Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Dozens of wildfires scorch U.S. West as another heat wave looms
Axios | Andrew Freedman,Rebecca Falconer | 07/31/24

Dozens of massive wildfires burning across the western U.S. have forced thousands to evacuate, and forecasters warn another potentially record-breaking heat wave will soon trigger further fire risks.

The big picture: Some 89 large fires burning across the West are impacting air quality. Among them is California's fifth-biggest blaze on record, the Park Fire, which spread tens of thousands of acres per day in under a week.

Stunning stat: The Park Fire is part of a trend toward more large fires in California, which is a result of a combination of climate change and land management practices that suppressed fires for decades. ... Read more

COVID summer continues to heat up
magazine | author | date

The summer's COVID-19 wave is continuing, with the latest wastewater surveillance data detecting "high" virus activity levels across the majority of the U.S. and "very high" levels in 19 states, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Why it matters: The virus is especially prevalent across the western U.S. and the South, in particular a region that includes New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, where test positivity topped 23%, per agency data.

Test positivity is also elevated - to nearly 18% - in the region composed of California, Nevada and Arizona. ... Read more

Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country
ProPublica.org | Andy Kroll | See DemocracyNow

Ziklag, an invitation-only charity organization for rich Christians, aims to take dominion over what it sees as the seven major spheres of public life, which it calls "mountains": business, science and technology, family, arts and media, church, education and government.

A network of ultrawealthy Christian donors is spending nearly $12 million to mobilize Republican-leaning voters and purge more than a million people from the rolls in key swing states, aiming to tilt the 2024 election in favor of former President Donald Trump.

These previously unreported plans are the work of a group named Ziklag, a little-known charity whose donors have included some of the wealthiest conservative Christian families in the nation, including the billionaire Uihlein family, who made a fortune in office supplies, the Greens, who run Hobby Lobby, and the Wallers, who own the Jockey apparel corporation. Recipients of Ziklag's largesse include Alliance Defending Freedom, which is the Christian legal group that led the overturning of Roe v. Wade, plus the national pro-Trump group Turning Point USA and a constellation of right-of-center advocacy groups.

ProPublica and Documented obtained thousands of Ziklag's members-only email newsletters, internal videos, strategy documents and fundraising pitches, none of which has been previously made public. They reveal the group's 2024 plans and its long-term goal to underpin every major sphere of influence in American society with Christianity. In the Bible, the city of Ziklag was where David and his soldiers found refuge during their war with King Saul. ... Read more

Harris was expected to have fundraising trouble. Here's why big donors are actually lining up in droves.
Politico | Hailey Fuchs | 07/30/24

Major Democratic donors are already flocking to Kamala Harris, and they say the main reason is straightforward: She's not Joe Biden.

Her presidential campaign raised more than $200 million in its first week, and the Democratic super PAC Future Forward said it had received $150 million in commitments after Biden bowed out. The wave of big-dollar donors, which is defying predictions that the vice president would not be able to appeal to the party's fundraising class, has been particularly noticeable because of some donors' previous aversion to giving to a president they saw as a doomed candidate. ... Read more

Massive California wildfire moves up the list of state's largest blazes
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/29/24

The Park Fire in northern California, propelled by extreme fire weather conditions, now stands as the state's sixth-largest on record after burning for less than a week.

The big picture: Allegedly started by an arsonist in Butte County on July 24, the blaze has consumed up to 150,000 acres per day and forced the closure of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

It has also caused thousands to evacuate and burned an unknown number of structures across Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties.

The wildfire stood at 368,256 acres at 12% containment as of Monday morning, but was poised to grow as it continued to encounter forests that have not burned for decades.

Between the lines: These forests have been dried out by extreme heat so far this summer, with more heat on the way. ... Read more

Trump's insult trap: Republicans hunt for elusive Harris attack line
Axios | Noah Bressner | 07/29/24

One week into the new presidential race, Donald Trump and his allies are struggling to find a coherent counterpunch that works against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Why it matters: Trump - attempting to mount a counter-offensive against Harris' momentum - suddenly finds himself out of the spotlight with a dwindling lead in the polls.

The big picture: The MAGA universe that surrounds Trump, ranging from conservative influencers to his campaign, is grasping for new attack lines that won't alienate women or Black voters they need to win. ... ... ... Read more

Exclusive: Jason Miller says a Trump-Harris debate "will happen"
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 07/25/24

A televised debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris "will happen," Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Axios on Thursday.

Why it matters: Miller said the Trump campaign is "non-committal" to the Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News, but that there will be another debate —and "should be multiple debates."

Context: Trump in recent days has said he would debate Harris but pushed back on the ABC debate, calling on a more conservative media outlet like Fox News to host.

President Biden ending his bid for president and Harris quickly locking in enough Democratic delegates to become the party's presumed nominee has thrown future debate scheduling into question.

Fox News on Wednesday proposed a Sept. 17 debate in Pennsylvania moderated by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. It sent invitation letters to both the Trump and Harris campaigns. ... Read more

Why more U.S. adults are choosing not to have kids
Axios | Emily Peck | 07/25/24

An increasing share of adults under 50 say they're unlikely to have kids - and the major reason is, well, they just don't want them, according to a report from Pew Research Center out Thursday morning.

Why it matters: The U.S. fertility rate is at a historic low, posing problems for future economic growth, and the survey takes a crack at figuring out what's going on.

By the numbers: 47% of adults under 50 without kids say they're unlikely to have them - up 10 percentage points from 2018.

1. Of those who said they're unlikely to have children, 57% said "they just don't want to."
2. Among the other reasons: 44% said they wanted to focus on different things. 38% pointed to the state of the world, other than the environment. And 36% said they couldn't afford to raise a child. (Read the full list.)
3. 13% cited infertility or other medical reasons.

RNC & "Migrant Crime": Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | 07/17/24 | 25:41

Everyone in Wisconsin Needs to See This | Robert Reich | 07/19/24 | 1:28

Earth likely just had its hottest two days in thousands of years
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/24/24

On Sunday and Monday, Earth saw its warmest two days on record globally since at least 1940, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service in Europe.

Threat level: "We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years," Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said.

The big picture: The records, which exceeded the old milestone set last July, very likely stands as the hottest day in thousands of years, based on tree ring records, ice cores and other so-called paleoclimate data.

They came in the middle of the planet's hottest year yet since at least the pre-industrial era, and likely for at least 100,000 years before that. ... Read more

Harris plans to finish Biden's progressive agenda
Axios | Hans Nichols | 07/24/24

Vice President Kamala Harris has used her first days as Democrats' likely nominee for president to make it clear that she'll pursue big - and expensive - parts of Joe Biden's domestic agenda that never made it across the finish line.

Why it matters: Harris is signaling that even as Democrats play defense on Biden's mixed economic record, she's eager to go on offense for the next four years.

Her plans include pushing for nearly $2 trillion to establish universal pre-K education and improve elderly care and child care - as well as a permanent tax cut for working-class families. ... Read more

The Memeification Of Kamala Harris | Colbert Is Brat | Trump Struggles To Attack Harris | The Late Show | 07/23/24 | 12:30

Inside Kamala Harris' D.C. life
Axios | Mimi Montgomery,Anna Spiegel | 07/23/24

From Howard University to the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has a deeper history with local D.C. than most Beltway politicians.

Why it matters: If nominated, Harris' warm embrace of everyday Washington will stand in stark contrast to former President Trump's arm-distanced view of a city he says is in need of a federal takeover.

The big picture: Harris has lived in D.C. for years: She was previously a California senator before becoming vice president and lived here as a Howard University student in the '80s. ... Read more

Trump spoke for 92 minutes. But there are some things he didn't say.
Politico | Mia McCarthy | 07/17/24

The GOP nominee avoided mentioning abortion, Covid and the national debt.

Abortion: Perhaps one of the biggest topics of the 2024 cycle was absent from Trump's speech tonight: abortion. Trump often takes credit for defeating Roe vs. Wade during his stump speeches, but in his lengthy speech, he never brought up abortion.

Covid-19: The former president spent a lot of his time drawing comparisons between when he was in office to now, but one of the biggest changes since then was Covid. Trump did not mention the pandemic - a massive part of the 2020 election cycle - even as Republicans continue to attack Biden for shutting down businesses and schools during the pandemic.

Jan. 6, 2021: While Trump did say that Biden cheated for the 2020 election, he didn’t mention the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He also did not mention any of those awaiting trial or serving sentences for storming the Capitol - and did not say whether he would accept the election results of this year.

National debt: Trump talked about how the economy has tanked under Biden. But he didn't touch on the increasing national debt, almost at $35 trillion. The GOP platform provided no guidance on how they plan to reduce the national debt, instead focusing on how to decrease inflation through other policy areas. ... Read more

Trump Is Project 2025 | Robert Reich | 06/23/24 | 2:04

GOP PLATFORM DOESN'T MENTION THE WORD "CLIMATE" ONCE - EVEN AFTER HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD
TheIntercept | Prem Thakker | 07/09/24

2023 WAS THE hottest global year on record; data so far suggests that 2024 will match the trend. This week, more than 130 million Americans are under heat alerts, with numerous cases of death and illness being attributed to the sweltering heat. And amid it all, the 2024 Republican platform does not mention the word "climate" once.

The basic inanity underscores the malign interest driving one of two major American political parties: $300 million of donations to lawmakers from energy and natural resource interest groups (namely, fossil fuel companies) since 1990 - more than double the amount directed to Democrats during that same period. ... Read more

Project 2025, a Second Revolution, Pulitzer Prize Winner, David Cay Johnston | The Mark Thompson Show | 07/09/24 | 29:39

How a single software update is shutting down the internet
Axios | Sam Sabin | 07/19/24

A single defect in an overnight cybersecurity update has taken down key internet services around the globe.

Why it matters: Major U.S. airlines have grounded their flights. TV news station Sky News went off air for an hour. Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, said customers haven't been able to transfer their funds.

Threat level: CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity company whose customers include some of the biggest companies in the world, said a faulty software update - not a malicious cyberattack or a nation-state attack - is behind the widespread outages.

A spokesperson for the American Hospital Association tells Axios that some U.S. hospitals and health care systems have been affected. Federal officials are also scoping the potential impact on government agencies. ... Read more

Project 2025: The Radical Conservative Plan to Reshape America Under Trump | WSJ | 07/13/24| 11:17

How A Second Trump Presidency Will Ruin Democracy | Leeja Miller | 05/08/24 | 32:07

How Powerful Is The Vice President? | Leeja Miller | 06/18/24 | 29:42

Donald Trump wants to "take over" D.C.
Axios | Cuneyt Dil | 06/24/24

A second Donald Trump presidency would bring an unpredictable era of federal micromanaging over local Washington.

Why it matters: Trump's vow to "take over our horribly run" capital is one of his most commonly repeated phrases, an Axios analysis found.

Ranting about potholes and crime, he told a crowd in Wisconsin last week: "It's going to be run properly." On social media last year he said, "An important part of my platform for President is to bring back, restore, and rebuild Washington, D.C. into the 'crown jewel of our Nation.'"

Trump's allies are planning to install up to 54,000 loyalists across the federal government - a move that would upend the lives of the career civil servants who call Washington home.

The big picture: Presidents usually leave hometown D.C. alone. But Trump wants to make an example out of a Democratic city and punish the "swamp." ... Read more

The Mass Psychology of Trumpism | New Lines Magazine | 04/01/24 | 14:06

America's Changing Republican Party | Peter Zeihan | 07/17/24 | 6:06

Nancy Pelosi warns Biden of 2024 presidential race peril
Axios | Hans Nichols | 07/18/24

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has conveyed to President Biden and his campaign the political peril the Democratic Party faces if he remains atop the ticket, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: Pelosi is potentially the last Democrat with the stature and the savvy to convince President Biden to bow out of the race.

It's unclear whether Pelosi has directly told Biden to end his presidential campaign, or even how many times they have spoken. ... Read more

Trump's Mental Health: Is Pathological Narcissism the Key to Trump's Behavior?
Rolling Stone | Alex Morris | 04/05/2017

AT 6:35 A.M. on the morning of March 4th, President Donald Trump did what no U.S. president has ever done: He accused his predecessor of spying on him. He did so over Twitter, providing no evidence and - lest anyone miss the point - doubling down on his accusation in tweets at 6:49, 6:52 and 7:02, the last of which referred to Obama as a "Bad (or sick) guy!" Six weeks into his presidency, these unsubstantiated tweets were just one of many times the sitting president had rashly made claims that were (as we soon learned) categorically untrue, but it was the first time since his inauguration that he had so starkly drawn America"s integrity into the fray. And he had done it not behind closed doors with a swift call to the Department of Justice, but instead over social media in a frenzy of ire and grammatical errors. If one hadn't been asking the question before, it was hard not to wonder: Is the president mentally ill? ... Read more

The Most Important Supreme Court Case This Term (It's Not Presidential Immunity) | Leeja Miller | 07/17/24 | 39:26

From the Trump shooting to the campaign to oust Biden | Planet America | ABC News | 07/17/24 | 49:50

Jon Stewart Tackles the RNC and Trump Assassination Attempt | The Daily Show | 07/16/24 | 17:05

In JD Vance, Trump has picked a mini-me offering red meat to his Maga base
TheGuardian | David Smith | 07/15/24

He could have chosen a woman, a person of colour or a political moderate. Instead Donald Trump went for a mini-me.

The former US president announced on Monday that his running mate in the presidential election is JD Vance, a senator for Ohio and friend of his son, Donald Trump Jr. The sports arena hosting the Republican national convention erupted as Vance entered, grinning broadly and shaking countless hands as Merle Haggard's America First played twice. ... Read more

Judge dismisses Trump's federal classified docs case
Axios | Erin Doherty | 07/15/24

Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday dismissed former President Trump's federal classified documents case, citing the "unlawful appointment and funding of special counsel Jack Smith."

Why it matters: Trump, the only former president convicted of a felony, has scored a major legal win ahead of Election Day as the other two outstanding criminal cases against him remain on ice.

Trump's legal team has repeatedly sought to have the classified documents case dismissed. It was widely believed to be the strongest criminal case the former president was facing. ... Read more

Investigating Trump, Project 2025 and the future of the United States | Four Corners | NBC News | 07/15/24 | 55:45

Trump picks J.D. Vance as VP
Axios | Erin Doherty | 07/15/24

Former President Trump has selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee announced Monday.

Why it matters: Vance, a Trump critic-turned-fervent supporter, is one of the former president's closest allies on Capitol Hill and a loyal defender of his domestic and foreign policy.

Trump allies are hopeful that Vance, a Rust Belt native famous for his bestseller "Hillbilly Elegy," could help boost the former president's standing among voters in some of these key states in November. ... Read more

Biden declares disaster in Texas as Beryl's flooding rains spread inland
Axios |Andrew Freedman,Jacob Knutson | 07/10/24

Former Tropical Storm Beryl weakened into a tropical depression Monday after killing at least eight people in Texas and Louisiana and causing widespread power outages and flooding in metro Houston.

Threat level: As of Tuesday evening, there were still widespread outages in the Houston area. Portions of eastern Texas, western Louisiana and Arkansas still face the threat of flooding rains and tornadoes.

The power outages leave millions of people without air conditioning as temperatures rise into the lower 90s and heat index values push over 100 on Tuesday — something President Biden raised concern about after approving a federal emergency disaster declaration for Texas. ... Read more

Heat wave intensifies in California, with 150 million under alerts nationwide
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/05/24

An historic, long-lasting and intense heat wave is set to peak from Friday through Monday in California and other western states, breaking dozens of records and posing an "extreme" health risk for tens of millions of people.

The big picture: Amid record-high holiday weekend travel, "dangerous" heat is expected to continue across the South and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend and into next week as well.

Nearly half the U.S. population is under some type of extreme heat warning or advisory on Friday. The extreme heat in the Southeast to Mid-Atlantic is oppressive, with a strong upper level high pressure area, or heat dome, leading to hot and humid conditions.

Hurricane tracker: Live updates on every 2024 storm
Axios | Jared Whalen,Will Chase,Andrew Freedman | 07/05/24

Our live-updating tracker keeps you up-to-date on the latest storm paths, intensity, and forecasts for every hurricane of the season.

Why it matters: Experts warn that 2024 is likely to be an extremely active hurricane season, with forecasters predicting 24 named storms, 11 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes. ... Read more

21 states under heat alerts as searing temperatures hit July 4 weekend
Axios | Rebecca Falconer,Andrew Freedman | 07/04/24

Heat alerts are impacting some 150 million people in 21 states — and forecasters warn potentially deadly high temperatures may linger in many places well beyond the Independence Day holiday weekend.

The big picture: With July 4 holiday travel expected to hit an all-time high, record-breaking temperatures are set to continue for up to two weeks across the U.S. West - where 15 large fires are burning. "Dangerous" heat is expected across the South and Mid-Atlantic into the weekend.... Read more

Behind the Curtain: Kamala Harris' epic edge
Axios | Mike Allen | 07/04/24

If President Biden steps aside, Vice President Harris would be almost impossible to beat for the nomination, thanks to endorsements, money, optics and 2028 politics, top officials tell us.

Why it matters: All Harris needs is Biden's backing. If she gets it, the Obamas and Clintons likely would follow, making any challenge an affront to the sitting president and two former presidents.

The big picture: If she gets Biden's endorsement, the only way a top-tier Democrat could challenge her would be to risk their future by saying "not your turn" to the first woman vice president, first Black American vice president and first South Asian vice president. ... Read more

The Supreme Court rules that Donald Trump can be a dictatore
Salon | AMANDA MARCOTTE | 07/04/24

If Donald Trump commits a crime in office, writes Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent for Trump v. United States, "he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy's Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune."

In conclusion, Sotomayor writes in the final decision of the Supreme Court's term, "Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent."

Most of the media coverage of Monday's Supreme Court decision was focused on the impact it could have on the felony charges against the former president for planning and attempting a coup in 2020, which led to the insurrection of January 6, 2021. The news on that front is bad. As legal analysts quickly detailed, the six Republican justices shot down many of the charges special prosecutor Jack Smith included in his indictment, and even more broadly eliminated most of the evidence Smith could otherwise bring to court. Even if the case somehow survives, figuring out how to try it now will eat up so much time there's no chance of a trial before the election in November. ... Read more