Keith Olbermann Predicts How It Will All End For Trump

I'm curious how Trump's rabid followers who think the sun shines out of his ass will react if and when he is abruptly forced out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-olbermann-trump-end-resign_us_599d0b73e4b0a296083ae352

Young Americans Are Actually Not Becoming More Progressive

Well, this isn't encouraging, but at least there are some bright spots:

http://time.com/4909722/trump-millennials-igen-republicans-voters/

1 big thing: Why they stay

This is why not everyone is abandoning the Trump administration:

https://www.axios.com/axios-am-2475003501.html

Trump's science pick argued same-sex marriage would lead to legalizing pedophilia

How can it be anything but treasonous to put the most incompetent people you can find in charge of our government?

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/21/1692088/-Trump-s-science-pick-argued-that-same-sex-marriage-would-lead-to-legalizing-pedophilia

Why the Trump Administration's Latest Auto Industry Move Will Fail

Per usual, he has no clue about consequences or the future:

http://time.com/4906656/donald-trump-auto-industy-pollution/

Trump Administration Dissolves Federal Climate Advisory Committee

More stupid fuckery:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5999c13be4b0e8cc855e3cec

How to Make Fun of Nazis

Because this is brilliant:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/opinion/how-to-make-fun-of-nazis.html

The Trump Presidency: Is The End Nigh?

We have predicted Trump's demise multiple times in the past, but this one seems different:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-trump-presidency-is-the-end-nigh_us_5997a31de4b02eb2fda3201b

2 Maps Show The Big Obamacare Crisis Republicans Keep Citing Isn't Actually That Big

Ah, but this is about stripping Obama of his legacy, not about taking care of our citizens:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obamacare-insurance-rural-america_us_5995ccb5e4b0acc593e61bf1

Billionaire Carl Icahn Resigned As Trump Adviser Ahead Of Critical Story

 He sought to weasel his way into the White House to influence policy to favor his companies:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/carl-icahn-trump-resigned_us_59999fede4b0a2608a6cd1aa

People Cheer Companies Kicking Nazis Off The Internet. But Who’s Next?

It's tough to figure out exactly what speech shouldn't be free...if any:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/daily-stormer-go-daddy-cloudflare-google-free-speech_us_5996ed9fe4b0a2608a6bce3c

Here are the most controversial moves Trump made this month

It's only a flesh wound!

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/politics/comprehensive-list-of-controversial-moves-in-the-last-four-weeks-cnntv/index.html

Historians: Robert E. Lee and George Washington Are Not Equivalent

In case you need information in any argument about the equivalency of Washington and Lee:

http://time.com/4904661/donald-trump-robert-e-lee-george-washington/

Trump Is Just Six Senate Votes Away From Impeachment

I'm not yet holding my breath, and this article is stretching the claim for there being that many votes for impeachment, but it's still encouraging:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/08/09/president-trump-needs-friends-in-the-senate/

A Divided Country Is Exactly What Trump Wants

A very interesting perspective into Trump's mindset:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-strategy-charlottesville_us_5994b068e4b06ef724d61291

Trump's lawyer threatens to lodge a complaint against special counsel Mueller if he investigates Trump's real estate deals

What a brilliant move: tell Mueller where NOT to look:

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyer-real-estate-deal-mueller-2017-8

Thanks for the pointer!

White Nationalists' Protest Over Confederate Statue May End Up Getting Others Removed

Gotta love the irony:

http://time.com/4899820/charlottesville-confederate-statues-louisville-lexington-jacksonville/

White Supremacist In Charlottesville Wearing 82nd Airborne Hat Gets Called Out... By 82nd Airborne

The 82nd Airborne Division was my unit when I was in the army. Glad to see their reaction to this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/82nd-airborne-nazi-salute-charlottesville_us_5992ad61e4b08a247276f35e

Don't Be a Sucker - 1947

This short film from the WWII era is a disturbing and powerful reminder of the dangers of what Trump and the alt-reality are pushing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23X14HS4gLk

Who Would Win in a War Between the United States and North Korea

China would fight to defend North Korea, which takes attacking North Korea to a whole new level of dangerous:

http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/who-will-win-in-a-war-between-the-united-states-and-north-korea

Personally, I blame South Korea for having a Seoul. Ugh, sorry.

Afghanistan, Russia, and the War Index

I'd never seen this perspective on using the "War Index" to calculate the difficulty of winning a war:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/afghanistan-russia-and-the-war-index/article/2009214?mc_cid=8df8b5c6d0&mc_eid=c4215c6c8c

Donald Trump Says He’s The Best Dealmaker. Negotiation Experts Say Otherwise.

This article suddenly takes a non-sequitur turn at the end, but it clarifies what we've all suspected:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-dealmaking-skills-mexico-australia_us_598b7e7fe4b0d793738c729a

Former GOP Sen. Gordon Humphrey: ‘Seriously Sick’ Trump Must Be Replaced ASAP

More Republicans turning on Trump. Music to my ears:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gordon-humphrey-trump_us_598d09d3e4b09071f698bee2

Avoiding War With North Korea Is Easy

A much less violent solution to the North Korea problem than Trump has intimated:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/north-korea-war-trump_us_598c6fb9e4b0449ed5085839

Report: European Officials Are Laughing at "Obama Obsessed" Trump

Yup, the easiest way to determine what Trump's position on something is is to take Obama's position and do the opposite. I hate how Trump is making America's reputation so much worse:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/9/1688206/-Report-European-Officials-Are-Laughing-at-Obama-Obsessed-Trump

Trump’s Agencies Are Learning To Ignore Their Boss

Good to see that some sanity prevails:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-agency-directives-ignored_us_598b7888e4b0d793738c6a35

China’s Government Bans Religion and Insists on Atheism

I'm an atheist, but this is wrong:

http://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/china-s-government-bans-religion-insists-atheism

Yes, You Can Blame Climate Change for Extreme Weather

More ammo to use on climate change deniers:

http://time.com/4891451/climate-change-report-extreme-weather/

Trump gets a folder full of positive news about himself twice a day

Such a pathetic little egomaniac:

https://news.vice.com/story/trump-folder-positive-news-white-house

Atheists in Malaysia should be hunted down, minister says

The next time Christians complain about persecution, show them this:

http://m.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/atheists-in-malaysia-should-be-hunted-down-minister-says

Trump Is Not The Victim Of A Slow-Rolling Coup; He Is The Victim Of His Own Incompetence

Amazingly, this is from a staunchly conservative blog site:

http://www.redstate.com/patterico/2017/08/06/trump-not-victim-slow-rolling-coup-victim-incompetence/

Why 2018 might not be such an amazing election for Democrats

Unfortunately, we still need to keep this reality check in mind:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/07/politics/2018-midterms-trump/index.html

But we can still hope to get that gale-force wind.

Federal Scientists’ Startling Climate Report Released Before Trump Can Bury It

Another damn good reason why this administration is plagued with and in desperate need of leaks:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-report-draft-nyt_us_598907ece4b0a66b8bae1fc6

These 5 Countries Are Killing It in the Battle Against Climate Change

https://singularityhub.com/2017/08/07/tackling-climate-change-countries-leading-the-way/

Study Asserts Climate Change Could Make South Asia Uninhabitable in Our Lifetime

One of the first places to go:

https://futurism.com/study-asserts-climate-change-could-make-south-asia-uninhabitable-in-our-lifetime/

New Rule: What If Obama Said It? | Real Time with Bill Maher

To highlight conservative hypocrisy, here is "Obama" using Trump's own words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swcJzacZkWU&sns=em

(That part starts at the 2 1/2 minute mark.)

WH correspondent & cronies: 'Native Indians' should 'go back to your country'

Ooops:

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/2/1686263/-WH-correspondent-cronies-Native-Indians-should-go-back-to-your-country

Anderson Cooper on President Trump's HYPOCRISY for mocking Obama on taking too many vacations

Again, it's the hypocrisy that pisses me off the most:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIQ3gEbXcw

New Sexual Harassment Allegations Leveled Against Fox News’ Eric Bolling

You know, it's not so much the unprofessional and inappropriate behavior as the sheer hypocrisy of conservatives and Faux News that is so egregious:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eric-bolling-sexual-harassment-allegations_us_59865320e4b0cb15b1beebc6?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

Ailes, O'Reilly, Bolling...who's next?

An Alliance Upholding the Paris Agreement Now Represents a Third of the U.S. Population

Despite Trump, a plurality of America is behind fighting climate change:

https://futurism.com/an-alliance-upholding-the-paris-agreement-now-represents-a-third-of-the-u-s-population/

Democrats Could Take Back The House. Will They Screw It Up?

Please don't screw the pooch, please don't screw the pooch, please don't screw the pooch...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-retake-house-drama_us_59839164e4b041356ebed22f

Trump Asked Mexico To Stop Publicly Refusing To Pay For His Unimportant Border Wall

Pathetic weakness at its finest:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-asked-mexico-to-stop-talking-about-not-paying-for-his-unimportant-wall_us_59833116e4b06d4888748bbf

Why A Trump Pivot Might Backfire

An analysis on why the mythical Trump pivot will likely never materialize:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a-trump-pivot-might-backfire/amp/

Why The Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming From Inside The White House

The Trump administration's complete ignorance and disinterest about the Dept of Energy (nuke dept!) is pretty damn scary:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/department-of-energy-risks-michael-lewis

Sen. Jeff Flake: Republicans Are ‘Willing Accomplices’ in Betraying American Ideals

Another diatribe from Flake ripping Republicans a new asshole:

http://time.com/4884407/jeff-flake-donald-trump-2016-election-republicans-congress-conservatives/?xid=newsletter-brief

Top Official Resigns From Trump EPA With Scathing Letter

At least the scientists aren't leaving without making it publicly clear why:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/epa-trump-official-resign-letter_us_598216cee4b02b36343fc69d

Arctic Sea Ice Loss is Impacting Atlantic Ocean Water Circulation System

Yet another thing to look forward to with climate change:

https://scitechdaily.com/arctic-sea-ice-loss-is-impacting-atlantic-ocean-water-circulation-system/

Robert Reich's conversation with a former Republican member of Congress

Robert Reich
July 31 at 12:19pm ·
This morning I phoned my friend, a former Republican member of Congress.

Me: What's going on? Seems like the White House is imploding, and Republicans are going down with the ship.

Him (chuckling): We’re officially a banana republic.

Me: Seriously, what are you hearing from your former colleagues on the Hill?

Him: They’re convinced Trump is out of his gourd.

Me: So what are they going to do about it?

Him: Remember what I told you at the start of this circus? They planned to use Trump’s antics for cover, to get done what they most wanted – big tax cuts, rollbacks of regulations, especially financial. They’d work with Pence behind the scenes and forget the crazy uncle in the attic.

Me: Yeah.

Him: Well, I’m hearing a different story now. Stuff with Sessions is pissing them off. And now Trump's hired that horse’s ass Scaramucci -- a communications director who talks dirty on CNN! Plus Trump’s numbers are in freefall. They think he’s gonna hurt them in ’18 and ’20.

Me: So what’s the plan?

Him: They want him outa there.

Me: Really? Impeachment?

Him: Doubt it, unless Mueller comes up with a smoking gun.

Me: Or if he fires Mueller.

Him: Not gonna happen.

Me: So how do they get him out?

Him: Put someone else up in ’20. Lots of maneuvering already. Pence, obviously. Cruz thinks he has a shot.

Me: But that won’t help them in the midterms. What’s the plan before then?

Him: Lots think he’s fritzing out.

Me: Fritzing out?

Him: Going totally bananas. Paranoia. You want to know why he fired Priebus, wants Sessions out, and is now gunning for Tillerson?

Me: He wants to shake things up?

Him (chuckling): No. The way I hear it, he thinks they’ve been plotting against him.

Me: What do you mean?

Him: Twenty-fifth amendment! Read it! A Cabinet can get rid of a president who’s nuts. Trump thinks they’ve been preparing a palace coup. So one by one, he’s firing them.

Me: I find it hard to believe they’re plotting against him.

Him: Of course not! It’s ludicrous. Sessions is a loyal lapdog. Tillerson doesn't know where the bathroom is. That’s my point. Trump is fritzing out. Having manic delusions. He’s actually going nuts.

Me: And?

Him: Well, it’s downright dangerous.

Me: Yeah, but that still doesn’t tell me what Republicans are planning to do about it.

Him: Look. How long do you think it will be before everyone in Washington knows he’s flipping out? I don’t mean just weird. I mean really off his rocker.

Me: I don’t know.

Him: Not all that long.

Me: So what are you telling me?

Him: They don’t have to plot against him. It will be obvious to everyone that he’s got to go. That’s where the twenty-fifth amendment really does comes in.

Me: So you think…

Him: Who knows? But he’s losing it fast. My betting is he’s out of office before the midterms. And Pence is president.

Trump is doing irreparable harm to the White House's credibility

Do we laugh or cry over this disaster? Mostly cry, I think:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/02/opinions/trump-is-destoying-americas-credibility-klaas-opinion/index.html

The 7 Most Mind-Boggling Moments From Donald Trump’s Wall Street Journal Interview

It's worth reading the entire interview word salad:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-wsj-interview_us_59818cc6e4b0353fbb3385a0

Oregon Doesn’t Have Time For This Obamacare Repeal Nonsense

Way to go!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-kate-brown-health-care_us_5980b072e4b08e1430061419

Donald Trump Is Now the Poster Boy for Terrible Management Skills

Who else could turn an initial inheritance of $200 million into around $3 billion in 40 years and think that's impressive, when simply investing it and leaving it alone would have turned it into $12 billion?

https://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/donald-trump-is-now-the-poster-boy-for-terrible-ma.html

Bill Browder’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Could Explain Anthony Scaramucci’s Bizarre Behaviour

Here is a much more detailed (and amazing!) account of something I posted earlier, of how the whole Putin, Magnitsky Act and Trump web links together:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bill-browders-senate-judiciary-committee-hearing_uk_597ee55ce4b02a4ebb7675a6

My Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump

Although Flake voted along the GOP party line, he's (rather surprisingly) at least self-aware enough to call bullshit on his party's treatment of Trump:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/31/my-party-is-in-denial-about-donald-trump-215442?ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__080117

Behold the Trump boomerang effect

Unless you have a Washington Post account, you'll need to google "trump boomerang" and click on the first link to be able to read this article (if you do have an account, here's the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/behold-the-trump-boomerang-effect/2017/07/30/8534a696-73ac-11e7-8839-ec48ec4cae25_story.html?utm_term=.ae30fdb60dff).

But it's worth it to see how Trump's attempts to damage our world and our society keep causing an opposite reaction.

The GOP Is No Longer A ‘Conservative’ Party

I remember having respect for the Republican party, even when I didn't agree with them. That was many, many years ago:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-no-longer-conservative-party_us_59767dd6e4b0e201d5776f8c

Data Shows Summers are Now Either “Hot” or “Extremely Hot” Compared to 50 Years Ago

More evidence to use on climate change deniers:

https://futurism.com/data-shows-summers-are-now-either-hot-or-extremely-hot-compared-to-50-years-ago/

Who's Afraid of Donald Trump? Good Question.

And this is how the tide turns:

http://time.com/4878779/trump-healthcare-sessions-russia/?xid=newsletter-brief

Powerful testimony on exactly what Vladimir Putin wanted from Trump and why

A very interesting perspective on why there was such a push by Russians to overturn the Magnitsky Act:

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/28/1684989/-William-Browder-breaks-down-exactly-what-Putin-wanted-from-Trump-and-why

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon

THIS is what our government officials have come down to. Can you imagine how quickly this jerk would have been out on his ass if he had been in Obama's administration?

http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve-bannon

Republicans’ Obamacare repeal drive has revealed a political system where words have no meaning

The level of hypocrisy in the GOP, especially Mitch McConnell, is truly mind-blowing:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/27/16035644/republicans-obamacare-repeal-lying

Utilities Knew About Climate Change Back In 1968 And Still Battled The Science

That's why regulation and oversight are so critical. Corporations are amoral, if not evil, and have priorities other than the long-term health of the planet and society:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/utilities-climate-change_us_597673e0e4b0c95f375dd60d

Whatever You Do, Do Not Take Your Eye Off Trump’s War on Science

Trump's anti-science agenda is shaping up to be the scariest thing about his administration:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/25/do_not_take_your_eye_off_trump_s_war_on_science.html

House Science Committee Chair Says Climate Change Is A Good Thing

Of all the fucking ignorant stupidity...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lamar-smith-climate-change-beneficial_us_59765a54e4b0e201d577466d

For every good thing there will be ten BAD things!

The Triumph of Obama’s Long Game

A conservative says of Obama's ACA: "a testament to the skills and vision and tenacity of our greatest living president, whose political shadow completely eclipses the monstrous, ridiculous fool who succeeded him." Nicely said.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/the-triumph-of-obamas-long-game.html

Why Hourly Wages Don't Make Sense, but a 30-Hour Workweek Does

http://bigthink.com/videos/michael-slaby-why-hourly-wages-dont-make-sense-but-a-30-hour-workweek-does

Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and why Trump is so afraid of it, explained

An excellent breakdown of the investigation into Trump and Russia:

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/24/16008272/robert-mueller-fbi-trump-russia-explained

Obama Derangement Syndrome

Lest we forget the vitriol conservatives dumped on Obama, who was better than Trump by virtually every presidential metric:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhUrwWNlKuE

Trump Is Setting The Stage To Fire Mueller

How far will he go before the GOP in Congress kicks back?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-is-setting-the-stage-to-fire-mueller_us_59721e4ae4b0545a5c30ff98

Of course he did: Trump picked climate science denier for Ag Department's top science post

Ditto this:

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/20/1682393/-Of-course-he-did-Trump-picks-climate-science-denier-for-Ag-Department-s-top-science-post

Senate Confirms Federal Judge Who Compared Abortion To Slavery

Apart from hypothetical scenarios (e.g., nuclear war), actions like this are the biggest Trump nightmare:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-bush-judge-mcconnell-abortion-slavery_us_5970d2a7e4b062ea5f905f3f

The Trump Administration Has Quietly Cut More Than $213 Million From Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs

Way to go, you short-thinking bastards:

http://time.com/money/4864983/teen-pregnancy-prevention-program-funding-cuts/

The Hard-Right Sticks With Trump No Matter What

This is the worst legacy of Trump:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-hard-right-sticks-with-trump-no-matter-what_us_5970eddae4b062ea5f9092e5

Immediate Carbon Capture is Critical to Avoiding Extreme Climate Change, Scientists Say

Oh, fuck. We need a moonshot for developing nanotechnology to enable negative emissions ASAP:

https://futurism.com/immediate-carbon-capture-is-critical-to-avoiding-extreme-climate-change-scientists-say/

How Deranged Are Trump Supporters? New Poll Shows That It's Worse Than You Ever Imagined

Welp, time to completely ignore trying to recruit Trump voters and instead assemble the messages everyone else wants and run on that:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/19/1682182/-How-Deranged-Are-Trump-Supporters-New-Poll-Shows-That-It-s-Worse-Than-You-Ever-Imagined

I’m a scientist. I’m blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.

Scientists need to fight back more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/im-a-scientist-the-trump-administration-reassigned-me-for-speaking-up-about-climate-change/2017/07/19/389b8dce-6b12-11e7-9c15-177740635e83_story.html

Inside the Secret Plan to Stop Vladimir Putin’s U.S. Election Plot

A comprehensive look at the whole election hacking issue:

http://time.com/4865982/secret-plan-stop-vladimir-putin-election-plot/

Team Trump Used Obamacare Money to Run PR Effort Against It

This is all kinds of wrong:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/team-trump-used-obamacare-money-to-run-ads-against-it

Excerpts From The Times’s Interview With Trump

Trump confuses life insurance with health insurance, and other stupid things Trump blathers:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/20/politics/trump-new-york-times-interview/index.html

Sean Hannity Attacks ‘Pampered, Overpaid, Spoiled’ GOP For ‘Epic Failure’

The beautiful sound of conservative extremists attacking one another:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sean-hannity-attacks-pampered-overpaid-spoiled-gop-for-epic-failure_us_596efb14e4b0a03aba85cc7a

Well ranted!

Wendy Davis: Why Isn’t Texas Addressing Its Staggering Maternal Mortality Rate?

For those who wonder what healthcare in conservative states is like:

http://motto.time.com/4862727/wendy-davis-texas-maternal-mortality-rate/?xid=newsletter-brief

WSJ torches Trump and Don Jr.: ‘They have created the appearance of a conspiracy’

So now even the conservative WSJ is attacking the Trump administration:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wsj-torches-trump-don-jr-created-appearance-conspiracy-144342071.html

Nice!

I Ran Oppo Research Against Donald Trump. He Has No Idea What He’s Talking About.

More evidence Hair Furor has no idea what he's doing:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/15/i-ran-oppo-research-against-donald-trump-he-has-no-idea-what-hes-talking-about-215381

Trump Is Violating The Iran Deal

More pettiness against Obama and reckless behavior from Trump, which isn't getting much coverage:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-is-violating-the-iran-deal_us_5968cd05e4b03389bb16ccdb

GOP-Led House Approves Defense Bill Declaring Climate Change a 'Direct Threat to National Security'

At least the military gets it. And this is a screw you to Trump. But the GOP approves???

http://time.com/4858987/defense-bill-climate-change-military-spending/?xid=newsletter-brief

The Uninhabitable Earth

How bad it could very well be:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html?mc_cid=077aedcc63&mc_eid=c4215c6c8c

How Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family

A good primer on the whole Donald Trump Jr. mess:

http://time.com/4856233/donald-trump-jr-emails/?xid=newsletter-brief

What Would Happen If Humans Disappeared?

Assuming we succumb to climate change (won't happen, but still this is an interesting thought experiment):

https://futurism.com/videos/what-would-happen-if-humans-disappeared/

Teen Abortions Surged In Texas After Republicans Defunded Planned Parenthood

As if we couldn't see this coming:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-planned-parenthood-teen-abortion_us_59653229e4b09b587d63018a

The Majority Of Republicans Think Colleges Are Bad For The U.S., Poll Shows

This is so profoundly wrong:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-college-poll_us_59639fe2e4b0d5b458ec4481

They truly are the party of stupid....

Report: The U.S. Will Exceed Its Paris Accord Goals Despite Trump’s Official Withdrawal

America and reality sticks its thumb in Trump's eye:

https://futurism.com/report-the-u-s-will-exceed-its-paris-accord-goals-despite-trumps-official-withdrawal/

Why Trump Pulling Out of the Paris Agreement Led to a Stronger Global Climate Change Plan

Sometimes it takes a villain to inspire heroes:

http://time.com/4850421/g20-trump-paris-agreement-climate-change/?xid=newsletter-brief

What on Earth Is Wrong With Connecticut?

Liberal Connecticut is failing...but why, exactly? The reasons are complicated but interesting:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/connecticut-tax-inequality-cities/532623/?mc_cid=ce3cb55747&mc_eid=c4215c6c8c

How to Deal With North Korea

All the choices for dealing with North Korea suck mightily:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/the-worst-problem-on-earth/528717/?mc_cid=ec93894bd4&mc_eid=c4215c6c8c

As GOP moves toward repeal, a government report shows Obamacare is working well

Fix it, don't break it!

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-cms-risk-report-20170703-story,amp.html

America’s Future Is Texas

A long-ass article on the growing impact of Texas on the political sphere. Despite its increasingly blue state leanings, conservatives have taken over the government:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas?mc_cid=0c42379bd4&mc_eid=c4215c6c8c

A Record 58% of People in Scotland Have No Religious Affiliation

Nice to see these trends continuing in this direction:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/07/02/a-record-58-of-people-in-scotland-have-no-religious-affiliation/

How the Left Lost Its Mind

The left (including me) can be guilty of passing on unsubstantiated stories:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/liberal-fever-swamps/530736/?utm_source=hpfb

But at least the left tends to abandon such stories when they turn out to be false, unlike so many on the right:

http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/05/republicans-seem-more-susceptible-to-fake-news-than-democrats-but-liberals-dont-feel-too-comfy-yet/

Some good quotes from past presidents and others

https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-of-President-Trumps-tweets-about-Mika-Brzezinski-and-Joe-Scarborough/answer/Aurora-Clawson?share=9d5fdc09&srid=uBhZO

An on-point message from Gideon Lichfield at Quartz

Another week, another crude Twitter outburst from the US president, another torrent of outrage from his detractors. But what if we just agreed to ignore the man?

At Quartz it’s already our policy not to write stories about how crazy the latest crazy thing he said is. But even the not-crazy things he says are increasingly irrelevant. The president has essentially ceded foreign policyto his generals and his son-in-law, and when he does speak on such issues as NATO or Qatar he only creates confusion. His staff manage him like a child. Foreign governments go around him(paywall). NATO has learned to look like it’s doing his bidding, increasing its budget just slightly faster than before. State and local governments set their own policies when they don’t like his. When he promises to build a wall with Mexico, punish China, or cancel Nafta… well, we don’t need to tell you.

A normal US president is like a creature in the middle of lake, his every move creating far-reaching ripples. This one is like a rock in a stream; he creates turbulence and is to be avoided, but everything flows on around him.

OK, he has nuclear codes. You don’t ignore a man with nuclear codes. But you don’t have to lavish attention on him either. Actually, attention is what gets him riled up.

It’s time to stop being outraged. It isn’t even really outrage—it’s gloatrage, when you’re secretly thrilled that he’s proving himself to be just as bad as you thought. (Admit it.)

The president of the United States is an irrelevance. Pay close attention to those around him, but ignore the man himself. We can do it. We have the technology.

Look, we didn’t even say his name.