Week In The News: First Debate, 9/11 Veto Override, Aleppo Under Fire (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Debate politics this week, as Trump and Clinton meet head to head for the first time in the full spotlight. No knockout blows. Surveys give it to Hillary, but millennials are still holding out on her. Donald trips on a woman problem. In Aleppo, the bombs rain down. In Hoboken, a commuter train injures 100, kills one. Shimon Peres is dead. Wells Fargo’s chief is dunned $40 million. This hour On Point, our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2016/09/30/debate-aleppo-veto-peres

Friday News Roundup – Domestic (Diane Rehm Show 2016-09-30)

The presidential debates are underway, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump clashing Monday night on jobs, taxes, national security…and on one of Trump’s former beauty queens. Meanwhile, the candidates are back on the campaign trail, wooing undecided and swing-state voters as their advisers work on strategies for the remaining debates. Meanwhile, Congress serves President Obama his first-ever veto override, giving the families of 9/11 victims permission to sue Saudi Arabia. And the U.S. government will keep running — for now — after Congress passes a spending bill to avoid a shutdown. A panel of journalists joins guest host Joshua Johnson for analysis of the week’s top national news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-09-30/friday-news-roundup-domestic

Friday News Roundup – International (Diane Rehm Show 2016-09-30)

Heads of state attend the funeral of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres. Secretary of State John Kerry threatens to pull out of talks with Russia over a collapsed cease-fire in Syria. The U.S. plans to deploy 600 more troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State. Dutch prosecutors link Russia to the passenger plane explosion over Ukraine back in 2014. Saudi Arabia responds after Congress passes a vetoed bill for 9/11 victims. And, the president of the Philippines compares himself to Hitler in his eagerness to kill drug users there. A panel of journalists joins guest host Joshua Johnson for analysis of the week’s top international news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-09-30/friday-news-roundup-international

Top U.S. & World Headlines — September 30, 2016

Interview:
https://youtu.be/ebbFXpjsBtA

Trump Blunders, Hillary and Millennials, Gary Johnson Gaffe: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at Trump's post-debate controversies, Hillary's trouble with millennials and Gary Johnson's inability to name a world leader.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/37P_fGVSumY

Is the Rise of “Nones” Actually the Decline of Catholics?

The Public Religion Research Institute is out with another fascinating report on one of the most significant religious trends of our time: the dramatic rise in disaffiliation, or, as some call them, the “nones.”

PPRI found that a fully a quarter of all Americans, and a whopping 39% of young adults, now say they have no religious affiliation, making the unaffiliated the largest “religious” group in a country long known for its high levels of religiosity. And while the rise of the “nones” will continue to make headlines and shape culture for a long time to come, there is another largely unnoticed trend lurking in the numbers: just how much the growth in the nones has been fueled by the disaffiliation of Roman Catholics....
http://religiondispatches.org/is-the-rise-of-nones-actually-the-decline-of-catholics/

Scientific Facts Are Not Up For Debate

The Secular Coalition for America released the following statement after last night’s presidential debate.

Last night at Hofstra University, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump briefly discussed the issue of climate change. The short exchange centered around whether Donald Trump has claimed that “the concept of global warming is a hoax created by and for the Chinese.” Trump denied the allegation but the record shows that he tweeted precisely that statement and on numerous other occasions made statements expressing similar doubts about the reality of climate change. This comes less than a week after 375 concerned scientists, including 30 Nobel laureates, penned an open letter drawing attention to the serious threat posed by climate change. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has acknowledged the reality of climate change and the challenge it presents. The stark difference between the candidates on the issue was factored into their scores on the Secular Coalition’s 2016 Presidential Voter Guides....
http://www.secularvaluesvoter.org/2016/09/27/scientific-facts-are-not-up-for-debate/

Shrinking Donald

Priorities USA Action was founded in 2011 to educate and engage Americans to speak out and stand strong against the outdated views of the far right that threaten our democracy and undermine the middle class.

Between now and Election Day we will share stories of middle-class Americans across the country and educate voters about why Hillary Clinton is the clear choice for President. We can and must stop Donald Trump....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFVAjB-TN-A

#BlackLivesMatter - Why Shouldn't There Be Riots?

Civil unrest in the wake of police brutality should compel us to condemn and address the root causes of the protests, not the protesters themselves....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhVe8TFk18c&spfreload=10

Gay teen sues his Catholic school for depriving him of his senior year

Last year, Lance Sanderson’s story garnered national attention. The senior at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis was told that he could not bring a boy from another school to the homecoming dance. Because he then brought the school negative publicity, he was asked not to return to school at all — he spent his senior year taking online courses, deprived of any extracurricular activities or even the chance to walk at graduation. Now, he and his parents are suing CBHS for breach of contract, emotional distress, and violations of Title IX....
https://thinkprogress.org/gay-teen-sues-catholic-school-75735b1dd9b1#.oi9bqi3f4

CNN: Barney Frank: Tea party outmaneuvered Dems

He was one of the most effective legislators in Washington, an icon of Democratic politics. Now Barney Frank says the left has been outmaneuvered by the tea party and the populist right.

"To my great regret, the tea party movement has had much more impact on American politics than Occupy Wall Street," Frank, former congressman from Massachusetts, said to David Axelrod on "The Axe Files" podcast, produced by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN....
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/barney-frank-axe-files/index.html

Salon: From climate change to jihad: U.S. recognizes security importance of battling global warming

On Wednesday, President Obama took another step toward securing his climate legacy. This time his focus wasn’t on energy, public lands or international diplomacy. It was on national security and making sure the U.S. military is prepared for a more unstable future.

The White House published a presidential memorandum setting up a timetable for more than 20 federal agencies to come up with a plan to put climate science into action when it comes to national security. “It’s not a new direction, but it is reinforcing and formalizing a direction in which the U.S. government was already headed,” Sherri Goodman, a fellow at the nonpartisan Wilson Center, said. “That’s how you turn concepts into action in the government. You have to have plans to get agencies to act.”...
http://www.salon.com/2016/09/25/how-climate-change-leads-to-jihad-government-recognizes-security-importance-of-battling-global-warming_partner/

FORTUNE: President Obama Praises Both Protest and Patriotism at Smithsonian African-American Museum Opening

President Barack Obama praised the coexistence of “protest and love of country” on Saturday during the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, an occasion marked by reflections on the current racial tensions across the country.

“This is the place to understand how protest and love of country don’t merely coexist but inform each other, how men can proudly win the gold for their country but still insist on raising a black-gloved fist, how we can wear an ‘I can’t breathe’ T-shirt and still grieve for fallen police officers,” Obama said, addressing thousands of visitors who had gathered on the National Mall for the ribbon cutting ceremony, the culmination of a century of work aimed at commemorating the contributions of African Americans....
http://fortune.com/2016/09/24/obama-smithsonian-opening/

The Texas Tribune: One Day After Endorsement, Cruz Refuses to Say Trump is Fit for the Presidency

One day after endorsing Donald Trump for president, Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz refused Saturday to say whether he thinks the Republican nominee is fit to lead the country.

In an interview with the Texas Tribune’s Evan Smith, Cruz said he endorsed Trump because the November election is a binary choice between Hillary Clinton and Trump. The junior senator from Texas and unsuccessful presidential candidate said he is voting Trump because he worries Clinton would appoint liberal justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and do damage to the country.

Smith asked: “Do you consider Donald Trump to be fit to be president?” Cruz paused, then answered: “I think we have one of two choices.”...
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/24/one-day-after-endorsement-cruz-refuses-say-trump-f/

The New York Times: Opinion | Why Obama Is Right on Clean Energy

Last year, President Obama took aim at the nation’s largest source of carbon dioxide pollution, announcing a plan that would reduce these climate-changing emissions from the country’s power plants by one-third by 2030, from 2005 levels. It is an ambitious proposal to rein in a pollutant that has escaped regulation. But the president was absolutely right in taking this action. As he pointed out, these plants emit more carbon dioxide than our cars, planes and homes combined, and it is this greenhouse gas that is the principal culprit behind the alarming warming of our planet....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/opinion/why-obama-is-right-on-clean-energy.html?_r=0

Top U.S. & World Headlines — September 29, 2016

Interview:
https://youtu.be/iJe9i6nt7o0

The Daily Show - Donald Trump's Post-Debate Spin

After the first presidential debate, Donald Trump tries to blame a faulty microphone for his poor performance against Hillary Clinton.
https://youtu.be/1L1y044HORI

Anti Donald Trump ads aired by Priorities USA Action during August 2016

These anti-Trump ads produced for the Pro-Clinton Super PAC Priorities USA were aired during the month of August, 2016....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQc6VBzZ0kI

Troll armies rig polls to deceive you into believing Trump won first debate

A scientific CNN/ORC poll conducted after Monday night’s presidential debate found that Hillary Clinton won by a 62 percent–27 percent margin. That result was corroborated by Republican pollster Frank Luntz’s focus group. So you might’ve been surprised to see Donald Trump gloating today about dominating last night’s proceedings, citing unscientific online polls as proof.....
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-online-polls-first-presidential-debate-4chan-79aee6e0fc50#.ybqe8hhjg

The Daily Show - Sparks Fly at the First Trump-Clinton Presidential Debate

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton go head-to-head in an intense presidential debate covering foreign policy and race relations in the U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUbzT25kZ6s&spfreload=10

Trump Could Be in Big Trouble

Our reporter Tierney Sneed spent the day reporting on the latest information on the Trump Foundation. We now have clear evidence of self-dealing in the payouts made by the Foundation and as of yesterday pretty clear evidence that Trump has used the Foundation to avoid paying taxes on income. The combination could spell real legal trouble for Trump, possible even criminal penalties. In short, you're not allowed to use a family foundation as a piggy bank or slush fund for tax avoidance and personal or business purposes....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-could-be-in-big-trouble

The Week: Two words for Jill Stein supporters: Court appointments

This is the best argument for Clinton skeptics to vote Hillary...
http://theweek.com/articles/650677/two-words-jill-stein-supporters-court-appointments

Bible Studies With Atheist Al - Episode One - Exodus

It's that time again, so grab your Bible and crack it open! Get ready to learn about the story of Moses and the Israelites; one of valiance, triumph, and mass genocide. If you liked this video, be sure to let me know in the comments below. Peace be with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6-P_NMbHQ&feature=youtu.be

Wells Fargo Scandal Is Just The Tip of the Iceberg For Corporate Corruption

This week Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf was questioned by the U.S. Senate banking committee about a scandal in which Wells Fargo employees opened roughly 2 million checking and credit accounts without customers' knowledge. Sam Seder explains the scandal with the author of the book, The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One, Professor William Black....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pt9LJFPmHQ&feature=youtu.be
Interview:

How Did Chicago Get So Violent?

Did the effort to eradicate the city’s gangs in the 1990s inadvertently lead to its bloody present?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_next_20/2016/09/is_chicago_s_ghastly_murder_rate_the_result_of_its_1990s_anti_gang_policies.html

Donald Trump's Police State - The Atlantic

On many subjects, Donald Trump has given no indication of what he’d do if elected, but he has fleshed out at least two specific elements of his domestic agenda:

Asked what he would do about black-on-black crime, Trump “called for the broad use of the contentious stop-and-frisk policing strategy in America’s cities.” As Trump himself put it, “I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to.”

At multiple campaign rallies, he has suggested that he would round up and deport the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. And in his formal speech on immigration policy, he listed various types of people he would round up and deport that total at least half that number: criminals, visa overstays, recent arrivals, and anyone receiving public benefits. The press has yet to clarify what this would mean in practice....
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trump-stop-and-frisk-blacks-round-up-millions-of-hispanics/501032/?utm_source=feed

The College Conservative: Five Political Podcasts to Help Cut Through Campaign Clutter

With the campaign season in its final months, college students everywhere are sure to be on the receiving end of a barrage of information from the left and right. With all of this campaign clutter on TV, in newspapers, and online, it’s hard to find good information on the election and the presidency in general. Here are some podcasts that might help save you some time and free you from having to scour for hours to be an educated voter....
http://thecollegeconservative.com/2016/09/24/five-political-podcasts-to-help-cut-through-campaign-clutter/?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss

It's No Joke: God Is Running For President

He's got a letter from his doctor and has staked out strong positions on the issues. All God needs now is to choose a running mate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu0rRi5Ut8k&feature=youtu.be

Keith Scott’s widow recorded video of police killing her husband

Video of the moment Charlotte Mecklenburg Police killed Keith Scott on Tuesday afternoon has been published by NBC News.

No gun is visible on the ground near Scott’s feet in the video, as shown in a photograph that police have claimed showed the gun they say Scott had in his hand when he was killed. The moment the photograph would have been taken is not shown in NBC’s edit of the video, which fades out with officers in different positions. A call to CMPD for clarification was not immediately returned....
https://thinkprogress.org/keith-scotts-widow-recorded-video-of-police-killing-her-husband-7dc538b3e750#.a330ht223

Tribes in Canada and U.S. join forces against tar sands pipeline development

Dozens of native tribes from Canada and the United States have joined forces against Alberta’s tar sands crude oil transport with the signing of a treaty Thursday. Calling for a clean and sustainable economy, tribes said any further pipeline or rail development for Canadian tar sands puts indigenous territories and waterways at serious risk to toxic spills. In the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, tribes also said development “will unquestionably fuel catastrophic climate change.”...
https://thinkprogress.org/tribes-join-forces-against-tar-sands-15955ea90f72#.whuid4y55

Anti-Vaxx Mom Abandons the Movement After All Three of Her Kids Nearly Die From Rotavirus

An anti-vaccine mother explained how she changed her mind on inoculation after her own children became seriously ill from an easily prevented virus....
http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/anti-vaxx-mom-abandons-movement-after-all-three-her-kids-nearly-die-rotavirus

The Daily Show - Sparks Fly at the First Trump-Clinton Presidential Debate

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton go head-to-head in an intense presidential debate covering foreign policy and race relations in the U.S.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/aUbzT25kZ6s

Debate Fallout: A Closer Look

Interview:
https://youtu.be/dz5M-DdiqIA

After The First Debate, Trump Is Up 20 Points In Narnia

While a flurry of post-debate polls appear to favor Hillary Clinton, her Republican opponent prefers to use his own math.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/6YuI5T-gGlM

What Drives Trump Supporters?: Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild on Anger & Mourning of the Right

http://democracynow.org - In the wake of Monday night’s first presidential debate, the establishment Republican Party and conservative newspapers continue to distance themselves from Donald Trump amid increasing accusations of racism, sexism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. Today, former Virginia Republican Senator John Warner is reportedly slated to endorse Clinton.

This comes as Arizona’s largest newspaper, The Arizona Republic, has endorsed Hillary Clinton—marking the paper’s first time ever endorsing a Democratic candidate for president. The editorial board wrote, "Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president.

Never. … This year is different." For more, we speak with famed sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild. She has spent much of the past five years with some of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters, researching her new book, "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right."
Interview:
https://youtu.be/21ijh_LMw08

Top U.S. & World Headlines — September 27, 2016

Interview:
https://youtu.be/djmdIwxjCLs

$0 In Taxes

Priorities USA Action was founded in 2011 to educate and engage Americans to speak out and stand strong against the outdated views of the far right that threaten our democracy and undermine the middle class.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/svRpt0rM7OA

Why Donald Trump’s Russian Connection is a Huuuge Problem | The Closer with Keith Olbermann | GQ

It’s time for answers: What exactly is Donald Trump doing with—and for—Putin and the Russian government?
Interview:
https://youtu.be/daKZXYdYKT0

CNN's Reality Check Team vets the debate claims

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump clashed Monday in their first head-to-head debate of the general election season, with Trump in particular straying from the truth, CNN's Reality Check Team found. 

The team of reporters, researchers and editors across CNN listened throughout the debate and selected key statements from both candidates, rating them true; mostly true; true, but misleading; false; or it's complicated....
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/fact-check-presidential-debate/

14 things Trump will probably say during the debate that definitely aren’t true

The Commission on Presidential Debates, which organized Monday night’s debate, has said it’s inappropriate for moderators to fact check the candidates. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to get the moderator into essentially serving as the Encyclopedia Britannica,” Janet Brown, executive director of the commission told CNN.

This would appear to be an abdication of the basic responsibility of journalism, which is to inform the public. It also presents a particular challenge for a debate featuring Donald Trump. The New York Times reports that Trump has “unleashed a blizzard of falsehoods, exaggerations and outright lies in the general election, peppering his speeches, interviews and Twitter posts with untruths so frequent that they can seem flighty or random — even compulsive.”

If the debate commission won’t let Lester Holt do his job, we’ll do it for him. You can use this guide to fact check Trump during the debate....
https://thinkprogress.org/the-debate-moderator-wont-fact-check-trump-use-this-guide-to-do-it-yourself-c289380ceef4#.djaydx56u

Trump's supreme court picks: from Tea Party senator to anti-abortion crusader

Among 10 new names, one is an originalist, one a judicial traditionalist … and one said firing a hygienist for ‘tempting’ a dentist was not unlawful discrimination...
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/sep/24/donald-trump-supreme-court-nominations-names?cmp=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis: Hillary Clinton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrkPe-9rM1Q&feature=youtu.be

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on the Debate and the Stakes of the Race

President Obama's spokesman sits down with Keith Olbermann in a special edition of "The Closer"
Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=012qC9r11N8

Trump Campaign Chair Resigns After Racist Comments

Kathy Miller was the Ohio County Campaign Chair for Donald Trump, until she made some racist comments to a reporter. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct_7KJluOqY&spfreload=10
Interview:

Democrats are in deep trouble — even if Hillary Clinton wins

Since Obama's election, the Democratic Party has been obliterated at the state level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15WhOT_lQiA&feature=youtu.be

Stephen Colbert Reacts to the State of Emergency in Charlotte

The shooting of African Americans by police officers and the resulting community outrage seems to keep happening over and over again no matter how many times we do nothing....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFe501SZkvQ&feature=youtu.be

Feds investigating Trump advisor’s meeting with Russian officials seeking to influence U.S.

U.S. law enforcement is looking into Donald Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page’s meetings with high-ranking Russian officials this summer, Yahoo’s Michael Isikoff reports.

Page, who Trump said was one of his five foreign policy advisors last March, is suspected of communicating with “senior Russian officials” about “the possible lifting of economic sanctions” if Trump becomes president, Yahoo reports, citing “multiple sources who have been briefed on the issue.”...
https://thinkprogress.org/feds-investigating-trump-advisors-meeting-with-russian-officials-seeking-to-influence-u-s-a29a5f98d3b#.8x1js6au9

The Real Secret Behind Trump’s Terrorism Plan

…Is that there is no plan. Just a lot of Shakespearean bluster in the face of grave threats...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qm7Pmdhbco&feature=youtu.be

The myth of Gary Johnson

There are a lot of people planning to vote for Gary Johnson for president. He doesn’t have quite enough supporters to qualify him for the upcoming presidential debates. But recent polls show Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, attracting between 7 and 13 percent of voters.

You might think that Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico who ran for president as a Republican in 2012, would be attracting most of his support from Republicans. You would be wrong. A Quinnipiac Poll released earlier this month found Johnson drawing roughly equally from Republicans and Democrats....
https://thinkprogress.org/the-myth-of-gary-johnson-8f39a5688fe6#.83sg4thoy

Ohio conservatives are craving clean energy

A majority of Republican and conservative independent voters in the key battleground state of Ohio favor green energy, and would even tell Republican candidates to support renewable energy policies, a poll found.

Conducted earlier this month only on Republican and conservative independents, the poll found that 72 percent of these voters would advise Republican candidates to back renewable energy policies, the Plain Dealer reported.

A majority of voters — 62 percent — also said they’d back a standard requiring utilities to supply at least 5 percent renewable power within the next half a decade, according to the Public Opinion Strategies poll....
https://thinkprogress.org/ohio-conservatives-back-green-energy-a7d549008184#.7051oc62b

Pence Wants To 'Set Aside This Talk' Of Racism After Police Killings

Just days after two black men were fatally shot by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina, vice presidential hopeful Mike Pence on Thursday urged an audience of evangelical leaders to "set aside talk" of institutional racism, the Associated Press reported.

Speaking at a roundtable of pastors in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Pence said police officers are "the best of us" and the public should avoid focusing on talking about racism, which he called the "rhetoric of division."

"Donald Trump and I both believe that there's been far too much of this talk of institutional bias or racism in law enforcement," Pence said, according to the AP....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mike-pence-police-shootings-racism

'New York Times' Editor: 'We Owed It To Our Readers' To Call Trump Claims Lies

The New York Times recently published a story that examined the way that Donald Trump's presidential campaign promoted his tax plan. Trump had offered a big tax break to businesses, and his campaign told a leading business group he supported the tax break. He got their endorsement. Then his campaign told independent budget analysts he was against the same tax break.

The New York Times called this a lie — specifically, "the trillion-dollar lie."

The Times is using that word "lie" often in its coverage of Donald Trump, and Dean Baquet, the paper's executive editor, explains why on NPR's Morning Edition....
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/22/494919548/new-york-times-editor-we-owed-it-to-our-readers-to-call-trump-claims-lies?ft=nprml&f=1001

Donald Trump Cartoons

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/Donald-Trump/ss/Donald-Trump-Cartoons.htm?utm_campaign=kw_entertainment_22&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=con&utm_content=3216&kwp_0=221405&kwp_4=845207&kwp_1=416219

Hillary Clinton Jokes On 'Between Two Ferns' With Zach Galifianakis

In a new episode of Web comedy show Between Two Ferns, Hillary Clinton jokes about what she should wear at next Monday's debate, attending Donald Trump's wedding and Chelsea Clinton's friendship with Ivanka Trump.

Comedian host Zach Galifianakis asked the candidate a variety of (not surprisingly) irreverent questions — like what would happen if Clinton got pregnant in office and whether she ever thinks to herself, "Oh, maybe I should be more racist."

The candidate also said she is "not down" with President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. She supported the deal as secretary of state but has opposed it more recently. Here are some highlights from the interview....
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/22/495008808/watch-clinton-deadpans-on-between-two-ferns?ft=nprml&f=1001

The George W. Bush White House ‘Lost’ 22 Million Emails

For 18 months, Republican strategists, political pundits, reporters and Americans who follow them have been pursuing Hillary Clinton’s personal email habits, and no evidence of a crime has been found. But now they at least have the skills and interest to focus on a much larger and deeper email conspiracy, one involving war, lies, a private server run by the Republican Party and contempt of Congress citations—all of it still unsolved and unpunished.

Clinton’s email habits look positively transparent when compared with the subpoena-dodging, email-hiding, private-server-using George W. Bush administration. Between 2003 and 2009, the Bush White House “lost” 22 million emails. This correspondence included millions of emails written during the darkest period in America’s recent history, when the Bush administration was ginning up support for what turned out to be a disastrous war in Iraq with false claims that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and, later, when it was firing U.S. attorneys for political reasons....
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-million-emails-497373.html

Sorry, Your Fitness Tracker Is Probably Useless | Huffington Post

For young adults on a long-term healthy diet and exercise program, tracking activity with a wearable device may not lead to additional weight loss, according to a new study.

Over 24 months, people who used wearable activity trackers lost 2.4 kilograms (5.29 pounds) less than a group on a similar program but using a website to track their progress.

“We should not simply tell everyone to go and buy an activity monitor and that it will help them to lose weight,” said lead author John M. Jakicic of the University of Pittsburgh department of health and physical activity.

“Moreover, we should not send the message that these wearable technologies do not help with weight loss – there were some in our study for whom it made a difference,” Jakicic told Reuters Health by email. “There is so much more that we need to learn about how these devices lead to behavior change.”...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wearable-activity-trackers-may-not-boost-weight-loss_us_57e290a3e4b0e80b1b9f571d

People really really don’t trust Hillary to be absolutely perfect every single second

When you try and unpack the ‘off the charts’ Hillary unfavorables, you find yourself rummaging in a box of Styrofoam peanuts and not a lot else. The big gun of charges against Hillary, which people love to unload as conclusive and unassailable is the “I don’t trust her!” line. They then stand back and silently congratulate themselves for perceptiveness, while simultaneously subtly awarding themselves high marks for valuing trustworthiness.

The way they should actually be scoring themselves is as lazy repeaters of a GOP talking point, which, by the way, doesn’t even make much sense.

Don’t trust Hillary? What does that even mean? The GOP trusts Hillary about 100% to work against THEIR agenda. Why do you think they hate her so much?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2016/09/20/people-really-really-dont-trust-hillary-to-be-absolutely-perfect-every-single-second/?tid=hybrid_content_2_na&utm_term=.1b4ddeb3c99a#comments

Charlotte Cops Kill Man Who Was Allegedly Unarmed and Reading in Car Setting Off Protests

Police fatally shot an African-American man named Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday evening. According to the Charlotte Observer, officer Brentley Vinson, who is also African American, fired the shot that killed the 43-year-old father in the parking lot of the Village at College Downs apartment complex. Protests erupted at the site of the shooting, during which which “several dozen police officers in riot gear” fired tear gas into the crowd. Witnesses of the shooting and the officers involved give vastly different accounts of what actually transpired. In a statement released Tuesday night, CMPD officials say officers were looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they “observed a subject inside a vehicle” who “exited the vehicle armed with a firearm,” before getting back into the car. The account goes on to state that as police approached the vehicle, the man, now identified as Scott, “got back out of the vehicle armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject.”
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/charlotte-cops-kill-man-who-was-allegedly-unarmed-and-reading-car-setting-protests

Clinton: We're Safer When Police And Community Respect Each Other

During a campaign event in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton addressed the recent shootings of black men by police officers in Oklahoma and North Carolina, offering her condolences for the families.

"We are safer when communities respect the police and police respect communities," Clinton said, telling the crowd that Americans need to work together to "build trust" and end violence....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/clinton-shootings-tulsa-charlotte

Black Men May Have Cause To Run From Police, Massachusetts High Court Says

A black man who runs from police shouldn't necessarily be considered suspicious — and merely might be trying to avoid "the recurring indignity of being racially profiled," the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says.

The court made that observation as it overturned the conviction of a man who was charged with carrying a firearm without a permit after he ran from a Boston police officer who, the court says in its ruling, "lacked reasonable suspicion" to try to stop him in the first place....
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/21/494900984/black-men-may-have-cause-to-run-from-police-massachusetts-high-court-says?ft=nprml&f=1001

How the Christian Right's Sex Hangups Turn Zika Into a Bigger Crisis

God may have created the virus, but the Religious Right has turned it into a devastating epidemic...
http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/how-christian-rights-sex-hangups-turn-zika-bigger-crisis

Is Chicago’s ghastly murder rate the result of its 1990s anti-gang policies?

But there is a deeper, knottier issue that's driving the bloodshed, said Lance Williams, and that's the almost total lack of opportunity and resources for people growing up in impoverished neighborhoods. "We look at these conflicts as gang-related because these kids have 'gang ties,' " Williams said. "But it really has nothing to do with a gang. When the only thing you have, the last thing you have, is your humanity, what you think of as your manhood, you get this skewed vision of what a man is. Because it's the last front for you. You might as well be dead if you can't hold onto that." Regardless of what law enforcement officials try to do, Williams told me, the violence will continue until Chicago can give its young people something else.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_next_20/2016/09/is_chicago_s_ghastly_murder_rate_the_result_of_its_1990s_anti_gang_policies.html

74 Terrible Things Donald Trump Has Done...This Month | The Closer with Keith Olbermann | GQ

Finding it hard to keep up with all of Donald Trump’s outrageously un-presidential behavior? Don’t worry, Keith Olbermann is keeping count. This may take a while.
https://youtu.be/n2Efz2wPctY

Top U.S. & World Headlines — September 26, 2016

Interview:
https://youtu.be/ZKw5Hoprf5o

Trump Jr. Offers Word Salad Defense Of Anti-Refugee Skittles Tweet

Donald Trump Jr. spoke out Wednesday after facing backlash for a bizarre tweet comparing Syrian refugees to poisonous Skittles, suggesting in an interview with the editorial board of the Deseret News that the actual odds of a refugee carrying out an attack are irrelevant.

Trump told the editorial board of the Utah paper that he stands by his message despite the criticism, arguing that any number of people killed by Syrian refugees would be too many in his estimation. 

"We've seen what's going on in Europe. We can't be naive to that and pretend that's not happening there," Trump said, according to the Deseret News. "If there's one death associated with it because we messed up and we didn't do it right, that's a problem for me."...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-jr-refugee-skittles-tweet-math

VIDEO: Politicians are putting fossil fuels ahead of your health (again)

The Clean Power Plan represents America’s most significant action to addressing the growing threat of climate change. And while the need to act is clearer than ever, implementing the plan has proven to be a contentious fight.

Announced by the Obama administration in August 2015, the plan is the first national mandate to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. It’s expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Each state has their own emissions goal and can independently determine the best way to reach their target.

Yet, 27 states have teamed up with fossil fuel companies to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over the plan. The Supreme Court granted a stay in February, meaning the program is paused until the legal challenges are resolved....
https://thinkprogress.org/video-politicians-are-putting-fossil-fuels-ahead-of-your-health-again-97d473d4f4d8#.fubo9o5u7

Calif. cops fired 18 shots in fatal shooting of homeless man

Sacramento police released more details Tuesday about the summer fatal police shooting of a homeless man, including videos of the incident.

Under pressure from members of the city council and the mayor to provide more information about the shooting, Police Chief Sam Somers revealed Tuesday that officers fired 18 shots, 14 of which struck 50-year-old Joseph Mann on July 11....
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/calif-cops-fired-18-shots-fatal-shooting-homeless-man-article-1.2800216

Mosul: Smuggled diary reveals life of fear under IS

"Ahmed" was an engineering student at Mosul University when so-called Islamic State (IS) militants stormed into the city in June 2014. From that day, everything changed. The university shut and life became a daily struggle to survive.

This summer, after two years, Ahmed (not his real name) managed to escape. In the weeks before, at great personal risk, he secretly kept a diary of living in the shadow of death under IS. Ahmed has shared his diary exclusively with the BBC. Here are some excerpts documenting one week....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37411167

Trump calls for unconstitutional and unsuccessful stop-and-frisk to be used across the country

In a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, Donald Trump will call for New York’s unconstitutional and unsuccessful policy of conducting “stop-and-frisks” to be used by police departments across the country.

According to NBC News reporter Alexandra Jaffe, Trump responded to a question about the problem of “black-on-black crime” during the pre-taped event by saying that he would “do stop-and frisk.”

“We did it in New York,” he said. “It worked incredibly well and you have to be proactive.”...
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-stop-and-frisk-2722d4e427ee#.ivaag54gl

INCREDIBLE INTERVIEW With Racist Trump Campaign Chair: No Racism 'Until Obama Got Elected'

In this Majority Report clip, we watch a horrible woman say absolutely AMAZING things that are extremely racist and extremely stupid. (She's since resigned as the local Trump campaign chair in her Ohio district.) Props to the reporter from 'The Guardian' for mostly acting like she isn't out of her mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HeA_IJd5g&feature=youtu.be
Interview:

Donald Trump isn’t backing down from his terrifying climate policy

On Thursday, Donald Trump spoke before an audience full of natural gas and energy industry leaders — and the message was exactly the same as his economic policy proposal from last week: fewer environmental regulations and more land available to fossil fuel companies.

“We need an America-First energy plan,” Trump said. “This means opening federal lands for oil and gas production; opening offshore areas; and revoking policies that are imposing unnecessary restrictions on innovative new exploration technologies.”

If elected president, Trump has pledged to revoke both the Clean Power Plan and President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the cornerstones of Obama’s domestic climate agenda, and important signals to the international community of the United States’ commitment to climate action....
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-energy-speech-pennsylvania-4bdb2314965e#.7jald2j3g

Trump smears reporter, insists his foundation is not a scam

A Washington Post report published yesterday found that Donald Trump used Trump Foundation money for his personal benefit, including more than $250,000 to settle legal problems for his business interests. Those instances appear to violate laws prohibiting charities from “self-dealing.” The report comes on the heels of the Trump Foundation paying a $2,500 tax penalty for an improper political gift to a committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R).

Tuesday night, Trump responded to the Post’s reporting. But instead of refuting any specific factual claims, his campaign released a statement baldly asserting “there was not, and could not be, any intent or motive for the Trump Foundation to make improper payments.” The campaign did not deny, however, that the improper payments occurred. Trump also smeared Post reporter David Fahrenthold, who has published a string of incriminating reports about his foundation....
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-foundation-statement-6ceae1474b4d#.uind25q67

Donald Trump Says African-American Communities In 'Worst Shape' Ever

Attempting to court black voters over the last two months, Donald Trump has painted a pretty dire picture of their lives. "You're living in poverty," he said in late August. "Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"

On Tuesday Trump took this rhetoric one step further, telling a North Carolina audience that "our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever, ever ever."

Of course, Trump's statement ignores large, critically important eras in American history: slavery, and the Jim Crow laws that lingered for more than a century after the practice was abolished. But what about in more recent years?

A look at major indicators like employment and health suggests that while African-Americans lag behind the rest of the country in many key areas, they've also experienced steady economic and socioeconomic gains....
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/21/494883725/trump-says-african-americans-are-in-their-worst-shape-ever-the-data-disagrees?ft=nprml&f=1001

The SEC is reportedly investigating Exxon

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating Exxon on allegations that the company is not accounting for the longterm risks of climate change.

According to multiple reports, Exxon might not be accurately valuing its assets during the current spate of low oil prices or, in the longer term, in the face of climate change disruptions and decreased fossil fuel use....
https://thinkprogress.org/sec-exxonknew-4bd7b1f68500#.vsr3p8g6a

The NRA’s new anti-Clinton ad is scary. It’s just not accurate.

A new National Rifle Association ad makes it seem as though Hillary Clinton wants to ban people from having firearms in their homes, thereby leaving Americans vulnerable to violent criminals. The ad, which the Washington Post reports will be showcased in battleground states as part of a $5 million campaign, features a woman who is alone in her bed when she hears glass breaking.

“She’ll call 911. Average response time — 11 minutes. Too late,” the narrator says. “She keeps a firearm in this safe for protection, but Hillary Clinton could take away her right to self-defense. And with Supreme Court justices, Hillary can [the safe with the gun disappears]. Don’t let Hillary leave you protected with nothing but a phone.”

The suggestion that Hillary Clinton wants to ban guns is misleading....
https://thinkprogress.org/the-nras-new-anti-clinton-ad-is-scary-it-s-just-not-accurate-b4e1a731f4ab#.auaneb2up

Apple macOS Sierra Review & Rating

When you upgrade your Apple computer to macOS Sierra, the hardest thing you'll have to learn is its name. With the advent of Sierra as a free download from the App Store, OS X is no more. Now the newly renamed macOS joins iOS, tvOS, and watchOS in the tightly interconnected Apple ecosystem. If you've been using OS X for years, everything except the name in macOS Sierra will look familiar, though with notable improvements throughout. The biggest change is the addition of Siri, Apple's voice-activated assistant, now accessible from Mac laptops and desktops after a long residence on the iPhone and iPad....
http://www.pcmag.com/review/346100/apple-macos-sierra

10 Times Christopher Hitchens Blew Our Minds Part Two

Part 2! Brutally honest yet articulate - the saint of secularism, Christopher Hitchens, was a one-of-a-kind person with a one-of-a-kind mind. This video is a tribute to the late author and journalist....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWyUbnq2dU&feature=youtu.be
Interview:

Paul Krugman Reveals What Libertarian Gary Johnson Really Stands For—and It's Terrifying

Paul Krugman asks in his Monday's column how many of Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's young supporters have actually read Johnson's platform. Right off the bat he clarifies that it only makes sense to cast a vote for him if you believe "it makes no difference at all whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump moves into the White House — because one of them will." And, "Second, you have to believe that America will be better off in the long run if we eliminate environmental regulation, abolish the income tax, do away with public schools, and dismantle Social Security and Medicare — which is what the Libertarian platform calls for."...
http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-reveals-what-libertarian-gary-johnson-really-stands-and-its-terrifying

Latest: ACLU Calls for Criminal Charges in Tulsa Shooting

Dozens of protesters are calling for the immediate arrest of the Tulsa officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man whose vehicle was stalled in the middle of the street.

We the People Oklahoma organizer Marq Lewis called for the "immediate" arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who fatally shot Terence Crutcher on Friday. Shelby has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.

About three-dozen protesters gathered Monday afternoon outside the county courthouse to call for police reforms. The number of attendees was at least two-dozen more than those who attended a protest earlier in the day — hours before police released video that showed Crutcher's killing. Supporters held signs reading, "Justice 4 Crutch" and "Relationships Matter." One young boy held up a sign that read "Don't Shoot."...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-relatives-view-tulsa-police-shooting-videos-42194705

U.S. FDA approves Bayer contraceptive device Kyleena

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Bayer AG's hormonal contraceptive device, Kyleena, to prevent pregnancy for up to five years, the German company said on Monday. The small, flexible plastic T-shaped intrauterine device (IUD) releases the hormone levonorgestrel that stops the womb lining from thickening, which in turn prevents pregnancy....
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-fda-idUSKCN11P1AO

Bryan Fischer Says Only Those Who Believe In God, Oppose Abortion Are Qualified To Serve As Judges

Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words. In this video, Bryan Fischer declares that only people who believe in God and oppose abortion are qualified to serve as judges in America....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djw_8mPvBxE&feature=youtu.be

How do contraceptives work?

Contraceptives are designed to prevent pregnancy in three basic ways: they either block sperm, disable sperm before they reach the uterus, or suppress ovulation. But is one strategy better than the other? And how does each one work? NWHunter describes the mechanics behind different kinds of contraceptives....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx8zbTMTncs&feature=youtu.be

Watch: Jimmy Kimmel Exposes Trump Fans' Willingness to Ignore His Most Grotesque Lies

Jimmy Kimmel's team is back on the street, interviewing actual Trump supporters, in uber-liberal Los Angeles no less.

Unlike every other candidate in recent history before him, Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns, citing an audit as grounds for postponing their release. Like many Americans, Kimmel eagerly anticipates the release of Trump's tax returns, but realizes they might not matter much to actual Trump supporters. Or do they?...
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/jimmy-kimmel-shares-trumps-fake-tax-returns-actual-supporters-and-theyre-willing

The Most Deplorable Thing Trump Has Done Yet | The Closer with Keith Olbermann

Donald Trump's sick infatuation with the assassination of Hillary Clinton must be repudiated....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7d2ayLb2lg&feature=youtu.be

It's Even Worse Than Ripping Off the Foundation

I'm surprised this is only getting attention now. It's not just that Donald Trump essentially ripped off his own Foundation to settle business disputes - and in doing so cheated taxpayers who give his Foundation preferential tax treatment. The nature of one of the disputes itself is almost as amazing. This isn't just some prosaic or mundane legal dispute. It's a classic Trump cheat....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/it-s-even-worse-than-ripping-off-the-foundation

How an Outsider President Killed a Political Party: Zachary Taylor & the Whig Party

It was summer, and a major U.S. political party had just chosen an inexperienced, unqualified, loutish, wealthy outsider with ambiguous party loyalties to be its presidential nominee. Some party luminaries thought he would help them win the general election. But many of the faithful were furious and mystified: How could their party compromise its ideals to such a degree?

Sound like 2016? This happened a century and a half ago....
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/history-campaign-politics-zachary-taylor-killed-whigs-political-party-213935

Internet Addiction May Be Red Flag for Other Mental Health Issues

Internet addiction may signal other mental health issues among college students, according to a new study. Canadian researchers say their findings could affect how psychiatrists approach people who spend a significant amount of time online.

For the study, the researchers evaluated the internet use of 254 freshmen at McMaster University in Ontario. The researchers used a tool called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), developed in 1998, as well as their own scale based on more recent criteria....
http://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2016-09-18/internet-addiction-may-be-red-flag-for-other-mental-health-issues-study

Did You Know We Are Having the Largest Prison Strike in History? Probably Not, Because Most of the Media Have Ignored It | Alternet

Thousands of prisoners in over 24 states began a labor strike on September 9, the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, to demand better conditions and healthcare, the right to unionize and what one organizing group calls an “end to slavery in America.” But one would hardly know it watching major U.S. media, which has mostly ignored the largest prison labor strike in history. One week on, the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and NPR have not covered the prison strikes at all.

In the same time period since the strike began, CNN has run stories on Clinton’s “body double," the New York Times ran a piece on women getting buzzcuts and ABC News had an “exclusive trailer” for its parent corporation Disney’s upcoming film. There was certainly enough airtime and column inches to mention that workers had coordinated a national strike of unprecedented scale, but for these outlets the coverage has been nonexistent....
http://www.alternet.org/media/did-you-know-we-are-having-largest-prison-strike-history-probably-not-because-most-media-have

In Detroit, Freedom Schools Offer Hope within City’s Struggling Education System

As Detroit’s public schools fight to stay afloat, Black families turn to a civil rights-era approach to education....
http://www.alternet.org/education/detroit-freedom-schools-offer-hope-within-citys-struggling-education-system

Former Secretary of Defense: Trump ‘unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief’

Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates is not a big fan of either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton’s ideas about foreign policy. But when it comes to national security, he only thinks one candidate — Trump — is “beyond repair.”

In a scathing op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Gates — who served under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — takes both candidates to task for their ideas about dealing with potentially hostile relations in China, Russia, the Middle East, and beyond.

Of Clinton, Gates writes that she has “has much-discussed credibility issues apart from national security, but these also influence foreign perceptions of reliability and trust.” He criticizes the Democratic candidate for her role in the United State’s intervention in Libya, and for her decision to support — and then oppose — the Iraq War.

But Gates saves his harshest words for Trump, who he says is “in a league of his own” when it comes to credibility issues....
https://thinkprogress.org/robert-gates-wsj-trump-national-security-6588bb60e0fa#.9omxr4p1x