Category: Political

Categories
The Democratic Difference

In Defense of Al Franken

February 19 update

Several sources have now uncovered a bot net and troll farm attack on Franken.

Way to go, Senate Democrats. You’ve been had.

Update:

Senator Franken resigned. We lost a strong voice in the Senate. I hope the DNC is happy.

Earlier:

I started this web site in the interest of showing just how different Democrats are from Republicans. Different, in a positive way. In the future, I will focus on the positive differences, but not today.

Today I’m going to talk about Al Franken, the Democratic Senator from Minnesota. A man whose colleagues have urged to quit—not because there is proof of egregious behavior, but because it’s politically expedient.

I celebrate the women (and men) coming forward this year, telling their stories. Many did so knowing that their actions could have negative repercussions on their careers. I was less happy with the hashtag of #MeToo, because the stories than lost their individuality. Still, it was good to see people speaking out against sexual harrassment and assault, especially against those more powerful.

I think it’s grand that Time decided to feature those who spoke out in its Person of the Year cover this week. It is fitting, it is proper, and it is right.

So now, let’s talk about Al Franken.

Continue reading “In Defense of Al Franken”
Categories
Political

Be the finch

 

Think things are hopeless? That Republicans control it all?

I just saw a hawk flying straight towards my house, being chased by a dozen small finches.

Be the finch.

 

 

Categories
Government

But his emails…

Social media is abuzz with the proof of Donald Trump Jr’s collusion with Russian officials. He actually released the emails containing the proof on Twitter, but only because the New York Times was about to release content from the emails.

Continue reading “But his emails…”
Categories
Environment Government

The GOP’s disHONEST Act against the EPA

Musician playing in empty Beijing square, mouth and nose covered to protect against the pollution

Yesterday, the House passed the Honest and Open New EPA Science, or HONEST, Act. Tortured use of acronym aside, this Act is anything but honest.

The GOP claims the act is to force the EPA to provide the raw data behind all of its decisions. However, the primary reason for the Act is to inhibit regulations based, in part, on confidential or proprietary raw data. The Act’s inspiration came from research published in 1993 and known as the Harvard Six Cities Study.

To summarize the Six Cities Study, the research found that people in cities with dirty air were dying sooner than people living in cities with clean air.

This research formed the basis for many of the EPA’s Clean Air Act regulations related to particulate matter. If you can clearly see the skyline of LA now, and breathe its air without a facial mask, thank the authors of the Six Cities Study.

Continue reading “The GOP’s disHONEST Act against the EPA”
Categories
Government Technology

They… are watching you

Today, Trump is likely to sign the latest in Congressional Review Act bills, this one to overturn a new FCC rule that would force ISPs to get permission from users to collect and share personal information.

The Senate was the first to toss the privacy rule, followed by the House. The vote was along party lines. Kudos to the Democrats for looking out for us, but the party-line Republican vote was a little surprising considering the number of libertarians among the Republicans. Libertarians have a real thing for privacy. I expect Rand Paul will have some explaining to do the next time he runs for re-election.

Continue reading “They… are watching you”