Out d'Coup Podcast

Here for the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Here for the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Here for the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. On today's show: More students were arrested for taking part in Palestinian solidarity and ceasefire encampments. Now more than 2,000 students have been arrested - more than at any time since the anti-Vietnam War demonstration of the 1960s.  Another new poll finds that about 20% of voters in five key battleground states are less likely to vote for Biden in November because of his handling of the Israeli assault on Gaza.  Tough loss for the UAW at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama. To put it in the words of one Mercedes-Benz worker: “This is probably the most strategic and organized union busting campaign in decades.” Biggest study of “greedflation” finds what most of us have suspected: big corporations, especially the big Fossil Fuel corporations, squeezed us for record profits while blaming it on “inflation.”  Meanwhile, some scientists are looking to fracking wastewater for a source of lithium for electric car batteries.  PA is the cyber-school capital and our kids are worse off for it. In the period from 2018 to 2022, the cyber-charter industry gained an additional $485.5 million in taxpayer dollars to line the pockets of executives.  National liberal groups are biting themselves in the butt by fawning over Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

It's Friday, May 17, 2024 Welcome to Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup. This is Kevin Mahoney, editor and founder of Raging Chicken. Each week we break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. Biden halts some aid to Israel, then clears billions in arms as the Netanyahu government continues assault on Rafa amidst calls by some right-wing Israelis to

Another day. Kind of a rambly show today all. We're back to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On today's show, we'll get into a little news tonight. Lots going on, of course, but after this past Friday's show, I just can't seem to stop thinking about what we've done to education, our kids, and our culture. What's on your mind? If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

A container ship hits the Fracis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore causes the bridge to collapse and six workers to lose their lives.  After John Fetterman stakes out hawkish support for Israel and distances himself from progressives, his staff is leaving him in droves.  Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman died this week. Let that signal the passing of one of the more destructive factions and ideologies in the Democratic Party.  NBC hires then fires Ronna McDaniel the election-denying, former head of the GOP,  School absences have exploded and continue in the post-COVID world.  University of Florida is going after faculty members that they thing “interferred” with the university's new Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education - the newly establish beachhead for so-called “classical education” and the “Western canon” - one of the buzzwords used by Christian nationalist and far-right activists seeking to whitewash American education and bolster a white, Christian, and celebratory narrative.  Boston University's administration had some suggestions for faculty members during the current strike by graduate students: Have AI do the work instead.   A new Indiana law will require professors to promote “Intellectual diversity” - of face disciplinary actions. What does that mean? It means entertaining even fascist ideas as just another set of ideas. Was Hitler wrong? Well, let's look at argument for and against Nazism, shall we?  The University of Kentucky's presidents seeks to disband their Faculty Senate and turn decision-making over to the university's Board of Trustees.  Bucks County sues Big Oil for lying about the climate crisis.  PA's Primary is right around the corner. We'll give you the dates and deadlines you need to know.

Just about a month from the PA primaries. Climate crisis in the headlines. Federal chaos and local right-wing movements. Yes, it's an election year. We're back to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. Imagine that. Another “nail-biting' vote to prevent a government shutdown before tonight's midnight deadline. This is the dramatic sit-com version of politics that the Republicans want to keep renewing. Lots of not so good news on the climate crisis front.  Republicans wage war on electric vehicles Big Oil and Gas industry lobbyists successfully gutted new building codes that called for making new construction electric ready. Oh, and look, John Fetterman says he might vote with the Republicans.  SIxteen States are suing Biden Administration over their move to halt new exports for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in order to study the effects on climate, national security, and the economy. Record-setting heat hits Rio de Janeiro - a heat index of 143 degrees. Scientists can't account for the continued record-setting ocean temperatures And so much more.  The United States falls out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time since the annual World Happiness Report began in 2012 by the United Nations. Gee. I wonder why. And young people are leading the unhappiness charge.  Several new strike votes in higher education. The Washington Post runs the bio of new Palisades School District School Board Member, Linda Wenhold. How does a local school board member get a full profile in the Washington Post? Well, apparently it helps if you take and teach classes with the Christian Nationalist Patriot Academy, advocate for your school district to teach that America's true history is a Christian nation, and argue that attempts to make schools welcoming and accessible for all kids are secret plots to Marxists and secular leftists to destroy America.  Bucks County Beacon announces it's first annual Beacon Fest to support the work of the Beacon and bring trouble-makers of all sorts together! The event will be on June 1 @ Snipes Farm in Morrisville, PA. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

At least 112 hungry and desperate Palestinians were killed early Thursday morning trying to get much needed food and medical aid. Some of the dead were gunned down by Israeli troops, others were run over by the aid trucks attempting to flee the scene.  In a huge announcement, Starbucks officially announced that it will no longer work to oppose unionization efforts by its employees. Now that nearly 400 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, and founder and former CEO, Howard Shultz, is no longer running the company, it seems that Starbucks Workers United will now be heading to contract negotiations in good faith. In a joint statement, Starbucks and Workers United said they will, “begin discussions on a foundational framework designed to achieve … collective bargaining agreements for represented stores and partners”  Thousands of academic workers are on strike at York University in Toronto. On Thursday, members of other unions across Ontario joined the picket lines in support of their striking brothers and sisters.  Last week, the Pennridge School District - the first in the nation to hire the Hillsdale-inspired Vermillion Education to rewrite their social studies and English curriculum through a Christian nationalist lens - officially scrapped the Hillsdale proposed curriculum.  An Illinois court has kicked Trump of this year's Republican Primary ballot, all but assuring another round of Supreme Court decisions. The order has been put on hold pending appeal. Early voting has already begun in the state.  Mitch McConnell announced he's retiring from Senate leadership after this year's election. Let the all out Senate Republican civil war commence.  “Uncommitted” is set to win two delegates from Michigan as the protest over Biden's unwillingness to stop the Israeli government's genocidal war in Gaza.  Washington State's largest labor union - the United Food and Commercial Worker - has endorsed “uncommitted” in this year's Democratic Primary.    In one of the most brazen statements of late from Big Oil, Exxon scolded the world in a recent interview in Fortune magazine saying that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies are not to blame for the climate crisis. Who is? Everyone else but them it appears. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told the magazine, “the world waited too long” to develop green technologies and that "people who are generating the emissions need to be aware … and pay the price." Who are those people? You guessed it, you and me.  Treacherous blizzard is bearing down on the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. The storm is expected to dump up to 10 feet of snow with winds already peaking at 145 mph.  The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas has now become the second largest wildfire in U.S. history, burning more than a million acres of land just north of Amarillo - an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.  Former professor at Albert Einstein College to cover all future medical school tuition.

On today's show, I welcome Steve Oross and Lorrie McKinley to the show. Steve Oross is an Associate Professor of psychology at Kutztown University and as listeners of this show will recall, in Fall 2021 Steve Oross was denied ADA accommodations by Kutztown University's administration. Oross had a heart transplant in February 2021. Following months of physical therapy and treatment, his doctors cleared him to return to work in Fall 2021 provided that he taught his classes online given that COVID was still rampant and would pose a significant risk to his life. Rather than providing Oross with accommodations, the administration said the only way they would allow him to return to work would be if he taught in-person. Rather than risk his life or being forced to go on unpaid leave pr losing his job, Oross decided to fight. Thanks to his determination and the amazing advocacy of his attorney, Lorrie McKinley, Oross won his case. Steve's experience has led him to wider spheres of advocacy as well. Steve is a Team Member with the World Health Network focusing on Legal Action for Policy Change. He has also become involved in the Organ Donation Awareness Corporation which is a student-led organ donation advocacy group with chapters in NYC and Nashville, Tennessee, involving other students from around the country. He will be participating in a series of webinars with this group focused on promoting organ donation among young adults. Lorrie McKinley, is one of the few lawyers in the Philadelphia area with undisputed expertise in both employment law and special education advocacy and litigation. She is a passionate, bold and creative advocate with a long track record of protecting the civil rights of employees and students under the nation's civil rights law at every level of the state and federal courts. Lorrie is widely recognized for her contributions in the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as well as her advocacy on behalf of children with special needs. Prior to entering private practice in 1997, Lorrie served as Project Head for the Employment Law Project at Community Legal Services, Inc. in Philadelphia. In 1997 she argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving constitutional due process issues for people receiving medical benefits pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act. Her work in that case is highlighted in an exhibit in the Supreme Court Section of the United States Constitution Center in Philadelphia. For over a decade, Lorrie has been selected by her peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America.” Since 2008, she has also been listed as a “Super Lawyer” by Thompsons Reuters based on peer recognition and professional achievement. LINKS: Oross v. Kutztown University | https://casetext.com/case/oross-v-kutztown-univ McKinley & Ryan, LLC | https://www.mckinleyryan.com/ "Kutztown professor with heart transplant should have been able to teach from home, judge says," Susan Snyder, The Phildadelphia Inquirer | https://bit.ly/49PcBNL Out d'Coup LIVE | Steve Oross - Kutztown U Demands Faculty Member to Choose Between Life and Livelihood, Sept. 6, 2021 | https://bit.ly/3h9EuqZ Disability Rights PA | https://www.disabilityrightspa.org/ If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u  

On today's show, we'll get into a little news tonight. We had Kathryn Joyce on the show this past Friday, so we're swapping our Monday for a news roundup. What's on your mind? If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On today's episode, I welcome Kathryn Joyce to the program. We'll be talking about her recent article in Vanity Fair, "How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board - And How Parents Took It Back." Yes, we're talking about the Pennridge School Board and the unexpected and game-changing victory by the Pennridge Community Alliance candidates this past fall that flipped five open seats on the board.  Kathryn Joyce is an investigative editor at In These Times, a freelance investigative reporter, and the author of two books: The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. Kathryn was formerly a reporter with Type Investigations and Salon, a contributing editor at The New Republic, and a contributing writer at Highline. Her work has also appeared in numerous publications including Mother Jones, The Marshall Project, Longreads, The New York Times Magazine, Vox, The American Prospect, The Intercept, The Nation, Cosmopolitan, Adirondack Life, The Atlantic, Ms., The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and many others.  She is formerly the editor of Political Research Associates' quarterly magazine The Public Eye, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer in Brooklyn College's political science department. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On today's show, you probably already heard the news. Taylor Swift won the Super Bowl. Yup, that's what happened. Meanwhile, our democracy continues to deteriorate and our collective politics get more unhinged. All the more reason to get with the people in your communities and continue to organize on principles of care. What's on your mind? Would love to know. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On today's show, we're taking a break from our focus on PA and head north to the Central New York region…yes, the place I grew up. We'll be talking to James Meyers, a Democrat running for the New York State Senate in the 53rd District. The 53rd is significantly different following New York's redistricting in 2022. The district now includes my hometown of Utica, NY. Meyers hopes to defeat Republican Joseph Griffo in this fall's general election. Meyers is running for the 53rd New York State Senate District with the aim of bringing a fresh approach to representing Central New Yorkers in their state government. He is a veteran with a strong background in service and leadership. Meyers grew up in a working-class environment in Upstate New York in a family who dedicated their professional lives to the service of others. After graduating from SUNY Brockport via an ROTC scholarship with a degree in history, he accepted a commission into active service as an intelligence officer in the United States Army. He currently holds the rank of Major in the Army Reserve. While serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, he earned a master's degree in strategic intelligence. His military service led to a position with Alion Science and Technology, a government contracting firm in Rome, NY where he was responsible for the management and completion of million-dollar projects. His love for central New York, the influence of his family, his education, military career and civilian experience, James is motivated to serve our community with the same passion and dedication he has and continues to serve our country. Meyers is running on a platform of transparency, accountability, and putting the needs of his constituents first. He is an advocate for public safety, economic development, and accessible and affordable healthcare. LINKS: James Meyers for State Senate webpage: https://www.james-meyers.com/ Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeyersforNY Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meyersforstatesenate Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meyersforsenate If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Can you believe it's already February?!? What's going on folks? We'll get into some of the good, the bad, and ugly in state and national politics. Today: Have we seen the end of Moms for Liberty? Don't count on it.  GOP operative Clarice Shillenger's hypocrisy heading to trial. Who knows, maybe we'll find out the Paul Martino will be chipping in on her legal bills too? I mean, he did bankroll her attacks on public schools…but that was before his Philly restaurant went bust…so, who knows.  And we're seeing Souderton School District and the Kutztown Area School District organizing to beat back the kind of right-wing extremism we've been dealing with in Pennridge and Central Bucks. New coalition, PAWInS, launches to coordinate information and organizing against extremist attacks on public schools in PA.  If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On today's show, we're throwing off the blankets and diving into 2024. What's happening in your neck of the woods? If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

It's been quite a year and I think we can all use a little rest before the 2024 election season kicks off. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u  

On tonight's show, I welcome Ashli Giles-Perkins and Adrienne King to the show. Ashli is a staff attorney with the Education Law Center and Adrienne King is the President and Founder of the PairUp Society and a parent of two children in the Pennridge School district. Today we'll be talking about the discrimination complaint against the Pennridge School Districts filed with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The complaint charges that the Pennridge School District has discriminated against LGBTQ+ students and students of color in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. We'll talk about what all that means and the history of ongoing and systemic discrimination in the districts. And, we'll talk about what the election of a new school board majority may mean for how this complaint addressed.  Ashli Giles-Perkins joined the Philadelphia office of the Education Law Center in October 2020 as an Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow. Ashli's work centers on addressing the significant educational injustices for youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the Philadelphia area who enter, reside in, and leave residential facilities. Ashli provides representation of students and families, training for families and communities, and significant outreach to stakeholders to ensure oversight, accountability, and access to quality education for system-involved youth. Originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Ashli graduated with a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a certificate in child & family law, as well as with an M.Ed. in cultural educational policy studies from Loyola Chicago's School of Education. While at Loyola, Ashli interned with Advocates for Children of New York and the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.  Adrienne King is a wife, mother of two daughters in the Pennridge School District, and an outspoken leader and advocate in the community. Adrienne founded The PairUP Society , a 501c3 non-profit organization after experiencing difficulties in her children's school district and realizing the difficulties of navigating that system for her and other underrepresented students and their families. The PairUp Society helps build community among underrepresented students and their families and provide them with resources to advocate for their needs while also activating allies to provide support.    Adrienne holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, MS in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs from Temple University and leadership certifications from Duke University and Cornell University. Adrienne and her family currently reside in Perkasie, PA where she is committed to putting roots down in their community and doing the work to create a sense of psychological safety, belonging and inclusion for all community members LINKS Education Law Center | https://www.elc-pa.org/ The PairUp Society | https://www.thepairupsociety.org/ Civil Rights Complaint against Pennridge School District | https://bit.ly/3RBZCZB WHYY article on the Civil Rights complaint | https://bit.ly/4agzU47 "Civil RIghts Complaint Filed Against Pennridge School District," Jenny Stephens, Bucks County Beacon | https://bit.ly/3NnFbNH "Understanding OCR complaints, like in the Pennridge School District, and their role to ensure equal access to high-quality public education," Jenny Stephens, Bucks County Beacon | https://bit.ly/3GBhHAP If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

It's been a minute. But that doesn't mean the world has stopped. Welcome to the Friday Politics Roundup. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Elon Musk rips off the mask and jumps on the antisemitic conspiracy bandwagon on that platform formerly known as Twitter. Yeah, the one he owns.  New Republican Christian nationalist Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson calls the separation between church and state a “misnomer” and a “misunderstanding” of the true intent of the Founders.  A judge has cleared the way for a slew of lawsuits against Meta and other tech giants to go forward. 42 state attorneys general and multiple school districts are suing the companies as knowingly designing their platforms to be addictive for kids, despite knowing about the harm those platforms induce.  Pennridge School District faces a new federal Civil Rights complaint over “the district's ongoing discriminatory policies, practices, and an environment perceived as hostile due to ongoing race- and sex-based harassment.” The outgoing school board majority only poured fuel on the fires of discrimination, enacting overtly discriminatory policies.  Central Bucks School Board votes to give outgoing superintendent Abram Lucabaugh a $712,000 golden parachute after he abruptly resigned following the results of this month's elections. Newly elected school board members say, not so fast.  A federal judge also ordered Lucabaugh not to delete any documents related to a federal lawsuit alleging retaliation against Central Bucks teacher Andre Burgess, who filed a federal discrimination complaint on behalf of a transgender student.  Doylestown's own Pink has teamed up with PEN American to give away more than 2,000 banned books during her shows in Florida this week.  Book recommendations: Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World; Rebecca Campbell, Aboreality; Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We're here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On this episode, I'll be talking with Jennifer Cohn about her article "Moms for Liberty and the Dominionist Assault on America's 'Education Mountain'," published in the Bucks County Beacon. Cohen unmasks the extremist, Christian nationalist agenda shared by Moms for Liberty and organizations on the radical Christian right. We'll also talk about significant losses by Moms for Liberty-backed school board candidates in this November's elections - both here in PA and across the country. Does this signal the beginning of the end of Moms for Liberty and Christian nationalists? Or, will they double-down on their radical agenda heading into the 2024 presidential election? Jennifer Cohn is an attorney, election integrity advocate, and political essayist. In addition to writing on elections and Christian nationalism for the Bucks County Beacon, her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Who What Why, The Independent, TYT Investigates, The Brad Blog, and Salon. You can follow Jennifer on the platform formally known as Twitter at @jennycohn1 and on Mastodon at jennycohn@toad.social. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u  

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for November 11, 2023. This week I am joined by Cyril Mychalejko, Editor-in-Chief of the Bucks County Beacon. We'll be diving into the results of the election results from Tuesday. We say HUGE wins in school boards and county offices across Bucks County. Both Pennridge and Central Bucks school boards flipped! There were also significant wins in the State Supreme Court and other judicial elections. We'll get into it all. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/7XzfKUWCmh

It's Election Day Eve here in Pennsylvania. In Bucks County the future of our schools are at stake. Abortion rights are at stake. Our elections are at stake. Deep breaths everyone. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for November 3, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. This week, we're focused on the critical election this coming Tuesday, Nov. 7 - at stake the future of school boards in Pennridge, Central Bucks, Council Rock, and others. Not only that, but protection for abortion and voting rights is on the ballot with control of the PA Supreme Court up for grabs. Also, the fight to keep a Democratic Party majority on the Bucks County Board of Commissioners is alive and well.  Key links:  Vote for these Pennridge School Board Candidates: https://www.pennridgecommunityalliance.com/ Vote for these Central Bucks School Board Candidates: https://www.cbsdneighborsunited.com/ Vote for these Council Rock School Board Candidates: https://www.togetherforcouncilrock.org/ Vote for these Bucks County Board of Commissioners & Judicial Candiates: https://bucksdemocrats.org/candidates/ You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/7XzfKUWCmh

On this week's episode, I am talking with Kierstyn Zolfo from Bucks County Indivisible. Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is getting lazy this Halloween. He's dressing up as a "moderate" once again. Trick or treat? We'll let you be the judge. We'll be talking about her new article in the Bucks County Beacon, “Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick's Support for New House Speaker Mike Johnson Shows Voters Who He Really Is.” In that piece, Kierstyn writes about how Fitz was selling the new Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to the so-called “moderate” Problem Solvers Caucus and big donors tied to No Labels. Fitzpatrick went to lengths to help rebrand Johnson as a 'Reagan Republican' and tried to lend some of his "moderate" vibes to Johnson, who we all know is a MAGA extremist Kierstyn Zolfo is a resident of Bucks County and a volunteer organizer with Indivisible Bucks County. She also serves on the steering committee of Pennsylvania Indivisible as the Legislative Chair, and in that position edits and contributes to the Pennsylvania Member of Congress Tracking report, an effort that keeps an eye on the votes and quotes from the Commonwealth's 20 Members of Congress. Kierstyn is originally from New Jersey but moved to PA when she was an undergrad at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster and has stuck around the area ever since. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

UAW settled their contract with Ford this week - the gains in the contract show once again that organized, fearless worker organizing is what gets the goods.  House Republicans finally managed to elect a new speaker of the house. Introducing Mike Johnson, the anti-LGBTQ, election-denying, climate crisis-denying, right-wing Christian nationalist leader of the Republican-led House.  Amazon announces near-record profits after two straight years of eliminating jobs and tightening worker surveillance. Also in Amazon news, a new report shows that more than 4 in 10 Amazon workers report being injured on the job, and about 80% of workers feel the stare of Big Brother, surveilling them at work. Coincidence?  Biden's strong support of the Israeli government - even during its indiscriminate, ongoing bombing of civilian areas in Gaza - is hitting him in the polls.  The Biden administration approved the bombing of targets in Syria after drone and rocket attacks against American forces stationed in Iraq and Syria.  And another mass shooting rocks the country, this time in Lewiston, Maine. At least 18 people have been killed and the killer remains on the loose.  Florida Gov. Ron Desantis's solution to mass killings is to make guns easier to purchase and institutionalize more people against their will. Freedom rings.  Pennridge School District passes anti-trans policy in the name of “protecting girls sports,” providing a platform for Republican school board candidates to approve of the culture war before the Nov. 7 election. Pennridge parent Darren Lausten won his lawsuit against Pennridge School District. The Judge ordered the District to hand over its book-banning records.  Council Rock School District is the next target of Moms for Liberty - hoping to bring the politics dominating Pennridge and Central Bucks to their district.  Pennsylvania's Republican-led Senate passes state-wide book-banning bill.  And so much more.

Pennridge parent, Darren Lausten, sued the Pennridge school board because he suspected they were banning books under the cover of lies and deceit. They didn't even follow their own book banning policy. Lausten won his lawsuit and tonight the school board meets for the first time since his victory. We'll tune in LIVE with you right here to catch some of the meeting. It promises to be a good one. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for September 29, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.  Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/7XzfKUWCmh

Pretty laid back night tonight. Doing a casual little Out d'Coup LIVE tonight. What's on your mind tonight? If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

On this week's Out d'Coup LIVE we bring you a pre-recorded interview with Joslyn Diffenbaugh. Joslyn is a 10th grade student at Kutztown Area High School. She is the founder of the Teen Banned Books club and an outspoken student advocate against book bans in her school district and school districts all around the region. This past spring, the Kutztown Area School District school board canceled a grant-funded, "One School, One Book," program that planned to read Alan Gratz's new book, Two Degrees. The reason? Because a few outspoken conservative parents didn't want students reading about climate change! We had Alan Gratz on this program to talk about the controversy and Joslyn had an opportunity to interview him at the Firefly Bookstore during his visit to Kutztown University for last year's Children's Literature Conference.  This interview was conducted on October 1, 2023 as a featured event during the PA Climate Convergence in Harrsiburg. Joslyn was supposed to interview Alan Gratz, but Alan unfortunately got COVID just a few days before the event. Karen Feridun from the PA Climate Convergence asked if I would be willing to step in and interview Joslyn. I was more than happy to step up. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We're here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

On October 1, 2023 we took our show to Harrisburg for the PA Climate Convergence. We talked with people all throughout the day and had a chance to interview some great people doing great work. On today's show you'll hear from: Heather Hulton Vantassel, Exec. Dir. Three Rivers Waterkeeper Liz Evans, Third Act Pennsylvania Heaven Sunski, Organizing Director, Center for Coalfield Justice Kate Proust, TIAA-Divest NaTisha Washington, Communications Director, Breath Project Julia Nakhleh, Climate Reality Project Kevin Long, Pastor of Intertwined Frank Fortino, Extinction Rebellion - Philly If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We're here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

Pretty laid back night tonight. I spent the day at the PA Climate Convergence yesterday for a great day of panels, music, discussion, and connection. What's on your mind tonight? If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Senator Diane Feinstein has died at the age of 90. Republicans seem hell bent on shutting down the government as a deal to fund the government by the September 30th deadline is nowhere in sight.  Yesterday the government started notifying federal employees that a shutdown is imminent. We'll start seeing government layoffs, military personnel will stop receiving paychecks, WIC payments will stop after a few days, many National Parks will shut down, and SNAP benefits will have to dip into emergency funds to keep assistance flowing for a short time.  No worries when it comes to student loans, however. Student loan payments will resume on Sunday, October 1, as scheduled.  Gov. Shapiro announced automatic voter registration for the Commonwealth.  More Pennridge School Board chaos as the Board passes anti-trans policies regarding sports and biological sex.  The lawsuit against the Pennridge School Board's shadow book banning practices went to court on Tuesday. The mounting legal fees in the district caused more strife among board members. Jordan Adams gives a new “report” to the board which is mostly him defending himself against mounting criticism…and I assume taxpayers will foot the bill for that too.  PA Climate Convergence begins this Sunday. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

UAW readies to expand their strike as noon deadline approaches.  Republicans ready to shut down the government because…well…just because. Biden Administration announced the creation of the American Climate Corps. Pennridge School Board now starts to face lawsuits in response to their unaccountable, extremist, and potentially illegal policies. Darren Lausten's lawsuit against the school board for its secret book banning heads to court this Tuesday at Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown.  APSCUF negotiations continue. As the PASSHE administration continues to do its best to invest in PR while gutting faculty and programs, we'll take a quick look at some numbers for perspective. If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We're here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

This week I welcome Cyril Mychalejko and Emily Smith to the show. Cyril is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bucks County Beacon and Emily is the Beacon's Publisher. We'll be talking about the role of independent, community-based media in deepening local democracy and organizing against the rise of extremism in our schools and communities. We'll also be talking about their goals for their fall fund drive and plans for expanding the Beacon's work in the months and years to come. In addition to his lead role as Editor-in-Chief for the Beacon, Cyril Mychalejko has over two decades of journalistic experience. His work has appeared in The Bucks County Courier Times, The Intelligencer, Upside Down World, Common Dreams, TruthOut, and other publications.  Emily Smith, the Beacon's Publisher, is a seasoned design professional with nearly a decade of experience in strategic communications. Emily has spent nearly two decades working with startups and small businesses. Beyond her design chops, Emily is a creative problem solver, and business strategist. She has also owned her own graphic design firm since 2003, working with nearly every imaginable client including small businesses, giant corporations, non-profits, and community organizations. Support the Beacon during their Fall fund drive: https://buckscountybeacon.com/support-the-beacon/ If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u  

This week I welcome Cyril Mychalejko and Emily Smith to the show. Cyril is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bucks County Beacon and Emily is the Beacon's Publisher. We'll be talking about the role of independent, community-based media in deepening local democracy and organizing against the rise of extremism in our schools and communities. We'll also be talking about their goals for their fall fund drive and plans for expanding the Beacon's work in the months and years to come.   If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We're here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.   Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u   

The UAW is getting closer to striking as the latest contract offer from GM and Stellantis was rejected as not good enough to ward off a strike. UAW president Shawn Fain has made it clear that unless a deal is reached by September 14, 150,000 workers will head to the strike lines.  Hurricane Lee rapidly intensifies to a powerful Category 5 storm in the Atlantic. While current models predict the storm will not directly hit major populated areas, the storms rapid intensification is linked to the record warm temperatures of the Atlantic, providing a window into our climate futures.  Hong Kong was inundated with flash floods as more rain fell on the region since records started being kept in 1884. Over 19 inches of rain fell on Hong Kong in 24 hours, with over six inches falling between 11PM and midnight last night.  West Virginia University becomes the latest “canary in the coal mine” in higher education. The university has announced deep cuts, which will eliminate 169 faculty members (7% of the faculty) and 32 of the university's 338 majors. The president of WCU, Gordon Gee, told the New York Times, “We simply have lost the support of the American public,” when explaining the lack of funding for public universities.   Elon Musk admits that he unilaterally denied the Ukrainian military access to the Starlink satellite internet service to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack against some of the Russian naval fleet near the coast of Crimea. Privatized, billionaire-run government anyone? Later today and tomorrow, York, PA will play host to a “Big” Christian Nationalist/Dominionist conference featuring a who's-who of right-wing religious ideologues. PA Representative Wendy Fink, representing PA's 94th district, has actively promoted the event on social media, telling readers “Come out to the Big Event at Praise Community Church in York on Sept. 8 to hear me speak about how you can build a community action team at your local church.” That's right before she and her staff provide the religious zealots and “Introduction to Firearms” followed by a cozy Pastor's breakfast. Will any major media outlets cover the event? Great new podcast from the Bucks County Beacon! The Civic Circle is a GenZ hosted and focused podcast from the Bucks County Beacon with production assistance from yours truly! Check out Cyril's interview with the hosts on the latest episode of The Signal and look for the premiere of their first show right around the corner!

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for August 25, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Back from vacation and I've already got a pit in my stomach. We'll catch up and talk about the Christian nationalist/Moms for Liberty takeover of the Pennridge curriculum. Nuts. What's on your mind? Don't Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/. J

On today's show, it's a Monday Politics Roundup. Yup. I had to take a tech day on Friday, so I thought we'd take a peek back at the week. I'd love to hear what's on your mind tonight! We're getting close to a critical election this fall and the 2024 presidential campaigns are heating up.  Trump seeks narrow rules on what he can do with evidence his lawyers receive as part of his criminal case of election interference. In other words, he wants to be able to target and intimidate potential witnesses among other things.  Biden's student debt relief plan for students who were victims of fraud by for-profit colleges is blocked by a federal court.  The Florida Department of Education has effectively banned an Advanced Placement course in psychology because of the state's new law prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.  Right-wing think tanks and corporate lobbyists have already written their blueprint to undercut action on the climate crisis. It's called Project 2025. Don't be fooled by claims that a new law will keep kids safe online. KOSA - the Kids Online Safety Act is a bipartisan bill that purports to clamp down on Big Tech and protect kids. However, the bill could do a lot more than that.  D&D community up in arms against Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after finding out the some of the art for a new source book, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants.  There's so much more - plus, I'd love to hear what's on your mind! Here we go! You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress/. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty & Their Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

This week I welcome Karen Feridun back to the show. Karen is the founder of Berks Gas Truth and co-founder of Better Path Coalition. The Better Path Coalition are the organizers for the PA Climate Convergence this coming fall. We'll be talking about a summer filled with record-breaking heat, flooding, and climate catastophie. We've seen ocean temperatures that have surprised scientists, heat that broke records by a significant margin, and flooding that has devastated communities around the world. All of this is shocking. And all of this is precisely what climate scientists have been warning us about for decades. And all of this is what world leaders - including our own government - have failed to act on in any significant way. So, today we'll talk the summer that UN Secretary General has termed the beginning of the "era of global boiling." But we'll also focus on upcoming actions this week, later this summer, and in the fall that will demand decisive, immediate climate action. It's time to make plans to be in Harrisburg this October for PA Climate Convergence. The Convergence will bring advocates, activists, and concerned residents to Harrisburg to tell Gov. Shapiro, lawmakers, and regulators that they are having the wrong conversation on climate and need to change their stance. We'll talk about why lawmakers are keeping PA from being part of the solution to the climate crisis and what all of us can do to change that. In addition to founding Berks Gas Truth and co-founding the Better Path Coalition, for the past 11 years, Karen Feridun has worked with organizations in PA, NY, NJ, and DE to win the ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin that was imposed in February. She is currently part of an international coalition working to stop Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports and a national coalition working with members of Congress to reform the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. LINKS: Berks Gas Truth: https://gastruth.org/ PA Climate Convergence: https://www.pennsylvaniaclimateconvergence.org/ You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.  

New indictments against Trump announced. The ditch keeps getting deeper.  UPS Teamsters announced a “historic” contract win a week before what could have been one of the largest strikes in American history. The details of the contract will be the proof to that claim. Since the announcement some UPS Teamsters are saying the unions 180,000 part-time workers may not get as good of a deal as suggested.  In what could prove to be a sign that higher education faculty are willing to step up and fight to a greater degree, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) voted to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The alliance will be the largest union of higher education faculty - about 300,000 strong.  Following new scientific data from the World Meteorological Organization on this summer's record heat, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, proclaimed that the era of global warming has ended and the “era of global boiling has arrived.”  It's been so hot in Arizona that the state's famous Saguaro cacti are literally collapsing.  Ocean temperatures of over 100 degrees in waters around Florida could be a global record.  Something else that climate change is giving us to worry about. More Americans are developing a rare meat allergy - Alpha-gal syndrome - which is linked to bites from the lone star tick. New data from the CDC find a steep increase in cases of alpha-gal. Alpha-gale can give you  “stomach cramps, diarrhea, hives, and shortness of breath that could trigger fatal anaphylaxis,” according to the BBC.  GM and other major automakers announce they will build 30,000 electric vehicle chargers to help build out the electric vehicle charging network.  While Republican politicians and media personalities make is seem as though all parents are up in arms about their public schools, about 80% of parents responding to a new Gallup poll say they are somewhat or completely satisfied with their child's school. That confirms what a string of other polls conducted during the pandemic have shown. There's a gap between the political propaganda and real schools.  And Mitch McConnell suffers a medical incident in the middle of a press conference. The party line is that “he's fine” but no information about what actually happened has been released.  Central Bucks school board votes to give their superintendent, Dr. Abram Lucabauh, an $86,000 raise and a new 5 year contract after he joined with the board's new right-wing board to enact book bans, anti-LGBTQ politics, and more. He will now be one of highest paid public school administrators in PA. Pennridge School District board members are enraged over “secret” curriculum meetings between Vermillion Education's Jordan Adams and select members of the board. Christening Batycki, a member of the curriculum committee, found out “by happenstance” that Jordan Blomgren and Megan Banis-Clemens were meeting secretly with Adams to discuss the direction of the curriculum.  Barbie breaks box office records as the right-wing loses it's collective mind (again).  Sinéad O'Connor dies at age 56. Morrissey writes a passionate tribute to her and condemns the music industry for their treatment of her.

Welcome to this week's Out d'Coup LIVE. This week I welcome Alexandra Bradbury to the show. Al is the editor of Labor Notes, the media and organizing project amplifying the work of union activists putting the movement back in the labor movement. We'll be talking about her new article, "UPS Teamsters 'Just Practicing," co-written with Luis Feliz Leon, about the impending UPS strike and the decades of organizing work by union activists to change the leadership of the Teamsters and bring the fight back to their union.  Al Bradbury joined the staff of Labor Notes in 2012, after working with hospital workers as a researcher and organizer for Service Employees Local 49 in Oregon. Al edits Labor Notes and covers postal workers and Teamsters. She's also an occasional singer-songwriter. She is based in Seattle.  LINKS:  Alexandra Bradbury and Luis Feliz Leon, "UPS Teamsters 'Just Practicing," Labor Notes, 7/19/23 | https://labornotes.org/2023/07/ups-teamsters-just-practicing Follow Al on Twitter@al_bradbury | https://twitter.com/al_bradbury  Labor Notes | https://www.labornotes.org/ Upcoming Labor Notes events: https://labornotes.org/events You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.  

SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) continue their strikes as Hollywood and streaming services face a reckoning.  Rep. Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin just introduced new legislation to attack the National Education Association's charter in order to gut teacher union power.  Chad Connelly, a Christian nationalist operative and former “faith outreach director” for the Republican National Committee, runs a voter mobilization organization called Faith Wins. Connelly has organized dozens of secret meetings between top Republican presidential candidates and right-wing pastors, giving pastors the opportunity to grill the candidates on political issues and pray over them. A train derailed in Whitemarsh Township in Montgomery County on Monday. We all got lucky. Turns out most of the cars were carrying Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and toxic chemicals. A bomb train that luckily did not go off.   And are you ready for the launch of a nationwide effort to destroy teachers' unions? Let me introduce you to the first-annual “Teacher Freedom Summit.”  It's what all the right-wing education privateers and religious zealots have been drooling over.

This week I welcome Alyssa Bowen back to the show. Alyssa is a Senior Researcher and Managing Editor for the progressive watchdog group, True North Research. Tonight we'll be talking about her recent article in TruthOut, "A Jan. 6 “Moms” Group Funded by Big Lie Donors Is Stoking Voter Suppression." And, we'll give you the spoiler right up front: It's NOT Moms for Liberty we'll be talking about. The right-wing extremist group “Moms for America” has been flying under the radar as it works to undermine our rights.  Alyssa received her PhD in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2021 with an interest in fascism and antifascism, solidarity and social movements, immigration/exile and transnational history. She has bylines in the Nation and in Truthout, where she is a regular contributor. More of her public writing can be found on True North Research's website and Substack.  LINKS:  Alyssa Bowen: "A Jan. 6 “Moms” Group Funded by Big Lie Donors Is Stoking Voter Suppression," TruthOut | https://bit.ly/3rqMn3v Follow Alyssa on Twitter @AlyssaAnnBowen | https://twitter.com/AlyssaAnnBowen True North Research: https://truenorthresearch.org/ RESOURCES:  Documented: https://documented.net/ Center for Media and Democracy: https://www.prwatch.org/  Racial Justice Training Series with H.E.A.L. Together: https://bit.ly/3f3vBRG  All H.E.A.L. Together trainings: https://www.raceforward.org/trainings  You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.  

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for July 14, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/  

On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, we're back from vacation! And wholly crap did a lot happy while were were gone! Would love to hear from you! You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, & their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/. 

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for June 30, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.  

On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, I welcome Chris Ullery to the show. Chris covers extremism and social justice for the USA Today network of PA and Bucks County Courier Times. We'll be talking about his new investigative piece, "Emails show how religious liberties law firm has influenced Bucks and York schools." This article is part of an on-going investigation by Chris and investigative journalist Bethany Rodgers from the USA Today Network's PA capitol bureau. Their investigations have helped expose how a deep-pocketed, religious law firm is working with right-wing school boards across Pennsylvania to change policies and sow division.  Chris Ullery has been a reporter with the Bucks County Courier Times since 2015, covering municipal government, infrastructure and the Central Bucks School District. His mostly self-taught skills in the Python computer programming language have helped him flesh out and analyze years of voter registration data, track COVID-19 cases at the start of the pandemic in 2020, and build a 10-year database of 911 call logs in Bucks County. In addition to using his programming experience to track extremist movements, he will work with local newsrooms in the USA Today Network to help tell stories by the numbers. Chris Graduated Frostburg State University in 2014 with a B.S. in English (major in Literature, minor in Journalism) near his hometown of Cumberland, Maryland.  LINKS:  "Emails show how religious liberties law firm has influenced Bucks and York schools," Chris Ullery & Bethany Rodgers, Bucks County Courier Times | https://bit.ly/442QWiH  "Libraries to locker rooms: How a religious law firm is changing PA school policies," Chris Ullery & Bethany Rodgers, Bucks County Courier Times | https://bit.ly/3ojlrki  Follow Chris on Twitter | https://twitter.com/ulleryatintell You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

A county in Oregon is suing some major fossil fuel companies and industry groups for their role in climate change. According to a report in DeSmog blog, the lawsuit “seeks to hold fossil fuel companies and their ‘misinformation agents' accountable for the unprecedented 2021 heat dome that saw temperatures in the county reach 116 degrees Fahrenheit.” This lawsuit is of special interest because it also implicates the global consulting firm, McKinsey & Company for their role in spreading misinformation.  And while the national media was urgently reporting on the fate of 5 people on a shoddy submarine seeking to tour the Titanic wreck, North Atlantic ocean temperatures went off the map. The unexpected heating of the Atlantic is, in the words of Bill McKibben, “truly terrifying news.”  In addition, an unprecedented “heat dome” over Mexico and Texas is producing deadly storms and heat. The jet stream maps are wild.  A meteorologist in Iowa resigned from his local TV news job due to ongoing threats from climate change deniers.  New reporting by Cyril Mychalejko in the Bucks County Beacon shows how the right-wing donor group, the Bradley Foundation, is now helping bankroll efforts to help Republicans weaponize the Department of Justice.  Moms for Liberty is holding their annual national summit in Philadelphia beginning next week. They will be met by protests as they host a range of Republican presidential hopefuls including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former Trump official and South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley. And, now we've learned that pseudo-populist, anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist, Robert Kenndy, Jr. will be speaking there as well.  As the Mad Moms get ready to gather in Philly, yet another M4L chapter in Indiana is under fire for quoting Hitler approvingly in their newsletter.  New reporting in Vice documents the close relationship M4L has cultivated with the Proud Boys and other extremist organizations.  And let's not forget about the leader of the Monroe County, PA M4L chapter who stole a dead woman's Facebook identity to harass others. Seems to me that all the bad apples are in the same place.  Info on protests in the Bucks County Beacon.  New reporting in the Bucks County Courier-Times shows how the Harrisburg-based  right-wing religious Independence Law Firm has influenced and continues to influence Central Bucks and York schools.  The Pennridge School Board meeting was packed once again as the far-right majority continued to force through their agenda and demonstrate their incompetence. The highlight of the meeting was a Zoom presentation by Jordan Adams, the CEO of Vermilion Education. We'll get into that.  You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty & Their Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for June 16, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Don't Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We're putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.