Trump Says He Would Only Use Nuclear Weapons in a Sarcastic Way

Donald Trump. (photo: Getty)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

12 August 16 
readersupportednews.org

 
larifying his position on a key national-security issue, Donald Trump said on Friday that as President he would be willing to use nuclear weapons, “but only in a sarcastic way.”

“People who are worried about me having the nuclear-launch codes should stop worrying, O.K.?” Trump told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “If I ever used nuclear weapons, it would be really obvious that I was just being sarcastic.”

Pressed by Blitzer to explain the difference between a sarcastic and non-sarcastic nuclear attack, Trump responded, “You’d use the weapons and everything, but then you’d say, ‘Just kidding.’ ”

Trump did not specify which nations he would target for a sarcastic nuclear attack. “I can’t say right now,” he said. “But there are a lot of countries that need to lighten up.”

Trump and "The Second Amendment People"

Journalist Dan Rather attends the 'Truth' New York special screening at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema on October 23, 2015 in New York City. (photo: Mark Sagilocco/Getty)

By Dan Rather, Dan Rather's Facebook Page

11 August 16

readersupportednews.org

 

o trying-to-be objective and fair journalist, no citizen who cares about the country and its future can ignore what Donald Trump said today. When he suggested that "The Second Amendment People" can stop Hillary Clinton he crossed a line with dangerous potential. By any objective analysis, this is a new low and unprecedented in the history of American presidential politics. This is no longer about policy, civility, decency or even temperament. This is a direct threat of violence against a political rival. It is not just against the norms of American politics, it raises a serious question of whether it is against the law. If any other citizen had said this about a Presidential candidate, would the Secret Service be investigating?

Candidate Trump will undoubtably issue an explanation; some of his surrogates are already engaged in trying to gloss it over, but once the words are out there they cannot be taken back. That is what inciting violence means.

To anyone who still pretends this is a normal election of Republican against Democrat, history is watching. And I suspect its verdict will be harsh. Many have tried to do a side-shuffle and issue statements saying they strongly disagree with his rhetoric but still support the candidate. That is becoming woefully insufficient. The rhetoric is the candidate.

This cannot be treated as just another outrageous moment in the campaign. We will see whether major newscasts explain how grave and unprecedented this is and whether the headlines in tomorrow's newspapers do it justice. We will soon know whether anyone who has publicly supported Trump explains how they can continue to do.

We are a democratic republic governed by the rule of law. We are an honest, fair and decent people. In trying to come to terms with today's discouraging development the best I can do is to summon our greatest political poet Abraham Lincoln for perspective:

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Lincoln used these stirring words to end his First Inaugural Address. It was the eve of the Civil War and sadly his call for sanity, cohesion and peace was met with horrific violence that almost left our precious Union asunder. We cannot let that happen again.

No Donald, It Was Cheney and W. Who Created ISIS

President George W. Bush with Dick Cheney. (photo: Getty)

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

12 August 16

readersupportednews.org

 

he year is 2003. Saddam Hussein is ruling Iraq with an iron fist. There is no ISIS, there isn’t even al Qaeda in Iraq. Osama bin Laden calls on the Iraqi people to rise up against the infidel. Bin Laden was talking not only about the United States, but also about the secular Sunni leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. You see, Saddam only called for Jihad when it benefited his grip on power or a war effort that was anything but holy.

Then came the US invasion of Iraq. We removed one Islamic sect, the Sunnis, and replaced them with the Shia. Saddam wasn’t Bin Ladin’s type of Sunni, Saddam was a Baathist. When his regime fell and the Shia were installed by US forces, Sunni extremists formed groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Iraq.

For years they tried to hold regions in Iraq, like Anbar Province and Fallujah. Instead of providing the Sunnis with an autonomous region, we purged them from local governments and the military and drove them out of Iraq. They regrouped in Syria and formed what we now know as the Islamic State or ISIS. They are now radicalized and following radical clerics. Their goal is to create a Sunni Muslim state. Syria, Iran, and Iraq are now Shia. They view the secular Saudi leaders as infidels like Saddam. The reason they are at war with Assad in Syria is they want a religious Sunni homeland.

It is true that once the United States pulled out of Iraq, ISIS marched back across the border and retook land that had been their home before American forces drove them out of Iraq. ISIS wasn’t created by Obama pulling troops out of Iraq, it was created by the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq. ISIS formed during the invasion of Iraq and was radicalized by the way we, and the Iraq government we installed, treated the Sunnis.

Let me offer an example Americans might understand. Consider a Morman dictatorship in the United States ruling with an iron fist. Canada invades and installs a Catholic government that tortures and drives the Mormons into Mexico. The Canadians pull out and the Mormons return to the Southwestern United States, chopping off people’s heads.

Did the Canadian leader who pulled out of the US create the Mormon radicals, or did the Canadian leader who invaded the United States create the radical mormon sect? Of course that is an extreme example, but is exactly what happened in Iraq.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney broke Iraq and didn’t rebuild it. Instead they helped the Shia crush the Sunni population. Many experts proposed dividing Iraq into three autonomous states. One Sunni, one Shia, and one Kurdish State. Of course not invading at all would have prevented the formation of ISIS, but post-invasion, giving the Sunnis a state would have prevented the radicalization.

From the moment we invaded Iraq our occupation only delayed the inevitable. Sure, we could have stayed there for decades and kept ISIS from returning to Iraq. They would still however be in Syria where they are trying to establish a Sunni state. We also delayed Iran’s influence over Iraq, but it was always a matter of time since Iraq is now the same sect of Islam as Iran.

So Donald, I have to ask, do you even know what ISIS is? Do you know what a Shia is? Do you know what a Sunni is? I’m willing to bet you don’t.

---

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

Deadly Bacteria Spread Across Oceans as Water Temperatures Rise

An illustration of cholera bacteria. (photo: Getty Images)

By Umair Irfan, Scientific American

10 August 16
readersupportednews.org

 

Cholera bacteria and others arise in more places and in greater abundance

eadly bacteria are spreading through the oceans as waters warm up, and are increasing infection risks, according to a new study.

Multiple species of rod-shaped Vibrio bacteria live in the world’s oceans, and their populations rise and fall based on many different variables, changing the likelihood of making people sick.

A report published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined the role of the changing climate in Vibrio infections.

In the United States, Vibrio bacteria cause about 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths each year. The species that causes the devastating diarrheal disease cholera, Vibrio cholerae, is responsible for up to 142,000 deaths around the world annually, according to the World Health Organization.

Other species, like Vibrio vulnificus, can also infect humans, often through undercooked seafood or from wounds exposed to contaminated seawater.

Infection risks tend to rise when water temperatures go up, so researchers sought to figure out whether rising temperatures have played a role in the bacteria’s abundance.

Co-author Rita Colwell, a professor at the University of Maryland and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained that her team looked at records of plankton, tiny organisms that drift and float at the ocean’s surface. This includes small animals as well as bacteria.

“We picked up stored samples of plankton collected every year for 50 years,” Colwell said. “What’s beautiful about this is it’s ground truth. It’s actually taking measurements on the ground.”

These plankton samples were collected from nine areas in the North Atlantic and the North Sea between 1958 and 2011. During this time frame, sea surface temperatures increased by roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius.

From the plankton samples, researchers measured the presence and abundance of Vibrio bacteria and compared the information to climate records. Controlling for other variables like ocean salinity and acidity, researchers found that Vibrio bacteria populations increased as sea surface temperatures rose.

“Such increases are associated with an unprecedented occurrence of environmentally acquired Vibrio infections in the human population of Northern Europe and the Atlantic coast of the United States in recent years,” researchers wrote in the study.

For most developed countries, good water management can mitigate much of the harm associated with an increase in ocean bacteria. “As long as those treatment facilities remain intact, I don’t think we’re going to see outbreaks of cholera [in Europe and the United States] again,” Colwell said.

The bigger problems may lurk in developing countries, where sanitation systems are not as good and may be vulnerable to extreme weather like floods and typhoons. An increased abundance of bacteria may pose a greater infection risk as salt water and brackish water flood coastal areas.

“That’s going to be a problem,” Colwell said.

Rising ocean temperatures also mean more of the world’s waterways are becoming hospitable to Vibrio, which starts growing at 15 degrees Celsius, increasing the likelihood of communities coming into contact with these infections for the first time, whether through seafood or recreational exposure.

Colwell said the next step is to develop methods to anticipate and rapidly diagnose Vibrio outbreaks, using satellite data to track plankton populations in the ocean and deploying genome sequencing techniques to identify the bacterial culprits.

5 Ways to Make Sure Trump Loses

Michael Moore. (photo: Where to Invade Next)

By Michael Moore, Michael Moore's Website

10 August 16

readersupportednews.org

 

ver the past few days, a number of polls have come out showing Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump nationally by double digits, including in blue collar states like Michigan (10%) and Pennsylvania (11%). If you are a Clinton supporter and have felt a sense of relief when you saw these numbers, your shoulders suddenly relaxing and an audible “phew” coming from your mouth, if you got excited that your belief system was now reassured that there was no chance your fellow Americans will vote for a narcissistic misogynist, then you just became part of the problem — and why Donald J. Trump could actually win on November 8th.

Please do not think for a second this election is over or in the bag. There are three long months to go. If you think that all we have to do is just let Trump keep shooting himself in the head – that “Trump will beat Trump” and the rest of us just have to sit back and watch with glee – well, you are playing with fire. And you’re looking for a way to get out of doing any work. Clearly you’ve forgotten this election is not about whether there are more people “for” Hillary or Trump. Of course there are more people for Hillary! She will lead in the opinion polls from now until Election Day.

AND IT DOESN’T MATTER. 

Because this is not a popularity contest decided by polls (or in this year’s edition, a contest over who you dislike the least). As I’ve said, if people could vote from their sofa via their Xbox or remote control, Hillary would win in a landslide. But this election is only about who SHOWS UP to the VOTING BOOTH on November 8th (or to early voting or by absentee ballot). The election this year is not being held as usual on the first Tuesday of November; it’s happening in the second week of the month, so if you live in the top half of the country, that means a greater chance for snow or icy rain — and that means a lower turnout. A lower turnout helps Trump. 

This election is ONLY about who gets who out to vote, who’s got the most rabid supporters, the kind of candidate who inspires people to get out of bed at 5am on Election Day because a Wall needs to built! Muslims are killing us! Women are taking over! USA! USA! Make My Penis Great Again! Hillary is the Devil! America First! Fetus First! First in Line at the Polls!

So instead of feeling better this week because of the new polls (BTW, only one of these polls is of “likely voters” – the Reuters Poll – and in that one, Hillary leads by only 4 points), or regaling over Trump’s insanity (so insane, he raised $82 million last month in mostly $10-$20 contributions, stunning the Clinton campaign, because Bernie never had a grassroots month anywhere near that), I would like to suggest a different response. I’d like to ask those who love Hillary to hold off on the victory party ’til the wee hours of November 9th. Please, can we all agree that now is NOT the time to do this: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/25/434585015/not-over-til-its-over-runners-early-celebration-costs-her-the-bronze 

Let’s stop the early celebrating and the gloating over Trump’s Bad Week. No premature end zone dances. If you are serious about this election, and if you are smart enough to still take Donald Trump seriously, then here’s 5 things to do – four for you, and one for Hillary:

1. You Are Responsible for Getting 50 People to the Polls November 8th. Start making your list now. Create this list on your smart phone of the people you will personally make sure show up to the polls on November 8th. Enter their email addresses and cell phone numbers. Call it your “November 8th Project.” Add a name to it every single day between now and November 8th until you have 50 people – 50 names in 90 days. Focus on nonvoters. Then, on November 7th and 8th, call, text and/or email every one of them and remind them to vote. Offer them a ride. Offer them lunch. Offer to watch the kids. Offer to mow their lawn. Plan a get-together or a party for everyone after going to vote. You must remind even those people who you think don’t need reminding. This election isn’t about you voting — it’s about you getting 50 others to vote.


2. From Today Until November 8th, You Are in the French Resistance. Imagine what it was like to be in the French underground while the Germans invaded France. The only possible way to win was an unrelenting, round-the-clock commitment to defeat the Nazis. There was no time for one of those 3-hour French dinners. They did not take vacations. They did not sleep in. They did not have time for “playdates.” The Germans were coming! The Germans were there! Well, friends, our fascist (Drumpf!) is coming! That’s the mind-set you need to be in. For the next three months, the kids have to get themselves to soccer! Work on your marriage in December! There’s no time for hot yoga! No one in the French Resistance ever said “I can’t blow up that Nazi train today ’cause I feel like I might be coming down with a cold!”


3. You Must Be Supportive of the Depressed Voter. So many people have given up on our system and that’s because the system has given up on them. They know it’s all bullshit: politics, politicians, elections. The middle class in tatters, the American Dream a nightmare for the 47 million living in poverty. Get this straight: HALF of America is planning NOT to vote November 8th. Hillary’s approval rating is at 36%. CNN said it last night: No one running for office with an approval rating of 36% has ever been elected president (Trump’s is at 30%). Even in these newer polls, 60% still say that Hillary is “untrustworthy to be president.” Disillusioned young people stop me every day to tell me they’re not voting (or they’re voting 3rd Party). This is a problem, folks. Stop ignoring it. You need to listen to them. Chastising them, shaming them, will not work. Acknowledging to them that they have a point, that Hillary Clinton is maybe not the best candidate, and then promising them that you will join them on November 9th in a political revolution that will demand Clinton enact her platform, that might go a long way to getting them to vote. They don’t have to change their opinion about Hillary. They just have to reluctantly vote for her and be allowed to feel very bad about doing it – and very good that we will fight on their side after the election.


4. Hillary Must Slyly Stick Trump with a Comedy Shiv During the Debates. Bill Maher and I will help Hillary with this (Hill, call us!). I’m sure Amy Schumer and Chris Rock would chip in, too. Clinton actually has a good sense of humor, but keeps it mostly hidden (here she is back in the ’90s, sparring with a Republican leader of Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XsSydPOgCc). Trump has very thin skin. If she can slide the perfect line of satirical ridicule just under that thin skin of his, he will implode. On live TV. And that, my friends, will be the moment it’s over for him. A complete mental meltdown on a stage without his cheering man-fans in the room. BOOM!


5. I Hereby Appoint You Precinct Captain in Your Neighborhood, in Your School, and at Your Place of Work. Yes, you. Tell them Michael Moore personally named you. Not because I have any authority to do so. Just because I said so. And you said so. Please, friends, do not depend entirely on the “Democratic Party” to pull this off in November. It is often, depending on where you live, an apparatus of numskulls, hacks and former high school student council rejects. Quick, name the local chair of the Dems in your county. They are not of the people. If we depend just on them, we lose. We usually do. Obama had a brilliant campaign team, was a beloved candidate, and that’s why he won. Hillary’s campaign lost 22 states to a 74-year old socialist who had neither a comb nor 50 bucks in his pocket — and was unknown to everyone except me and some hippies in Vermont! Hahahaha! Here’s a tweet this week from one of Hillary’s “top advisers”, the chair of the “Campaign for American Progress”, just to give you a clue as to the brain trust surrounding her:
   Neera Tanden @neeratanden
   It's weird to me that @MMFlint seems to be jonesing for a Trump victory. Am I misreading his statements or do other people see that?

So we can’t just depend on them alone to stop Trump. That’s why I’ve decided to appoint myself, as of this moment, chair of the “Shadow Campaign to Defeat Donald J. Trump” (or, in short, “The Resistance”) — and I’m appointing each and every one of you as my Precinct Captains in the areas where you live, work and go to college.

From this moment forward you will organize the block you live on, or the town or neighborhood you live in, or your dorm, your office, or your place of worship. If asked, just identify yourself as the “Local Head of the Defeat Trump Coalition.” If others want to be the “Head” or say they are the “Head,” just share the title with them. Then appoint more Precinct Captains. Don’t hold meetings. Do actions. Use humor. Conduct flash mobs. Be a disruptor. Think creatively and subversively. Have fun. Defeat Trump.

Because, you see, we have no choice. We’re in the Trump Resistance.

Yours in revolution and future playdates,

Michael Moore 

P.S. Still feeling giddy about all the bad news surrounding Trump this week? Here’s another bucket of cold water: Trump can actually lose Florida, Virginia, Colorado and New Mexico — and STILL WIN! All he has to do is carry the rust belt “Brexit States” of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Hillary lost three of these four in the primaries. Nothing can be taken for granted. Once more: This is all about who shows up November 8th — not who’s ahead in the popularity polls right now. On the morning of the Michigan Primary, Hillary was ahead of Bernie in a WJBK/TV2-Detroit poll by 22 points. Twelve hours later, she lost. Leave your bubble now! You are a Precinct Captain! You have work to do!

We Will Not Allow an Insecure, Wannabe Tyrant Destroy the Rule of Law in America

Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

By Elizabeth Warren, Elizabeth Warren's Facebook Page

readersupportednews.org

 
At the Republican convention, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a gross confession about why he won’t allow for a vote on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee: “On that sad day when we lost Justice Scalia, I made another pledge that Obama would not fill this seat. That honor will go to Donald Trump next year.”

The Republicans are no longer afraid to admit that they want Donald Trump to appoint the next generation of judges. Why? Because they want those judges to tilt the law in favor of big businesses and billionaires like Trump.

This month, Judge Merrick Garland officially breaks the record for longest wait for a Senate confirmation vote of any Supreme Court nominee in history. And he’s going to break that record by a landslide, because even if Mitch McConnell had a sudden change of heart, the Republicans just gave themselves a seven-week summer vacation.

But let’s be real: Mitch McConnell said recently there’s no vote coming in September. The Senate Republicans would rather reject their Constitutional duty and hope for a new Republican President – hope for a guy who very publicly race baited a federal judge because the judge refuses to bend the law for that candidate’s financial interests.

We will not allow a small, insecure, thin-skinned wannabe tyrant or his allies in the Senate to destroy the rule of law in the United States of America. It’s never been more important to take back the Democratic majority in the Senate – so that when we beat Donald Trump in November, we finally end the Republicans’ stranglehold of our courts.