https://twitter.com/PhilPrazan/status/1144797083095969792
https://twitter.com/SnarkedUpLawyer/status/1144801170759782401
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Well there are two Texans but only one has taken the time to visit each each of the 254 counties of the state and only one has received more votes than any Democrat in the history of Texas while building a grassroots movement that increased young voter turnout by more than double. | Chris forgot to mention that the other Texan sat 2018 out b/c he preferred to set up his campaign for national office instead of trying to help flip Texas blue by running against Abbott. One Texan worked relentlessly to do better for us; the other worked to do better for himself.
A federal judge on Friday issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration from tapping billions of dollars in military funds to construct a wall on the United States's southern border. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam issued the permanent injunction in a California federal court, after initially ruling last month to temporarily halt the administration’s use of military funds for the border wall.. The injunction halts border wall construction at different sites in New Mexico, California, Arizona and Texas, expanding Gilliam's previous ruling.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/450987-judge-permanently-blocks-trump-from-using-billions-in-military-funds
Friday, June 28, 2019
Light News Dump
Buttigieg: Republicans have 'lost all claim to ever use religious language' over family separations
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/450791-buttigieg-republicans-have-lost-all-claim-to-ever-use-religious-language
An amendment to require Congressional approval before funds are used for a strike on Iran FAILED in the Senate, 50-40, needing 60 votes to pass. The vote was held open for 10 hours and 8 minutes to allow dems who participated in the #DemDebate to return to DC to vote. White https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1144684928732413952
House Republicans pressuring G20 allies on climate language: French official - Washington Republicans are pressuring allies at the G20 to reject strong climate change language in the meeting's final statement, despite furious opposition from EU countries, a French presidential source said Friday.
https://www.france24.com/en/20190628-us-pressuring-g20-allies-climate-language-french-official
Nancy Pelosi Just Got Rolled by Mitch McConnell on Immigration: “I Think She Got Sabotaged” Senate Republicans got pretty much everything they wanted in a $4.5 billion border funding bill
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/zmp5jj/nancy-pelosi-just-got-rolled-by-mitch-mcconnell-on-immigration-i-think-she-got-sabotaged
Joe Biden loses support of top campaign fundraiser in Bay Area after comments on segregationists and Hyde amendment | Tom McInerney: I would imagine I’m not alone,” said McInerney, who was a lead bundler for President Barack Obama in his first run for president. He helped Obama’s campaign raise at least $200,000 throughout that cycle, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/biden-loses-support-of-top-financier-after-segregationist-comments.html
Canada still shipping LAVs to Saudi Arabia despite human rights concerns - Canada shows no signs of slowing down shipments of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia despite deepening concerns of human rights abuses and an outstanding debt to Canada of more than $1 billion.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-still-shipping-lavs-to-saudi-arabia-despite-human-rights-concerns-1.4486276
Trump Jokes to Putin They Should ‘Get Rid’ of Journalists
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-jokes-to-putin-they-should-get-rid-of-journalists
Sand dunes at Trump golf course set to lose protected status after Scottish government says resort ‘destroyed’ ecosystem
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-international-golf-links-sand-dunes-protected-status-scotland-aberdeenshire-a8978896.html
'I'm Republican. I Never Thought I'd Fight for Medicaid.' | Medicaid expansion could benefit 4.5 million Americans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/opinion/north-carolina-medicaid-expansion.html
Joe Biden tried to pivot away from talking about his vote for the Iraq War. Bernie Sanders didn’t let him.
https://theweek.com/speedreads/849865/joe-biden-tried-pivot-away-from-talking-about-vote-iraq-war-bernie-sanders-didnt-let
Bernie Sanders says he would move to 'rotate' Supreme Court justices if elected
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/450800-bernie-sanders-says-he-would-move-to-rotate-supreme-court-justices-if
Boeing falsified records for 787 jet sold to Air Canada. It developed a fuel leak | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boeing-air-canada-jet-fuel-leak-1.5193550
Harris confronts Biden over past efforts to block busing: 'That little girl was me'
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/democratic-primary-debate-night-two-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-kamala-harris/index.html
Congressman @BetoORourke visited Homestead detention center today. When asked for his thoughts, Beto was speechless. He could see children over the fence and began to shout, “we see you,” in Spanish.
https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1144355851924385796
No whales will be harpooned off the waters around Iceland this year, as the island nation's two whaling companies have decided to abandon the summer whaling season for the first time in 17 years
https://www.france24.com/en/20190627-iceland-will-skip-whaling-year-company
Iraq's drought unveils 3,400-year-old palace of mysterious empire
https://www.dw.com/en/iraqs-drought-unveils-3400-year-old-palace-of-mysterious-empire/a-49384876
Noah Syndergaard likes tweet saying Mickey Callaway should be fired
https://twitter.com/kfcbarstool/status/1144395159079178241?s=21
Thousands evacuated in Papua New Guineas two volcanoes erupt back to back of one another
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-28/eruption-of-second-volcano-strains-png-budget/11260518
Bernie Says Immigration Threatens the Social Safety Net. Research Shows Otherwise.
https://psmag.com/news/bernie-says-immigration-threatens-the-social-safety-net-research-shows-otherwise
Huge burst of mysterious cosmic radio waves traced back to exact location in galaxy billions of light years away
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cosmic-radio-waves-space-located-light-years-milky-way-csiro-telescope-space-a8978096.html
Ethics Complaint Alleges Funding Republicans Senators’ Walkout Violates Oregon Ethics, Campaign Law
https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2019/06/27/ethics-complaint-alleges-funding-republicans-senators-walkout-violate-oregon-ethics-or-campaign-law/
"My big takeaway is Beto is perceived as a much larger threat than I even thought this early in the race," after the debate, one of the donors on the call told CNBC on the condition of anonymity because the meeting was deemed private. Still, the donor also noted "the platform last night was clearly out of his comfort zone."
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/beto-orourke-donors-to-discuss-improving-debate-performance.html
France records all-time hottest temperature of 44.3C
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/france-on-red-alert-as-heatwave-forecast-to-reach-record-45c
Scientists successfully transfer first test tube rhino embryo back into a female, as part of an effort to save nearly extinct northern white rhinos
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-scientists-successfully-tube-rhino-embryo.html
The best part of the night, Biden avoiding Bernie’s hand
https://www.twitter.com/HaleighHoffman/status/1144432141096378373
India arrests after women's heads shaved for resisting rape - The group, which included a local official, ambushed the mother and daughter in their home with the intent of raping them, police said. When the women resisted, they assaulted them, shaved their heads and paraded them through the village.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48783253
Supreme Court will review Trump administration effort to end DACA program shielding young ‘dreamers’ from deportation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/28/supreme-court-will-review-trump-administration-effort-to-end-daca-program-shielding-young-dreamers-from-deportation/
Rep. Matt Gaetz To Be Investigated By House Ethics For Threatening Cohen Tweet — Gaetz Was Warned An Investigative Subcommittee Would Be Established Unless He Submit To An Interview, But He Declined.
https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/house-ethics-committee-to-investigate-rep-matt-gaetz-for-threatening-tweet
With 2019 Predicted to Be Among Planet's Hottest Years, France's 114º Heat Is 'Absolutely Consistent' With Warnings of Climate Crisis
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/28/2019-predicted-be-among-planets-hottest-years-frances-114o-heat-absolutely
A group of German rightwing extremists compiled a “death list” of leftwing and pro-refugee targets by accessing police records, then stockpiled weapons and ordered body bags and quicklime to kill and dispose of their victims, German media have reported, citing intelligence sources.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/german-far-right-group-used-police-data-to-compile-death-list
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/450791-buttigieg-republicans-have-lost-all-claim-to-ever-use-religious-language
An amendment to require Congressional approval before funds are used for a strike on Iran FAILED in the Senate, 50-40, needing 60 votes to pass. The vote was held open for 10 hours and 8 minutes to allow dems who participated in the #DemDebate to return to DC to vote. White https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1144684928732413952
House Republicans pressuring G20 allies on climate language: French official - Washington Republicans are pressuring allies at the G20 to reject strong climate change language in the meeting's final statement, despite furious opposition from EU countries, a French presidential source said Friday.
https://www.france24.com/en/20190628-us-pressuring-g20-allies-climate-language-french-official
Nancy Pelosi Just Got Rolled by Mitch McConnell on Immigration: “I Think She Got Sabotaged” Senate Republicans got pretty much everything they wanted in a $4.5 billion border funding bill
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/zmp5jj/nancy-pelosi-just-got-rolled-by-mitch-mcconnell-on-immigration-i-think-she-got-sabotaged
Joe Biden loses support of top campaign fundraiser in Bay Area after comments on segregationists and Hyde amendment | Tom McInerney: I would imagine I’m not alone,” said McInerney, who was a lead bundler for President Barack Obama in his first run for president. He helped Obama’s campaign raise at least $200,000 throughout that cycle, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/biden-loses-support-of-top-financier-after-segregationist-comments.html
Canada still shipping LAVs to Saudi Arabia despite human rights concerns - Canada shows no signs of slowing down shipments of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia despite deepening concerns of human rights abuses and an outstanding debt to Canada of more than $1 billion.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-still-shipping-lavs-to-saudi-arabia-despite-human-rights-concerns-1.4486276
Trump Jokes to Putin They Should ‘Get Rid’ of Journalists
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-jokes-to-putin-they-should-get-rid-of-journalists
Sand dunes at Trump golf course set to lose protected status after Scottish government says resort ‘destroyed’ ecosystem
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-international-golf-links-sand-dunes-protected-status-scotland-aberdeenshire-a8978896.html
'I'm Republican. I Never Thought I'd Fight for Medicaid.' | Medicaid expansion could benefit 4.5 million Americans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/opinion/north-carolina-medicaid-expansion.html
Joe Biden tried to pivot away from talking about his vote for the Iraq War. Bernie Sanders didn’t let him.
https://theweek.com/speedreads/849865/joe-biden-tried-pivot-away-from-talking-about-vote-iraq-war-bernie-sanders-didnt-let
Bernie Sanders says he would move to 'rotate' Supreme Court justices if elected
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/450800-bernie-sanders-says-he-would-move-to-rotate-supreme-court-justices-if
Boeing falsified records for 787 jet sold to Air Canada. It developed a fuel leak | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boeing-air-canada-jet-fuel-leak-1.5193550
Harris confronts Biden over past efforts to block busing: 'That little girl was me'
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/democratic-primary-debate-night-two-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-kamala-harris/index.html
Congressman @BetoORourke visited Homestead detention center today. When asked for his thoughts, Beto was speechless. He could see children over the fence and began to shout, “we see you,” in Spanish.
https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1144355851924385796
No whales will be harpooned off the waters around Iceland this year, as the island nation's two whaling companies have decided to abandon the summer whaling season for the first time in 17 years
https://www.france24.com/en/20190627-iceland-will-skip-whaling-year-company
Iraq's drought unveils 3,400-year-old palace of mysterious empire
https://www.dw.com/en/iraqs-drought-unveils-3400-year-old-palace-of-mysterious-empire/a-49384876
Noah Syndergaard likes tweet saying Mickey Callaway should be fired
https://twitter.com/kfcbarstool/status/1144395159079178241?s=21
Thousands evacuated in Papua New Guineas two volcanoes erupt back to back of one another
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-28/eruption-of-second-volcano-strains-png-budget/11260518
Bernie Says Immigration Threatens the Social Safety Net. Research Shows Otherwise.
https://psmag.com/news/bernie-says-immigration-threatens-the-social-safety-net-research-shows-otherwise
Huge burst of mysterious cosmic radio waves traced back to exact location in galaxy billions of light years away
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cosmic-radio-waves-space-located-light-years-milky-way-csiro-telescope-space-a8978096.html
Ethics Complaint Alleges Funding Republicans Senators’ Walkout Violates Oregon Ethics, Campaign Law
https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2019/06/27/ethics-complaint-alleges-funding-republicans-senators-walkout-violate-oregon-ethics-or-campaign-law/
"My big takeaway is Beto is perceived as a much larger threat than I even thought this early in the race," after the debate, one of the donors on the call told CNBC on the condition of anonymity because the meeting was deemed private. Still, the donor also noted "the platform last night was clearly out of his comfort zone."
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/beto-orourke-donors-to-discuss-improving-debate-performance.html
France records all-time hottest temperature of 44.3C
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/france-on-red-alert-as-heatwave-forecast-to-reach-record-45c
Scientists successfully transfer first test tube rhino embryo back into a female, as part of an effort to save nearly extinct northern white rhinos
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-scientists-successfully-tube-rhino-embryo.html
The best part of the night, Biden avoiding Bernie’s hand
https://www.twitter.com/HaleighHoffman/status/1144432141096378373
India arrests after women's heads shaved for resisting rape - The group, which included a local official, ambushed the mother and daughter in their home with the intent of raping them, police said. When the women resisted, they assaulted them, shaved their heads and paraded them through the village.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48783253
Supreme Court will review Trump administration effort to end DACA program shielding young ‘dreamers’ from deportation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/28/supreme-court-will-review-trump-administration-effort-to-end-daca-program-shielding-young-dreamers-from-deportation/
Rep. Matt Gaetz To Be Investigated By House Ethics For Threatening Cohen Tweet — Gaetz Was Warned An Investigative Subcommittee Would Be Established Unless He Submit To An Interview, But He Declined.
https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/house-ethics-committee-to-investigate-rep-matt-gaetz-for-threatening-tweet
With 2019 Predicted to Be Among Planet's Hottest Years, France's 114º Heat Is 'Absolutely Consistent' With Warnings of Climate Crisis
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/28/2019-predicted-be-among-planets-hottest-years-frances-114o-heat-absolutely
A group of German rightwing extremists compiled a “death list” of leftwing and pro-refugee targets by accessing police records, then stockpiled weapons and ordered body bags and quicklime to kill and dispose of their victims, German media have reported, citing intelligence sources.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/german-far-right-group-used-police-data-to-compile-death-list
Heather Nova - Pearl [Lyrics]
Pearl
The Wounds We Bled
We don't decide what we do
We take the splinters, drive them through
We took the road all painted blue
We needed to
I'm finding pieces under rugs
Forgotten words, candy hearts
Wound so tightly that they stopped
They needed to
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
Got no control but we do
And all the shimmer, let it through
I held it back, somehow I knew
I needed to
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
Did it all for worse or better
Now I got my shit together
Was it worth it, it's whatever
I wanna think about it
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
I'm better for the wounds we bled
I'm better for the wounds we bled
All The Rivers
It's a fire
It's the way it grows when you feed it
It's a fire
Love the way you love me and the way I need it
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Oh my love
Ships were passing
In the night so dark that you could hardly see
Stolen kisses
Nothing ever reached me 'til you got to me
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Oh my love
I just want time to stand still
I want time to bring you closer to me
I want time to lock with mine
I want time with you
It's the beauty
It's the way you capture it frame by frame
It's the beauty
It's the way we manifest the every day dream
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Moving on the astral plane
All the rivers, all the rivers, all the rivers
Oh my love
Rewild Me
I'm over the hate
And I'm over the gate
And I'm gone
Like a fox in the meadow
No one on my trail
I'm gone
Rewild my heart, let me be
The sum of my parts, me
Cause I'm over the blame
And I'm over the shame
And I'm gone
Like a fox in the meadow
Bright flash in the shadows
I'm gone
Rewild my heart, let me find
My animal part, the divine
And I want to feel wonder
And I want to lie under the big trees
And I want to sink into the blue sea
Rewild me
In the sweetness of nature
I'm free from the failures
I'm gone
No slave to the longing
I'm one with belonging
I'm gone
Gone
Gone
Gone
Some Things Just Come Undone
I took my beautiful son down to the ocean
Some things just come undone I said
It's all swirling round in me like I'm an ocean
Some things just come undone I said
I took my beautiful boy down to the ocean
Sometimes a change will come I said
His cheeks all rosy red and full of elation
Sometimes a change will come I said
I'm going to make everything ok
I took my beautiful child down to the ocean
Look up up at the sky I said
His eyes reflecting light, all full of emotion
I'm never gonna let you down, I said
I'm going to make everything ok
My child my beautiful son, I said
Some things just come undone I said
Look up up at the sky I said
Two homes are better than one, I said
My boy my beautiful son, I said
My boy my beautiful son
Should I cry or hide my emotion?
Should I cry or hide my emotion?
Which one is his salvation?
Oh my mothering side
Oh my mothering side
Oh my mothering side
I'm going to make everything ok
Some things just come undone
Two homes are better than one
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Two homes are better than one
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone yeah
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
After All This Time
When you find it, when you find the one
Recognise it's where your soul belongs
Put your hands out, nothing breaks your fall
Take a leap now you're gonna risk it all
Years of stillness, like a winter's frost
Never really knew how much I'd lost
Every cell now, coming back to life
Every breath now, in a different light
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the pain that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
When it finds you everything is clear
All the roads you took have brought you here
Looking up now to an endless sky
Tears are coming, and you don't know why
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the pain that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the joy that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the joy that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
Real love, after all this time
Over The Fields
I heard you slipped into the light we cannot see
Behind the veil and the songs
Reaching out to those who came to you in dreams
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
And you remember making angels in the snow
A flash of who you could have been
Begin the journey that you started long ago
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
And all apologies and all the damage done
Somehow you never found the key
It's coming to you now as you head into the sun
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
All the weight, all the weight
All the weight, all the weight
Just Kids
Feels like we're just kids
No hands, freewheeling
Didn't know it could be like this
So good, so easy
Feels like there's no rules
Bright sun, doors open
No games I'm afraid to lose
Just love, unspoken
And I like the way you said
"I got no back up plan, it's only you"
And I like the way you have
No fear of what is true
Feels like we're on fire
Your words in my mouth again
Some ancient soul desire
Coming back again
And I like the way you said
"I wanna come close to you, to feel you breathe"
And I like the way it feels
Like my heart's a river that's found the sea
And all the years we missed
No matter now cause we're on track
And every time we kiss
All those years, gonna take them back
And I like the way you said
"I got no back up plan, it's only you"
And I like the way you have
No fear of what is true
Ooh...
Feels like we're just kids...
Don't Worry What The Experts Say
Don't love me because you need me
Don't want me because you're empty
Don't
Fill the places in your psyche
You should be ok without me
Don't
Listen to that crap
Cause I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
If it feels good then it is good
And don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you anyway
There'd be no stars without the dark
No firelight without a spark, yeah
The sea is lonely for the shore
Take it away I want it more, yeah
We're human every time
I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
If it feels good then it is good
So don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you anyway
There's a road that leads around
The sweetest part of you I've found
And though I know I might be wrong
I thought I heard it in a song sung
So many years ago
Cause I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
So hold me and kiss me
And don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you
If it feels good then it is good
And don't worry what the experts say
We'll blow those theories clean away
I'm going to love you anyway
See Yourself
Sister all the ways I adore you
Why can't you see yourself?
Why can't you see yourself?
Sister shine a light on your grace and beauty
Why can't you see yourself?
Why can't you?
You were just a child holding tight
In those ocean swells
Why can't you see yourself?
You think everybody else has got it made
But can't you see we're all in pieces
Cause when you're broken then you're open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, and it's alright, and it's alright
You got knocked down
Spinning out
Salt got in your mouth
Stung your eyes
I know it still matters
Still hurting, feel it inside
You think everybody else has got it made
But can't you see we're all in pieces
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, and it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're light it's alright
It's alright, it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are light
And it's alright, it's alright, it's alright (it's alright)
It's alright
Vincent
Vincent, yours is
The first name I've ever sung
Sometimes life is a movie
And it's only just begun
Waves are crashing
Through my veins I'm over come
Sometimes life is a movie
And it's just begun
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
I want to laugh
Sing autumn leaves and whistle grass with you
I want to lie
Under any kind of sky
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
Les vagues viennent s'écraser
Dans mes veines et je m'enivre
Vincent, je veux
Only to be with you
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
It's not too late for us
Your Words
I keep every word you said
Wildflowers growing up around my bed
All those words blooming in my head
I don't need much only truth
Just the thoughts that come to you
You make poetry, no one reaches me like you do
And it's all, only syllables
But your words, they will make or break me
Sticks and stones
Bruise my bones
But your words will save me
Sticks and stones
Bruise my bones
But I need your words
I don't want to live without you
Don't want to live without you
Your words, your words, your words
I keep every word you said
String them all on invisible thread
All those little pearls
Shining round my neck
Blooming in my head
Shining round my neck
Blooming in my head
The Wounds We Bled
We don't decide what we do
We take the splinters, drive them through
We took the road all painted blue
We needed to
I'm finding pieces under rugs
Forgotten words, candy hearts
Wound so tightly that they stopped
They needed to
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
Got no control but we do
And all the shimmer, let it through
I held it back, somehow I knew
I needed to
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
Did it all for worse or better
Now I got my shit together
Was it worth it, it's whatever
I wanna think about it
All the things I wish I'd known
The willow weeps where the seeds are thrown
All the things I wish I'd said
I'm better for the wounds we bled
I'm better for the wounds we bled
I'm better for the wounds we bled
All The Rivers
It's a fire
It's the way it grows when you feed it
It's a fire
Love the way you love me and the way I need it
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Oh my love
Ships were passing
In the night so dark that you could hardly see
Stolen kisses
Nothing ever reached me 'til you got to me
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Oh my love
I just want time to stand still
I want time to bring you closer to me
I want time to lock with mine
I want time with you
It's the beauty
It's the way you capture it frame by frame
It's the beauty
It's the way we manifest the every day dream
I can feel it moving on the astral plane
All the rivers rushing down the valley again
Moving on the astral plane
All the rivers, all the rivers, all the rivers
Oh my love
Rewild Me
I'm over the hate
And I'm over the gate
And I'm gone
Like a fox in the meadow
No one on my trail
I'm gone
Rewild my heart, let me be
The sum of my parts, me
Cause I'm over the blame
And I'm over the shame
And I'm gone
Like a fox in the meadow
Bright flash in the shadows
I'm gone
Rewild my heart, let me find
My animal part, the divine
And I want to feel wonder
And I want to lie under the big trees
And I want to sink into the blue sea
Rewild me
In the sweetness of nature
I'm free from the failures
I'm gone
No slave to the longing
I'm one with belonging
I'm gone
Gone
Gone
Gone
Some Things Just Come Undone
I took my beautiful son down to the ocean
Some things just come undone I said
It's all swirling round in me like I'm an ocean
Some things just come undone I said
I took my beautiful boy down to the ocean
Sometimes a change will come I said
His cheeks all rosy red and full of elation
Sometimes a change will come I said
I'm going to make everything ok
I took my beautiful child down to the ocean
Look up up at the sky I said
His eyes reflecting light, all full of emotion
I'm never gonna let you down, I said
I'm going to make everything ok
My child my beautiful son, I said
Some things just come undone I said
Look up up at the sky I said
Two homes are better than one, I said
My boy my beautiful son, I said
My boy my beautiful son
Should I cry or hide my emotion?
Should I cry or hide my emotion?
Which one is his salvation?
Oh my mothering side
Oh my mothering side
Oh my mothering side
I'm going to make everything ok
Some things just come undone
Two homes are better than one
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Two homes are better than one
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone yeah
Oh my beautiful son
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
Some things just come undone
After All This Time
When you find it, when you find the one
Recognise it's where your soul belongs
Put your hands out, nothing breaks your fall
Take a leap now you're gonna risk it all
Years of stillness, like a winter's frost
Never really knew how much I'd lost
Every cell now, coming back to life
Every breath now, in a different light
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the pain that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
When it finds you everything is clear
All the roads you took have brought you here
Looking up now to an endless sky
Tears are coming, and you don't know why
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the pain that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the joy that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
I don't want to shut my eyes
I'm open to the joy that might be coming
This is what I never thought I'd find
Real love, after all this time
Real love, after all this time
Over The Fields
I heard you slipped into the light we cannot see
Behind the veil and the songs
Reaching out to those who came to you in dreams
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
And you remember making angels in the snow
A flash of who you could have been
Begin the journey that you started long ago
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
And all apologies and all the damage done
Somehow you never found the key
It's coming to you now as you head into the sun
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Over the fields you go
Over the wreckage in slow motion
Everything that you used to know
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
All the weight, all the weight, you can let go
All the weight, all the weight
All the weight, all the weight
Just Kids
Feels like we're just kids
No hands, freewheeling
Didn't know it could be like this
So good, so easy
Feels like there's no rules
Bright sun, doors open
No games I'm afraid to lose
Just love, unspoken
And I like the way you said
"I got no back up plan, it's only you"
And I like the way you have
No fear of what is true
Feels like we're on fire
Your words in my mouth again
Some ancient soul desire
Coming back again
And I like the way you said
"I wanna come close to you, to feel you breathe"
And I like the way it feels
Like my heart's a river that's found the sea
And all the years we missed
No matter now cause we're on track
And every time we kiss
All those years, gonna take them back
And I like the way you said
"I got no back up plan, it's only you"
And I like the way you have
No fear of what is true
Ooh...
Feels like we're just kids...
Don't Worry What The Experts Say
Don't love me because you need me
Don't want me because you're empty
Don't
Fill the places in your psyche
You should be ok without me
Don't
Listen to that crap
Cause I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
If it feels good then it is good
And don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you anyway
There'd be no stars without the dark
No firelight without a spark, yeah
The sea is lonely for the shore
Take it away I want it more, yeah
We're human every time
I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
If it feels good then it is good
So don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you anyway
There's a road that leads around
The sweetest part of you I've found
And though I know I might be wrong
I thought I heard it in a song sung
So many years ago
Cause I want what you want
And we don't have time to figure out
What everything is all about
So hold me and kiss me
And don't worry what the experts say
I'm gonna love you
If it feels good then it is good
And don't worry what the experts say
We'll blow those theories clean away
I'm going to love you anyway
See Yourself
Sister all the ways I adore you
Why can't you see yourself?
Why can't you see yourself?
Sister shine a light on your grace and beauty
Why can't you see yourself?
Why can't you?
You were just a child holding tight
In those ocean swells
Why can't you see yourself?
You think everybody else has got it made
But can't you see we're all in pieces
Cause when you're broken then you're open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, and it's alright, and it's alright
You got knocked down
Spinning out
Salt got in your mouth
Stung your eyes
I know it still matters
Still hurting, feel it inside
You think everybody else has got it made
But can't you see we're all in pieces
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, and it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're living you are light
And it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are open
When you're open then you're living
When you're light it's alright
It's alright, it's alright
Cause when you're broken you are light
And it's alright, it's alright, it's alright (it's alright)
It's alright
Vincent
Vincent, yours is
The first name I've ever sung
Sometimes life is a movie
And it's only just begun
Waves are crashing
Through my veins I'm over come
Sometimes life is a movie
And it's just begun
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
I want to laugh
Sing autumn leaves and whistle grass with you
I want to lie
Under any kind of sky
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
Les vagues viennent s'écraser
Dans mes veines et je m'enivre
Vincent, je veux
Only to be with you
And the stars will make us wild
And the dark will make us hesitate
But that's our fate
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
The stars will make us wild
It's not too late for us
It's not too late for us
Your Words
I keep every word you said
Wildflowers growing up around my bed
All those words blooming in my head
I don't need much only truth
Just the thoughts that come to you
You make poetry, no one reaches me like you do
And it's all, only syllables
But your words, they will make or break me
Sticks and stones
Bruise my bones
But your words will save me
Sticks and stones
Bruise my bones
But I need your words
I don't want to live without you
Don't want to live without you
Your words, your words, your words
I keep every word you said
String them all on invisible thread
All those little pearls
Shining round my neck
Blooming in my head
Shining round my neck
Blooming in my head
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway [latimes]
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-col1-sikh-truckers-20190627-htmlstory.html
Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway
By Jaweed Kaleem
Jun 27, 2019
Milan, N.M.
It's 7:20 p.m. when he rolls into Spicy Bite, one of the newest restaurants here in rural northwest New Mexico.
Locals in Milan, a town of 3,321, have barely heard of it.
The building is small, single-story, built of corrugated metal sheets. There are seats for 20. The only advertising is spray-painted on concrete roadblocks in English and Punjabi. Next door is a diner and gas station; the county jail is across the road.
Palwinder Singh orders creamy black lentils, chicken curry and roti, finishing it off with chai and cardamom rice pudding. After 13 hours on and off the road in his semi truck, he leans back in a booth as a Bollywood music video plays on TV.
"This is like home," says Pal, the name he uses on the road (said like "Paul").
There are 3.5 million truckers in the United States. California has 138,000, the second-most after Texas. Nearly half of those in California are immigrants, most from Mexico or Central America. But as drivers age toward retirement — the average American trucker is 55 — and a shortage grows, Sikh immigrants and their kids are increasingly taking up the job.
Estimates of the number of Sikh truckers vary. In California alone, tens of thousands of truckers trace their heritage to India. The state is home to half of the Sikhs in the U.S. — members of a monotheistic faith with origins in 15th century India whose followers are best recognized by the uncut hair and turbans many men wear. At Sikh temples in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Riverside, the majority of worshipers are truck drivers and their families.
Over the last decade, Indian Americans have launched trucking schools, truck companies, truck washes, trucker temples and no-frills Indian restaurants modeled after truck stops back home, where Sikhs from the state of Punjab dominate the industry.
"You used to see a guy with a turban and you would get excited," says Pal, who is in his 15th year of trucking. "Today, you go to some stops and can convince yourself you are in India."
Three interstates — the I-5, I-80 and I-10 — are dotted with Indian-American-owned businesses catering to truckers. They start to appear as you drive east from Los Angeles, Reno and Phoenix, and often have the words "Bombay," "Indian" or "Punjabi" on their storefront signs. But many, with names like Jay Bros (in Overton, Neb.) and Antelope Truck Stop Pronghorn (in Burns, Wyo.) are anonymous dots on a map unless you're one of the many Sikhs who have memorized them as a road map to America.
The best-known are along Interstate 40, which stretches from Barstow to North Carolina. The road, much of it alongside Historic Route 66, forms the backbone of the Sikh trucking world.
It's a route that Pal, 38, knows well. Three times a month, he makes the seven-day round trip between his Fontana home and Indiana, where he drops off loads and picks up new ones. Over his career, he's driven 2 million miles and transported items as varied as frozen chickens and paper plates. These days, he mostly hauls chocolate, rice and fruits and vegetables from California farms. Today, it's 103 containers of mixed produce, with mangoes, bell peppers, watermelons, yellow onions and peeled garlic among them. All are bound for a Kroger warehouse outside Indianapolis.
Across the street from Spicy Bite, dozens of arriving drivers form a temporary village of 18-wheelers in a vast parking lot by the interstate. Most are white. Nearly all are men. More are older than younger.
But every now and then there are Sikhs like Pal, with long salt-and-pepper beards, colorful turbans and thick Indian accents. They head straight toward Spicy Bite.
Lines can form out the door at the restaurant, which opened two years ago outside the Petro Stopping Center, a longtime mainstay for truckers headed east.
Pal makes a point to stop by the restaurant — even just for a "hello" — when he sleeps next door. The Sikh greeting is "Sat sri akaal." It means "G-d is truth." In trucking, where turnover is high, business uncertain and risk of accidents ever present, each day can feel like a leap of faith and an opportunity to give thanks.
Punjabi Americans first appeared on the U.S. trucking scene in the 1980s after an anti-Sikh massacre in India left thousands dead around New Delhi, prompting many Sikhs to flee. More recently, Sikhs have migrated to Central America and applied for asylum at the Mexico border, citing persecution for their religion in India; some have also become truckers. Estimates of the overall U.S. Sikh population vary, placing the community's size between 200,000 and 500,000.
In recent years, corporations have pleaded for new truckers. Walmart kicked up salaries to attract drivers. Last year, the government announced a pilot program to lower the age for driving trucks from 21 to 18 for those with truck-driving training in the military. According to the American Trucking Assn., the trucker shortage could reach 100,000 within years.
"Punjabis are filling the gap," says Raman Dhillon, a former driver who last year founded the North American Punjabi Trucking Assn. The Fresno-based group advises drivers on regulations, offers insurance and tire discounts, and runs a magazine: Punjabi Trucking.
Like trucking itself, where the threat of automation and the long hours away from home have made it hard to recruit drivers, the Punjabi trucking life isn't always an easy sell. Three years ago, a group of Sikh truckers in California won a settlement from a national shipping company after saying it discriminated against their faith. The drivers, who followed Sikh traditions by wrapping their uncut hair in turbans, said bosses asked them to remove the turbans before providing hair and urine samples for pre-employment drug tests despite being told of the religious observance. The same year, police charged a man with vandalizing a semi truck at a Sikh temple in Buena Park. He'd scribbled the word "ISIS."
Still, Hindi- and Punjabi-language newspapers in the Eastern U.S. regularly run ads promising better wages, a more relaxed lifestyle and warm weather as a trucker out West. Talk to any group of Sikh drivers and you'll find former cabbies, liquor store workers or convenience store cashiers who made the switch.
"Thirty years ago, it was hard to get into trucking because there were so few people like us in the business who could help you," says Rashpal Dhindsa, a former trucker who runs Fontana-based Dhindsa Group of Companies, one of the oldest Sikh-owned U.S. trucking companies. When Pal first started, Dhindsa — now a close friend but then an acquaintance — gave him a $1,000 loan to cover training classes.
It's 6:36 a.m. the next day when the Petro Stopping Center switches from quiet darkness to rumbling engines. Pal flips on the headlights of his truck, a silver '16 Volvo with a 500-horsepower engine. Inside the rig, he heats aloo gobi — spiced potatoes and cauliflower — that his wife prepared back home. He checks the thermostat to make sure his trailer isn't too warm. He takes out a book wrapped in a blue cotton cloth that's tucked by his driver's seat, sits on a bed-turned-couch and reads a prayer in Punjabi for safety on the journey: There is only one G-d. Truth is His name…. You always protect us.
He pulls east onto the highway as the sun rises.
Truckers either drive in pairs or solo like Pal. Either way, it's a quiet, lonely world.
Still, Pal sees more of America in a week than some people will in their lives. Rolling California hills, spiky desert rock formations, the snow-dusted evergreens of northern Arizona, the fuzzy cacti in New Mexico and, in Albuquerque, hot air balloons rising over an orange sky. There's also the seemingly endless fast food and Tex-Mex of Amarillo and the 19-story cross of Groom, Texas. There's the traffic in Missouri. After hours of solitude on the road, it excites him.
Pal's not strict on dogma or doctrine, and he's more spiritual than religious. Trucking has shown him that people are more similar than different no matter where you go. The best of all religions, he says, tend to teach the same thing — kindness to others, accepting whatever comes your way and appreciation for what's in front of you on the road.
"When I'm driving," Pal says, "I see G-d through his creation."
His favorite sights are the farms. You spot them in Central California while picking up pallets of potatoes and berries, or in Illinois and Indiana while driving through the corn and soybean fields.
They remind him of home, the rural outskirts of Patiala, India.
Nobody in his family drove trucks. Still, to Pal, he's continuing tradition. His father farmed potatoes, cauliflower, rice and tomatoes. As a child, Pal would ride tractors for fun with Dad. Today, instead of growing food, Pal transports it.
He wasn't always a trucker. After immigrating in 2001 with his younger brother, he settled in Canoga Park and worked nights at 7-Eleven. After he was robbed at gunpoint, a friend suggested trucking. Better pay, flexible hours — and less dangerous.
Three years later, he started driving a rig he didn't own while getting paid per mile. Today, he has his own company, two trucks between himself and his brother — also a driver — and bids on shipments directly with suppliers. Nationally, the average pay for a trucker is just above $43,000. Pal makes more than twice that.
He uses the money to pay for the house he shares with his wife, Harjeet Kaur, 4-year-old son, brother and sister-in-law, nieces and parents. Kaur threads eyebrows at a salon and video chats with him during lunch breaks. Every week before he leaves, she packs a duffel bag of his ironed clothes and stacked containers of food for the road.
"I love it," Pal says about driving. "But there are always two sides of the coin, head and tail. If you love it, then you have to sacrifice everything. I have to stay away from home. But the thing is, this job pays me good."
The truck is fully equipped. From the road, you can see only driver and passenger seats. But behind them is a sleeper cab with a bed that's 6-foot-7 by 3-foot-2.
Pal likes to connect the TV sitting atop a mini-fridge to his phone to stream music videos when he's alone. His favorite songs are by Sharry Maan, an Indian singer who topped charts two years ago with "Transportiye." It tells the story of a Sikh American trucker who longs for his wife while on the road. At night, the table folds down to become a bed. Pal is just missing a bathroom and his family.
The life of a Sikh trucker is one of contrasts. On one hand, you see the diversity of America. You encounter new immigrants from around the world working the same job as people who have been truckers for decades. All transport the food, paper and plastic that make the country run. But you also see the relics of the past and the reminders of how you, as a Sikh in 2019, still don't entirely fit in.
It's 9:40 a.m. on Saturday when Pal pulls into Bowlin's Flying C Ranch rest center in Encino, N.M., an hour past Albuquerque and two from Texas. Here, you can buy a $19,999 stuffed buffalo, Baja jackets and fake Native American moccasins made in China in a vast tourist stop attached to a Dairy Queen and an Exxon. "G-d Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood plays in the background.
It reminds Pal of the time he was paying his bill at another gas station. A man suddenly shouted at customers to "get out, he's going to blow up this place!" "I will not fight you," Pal calmly replied. The man left. Those kinds of instances are rare, but Pal always senses their danger. Some of the most violent attacks on Sikhs this century have been at the hands of people who mistook them for Muslims or Arabs, including the case of a turban-wearing Sikh man in Arizona who was shot dead by a gunman four days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
For Pal, suspicious glances are more common. So are the truckers who think he's new to the business or doesn't speak English. None of it fazes him.
"Everybody relates to us through Osama bin Laden because we look the same," he says, driving across the plains toward the Texas Panhandle. "Or they think because my English sounds different that I am not smart. I know who I am."
Every day, he wears a silver bracelet that symbolizes a handcuff. "Remember, you are handcuffed to G-d. Remind yourself to not do bad things," Pal says. It reminds him to be kind in the face of ignorance and hatred.
At a Subway in Amarillo a few hours later, he grabs his go-to lunch when he's taking a break from Indian food: a chicken sandwich on white bread with pepper jack, lettuce, tomato and onion. At home, the family is vegetarian. Pal relishes chances on the road to indulge in meat. He used to depend solely on his wife's cooking. Today, he has other options. It's a luxury to switch from homemade meals to Punjabi restaurants to fast food.
Trucking has helped Pal find his faith. When he moved to the U.S., he used to shave, drink beer and not care much about religion. But as he got bored on the road, he started listening to religious sermons. Twelve years ago, he began to again grow his hair and quit alcohol; drinking it is against the faith's traditions. Today, he schedules shipments around the temple calendar so he can attend Sikh celebrations with his family.
"I don't mind questions about my religion. But when people say to me, 'Why do you not cut your hair?' they are asking the wrong question," Pal says. "The real question is, why do they cut their hair? G-d made us this way."
It's 4:59 p.m. when he arrives in Sayre, Okla., at Truck Stop 40. A yellow Punjabi-language billboard advertises it as the I-40 starts to bend north in a rural region two hours from Oklahoma City.
Among the oldest Sikh truck stops, it has a 24-hour vegetarian restaurant, convenience store, gas station and a housing trailer that functions as a temple — all spread over several acres.
Pal has been coming here for more than decade, since it was a mechanic shop run by a Sikh former trucker who settled on the plot for its cheap land. When he has time, Pal lingers for a meal. But he's in a rush to get to Joplin, Mo., for the night so he can make his drop-off the next day.
He grabs a chai and heads to the temple. Resting on a small pillow upon the altar is the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. An audiotape plays prayers on a loop. A print of Guru Nanak, the faith's founder, hangs on the wall.
Pal prostrates and leaves a few dollar bills on the floor as a donation for upkeep. He prays for G-d to protect the temple, his family and himself on the 891 miles that remain until he hits the Indianapolis suburbs.
"This feels like a long drive," Pal says. "But it's just a small part of the journey of life."
Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway
By Jaweed Kaleem
Jun 27, 2019
Milan, N.M.
It's 7:20 p.m. when he rolls into Spicy Bite, one of the newest restaurants here in rural northwest New Mexico.
Locals in Milan, a town of 3,321, have barely heard of it.
The building is small, single-story, built of corrugated metal sheets. There are seats for 20. The only advertising is spray-painted on concrete roadblocks in English and Punjabi. Next door is a diner and gas station; the county jail is across the road.
Palwinder Singh orders creamy black lentils, chicken curry and roti, finishing it off with chai and cardamom rice pudding. After 13 hours on and off the road in his semi truck, he leans back in a booth as a Bollywood music video plays on TV.
"This is like home," says Pal, the name he uses on the road (said like "Paul").
There are 3.5 million truckers in the United States. California has 138,000, the second-most after Texas. Nearly half of those in California are immigrants, most from Mexico or Central America. But as drivers age toward retirement — the average American trucker is 55 — and a shortage grows, Sikh immigrants and their kids are increasingly taking up the job.
Estimates of the number of Sikh truckers vary. In California alone, tens of thousands of truckers trace their heritage to India. The state is home to half of the Sikhs in the U.S. — members of a monotheistic faith with origins in 15th century India whose followers are best recognized by the uncut hair and turbans many men wear. At Sikh temples in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Riverside, the majority of worshipers are truck drivers and their families.
Over the last decade, Indian Americans have launched trucking schools, truck companies, truck washes, trucker temples and no-frills Indian restaurants modeled after truck stops back home, where Sikhs from the state of Punjab dominate the industry.
"You used to see a guy with a turban and you would get excited," says Pal, who is in his 15th year of trucking. "Today, you go to some stops and can convince yourself you are in India."
Three interstates — the I-5, I-80 and I-10 — are dotted with Indian-American-owned businesses catering to truckers. They start to appear as you drive east from Los Angeles, Reno and Phoenix, and often have the words "Bombay," "Indian" or "Punjabi" on their storefront signs. But many, with names like Jay Bros (in Overton, Neb.) and Antelope Truck Stop Pronghorn (in Burns, Wyo.) are anonymous dots on a map unless you're one of the many Sikhs who have memorized them as a road map to America.
The best-known are along Interstate 40, which stretches from Barstow to North Carolina. The road, much of it alongside Historic Route 66, forms the backbone of the Sikh trucking world.
It's a route that Pal, 38, knows well. Three times a month, he makes the seven-day round trip between his Fontana home and Indiana, where he drops off loads and picks up new ones. Over his career, he's driven 2 million miles and transported items as varied as frozen chickens and paper plates. These days, he mostly hauls chocolate, rice and fruits and vegetables from California farms. Today, it's 103 containers of mixed produce, with mangoes, bell peppers, watermelons, yellow onions and peeled garlic among them. All are bound for a Kroger warehouse outside Indianapolis.
Across the street from Spicy Bite, dozens of arriving drivers form a temporary village of 18-wheelers in a vast parking lot by the interstate. Most are white. Nearly all are men. More are older than younger.
But every now and then there are Sikhs like Pal, with long salt-and-pepper beards, colorful turbans and thick Indian accents. They head straight toward Spicy Bite.
Lines can form out the door at the restaurant, which opened two years ago outside the Petro Stopping Center, a longtime mainstay for truckers headed east.
Pal makes a point to stop by the restaurant — even just for a "hello" — when he sleeps next door. The Sikh greeting is "Sat sri akaal." It means "G-d is truth." In trucking, where turnover is high, business uncertain and risk of accidents ever present, each day can feel like a leap of faith and an opportunity to give thanks.
Punjabi Americans first appeared on the U.S. trucking scene in the 1980s after an anti-Sikh massacre in India left thousands dead around New Delhi, prompting many Sikhs to flee. More recently, Sikhs have migrated to Central America and applied for asylum at the Mexico border, citing persecution for their religion in India; some have also become truckers. Estimates of the overall U.S. Sikh population vary, placing the community's size between 200,000 and 500,000.
In recent years, corporations have pleaded for new truckers. Walmart kicked up salaries to attract drivers. Last year, the government announced a pilot program to lower the age for driving trucks from 21 to 18 for those with truck-driving training in the military. According to the American Trucking Assn., the trucker shortage could reach 100,000 within years.
"Punjabis are filling the gap," says Raman Dhillon, a former driver who last year founded the North American Punjabi Trucking Assn. The Fresno-based group advises drivers on regulations, offers insurance and tire discounts, and runs a magazine: Punjabi Trucking.
Like trucking itself, where the threat of automation and the long hours away from home have made it hard to recruit drivers, the Punjabi trucking life isn't always an easy sell. Three years ago, a group of Sikh truckers in California won a settlement from a national shipping company after saying it discriminated against their faith. The drivers, who followed Sikh traditions by wrapping their uncut hair in turbans, said bosses asked them to remove the turbans before providing hair and urine samples for pre-employment drug tests despite being told of the religious observance. The same year, police charged a man with vandalizing a semi truck at a Sikh temple in Buena Park. He'd scribbled the word "ISIS."
Still, Hindi- and Punjabi-language newspapers in the Eastern U.S. regularly run ads promising better wages, a more relaxed lifestyle and warm weather as a trucker out West. Talk to any group of Sikh drivers and you'll find former cabbies, liquor store workers or convenience store cashiers who made the switch.
"Thirty years ago, it was hard to get into trucking because there were so few people like us in the business who could help you," says Rashpal Dhindsa, a former trucker who runs Fontana-based Dhindsa Group of Companies, one of the oldest Sikh-owned U.S. trucking companies. When Pal first started, Dhindsa — now a close friend but then an acquaintance — gave him a $1,000 loan to cover training classes.
It's 6:36 a.m. the next day when the Petro Stopping Center switches from quiet darkness to rumbling engines. Pal flips on the headlights of his truck, a silver '16 Volvo with a 500-horsepower engine. Inside the rig, he heats aloo gobi — spiced potatoes and cauliflower — that his wife prepared back home. He checks the thermostat to make sure his trailer isn't too warm. He takes out a book wrapped in a blue cotton cloth that's tucked by his driver's seat, sits on a bed-turned-couch and reads a prayer in Punjabi for safety on the journey: There is only one G-d. Truth is His name…. You always protect us.
He pulls east onto the highway as the sun rises.
Truckers either drive in pairs or solo like Pal. Either way, it's a quiet, lonely world.
Still, Pal sees more of America in a week than some people will in their lives. Rolling California hills, spiky desert rock formations, the snow-dusted evergreens of northern Arizona, the fuzzy cacti in New Mexico and, in Albuquerque, hot air balloons rising over an orange sky. There's also the seemingly endless fast food and Tex-Mex of Amarillo and the 19-story cross of Groom, Texas. There's the traffic in Missouri. After hours of solitude on the road, it excites him.
Pal's not strict on dogma or doctrine, and he's more spiritual than religious. Trucking has shown him that people are more similar than different no matter where you go. The best of all religions, he says, tend to teach the same thing — kindness to others, accepting whatever comes your way and appreciation for what's in front of you on the road.
"When I'm driving," Pal says, "I see G-d through his creation."
His favorite sights are the farms. You spot them in Central California while picking up pallets of potatoes and berries, or in Illinois and Indiana while driving through the corn and soybean fields.
They remind him of home, the rural outskirts of Patiala, India.
Nobody in his family drove trucks. Still, to Pal, he's continuing tradition. His father farmed potatoes, cauliflower, rice and tomatoes. As a child, Pal would ride tractors for fun with Dad. Today, instead of growing food, Pal transports it.
He wasn't always a trucker. After immigrating in 2001 with his younger brother, he settled in Canoga Park and worked nights at 7-Eleven. After he was robbed at gunpoint, a friend suggested trucking. Better pay, flexible hours — and less dangerous.
Three years later, he started driving a rig he didn't own while getting paid per mile. Today, he has his own company, two trucks between himself and his brother — also a driver — and bids on shipments directly with suppliers. Nationally, the average pay for a trucker is just above $43,000. Pal makes more than twice that.
He uses the money to pay for the house he shares with his wife, Harjeet Kaur, 4-year-old son, brother and sister-in-law, nieces and parents. Kaur threads eyebrows at a salon and video chats with him during lunch breaks. Every week before he leaves, she packs a duffel bag of his ironed clothes and stacked containers of food for the road.
"I love it," Pal says about driving. "But there are always two sides of the coin, head and tail. If you love it, then you have to sacrifice everything. I have to stay away from home. But the thing is, this job pays me good."
The truck is fully equipped. From the road, you can see only driver and passenger seats. But behind them is a sleeper cab with a bed that's 6-foot-7 by 3-foot-2.
Pal likes to connect the TV sitting atop a mini-fridge to his phone to stream music videos when he's alone. His favorite songs are by Sharry Maan, an Indian singer who topped charts two years ago with "Transportiye." It tells the story of a Sikh American trucker who longs for his wife while on the road. At night, the table folds down to become a bed. Pal is just missing a bathroom and his family.
The life of a Sikh trucker is one of contrasts. On one hand, you see the diversity of America. You encounter new immigrants from around the world working the same job as people who have been truckers for decades. All transport the food, paper and plastic that make the country run. But you also see the relics of the past and the reminders of how you, as a Sikh in 2019, still don't entirely fit in.
It's 9:40 a.m. on Saturday when Pal pulls into Bowlin's Flying C Ranch rest center in Encino, N.M., an hour past Albuquerque and two from Texas. Here, you can buy a $19,999 stuffed buffalo, Baja jackets and fake Native American moccasins made in China in a vast tourist stop attached to a Dairy Queen and an Exxon. "G-d Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood plays in the background.
It reminds Pal of the time he was paying his bill at another gas station. A man suddenly shouted at customers to "get out, he's going to blow up this place!" "I will not fight you," Pal calmly replied. The man left. Those kinds of instances are rare, but Pal always senses their danger. Some of the most violent attacks on Sikhs this century have been at the hands of people who mistook them for Muslims or Arabs, including the case of a turban-wearing Sikh man in Arizona who was shot dead by a gunman four days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
For Pal, suspicious glances are more common. So are the truckers who think he's new to the business or doesn't speak English. None of it fazes him.
"Everybody relates to us through Osama bin Laden because we look the same," he says, driving across the plains toward the Texas Panhandle. "Or they think because my English sounds different that I am not smart. I know who I am."
Every day, he wears a silver bracelet that symbolizes a handcuff. "Remember, you are handcuffed to G-d. Remind yourself to not do bad things," Pal says. It reminds him to be kind in the face of ignorance and hatred.
At a Subway in Amarillo a few hours later, he grabs his go-to lunch when he's taking a break from Indian food: a chicken sandwich on white bread with pepper jack, lettuce, tomato and onion. At home, the family is vegetarian. Pal relishes chances on the road to indulge in meat. He used to depend solely on his wife's cooking. Today, he has other options. It's a luxury to switch from homemade meals to Punjabi restaurants to fast food.
Trucking has helped Pal find his faith. When he moved to the U.S., he used to shave, drink beer and not care much about religion. But as he got bored on the road, he started listening to religious sermons. Twelve years ago, he began to again grow his hair and quit alcohol; drinking it is against the faith's traditions. Today, he schedules shipments around the temple calendar so he can attend Sikh celebrations with his family.
"I don't mind questions about my religion. But when people say to me, 'Why do you not cut your hair?' they are asking the wrong question," Pal says. "The real question is, why do they cut their hair? G-d made us this way."
It's 4:59 p.m. when he arrives in Sayre, Okla., at Truck Stop 40. A yellow Punjabi-language billboard advertises it as the I-40 starts to bend north in a rural region two hours from Oklahoma City.
Among the oldest Sikh truck stops, it has a 24-hour vegetarian restaurant, convenience store, gas station and a housing trailer that functions as a temple — all spread over several acres.
Pal has been coming here for more than decade, since it was a mechanic shop run by a Sikh former trucker who settled on the plot for its cheap land. When he has time, Pal lingers for a meal. But he's in a rush to get to Joplin, Mo., for the night so he can make his drop-off the next day.
He grabs a chai and heads to the temple. Resting on a small pillow upon the altar is the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. An audiotape plays prayers on a loop. A print of Guru Nanak, the faith's founder, hangs on the wall.
Pal prostrates and leaves a few dollar bills on the floor as a donation for upkeep. He prays for G-d to protect the temple, his family and himself on the 891 miles that remain until he hits the Indianapolis suburbs.
"This feels like a long drive," Pal says. "But it's just a small part of the journey of life."
News Dump
Trump Wants To Withdraw Deportation Protections For Families Of Active Troops (Many Wives And Husbands Have Already Been Deported)
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/27/736362986/trump-wants-to-withdraw-deportation-protections-for-families-of-active-troops
The Supreme Court's conservatives decided Thursday that federal courts do not have a role to play in deciding whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. The 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and joined by the court's other conservatives. "We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts," Roberts wrote. "Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/27/supreme-court-says-federal-courts-dont-have-a-role-in-deciding-partisan-gerrymandering-claims/?utm_term=.e46d80a47090
Justice Kagan, dissenting: So the only way to understand the majority's opinion is as follows: In the face of grievous harm to democratic governance and flagrant infringements on individuals' rights—in the face of escalating partisan manipulation whose compatibility with this Nation's values and law no one defends—the majority declines to provide any remedy. For the first time in this Nation's history, the majority declares that it can do nothing about an acknowledged constitutional violation because it has searched high and low and cannot find a workable legal standard to apply.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf
And gerrymandering is, as so many Justices have em-phasized before, anti-democratic in the most profound sense. See supra, at 7–8. In our government, "all political power flows from the people." Arizona State Legislature, 576 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 35). And that means, as Alexander Hamilton once said, "that the people should choose whom they please to govern them." 2 Debates on the Constitution 257 (J. Elliot ed. 1891). But in Maryland and North Carolina they cannot do so. In Maryland, election in and election out, there are 7 Democrats and 1 Republican in the congressional delegation. In North Carolina, however the political winds blow, there are 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Is it conceivable that someday voters will be able to break out of that prefabri-cated box? Sure. But everything possible has been done to make that hard. To create a world in which power does not flow from the people because they do not choose their governors. Of all times to abandon the Court's duty to declare the law, this was not the one. The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government. Part of the Court's role in that system is to defend its foundations. None is more important than free and fair elections. With respect but deep sadness, I dissent.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf
EVERY BLUE/PURPLE STATE - Take this as your calling card. Gerrymander the FUCK out of your states so conservatives cannot win another seat. Period. One more blow to the idea that we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
A group of lawyers on Wednesday night asked a federal judge to hold the Trump administration in contempt and to order immediate improvements to conditions at Customs and Border Protection facilities where children are being held. The filing specifically cites facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, Texas. The lawyers are part of a team of doctors and advocates that warned last week of what they said were major health and hygiene problems at Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas following visits to the facilities. "Instead, class member children are held for weeks in deplorable conditions, without access to soap, clean water, showers, clean clothing, toilets, toothbrushes, adequate nutrition or adequate sleep. The children, including infants and expectant mothers, are dirty, cold, hungry and sleep-deprived," reads the court filing. The filing is part of the Flores Agreement, a 1997 agreement that requires the government to release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to their parents, other adult relatives or licensed programs.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/lawyers-flores-border-conditions/index.html
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/06/26/motion.for.tro.and.pi.4145-0728-9629.14[1].pdf
Jay Inslee gets massive applause for calling Trump the biggest geopolitical threat to America
https://theweek.com/speedreads/849531/jay-inslee-gets-massive-applause-calling-trump-biggest-geopolitical-threat-america
Elizabeth Warren Calls Healthcare A Basic Human Right, Setting Off Heated Medicare For All Debate
https://www.newsweek.com/elizabeth-warren-democratic-primary-debates-2020-1446160
Bill De Blasio … Actually Maybe Knows What He's Doing | "Wait wait wait, Congressman O'Rourke, private insurance is not working for tens of millions of Americans," the mayor interjected when O'Rourke said he would not eliminate private plans. "When you talk about the co-pays, the deductibles, the premiums, the out of pocket expenses, it's not working. How can you defend a system that's not working? Congressman, you've got to start by acknowledging the system is not working for people. Why are you defending private insurance?" | "We have to change our discussion about immigration in this country," he said. "Because look at the bottom line here: That tragic photo of that parent, that child — and I'm saying this as a father — every American should feel that in their heart. Every American should say 'That is not America. Those are not our values.' But we have to get under the skin of why we have this crisis in our system, because we're not being honest about the division that has been fomented in this country." American citizens have been told immigrants created their problems, de Blasio said, but that blame is misplaced. "For all the American citizens out there who feel you're falling behind, who feel the American dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn't do that to you," he said, as the crowd broke into cheers. "The big corporations did that to you. The 1% did that to you. We need to be the party of working people, and that includes a party of immigrants, but first we have to tell the working people in America who are hurting that we are going to be on their side every single time against those big corporations who created this mess to begin with." |
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/bill-de-blasio-2020-democratic-debate
Trump tried to pretend he was above watching the Dem debate. Turns out he wasn't: "Boring!" he tweeted, right as Democrats talked about people dying at the border.
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/26/18760746/trump-tweets-democratic-debate
Two Women Go Public to Say E. Jean Carroll Told Them About Alleged Trump Assault at the Time
https://www.thedailybeast.com/e-jean-carroll-two-women-go-public-to-say-writer-told-them-about-the-alleged-trump-assault
The writer E. Jean Carroll came forward last week with explosive accusations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. Today, the two women she privately confided in after the alleged attack discuss it publicly for the first time with our colleague.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/podcasts/the-daily/e-jean-carroll-trump-interview.html
It Sure Sounds Like Trump Just Implied John McCain Is Rotting in Hell | And also that he's happy the late senator is dead.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/donald-trump-john-mccain-greener-pastures
Trump Tweets That Violate Twitter's Rules Will Now Get a Warning Label
http://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/twitter-world-leader-trump-tweets-warning-label
Twitter says Trump's future tweets might come with warning labels
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/twitter-says-trumps-future-tweets-might-come-with-warning-labels
Attempts to 'erase the science' at UN climate talks - Oil producing countries are trying to "erase the science" on keeping the world's temperatures below 1.5C, say some delegates at UN talks in Bonn.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48786295
Beto won't treat asylum seekers like criminals. In 2018, he co-sponsored the Keep Families Together Act to prohibit DHS from separating children from their parents & to institute safeguards to protect & promote their legal rights, health & wellness.
https://twitter.com/susiedrapes/status/1144057647748079621
"No one's worked harder to end the practice of family separation," he said in an interview with CNN's "New Day." He cited his track record on immigration reform to back up his claim, pointing to efforts to help close the migrant facility in Tornillo, Texas, that has been dubbed a "tent city." "I co-sponsored legislation that would ensure any family fleeing persecution or violence, seeking asylum in this country, is not criminally prosecuted," he continued. "In my administration, we will reunite every separated family, we will free Dreamers from any fear of deportation by making them U.S. citizens" — a reference to immigrants in the U.S. illegally who were brought to the country as children and are seeking a path to citizenship. Asked by CNN what he made of Castro's defense that Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, which makes it a misdemeanor for immigrants to enter the country without papers, actually allows for family separations, O'Rourke said, "He's wrong on his characterization of family separation." "We don't need cages, we don't need to criminally prosecute families, we do not need laws," he added, also remarking how his hometown of El Paso, on the U.S.-Mexico border, is one of the safest cities in the U.S. because of "respect and dignity." O'Rourke acknowledged that he was the target of attacks on the debate stage but shrugged off the aggressive tactics that played out the previous night in Miami, saying, "That's part of politics." He said he intended to continue his nonconfrontational approach. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," O'Rourke said: "I'm not running against anybody. I'm running for the United States of America."
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/27/orourke-castro-democratic-debates-1385301
Bees 'risk dying from hunger', say French beekeepers - "In the hives, there is nothing to eat, beekeepers are having to feed them with syrup because they risk dying from hunger," added the union, which represents many small farms in honey-producing regions.
https://www.france24.com/en/20190625-france-bees-risk-dying-hunger-french-beekeepers-say
Trump threatens to expand his trade war by slapping tariffs on Vietnam
https://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-vietnam-tariffs-trade-war-target-2019-6
Claiming Trump Is Forcing Them to Commit 'Widespread Violation' of International Law, Asylum Officers Back Lawsuit Against President's Policy
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/27/claiming-trump-forcing-them-commit-widespread-violation-international-law-asylum
Oregon Democrats Set to Back Down on Climate Bill That Sent GOP Lawmakers Into Hiding
https://www.thedailybeast.com/oregon-democrats-set-to-back-down-on-climate-bill-that-sent-gop-lawmakers-into-hiding
Julian Castro in 2013 testifying that he supports strong immigration enforcement and hailing the fact Obama met the 2007 immigration "triggers," jargon that refers to Operation Streamline automatic detention at the border.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144123838499680256
More Castro during the same hearing touting Obama had record "boots on the ground" at the border.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144132419504578560
Watching this again, Castro ripping Beto for favoring a comprehensive approach, really looks like an ambush... given Castro himself boasted that Obama had ramped up enforcement, including 1325, in 2013.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144299370155692033
Beto arguing against additional enforcement in 2013.
https://twitter.com/betolovesdogs/status/1144133614940184576
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVofpdQsj0A
I think Beto was genuinely taken aback that his friend and colleague would intentionally lie about his knowledge of the border and everything he has done, while yelling over him during the first debate. To put it bluntly, it was fucked up.
https://twitter.com/betolovesdogs/status/1144141419604598785
There was definitely a micro-expression of emotion on Beto’s face when he realized what @JulianCastro had done to him. When all the old video “receipts” being discovered are aired over the next several days Castro will have to deal with being known as a disingenuous fool.
https://twitter.com/brucehayes/status/1144153102066622464
One thing I'm noticing today in coverage of the first Democratic debate is that many in media feel various Democratic challengers did good work for themselves by rudely yelling over Beto O'Rourke during his allotted time to answer questions while average voters saw it differently
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144292220591382528
1/ Of all the debate performances that divided media and voters, Beto's is at the top, though I note the media narrative about his performance was conveniently identical in all respects to the narrative the beltway class had already publicly decided upon and cemented pre-debate
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144293075826724864
2/ To be clear, as I said yesterday I thought Castro (e.g.) had a fantastic debate, better than Beto, but when I hear folks say that they were unable to determine where Beto stood on various issues my reaction is what debate were you watching I had no problem with that whatsoever
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144293989375512576
Politicians Can Pick Their Voters, Thanks to the Supreme Court
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/opinion/gerrymandering-supreme-court.html
Trump considers bypassing Congress to cut capital gains tax on wealthy to put money in his own pocket and the pocket of billion dollar Republican donors
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/trump-mulls-bypassing-congress-to-cut-capital-gains-tax-on-wealthy-report.html
Updated on European heat wave: A location in France hit a new June record for the country of 106. Tomorrow, it could get even hotter and the all-time national record could fall. Details here:
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1144353370788061184
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/06/26/european-heat-wave-france-germany-poland-czech-republic-set-june-records-worst-is-still-come/
Gabbard: "The strategy is to speak with every single American because we all pay the price for decades of US failed interventionist foreign policy — not just Democrats"
https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/1144364879115149312
Craig Kimbrel's 1st appearance of the season: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1BB, 1 K, and 1st save as a Cub
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/27/736362986/trump-wants-to-withdraw-deportation-protections-for-families-of-active-troops
The Supreme Court's conservatives decided Thursday that federal courts do not have a role to play in deciding whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. The 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and joined by the court's other conservatives. "We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts," Roberts wrote. "Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/27/supreme-court-says-federal-courts-dont-have-a-role-in-deciding-partisan-gerrymandering-claims/?utm_term=.e46d80a47090
Justice Kagan, dissenting: So the only way to understand the majority's opinion is as follows: In the face of grievous harm to democratic governance and flagrant infringements on individuals' rights—in the face of escalating partisan manipulation whose compatibility with this Nation's values and law no one defends—the majority declines to provide any remedy. For the first time in this Nation's history, the majority declares that it can do nothing about an acknowledged constitutional violation because it has searched high and low and cannot find a workable legal standard to apply.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf
And gerrymandering is, as so many Justices have em-phasized before, anti-democratic in the most profound sense. See supra, at 7–8. In our government, "all political power flows from the people." Arizona State Legislature, 576 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 35). And that means, as Alexander Hamilton once said, "that the people should choose whom they please to govern them." 2 Debates on the Constitution 257 (J. Elliot ed. 1891). But in Maryland and North Carolina they cannot do so. In Maryland, election in and election out, there are 7 Democrats and 1 Republican in the congressional delegation. In North Carolina, however the political winds blow, there are 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Is it conceivable that someday voters will be able to break out of that prefabri-cated box? Sure. But everything possible has been done to make that hard. To create a world in which power does not flow from the people because they do not choose their governors. Of all times to abandon the Court's duty to declare the law, this was not the one. The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government. Part of the Court's role in that system is to defend its foundations. None is more important than free and fair elections. With respect but deep sadness, I dissent.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf
EVERY BLUE/PURPLE STATE - Take this as your calling card. Gerrymander the FUCK out of your states so conservatives cannot win another seat. Period. One more blow to the idea that we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
A group of lawyers on Wednesday night asked a federal judge to hold the Trump administration in contempt and to order immediate improvements to conditions at Customs and Border Protection facilities where children are being held. The filing specifically cites facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, Texas. The lawyers are part of a team of doctors and advocates that warned last week of what they said were major health and hygiene problems at Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas following visits to the facilities. "Instead, class member children are held for weeks in deplorable conditions, without access to soap, clean water, showers, clean clothing, toilets, toothbrushes, adequate nutrition or adequate sleep. The children, including infants and expectant mothers, are dirty, cold, hungry and sleep-deprived," reads the court filing. The filing is part of the Flores Agreement, a 1997 agreement that requires the government to release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to their parents, other adult relatives or licensed programs.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/lawyers-flores-border-conditions/index.html
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/06/26/motion.for.tro.and.pi.4145-0728-9629.14[1].pdf
Jay Inslee gets massive applause for calling Trump the biggest geopolitical threat to America
https://theweek.com/speedreads/849531/jay-inslee-gets-massive-applause-calling-trump-biggest-geopolitical-threat-america
Elizabeth Warren Calls Healthcare A Basic Human Right, Setting Off Heated Medicare For All Debate
https://www.newsweek.com/elizabeth-warren-democratic-primary-debates-2020-1446160
Bill De Blasio … Actually Maybe Knows What He's Doing | "Wait wait wait, Congressman O'Rourke, private insurance is not working for tens of millions of Americans," the mayor interjected when O'Rourke said he would not eliminate private plans. "When you talk about the co-pays, the deductibles, the premiums, the out of pocket expenses, it's not working. How can you defend a system that's not working? Congressman, you've got to start by acknowledging the system is not working for people. Why are you defending private insurance?" | "We have to change our discussion about immigration in this country," he said. "Because look at the bottom line here: That tragic photo of that parent, that child — and I'm saying this as a father — every American should feel that in their heart. Every American should say 'That is not America. Those are not our values.' But we have to get under the skin of why we have this crisis in our system, because we're not being honest about the division that has been fomented in this country." American citizens have been told immigrants created their problems, de Blasio said, but that blame is misplaced. "For all the American citizens out there who feel you're falling behind, who feel the American dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn't do that to you," he said, as the crowd broke into cheers. "The big corporations did that to you. The 1% did that to you. We need to be the party of working people, and that includes a party of immigrants, but first we have to tell the working people in America who are hurting that we are going to be on their side every single time against those big corporations who created this mess to begin with." |
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/bill-de-blasio-2020-democratic-debate
Trump tried to pretend he was above watching the Dem debate. Turns out he wasn't: "Boring!" he tweeted, right as Democrats talked about people dying at the border.
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/26/18760746/trump-tweets-democratic-debate
Two Women Go Public to Say E. Jean Carroll Told Them About Alleged Trump Assault at the Time
https://www.thedailybeast.com/e-jean-carroll-two-women-go-public-to-say-writer-told-them-about-the-alleged-trump-assault
The writer E. Jean Carroll came forward last week with explosive accusations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. Today, the two women she privately confided in after the alleged attack discuss it publicly for the first time with our colleague.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/podcasts/the-daily/e-jean-carroll-trump-interview.html
It Sure Sounds Like Trump Just Implied John McCain Is Rotting in Hell | And also that he's happy the late senator is dead.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/donald-trump-john-mccain-greener-pastures
Trump Tweets That Violate Twitter's Rules Will Now Get a Warning Label
http://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/twitter-world-leader-trump-tweets-warning-label
Twitter says Trump's future tweets might come with warning labels
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/twitter-says-trumps-future-tweets-might-come-with-warning-labels
Attempts to 'erase the science' at UN climate talks - Oil producing countries are trying to "erase the science" on keeping the world's temperatures below 1.5C, say some delegates at UN talks in Bonn.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48786295
Beto won't treat asylum seekers like criminals. In 2018, he co-sponsored the Keep Families Together Act to prohibit DHS from separating children from their parents & to institute safeguards to protect & promote their legal rights, health & wellness.
https://twitter.com/susiedrapes/status/1144057647748079621
"No one's worked harder to end the practice of family separation," he said in an interview with CNN's "New Day." He cited his track record on immigration reform to back up his claim, pointing to efforts to help close the migrant facility in Tornillo, Texas, that has been dubbed a "tent city." "I co-sponsored legislation that would ensure any family fleeing persecution or violence, seeking asylum in this country, is not criminally prosecuted," he continued. "In my administration, we will reunite every separated family, we will free Dreamers from any fear of deportation by making them U.S. citizens" — a reference to immigrants in the U.S. illegally who were brought to the country as children and are seeking a path to citizenship. Asked by CNN what he made of Castro's defense that Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, which makes it a misdemeanor for immigrants to enter the country without papers, actually allows for family separations, O'Rourke said, "He's wrong on his characterization of family separation." "We don't need cages, we don't need to criminally prosecute families, we do not need laws," he added, also remarking how his hometown of El Paso, on the U.S.-Mexico border, is one of the safest cities in the U.S. because of "respect and dignity." O'Rourke acknowledged that he was the target of attacks on the debate stage but shrugged off the aggressive tactics that played out the previous night in Miami, saying, "That's part of politics." He said he intended to continue his nonconfrontational approach. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," O'Rourke said: "I'm not running against anybody. I'm running for the United States of America."
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/27/orourke-castro-democratic-debates-1385301
Bees 'risk dying from hunger', say French beekeepers - "In the hives, there is nothing to eat, beekeepers are having to feed them with syrup because they risk dying from hunger," added the union, which represents many small farms in honey-producing regions.
https://www.france24.com/en/20190625-france-bees-risk-dying-hunger-french-beekeepers-say
Trump threatens to expand his trade war by slapping tariffs on Vietnam
https://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-vietnam-tariffs-trade-war-target-2019-6
Claiming Trump Is Forcing Them to Commit 'Widespread Violation' of International Law, Asylum Officers Back Lawsuit Against President's Policy
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/27/claiming-trump-forcing-them-commit-widespread-violation-international-law-asylum
Oregon Democrats Set to Back Down on Climate Bill That Sent GOP Lawmakers Into Hiding
https://www.thedailybeast.com/oregon-democrats-set-to-back-down-on-climate-bill-that-sent-gop-lawmakers-into-hiding
Julian Castro in 2013 testifying that he supports strong immigration enforcement and hailing the fact Obama met the 2007 immigration "triggers," jargon that refers to Operation Streamline automatic detention at the border.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144123838499680256
More Castro during the same hearing touting Obama had record "boots on the ground" at the border.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144132419504578560
Watching this again, Castro ripping Beto for favoring a comprehensive approach, really looks like an ambush... given Castro himself boasted that Obama had ramped up enforcement, including 1325, in 2013.
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1144299370155692033
Beto arguing against additional enforcement in 2013.
https://twitter.com/betolovesdogs/status/1144133614940184576
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVofpdQsj0A
I think Beto was genuinely taken aback that his friend and colleague would intentionally lie about his knowledge of the border and everything he has done, while yelling over him during the first debate. To put it bluntly, it was fucked up.
https://twitter.com/betolovesdogs/status/1144141419604598785
There was definitely a micro-expression of emotion on Beto’s face when he realized what @JulianCastro had done to him. When all the old video “receipts” being discovered are aired over the next several days Castro will have to deal with being known as a disingenuous fool.
https://twitter.com/brucehayes/status/1144153102066622464
One thing I'm noticing today in coverage of the first Democratic debate is that many in media feel various Democratic challengers did good work for themselves by rudely yelling over Beto O'Rourke during his allotted time to answer questions while average voters saw it differently
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144292220591382528
1/ Of all the debate performances that divided media and voters, Beto's is at the top, though I note the media narrative about his performance was conveniently identical in all respects to the narrative the beltway class had already publicly decided upon and cemented pre-debate
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144293075826724864
2/ To be clear, as I said yesterday I thought Castro (e.g.) had a fantastic debate, better than Beto, but when I hear folks say that they were unable to determine where Beto stood on various issues my reaction is what debate were you watching I had no problem with that whatsoever
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1144293989375512576
Politicians Can Pick Their Voters, Thanks to the Supreme Court
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/opinion/gerrymandering-supreme-court.html
Trump considers bypassing Congress to cut capital gains tax on wealthy to put money in his own pocket and the pocket of billion dollar Republican donors
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/trump-mulls-bypassing-congress-to-cut-capital-gains-tax-on-wealthy-report.html
Updated on European heat wave: A location in France hit a new June record for the country of 106. Tomorrow, it could get even hotter and the all-time national record could fall. Details here:
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1144353370788061184
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/06/26/european-heat-wave-france-germany-poland-czech-republic-set-june-records-worst-is-still-come/
Gabbard: "The strategy is to speak with every single American because we all pay the price for decades of US failed interventionist foreign policy — not just Democrats"
https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/1144364879115149312
Craig Kimbrel's 1st appearance of the season: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1BB, 1 K, and 1st save as a Cub
For the love of all that is holy, don’t worry about who “won” the first Democratic presidential primary debate. Or the next one. Or the one after that. [washingtonpost]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/27/first-democratic-debate-actually-told-us-great-deal/
The first Democratic debate actually told us a great deal
By Paul Waldman
June 27 at 12:52 PM
For the love of all that is holy, don’t worry about who “won” the first Democratic presidential primary debate. Or the next one. Or the one after that.
A year from now, one of the 10 candidates who debated Wednesday night or one debating Thursday night will be the party’s nominee. It doesn’t matter who looked tired or who delivered an effective soundbite or who got in a zinger.
This is the paradox of presidential debates. They’re simultaneously awful — too short, not substantive enough, too distracted by trivia — and the best opportunity most voters have to actually get a look at the candidates.
So let’s ask: If you’re a voter trying to figure out not just which candidate to back but also what this election is really about, what would you have learned? Actually, quite a bit:
The Democrats care a lot about inequality. This was the most pervasive theme of the evening. “Who is this economy working for?” asked Elizabeth Warren. “We know that not everyone is sharing in this prosperity,” said Amy Klobuchar. We have “an economy that is rigged to corporations and to the very wealthiest,” said Beto O’Rourke. Cory Booker noted that “dignity is being stripped from labor, and we have people that work full-time jobs and still can’t make a living wage.”
There are some differences in exactly how the candidates would address that problem, but there is little doubt that addressing inequality from both ends — attacking corporate power and increasing taxes on the wealthy on one hand, and raising wages and creating more robust social supports on the other — will be an important focus of the next Democratic presidency.
Health care is coming into focus. While all the Democratic candidates want to increase access to health care (in stark contrast with President Trump, who would take it away from as many people as possible), the candidates had a chance to explain where they differ on how to get to universal coverage.
On Wednesday, Warren said she supports Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all approach, explaining that insurance companies exist “to bring in as many dollars as they can in premiums and to pay out as few dollars as possible.” In contrast, Amy Klobuchar explained her support for a public option — in which anyone could get on Medicare or Medicaid if they wanted but wouldn’t be required to — by expressing concern “about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years.”
Other candidates essentially lined up behind one or the other approach: Bill de Blasio and Tulsi Gabbard for Medicare-for-all, and the rest for a voluntary public option. One of those two basic ideas will be the Democratic position come next year.
The Democrats are adamant in their support of abortion rights. It’s entirely possible that by the time Americans vote next November, the Supreme Court will have overturned Roe v. Wade. The Democrats made clear their support for abortion rights, including allowing Medicaid to pay for abortions.
“I believe in reproductive justice,” said Julián Castro, explaining why it’s important to make sure poor women have access to the procedure. Warren added that she wants a federal law guaranteeing abortion rights everywhere in the country.
The Democrats want to roll back Trump’s punitive immigration policies and find long-term solutions. Castro argued that “we need a Marshall Plan" for the Northern Triangle countries, so people don’t have to migrate, and argued for decriminalizing border-crossing so people who did so will only face immigration court, a position Tim Ryan supported. This proposal has just entered the national debate.
But the most fundamental divide with Trump was articulated by Bill de Blasio: “American citizens have been told that immigrants somehow created their misery and their pain and their challenges, for all the American citizens out there who feel you’re falling behind or feel the American dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn’t do that to you.”
The Democrats don’t have real ideas for dealing with a GOP-led Senate. No sane person believes that if Mitch McConnell is still majority leader in 2021 he will allow a Democratic president to do much of anything. The candidates were asked what they’d do in that situation, and though they talked about building public pressure on Republicans and eliminating the filibuster, no one had any real ideas about what to do.
The Democrats want to take action on climate change. While the discussion of this issue didn’t have the depth one might have desired, if nothing else it was clear that all the candidates believe it’s an urgent problem that requires immediate action, whether that’s through carbon pricing, regulations on fossil fuels, new investments in green energy or some combination thereof.
There was more — Iran, Afghanistan, racial justice, the potential prosecution of Trump — but for many people it was surely hard to follow as candidates desperately tried to say what they could in the absurdly limited time they had.
Which highlights the fundamental disconnect about this exercise: These debates have almost nothing to do with what a president does. Dealing with a foreign crisis or getting legislation passed or effectively managing the sprawling federal government does not require the ability to get off a clever quip or bring home a moving closing statement in 45 seconds.
Nevertheless, these debates are the best chance most voters will have to figure out what this party and these candidates actually want to do. And this one did help.
The first Democratic debate actually told us a great deal
By Paul Waldman
June 27 at 12:52 PM
For the love of all that is holy, don’t worry about who “won” the first Democratic presidential primary debate. Or the next one. Or the one after that.
A year from now, one of the 10 candidates who debated Wednesday night or one debating Thursday night will be the party’s nominee. It doesn’t matter who looked tired or who delivered an effective soundbite or who got in a zinger.
This is the paradox of presidential debates. They’re simultaneously awful — too short, not substantive enough, too distracted by trivia — and the best opportunity most voters have to actually get a look at the candidates.
So let’s ask: If you’re a voter trying to figure out not just which candidate to back but also what this election is really about, what would you have learned? Actually, quite a bit:
The Democrats care a lot about inequality. This was the most pervasive theme of the evening. “Who is this economy working for?” asked Elizabeth Warren. “We know that not everyone is sharing in this prosperity,” said Amy Klobuchar. We have “an economy that is rigged to corporations and to the very wealthiest,” said Beto O’Rourke. Cory Booker noted that “dignity is being stripped from labor, and we have people that work full-time jobs and still can’t make a living wage.”
There are some differences in exactly how the candidates would address that problem, but there is little doubt that addressing inequality from both ends — attacking corporate power and increasing taxes on the wealthy on one hand, and raising wages and creating more robust social supports on the other — will be an important focus of the next Democratic presidency.
Health care is coming into focus. While all the Democratic candidates want to increase access to health care (in stark contrast with President Trump, who would take it away from as many people as possible), the candidates had a chance to explain where they differ on how to get to universal coverage.
On Wednesday, Warren said she supports Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all approach, explaining that insurance companies exist “to bring in as many dollars as they can in premiums and to pay out as few dollars as possible.” In contrast, Amy Klobuchar explained her support for a public option — in which anyone could get on Medicare or Medicaid if they wanted but wouldn’t be required to — by expressing concern “about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years.”
Other candidates essentially lined up behind one or the other approach: Bill de Blasio and Tulsi Gabbard for Medicare-for-all, and the rest for a voluntary public option. One of those two basic ideas will be the Democratic position come next year.
The Democrats are adamant in their support of abortion rights. It’s entirely possible that by the time Americans vote next November, the Supreme Court will have overturned Roe v. Wade. The Democrats made clear their support for abortion rights, including allowing Medicaid to pay for abortions.
“I believe in reproductive justice,” said Julián Castro, explaining why it’s important to make sure poor women have access to the procedure. Warren added that she wants a federal law guaranteeing abortion rights everywhere in the country.
The Democrats want to roll back Trump’s punitive immigration policies and find long-term solutions. Castro argued that “we need a Marshall Plan" for the Northern Triangle countries, so people don’t have to migrate, and argued for decriminalizing border-crossing so people who did so will only face immigration court, a position Tim Ryan supported. This proposal has just entered the national debate.
But the most fundamental divide with Trump was articulated by Bill de Blasio: “American citizens have been told that immigrants somehow created their misery and their pain and their challenges, for all the American citizens out there who feel you’re falling behind or feel the American dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn’t do that to you.”
The Democrats don’t have real ideas for dealing with a GOP-led Senate. No sane person believes that if Mitch McConnell is still majority leader in 2021 he will allow a Democratic president to do much of anything. The candidates were asked what they’d do in that situation, and though they talked about building public pressure on Republicans and eliminating the filibuster, no one had any real ideas about what to do.
The Democrats want to take action on climate change. While the discussion of this issue didn’t have the depth one might have desired, if nothing else it was clear that all the candidates believe it’s an urgent problem that requires immediate action, whether that’s through carbon pricing, regulations on fossil fuels, new investments in green energy or some combination thereof.
There was more — Iran, Afghanistan, racial justice, the potential prosecution of Trump — but for many people it was surely hard to follow as candidates desperately tried to say what they could in the absurdly limited time they had.
Which highlights the fundamental disconnect about this exercise: These debates have almost nothing to do with what a president does. Dealing with a foreign crisis or getting legislation passed or effectively managing the sprawling federal government does not require the ability to get off a clever quip or bring home a moving closing statement in 45 seconds.
Nevertheless, these debates are the best chance most voters will have to figure out what this party and these candidates actually want to do. And this one did help.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Waking Life (2001) 10/10 | "There's only one instant, and it's right now. And it's eternity."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243017/
News Dump
191 House Republicans oppose emergency border funding after weeks of decrying ‘humanitarian crisis’
https://thinkprogress.org/191-house-republicans-oppose-emergency-border-funding-after-weeks-of-decrying-humanitarian-crisis-44d0196fa581/
'It is a Stain on Our Country': Warren Joins Protest Outside Child Detention Facility in Florida
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/26/it-stain-our-country-warren-joins-protest-outside-child-detention-facility-florida
Warren visits migrant care shelter, says children being marched 'like little prisoners'
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/450436-warren-visits-migrant-care-shelter-children-being-marched-like
Indonesia city of Surakarta slaughtering 13,000 dogs a month to match demand for animal's meat - Video footage captured in slaughterhouses in the Indonesian city of Surakarta shows the animals being beaten and strung up to bleed out while still conscious. Islam is terrorism.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/dogs-slaughtered-meat-death-toll-trade-indonesia-solo-investigation-a8975371.html
More than 100 Oregon bills in jeopardy as GOP state senators stay in hiding
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-senate-walkout-more-than-100-bills-in-jeopardy-as-gop-senators-stay-in-hiding/
The National Rifle Association has shut down production at NRATV. The N.R.A. on Tuesday also severed all business with its estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, which operates NRATV, the N.R.A.’s live broadcasting media arm, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/nra-nratv-ackerman-mcqueen.html
This 4-month-old baby was separated from his parents at the border. Now he is nearly 2 and still can't speak or walk.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-family-separation-constantin-mutu-2019-6
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/us/baby-constantine-romania-migrants.html
House panel votes to authorize subpoena for Kellyanne Conway after White House blocks her testimony on alleged Hatch Act violations
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/26/house-panel-votes-to-authorize-subpoena-for-kellyanne-conway-after-white-house-blocks-her-testimony-on-alleged-hatch-act-violations/
Top EPA official stepping down amid ethics probe. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air policy chief is leaving amid ethics concerns. The agency on Wednesday announced that Bill Wehrum, the head of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, will leave the agency by the end of June.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/450416-top-epa-official-stepping-down-amid-ethics-probe
More political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could soon have the authority to weigh in on public information requests. The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register as early as Wednesday and will not allow for a public comment period. According to the new language in the FOIA rule signed by EPA chief Andrew Wheeler last week, the administrator and other officials would be allowed to review all materials that fit a FOIA request criteria, known as responsive documents, and then decide “whether to release or withhold a record or a portion of a record on the basis of responsiveness or under one or more exemptions under the FOIA, and to issue ‘no records’ responses.” Lawyers outside the agency who specialize in FOIA requests say the “no records” response could lead to a situation where records seekers are being told there are no documents meeting their search criteria, even if they were found by EPA staffers who handle FOIA requests, with those documents ultimately withheld by political appointees. “It’s allowing political appointees to make the decision that records someone has presumably identified as being responsive are not actually responsive. That theoretically would allow sensitive documents, that the agency doesn't want to send you, to withhold those records -- and that should shake out eventually in a lawsuit if that's what's happening,” said Matt Topic, government transparency and First Amendment lawyer at Loevy & Loevy, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in civil rights.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/450169-new-epa-rule-would-allow-more-administration-officials-to-weigh-in-on-foia-requests
https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-13290.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_source=federalregister.gov
Teams of hackers connected to the Chinese government used some of the world’s biggest technology service providers as launchpads to attack to their clients, stealing reams of corporate and government secrets for years: Inside the West’s failed fight against China’s ‘Cloud Hopper’ hackers. Eight of the world's biggest technology service providers were hacked by Chinese cyber spies in an elaborate and years-long invasion, Reuters found. The invasion exploited weaknesses in those companies, their customers, and the Western system of technological defense.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-cyber-cloudhopper/
California to require background checks for ammo purchases
https://apnews.com/91d7589c6263466295e99ac01a0de8f4
‘Knitting Has Always Been Political’: Ravelry Bans Pro-Trump Content, and Reactions Flood In
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/style/ravelry-knitting-ban-trump.html
Maine governor signs net neutrality bill
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article231941258.html
House Republicans to challenge Trump appointee over his report urging Conway’s firing
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republicans-to-challenge-trump-appointee-over-his-report-urging-conways-firing/2019/06/25/441ebcfa-9754-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html
North Korea reveals explosive HIV outbreak—after claiming to be disease-free
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06/north-korea-reveals-explosive-hiv-outbreak-after-claiming-to-be-disease-free/
John Kelly joins board of company operating largest shelter for unaccompanied migrant children
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/john-kelly-joins-board-of-caliburn-international-company-operating-largest-unaccompanied-migrant-children-shelter/
A Georgian-American businessman who pitched a plan in 2015 to build a Trump Tower in Moscow met on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating possible counterintelligence concerns related to President Trump’s business dealings in Russia during the 2016 campaign. Giorgi Rtskhiladze said in an interview that he met with committee staff from both parties for more than eight hours, during which he was asked about his proposal for a Moscow tower, his interactions with the Trump Organization and his reference to allegedly compromising tapes of Mr. Trump in a 2016 text message.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-questioned-georgian-american-businessman-on-trumps-real-estate-dealings-in-moscow-11561571049
Kyle Griffin
Verified account @kylegriffin1
3m3 minutes ago
.@AliVelshi fact checks Trump: "He keeps on saying China never paid us a cent and now they're paying us lots of money. There are all sorts of journalists who correct the president ... at this point, we have to say he knows he's wrong & he keeps saying it, which is what a lie is."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1143942023269036033
Zeke Miller
Verified account @ZekeJMiller
Trump on Putin meeting before leaving WH: "I’ll have a very good conversation with him. What I say to him is none of your business." (it is ALL OF AMERICA'S BUSINESS, LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY)
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1143940737802940433
Kellyanne Conway Had More Hatch Act Violation Reports Filed Against Her Than Anyone Else in 30 Years
https://www.newsweek.com/kellyanne-conway-subpoena-hatch-act-1446085
Former Trump FEMA chief repaid taxpayers only 2 percent of $151k spent on personal travel
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/26/brock-long-fema-personal-travel-1553951
'We've become third world' – Rome runs out of space for its rubbish | World News
https://news.sky.com/story/an-incredible-stink-rome-has-run-out-of-space-for-its-rubbish-11749299
Over 3000 migrants have died in the Arizona desert since January of 1999
https://i.redd.it/dkisb6trfq631.png
Debris from satellite blown up by India still flying around Earth, six weeks after Delhi claimed it should have decayed - In April, Nasa chief Jim Bridenstine called India’s destruction of a satellite as “terrible, terrible thing” that could endanger astronauts in the International Space Station.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/india-satellite-debris-space-junk-missile-test-nasa-earth-orbit-a8975231.html
Trump says ‘tens of thousands’ couldn’t get into his Orlando rally. Video, photos tell different story.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-trump-claims-outside-orlando-rally-20190626-7yzvuhemuzeufkywozsc5z5vvm-story.html
Native American groups press Congress to rescind Wounded Knee medals
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/450125-native-american-groups-press-congress-to-rescind-wounded-knee-medals
Warren and Kobluchar visited the Homestead detention center in Florida today. Beto, Harris, Buttigieg, Castro, Gillibrand will all visit later this week. Sanders is sending his wife instead.
https://twitter.com/amandawgolden/status/1143920563909476352
https://twitter.com/amandawgolden/status/1143920876066430976
He lost the nomination by four million votes, mostly the votes of people of color. The only system rigged against him was the 15th Amendment.
https://twitter.com/iversonSLC/status/1143985268266979328
Trump’s bizarre attack on McCain lowlights raucous speech to evangelical group
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/26/18759973/trump-faith-freedom-coalition-mccain
Proposed Bill Would Rescind Medals of Honor Given For Wounded Knee Massacre
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/politics/medal-of-honor-wounded-knee-trnd/index.html
Contractors with white ancestry were awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts reserved for minorities by making unsubstantiated claims to being Native American, a Times investigation found. To qualify for the minority contracting programs, they used membership in unrecognized Cherokee groups that federally recognized tribes and Native American experts consider illegitimate.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-cherokee-minority-contracts-20190626-story.html
House backs ban on White House spending at Trump’s properties, sending message to president
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-backs-ban-on-white-house-spending-at-trumps-properties-sending-message-to-president/2019/06/26/fac81964-984f-11e9-830a-21b9b36b64ad_story.html?utm_term=.afbe86fb38c9
Senate to vote Friday on Trump's Iran war authority
https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/450500-senate-to-vote-friday-on-trumps-iran-war-authority
https://thinkprogress.org/191-house-republicans-oppose-emergency-border-funding-after-weeks-of-decrying-humanitarian-crisis-44d0196fa581/
'It is a Stain on Our Country': Warren Joins Protest Outside Child Detention Facility in Florida
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/26/it-stain-our-country-warren-joins-protest-outside-child-detention-facility-florida
Warren visits migrant care shelter, says children being marched 'like little prisoners'
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/450436-warren-visits-migrant-care-shelter-children-being-marched-like
Indonesia city of Surakarta slaughtering 13,000 dogs a month to match demand for animal's meat - Video footage captured in slaughterhouses in the Indonesian city of Surakarta shows the animals being beaten and strung up to bleed out while still conscious. Islam is terrorism.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/dogs-slaughtered-meat-death-toll-trade-indonesia-solo-investigation-a8975371.html
More than 100 Oregon bills in jeopardy as GOP state senators stay in hiding
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-senate-walkout-more-than-100-bills-in-jeopardy-as-gop-senators-stay-in-hiding/
The National Rifle Association has shut down production at NRATV. The N.R.A. on Tuesday also severed all business with its estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, which operates NRATV, the N.R.A.’s live broadcasting media arm, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/nra-nratv-ackerman-mcqueen.html
This 4-month-old baby was separated from his parents at the border. Now he is nearly 2 and still can't speak or walk.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-family-separation-constantin-mutu-2019-6
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/us/baby-constantine-romania-migrants.html
House panel votes to authorize subpoena for Kellyanne Conway after White House blocks her testimony on alleged Hatch Act violations
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/06/26/house-panel-votes-to-authorize-subpoena-for-kellyanne-conway-after-white-house-blocks-her-testimony-on-alleged-hatch-act-violations/
Top EPA official stepping down amid ethics probe. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air policy chief is leaving amid ethics concerns. The agency on Wednesday announced that Bill Wehrum, the head of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, will leave the agency by the end of June.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/450416-top-epa-official-stepping-down-amid-ethics-probe
More political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could soon have the authority to weigh in on public information requests. The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register as early as Wednesday and will not allow for a public comment period. According to the new language in the FOIA rule signed by EPA chief Andrew Wheeler last week, the administrator and other officials would be allowed to review all materials that fit a FOIA request criteria, known as responsive documents, and then decide “whether to release or withhold a record or a portion of a record on the basis of responsiveness or under one or more exemptions under the FOIA, and to issue ‘no records’ responses.” Lawyers outside the agency who specialize in FOIA requests say the “no records” response could lead to a situation where records seekers are being told there are no documents meeting their search criteria, even if they were found by EPA staffers who handle FOIA requests, with those documents ultimately withheld by political appointees. “It’s allowing political appointees to make the decision that records someone has presumably identified as being responsive are not actually responsive. That theoretically would allow sensitive documents, that the agency doesn't want to send you, to withhold those records -- and that should shake out eventually in a lawsuit if that's what's happening,” said Matt Topic, government transparency and First Amendment lawyer at Loevy & Loevy, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in civil rights.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/450169-new-epa-rule-would-allow-more-administration-officials-to-weigh-in-on-foia-requests
https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-13290.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_source=federalregister.gov
Teams of hackers connected to the Chinese government used some of the world’s biggest technology service providers as launchpads to attack to their clients, stealing reams of corporate and government secrets for years: Inside the West’s failed fight against China’s ‘Cloud Hopper’ hackers. Eight of the world's biggest technology service providers were hacked by Chinese cyber spies in an elaborate and years-long invasion, Reuters found. The invasion exploited weaknesses in those companies, their customers, and the Western system of technological defense.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-cyber-cloudhopper/
California to require background checks for ammo purchases
https://apnews.com/91d7589c6263466295e99ac01a0de8f4
‘Knitting Has Always Been Political’: Ravelry Bans Pro-Trump Content, and Reactions Flood In
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/style/ravelry-knitting-ban-trump.html
Maine governor signs net neutrality bill
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article231941258.html
House Republicans to challenge Trump appointee over his report urging Conway’s firing
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republicans-to-challenge-trump-appointee-over-his-report-urging-conways-firing/2019/06/25/441ebcfa-9754-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html
North Korea reveals explosive HIV outbreak—after claiming to be disease-free
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06/north-korea-reveals-explosive-hiv-outbreak-after-claiming-to-be-disease-free/
John Kelly joins board of company operating largest shelter for unaccompanied migrant children
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/john-kelly-joins-board-of-caliburn-international-company-operating-largest-unaccompanied-migrant-children-shelter/
A Georgian-American businessman who pitched a plan in 2015 to build a Trump Tower in Moscow met on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating possible counterintelligence concerns related to President Trump’s business dealings in Russia during the 2016 campaign. Giorgi Rtskhiladze said in an interview that he met with committee staff from both parties for more than eight hours, during which he was asked about his proposal for a Moscow tower, his interactions with the Trump Organization and his reference to allegedly compromising tapes of Mr. Trump in a 2016 text message.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-questioned-georgian-american-businessman-on-trumps-real-estate-dealings-in-moscow-11561571049
Kyle Griffin
Verified account @kylegriffin1
3m3 minutes ago
.@AliVelshi fact checks Trump: "He keeps on saying China never paid us a cent and now they're paying us lots of money. There are all sorts of journalists who correct the president ... at this point, we have to say he knows he's wrong & he keeps saying it, which is what a lie is."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1143942023269036033
Zeke Miller
Verified account @ZekeJMiller
Trump on Putin meeting before leaving WH: "I’ll have a very good conversation with him. What I say to him is none of your business." (it is ALL OF AMERICA'S BUSINESS, LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY)
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1143940737802940433
Kellyanne Conway Had More Hatch Act Violation Reports Filed Against Her Than Anyone Else in 30 Years
https://www.newsweek.com/kellyanne-conway-subpoena-hatch-act-1446085
Former Trump FEMA chief repaid taxpayers only 2 percent of $151k spent on personal travel
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/26/brock-long-fema-personal-travel-1553951
'We've become third world' – Rome runs out of space for its rubbish | World News
https://news.sky.com/story/an-incredible-stink-rome-has-run-out-of-space-for-its-rubbish-11749299
Over 3000 migrants have died in the Arizona desert since January of 1999
https://i.redd.it/dkisb6trfq631.png
Debris from satellite blown up by India still flying around Earth, six weeks after Delhi claimed it should have decayed - In April, Nasa chief Jim Bridenstine called India’s destruction of a satellite as “terrible, terrible thing” that could endanger astronauts in the International Space Station.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/india-satellite-debris-space-junk-missile-test-nasa-earth-orbit-a8975231.html
Trump says ‘tens of thousands’ couldn’t get into his Orlando rally. Video, photos tell different story.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-trump-claims-outside-orlando-rally-20190626-7yzvuhemuzeufkywozsc5z5vvm-story.html
Native American groups press Congress to rescind Wounded Knee medals
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/450125-native-american-groups-press-congress-to-rescind-wounded-knee-medals
Warren and Kobluchar visited the Homestead detention center in Florida today. Beto, Harris, Buttigieg, Castro, Gillibrand will all visit later this week. Sanders is sending his wife instead.
https://twitter.com/amandawgolden/status/1143920563909476352
https://twitter.com/amandawgolden/status/1143920876066430976
He lost the nomination by four million votes, mostly the votes of people of color. The only system rigged against him was the 15th Amendment.
https://twitter.com/iversonSLC/status/1143985268266979328
Trump’s bizarre attack on McCain lowlights raucous speech to evangelical group
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/26/18759973/trump-faith-freedom-coalition-mccain
Proposed Bill Would Rescind Medals of Honor Given For Wounded Knee Massacre
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/politics/medal-of-honor-wounded-knee-trnd/index.html
Contractors with white ancestry were awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts reserved for minorities by making unsubstantiated claims to being Native American, a Times investigation found. To qualify for the minority contracting programs, they used membership in unrecognized Cherokee groups that federally recognized tribes and Native American experts consider illegitimate.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-cherokee-minority-contracts-20190626-story.html
House backs ban on White House spending at Trump’s properties, sending message to president
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-backs-ban-on-white-house-spending-at-trumps-properties-sending-message-to-president/2019/06/26/fac81964-984f-11e9-830a-21b9b36b64ad_story.html?utm_term=.afbe86fb38c9
Senate to vote Friday on Trump's Iran war authority
https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/450500-senate-to-vote-friday-on-trumps-iran-war-authority
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Chairmen Nadler and Schiff Announce Special Counsel Mueller To Testify Pursuant to Subpoena
https://intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=671
Chairmen Nadler and Schiff Announce Special Counsel Mueller To Testify Pursuant to Subpoena
Washington, June 25, 2019
Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has agreed to testify pursuant to a subpoena before both the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee in open session on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
In announcing the testimony, Nadler and Schiff released the following joint statement:
“Pursuant to subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence tonight, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has agreed to testify before both Committees on July 17 in open session.
“Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia’s attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign’s acceptance and use of that help, and President Trump and his associates' obstruction of the investigation into that attack.
“We look forward to hearing his testimony, as do all Americans.”
In a letter to Mueller accompanying each Committee’s subpoena, the Chairmen wrote:
June 25, 2019
The Hon. Robert S. Mueller III
Special Counsel
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Special Counsel Mueller:
Attached please find subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to compel your testimony on July 17, 2019. Over the course of discussions about your appearance before Congress, we have consistently communicated our Committees’ intention to issue these subpoenas, if necessary, and we now understand it is necessary to do so.
We further understand that there are certain sensitivities associated with your open testimony. In particular, the Special Counsel’s Office referred several criminal investigations to other offices at the Department of Justice, and certain matters are ongoing. Your office, moreover, admirably limited public comment while the Special Counsel’s Office’s work was ongoing. You have also explained that you prefer for the Special Counsel’s Office’s written work to speak for itself.
Nevertheless, the American public deserves to hear directly from you about your investigation and conclusions. We will work with you to address legitimate concerns about preserving the integrity of your work, but we expect that you will appear before our Committees as scheduled.
Sincerely,
https://intelligence.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Letter_to_Special_Counsel_Mueller_6.25.19.pdf
Wednesday 26th | Thursday 27th: Democratic Debates
Jun 26, 2019 | Jun 27, 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_debates_and_forums#Schedule
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_debates_and_forums#Schedule
Light News Dump
Barr testiffied he did not interfere with any of muellers investigations.....: AG Bill Barr killed 7 Robert Mueller investigations — 10 days after he submitted his report. Attorney General Bill Barr killed seven different investigations started by special counsel Robert Mueller just ten days after he submitted his report. CNN’s Katelyn Polantz had filed a request to unseal documents related to the special counsel’s investigation and on Monday the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed. Chief Judge Beryl A Howell ordered the release of multiple documents, including Attachment B, which listed information on applications for court orders requested by Mueller. The 65-page document shows seven cases that were closed on April Fools Day — only ten days after Mueller submitted his report. The document reveals the orders involved the companies AT&T, Twitter and Facebook.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/ag-bill-barr-killed-7-robert-mueller-investigations-10-days-after-he-submitted-his-report/
Trump’s Child Detention Camps Cost $775 Per Person Every Day — The daily cost for a child in a detention camp is more than a stay in a deluxe room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
https://www.gq.com/story/trump-detention-camps-cost
Shocking image emerges of migrant father and child drowned at the US-Mexico border
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/25/americas/mexico-photo-of-father-and-daughter-dead-in-rio-grande/index.html
Senate GOP blocks election security bill
https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/450334-senate-gop-blocks-election-security-bill
Republican Rep. Michael Burgess on conditions in camp: 'Any child is free to leave at anytime'
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/gop-rep-on-conditions-in-camp-any-child-is-free-to-leave-at-anytime-62597701961
https://flipboard.com/@msnbc/gop-rep-on-conditions-in-camp-%E2%80%98any-child-is-free-to-leave-at-anytime%E2%80%99/a-Bzt74T_2SSmtLjc5pkMW_g%3Aa%3A3195436-361187baf7/msnbc.com
The resignation of John Sanders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's acting commissioner, came shortly after agency officials said that more than 100 children have been returned to a troubled Border Patrol station in Texas
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/migrant-children-border.html
Oregon Republicans gloat on Fox News while hiding in Idaho to escape climate change vote
https://www.newsweek.com/oregon-republicans-flee-idaho-fox-news-climate-change-bill-gloat-1445731
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Stop Trump From Starting War With Iran — No More Presidential Wars
https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-stop-trump-starting-war-iran-no-more-presidential-wars
Iran's president says Trump White House 'afflicted by mental retardation'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-iran-news-crisis-rouhani-tensions-middle-east-latest-a8973326.html
Florida Vet and Naval Officer: Beto just listened for over two hours to our roundtable discussion on veterans issues, the VA, the need to end the "forever wars", and how to improve vet entrepreneurship opportunities. Thank you for coming to Tampa and for laying out your plans for us Beto!
https://twitter.com/AndrewLearned/status/1143188821116379136
Former top Commerce aide says he was directed by Ross to add Census citizenship question
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-top-commerce-aide-says-he-was-directed-by-ross-to-add-census-citizenship-question/2019/06/24/4ba75f2c-96d2-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html
Ireland poised to end fur farming, sparing thousands of mink from ‘lives of misery’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-fur-farm-ban-mink-farming-jobs-ispca-animal-welfare-a8972546.html
Maryland judge rules sufficient evidence to reopen 2020 census case citing racial motives
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maryland-judge-rules-sufficient-evidence-to-reopen-2020-census-case-citing-racial-motives/
In his sanctions announcement, Trump accidentally named the wrong supreme leader of Iran, who has been dead since 1989
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-accidentally-named-dead-iranian-leader-in-sanctions-announcement-2019-6
Parkland’s David Hogg: ‘Children having to go through active shooter drills is not what freedom looks like to me’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/parklands-david-hogg-children-having-to-go-through-active-shooter-drills-is-not-what-freedom-looks-like-to-me/2019/06/24/ee5c8982-8182-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html
Committee Files Contempt Report Against AG Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross, Releases Transcripts from Census Investigation
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-files-contempt-report-against-ag-barr-and-commerce-secretary-ross
Perdue admits farmers are casualties of Trump’s trade policies, won’t promise additional aid – Trump's agriculture secretary just said the quiet part out loud.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-agriculture-secretary-sonny-perdue-admits-farmers-casualties-trump-trade-policies-wont-promise-aid-8716e18eb0e4/
Indicted Criminal Republical Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pursue affairs
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/25/duncan-hunter-campaign-funds-affairs-1382197
Trump Names Stephanie Grisham, Aide to First Lady, as White House Press Secretary
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/politics/stephanie-grisham-press-secretary.html
Democrats’ emoluments lawsuit against President Trump can proceed, federal judge rules
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/democrats-emoluments-lawsuit-against-president-trump-can-proceed-federal-judge-rules/2019/06/25/73bcc6ac-8b95-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html?utm_term=.dc4e77883508
Iran to abandon more nuclear deal commitments
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-says-new-sanctions-mean-end-diplomacy-n1021311?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
Elizabeth Warren: Repeal The Law That Criminalizes Migrants — The Democratic presidential candidate wants to repeal a decades-old law put forth by a famed segregationist.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-immigration_n_5d1238bae4b07ae90da46c88?2ha
As Ebola Deaths Mount in Africa, Trump Is Screwing Up the Response
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/as-ebola-deaths-mount-in-africa-trump-is-screwing-up-the-response/
Father-daughter border drowning highlights migrants’ perils. The man and his 23-month-old daughter lay face down in shallow water along the bank of the Rio Grande, his black shirt hiked up to his chest with the girl’s head tucked inside. Her arm was draped around his neck suggesting she clung to him in her final moments.
https://apnews.com/2f8422c820104d6eaad9b73d939063a9
Trump Shrugs Off Rape Accuser as 'Not My Type.' Accuser Natasha Stoynoff Shoots Back: Your 'Type' Is Any Woman in Reach — "To Trump, a man who has bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, a bit of rape in a department store change room must be no big deal at all"
https://people.com/politics/natasha-stoynoff-responds-donald-trump-attacks-accuser-physical-appearances/
Tamp Bay Rays ignorant trash owner Stu Sternberg’s comments about coordination w/Bronfman on Montreal sister-city concept prior to 2028 sparked legal inquiry from #StPete mayor’s office, which reviewed today’s press conference for indications contract may have been violated
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/299694-did-rays-stu-sternberg-violate-his-contract-with-st-petersburg
Sanders is a LIAR. Anybody who says we can afford free college tuition, free healthcare, and write off student debt without raising taxes is just LYING to get votes. Sanders supporters are no different from Trump supporters in coal country. They want to be LIED to and told what they want to hear.
Trump on Tuesday threatened to attack Iran in retaliation for any strikes by Tehran "on anything American," after Iran said new U.S. sanctions precluded any diplomacy and called the White House actions "mentally retarded."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-trump/trump-threatens-attacks-on-iran-in-retaliation-for-strikes-idUSKCN1TQ1YE
UN expert says human rights may not survive - The world is increasingly at risk of “climate apartheid”, where the rich pay to escape heat and hunger caused by the escalating climate crisis while the rest of the world suffers, a report from a UN human rights expert has said.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/25/climate-apartheid-united-nations-expert-says-human-rights-may-not-survive-crisis
Men's fertility irreversibly damaged by age of 18 thanks to Western junk food diet, study finds - A groundbreaking investigation has established that teenagers who favour high-fat and processed foods like pizzas, chips and snacks are killing off sperm-producing cells that can never be replaced.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/24/mens-fertility-irreversibly-damaged-age-18-thanks-western-junk/
Human waste left by a record number of mountaineers crowding Mount Everest this climbing season threatens to contaminate drinking water for local communities
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/human-waste-left-by-record-number-of-everest-climbers-threatens-local-drinking-water-a4174356.html
G20 nations triple coal power subsidies despite climate crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/25/g20-nations-triple-coal-power-subsidies-climate-crisis
Trump’s repeated defense against assault accusations: call the accuser unattractive. When the president says E. Jean Carroll is “not my type,” he wants us to think sexual assault is about sex and not power.
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/25/18744356/donald-trump-jean-carroll-not-my-type
Italy's Salvini is refusing to allow a boat of rescued migrants permission to land, calling it a "pirate ship"
https://www.newsweek.com/italy-salvini-sea-watch-3-migrants-pirate-ship-1445697
Five years after Russia had its voting rights removed because of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly has voted to restore them. The assembly backed the proposal in the face of angry opposition from Ukraine, whose delegation later walked out.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48755606
Veteras Affairs health care workers say managers are trying to silence them on veteran care
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/25/veterans-affairs-health-care-workers-say-punished-speaking-out/1549658001/
The 2020 Summer Olympics: These Games will see the introduction of additional disciplines within several of the Summer Olympics sports, including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX and Madison cycling, as well as further mixed events. Under new IOC policies that allow sports to be added to the Games' programme to augment the permanent "core" Olympic events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, and the return of baseball and softball (which were removed from the summer program after 2008).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics
O'Rourke's proposal is logistically pretty simple. When a new war is authorized, a tax would automatically go into effect to help pay for it. The tax would be levied on all families "without current members of the Armed Forces or veterans of the Armed Forces," and it would be progressive. Households making more than $200,000 would pay $1,000 a year. Those making less than $30,000 would pay $25 a year. The proceeds from the tax would go into a fund to support veterans health care. | Nonetheless, it is in fact a potentially transformative foreign policy proposal. Currently, wars are financed through debt and borrowing. Most people therefore don't feel the effects of these conflicts in any direct concrete way. A war tax would change that, as Sarah Kreps, author of "Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy," explained to me. "If people were forced to pay the cost of war, they would make some sort of calculation in their minds about whether the war being fought is worth the fiscal sacrifice they're making," Kreps says. "And as soon as those are no longer in alignment, they would start putting pressure on leaders to find a suitable end to the war." Kreps has data to back this up. In 2017, she and Cornell government professor Gustavo A. Flores-Macías published a paper in the Journal of Conflict Resolution examining the link between support for war and the method by which the war was financed. They conducted a public opinion survey of 2,500 adults in the United States and 2,122 in the United Kingdom in June 2013. Their results were striking. Wars financed by borrowing alone were 8 to 12 points more popular than wars financed by borrowing and taxes. More, this effect held regardless of partisanship. In the U.S., both Republican and Democratic support for war fell when the public was directly taxed to support the conflict. Partisan differences were not significant. Twelve points is a significant gap. That means that a war that had 55 percent support could drop to only 43 percent if a war tax were attached. More, as Kreps pointed out, imposing specific taxes for unpopular projects tends to have volatile results. A new fuel tax in France to control climate emissions inspired violent protests just last year. A war tax, if instituted, could plausibly inspire very strong reactions in Americans the next time war is declared. | Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both made promises to restrain intervention, too. Both ended up with often aggressive military policies driven by a vast military industrial complex and a default political calculus that doing something looks more impressive than doing nothing.Even Sanders as president would likely have trouble defying those institutional incentives. That's why O'Rourke's proposal is so important. A war tax isn't a personal promise to be less interventionist. It's a policy designed to change the calculus for all politicians. And it challenges other Democratic candidates to develop specific counterproposals. If you don't want a war tax, what would you offer instead? By how much would you cut the defense budget, and what would you do with the reallocated funds? How could we strengthen the War Powers Act, which Sanders was able to leverage in the Senate to condemn the war in Yemen? How do you spread the costs of war more equitably so that the public can no longer ignore them while soldiers, veterans and people overseas suffer?
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/beto-o-rourke-s-war-tax-could-radically-change-political-ncna1021606
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022002715600762
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/french-protesters-angry-over-fuel-taxes-clash-police-n939716
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-military/trump-lays-out-non-interventionist-u-s-military-policy-idUSKBN13W06L
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/13/18263894/yemen-war-senate-sanders-murphy-lee
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/ag-bill-barr-killed-7-robert-mueller-investigations-10-days-after-he-submitted-his-report/
Trump’s Child Detention Camps Cost $775 Per Person Every Day — The daily cost for a child in a detention camp is more than a stay in a deluxe room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
https://www.gq.com/story/trump-detention-camps-cost
Shocking image emerges of migrant father and child drowned at the US-Mexico border
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/25/americas/mexico-photo-of-father-and-daughter-dead-in-rio-grande/index.html
Senate GOP blocks election security bill
https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/450334-senate-gop-blocks-election-security-bill
Republican Rep. Michael Burgess on conditions in camp: 'Any child is free to leave at anytime'
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/gop-rep-on-conditions-in-camp-any-child-is-free-to-leave-at-anytime-62597701961
https://flipboard.com/@msnbc/gop-rep-on-conditions-in-camp-%E2%80%98any-child-is-free-to-leave-at-anytime%E2%80%99/a-Bzt74T_2SSmtLjc5pkMW_g%3Aa%3A3195436-361187baf7/msnbc.com
The resignation of John Sanders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's acting commissioner, came shortly after agency officials said that more than 100 children have been returned to a troubled Border Patrol station in Texas
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/migrant-children-border.html
Oregon Republicans gloat on Fox News while hiding in Idaho to escape climate change vote
https://www.newsweek.com/oregon-republicans-flee-idaho-fox-news-climate-change-bill-gloat-1445731
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Stop Trump From Starting War With Iran — No More Presidential Wars
https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-stop-trump-starting-war-iran-no-more-presidential-wars
Iran's president says Trump White House 'afflicted by mental retardation'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-iran-news-crisis-rouhani-tensions-middle-east-latest-a8973326.html
Florida Vet and Naval Officer: Beto just listened for over two hours to our roundtable discussion on veterans issues, the VA, the need to end the "forever wars", and how to improve vet entrepreneurship opportunities. Thank you for coming to Tampa and for laying out your plans for us Beto!
https://twitter.com/AndrewLearned/status/1143188821116379136
Former top Commerce aide says he was directed by Ross to add Census citizenship question
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-top-commerce-aide-says-he-was-directed-by-ross-to-add-census-citizenship-question/2019/06/24/4ba75f2c-96d2-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html
Ireland poised to end fur farming, sparing thousands of mink from ‘lives of misery’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-fur-farm-ban-mink-farming-jobs-ispca-animal-welfare-a8972546.html
Maryland judge rules sufficient evidence to reopen 2020 census case citing racial motives
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maryland-judge-rules-sufficient-evidence-to-reopen-2020-census-case-citing-racial-motives/
In his sanctions announcement, Trump accidentally named the wrong supreme leader of Iran, who has been dead since 1989
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-accidentally-named-dead-iranian-leader-in-sanctions-announcement-2019-6
Parkland’s David Hogg: ‘Children having to go through active shooter drills is not what freedom looks like to me’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/parklands-david-hogg-children-having-to-go-through-active-shooter-drills-is-not-what-freedom-looks-like-to-me/2019/06/24/ee5c8982-8182-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html
Committee Files Contempt Report Against AG Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross, Releases Transcripts from Census Investigation
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-files-contempt-report-against-ag-barr-and-commerce-secretary-ross
Perdue admits farmers are casualties of Trump’s trade policies, won’t promise additional aid – Trump's agriculture secretary just said the quiet part out loud.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-agriculture-secretary-sonny-perdue-admits-farmers-casualties-trump-trade-policies-wont-promise-aid-8716e18eb0e4/
Indicted Criminal Republical Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pursue affairs
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/25/duncan-hunter-campaign-funds-affairs-1382197
Trump Names Stephanie Grisham, Aide to First Lady, as White House Press Secretary
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/politics/stephanie-grisham-press-secretary.html
Democrats’ emoluments lawsuit against President Trump can proceed, federal judge rules
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/democrats-emoluments-lawsuit-against-president-trump-can-proceed-federal-judge-rules/2019/06/25/73bcc6ac-8b95-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html?utm_term=.dc4e77883508
Iran to abandon more nuclear deal commitments
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-says-new-sanctions-mean-end-diplomacy-n1021311?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
Elizabeth Warren: Repeal The Law That Criminalizes Migrants — The Democratic presidential candidate wants to repeal a decades-old law put forth by a famed segregationist.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-immigration_n_5d1238bae4b07ae90da46c88?2ha
As Ebola Deaths Mount in Africa, Trump Is Screwing Up the Response
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/as-ebola-deaths-mount-in-africa-trump-is-screwing-up-the-response/
Father-daughter border drowning highlights migrants’ perils. The man and his 23-month-old daughter lay face down in shallow water along the bank of the Rio Grande, his black shirt hiked up to his chest with the girl’s head tucked inside. Her arm was draped around his neck suggesting she clung to him in her final moments.
https://apnews.com/2f8422c820104d6eaad9b73d939063a9
Trump Shrugs Off Rape Accuser as 'Not My Type.' Accuser Natasha Stoynoff Shoots Back: Your 'Type' Is Any Woman in Reach — "To Trump, a man who has bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, a bit of rape in a department store change room must be no big deal at all"
https://people.com/politics/natasha-stoynoff-responds-donald-trump-attacks-accuser-physical-appearances/
Tamp Bay Rays ignorant trash owner Stu Sternberg’s comments about coordination w/Bronfman on Montreal sister-city concept prior to 2028 sparked legal inquiry from #StPete mayor’s office, which reviewed today’s press conference for indications contract may have been violated
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/299694-did-rays-stu-sternberg-violate-his-contract-with-st-petersburg
Sanders is a LIAR. Anybody who says we can afford free college tuition, free healthcare, and write off student debt without raising taxes is just LYING to get votes. Sanders supporters are no different from Trump supporters in coal country. They want to be LIED to and told what they want to hear.
Trump on Tuesday threatened to attack Iran in retaliation for any strikes by Tehran "on anything American," after Iran said new U.S. sanctions precluded any diplomacy and called the White House actions "mentally retarded."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-trump/trump-threatens-attacks-on-iran-in-retaliation-for-strikes-idUSKCN1TQ1YE
UN expert says human rights may not survive - The world is increasingly at risk of “climate apartheid”, where the rich pay to escape heat and hunger caused by the escalating climate crisis while the rest of the world suffers, a report from a UN human rights expert has said.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/25/climate-apartheid-united-nations-expert-says-human-rights-may-not-survive-crisis
Men's fertility irreversibly damaged by age of 18 thanks to Western junk food diet, study finds - A groundbreaking investigation has established that teenagers who favour high-fat and processed foods like pizzas, chips and snacks are killing off sperm-producing cells that can never be replaced.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/24/mens-fertility-irreversibly-damaged-age-18-thanks-western-junk/
Human waste left by a record number of mountaineers crowding Mount Everest this climbing season threatens to contaminate drinking water for local communities
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/human-waste-left-by-record-number-of-everest-climbers-threatens-local-drinking-water-a4174356.html
G20 nations triple coal power subsidies despite climate crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/25/g20-nations-triple-coal-power-subsidies-climate-crisis
Trump’s repeated defense against assault accusations: call the accuser unattractive. When the president says E. Jean Carroll is “not my type,” he wants us to think sexual assault is about sex and not power.
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/25/18744356/donald-trump-jean-carroll-not-my-type
Italy's Salvini is refusing to allow a boat of rescued migrants permission to land, calling it a "pirate ship"
https://www.newsweek.com/italy-salvini-sea-watch-3-migrants-pirate-ship-1445697
Five years after Russia had its voting rights removed because of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly has voted to restore them. The assembly backed the proposal in the face of angry opposition from Ukraine, whose delegation later walked out.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48755606
Veteras Affairs health care workers say managers are trying to silence them on veteran care
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/25/veterans-affairs-health-care-workers-say-punished-speaking-out/1549658001/
The 2020 Summer Olympics: These Games will see the introduction of additional disciplines within several of the Summer Olympics sports, including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX and Madison cycling, as well as further mixed events. Under new IOC policies that allow sports to be added to the Games' programme to augment the permanent "core" Olympic events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, and the return of baseball and softball (which were removed from the summer program after 2008).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics
O'Rourke's proposal is logistically pretty simple. When a new war is authorized, a tax would automatically go into effect to help pay for it. The tax would be levied on all families "without current members of the Armed Forces or veterans of the Armed Forces," and it would be progressive. Households making more than $200,000 would pay $1,000 a year. Those making less than $30,000 would pay $25 a year. The proceeds from the tax would go into a fund to support veterans health care. | Nonetheless, it is in fact a potentially transformative foreign policy proposal. Currently, wars are financed through debt and borrowing. Most people therefore don't feel the effects of these conflicts in any direct concrete way. A war tax would change that, as Sarah Kreps, author of "Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy," explained to me. "If people were forced to pay the cost of war, they would make some sort of calculation in their minds about whether the war being fought is worth the fiscal sacrifice they're making," Kreps says. "And as soon as those are no longer in alignment, they would start putting pressure on leaders to find a suitable end to the war." Kreps has data to back this up. In 2017, she and Cornell government professor Gustavo A. Flores-Macías published a paper in the Journal of Conflict Resolution examining the link between support for war and the method by which the war was financed. They conducted a public opinion survey of 2,500 adults in the United States and 2,122 in the United Kingdom in June 2013. Their results were striking. Wars financed by borrowing alone were 8 to 12 points more popular than wars financed by borrowing and taxes. More, this effect held regardless of partisanship. In the U.S., both Republican and Democratic support for war fell when the public was directly taxed to support the conflict. Partisan differences were not significant. Twelve points is a significant gap. That means that a war that had 55 percent support could drop to only 43 percent if a war tax were attached. More, as Kreps pointed out, imposing specific taxes for unpopular projects tends to have volatile results. A new fuel tax in France to control climate emissions inspired violent protests just last year. A war tax, if instituted, could plausibly inspire very strong reactions in Americans the next time war is declared. | Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both made promises to restrain intervention, too. Both ended up with often aggressive military policies driven by a vast military industrial complex and a default political calculus that doing something looks more impressive than doing nothing.Even Sanders as president would likely have trouble defying those institutional incentives. That's why O'Rourke's proposal is so important. A war tax isn't a personal promise to be less interventionist. It's a policy designed to change the calculus for all politicians. And it challenges other Democratic candidates to develop specific counterproposals. If you don't want a war tax, what would you offer instead? By how much would you cut the defense budget, and what would you do with the reallocated funds? How could we strengthen the War Powers Act, which Sanders was able to leverage in the Senate to condemn the war in Yemen? How do you spread the costs of war more equitably so that the public can no longer ignore them while soldiers, veterans and people overseas suffer?
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/beto-o-rourke-s-war-tax-could-radically-change-political-ncna1021606
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022002715600762
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/french-protesters-angry-over-fuel-taxes-clash-police-n939716
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-military/trump-lays-out-non-interventionist-u-s-military-policy-idUSKBN13W06L
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/13/18263894/yemen-war-senate-sanders-murphy-lee
https://betoorourke.com/veterans/
Beto's H.R. 6445, Veterans Health Care Trust Fund Act, which Beto introduced in December 2016, includes a War Tax, see the section titled "Part VII -- War Tax".
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/6445
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For O'Rourke, the plan for veterans recalls some of his biggest legislative victories while serving in Congress from 2012 to 2018. Possibly his hallmark legislative accomplishment was a bill expanding mental health care for military veterans even if they received a less-than-honorable discharge, an idea that was an outgrowth of El Paso having one of the highest suicide rates for veterans in the nation.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Beto-O-Rourke-proposes-new-war-tax-to-14036019.php
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https://betoorourke.com/veterans/
Honoring Our Commitment
Caring For Our Nation's Veterans
Beto's plan for honoring our veterans by investing in them at home, and ending wars abroad.
very year, young women and men leave Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas to serve our country overseas, some sent to fight in "forever wars" that started before they were born. And every year, many others return home to an El Paso VA where they must seek care for the mental and physical trauma they have sustained.
A lifelong El Pasoan, Beto has always understood that we must pay any price, and bear any burden, to support all those who have worn the uniform and keep America safe. That is why, as soon as he became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013, he brought El Paso's voice and values to the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Over his three terms in Congress, Beto did not spend a single day in the majority. And yet, he distinguished himself as a leading advocate for veterans—successfully expediting the veterans' disability claims process, extending emergency mental health care to veterans with Other-Than-Honorable discharges, and improving the staffing and functioning at the El Paso VA facility.
These laws are already saving lives, but Beto recognizes that our work is far from done. An average of 20 veterans and servicemembers die by suicide every day. And countless veterans have come home from generations of wars, only to struggle with PTS, find themselves in the grips of addiction, or end up living on the streets.
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf
Our country can do better. And we must.
That is why Beto is unveiling a new, comprehensive plan to improve the services we provide to veterans all across America, which he will push on Day One and beyond, with the same tenacity he did as a Member of Congress. Beto's plan is built around a four-part framework:
1 End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Reinvest the Savings in Veterans
2 Invest in Building a State-of-the-Art Veterans Affairs Health Care System
3 Provide All Veterans with Equal Treatment
4 Ensure Veterans Can Succeed When They Come Home
Part 1
End "Forever Wars" and Establish a new Veterans Health Care Trust Fund
There is perhaps no greater way to honor the sacrifice of our veterans than to take gravely seriously the awesome responsibility of declaring war. Eighteen years into the war in Afghanistan, and nearly three decades after our first engagement in Iraq, the time has come to cancel the blank check for endless war and to ensure that any future engagements are the result of a national conversation about our security interests and duly authorized by Congress.
And when we do make the solemn decision to send our troops to war, we must take steps to honor their service. In part, this means recognizing that our service members make sacrifices not only during their time of deployment but also once they return home. Although advances in medical care are ensuring that more and more of our service members are surviving the wounds of war—many of these injuries will require treatment for the rest of their lives. Honoring the service of our troops means standing with them each step on the way through treatment, recovery, and a full life.
Over the next few decades, the costs related to health care and disability compensation for the "forever wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan alone are projected to be nearly a trillion dollars. Today, these services — ones which we have promised to veterans and ones which they are owed — are subject to fiscal battles in Washington. They should not be.
Building on bipartisan proposals he advanced as a Member of Congress, as President, Beto would:
Bring a responsible end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These conflicts have yielded both tremendous human and fiscal costs. By ending these wars, we can reinvest the resources saved in those who have served.
- Beto would propose that Congress invest $1 out of every $2 dollars saved—estimated at nearly $200 billion to vets, and at least $400 billion in total savings—in programs that benefit those who served.
Establish a new Veterans Health Care Trust Fund.
To ensure the care needed by veterans of our wars will always be funded, Beto would work with Congress to pass a law that creates a Veterans Health Care Trust Fund (VHCTF) for each war we fight.
- At the start of any newly authorized war, a new trust fund will be established within the General Fund of the Treasury for future veterans of that war.
- The trust fund will support veterans' hospital care and medical services; disability compensation; and any other programs directly related to the care of veterans.
- Management of the trust fund would be subject to robust transparency and accountability, including regular reporting to Congress.
Deposit proceeds from a "War Tax" into new VHCTFs.
Under Beto's plan, every new VHCTF would be paired with enactment of new war tax. This new tax would serve as a reminder of the incredible sacrifice made by those who serve and their families.
- This modest tax would be implemented on a progressive basis, with taxpayers who make over $200,000 per year (adjusted gross income) paying $1,000 in a new tax for each war.
- The tax would be levied on households without current members of the Armed Forces or veterans of the Armed Forces.
Part 2
Invest in Building a State-of-the-Art Veterans Affairs Health Care System
As President, Beto will advance a modern VA that not only delivers high-quality care with transparency and accountability, but also work to serve as a model for the rest of the country. Already, many veterans prefer the care they get at VA medical facilities over other options. At the VA, providers are held to high standards of professional training, used to working in an integrated health environment focused on veterans holistically, experienced in treating common service-connected conditions, and well-versed in military and veteran culture, making culturally competent care the norm.
Building on his record of delivering for veterans while in Congress, Beto will work to modernize the VA by increasing transparency and accountability, addressing staffing shortages—prioritizing closing the human capital gap of the over 45,000 vacant positions at the VA, including the 40,000 at the Veterans Health Administration, with a focus on the severe shortages in positions dealing with mental health, and instituting changes to decrease the appeals backlog. He will also ensure that community providers are measuring up to the high standards that all of our veterans deserve. As President, Beto would work to:
Attract more talent to the VA
A strong VA starts with a deep bench of talent. For over 70 years, the VA has partnered with American medical schools, resulting in over 70 percent of US physicians having received training at a VA facility with veterans and residents benefitting. Beto recognizes we can expand on these partnerships. Beto would invest in making VA a magnet for innovators in health care. Beto would:
- Provide new authority for VA leaders to make contingent offers to future medical providers to get them committed and in the pipeline earlier;
- Spur new partnerships between the VA and top research universities to launch innovative residency programs housed at the VA; and
- Fully fund and grow the Education Debt Reduction Program.
Make the VA a leader in the digital health care revolution.
The VA is already embarking on the largest modern electronic health record installation in the United States, and leads the nation in interoperability and secure, electronic transfer of veterans' health information across silos of care. Importantly, the VA Blue Button initiative has also empowered veterans to truly own their own health information with electronic access vis-à-vis their own personal devices As President, Beto would lean into that advantage—supporting the transfer of information from the Department of Defense, recognizing that as a priority, and positioning the VA to drive an industry-wide digital health care revolution. Specifically, under Beto's leadership, the VA would:
https://www.va.gov/bluebutton/
- Drive industry-wide standardization of electronic health care data, using its market power to develop uniform rules of the road around how electronic data is structured, transferred, and displayed to clinicians, no matter where veterans are receiving care. This is especially useful for physicians, nurses, and other front-line caregivers, who can make better clinical decisions with a complete set of a patient's information—especially during an emergency;
- Use electronic health care data as a tool to stitch together silos of care with a single, secure, and up-to-date record of veterans' health information, across specialists, systems, and facilities; and
- Support the expansion of telehealth, and leverage data to drive down costs across the system, enable better care coordination, and improve care quality and value.
Develop evidence-based standards to promote quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of care and deploy those standards across the VA and community providers.
Health care for veterans extends beyond the VA system; and, despite the recent expansion of the Choice Program, efforts are still needed to bolster transparency and accountability, and improve the quality of care. Care must be standardized as an expectation extended not only at the VA but for all community providers involved in providing care to veterans. Beto would:
- Improve transparency at the VA by implementing strict reporting requirements for how funding is being used and investing in data-based performance assessments;
- Require VA providers, and any outside providers receiving VA funds, to publicly report and display: staffing ratios, a comparison between facility and national wait times, disability compensation processing times, and appeals processing times;
- Include veterans in performance assessments of VA and community care through nationwide surveys, and use the resulting data to improve care; and
- Assign a care advocate to veterans who seek care in the community to ensure that veterans' care remains coordinated by VA.
Establish the VA as a leader on mental health and opioid treatment.
We need to treat mental health with the same diligence, seriousness, and focus as physical health — especially because the epidemic of PTS and veteran suicide in the United States is both unacceptable and preventable. The VA must make suicide prevention a top clinical priority. The VA can be a leader on these health issues, pioneering approaches that can be adopted industry-wide. In addition, the VA can be a driver in innovation for how our country deals with opioid addiction in particular. In an O'Rourke Administration, the VA would:
- Implement a comprehensive approach to mental health and suicide prevention in collaboration with the Department of Defense, outside community groups, and Veterans Service Organizations, which promote the well-being of all veterans and improve the identification of and treatments for subgroups of veterans at high risk;
- Change the norms of mental health care, including by:
-- Mandating VA mental health professionals contact each new veteran within one week following transition from the military, with follow ups as necessary;
-- Upholding our commitment that any veteran who visits a VA medical center with an urgent mental health need receives same day care;
- Provide mental health services to National Guard and Reserve individuals who were never federally activated. These veterans have exceptionally high suicide rates and deserve mental health care from VA regardless of eligibility for other benefits;
- Transform pain management and fight opioid addiction by:
-- Standing up interdisciplinary pain management teams at every VA medical center. VA is on the cutting edge of the opioid crisis, but needs additional infrastructure in place to ensure that every veteran with pain has a team looking holistically at their needs and pain management options;
-- Supporting the compassionate use of medicinal cannabis in states that have applicable programs, help resolve bureaucratic hurdles, and allow VA physicians prescribe or recommend medical cannabis under the legal authority of states, until federal legislation and reform allow for nationwide access to medicinal cannabis as an effective remedy for pain control, PTS, anxiety, and many other conditions;
- Expand successful suicide prevention pilot programs, such as REACH-VET, which use predictive analytics and coaching by VA clinicians to decrease the suicide rates;
- Require the VA to collect information on veteran family member suicides to ensure benefits are reaching family members; and
- Ensure VA providers are talking to veterans about gun safety with a particular focus on safe storage options to put time and distance between veterans in crisis and guns.
Attack bureaucratic backlogs and red tape, creating a model for efficiency within the health-care industry
Under an O'Rourke Administration, the VA would be required to reform the appeals backlog so that decisions can be rendered in less than 100 days—setting an example for rather than lagging behind the rest of the healthcare industry. Further, Beto will direct the VA to continue timely processing of disability claims.
Dramatically increase research and investment into diseases that disproportionately impact veterans
We need to better resource the innovators on the cutting edge of new cures for the diseases that disproportionately impact veterans. That means providing billions in increased funding for research on PTS, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and Alzheimer's and related dementias, and ALS.
- In particular, Beto would call for Congress to double funding of NIH research into Alzheimer's and related dementias, from $2.5 billion to $5 billion annually, to confront risks stemming from their service. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2020 nearly 420,000 veterans will have developed new cases of Alzheimers, with one-third of new cases directly related to service. Not only will this research yield tremendous benefits for veterans — it would help bend the cost curve for our nation's spending on caring for those with Alzheimer's and related dementias. Just last year, nearly $300 billion was spent in caring for the 5 million Americans living with these diseases; and that cost if expected to grow to $1.1 trillion in annual spend in 2050.
https://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/press/new-analysis-highlights-disproportionate-impact-alzheimer%25E2%2580%2599s-veterans
- Beto will also increase funding for research into Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published expert reports which found that veterans of armed conflict, including the Persian Gulf War, Vietnam War, and WWII, were at greater risk of developing ALS.
http://web.alsa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ALSA_Veterans_Risk
Part 3
Provide All Veterans with Equal Treatment.
Beto recognizes that for too long, too many of our troops have faced discrimination and are denied the benefits they have earned through their service. As President, Beto will fight to change the culture of our system, including reviewing and revising eligibility standards, so that women veterans receive the care they need without harassment; LGBTQ+ veterans are honored for their service; veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, or other service-related injuries are not unjustly punished for the effects of their injuries; and that military service is once again celebrated as a pathway to citizenship.
Ensure women veterans receive quality care
Women veterans are the fastest growing group of veterans of the United States armed forces—now representing nearly 10 percent of our total veteran population. But many of the services offered at our VA facilities are still geared towards our male veterans, leaving women veterans feeling excluded and unappreciated. What is more, one in four women veterans report experiencing sexual harassment or degradation by male veterans at VA facilities. We must do better. As President, Beto will:
https://www.dav.org/veterans/resources/military-sexual-trauma-mst/
- Require that VA medical benefits cover the full spectrum of women's reproductive health care, and include the provision of contraception with no out-of-pocket costs, in vitro fertilization without regard to marital status or sexual orientation, and abortions to the extent they are provided by other federal programs, such as Medicare and TRICARE;
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2014-title38-vol1/pdf/CFR-2014-title38-vol1-part17.pdf
- Instruct VA to publicize their efforts to combat sexual harassment at their facilities and metrics for success to ensure accountability;
- Ensure that every VA Medical Center and Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) has a women's health primary care provider, and is equipped to provide gender specific health services, such as mammograms, pap smears, obstetrics, and other gynecological care;
- Hold VA facilities accountable for their performance for women veterans through mandatory public reporting. Service scores will specifically include this performance metric, to ensure we are ending harassment and developing an inclusive environment across the entire VA system;
- Work with Congress to secure legal authority and appropriations to provide free child care at all VA facilities, and commit to making all VA hospitals achieve "baby-friendly" hospital designation status; and
- Increase the number of VA mental health care providers who are specifically trained in treating women veterans and military sexual trauma (MST) survivors.
https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/about/
Ensure LGBTQ+ troops and veterans are treated with respect for their service
LGBTQ+ troops have served our country since its inception. If elected to serve as Commander in Chief, Beto will celebrate their sacrifice, and make certain LGBTQ+ troops and veterans and their families are granted the dignity of their service. He will do this by:
- Overturning Trump's discriminatory transgender troop ban, including all resulting discharges, ending the "Deploy or Get Out" policy, and banning the practice of discharging HIV+ servicemembers; and
- Directing the Department of Defense to upgrade the service records of openly LGBTQ+ veterans discharged due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics who wish to receive an upgrade.
Pardon veterans who have been denied the benefits for conduct stemming from service related-injuries.
Veterans who are discharged with a status of Other-than- Honorable (OTH) discharge— often referred to as having "bad paper" discharges—can be denied their veterans benefits. Between 2011 and 2015, 12 percent of service members were discharged with a status unable to access benefits, with over 55,000 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress or a related injury. Further, racial disparities are prevalent in the military justice system, with black service members more likely to face disciplinary actions than their fellow soldiers. The Trump Administration has failed to implement the Honor Our Commitment Act, which included provisions Beto championed in the House extending mental health care to veterans with "bad paper." As President, Beto will direct the VA to fully implement the Honor Our Commitment Act, and pardon post-9/11 veterans who received OTH discharges for conduct related to PTS or service-related injuries or who were discharged without the due process of a court-martial. Beto will also work to reform our system so that victims of Military Sexual Trauma, many of whom are women, are not discriminatorily denied their PTS claims.
https://rebootcamp.militarytimes.com/opinion/2017/07/12/commentary-restore-gi-bill-benefits-for-veterans-with-career-ending-ptsd/
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/disparity/
https://www.stripes.com/news/senator-va-missed-deadline-to-inform-vets-with-bad-paper-about-access-to-mental-health-care-1.550429
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/02/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-congressional-accomplishments-texas/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/a-less-than-honorable-policy.html
https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Clinics/VLSC_CastingTroopsAside.pdf
Restore military service as a pathway to citizenship
Those willing to serve on behalf of the United States should see a pathway to citizenship through their service. Though there is a long tradition of military service leading to citizenship, naturalization data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reflecting the end of 2018 found immigrants serving in the military are being denied citizenship at a higher rate than civilian applicants.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
- Beto will reverse Trump Administration policies that have discouraged applicants, and will ensure naturalization offices are open and active at basic training locations; and
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
- Beto will direct the Department of Defense to restart the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, a critical program that brings the valuable skills of non-citizens to the United States military, which lapsed at the end of FY17, and will allow veterans who have honorably served their country, yet have faced deportation, to return to the United States and be granted the benefits of citizenship.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/09/30/how-trump-administration-policies-stymie-the-pentagons-immigrant-recruit-program/
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
Part 4
Ensure Veterans Can Succeed When They Come Home
During his time in Congress, Beto worked to improve the transition process by adding a mental health evaluation to the existing physical examination for all departing service members and requiring the process to start a year before separation. By December 2018, Beto had held 24 veterans' town halls, engaging with the veteran community to ensure his agenda in Congress put their real needs and concerns at the forefront. Recognizing the value of the veterans community, Beto will harness its support to improve a veterans transition from service. As President, Beto will:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3045/cosponsors?q=%257B%2522search%2522%253A%255B%2522HR+3045%2522%255D%257D&r=1&s=3
https://www.facebook.com/BetoORourkeTX16/videos/1812767952184562/
Expand the support offered by the Transition Assistance Program, offering "reverse boot camps" to ensure veterans are prepared for success in their communities prior to discharge.
Beto will direct the Department of Defense to ensure these boot camps include civilian advisors such as career specialists, education counselors, financial advisors, and mental health professionals to determine service members' readiness for separation.
- Civilian advisors will carve out explicit time for one-on-one conversations with transitioning service members about their VA eligibility and benefits, help prepare for transition and connect veterans to Community Veterans Engagement Board (CVEB) in their region, to assist with community integration and transition.
- Boot camps will further require separating service members to enroll in VA programs before they separate, guaranteeing the benefits are active in case they are needed, ensuring continuity in care, and mandating that mental and physical health evaluations happen at least six months prior to separation.
- If treatment is necessary, Beto will require that a future veteran gets assigned a provider where they will live, and talks to that provider a month before leaving the military. When a veteran's location is known, the VA will assist with their connection to a clinical case manager in the nearest VA facility.
Expand support for families of servicemembers
Beto will ensure families are aware of the support benefits available to them, and instruct the VA to expand services so that family members, who sacrifice alongside their servicemember, get the support they need.
Ensure veterans' economic well-being
Beto will harness government resources to prevent veteran homelessness and to support veterans seeking to improve their employment credentials, own their own businesses or farms, or avoid crushing student loan debt. As President, Beto will ensure federal agencies are:
- Increasing access to capital by making veterans a target population for CDFI certification and the Small Business Catalytic Credit Initiative proposed as part of Beto's broader plan to spur small business growth;
- Providing career-readiness and apprenticeship programs and encouraging states to increase reciprocity around credentials and convene public-private partnerships designed to make it easier for private-sector employers to leverage the high-value skills so many veterans possess;
https://www.legion.org/sites/legion.org/files/legion/publications/25VEE0517%2520The%2520State%2520of%2520Credentialing_0.pdf
- Protecting veterans from predatory for-profit providers by re-establishing Obama Administration regulations designed to ensure programs that defraud veterans and other students are shut down and to ensure that the Department of Education grants automatic loan discharges to the 42,000 qualified disabled veterans through the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge (TPD) program;
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/24/attorneys-general-devos-cancel-debt-disabled-veterans-1472656
- Increasing funding for transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and homelessness prevention through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program to $400 million; and investing $250 million in the collaborative Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program to ensure permanent supportive housing is available to those who have been homeless the longest; and
- Investing in a modern benefits system so that veterans are not denied educational or housing benefits due to a technical error and, standing up an Interagency Council on Veterans to ensure coordination across the federal government.
https://taskandpurpose.com/veterans-gi-bill-benefits-delays
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/6445
_________________________________
For O'Rourke, the plan for veterans recalls some of his biggest legislative victories while serving in Congress from 2012 to 2018. Possibly his hallmark legislative accomplishment was a bill expanding mental health care for military veterans even if they received a less-than-honorable discharge, an idea that was an outgrowth of El Paso having one of the highest suicide rates for veterans in the nation.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Beto-O-Rourke-proposes-new-war-tax-to-14036019.php
_________________________________
https://betoorourke.com/veterans/
Honoring Our Commitment
Caring For Our Nation's Veterans
Beto's plan for honoring our veterans by investing in them at home, and ending wars abroad.
very year, young women and men leave Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas to serve our country overseas, some sent to fight in "forever wars" that started before they were born. And every year, many others return home to an El Paso VA where they must seek care for the mental and physical trauma they have sustained.
A lifelong El Pasoan, Beto has always understood that we must pay any price, and bear any burden, to support all those who have worn the uniform and keep America safe. That is why, as soon as he became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013, he brought El Paso's voice and values to the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Over his three terms in Congress, Beto did not spend a single day in the majority. And yet, he distinguished himself as a leading advocate for veterans—successfully expediting the veterans' disability claims process, extending emergency mental health care to veterans with Other-Than-Honorable discharges, and improving the staffing and functioning at the El Paso VA facility.
These laws are already saving lives, but Beto recognizes that our work is far from done. An average of 20 veterans and servicemembers die by suicide every day. And countless veterans have come home from generations of wars, only to struggle with PTS, find themselves in the grips of addiction, or end up living on the streets.
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf
Our country can do better. And we must.
That is why Beto is unveiling a new, comprehensive plan to improve the services we provide to veterans all across America, which he will push on Day One and beyond, with the same tenacity he did as a Member of Congress. Beto's plan is built around a four-part framework:
1 End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Reinvest the Savings in Veterans
2 Invest in Building a State-of-the-Art Veterans Affairs Health Care System
3 Provide All Veterans with Equal Treatment
4 Ensure Veterans Can Succeed When They Come Home
Part 1
End "Forever Wars" and Establish a new Veterans Health Care Trust Fund
There is perhaps no greater way to honor the sacrifice of our veterans than to take gravely seriously the awesome responsibility of declaring war. Eighteen years into the war in Afghanistan, and nearly three decades after our first engagement in Iraq, the time has come to cancel the blank check for endless war and to ensure that any future engagements are the result of a national conversation about our security interests and duly authorized by Congress.
And when we do make the solemn decision to send our troops to war, we must take steps to honor their service. In part, this means recognizing that our service members make sacrifices not only during their time of deployment but also once they return home. Although advances in medical care are ensuring that more and more of our service members are surviving the wounds of war—many of these injuries will require treatment for the rest of their lives. Honoring the service of our troops means standing with them each step on the way through treatment, recovery, and a full life.
Over the next few decades, the costs related to health care and disability compensation for the "forever wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan alone are projected to be nearly a trillion dollars. Today, these services — ones which we have promised to veterans and ones which they are owed — are subject to fiscal battles in Washington. They should not be.
Building on bipartisan proposals he advanced as a Member of Congress, as President, Beto would:
Bring a responsible end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These conflicts have yielded both tremendous human and fiscal costs. By ending these wars, we can reinvest the resources saved in those who have served.
- Beto would propose that Congress invest $1 out of every $2 dollars saved—estimated at nearly $200 billion to vets, and at least $400 billion in total savings—in programs that benefit those who served.
Establish a new Veterans Health Care Trust Fund.
To ensure the care needed by veterans of our wars will always be funded, Beto would work with Congress to pass a law that creates a Veterans Health Care Trust Fund (VHCTF) for each war we fight.
- At the start of any newly authorized war, a new trust fund will be established within the General Fund of the Treasury for future veterans of that war.
- The trust fund will support veterans' hospital care and medical services; disability compensation; and any other programs directly related to the care of veterans.
- Management of the trust fund would be subject to robust transparency and accountability, including regular reporting to Congress.
Deposit proceeds from a "War Tax" into new VHCTFs.
Under Beto's plan, every new VHCTF would be paired with enactment of new war tax. This new tax would serve as a reminder of the incredible sacrifice made by those who serve and their families.
- This modest tax would be implemented on a progressive basis, with taxpayers who make over $200,000 per year (adjusted gross income) paying $1,000 in a new tax for each war.
- The tax would be levied on households without current members of the Armed Forces or veterans of the Armed Forces.
Part 2
Invest in Building a State-of-the-Art Veterans Affairs Health Care System
As President, Beto will advance a modern VA that not only delivers high-quality care with transparency and accountability, but also work to serve as a model for the rest of the country. Already, many veterans prefer the care they get at VA medical facilities over other options. At the VA, providers are held to high standards of professional training, used to working in an integrated health environment focused on veterans holistically, experienced in treating common service-connected conditions, and well-versed in military and veteran culture, making culturally competent care the norm.
Building on his record of delivering for veterans while in Congress, Beto will work to modernize the VA by increasing transparency and accountability, addressing staffing shortages—prioritizing closing the human capital gap of the over 45,000 vacant positions at the VA, including the 40,000 at the Veterans Health Administration, with a focus on the severe shortages in positions dealing with mental health, and instituting changes to decrease the appeals backlog. He will also ensure that community providers are measuring up to the high standards that all of our veterans deserve. As President, Beto would work to:
Attract more talent to the VA
A strong VA starts with a deep bench of talent. For over 70 years, the VA has partnered with American medical schools, resulting in over 70 percent of US physicians having received training at a VA facility with veterans and residents benefitting. Beto recognizes we can expand on these partnerships. Beto would invest in making VA a magnet for innovators in health care. Beto would:
- Provide new authority for VA leaders to make contingent offers to future medical providers to get them committed and in the pipeline earlier;
- Spur new partnerships between the VA and top research universities to launch innovative residency programs housed at the VA; and
- Fully fund and grow the Education Debt Reduction Program.
Make the VA a leader in the digital health care revolution.
The VA is already embarking on the largest modern electronic health record installation in the United States, and leads the nation in interoperability and secure, electronic transfer of veterans' health information across silos of care. Importantly, the VA Blue Button initiative has also empowered veterans to truly own their own health information with electronic access vis-à-vis their own personal devices As President, Beto would lean into that advantage—supporting the transfer of information from the Department of Defense, recognizing that as a priority, and positioning the VA to drive an industry-wide digital health care revolution. Specifically, under Beto's leadership, the VA would:
https://www.va.gov/bluebutton/
- Drive industry-wide standardization of electronic health care data, using its market power to develop uniform rules of the road around how electronic data is structured, transferred, and displayed to clinicians, no matter where veterans are receiving care. This is especially useful for physicians, nurses, and other front-line caregivers, who can make better clinical decisions with a complete set of a patient's information—especially during an emergency;
- Use electronic health care data as a tool to stitch together silos of care with a single, secure, and up-to-date record of veterans' health information, across specialists, systems, and facilities; and
- Support the expansion of telehealth, and leverage data to drive down costs across the system, enable better care coordination, and improve care quality and value.
Develop evidence-based standards to promote quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of care and deploy those standards across the VA and community providers.
Health care for veterans extends beyond the VA system; and, despite the recent expansion of the Choice Program, efforts are still needed to bolster transparency and accountability, and improve the quality of care. Care must be standardized as an expectation extended not only at the VA but for all community providers involved in providing care to veterans. Beto would:
- Improve transparency at the VA by implementing strict reporting requirements for how funding is being used and investing in data-based performance assessments;
- Require VA providers, and any outside providers receiving VA funds, to publicly report and display: staffing ratios, a comparison between facility and national wait times, disability compensation processing times, and appeals processing times;
- Include veterans in performance assessments of VA and community care through nationwide surveys, and use the resulting data to improve care; and
- Assign a care advocate to veterans who seek care in the community to ensure that veterans' care remains coordinated by VA.
Establish the VA as a leader on mental health and opioid treatment.
We need to treat mental health with the same diligence, seriousness, and focus as physical health — especially because the epidemic of PTS and veteran suicide in the United States is both unacceptable and preventable. The VA must make suicide prevention a top clinical priority. The VA can be a leader on these health issues, pioneering approaches that can be adopted industry-wide. In addition, the VA can be a driver in innovation for how our country deals with opioid addiction in particular. In an O'Rourke Administration, the VA would:
- Implement a comprehensive approach to mental health and suicide prevention in collaboration with the Department of Defense, outside community groups, and Veterans Service Organizations, which promote the well-being of all veterans and improve the identification of and treatments for subgroups of veterans at high risk;
- Change the norms of mental health care, including by:
-- Mandating VA mental health professionals contact each new veteran within one week following transition from the military, with follow ups as necessary;
-- Upholding our commitment that any veteran who visits a VA medical center with an urgent mental health need receives same day care;
- Provide mental health services to National Guard and Reserve individuals who were never federally activated. These veterans have exceptionally high suicide rates and deserve mental health care from VA regardless of eligibility for other benefits;
- Transform pain management and fight opioid addiction by:
-- Standing up interdisciplinary pain management teams at every VA medical center. VA is on the cutting edge of the opioid crisis, but needs additional infrastructure in place to ensure that every veteran with pain has a team looking holistically at their needs and pain management options;
-- Supporting the compassionate use of medicinal cannabis in states that have applicable programs, help resolve bureaucratic hurdles, and allow VA physicians prescribe or recommend medical cannabis under the legal authority of states, until federal legislation and reform allow for nationwide access to medicinal cannabis as an effective remedy for pain control, PTS, anxiety, and many other conditions;
- Expand successful suicide prevention pilot programs, such as REACH-VET, which use predictive analytics and coaching by VA clinicians to decrease the suicide rates;
- Require the VA to collect information on veteran family member suicides to ensure benefits are reaching family members; and
- Ensure VA providers are talking to veterans about gun safety with a particular focus on safe storage options to put time and distance between veterans in crisis and guns.
Attack bureaucratic backlogs and red tape, creating a model for efficiency within the health-care industry
Under an O'Rourke Administration, the VA would be required to reform the appeals backlog so that decisions can be rendered in less than 100 days—setting an example for rather than lagging behind the rest of the healthcare industry. Further, Beto will direct the VA to continue timely processing of disability claims.
Dramatically increase research and investment into diseases that disproportionately impact veterans
We need to better resource the innovators on the cutting edge of new cures for the diseases that disproportionately impact veterans. That means providing billions in increased funding for research on PTS, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and Alzheimer's and related dementias, and ALS.
- In particular, Beto would call for Congress to double funding of NIH research into Alzheimer's and related dementias, from $2.5 billion to $5 billion annually, to confront risks stemming from their service. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2020 nearly 420,000 veterans will have developed new cases of Alzheimers, with one-third of new cases directly related to service. Not only will this research yield tremendous benefits for veterans — it would help bend the cost curve for our nation's spending on caring for those with Alzheimer's and related dementias. Just last year, nearly $300 billion was spent in caring for the 5 million Americans living with these diseases; and that cost if expected to grow to $1.1 trillion in annual spend in 2050.
https://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/press/new-analysis-highlights-disproportionate-impact-alzheimer%25E2%2580%2599s-veterans
- Beto will also increase funding for research into Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published expert reports which found that veterans of armed conflict, including the Persian Gulf War, Vietnam War, and WWII, were at greater risk of developing ALS.
http://web.alsa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ALSA_Veterans_Risk
Part 3
Provide All Veterans with Equal Treatment.
Beto recognizes that for too long, too many of our troops have faced discrimination and are denied the benefits they have earned through their service. As President, Beto will fight to change the culture of our system, including reviewing and revising eligibility standards, so that women veterans receive the care they need without harassment; LGBTQ+ veterans are honored for their service; veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, or other service-related injuries are not unjustly punished for the effects of their injuries; and that military service is once again celebrated as a pathway to citizenship.
Ensure women veterans receive quality care
Women veterans are the fastest growing group of veterans of the United States armed forces—now representing nearly 10 percent of our total veteran population. But many of the services offered at our VA facilities are still geared towards our male veterans, leaving women veterans feeling excluded and unappreciated. What is more, one in four women veterans report experiencing sexual harassment or degradation by male veterans at VA facilities. We must do better. As President, Beto will:
https://www.dav.org/veterans/resources/military-sexual-trauma-mst/
- Require that VA medical benefits cover the full spectrum of women's reproductive health care, and include the provision of contraception with no out-of-pocket costs, in vitro fertilization without regard to marital status or sexual orientation, and abortions to the extent they are provided by other federal programs, such as Medicare and TRICARE;
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2014-title38-vol1/pdf/CFR-2014-title38-vol1-part17.pdf
- Instruct VA to publicize their efforts to combat sexual harassment at their facilities and metrics for success to ensure accountability;
- Ensure that every VA Medical Center and Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) has a women's health primary care provider, and is equipped to provide gender specific health services, such as mammograms, pap smears, obstetrics, and other gynecological care;
- Hold VA facilities accountable for their performance for women veterans through mandatory public reporting. Service scores will specifically include this performance metric, to ensure we are ending harassment and developing an inclusive environment across the entire VA system;
- Work with Congress to secure legal authority and appropriations to provide free child care at all VA facilities, and commit to making all VA hospitals achieve "baby-friendly" hospital designation status; and
- Increase the number of VA mental health care providers who are specifically trained in treating women veterans and military sexual trauma (MST) survivors.
https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/about/
Ensure LGBTQ+ troops and veterans are treated with respect for their service
LGBTQ+ troops have served our country since its inception. If elected to serve as Commander in Chief, Beto will celebrate their sacrifice, and make certain LGBTQ+ troops and veterans and their families are granted the dignity of their service. He will do this by:
- Overturning Trump's discriminatory transgender troop ban, including all resulting discharges, ending the "Deploy or Get Out" policy, and banning the practice of discharging HIV+ servicemembers; and
- Directing the Department of Defense to upgrade the service records of openly LGBTQ+ veterans discharged due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics who wish to receive an upgrade.
Pardon veterans who have been denied the benefits for conduct stemming from service related-injuries.
Veterans who are discharged with a status of Other-than- Honorable (OTH) discharge— often referred to as having "bad paper" discharges—can be denied their veterans benefits. Between 2011 and 2015, 12 percent of service members were discharged with a status unable to access benefits, with over 55,000 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress or a related injury. Further, racial disparities are prevalent in the military justice system, with black service members more likely to face disciplinary actions than their fellow soldiers. The Trump Administration has failed to implement the Honor Our Commitment Act, which included provisions Beto championed in the House extending mental health care to veterans with "bad paper." As President, Beto will direct the VA to fully implement the Honor Our Commitment Act, and pardon post-9/11 veterans who received OTH discharges for conduct related to PTS or service-related injuries or who were discharged without the due process of a court-martial. Beto will also work to reform our system so that victims of Military Sexual Trauma, many of whom are women, are not discriminatorily denied their PTS claims.
https://rebootcamp.militarytimes.com/opinion/2017/07/12/commentary-restore-gi-bill-benefits-for-veterans-with-career-ending-ptsd/
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/disparity/
https://www.stripes.com/news/senator-va-missed-deadline-to-inform-vets-with-bad-paper-about-access-to-mental-health-care-1.550429
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/02/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-congressional-accomplishments-texas/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/a-less-than-honorable-policy.html
https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Clinics/VLSC_CastingTroopsAside.pdf
Restore military service as a pathway to citizenship
Those willing to serve on behalf of the United States should see a pathway to citizenship through their service. Though there is a long tradition of military service leading to citizenship, naturalization data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reflecting the end of 2018 found immigrants serving in the military are being denied citizenship at a higher rate than civilian applicants.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
- Beto will reverse Trump Administration policies that have discouraged applicants, and will ensure naturalization offices are open and active at basic training locations; and
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
- Beto will direct the Department of Defense to restart the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, a critical program that brings the valuable skills of non-citizens to the United States military, which lapsed at the end of FY17, and will allow veterans who have honorably served their country, yet have faced deportation, to return to the United States and be granted the benefits of citizenship.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/09/30/how-trump-administration-policies-stymie-the-pentagons-immigrant-recruit-program/
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article230269884.html
Part 4
Ensure Veterans Can Succeed When They Come Home
During his time in Congress, Beto worked to improve the transition process by adding a mental health evaluation to the existing physical examination for all departing service members and requiring the process to start a year before separation. By December 2018, Beto had held 24 veterans' town halls, engaging with the veteran community to ensure his agenda in Congress put their real needs and concerns at the forefront. Recognizing the value of the veterans community, Beto will harness its support to improve a veterans transition from service. As President, Beto will:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3045/cosponsors?q=%257B%2522search%2522%253A%255B%2522HR+3045%2522%255D%257D&r=1&s=3
https://www.facebook.com/BetoORourkeTX16/videos/1812767952184562/
Expand the support offered by the Transition Assistance Program, offering "reverse boot camps" to ensure veterans are prepared for success in their communities prior to discharge.
Beto will direct the Department of Defense to ensure these boot camps include civilian advisors such as career specialists, education counselors, financial advisors, and mental health professionals to determine service members' readiness for separation.
- Civilian advisors will carve out explicit time for one-on-one conversations with transitioning service members about their VA eligibility and benefits, help prepare for transition and connect veterans to Community Veterans Engagement Board (CVEB) in their region, to assist with community integration and transition.
- Boot camps will further require separating service members to enroll in VA programs before they separate, guaranteeing the benefits are active in case they are needed, ensuring continuity in care, and mandating that mental and physical health evaluations happen at least six months prior to separation.
- If treatment is necessary, Beto will require that a future veteran gets assigned a provider where they will live, and talks to that provider a month before leaving the military. When a veteran's location is known, the VA will assist with their connection to a clinical case manager in the nearest VA facility.
Expand support for families of servicemembers
Beto will ensure families are aware of the support benefits available to them, and instruct the VA to expand services so that family members, who sacrifice alongside their servicemember, get the support they need.
Ensure veterans' economic well-being
Beto will harness government resources to prevent veteran homelessness and to support veterans seeking to improve their employment credentials, own their own businesses or farms, or avoid crushing student loan debt. As President, Beto will ensure federal agencies are:
- Increasing access to capital by making veterans a target population for CDFI certification and the Small Business Catalytic Credit Initiative proposed as part of Beto's broader plan to spur small business growth;
- Providing career-readiness and apprenticeship programs and encouraging states to increase reciprocity around credentials and convene public-private partnerships designed to make it easier for private-sector employers to leverage the high-value skills so many veterans possess;
https://www.legion.org/sites/legion.org/files/legion/publications/25VEE0517%2520The%2520State%2520of%2520Credentialing_0.pdf
- Protecting veterans from predatory for-profit providers by re-establishing Obama Administration regulations designed to ensure programs that defraud veterans and other students are shut down and to ensure that the Department of Education grants automatic loan discharges to the 42,000 qualified disabled veterans through the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge (TPD) program;
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/24/attorneys-general-devos-cancel-debt-disabled-veterans-1472656
- Increasing funding for transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and homelessness prevention through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program to $400 million; and investing $250 million in the collaborative Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program to ensure permanent supportive housing is available to those who have been homeless the longest; and
- Investing in a modern benefits system so that veterans are not denied educational or housing benefits due to a technical error and, standing up an Interagency Council on Veterans to ensure coordination across the federal government.
https://taskandpurpose.com/veterans-gi-bill-benefits-delays
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