise Putin's engaged in. Divide and conquer, it adheres perfectly to Putin influencer, Aleksandr Dugin's philosophy.
It's global, it's directly related to QAnon, the Freedom Convoy, vaccine skepticism, Trumpism-- I'd like to know how deeply Russian propaganda was identified in Brexit and other geopolitical shifts, particularly toward authoritarianism and social intolerance-- exploiting fear to gain support. I suspect there isn't a continent that was untouched. The reporting so far has been disjointed and I don't think the scale of this has been adequately acknowledged.
thanks for your great work, I'm glad I subscribed.
There is plenty of evidence that Russia was involved in these kind of operations around the 2016 election. And I'm sure they've continued similar operations since. But a lot of this disinformation is produced domestically by people looking to make money.
While the disinfo from Fox is obvious,what is not so obvious is the news that the corporate media does not air, like the fact that if we don't turn around the situation, their might not be a 22nd Century for humans
And for all of their professed care for life, the only thing they really care about is their own power, status and comfort.
Two senators were recently asked, "What about your legacy", Their reply was I will be beyond caring because I will be dead.
It was Lenin,not Marx, which said. If I were to advertise that I was going to hang all the capitalists, they would line up to sell me the rope.
This is not only true of capitalists, but apparently a human quality. As men line up to crawl into the bowels of the earth, only to emerge with black lung disease.
People moan and groan about the cancer causing industries, while showing up to punch a clock in "Cancer alley"or the Cancer capital of the US,which was Crossett, AR (Koch brothers Geogia Pacific) and lately Kentucky.
I am of the same mind, but hope not. I have 1 1 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, the latest born last month, and a great great grand child on the way. I wish them all to enjoy life as much as I have, but am not so hopeful. Meanwhile my avocation is genetic genealogy, I enjoy helping people break down brick walls , but also wonder why bother, it won't make a bit of difference in the next 50 to 75 years, maybe less given the undeniable evidence of melting glaciers, distortion of the jet stream and the Atlantic current.
No t to mention the dangerous release of methane from Siberian and Alaskan tundra, when the arctic ocean warms any more the billions of methane locked up on the floor will explode into the air, if it already hasn't started.
The release of methane in Siberia can be seen and heard by the locals,but you can't say the same for all of the methane locked up in the arctic.
Russia has been involved, around the world, in subverting democracy, as has the Koch's, the Murdochs, our own oligarchs and plutocrats.
And I agree that a lot of this disinformation is produced domestically, and money plays a big role, but protection, preservation and perpetuation of one's social status (which depends on power which depends on money) is the motivation.
As an example. Mao bragged that he only made about $300 a month. Yet he controlled and ordered the entire resources of China. Real power is not ownership, but control, That is why you don't find the names of oligarchs and plutocrats on yachts, planes, vehicles and property. It is all about control.
We peons who live day to day, and scrabble for survival and/or comfort see the world through the eyes of money. The plutocrats see money as a tool, as a gardener sees a spade as a tool,or a carpenter a hammer and saw as a tool.
For them it is all about power, and the ability to use the resources of the world, nation, city, state, community or corporation to not only ,maintain and enhance their position, but to eliminate or at least control the environment in which they exercise power and control the population and thus resources.
My uncle was a southern Baptist preacher, and made much ado about earning a pittance of an allowance, however the church paid for his residence, his auto, his insurance, his gas, his travel and sundry expenses, he ate free daily by visitation at dinner time, and come his birthday and Christmas he was swamped with expensive presents and monetary gifts.
To your point, how right wing billionaires have shared interests with the Russian trolls, dividing our country through the white grievance politics, campaigning for Trump, attacking public education, voter suppression, anti vaxx, and anti mask. There was a time Republicans were all..... better dead then red, now they are the red party.
Not just the bilionaires though. The really treacherous alliance is between the Evangelicals, who would rather be Russian than liberal, and Russia.
As regards Russia I can't overstate the symbiotic relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the State. It is Charlemagne and the Pope times 10.
Off topic, but on the subject of the Koch's. DJT and Trump have more than one thing in common, one glaring thing is they both have fathers named Fred. Fred Koch made his fortune working for Stalin, building oil wells and refineries in the 1930's, apparently he fell in love with authoritarianism, which is disguised as libertarianism today.
The 1936 Soviet Constitution, Article 12 states (in essence) if you don't work you don't eat, and that is pure 100% Libertarianism, there is more on which I could expound but TL:DR
the Russians are stirring our social divisions, but the culture war predates Russian interference by centuries, It started with theocratic rule in Massachusetts and plantation living in Virginia.
American Evangelicals find a natural ally in the Russian Orthodox Church, they are both patriarchal, misogynistic and homophobic. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Government are interdependent, joined at the hip. During the Soviet era the priests were KGB and filed reports on confessions, nothing has changed. The KGB certainly hasn't,other than renaming itself the FSB.
The Russian secret police, be it Tsarist, Communist or Putinist serves one purpose, unfailingly, and that is to serve the masters of the state.
Timothy Snyder’s book The Road to Unfreedom answers many of these questions. It was published in 2018 yet reads like it was written yesterday. Explains Russias role in Brexit, our 2016 election and the war in Ukraine among other issues.
The money behind the CRT push. Who is really funding it and why? What are the benefits of getting parents riled up at their local school boards? What larger purpose does it serve?
Would be very interesting to see the Venn diagram overlap of dark money funding the anti public education movement AND voter suppression and capitol insurrection. The attack on public education seems to run hand in hand with the attack on our democracy. Same right wing billionaire underwriters, Uihlein, Koch, Bradley, and Ricketts. And those attacks have definitely gotten hyper local, with the wealthy underwriting extremists candidates in small towns across our country. It would be great if the media covered the David and Goliath stories of true grassroots volunteers defeating these well funded and politically connected candidates.
Accountability for the now 780 billion we will spend on "defense". Does it worry anyone that Russia which is suppose to be a considerable threat has almost been roundly defeated by Ukraine. Sort of begs the question on why we spend so much. Also the US has lost the last 3 wars they were involved in. If the US defense budget rises at its current last 3 year rate how long will it take to bankrupt the US. Probably much sooner than Social Security.
WHY is the USPS still so screwed up, why is DeJoy still around, and why are they purchasing thousands more of the terrible old mail trucks they've been using instead of being forced to buy electric?
Federal law bars the President from terminating the Postmaster General under any circumstances. In 1970, Congress established a nine member Board of Governors who are nominated by the President & confirmed by the Senate. Once confirmed to the board, they can only be removed by the President “for cause.” (They serve seven year terms.) The Board of Governors selects the Postmaster General, who is not subject to Senate approval. The Postmaster General can only be removed by the Board, though it need not justify its decision. Right now the Board is dominated by Trump employees.
There are 11 members of the Board, 6 required for a quoram. Current membership is four Republicans appointed by Trump and 4 appointed by Biden, two of which are independents (and I have to ask why, as an independent is another way of saying Republican), there are two vacancies which Biden could appoint, but hasn't and that is the question that needs answering. Why hasn't Biden appointed to Democrats to the Board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Governors_of_the_United_States_Postal_Service
He's appointed one new person for the board, no? Does this give him control? That DeJoy didn't buy electric vehicles for the postal truck fleet is completely unacceptable.
He has appointed four, but there are still two vacancies, if he appointed them he would have control of the board. He hasn't, they are still vacancy giving DeJoy control of the board, because he is one vote and there are four Trump appointees.
I think this speaks a lot primarily about Biden's AGE. You are not as quick at 78/79 as you were at 50-55 for sure. And you can tell how stiff he is by his walk. Plus, it isn't as if Joe hasn't been through hella lot - from the death of one child and his first wife, to the cancer death of Beau Biden.
Veterans Homelessness a big problem. Why can't the Armed Services do more to help Veterans as they leave military life? Surely, they can provide a week or two of preparation for civilian life, educational opportunities, counseling etc. This should not be the VA's mission.
Neglect of veterans goes way back before the VA was created. See Jonathan Katz's book about General Smedley Butler, "Gangsters of Capitalism". Gov't leaders have always considered injured vets as collateral damage, while the military finds ever better ways to cripple them.
With all the due attention to events of January 4-7 by the Committee & DOJ and others, I REALLY think some attention must be paid back to 2020 when DJT first started to float the 'worry' the election would be stolen...The more facts can be brought to light to establish early planning stages, the more the prosecution of the 1/6 miscreants will be helped. And even if those facts are being developed already by 1/6 & DOJ, maybe there is enough in the public domain [or findable] to warrant an early 'expose'??
Excellent and thanks for the link - I KNEW it was in the ether == I hope there's more of a push to show how this was planned and the rails greased long before Nov., or even Jan.
So many good suggestions here, and I don't envy you having to pick. I love the way you drill down, though, and you often uncover what the three major papers I subscribe to either miss or ignore. Maybe our future depends on not having to trust large corporate entities for our news.
I live in Florida. Ron DeSantis appears to be running a pay to play operation. Examples that are documented.
1. Joe Walsh, Key West businessman, contributed $1,000,000 to Ron’s campaign. Afterward Ron and his Republican followers in the legislature passes a convoluted bill gutting Key West’s voter referendum controlling cruise ship traffic. Cruise ships are back, benefiting Joe Walsh financially, and against the will over the voters.
2. When Covid vaccines were 1st available and in short supply, DeSantis steered the initial vaccines to Ocean Edge in the Florida Keys, home to wealthy Republicans. DeSantis received two $250,000 donations from two residents within the month.
3. Florida has lots of Russian property owners and business people. DeSantis has refused to divest Florida from any Russian investments. It is known that Russians support Ron DeSantis. In 2018 after supporting DeSantis there is documentation from Russians wanting to know when they would get there business related licenses. Pay to play.
4. DeSantis is visibly a right wing culture warrior, but his real story is power and money. As Popular Information does so well, please follow the money supporting DeSantis’ political aspirations. My opinion is that DeSantis cares little for the public. Thank you.
Social media and the spread of disinformation. This is poisoning the foundations of our society, not to mention cultural norms. It's always "follow the money" in our exploitative form of capitalism, and I suspect the same is true in social media corporations. How much are they crossing the line for more viewers with scandalous, wild conspiracy rhetoric, etc. Corrupt social media has clearly shaped the "thinking" of trumpers, for example. Capitalism has become "bent" when large multi-national corporations became the norm. I was an entrepreneur and am a capitalist but with a belief in the safety net and rule of law. [The huge amounts made by CEOs and top executives, even when they screw up, is obscene.] But I don't think it's only about money, but also power.
The liquefied natural gas lobby. Why are we talking about new infrastructure
to deliver LNG to Europe when it won't come online for another 5 years? The IAC says we should build no new fossil fuel infrastructure, and Europe should be focused on renewable energy. It appears the US is being greedy and short sighted and I'm curious what the lobbies and representatives are behind that push.
I read that all of Brett Kavanaugh's debt was mysteriously paid off before Supreme Court nomination. I believe he answered a few questions about it, but I don't think the money trail was ever truly investigated. Not sure if it's even possible to find out.
Mitch McConnell -- he is behind a lot of the damage to our country, yet gets to hide in the background. How has he built up so much power? Who funds him, did he really win the last election, what about his wife's global business, how he delays and obstructs the business of Congress getting done, how many bills sit on his desk, enabling of Trump, etc.
McConnell has immense power and benefits from dark money. But I will say that he did win his last election. It's Kentucky, one of America's most Republican states. It's important not to get sucked into claims of election fraud without evidence.
How common is it for elected officials to delay reporting to prison after being sentenced? In Fall River, former mayor Jasiel Correia was sentenced to serve six years for corruption. This sentence was handed down in September 2021. He has yet to be sent to prison. He has received multiple extensions and people are getting frustrated. The longer he stays out of prison, the bigger the belief that he will never go, thus never having to pay for his crimes. Is this common? Or is justice for the victims of governmental corruption really about who you know?
The J6 committee needs some investigation, as it is too timid and"cautious", letting this drag out until overtaken by events like the upcoming election, which will shift the house to Republican as things now stand. And worse, they have not used their full power and authority to compel attendance, instead timidly referring subpoena's to Garland where they will of course die, when they have the power to use the Sgt at Arms to go out and arrest the perps and witnesses, as the did during the Teapot Dome scandal.
I'm not sure what the time was between the conviction of NY State Senator Sheldon Silver and his reporting to prison, but I was shocked to learn during the pandemic that he was still at home. Later, I learned he died in prison, but I'm not sure how long he was there. Same issue.
The kochtapus has bought my county, Douglas County, Colorado. They poured hundreds of thousands into a non-partisan school board race, taking over our school board in an election based on mask mandates and CRT. I know this is happening all over the country. We have no liberal barrel of money to fight them at the ballot box, however, we have dug deep to launch legal challenges to some of their malfeasance since getting into office, most notably so far by winning a lawsuit against the new board members for violating the Colorado Open Meetings Law.
The Supreme Court & use of shadow docket/per curiam often decisions w/o arguement, few opinions
BuckleyV Valeo decided this way, money & politics, fractured ruling but clear push of $$ as speech - anti- constitutional concept. Also elimination of forced labor in prisons
Why is AG Merrick Garland not doing his job? Why is he dragging his feet about the jan6 committee's charges of contempt when they refuse to comply with the subpoenas that they were issued by the committee???
Merrick Garland and DOJ are conspicuously quiet regarding actions they could be taking on Jan 6 conspirators AND the results of the Mueller report. In fact, statute of limitations has expired on one of Mueller’s items. Where is MG and DOJ?
It appears that PI excels at recognizing emergent negativity to respond quickly and effectively. I have read the comments and suggestions that were here when I arrived, and agree with Ed Konikowski about homeless vets. Much of the rest is exasperation based on a failure to understand or accept American politics, which will not change any time soon. I would recommend investigation the far right, Q-Anon, ammosexuality, armed "militias," child abuse, domestic violence, killer cops, and much more, but this will likely lead nowhere. These people are intellectually deficient, emotionally disturbed, and morally bankrupt; their behavior will never change. Keep doing the great work you're already doing, and know that your efforts are worthwhile, effective, and appreciated.
Let’s do a deep dive into DA Alvin Bragg and why he decided not to prosecute Trump and his organization for fraud. Someone got to him for him to make those 2 well respected lawyers to quit.
I agree with Phil. I would love to understand what's up with Garland and the DOJ and what looks like their complete disregard for the evidence that exists that the former president (and his minions) attempted to overturn a free and fair election. It makes no sense to me. Without a federal legal pushback on what took place, we open ourselves up to another coup in the future and the end of a democratic government as we know it.
Judd, so many comments I wandered off the rails - honestly, the thing that has been bothering me the most in the last many months is the lack of support for Biden...yes he speaks from the heart... because he HAS one, unlike too many of our politicians in office. He is getting blamed for a ton of shit that is not his fault. EVen the CNN team seems to look at him with critical eyes most of the time. It is making me weary and frustrated. Thanks for listening.
So every now and then, I download the Monthly Energy Review from the US Dept of Energy and try to turn it into a readable Sources and Uses Map of the US Energy System. My most recent version comes from the 2019 data. I picked the most recent non-Covid year. And here's the most interesting part of what I find.
Our electricity generation sector is powered 60% by fossil fuels, 40% by Nukes and Renewables.
Our Household Sector is still powered 77% by Fossil Fuels.
Our Commercial Sector is still powered 77% by Fossil Fuels.
Our Industrial Sector gets 85% of its energy from Fossil Fuels.
And our Transportation Sector gets 95% of its energy from Fossil Fuels.
Doesn't sound like very rapid progress, does it? Glacial progress might be a better description.
And here's the thing. The household sector doesn't use fossil fuels because it has to. It uses fossil fuels simply because its installed appliances require fossil fuels. My wife and I got our Annapolis home completely off fossil fuels in 2015. Our gas furnace was dying and we replaced it with an electricity powered geothermal heat pump. The hot water heater was electric from the start. We put in an electric oven and magnetic induction stovetop - great temp control and no gas fumes! And our second floor was heated and cooled with an air source heat pump that sat outside. We signed on with BGE for an All Wind Electricity Generation contract. We disconnected our gas line at the end of June 2015. Our 2015-2016 utility billing was a bit lower than our 2014-2015 billing had been.
But here's the simple point almost no one talks about. For both the residential and the commecial sectors, the only thing that has to happen to eliminate the consumption of fossil fuels is the replacement of gas-fueled appliances with electric appliances. That's it. There are long-team leasing funders that will help homeowners do this. But I do have a caution. I used to be a union officer in an 800 member cab driver's union in Denver. Listening to our members was always vital to the success of anything we tried to do. I've heard Senator Coons at Brookings pitch the merits of Carbon Taxes, and it's plain to me that he's never done any focus groups with housewives on what it takes to convert our homes from fossil fuels to electric power. Quite frankly, our side is not being led by people who've really taken the time to understand the guts of the clean energy journey. The other side doesn't want it, but our side doesn't know how to think about it, or how to do it. So, Judd, I recommend that you also spend some time on our side's superficiality weaknesses. -Steve Johnson
With all of these suggestions, you're going to be busy for a while. Nothing more to add except that you are an amazing journalist and I really appreciate what you do.
Many corporations are raking in record profits that go right in the pockets of ownership. At the same time, they're complaining about supply chain woes, stoking inflation fears, and pushing blame onto union members. (See NYT supply-chain-woes article full of anti-dockworker propaganda yesterday.) Why aren't companies making record profits investing them to make supply chains more resilient?
Robert Reich published a short video about Centi-Billionaires, since we now have at least 7 individuals who have a net worth over 100 billion dollars. The rapidity with which individuals and corporations have massively increased their profit (many 3 time higher than pre-pandemic) is astounding. This has been going on for too many decades, and the right is clearly in favor of its continuation. I'm interested in ideas and policies that will reverse this seemingly inevitable trend and in finding ways to pass policies that treat all with dignity and respect.
Perhaps but if we don't have a viable progressive force to lead in that moment, I'm afraid we are in real trouble. The closest I've seen to a true force for change in the USA is Black Lives Matter - thinking back to the summer of 2020 after George Floyd's murder - that was hope. White folks marching for Black Lives Matter. We must come together and build a broad based, multi-racial, multi-class movement for change. Before it's too late!
There continues to be an attack from conservatives and the Right against public schools. The motives appear to allow the private sector be to get a piece of the large dollars allocated for public education while being able to gain control over how and what is being taught. It does not appear that these efforts are in the publics best interest.
What always makes me mad is companies like AT&T, Comcast (which has a virtual monopoly) and Puget Sound Energy (which has an actual monopoly) spend money to lobby state legislatures, Congress and federal and state regulatory bodies for policies that are against their customers' interests, and they pay for it with money their customers pay. I get why they do it -- because they can -- but it's really crappy. And because a lot of it is state-level, tracking it is a big lift, even for outlets like this one, trying to track for 50 states. David Cay Johnston has done a lot of work on power companies controlling the California Public Utilities Commission (is that what it's called? I forget) but there are many more.
I want to understand what are the forces behind the push to ban abortion and criminalize abortion doctors and punish those who help a woman get an abortion. Who is gaining from this and what are they gaining? It is such a coordinated attack that there must be some very organized and well-funded forces behind it and at least a few whose pockets are being lined.
Former Sen. David Perdue’s name is on several large corporate and individual donor lists from his (failed) re-election, he comes up again on the list of people Trump spoke to on 1/6. His was a huge money campaign. What’s with Perdue?
I would like to hear more about the funding and planning of the 1/6 insurrection going back to early 2020 when they were putting it out there that the election would be rigged if he lost. Also, is DOJ doing anything about all of this?
What the hell is going on with DOJ and Alvin Bragg and the Jan 6 Committee? Is anybody ever going to be indicted for anything, or dragged into Congress to face contempt charges? It's getting late!
The Council for National Policy (CNP) as reported in Anne Nelson’s groundbreaking book SHADOW NETWORK needs to be examined for its likely connection to 1/6 and especially Ginni T.
Why is Leonard Peltier, the longest serving Indigenous political prisoner in the US, whose prosecuting attorney has admitted was wrongfully convicted, not been granted clemency?
Can you discuss Medicare for All and why proposals such as this keep getting shut down because of lobbying efforts by insurance/healthcare lobby? Additionally, why we continue to fund war and the military-industrial-corporate-Congress machine with no concern for deficits and policies that benefit people get shut down.
trump is endorsing State Officials who are challenging GOP politicians who refused to overturn the election. These offices are important if the next Presidential Election is disputed. i.e. Sec of State, Attorney Gen, Gov, State Legislators. Watch OUT!
Many pesticides banned in other countries are still being used in the US (see: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/united-states-pesticides-banned-other-countries). The question is why. None of the articles I have surfaced source the suppliers/manufacturers of these pesticides. If I could, I would try to surface the big money and corporate interests that are lobbying to keep these pesticides in use. Is this something that Popular would be interested in taking on?
Holding the Biden admin accountable for their actively broken promises (ex. deportations, student debt cancellation) and hypocritical lip service (ex. claiming to care about climate change while expanding offshore drilling and pipeline construction)
Two things I'd love to see: (1) a report on groups that are organizing boycotts of/divestment from the companies you've been reporting on and (2) reporting on social-media activism (i.e., FaceBook/Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, other message platforms) that examines what actually works and what doesn't (for some context, there was an article in the New Yorker about 15 years ago--more or less!--that compared social-media activism to the civil-rights activism of the 1950s-1960s and, more recently, an op-ed in the NY Times called "Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, and the Insidious Meme-ification of War"--https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/26/opinion/culture/social-media-war-ukraine.html). Also, I second the idea about a report on the US Postal Service & DeJoy. Thanks so much for what you do!
Kim (founding member, Hold the Line Maryland: www.holdthelinemaryland.org, where democracy activists from anywhere can find useful resources).
My State (Tennessee) is proposing all kinds of crazy legislation i.e. '
Tenn. legislation would withhold funds for schools who don’t prove student athletes are cisgender' (from the Boston Globe. Who is funding these state legislators? 20% of them are currently under investigation or indictment.
Why it appears Merrick Garland is so slow to move on top individuals of the January 6th
This is the kind of thing that is very hard to report on, absent some kind of leak. And the people involved in high-profile investigations like this generally don't leak. My speculation is that Garland is an institutionalist and does no was to make the DOJ appear "political" if he can avoid it.
I have seen comments similar to yours on other media and phorae, While it is a good faith argument, it flies in the face of the facts. Garland was an employee of the Federalist society, he has deep conservative Republican roots, he and his staff have not charged any of the perps with a felony, especially sedition, simple misdemeanors for trespassing, even the more serious ones have been misdemeanors, and he is stalling on forcing the likes of Bannon and Ghouliani to present themselves to congress or go to jail.
Personally I don't believe the institutionalist excuse, but if one is predisposed to apologetics or amelioration one can concoct any excuse or rationale.
I am not of such a disposition, too worldly wise, too old and too experienced in the ways of men and the world.
I read the news from many sources daily, and this is the first time I have come across this information. Why isn't this being discussed in the MSM? Please, Judd, take up the cause. Already, a statue of limitations of one of trump's crimes has passed. We cannot let his criminality and corruption go unnoticed!
So…duh me. What’s MOC
A groundless and baseless concern, because the perps have already learned from their errors, and are hard at work overthrowing democracy.
Check out the podcast Gaslit Nation. They have quite the take on him and his mentor
Uh oh. Doesn't sound good. Who was his mentor, I'm afraid to ask?
Can’t find that podcast on the summer. Any other information?
It’s hosted by Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior. I discovered it in the apple App Store.
You gave to join Gaslit Nation thru Patreon.
Sarah waxed about the presidential thing last night on Twitter. Think it was Silberberg tweet thread
Merrick Garland was a moderator for the Federalist Society, and he was vetted to Obama by the most right wing senator at the time Orrin Hatch R-UT, because Obama didn't care about issues or values, but only wanted a win and thought that a hard right conservative would get approved by a hostile senate.
Seems Garland is there to protect his GOP TRIBE- but why won’t Biden fire him? Is Biden on the same page?
Biden is a dinosaur and artifact of an age when the political parties were essentially the same party. I am 83 and use to bemoan that the parties were Humpty and Dumpty.
Biden was mentored in the Senate by racist Democrats like Sen. Eastman, he was known in the beltway as the Senator from Wall Street (Delaware is where over 600 corporations are chartered because of their lax charter law).
He is part of the Beltway establishment, an ameliorator, a moderator, and out of touch with the current policial, social, culture environment. He can do no ore than what his past personal experiences have informed him.
And when he does break through, the corporate media gangs up on him and he shows his lack of spine by backtracking. Case in point, he and his administration should never have back tracked from calling out for Putin's replacement.
Putin is not a threat. If anything the current situation in Ukraine has proven is that the Russian military is overhyped, it's equipment is defective, and I doubt that their missiles will work any better than their communications and aircraft, even then Putin is not a threat to Europe, Ukraine has proven that, and unless he is suicidal and wants to become fall out, he won't loose his nukes, and it is highly questionable that they will even work or reach target.
The Russian military, is as Ukraine has proven, a Potemkin Village. a parade ground military, China is the same, because of the one child policy of Mao, their army is manned by spoiled and pampered troops.
Tell that to the people of Ukraine Putin has enough of an army to kill many people and devastate a whole country with his Potemkin Village
Devastating a country like Ukraine is one thing, but should he try the same with NATO or even Poland, he would encounter a completely different scenario and would discover that his toosh was being thoroughly wiped.
Yikes
THIS
I repeat: I want to know exactly what are the subsidies and supports that the fossil fuel industries already receive from the US government and how long have they been receiving them? We in the US have always had the cheapest gas globally for our cars due to such subsidies; resulting in strong public support for our automoblie industry and the expasion of our highway system. In Europe, where gas prices have always been high, commuter trains and subways have been accepted, resulting in less dependence on individual transportation and more support for public transportation.
Here is an interesting report that aggregates fossil fuel subsidies from all around the world: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/fossil-fuels-received-5-9-trillion-in-subsidies-in-2020-report-finds
Profits are privatized, costs socialized. Seems to occur in all sectors if the economy. The system is broken.
I agree! We MUST stop drilling.
With both parties on their knees begging for donor cash, it will never happen.
We have no need to drill or import oil, as we export more than we import.
The export and import of oil is not to feed our economy but feed the investors in the carbon industry.
America has its own oligarchs, and more than the Russians.
Not to mention a rapid growth in popularity of relatively less efficient and expensive "truck SUVs," which digs the public yet deeper into their dependence on fossil fuels and ravages communities where large vehicles physically threaten cyclists and pedestrians.
Ginni Thomas deep dive. Dems need to put pressure on Thomas and demand his resignation. If he doesn't resign they should impeach.
I've been monitoring this for sure. There is a lot of great reporting on this already and I will definitely join in as soon as I identify a way to add value. In the meantime I recommend everything by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker.
From duty to warn- via Twitter- “Nancy Pelosi: “It’s up to an individual justice to decide to recuse himself if his wife is participating in a coup.”
It’s up to congress to impeach and they need to.
I have lost faith in the Democrats in congress doing anything, especially close to the election. Instead of dispatching the Sgt at Arms to arrest Bannon and the rest who ignored subpoenas (which they have the authority to do) the cowards kicked up to Merrick garland and his band of Trump appointees in DOJ, and of course when it goes to DOJ, the right wingers that run the cabinet sees that it dies.
You need to check out Sarah Kindozar on Twitter
I really like her
I do to.
As do I. She should be on MSNBC.
FYI I just googled kindozar and twitter. He and I are in total agreement. But I still will not subscribe to twitter.
She
Thanks for the correction, apologies for buying into the patriarchal chauvinism.
Thanks, but but believe it or not. I don't have a cell phone, nor do I do twitter or any social media, only fools expose themselves. Years ago I had a flip phone, used it four times to call home from the supermarket. Couldn't remember how to turn it on, so saved money cancelled the service. Got better things to do with my life that stare at a screen all day, the computer is bad enough and I only read three sites.
Whatever floats your boat.
I have no boat to float.
LoL. No cell phone, no boat. William Farrar what do you do for fun?
Not resign…we need to have justice..he needs to be impeached ASAP
Unfortunately, with the current Senate it will be impossible to impeach Thomas, and only one Justice has been impeached in the history of the U.S. If anyone deserves impeachment, it's definitely Thomas, and then Alito, but resignation is what we can hope for, and pressure to happen.
The extent to which Russian propaganda is behind our global social division... the same people -- many of which are friends and family -- that support the 'Freedom' convoy, also support Putin. This initiative has been ongoing for decades and is probably the most successful enterprise Putin's engaged in. Divide and conquer, it adheres perfectly to Putin influencer, Aleksandr Dugin's philosophy.
It's global, it's directly related to QAnon, the Freedom Convoy, vaccine skepticism, Trumpism-- I'd like to know how deeply Russian propaganda was identified in Brexit and other geopolitical shifts, particularly toward authoritarianism and social intolerance-- exploiting fear to gain support. I suspect there isn't a continent that was untouched. The reporting so far has been disjointed and I don't think the scale of this has been adequately acknowledged.
thanks for your great work, I'm glad I subscribed.
There is plenty of evidence that Russia was involved in these kind of operations around the 2016 election. And I'm sure they've continued similar operations since. But a lot of this disinformation is produced domestically by people looking to make money.
So true - we have disinformation flowing from radio and TV (think FOX) all the time.
While the disinfo from Fox is obvious,what is not so obvious is the news that the corporate media does not air, like the fact that if we don't turn around the situation, their might not be a 22nd Century for humans
And for all of their professed care for life, the only thing they really care about is their own power, status and comfort.
Two senators were recently asked, "What about your legacy", Their reply was I will be beyond caring because I will be dead.
It was Lenin,not Marx, which said. If I were to advertise that I was going to hang all the capitalists, they would line up to sell me the rope.
This is not only true of capitalists, but apparently a human quality. As men line up to crawl into the bowels of the earth, only to emerge with black lung disease.
People moan and groan about the cancer causing industries, while showing up to punch a clock in "Cancer alley"or the Cancer capital of the US,which was Crossett, AR (Koch brothers Geogia Pacific) and lately Kentucky.
Several years ago a scientist gave human beings a 50/50 chance after 2100.
I am of the same mind, but hope not. I have 1 1 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, the latest born last month, and a great great grand child on the way. I wish them all to enjoy life as much as I have, but am not so hopeful. Meanwhile my avocation is genetic genealogy, I enjoy helping people break down brick walls , but also wonder why bother, it won't make a bit of difference in the next 50 to 75 years, maybe less given the undeniable evidence of melting glaciers, distortion of the jet stream and the Atlantic current.
No t to mention the dangerous release of methane from Siberian and Alaskan tundra, when the arctic ocean warms any more the billions of methane locked up on the floor will explode into the air, if it already hasn't started.
The release of methane in Siberia can be seen and heard by the locals,but you can't say the same for all of the methane locked up in the arctic.
Russia has been involved, around the world, in subverting democracy, as has the Koch's, the Murdochs, our own oligarchs and plutocrats.
And I agree that a lot of this disinformation is produced domestically, and money plays a big role, but protection, preservation and perpetuation of one's social status (which depends on power which depends on money) is the motivation.
As an example. Mao bragged that he only made about $300 a month. Yet he controlled and ordered the entire resources of China. Real power is not ownership, but control, That is why you don't find the names of oligarchs and plutocrats on yachts, planes, vehicles and property. It is all about control.
We peons who live day to day, and scrabble for survival and/or comfort see the world through the eyes of money. The plutocrats see money as a tool, as a gardener sees a spade as a tool,or a carpenter a hammer and saw as a tool.
For them it is all about power, and the ability to use the resources of the world, nation, city, state, community or corporation to not only ,maintain and enhance their position, but to eliminate or at least control the environment in which they exercise power and control the population and thus resources.
My uncle was a southern Baptist preacher, and made much ado about earning a pittance of an allowance, however the church paid for his residence, his auto, his insurance, his gas, his travel and sundry expenses, he ate free daily by visitation at dinner time, and come his birthday and Christmas he was swamped with expensive presents and monetary gifts.
To your point, how right wing billionaires have shared interests with the Russian trolls, dividing our country through the white grievance politics, campaigning for Trump, attacking public education, voter suppression, anti vaxx, and anti mask. There was a time Republicans were all..... better dead then red, now they are the red party.
Not just the bilionaires though. The really treacherous alliance is between the Evangelicals, who would rather be Russian than liberal, and Russia.
As regards Russia I can't overstate the symbiotic relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the State. It is Charlemagne and the Pope times 10.
Off topic, but on the subject of the Koch's. DJT and Trump have more than one thing in common, one glaring thing is they both have fathers named Fred. Fred Koch made his fortune working for Stalin, building oil wells and refineries in the 1930's, apparently he fell in love with authoritarianism, which is disguised as libertarianism today.
The 1936 Soviet Constitution, Article 12 states (in essence) if you don't work you don't eat, and that is pure 100% Libertarianism, there is more on which I could expound but TL:DR
the Russians are stirring our social divisions, but the culture war predates Russian interference by centuries, It started with theocratic rule in Massachusetts and plantation living in Virginia.
American Evangelicals find a natural ally in the Russian Orthodox Church, they are both patriarchal, misogynistic and homophobic. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Government are interdependent, joined at the hip. During the Soviet era the priests were KGB and filed reports on confessions, nothing has changed. The KGB certainly hasn't,other than renaming itself the FSB.
The Russian secret police, be it Tsarist, Communist or Putinist serves one purpose, unfailingly, and that is to serve the masters of the state.
Timothy Snyder’s book The Road to Unfreedom answers many of these questions. It was published in 2018 yet reads like it was written yesterday. Explains Russias role in Brexit, our 2016 election and the war in Ukraine among other issues.
Thank you for the investigations and writing you’re doing.
Thanks Lasita!
The money behind the CRT push. Who is really funding it and why? What are the benefits of getting parents riled up at their local school boards? What larger purpose does it serve?
This is a difficult nut to crack but we made a little headway in this piece: https://popular.info/p/the-obscure-foundation-funding-critical?s=w
I'm continue to look for similar leads but a lot of the funding is very opaque, by design
Would be very interesting to see the Venn diagram overlap of dark money funding the anti public education movement AND voter suppression and capitol insurrection. The attack on public education seems to run hand in hand with the attack on our democracy. Same right wing billionaire underwriters, Uihlein, Koch, Bradley, and Ricketts. And those attacks have definitely gotten hyper local, with the wealthy underwriting extremists candidates in small towns across our country. It would be great if the media covered the David and Goliath stories of true grassroots volunteers defeating these well funded and politically connected candidates.
One investigative source that under 14 people were spreading a massive amount of disinformation on Facebook.
Accountability for the now 780 billion we will spend on "defense". Does it worry anyone that Russia which is suppose to be a considerable threat has almost been roundly defeated by Ukraine. Sort of begs the question on why we spend so much. Also the US has lost the last 3 wars they were involved in. If the US defense budget rises at its current last 3 year rate how long will it take to bankrupt the US. Probably much sooner than Social Security.
Just want to commend you on your fabulous work.
Thank you Allison.
WHY is the USPS still so screwed up, why is DeJoy still around, and why are they purchasing thousands more of the terrible old mail trucks they've been using instead of being forced to buy electric?
This is a decent explanation from the Chicago Sun Times: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/1/23/22889471/postmaster-louis-dejoy-manages-to-hang-on-to-job-biden-ouster-editorial
Thanks for this link, Judd. Why would Biden nominate someone like Kan to the board? I guess we need to poke Biden.
Gross. Thanks for that link. Still, gross.
Federal law bars the President from terminating the Postmaster General under any circumstances. In 1970, Congress established a nine member Board of Governors who are nominated by the President & confirmed by the Senate. Once confirmed to the board, they can only be removed by the President “for cause.” (They serve seven year terms.) The Board of Governors selects the Postmaster General, who is not subject to Senate approval. The Postmaster General can only be removed by the Board, though it need not justify its decision. Right now the Board is dominated by Trump employees.
There are 11 members of the Board, 6 required for a quoram. Current membership is four Republicans appointed by Trump and 4 appointed by Biden, two of which are independents (and I have to ask why, as an independent is another way of saying Republican), there are two vacancies which Biden could appoint, but hasn't and that is the question that needs answering. Why hasn't Biden appointed to Democrats to the Board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Governors_of_the_United_States_Postal_Service
CHANGE THAT LAW! We should not be still suffering under Trumps thumb! It is ridiculous that such overtly destructive practices continue.
Changing a law means that it has to go through the Senate, however that is a double edged law.
I second this topic!
I third this topic. Biden now controls the Board of Governors, yet has done nothing to get rid of DeJoy, and that stinks. WTF is going on?
He's appointed one new person for the board, no? Does this give him control? That DeJoy didn't buy electric vehicles for the postal truck fleet is completely unacceptable.
He has appointed four, but there are still two vacancies, if he appointed them he would have control of the board. He hasn't, they are still vacancy giving DeJoy control of the board, because he is one vote and there are four Trump appointees.
Excellent point. Why is Biden ignoring DeJoy? This speaks a lot about Biden.
I think this speaks a lot primarily about Biden's AGE. You are not as quick at 78/79 as you were at 50-55 for sure. And you can tell how stiff he is by his walk. Plus, it isn't as if Joe hasn't been through hella lot - from the death of one child and his first wife, to the cancer death of Beau Biden.
Veterans Homelessness a big problem. Why can't the Armed Services do more to help Veterans as they leave military life? Surely, they can provide a week or two of preparation for civilian life, educational opportunities, counseling etc. This should not be the VA's mission.
Neglect of veterans goes way back before the VA was created. See Jonathan Katz's book about General Smedley Butler, "Gangsters of Capitalism". Gov't leaders have always considered injured vets as collateral damage, while the military finds ever better ways to cripple them.
More news about the FACT that there really isn't a reason for the inflation. Companies are making record profits!!!
For those that missed it, we covered that topic here: https://popular.info/p/how-concentrated-corporate-power?s=w
Obviously there is plenty more to explore in this area.
Agree...tie the price increases to their financial statements and statements made in earnings reports.
With all the due attention to events of January 4-7 by the Committee & DOJ and others, I REALLY think some attention must be paid back to 2020 when DJT first started to float the 'worry' the election would be stolen...The more facts can be brought to light to establish early planning stages, the more the prosecution of the 1/6 miscreants will be helped. And even if those facts are being developed already by 1/6 & DOJ, maybe there is enough in the public domain [or findable] to warrant an early 'expose'??
Excellent and thanks for the link - I KNEW it was in the ether == I hope there's more of a push to show how this was planned and the rails greased long before Nov., or even Jan.
better link = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/27/honest-elections-project-conservative-voting-restrictions - tho if you google 'honest elections project' there are all sorts of articles...thanks!
I don't know if t can be investigated, but I'd love to know what members of the pro-Russia Sedition Caucus can be tied directly to Russia.
So many good suggestions here, and I don't envy you having to pick. I love the way you drill down, though, and you often uncover what the three major papers I subscribe to either miss or ignore. Maybe our future depends on not having to trust large corporate entities for our news.
Thank you!
I live in Florida. Ron DeSantis appears to be running a pay to play operation. Examples that are documented.
1. Joe Walsh, Key West businessman, contributed $1,000,000 to Ron’s campaign. Afterward Ron and his Republican followers in the legislature passes a convoluted bill gutting Key West’s voter referendum controlling cruise ship traffic. Cruise ships are back, benefiting Joe Walsh financially, and against the will over the voters.
2. When Covid vaccines were 1st available and in short supply, DeSantis steered the initial vaccines to Ocean Edge in the Florida Keys, home to wealthy Republicans. DeSantis received two $250,000 donations from two residents within the month.
3. Florida has lots of Russian property owners and business people. DeSantis has refused to divest Florida from any Russian investments. It is known that Russians support Ron DeSantis. In 2018 after supporting DeSantis there is documentation from Russians wanting to know when they would get there business related licenses. Pay to play.
4. DeSantis is visibly a right wing culture warrior, but his real story is power and money. As Popular Information does so well, please follow the money supporting DeSantis’ political aspirations. My opinion is that DeSantis cares little for the public. Thank you.
Yes please. The money behind DeSantis’ hard swing to the right and rise in power. If not for family, job, friends, I would move from Florida.
It’s Ocean Reef in the Keys, not Ocean Edge. Sorry.
Social media and the spread of disinformation. This is poisoning the foundations of our society, not to mention cultural norms. It's always "follow the money" in our exploitative form of capitalism, and I suspect the same is true in social media corporations. How much are they crossing the line for more viewers with scandalous, wild conspiracy rhetoric, etc. Corrupt social media has clearly shaped the "thinking" of trumpers, for example. Capitalism has become "bent" when large multi-national corporations became the norm. I was an entrepreneur and am a capitalist but with a belief in the safety net and rule of law. [The huge amounts made by CEOs and top executives, even when they screw up, is obscene.] But I don't think it's only about money, but also power.
The liquefied natural gas lobby. Why are we talking about new infrastructure
to deliver LNG to Europe when it won't come online for another 5 years? The IAC says we should build no new fossil fuel infrastructure, and Europe should be focused on renewable energy. It appears the US is being greedy and short sighted and I'm curious what the lobbies and representatives are behind that push.
I read that all of Brett Kavanaugh's debt was mysteriously paid off before Supreme Court nomination. I believe he answered a few questions about it, but I don't think the money trail was ever truly investigated. Not sure if it's even possible to find out.
There hasn't been a direct answer but the evidence suggests the debt was paid off by Kavanaugh's parents: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/09/heres-the-truth-about-brett-kavanaughs-finances/
Thanks for this. I’ve been wondering, and continue to.
Excellent point.
Mitch McConnell -- he is behind a lot of the damage to our country, yet gets to hide in the background. How has he built up so much power? Who funds him, did he really win the last election, what about his wife's global business, how he delays and obstructs the business of Congress getting done, how many bills sit on his desk, enabling of Trump, etc.
McConnell has immense power and benefits from dark money. But I will say that he did win his last election. It's Kentucky, one of America's most Republican states. It's important not to get sucked into claims of election fraud without evidence.
This is not to say election fraud never occurs. One of the first big stories I covered in this newsletter was brazen election fraud in North Carolina: https://popular.info/p/exclusive-absentee-ballot-envelopes?s=w
I agree. Mitch must havre a horrible underbelly.
I second this one.
How common is it for elected officials to delay reporting to prison after being sentenced? In Fall River, former mayor Jasiel Correia was sentenced to serve six years for corruption. This sentence was handed down in September 2021. He has yet to be sent to prison. He has received multiple extensions and people are getting frustrated. The longer he stays out of prison, the bigger the belief that he will never go, thus never having to pay for his crimes. Is this common? Or is justice for the victims of governmental corruption really about who you know?
It does happen, especially if there is an appeal pending.
no appeal in this case. Just requests for delays. Usually citing COVID in the prison?
He filed his appeal today, on the very last day of it possibly being filed. Trying to run out the darn prison clock.
But not to ordinary citizens without political connections and wealth. Appeals are made from Jail or Prison.
The J6 committee needs some investigation, as it is too timid and"cautious", letting this drag out until overtaken by events like the upcoming election, which will shift the house to Republican as things now stand. And worse, they have not used their full power and authority to compel attendance, instead timidly referring subpoena's to Garland where they will of course die, when they have the power to use the Sgt at Arms to go out and arrest the perps and witnesses, as the did during the Teapot Dome scandal.
I'm not sure what the time was between the conviction of NY State Senator Sheldon Silver and his reporting to prison, but I was shocked to learn during the pandemic that he was still at home. Later, I learned he died in prison, but I'm not sure how long he was there. Same issue.
As I recall, he was still using a NY State car even after conviction.
The kochtapus has bought my county, Douglas County, Colorado. They poured hundreds of thousands into a non-partisan school board race, taking over our school board in an election based on mask mandates and CRT. I know this is happening all over the country. We have no liberal barrel of money to fight them at the ballot box, however, we have dug deep to launch legal challenges to some of their malfeasance since getting into office, most notably so far by winning a lawsuit against the new board members for violating the Colorado Open Meetings Law.
The Supreme Court & use of shadow docket/per curiam often decisions w/o arguement, few opinions
BuckleyV Valeo decided this way, money & politics, fractured ruling but clear push of $$ as speech - anti- constitutional concept. Also elimination of forced labor in prisons
Why is AG Merrick Garland not doing his job? Why is he dragging his feet about the jan6 committee's charges of contempt when they refuse to comply with the subpoenas that they were issued by the committee???
Merrick Garland and DOJ are conspicuously quiet regarding actions they could be taking on Jan 6 conspirators AND the results of the Mueller report. In fact, statute of limitations has expired on one of Mueller’s items. Where is MG and DOJ?
Why can’t we as a nation treat our animals better specially turn all our shelters to no kill It says so much about us being careless about life
Yes. It would be great to see the AKC exposed for their enablement of puppy millsa and any advances to help homeless animals.
Also Humane Soc & SPCA still support euthanasia (founded on it) murder of dogs & deeply wrong with modern alternatives
It appears that PI excels at recognizing emergent negativity to respond quickly and effectively. I have read the comments and suggestions that were here when I arrived, and agree with Ed Konikowski about homeless vets. Much of the rest is exasperation based on a failure to understand or accept American politics, which will not change any time soon. I would recommend investigation the far right, Q-Anon, ammosexuality, armed "militias," child abuse, domestic violence, killer cops, and much more, but this will likely lead nowhere. These people are intellectually deficient, emotionally disturbed, and morally bankrupt; their behavior will never change. Keep doing the great work you're already doing, and know that your efforts are worthwhile, effective, and appreciated.
Thanks Bill!
My pleasure, Judd. Thank you.
Let’s do a deep dive into DA Alvin Bragg and why he decided not to prosecute Trump and his organization for fraud. Someone got to him for him to make those 2 well respected lawyers to quit.
I agree with Phil. I would love to understand what's up with Garland and the DOJ and what looks like their complete disregard for the evidence that exists that the former president (and his minions) attempted to overturn a free and fair election. It makes no sense to me. Without a federal legal pushback on what took place, we open ourselves up to another coup in the future and the end of a democratic government as we know it.
Judd, so many comments I wandered off the rails - honestly, the thing that has been bothering me the most in the last many months is the lack of support for Biden...yes he speaks from the heart... because he HAS one, unlike too many of our politicians in office. He is getting blamed for a ton of shit that is not his fault. EVen the CNN team seems to look at him with critical eyes most of the time. It is making me weary and frustrated. Thanks for listening.
So every now and then, I download the Monthly Energy Review from the US Dept of Energy and try to turn it into a readable Sources and Uses Map of the US Energy System. My most recent version comes from the 2019 data. I picked the most recent non-Covid year. And here's the most interesting part of what I find.
Our electricity generation sector is powered 60% by fossil fuels, 40% by Nukes and Renewables.
Our Household Sector is still powered 77% by Fossil Fuels.
Our Commercial Sector is still powered 77% by Fossil Fuels.
Our Industrial Sector gets 85% of its energy from Fossil Fuels.
And our Transportation Sector gets 95% of its energy from Fossil Fuels.
Doesn't sound like very rapid progress, does it? Glacial progress might be a better description.
And here's the thing. The household sector doesn't use fossil fuels because it has to. It uses fossil fuels simply because its installed appliances require fossil fuels. My wife and I got our Annapolis home completely off fossil fuels in 2015. Our gas furnace was dying and we replaced it with an electricity powered geothermal heat pump. The hot water heater was electric from the start. We put in an electric oven and magnetic induction stovetop - great temp control and no gas fumes! And our second floor was heated and cooled with an air source heat pump that sat outside. We signed on with BGE for an All Wind Electricity Generation contract. We disconnected our gas line at the end of June 2015. Our 2015-2016 utility billing was a bit lower than our 2014-2015 billing had been.
But here's the simple point almost no one talks about. For both the residential and the commecial sectors, the only thing that has to happen to eliminate the consumption of fossil fuels is the replacement of gas-fueled appliances with electric appliances. That's it. There are long-team leasing funders that will help homeowners do this. But I do have a caution. I used to be a union officer in an 800 member cab driver's union in Denver. Listening to our members was always vital to the success of anything we tried to do. I've heard Senator Coons at Brookings pitch the merits of Carbon Taxes, and it's plain to me that he's never done any focus groups with housewives on what it takes to convert our homes from fossil fuels to electric power. Quite frankly, our side is not being led by people who've really taken the time to understand the guts of the clean energy journey. The other side doesn't want it, but our side doesn't know how to think about it, or how to do it. So, Judd, I recommend that you also spend some time on our side's superficiality weaknesses. -Steve Johnson
Thanks for this Steve.
Wow! That is quite a resource you just got! I would second that form really strong reporting — really gifts that would keep on giving! Thank you.
That’s pretty fascinating. Hope there is more exploration here by Judd. THANK YOU, Steve, for posting this.
With all of these suggestions, you're going to be busy for a while. Nothing more to add except that you are an amazing journalist and I really appreciate what you do.
Thanks Alana!
Many corporations are raking in record profits that go right in the pockets of ownership. At the same time, they're complaining about supply chain woes, stoking inflation fears, and pushing blame onto union members. (See NYT supply-chain-woes article full of anti-dockworker propaganda yesterday.) Why aren't companies making record profits investing them to make supply chains more resilient?
Robert Reich published a short video about Centi-Billionaires, since we now have at least 7 individuals who have a net worth over 100 billion dollars. The rapidity with which individuals and corporations have massively increased their profit (many 3 time higher than pre-pandemic) is astounding. This has been going on for too many decades, and the right is clearly in favor of its continuation. I'm interested in ideas and policies that will reverse this seemingly inevitable trend and in finding ways to pass policies that treat all with dignity and respect.
Tough to do in late stages capitalism.
Perhaps the "late stages of capitalism" will lead to a total economic collapse.
Perhaps but if we don't have a viable progressive force to lead in that moment, I'm afraid we are in real trouble. The closest I've seen to a true force for change in the USA is Black Lives Matter - thinking back to the summer of 2020 after George Floyd's murder - that was hope. White folks marching for Black Lives Matter. We must come together and build a broad based, multi-racial, multi-class movement for change. Before it's too late!
I couldn't agree with you more - but the cultural war issues on the right have made their racism and their fascism plain to the naked eye.
There continues to be an attack from conservatives and the Right against public schools. The motives appear to allow the private sector be to get a piece of the large dollars allocated for public education while being able to gain control over how and what is being taught. It does not appear that these efforts are in the publics best interest.
What always makes me mad is companies like AT&T, Comcast (which has a virtual monopoly) and Puget Sound Energy (which has an actual monopoly) spend money to lobby state legislatures, Congress and federal and state regulatory bodies for policies that are against their customers' interests, and they pay for it with money their customers pay. I get why they do it -- because they can -- but it's really crappy. And because a lot of it is state-level, tracking it is a big lift, even for outlets like this one, trying to track for 50 states. David Cay Johnston has done a lot of work on power companies controlling the California Public Utilities Commission (is that what it's called? I forget) but there are many more.
I want to understand what are the forces behind the push to ban abortion and criminalize abortion doctors and punish those who help a woman get an abortion. Who is gaining from this and what are they gaining? It is such a coordinated attack that there must be some very organized and well-funded forces behind it and at least a few whose pockets are being lined.
I would also like to see this.
I just wanted to say you guys ran a GREAT article yesterday on the military-industrial complex. Please keep on this!
Thanks Katie!
Former Sen. David Perdue’s name is on several large corporate and individual donor lists from his (failed) re-election, he comes up again on the list of people Trump spoke to on 1/6. His was a huge money campaign. What’s with Perdue?
I would like to hear more about the funding and planning of the 1/6 insurrection going back to early 2020 when they were putting it out there that the election would be rigged if he lost. Also, is DOJ doing anything about all of this?
What the hell is going on with DOJ and Alvin Bragg and the Jan 6 Committee? Is anybody ever going to be indicted for anything, or dragged into Congress to face contempt charges? It's getting late!
The Council for National Policy (CNP) as reported in Anne Nelson’s groundbreaking book SHADOW NETWORK needs to be examined for its likely connection to 1/6 and especially Ginni T.
What is the biggest national funded program or mandate that really serves no purpose?
Why is Leonard Peltier, the longest serving Indigenous political prisoner in the US, whose prosecuting attorney has admitted was wrongfully convicted, not been granted clemency?
Can you discuss Medicare for All and why proposals such as this keep getting shut down because of lobbying efforts by insurance/healthcare lobby? Additionally, why we continue to fund war and the military-industrial-corporate-Congress machine with no concern for deficits and policies that benefit people get shut down.
trump is endorsing State Officials who are challenging GOP politicians who refused to overturn the election. These offices are important if the next Presidential Election is disputed. i.e. Sec of State, Attorney Gen, Gov, State Legislators. Watch OUT!
Many pesticides banned in other countries are still being used in the US (see: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/united-states-pesticides-banned-other-countries). The question is why. None of the articles I have surfaced source the suppliers/manufacturers of these pesticides. If I could, I would try to surface the big money and corporate interests that are lobbying to keep these pesticides in use. Is this something that Popular would be interested in taking on?
Holding the Biden admin accountable for their actively broken promises (ex. deportations, student debt cancellation) and hypocritical lip service (ex. claiming to care about climate change while expanding offshore drilling and pipeline construction)
I will absolutely hold the Biden administration accountable. See my piece this week on the Defense budget.
Two things I'd love to see: (1) a report on groups that are organizing boycotts of/divestment from the companies you've been reporting on and (2) reporting on social-media activism (i.e., FaceBook/Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, other message platforms) that examines what actually works and what doesn't (for some context, there was an article in the New Yorker about 15 years ago--more or less!--that compared social-media activism to the civil-rights activism of the 1950s-1960s and, more recently, an op-ed in the NY Times called "Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, and the Insidious Meme-ification of War"--https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/26/opinion/culture/social-media-war-ukraine.html). Also, I second the idea about a report on the US Postal Service & DeJoy. Thanks so much for what you do!
Kim (founding member, Hold the Line Maryland: www.holdthelinemaryland.org, where democracy activists from anywhere can find useful resources).
After reading through a lot of the thread, I would love to learn these top three:
1. The juxtaposition of oil companies’ profits and subsidies
2. Who funds Mitch McConnell’s power
3. Deep dive into Ginni and Clarence Thomas
Can’t thank you enough for the work you all do. Today’s question prompted me to make an extra donation
Thanks!
Hear, hear. Nice summation.
My State (Tennessee) is proposing all kinds of crazy legislation i.e. '
Tenn. legislation would withhold funds for schools who don’t prove student athletes are cisgender' (from the Boston Globe. Who is funding these state legislators? 20% of them are currently under investigation or indictment.