Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

The Kochs Funded Third Way to Push Free Trade to Democrats, New Book Says

Koch Industries secretly financed a 2007 report by Third Way titled “Why Lou Dobbs is Winning” — to promote the free trade agenda to liberals.

The post The Kochs Funded Third Way to Push Free Trade to Democrats, New Book Says appeared first on The Intercept.

Gosh Dang Hypocrites

‘Using he Lord’s name in vain’: Evangelicals chafe at Trump’s blasphemy.

Alan Dershowitz Remembers His Good Friend Jeffrey Epstein

The sex trafficker’s lawyer pays tribute to his client and the free massages he gave him.

A Better Beto: Former O’Rourke Organizers Rally Behind New Texas Senate Candidate

Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez’s campaign wants to mobilize young voters and voters of color around progressive issues against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.

The post A Better Beto: Former O’Rourke Organizers Rally Behind New Texas Senate Candidate appeared first on The Intercept.

10 Years of Death by Border Patrol

In 1994, Border Patrol implemented its “Prevention Through Deterrence” strategy, ramping up enforcement at popular entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border and funneling migrants into more dangerous desert areas. This strategy intensified under President George W. Bush with a hiring surge of roughly 8,000 Border Patrol agents from 2006 to 2009.

As a direct result, significantly fewer of those who cross into the United States from Mexico have lived to tell the tale: An untold number have died of thirst trying to traverse the deserts that flank the border. Responding to this crisis, the Tucson-based group No More Deaths began organizing brigades of volunteers to leave jugs of water in the Sonoran Desert for dehydrated migrants.

As In These Times reported in September 2009, what is lifesaving liquid for migrants is a crime against the state for others. In “Litterers or Life-Savers?” Kari Lydersen wrote: 

Walt Staton faces up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine for littering.

Though he doesn’t expect to actually get jail time, the 27-year-old Tucson web designer still thinks the charges are ironic and disproportionate. Staton says that when he was cited in December 2008, he was actually picking up trash while also leaving full water jugs in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge along the Mexican border.

Staton is a member of No More Deaths/ No Más Muertes, a border activism group that leaves water along trails for migrants crossing through the harsh, unforgiving Sonoran Desert. About 50,000 migrants cross through the wildlife refuge each year, down from about 250,000 since a seven-mile stretch of a 12-foot-tall fence was built along the border there, according to refuge manager Michael Hawkes. ...

In February 2008, No More Deaths volunteer Daniel Millis found the body of a 14-year-old Salvadoran girl. (The cause of death is unclear.) Two days later he was cited for littering while leaving water jugs on trails. He refused to pay the $175 ticket. ...

In early August, a judge sentenced Staton to one year of “unsupervised probation.” During that period, he “must complete 300 hours of community service focusing on trash removal from public lands.”

Fast forward to 2019. In These Times reported that, on January 18, federal magistrate judge Bernardo Velasco found four more No More Deaths volunteers guilty of littering, or, as he put it, defiling “pristine nature.” One of the so-called litterers, Zaachila Orozco, testified during the trial: “I didn’t understand that humanitarian aid was criminal.”

Apparently it is. Separating children from their parents and locking them up in cages, however, is perfectly legal.

Every American Should Be Guaranteed a Job. The Green New Deal Could Make That Happen.

fed•er•al jobs guar•an•tee

noun

1. A government policy to provide a job for anyone who wants one

We’ve been talking about this for a while, right?

Yes! President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a “second Bill of Rights” in his 1944 State of the Union, a list of economic and social rights including “the right to a useful and remunerative job.” 

“Full employment” has been the official goal of the U.S. government since 1978, with the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act following advocacy from labor groups as well as Coretta Scott King. Early versions of the bill included an actual jobs guarantee, which was cut out of the final legislation.  A jobs guarantee was also part of Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential platform.

Are any of this year’s presidential candidates supporting a jobs guarantee?

Several! Cory Booker (N.J.) introduced a Senate bill—co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.)—to create a three-year pilot program in up to 15 “high-unemployment communities” to provide jobs with at least a $15 wage.

Bernie Sanders (Vt.) arguably goes further, invoking FDR’s call for a second Bill of Rights and a full jobs guarantee.

If the point is to keep people out of poverty, why not just give people money or provide better social services?

Why not all of the above? A universal basic income is preferred by some, but there’s no need to choose just one policy to answer economic inequality. Jobs advocates argue there is plenty of fulfilling work to be done and that a jobs guarantee would strengthen the bargaining position of workers in the private sector. The Sanders campaign website, for example, suggests childcare, elder care and green infrastructure as areas to emphasize.

Speaking of which, isn’t a jobs guarantee part of the Green New Deal?

That’s right—a Green New Deal could fund millions of jobs to dramatically scale up clean energy production, build and run public transportation, and prepare communities to adapt to the realities of a warming planet. While a jobs guarantee is already popular—52% of Americans support it, according to a poll by Civis Analytics—polling commissioned by the Sunrise Movement indicates that a jobs guarantee focused on green jobs and climate protection is even more popular.

Saving the planet and ending poverty at the same time? Certainly sounds worth a try! 

Asian carp capable of surviving in much larger areas of Lake Michigan than previously thought

Asian carp are capable of surviving and growing in much larger portions of Lake Michigan than scientists previously believed and present a high risk of becoming established, according to a new modeling study.

All the talk about GDPR making identity theft easier, but people fail to see that companies shouldn't have the data in the first place. And if a company leaks your data because of a takeout request, is that the fault of GDPR or just shoddy security?

Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism

In the wake of the El Paso shooting it’s clear Trump inspires mass shootings.

The Second a Teenager Gets Their First Phone

Protected from having an online presensce since she was born, it’s time to log on.

The Real Fascism

America’s big problem: violent white nationalists or Antifa milkshakes?

On the Heels of Another Massacre, Texas Is Loosening Gun Laws

New, looser gun laws will go into effect in the state of Texas in September, just before the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting that killed 22 people in an El Paso Walmart. Texas already has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation. But for Republican lawmakers during the state’s last legislative […]

Border Patrol Arrest Reports Are Full of Lies That Can Sabotage Asylum Claims

The Intercept found erroneous or fabricated information, inconsistencies, and boilerplate language included on forms filled out by immigration officials.

The post Border Patrol Arrest Reports Are Full of Lies That Can Sabotage Asylum Claims appeared first on The Intercept.