Biden goes big, fast on clean energy investments: shifting from $1.7 trillion over 10 yrs, to $2 trillion in 4 yrs. He commits to 100% clean electricity by 2035, historic investments in sustainable public housing, public transit & EVs, & more. Check it: https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/ Tweet by Sunrise Movement @sunrisemvmt We are building a movement of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process #GreenNewDeal United States sunrisemovement.org

Ever since I first started reading about Presidential Nominee Joe Biden’s Platform, I’ve been trying to blog about it. I start to write something and it just doesn’t work, so I try a different tack. Now all I have is a group of almost connected paragraphs. Meanwhile, our country seems to be falling apart on an almost Biblical scale and the Platform seems less important. Our National response to Covid-19 is the most inept in the world with 220,000 deaths and still counting. Unemployment is skyrocketing, a true Depression is looming, and Congress seems paralyzed. Meanwhile, against the objections of both the Mayor and Governor, the acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, a former lobbyist, has moved Federal para-military thugs into Portland, Oregon, and started “proactive detainments”. Any good news seems illusionary, still, the Democratic Platform is surprisingly proactive.  

About April 8th, when Joe Biden got the Democratic Presidential nomination by default, I wrote Today, Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Primary race and I am sad, angry, scared, and feeling sort of hopeless. Maybe Biden will be a better candidate than he was in 1988 or 2008, maybe the time is right. Maybe. Right now, all I feel is loss, all I want to do in mourn. I didn’t expect Bernie to win and he wasn’t even my first choice but Joe Biden was my last choice. He is an old man with, seemingly little interest in Climate Change and a long history of being on the wrong side of what I consider the major problems facing our country and the world today. However, when times change, people change, sometimes; this has been a time of huge change, and Joe Biden seems to be changing with it.

He is running on a platform that is substantially to the left from where he started. At last, he is taking the Climate crisis seriously, saying; To reach net-zero emissions as rapidly as possible, Democrats commit to eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035 through technology-neutral standards for clean energy and energy efficiency. We will dramatically expand solar and wind energy deployment through community-based and utility-scale systems. Within five years, we will install 500 million solar panels, including eight million solar roofs and community solar energy systems, and 60,000 made-in-America wind turbines.

The quote above is from the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force to study and make policy regarding climate change and it implies a large investment to rebuild our National Electric Grid. The first time I heard about The Grid was in an interview with Representative Ortega-Cortez just after she was elected. In the interview, I was surprised when she said that the Climate Crisis was her biggest issue. Her district is one of the poorest districts in the US and she has made it very clear that she is representing them so I thought it would have been Health Care or something similar. But, of course, the Climate Crisis is her biggest issue, poor people are hit the hardest by every storm, every heatwave, every fire, they are always downwind. Her answer of “The Grid” was to what she thought was the biggest problem standing in the way of successfully meeting the Climate Crisis. That surprised me but shouldn’t have. Her answer reminded me of the quote When the war starts, amateurs think tactics, professionals think logistics. This was the professional answer, and Ortega-Cortez has obviously thought about the problem.

To backup, shortly after Bernie dropped out of the primary, he endorsed Biden, shortly after that, Biden announced the formation of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force to study and make policy suggestions regarding climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care, and immigration. Considering that Joe Biden won the nomination, the committees are surprisingly equitable. Biden and Sanders would each choose a Co-chair of each of the resultant Committees, with Bernie naming three additional members and Joe naming four. It didn’t give the left – with Bernie representing the left – real power to set the agenda, but enough power to influence it. At the time, there was still a feeling that the Biden camp needed the left and I suspect – fantasize may be more like it – that Biden, being the consummate politician, is realizing that the electorate is moving left and felt he had to offer real change. To head the Committee on the Climate Crisis, Joe Biden chose Secretary – and former Senator – John Kerry as his Co-chair of the Committee and Bernie chose Alexandria Ortega-Cortez.

The choices couldn’t have been better, or more representative of the Democratic Party today, with Kerry representing the establishment and Ortega-Cortez – hereinafter known as AOC, her Twitter handle – representing what I hope is the future. It must have made an interesting dynamic. Kerry is almost my age and is old school, although he is one of the best my generation has to offer. He was a hero in Vietnam. A real hero, getting wounded twice while commanding a heavily armed but lightly armored riverboat. Vietnam was a bullshit war and, when Kerry left the Navy, having seen the stupidity, worse, the criminality of the war, he started protesting it. Protesting the War was no more popular then than it is now and, as far as I’m concerned, that is what makes him a real hero. Additionally, It was at Kerry’s Democratic Nomination Convention in 2004 that Obama gave the Keynote speech, first putting him on the National Stage. It was a great opportunity and a great speech. That Kerry was the first one to see Obama’s potential is to Kerry’s credit and it is to Biden’s credit that, given that he picked an establishment old-timer, he picked Kerry to Co-chair the Committee.

OK, this is where I lose any objectivity I may have because I think choosing AOC for anything is the right choice. She is the most extraordinary politician I have ever seen. I first became aware of her when she won her primary against Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent Democratic who was considered unassailable. After she was elected to Congress, AOC’s first political move, so to speak, was to join the Justice Democrat’s/Sunrise Movement’s protest for The Green New Deal in front of Speaker Pelosi’s office. This was the first time I had heard of either the Green New Deal or the Sunrise Movement or the Justice Democrats and I was and am thrilled that somebody is actually working towards saving the planet. It was also the first time I had heard of the Overton Window which is the fairly narrow range, between what is considered the extremes of the Right and Left, in which politically acceptable dialog can take place. According to Bloomberg Business, where I first saw it, AOC was already moving the Overton Window considerably to the left on Climate, Taxes, and Health Coverage. I was smitten and I still am. When Bernie chose AOC to Co-chair the Committee, he chose the most persuasive Progressive in the known universe. At the risk of sounding old-fashionedly chauvinistic, I also want to point out that a man Kerry’s age is especially vulnerable to the charms of a woman as young, attractive, and smart as AOC.

For good measure, Bernie also named one of the Co-founders of the Sunrise Movement, Varshini Prakash, another young, at only 26, attractive, and smart woman to be a member of the committee. The Sunrise Movement is probably the most influential pro-climate, pro-earth advocacy group in the country and they are becoming increasingly politically active. Joe’s nominations included Chiraag Bains who investigated local police departments while at the Department of Justice during the Obama administration and Karen Bass who has also been active in trying to control the out of control police so they were outgunned on the Climate Crisis Committee who report starts with Climate change is a global emergency. We have no time to waste in taking action to protect Americans’ lives and futures. Reading it has left me very hopeful even if the rest of the news is distressing.

We stand together, the team today took the knee which was just amazing to see that together we can learn and be open minded of what’s going on in the world. Thank you to everyone in my team and to you #TeamLH, I appreciate all of your support and your positive messages. Tweet by Lewis Hamilton @LewisHamilton H.A.M til the day I die!! #TeamLHAll around the World!! lewishamilton.com

No basketball, no baseball, no football, so, if you are looking for a sport to watch, there is Formula One whose racing season started a couple of weeks ago. Sure, the stands are empty and everybody is wearing a mask because of Covid-19 but the racing is pretty much the same.

Still, while the racing is pretty much the same, the world has changed and F1 is trying to change with it. Many of these changes seem like changes at the peripheries but they are changes. There are a lot of “End Racism” signs and large rainbows of both the safety car and the medical car but the biggest changes have come at Mercedes Benz. Their number one driver is Lewis Hamilton who, with six world championships, is considered the greatest driver of his generation, and while his dad was Black and his mom White, he identifies as Black. That has had a significant influence on his team which has even painted their cars black with a prominent end racism tag. Mercedes’ livery has been silver since 1934 and they even call their race cars the silver arrows so this is a big deal.

For as long as I can recall, Hamilton’s helmet has had the Maya Angelou quote, And still I rise – and as a large tattoo on his back – now his helmet, which he has changed from predominantly yellow and red to black, says Still We Rise and Black Lives Matter with a raised fist. Last weekend, Hamilton won the Styrian Grand Prix and raised his fist à la Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Mexico Olympics.

As an aside, this brings up the question of whether all these minor changes – and they are minor compared to real, structural, changes – will make a difference. Does changing the Master Bedroom to the principal’ bedroom change anything? Does changing the color of a racecar change anything? To answer that the long way around, does President Trump’s racist rhetoric change anything? I think the answer is Yes! Part of the change President Trump’s rhetoric brings is that he has energized people who were already haters and part of it is that he has modeled racism as being acceptable, even presidential. What F1 and Mercedes have done is say We oppose racism and you should too. End aside.

it definitely seems like if you want to kill multiple people and get away with it being a police officer is your best bet @chick_in_kiev “she’s a MASSIVE heeb and she has a sword.” CULTURE WARLORDS book out Oct 13. Host of @mobydickenergy, a Moby Dick podcast. say hi talialavin @ http://protonmail.com 6,225 Following

Is it “for fucks sake,” or “for fuck’s sake”?

It’s for a work email so it needs to look professional. by 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @Sundae_Gurl 𝕊𝕠𝕗𝕥 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕦𝕟𝕤. 𝕌𝕟𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣.𝔻.ℂ.

Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the ocean and the deepest location on Earth. It is 11,034 meters (36,201 feet) deep. National Geographic, Education, Classroom resources.

“You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.” President Barak Obama quoting former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

When I first heard Obama’s quote, I thought Yes, exactly, you Republicans should quit making stuff up, but the more I look at the acrimony between Americans on the Left and Americans on the Right, the less I think that disagreeing about the facts is the issue. Except, of course, for the extremes, like the far-left wackos who believe that contrails are actually a conspiracy to spray chemicals over the landscape or the far-right wackos who believe Hillary ran a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor basement. Both the Fox News and the New York Times acknowledge that there has been looting at some BLM demonstrations and some police violence but they don’t agree on the importance of either one. Fox News tended to highlight the looting and the New York Times tended to play it down. Both sides agree that protesters have torn down statues on public property but New York Times articles usually have language like controversial statues while Fox News uses language like American monuments, memorials, and statues.

The amount of space and location of specific news on the Fox website is different than on the New York Times website but the facts are pretty much the same. Neither the New York Times nor Fox News is lying as much as curating their version of the news. Everybody knows that Donald Trump cheated with Stormy Daniels while his third wife was pregnant, what value you put on that as to Trump’s ability to run the government or his morality depends on where you are on the right-left scale and that assigned value is often flexible. For example, I think it is pretty easy to make the case that President Bill Clinton having oral sex with an infatuated young woman in the White House is more of a moral transgression than civilian Donald Trump having sex with a Porn Star while in Los Angeles, but I can’t think of anybody on the left who thinks Trump is more moral than Bill Clinton.

But, the Russian Bounty for dead Americans is different in two ways. It is not a morally relative position, politically, at least. It can only be defended against by saying it didn’t happen. Both sides do agree that there are reports of Russians paying bounties to kill Americans but they disagree as to the veracity of those reports. The main headline in the New York Times a couple of days ago was Suspicions of Russian Bounties Were Bolstered by Data on Financial Transfers while a corresponding headline at Fox News was News that Moscow allegedly offered bounties to Afghan militants who killed U.S. soldiers was first reported over the weekend in the New York Times. However, Fox News did sort of hide the report, I had to click on two links to get to it, buried in the story about the Biden news conference. It was also referenced negatively by Rep. Jim Banks in a clearly marked editorial: Russian bounties to Taliban story may be putting US lives at risk — here’s how. BTW, that editorial was below the fold – so to speak – and below DISTURBING VIDEO: NYC thief chokes, robs woman in broad daylight and American gymnast reveals struggle with body image after 2008 Olympics. Fox News clearly did not want to talk about Russians paying boundaries for killing American troops. As an aside for anybody who is wondering, The New York Times did not have either the disturbing video or the story of the Olympian’s body image. End aside.

To back up for a second, several months ago I got in a conversation with a couple of friends – I don’t remember who – about what would happen if President Trump lost the election and refused to leave office. Maybe President Trump would say that there was massive voter cheating to justify it or something else, but either way, he wouldn’t leave. One of us said something like, “It depends on which side the Army is on” (using Army generically I think). I got a chill just thinking about it, that feeling that we really have become a Banana Republic. But I think it is true if Trump loses and decides to stay what happens depends on who controls the Military. I want to quickly say that President Trump has not lost the election and he has not said he is going to stay and I have no reason to think otherwise.

Back on who controls the Military, I have read several times that the Officers don’t like Trump and the Enlisted ranks do and it sort of makes sense. Two high ranking officers, one a former Marine and the other a serving Army General have already publicly disagreed with the President. Believe me, in the Military, publicly disagreeing with somebody higher in the chain of command is a big deal, especially if it is the Commander and Chief. I can’t think of another time that has happened so I’m going to assume that the Officer Corps will follow the votes.

The Enlisted ranks, however just seem like Trump’s base. But I would be surprised if they would be OK with Trump letting – to frame it in the worst possible way – the Russians pay people to kill American soldiers, or marines or sailors. It is not a question of values, there is no place in our culture, right or left, to say that It is OK to kill Americans and still be considered our friend. The only place that Donald Trump can go is to deny that the Russians paid the Taliban. The default can not be Is it OK under some circumstances? but it has to be Did it actually happen? Donald Trump says “No” and the New York Times says Yes and both want to convince the American people of the truth of their narrative, but, who they really have to convince is the American Military and I think the New York Times version is winning.

Sort of on the same subject, depending on your point of view, the following brutal ad is either gratuitous and in bad taste or a tasteful , thoughtful, ad.

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You know, I always wanted to know what it would be like to simultaneously experience the Spanish flu, Great Depression, and 1968 mass protests while Andrew Johnson was president. Tweet by Miranda Yaver @mirandayaver who identifies as Political scientist (US law & policy), Health Policy & Management Postdoc @UCLA, freelance writer, @Columbia Ph.D., Cal bear, @springsteen fiend, @warriors fan Los Angeles, CA mirandayaver.com

What a strange 4th of July. Quarantined at home, watching the wildlife in the backyard, on a warm summer day, our life approaches perfection. But, outside our home, in the world, the pandemic has infected close to twelve million people, killing over one hundred thirty thousand of them in the United States alone. Safe at home, we have visitors two by socially distanced two, we drink good wine, eat exquisite food, and tell ourselves how lucky we are. Outside, mass protests for social justice continue with periodic bursts of violence, usually by so-called “law enforcement”. At home, everything has slowed down making life more conscience, more delicious. 1,391 miles away, in South Dakota, the President of the United States rants about saving Confederate statues of long-dead, slave-owning, traitors while attacking the patriotism of living people but, in my safe, quiet, nest I’ve only heard the vile rant from tinny speakers next to a fifteen-inch screen.

I say “Happy 4th of July” but my heart has become heavy thinking about the Fourth, weighed down by the reality of what life entails for many in our country. The reality of what we are, what we have been since our founding. I was taught – maybe not so much taught, as absorbed by osmosis – that the 4th of July is a celebration of our Freedom and our Liberty and our just general Goodness and Exceptionalism that those great Americans fought for. I knew that some of the men – and they were all Property-Owning White Men – who signed the Declaration of Independence forty four years ago owned slaves but I was able to overlook that horror, that injustice, in my admiration of what they left me, but, it turns out upon reflection, that they only left it to their fellow white men like me. Now, as my eyes are being forced open by the glare of reality – forced open by, among other catalysts, the writings of a long line of Black People – I am starting to look at that Declaration differently.

I think, How could these Declaration of Independence signers be so hypocritical? but the harder question is, How could I have been so hypocritical? so oblivious? I have been so righteous in my ignorance, so superiorly righteous about my country. At my home in a middle-class community, I am safe, as cops, protecting the same White Patriarchy that founded this country, shoot young black men with almost universal impunity. It is the strangest 4th of July, seeing the dichotomy between my life and the life of many of my fellow citizens. It makes me sad and hopeful.