July 1, 2015

Neil deGrasse Tyson: The last Leap Second added was June 30, 2012....

July 1, 2015

Bobby Jindal Tries #AskBobby Q&A On Twitter, Goes Down In Flames

My governor, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, is one of many Republicans running for the party’s presidential nomination in 2016. With so many candidates in the race, anything he could do to get an edge on the competition would have been a welcome to his campaign, which is currently sitting in the low single digits in the polls.

Apparently someone on his campaign staff thought it was a good idea to do a Q&A session on Twitter in order to connect with more potential voters, especially since it doesn’t look like he’s going to be getting much in the way of funding from GOP sugar daddy donors like the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson. Currently, the Jindal 2016 campaign has been courting Duck Dynasty fans and far-right religious voters like the Duggars and the evangelical Christian homeschooling movement.

“No one has worked harder than Bobby Jindal for the support of evangelical Christians. He even invented an award just so he could give it to Willie Robertson; and, in exchange, he became the subject of an entire episode of “Duck Dynasty.” He organized a prayer rally on the campus of LSU, which was officially hosted by the American Family Association, a noted anti-gay hate group. He traded in his khakis and buttoned-up polos for belt buckles and cowboy boots. So far this year, he has already tweeted two different photos of himself holding a gun; his Christmas card was of him and his family, dressed in camouflage, posing in a golf cart on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion as if they were somehow on a hunting expedition. On the increasingly rare Sunday mornings that he spends in state, he is usually in the backseat of his helicopter, shuffling between church services in North and Central Louisiana.” (Source)

Bobby Jindal can’t secure the Republican nomination solely on the support of 15 passenger van driving, gay hating evangelical Christians. Even many Republicans in Louisiana can’t stand the guy considering how badly he’s tarnished their brand by running the state into the ground while he’s spent the last two years crisscrossing the globe trying to drum up support for his eventual 2016 run. This is why someone made the suggestion that he should hop on Twitter, use the hashtag #AskBobby, and climb higher in the Fox News polls where he currently sits at the bottom. Except that’s not how it worked out, at all. In fact, it was an unmitigated disaster and from all around the country, people turned the #AskBobby hashtag into one of the most brutal, unbridled roastings Twitter has ever seen.

Here are just a few of the remarks that reminded America why Bobby Jindal is one of the most hated governors in the country

Did you get the idea for your portrait from all the white portraits of Jesus? #AskBobby - @rsoulela

Has Piyush been relegated to the status of an imaginary friend? And did you exorcise him?#AskBobby - @DaAwesumPossum

If you’re “fiscally conservative” why does our state have a huge deficit and why are you cutting education & mental health to pay it #AskBobby - @TheWickerMan504

#AskBobby My wife wants to know what else the @DuckDynastyAE guys have in common with Jesus besides beards, guns, hate gays… ? – @sacalait

Hey @BobbyJindal, before deciding to call yourself “Bobby,” were Greg, Peter or even Marcia options? #AskBobby -@harikondabolu

yo @BobbyJindal when did you first realize you were a white guy called Bobby trapped in brown man called Piyush’s body? #AskBobby - @azharusman


I’m going to venture a guess and say the person who came up with the idea of doing a Twitter Q&A is sitting with all of their luggage at the Des Moines, Iowa airport right now, waiting on a flight back to Louisiana. I can’t wait until the next Republican hopeful tries the same thing – this was too much fun not to do again.

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/bobby-jindal-tries-askbobby-qa-twitter-goes-flames

July 1, 2015

Toon: Superman...

July 1, 2015

Bernie Sanders campaign rallies drawing enthusiastic progressive crowds

Fortunes of Democratic candidate opposing Hillary Clinton from left might rely on success in first-in-the-nation primary

NASHUA, New Hampshire — Amberlee Jones was lucky to get a seat. The crowd at Nashua Community College was overflowing into the aisles as they waited to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. When he took the stage, the room grew instantly quiet. When he stepped up to the microphone after a brief introduction, the room exploded in cheers.

“I think that he has a lot of integrity. That’s incredibly important to me,” Jones, a 28-year-old sign-language interpreter from Rochester, New York, said afterward. “I don’t think that we can run our country without some sort of moral or ethical guidelines. So that’s why I’m going to vote for him.”

Sanders is trying to start what he calls a “political revolution.” An independent who identifies as socialist, Sanders is running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, with which he caucuses in Congress. He has refused to take super PAC funds or run negative campaign ads. Instead, he’s taking a message of economic populism directly to voters.

His approach seems to be paying off. Though written off as an outside shot by almost all mainstream political commentators, he is polling just 8 percentage points behind Hillary Clinton among likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, according to a CNN/WMUR poll released last week.

Sanders is nearly 40 points behind Clinton in Iowa and more than 50 points behind her nationally, according to Real Clear Politics’ averages of recent polls. The Granite State could be key to turning around those national numbers. A win in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, Feb. 9, would build momentum and funding going into the other primaries.

“What we do, what I’ve always done in Vermont and what we’re going to do here, is do exactly what this meeting was about — bring people together, have a serious discussion about serious issues, nothing fancy about it. I think that is the road to success, frankly,” Sanders told reporters after a speech in Henniker, New Hampshire.

He spent last weekend stumping across the state speaking to what is now a common sight: overflow crowds. In addition to Nashua and Henniker, he went to Bow, Rochester, Durham and Laconia on Sunday. In all, his staffers believe, more than 5,000 New Hampshire voters saw him speak at town meetings and house parties by the end of the weekend.

‘Really important to me’

Most of these going to see Sanders are there for his left-wing takes on issues concerning equality and the economy. Jennifer Alford-Teaster, 38, a geospatial research project director in Sutton, attended the meeting in Henniker with her husband. She said social mobility and equal pay for women are among her top priorities.

More here: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/1/live-free-or-die-bernie-sanders-campaign-could-hinge-on-new-hampshire.html

July 1, 2015

Will Elizabeth Warren endorse Bernie Sanders? The progressive team that may shake up 2016

Though she's previously encouraged Hillary Clinton to run, Elizabeth Warren sounds mighty friendly toward Bernie

Sen. Elizabeth Warren appears to be relishing her role as progressive kingmaker as she’s refused to rule out endorsing fellow New England Senator Bernie Sanders in the democratic primary despite encouraging Hillary Clinton to run in 2013.

Warren told the Boston Herald on Tuesday that she thought it was “too early” to say if she’ll campaign for Bernie Sanders while indicating her strong enthusiasm for his populist campaign.

“I love what Bernie is talking about,” Warren declared. “Bernie’s out talking about the issues that the American people want to hear about.”

The popular progressive senator who waved off spirited campaigns by progressive activist groups attempting to push her into the presidential race certainly understands the appeal of Sanders, “These are people who care about these issues, and that’s who Bernie’s reaching.”

But Warren has previously indicated her support for a Hillary Clinton presidential run, signing on to 2013 a letter from all of the women in the Senate encouraging Clinton to run for president.

Sanders has been gaining ground on Clinton’s substantial lead in New Hampshire, closing the gap to about 10 points, according to recent polls.

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/01/will_elizabeth_warren_endorse_bernie_sanders_the_progressive_team_that_may_shake_up_2016/

July 1, 2015

Bobby Jindal Tries #AskBobby Q&A On Twitter, Goes Down In Flames

My governor, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, is one of many Republicans running for the party’s presidential nomination in 2016. With so many candidates in the race, anything he could do to get an edge on the competition would have been a welcome to his campaign, which is currently sitting in the low single digits in the polls.

Apparently someone on his campaign staff thought it was a good idea to do a Q&A session on Twitter in order to connect with more potential voters, especially since it doesn’t look like he’s going to be getting much in the way of funding from GOP sugar daddy donors like the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson. Currently, the Jindal 2016 campaign has been courting Duck Dynasty fans and far-right religious voters like the Duggars and the evangelical Christian homeschooling movement.

Bobby Jindal can’t secure the Republican nomination solely on the support of 15 passenger van driving, gay hating evangelical Christians. Even many Republicans in Louisiana can’t stand the guy considering how badly he’s tarnished their brand by running the state into the ground while he’s spent the last two years crisscrossing the globe trying to drum up support for his eventual 2016 run. This is why someone made the suggestion that he should hop on Twitter, use the hashtag #AskBobby, and climb higher in the Fox News polls where he currently sits at the bottom. Except that’s not how it worked out, at all. In fact, it was an unmitigated disaster and from all around the country, people turned the #AskBobby hashtag into one of the most brutal, unbridled roastings Twitter has ever seen.

Here are just a few of the remarks that reminded America why Bobby Jindal is one of the most hated governors in the country



I’m going to venture a guess and say the person who came up with the idea of doing a Twitter Q&A is sitting with all of their luggage at the Des Moines, Iowa airport right now, waiting on a flight back to Louisiana. I can’t wait until the next Republican hopeful tries the same thing – this was too much fun not to do again.

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/bobby-jindal-tries-askbobby-qa-twitter-goes-flames/

July 1, 2015

Bernie: In my view, we should invest $1 trillion in rebuilding our infrastructure in the next five..

years....



A much better investment than WARS...

July 1, 2015

Bernie: Fifty years of Cold War is enough....

July 1, 2015

Want to go to a Bernie Sanders event near you? This link breaks down all the events state by state..

http://www.bernie2016events.org/#CA

July 1, 2015

Labor Leader Joins Bernie Sanders' Campaign, Citing Clinton's 'Silence' On Fast Track

Bernie Sanders' Campaign Just Got A Big Boost

WASHINGTON -- The longtime leader of one of the country’s most powerful labor unions is joining the Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and he says presumed frontrunner Hillary Clinton made it an easy call.

Larry Cohen, outgoing president of the Communications Workers of America, told The Huffington Post he will serve as an unpaid volunteer stumping for Sanders as the Vermont senator seeks the Democratic nomination. One of the main factors in his decision, Cohen said, was Clinton’s equivocation on granting President Barack Obama so-called fast-track authority on his mammoth trade deal.

“I did everything I knew how to do to get Clinton to speak out on fast track, and she wouldn’t,” said Cohen, whose 10 years leading CWA came to an end in June. "We begged her to speak out.

“There was a million ways she could have done it. ... Why was she silent on this?"

Labor unions, environmental groups and most Democrats rallied against giving Obama fast-track authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP, as it's known, is a multinational trade pact that the White House and Republicans say will boost trade between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries. Progressive groups worry it will send more jobs overseas, worsen income inequality and include weak protections for workers in developing countries. The approval of fast track last week prevents Congress from amending or filibustering the deal that the White House is negotiating.

TPP has put Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state, in an uncomfortable position with progressives. Though she once referred to TPP as a possible "gold standard" as a trade deal, she has avoided staking out a firm position on the trade pact as a candidate and hesitated on the question of fast track. In an interview in June, she said she would "probably not" grant fast track, "because that’s a process vote, and I don’t want to say that’s the same as TPP."

Cohen, a staunch progressive, said Clinton's handling of the trade issue helped clarify why he wanted to get behind Sanders, whose candidacy is still considered a long shot despite standing-room-only crowds he's been drawing early on the trail. Sanders has been a vocal critic of giving Obama fast-track trade authority.

More here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/larry-cohen-bernie-sanders_n_7702254.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter