Podcast appearances and mentions of daryl metcalfe

"Lynn is talking about the anxiety of the pandemic, democracy and constant chaos we have everyday. Plus she discusses Daryl Metcalfe retiring from Pa legislature."

The Arizona Republican election audit sham led by the QAnon owner of “Cyber Ninjas,” is quickly becoming the launching pad for a national, right-wing organizing strategy to delegitimize democracy and fan the flames of extremism.  CNN reports that QAnon inspired right-wing radicals are taking to Telegram - a social messaging platform that is far more welcoming of extremists - to deepen their conspiracies and plan. Congressional sources told CNN that they are especially concerned about plans to support Trump's re-installation as president in August.  This past weekend, former national security adviser Michael Flynn seemed to endorse a coup at the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup,” a QAnon conference in Dallas, TX. When Flynn was asked why can't a military coup like the one happening in Myanmar happen in the United States, Flynn replied: “No Reason. I mean, it should happen here. No reason.” You'll recall that it was also Flynn who called on Trump to invoke martial law to force new elections in key states.  Meanwhile, the anti-democracy movement has been hard at work on their inside game as Republican lawmakers have continued to pass voting restrictions around the country. The Washington Post reports that this year has seen the introduction of 253 bills designed to restrict voting across 43 states, according to a new report from the Brennan Center. As of mid-May, 22 voting restrictions laws have been passed in 14 states.   Media Matters for America released a list of all the QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2022.  Miami is considering a proposal to build a 20 foot sea wall to save the city from the impacts of climate change. As reported in New York Times, “Six miles of it, in fact, mostly inland, running parallel to the coast through neighborhoods — except for a one-mile stretch right on Biscayne Bay, past the gleaming sky-rises of Brickell, the city's financial district.” The FBI is investigating Trump appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for illegal political fundraising for Trump.  Trump's blog is shut down for good only a month after its launch. Daryl Metcalfe's annual Right to Bear Arms Rally is this Monday.  The Arizona election audit sham attracted PA State Senator Doug Mastriano, State Senator Chris Dush, and State Representative Rob Kauffman to travel to the state like moths to the flame.  Mastriano finally makes it to prime time. On Wednesday night, on Chris Hayes's All In, Mastriano features prominently in the opening segment about the rise of dangerous, anti-democracy movement. The report points to Mastriano's visit to Arizona as case in point in how it all works.  State Senator Scott Perry ran into the woods to avoid taking questions from local media, according to Raw Story.  Former State Rep. Ryan Costello is not OK. At least that's how things seemed last night on Twitter. Apparently, PA Spotlight is squatting in his head after they published info showing that Costello donates to a school board PAC that recruits QAnon conspiracy nuts to run for office.  State Sen. Lindsey Williams is preparing to introduce a bill in the PA Senate requiring lawmakers to publicly post how they are spending millions of dollars in tax-payer funded expenses.  The New Jersey GOP primary for this year's race for Governor has turned into a Trump bootlicker competition.  Allegheny County DA Stephen Zappala found himself in a scandal this week.  He sent an email to prosecutors telling them to stop accepting plea deals from a black lawyer who called his office “systemically racist.”  Way to pull a racism, DA Zappala. On Wednesday, NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that the space agency is planning two missions to Venus in the late 2020s. The two missions, DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will gather evidence about possible microbial live in Venus's atmosphere and more thoroughly map the planet's surface. It's been over three decades since NASA launched missions to Venus.  A new documentary, Woman in Motion, tells the story of how Nichelle Nichols, famous for her ground-breaking role as Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek, pioneered the NASA recruiting program to higher people of color and the first women astronauts in the 1970s and 1980s. The documentary is streaming on Paramount+. Grist releases a list of new environmental films that you should add to your watch list.   Books to read:  How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism, Cory Doctorow. Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, by Talia Lavin. Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in Our Obsession with Civility, by Alex Zamalin Will Sean be live-blogging his vacation?

In this edition of On Target, PA House Second Amendment Caucus Chairman Matthew Dowling welcomes Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County to discuss Metcalfe's legislation, House Bill 357, which would prohibit the enforcement of any new federal restriction, prohibition or registration requirement for firearms, magazines and ammunition.

In this edition of On Target, PA House Second Amendment Caucus Chairman Matthew Dowling welcomes Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County to discuss Metcalfe’s legislation, House Bill 357, which would prohibit the enforcement of any new federal restriction, prohibition or registration requirement for firearms, magazines and ammunition.

Introducing a new initiative with Rep. Daryl Metcalfe tomorrow at the capitol to intro a new initiative to protest the people from Gov. Wolf’s “tyrannical abuse of emergency powers.” See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Rayshard Brooks is murdered by Atlanta police for falling asleep in his car in a Wendy’s parking lot. That Wendy’s later burned to the ground. The autopsy concluded the killing was a homicide and the officer who murdered Rashard Brooks is now charged with felony murder and ten additional charges. The same cop who killed Brooks was previously disciplined for use of force involving a firearm. Workers United in Upstate New York - a union that represents more than 9500 workers in the state, joined the call to kick the police union out of the AFL-CIO. That branch of Workers United joins the Writers Guild of America, East, the Labor Council in Seattle, and the Association of Flight Attendants and other unions putting pressure on the police union and the AFL-CIO in light of the national uprisings.  Big primary elections in New York on Tuesday. AOC is fighting for reelection against another establishment plant. And, and Jamaal Bowman is looking to unseat Eliot Engle. Bowan got the call from Bernie this week too.  The University of Cincinnati is calling for 12% permanent cuts, using COVID-19 as the excuse. Brian Bailie from the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College was on this program a couple of weeks ago warning that this was coming. Completely unrelated, the University of Cincinnati’s president, Neville Pinto, is paid $660,000 a year, which includes a house and a car. Florida man Daryl Metcalfe - yes you heard that correctly, Florida Man - Filed 5 impeachment counts against Governor Tom Wolf because of how the governor handled the coronavirus outbreak. And, say what about Daryl Metcalfe’s house in Florida?    Mike Turzai officially resigned as House Speaker this week & then took a job with Peoples Gas and as their head of General Counsel.  Peoples Gas recently merged with Aqua America and this job falls right in line with Mike Turzai’s desire to privatize utility as possible Black Lives Matter protests are still going strong in rural Pennsylvania. Over 300 protesters showed up in support of the black lives matter movement in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania over the weekend.  Gravy Seals, Wooder ISIS, Gaba Goons, and Provolone Boys and other white vigilantes take over South Philly’s Marconi Plaza in order to defend the Christopher Columbus statue.  Yes, it was like a parody of the Soprano’s but this time the Philly Police were enabling and allowing the crowd of neighborhood fascists to attack and pummel Black Lives Matter protesters.  Kutztown University and other PASSHE schools plan to announce a return to campus plans this coming week. Oh, and Kutztown has hired robot owls at around $1,000 a pop for classrooms. I kid you not.  We’ve got a slew of new beer at Free Will this week as they ramp up for the summer.  A Ride Down the 5 - Mexican Style Amber Lager; Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash - Sour Ale brewed with 3,400 lbs. of wild blueberry purée, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and milk sugar; and, Pineapple Enrobed - West Coast IPA brewed with pineapple purée, and hopped with Citra, Simcoe, Columbus, and Chinook. Gotta give another plug for delicious summer feature, Strawberry Lemonade Radfahrer, a Radler with Strawberry that's a collab with Imprint Beer Co. Shout out to New Trail Brewing up in Williamsport. They've moved into their new brewery and have some great offerings. Kevin picked up Ascent - Hazy Double IPA and Heliocentric Ale this week. New Trail looks like they've got some winners releasing this week with Bomb Pop - a Hazy IPA brewed with oats and conditioned on vanilla and raspberries. Hopped bombastically with Azacca and Citra; and, Heat Lightning - a Hazy Double IPA brewed with a mixture of oats. Shockingly hopped with Galaxy, Citra, & Mosaic. 

PA State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe joins Larry and Kevin to discuss his call for impeachment against Governor Tom Wolf. He believes the governor has caused immeasurable harm to the citizens in this commonwealth. Rep. Metcalfe believes Wolf's unemployment administration has failed to adequately provide for over 2 million applicants and he questions Wolf's nursing home policies. 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency this week as two dams collapsed following days of exceptionally heavy rain. Thousands of residents had to be evacuated and the floodwaters were comingling with containment ponds at a Dow Chemical plant near the town of Midland. Parts of Midland and other areas were under 5 feet of water. The company that owned the dams - Boyce Hydro - was chronically noncompliant with the State’s demands to maintain and update the dam. On the other side of planet, Super Cyclone Amphan devastated parts of India and Bangladesh. The storm was the strongest cyclone ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal with sustained winds of 165 mph. The Indian city of Kolkata was devastated, killing at least 84 people as of last night.  At least six fruit packing worksites are on strike in Yakima County, WA. The county has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases on the West Coast and workers are striking over safer working conditions and an additional $2/hour in hazard pay. As we’ve seen in the meatpacking industries, immigrant workers work at high-speed, shoulder-to-shoulder in less than adequate working conditions. The companies have not addressed testing issues or safety conditions.  Oregon Republicans nominate Jo Rae Perkins as their candidate for U.S. Senate. Perkins is a QAnon conspiracy theorist. In her primary victory speech Tuesday night, Perkins said: ““We’re in this together. It’s all for one, so let’s make it happen. As all of us Q people like to say: ‘Where we go one, we go all.” Perkins beat her closest opponent by more than 50,000 votes. She’ll face Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley in November.  In a video posted to Twitter earlier Tuesday, Perkins looks into the camera and says: “I stand with President Trump. I stand with Q and the team. Thank you Anons and thank you patriots, and together we can save our Republic.” That tweet is now removed.  Georgia Republicans cancel election for the state Supreme Court. Now, Republican Governor Brian Kemp gets to take his pick of right-wing justices to fill the seat.  The VP guessing game has begun! We’re glad cable news will have something to obsess over and give them a little break from having to cover the impact of COVID-19 and our decimated public infrastructure.  Cambridge University won’t return to face-to-face lectures until summer 2021. On the flip side, NYU is all gung ho about getting back on campus this fall.  With COVID-19 as cover, Kean University will eliminate majors in music, sustainability sciences, theater, and economics. Ohio University announces it will cut 53 faculty, 94 administrators, and about 140 AFSCME workers.  And Trump says he’s taking hydroxychloroquine. Who knows if that’s even true.  Sean took some pictures last week. ReOpenPA was reenacting Sweeney Tood outside the Capitol.  Daryl Metcalfe was pretty busy this week.  First he continued his storied tradition of introducing impeachment resolutions against any Democratic official he hates.  This time it’s Governor Wolf.  And he is promising to hold his yearly gun rally on the capitol steps on June 8th with or without Wolf’s permission.  This year’s theme is to Stand Your Ground Against Socialism.   Governor Wolf vetos a bill that would have stopped any new regulations in PA until after his COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration expires. The bill was proposed by Republican State Senator David Argall seemed designed to stop any environmental regulations impacting the oil and gas companies and other corporations.  Some good news coming out of Harrisburg!  Republicans living in competitive districts are warming up to the idea of legalizing marijuana in the Commonwealth due to the impending budget shortfall.  Kutztown Univerisity is plowing ahead with plans to return in the fall. As details of the plan begin to leak, it’s that much more important to pay attention. Wait until you hear one of the administration’s student housing plans. We’ll get to that in a little detail. A faculty union task force is developing an alternative plan that would take students, faculty, and staff’s health and safety into account. Imagine that.   In the best space news of the week, someone at the National Museum, of the U.S. Airforce at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, taped a picture of Steve Carell over the official picture of Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond. The trickster also replaced Raymond’s bio with that of Gen. Mark R. Naird, Carell’s character in Netflix’s new series “Space Force,” which premieres May 29th.  A little over a week before Space X is scheduled to launch two NASA astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since the Obama administration scuttled the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the head of human space flight at NASA, Douglas Loverro, abruptly resigned. According to reporting in the Washington Post, apparently the resignation came after Loverro broke a rule in the process of awarding contracts to Blue Origin, Space X, and Dynetics to get humans back to the moon.  New Trail Brewing is opening a larger brewing space in Williamsport.  Don’t forget you can order your Free Will Brewing faves at their online store @ https://freewillbrewing.store/. They now have four selections from Perkasie’s growing craft culture Haymaker Meadery.

State Rep. candidate Daniel Smith discussing his election rematch with Daryl Metcalfe. https://www.danielforpa.com/

It's Tuesday, October 29, 2019. In today's episode:    * The Capital-Star's Stephen Caruso reported from a Pennsylvania House committee hearing yesterday chaired by climate science denier State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe. And, with some attendees wearing literal tin foil hats, it appears to have been quite the dire spectacle * And more news items from the city of Pittsburgh and our region   The Pittsburgh Record, from Postindustrial Media, is created by Adam Shuck and edited by Matt Stroud, with music by Phil Ortmann and sound editing by Tim Mulhern.   Subscribe to The Pittsburgh Record email newsletter at postindustrial.com/pghrecord

Barr’s testimony shows that we are one step closer to full-blown authoritarianism. House Dems troll Barr’s no-show with chicken. The Sunrise Movement gets profiled in Rolling Stone as young activists gear up to ensure that climate action is front and center in the Democratic primary debates and the 2020 election. The first-ever hearing on Medicare for All took place in this House this week. Pramila Jayapal gets it done. Stacey Abrams passes on a Georgia Senate run. Cecile Richards, Alicia Garza, and Ai-jen Poo join forces to launch a new PAC called Supermajority. Supermajority will partner with different groups to educate and train two million women in activism and political participation across the country. According to a press release sent to ELLE.com, Supermajority not only aims to ensure a women's agenda is represented at the ballot box in 2020, but also to drive change around issues like the wage gap, childcare costs, maternal mortality rates, family leave, and family separation at the border. Old School Labor makes a strong, white showing for Biden in Pittsburgh this week. Michael Bennet is running for president. Googling “who is Michael Bennet” now. Eric Levitz of New York Mag nails it in his piece, “Why I — a Bland White Guy You’ve Never Heard Of — Am Running for President.” Knock Down the House is now out on Netflix. The film is directed by Rachel Lears and it follows the 2018 primary campaigns of four progressive Democrats taking on entrenched, big money politicians - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin. Navy sailors aboard the USS. Harry Truman  in Norfolk, VA  encouraged to greet Vice President Mike Pence by “clapping like we’re at a strip club.”   Harrisburg may have actually hit Peak Stupid this week. On Tuesday, Daryl Metcalfe invited roughly 150 anti-vaxxers and their disease-carrying, unvaccinated, children to the Pennsylvania Capitol and gave their conspiracy theories a platform by hosting a press conference and introducing legislation to protect anti-vaxxers. If that wasn’t enough, on Wednesday, the Senate Republican Policy Committee tried to one-up Metcalfe by hosting another sham climate change hearing that had Koch Brother funded geographers, meteorologists, and geologists.  One big takeaway from the hearing is that Senator Scott Martin added “novice Hurricane tracker” to his resume. Summer Lee along with PA House and Senate Dems held a police accountability rally in the wake of the Antwon Rose verdict.  Speakers included local community leaders and Antwon’s mother, Michelle Kenney. Looking forward to next week, March on Harrisburg will be arriving on Monday fighting for gift bans. Galactic Capitalists test the waters, joining Vice commander of Air Force Space Command Lt. Gen. Thompson to make the case that the Space Force is going to be awesome for business. That case was made at this past week’s Future of War Conference in D.C. China plans on building a moon base in the South Polar region, once again confirming that if you want to know the direction of space exploration, you need to read Kim Stanley Robinson. His latest, Red Moon, features China’s dominance on the moon...centered in the South Polar region. Virgin Galactic clears another hurdle on its way to its first round of space tourism. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo completed its fifth successful test flight. The $250,000 tickets are going fast now. Free Will has got ANOTHER double-can release on Saturday: Kangaroo Mob - A No Boil IPA brewed in collaboration with Birds Fly South Ale Project (Greenville, SC) featuring rye malt, Lemondrop hops, Gunpowder green tea, and local lemongrass from Barefoot Botanicals. 5.3% ABV A Ride Down the 5 - Perfect for Cinco de Mayo.  Mexican style amber lager with a soft, bready character, a touch of malt sweetness, and a balanced hop profile with a crisp and clean finish. 5.4% ABV. Shout out to friend-of-the-show Mike, who gave me two of his latest homebrew stouts: Rogue Bear Chocolate Stout and Old Rumpole Chocolate Stout. I’m breaking them open this weekend. Thanks, Mike! Sean has a recap from Forest and Main’s 7th Anniversary Party and an awesome photo shoot in the coming week.

Mueller Report dropped and it's over 300 pages, but we just get to see the four-page Barr Report. Trump says he’s vindicated. Adam Schiff nearly explodes. And Rachel Maddow doubles down on Russia, Russia, Russia. Stacy Abrams will not be Joe Biden's VP nominee because “who wants to run for second place” AOC brings the wrecking ball to Republicans who are playing games with our climate. AOC will be on Chris Hayes’s show on MSNBC at 8 pm tonight for a special on the Green New Deal. Live from the Bronx. And polls continue to show that the GND is super popular with people from coast to coast. Just in time too. On Monday, a new report from the International Energy Agency shows that the world’s energy demands grew by 2.3 percent this past year and a fleet of relatively young coal plants located in Asia led the way toward a record for emissions from coal-fired power plants — exceeding 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide “for the first time,” according to the report. Senator Mike Lee puts on a performance that may just win an award for all time stupid. And juvenile. And, well, pretty disgusting when you get down to it. When you start your show with a painting of Ronald Reagan on a velocirapter shooting a machine gun, you need to check yourself. Or at least quit your job. The Center of Investigative Reporting gets its hands on an hour-long recording of oil executives celebrating and laughing after Trump appointed the lawyer from  American Petroleum Association of America to the Department of the Interior. Trump admin is trying to shut down Obamacare. Facebook says it’s going to ban white nationalists and white supremacists from the platform. We’ll see. The DNC blacklists consultant groups who choose to work with primary challengers. There’s a special election in the PA Senate’s 37th district this week.  Pam Iovino is running against the uber-rich Republican D. Raja. This seat was vacated by Guy Reschenthaler’s Congressional victory and Democrats are looking to pick this seat up. Daryl Metcalfe invites climate deniers, I mean “skeptics,” from Das Heartland Institute to speak in front of the house environmental committee. Meanwhile, the biggest takeaways from the hearing were that 1) Leanne Krueger doesn't give a fuck about your self-published climate denial books; and, 2) that climate deniers find the term “climate deniers” derogatory. State Rep Stephanie Borowicz was seconds away from seeing snakes coming from the capitol dome and speaking in tongues as she gave an extremely racist and Islamophobic opening prayer on the day that Pennsylvania's first Muslim woman, Movita Johnson-Harrell, was sworn into the house. We get some hate mail, too! Minutes after that Rep Borowicz went off to the Health committee to vote on taking money from poor people because Jesus always said: “blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit every damn thing they want.” See Matthew 5:3-12, aka the Beatitudes Fallout from the prayer has Democrats asking for a censure of Borowicz and her Islamophobic prayer while Metcalfe is asking to censure Democrats because of their censure. Big rally in the state Capitol for the #PAPromise - tuition free college in PA. Mike Pence tries to channel Kennedy’s moon landing speech, saying that NASA will speed up its plan to return Americans to the moon by 2024. Maddow briefly covers the announcement and misses a bigger picture. Today NASA was supposed to make history with the first-ever all women space walk. They had to cancel because the didn’t the right sized space suits. NASA will introduce a new mini-helicopter for its Mars 2020 mission. Sean receives three and a half pound all-metal cylinder right before today’s podcast. It’s another Sour Sunday this weekend at Free Will Brewing taproom in Perkasie. Get first access to their brand new bottle release - Flowers in the Desert. Both Tré Locally Sourced and Taza Truck will provide the eats.

Run, Bernie, Run. Bernie Sanders officially threw his hat into the presidential race this week. His campaign raised $5.9 million from 223,047 individuals in its first 24 hours, millions of dollars more than any other Democratic party candidate thus far. West Virginia teachers have another successful strike. They beat back attempts to introduce charter schools across the state. Oakland teachers walked out on Thursday demanding smaller classes, charter school oversight, more school nurses and guidance counselors. And they are demanding a 12% pay increase after years of austerity. Oakland is one of the epicenters of What’s going on? Well, rank-and-file, progressive caucuses have a lot to do with it. North Carolina election board calls for a new vote in the congressional race in which the Republican candidate and his campaign committed what looks like to normal people as systemic voter fraud. More conjecture on the status of the Mueller probe while Trump officials apparently tried to sell nuclear tech to Saudi Arabia. And as if to add insult to injury, Trump is preparing to launch a Presidential Committee on Climate Security to determine if climate change actually a national security threat like the Pentagon says it is. The Washington Post reports that Trump wants the committee to be led by climate denier, William Happer, who says CO2 is not a pollutant, it’s an asset. Back in 2014, Happer even compared CO2 to Jews in Nazi Germany, “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler,” he said. A self-described white-supremacist Coast Guard officer is arrested for planning a terrorist attack to kill prominent Democratic lawmakers including AOC, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and several high-profile television anchors from MSNBC and CNN. Daryl Metcalfe loves his vegetables. Chris Rabb calls out Tom Wolf for doubling on Natural Gas exploitation. Sean ended up driving through Wednesday’s snowstorm to get to the America Votes conference in DC and will recap some of the speakers who attended it. Kevin went to an amazing Labor Notes workshop on Saturday in Kutztown. Great discussion on building power in the union. And yes, we talked quite a bit about caucuses.   China’s moon landing on the dark side may just launch a new space race.  China’s future plans include a new space station, a lunar base and possible sample return missions from Mars. And China’s military space program “continues to mature rapidly,” according to the Department of Defense.   Trump officially signs a directive to establish the Space Force.  Space Policy Directive - 4 calls for a commander of the Space Force who will “lead space warfighting through global space operations that may occur in the space domain, the terrestrial domains, or through the electromagnetic spectrum.” NASA is planning to put astronauts back on the moon by 2028. That was Trump’s Space Policy Directive - 1 if you’re keeping score at home. Space race indeed. And, Mattel is launching Astrophysicist and Astronaut Barbie this year. Barbie has a 50-year history of space exploration, actually. Facebook told me that one year ago today, my daughter and I finished the first stage of the 1,969 piece Lego NASA Apollo Saturn V rocket. Today is National Margarita Day and Free Will has got a double release for you. Not only do we get the 5th of May - a sour ale aged in tequila barrels with key limes and Himalayan salt; but, we also get one my all-time favorites, Safeword - an Imperial IPA with mangoes and habanero peppers, 10.4% ABV and burns so sweet. Sean makes his legendary return to Pizza Boy.

Happy 2019! Establishment Dems clutch their pearls over Rashida Tlaib’s calls for impeachment. It’s not what she said, it’s how she said it. Elizabeth Warren makes it official. She’s running for president in 2020. Already the talking heads and Twitterati are deeply engaged in the EmoProg Primary. Let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If you must engage in the Bernie v. Warren sniping, at least checkout David Dayen’s article in the New Republic from last October. Nancy Pelosi sworn in as the Democratic Speaker of the House. The first-ever woman speaker takes up the gavel again. Another smear campaign against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falls flat on its face. AOC wears white to her swearing-in ceremony to pay tribute to the suffragists.   Are Old Deal Democrats trying to squash progressive initiatives with Pay-Go? Can we at least get through the first week before Dems decide to use Republican rhetoric to define their policies? Try buying a house with Pay-Go rules. Ro Khanna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Tim Ryan come out early against Pay-Go. Indivisible groups, Medicare for All supporters, climate activists and other progressives are not wasting any time letting Democrats know they will not be going away any time soon. And, Terry McAuliffe gets launched into the talking heads circuit to tamp down progressive, universal policies like Medicare for All and tuition free college. House Republicans released their committee assignments on Wednesday and Daryl Metcalfe is pissed that he didn’t get on the House Judiciary Committee.  Instead, he’s going to sitting on the Energy and Environmental Resources Committee. PA Senate Republicans sat Lindsey Williams after voters went to their local Senate offices and demand that they seat her. Governor Tom Wolf has booked The Roots for the inaugural ball. And, it’s the Farm Show in Harrisbu Farm Show. John Micek is on the beat. Here piggie, piggie, piggee. China lands on the dark side of the moon. China's robotic Chang'e 4 lander became the first to touch down on the dark side of the moon on Wednesday night. The Chinese lander now sits on the floor of the 115-mile-wide Von Kármán Crater. NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft visited Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object 4 billion miles from the sun. It’s the most distant object get a pass by from a man-made spacecraft. Sean watches Vice. AOC dances. Free Will bottle release: Clifford the Big Red Quad - a collaboration with Blue Dog Tavern will be released tomorrow (Saturday, 1/5) in 500ml bottles.

National Climate Assessment dropped like a bomb the day after Thanksgiving. Despite Trump admin attempts to bury the report under the weight of Black Friday shopping deals. The report paints a devastating picture of our future including a 10% drop in the U.S. economy. Trump says he doesn’t believe it. Trump gives a barely intelligible interview to the Washington Post revealing what his gut says about climate change and a host of other issues. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is at its largest ever and now they are demanding important committee positions in order to support Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker.  David Dayen lays out the argument for supporting Pelosi. On the other hand, Chuck Schumer said that Democrats are willing to give $1.6 billion to Trump for the border wall in order to avert a government shutdown.  Here’s a noble idea, how about ZERO dollars for Trump’s racist border wall? Sinclair Media forces nearly 200 of its affiliates to run a segment defending the use of tear gas on migrant children and families. Meanwhile, the Trump administration waived safety checks for all staff working at the nation’s largest detention camp for migrant children. That camp keeps growing by the way. 2,324 migrant kids and counting. Michael Cohen pleads guilty and implicates Trump further when it comes to the Russia investigation. Looks like Putin may have been getting a $50 million floor of a Moscow Trump Tower had the deal gone through.   Facebook scandals continue to grow as new revelations that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg ordered staff to do oppo research on George Soros after he criticized FB and Google and other tech giants at the World Economic Forum earlier this year. Facebook then pushed out critical stories to reporters about Soros’s funding of American advocacy groups critical of FB. Rider University in New Jersey says no way to Chick-fil-A. Given the restaurant chain’s anti-LGBTQ record, Rider officials say Chick-fil-A is not faithful to the university’s values of inclusiveness. A Chinese researcher claims to have helped make the world’s first genetically modified babies. And, Ivanka Trump found to be sending emails from a non-government server. Conservative base starts chants of “Lock Her Up…” Not. Daryl Metcalfe is looking for some new committee positions. What will it be? Will it be House Judiciary committee chair or House Education committee chair? The ever-so-swanky PA Society is this weekend and it was launched with a reception hosted by Christine Toretti, who is a Trustee to the Scaife Foundation and Trump’s Ambassador to Malta. This high-end event was hosted at Club Macanudo. Senate Republicans are threatening to not seat Lindsey Williams because of a potential resident. In today’s Last Call, it was a big week in Space News. The InSight Lander successfully touched down on Mars and prepares for several years of scientific study of the interior of the Red Planet. NASA selected nine companies to be eligible for future contracts to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon. The news had Mike Pence all tingly in the panties and galactic capitalists licking their chops at the prospects of colonizIng the new frontier. Time is running out for the Space Force. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will meet with Mike Pence to try and ready legislation to drop a legislative proposal in December. And, it’s 2001 a Space Odyssey all over again as the International Space Station “wakes up” its first onboard AI called CIMON. Let’s hope this has a better ending. Huge news in my neck of the woods: The Bread Box & Bakery have moved to a new prime location at the corner of Market and 7th Street in Perkasie. Their new location now has an awesome menu, kombucha on tap, great bread, and all sorts of sustainable goods in one place. Go check them out at 1 North 7th Street and tell them you heard about it on Raging Chicken’s Out d’Coup podcast. Free Will Brewing and The Bread Box & Bakery are teaming up on Wednesday, December 5th for “Let’s Get Lit!” at the main brewery in Perkasie for Free Will’s annual Brewery Tree Lighting & Merriment! A complimentary special toast (beer for those 21+, soda for those under 21) and Christmas cookies from our Friends at The Bread Box and Bakery will be provided to those in attendance. Festivities and the countdown to illumination get underway at 7 pm.

Trump train wreck strategy continues as Rudy talks funnelling money to lawyers to pay porn stars. Michelle Wolf rocks it. California and 17 other states sue Trump over vehicle efficiency standards. Scott Pruitt saga continues. Glorious May Day protests around the country to mark the true American born international Labor Day. Is there a neo-Nazi really running as a Republican for U.S. Senate in California? Snopes gets to the bottom of it. Daryl Metcalfe his annual gun rally, and members from the Oathkeepers, Three Percenters and Pennsylvania Patriots United showed up. Skinheads from American Guard were also there. Raging Chicken has exclusive audio from the Capitol. More false choices as debate over Mariner East pipeline pits jobs against catastrophic climate change and safe water. Bernie Sanders barnstorms PA on Saturday in rallies with Jess King, Gregory Edwards, and John Fetterman. And, is Bernie building a progressive media empire? In today’s Last Call, Space Force is back! Sean visits Ever Grain Brewery in Camp Hill. Then he geeks out on a lens he is renting for the Bernie/Jess King rally. Free Will has MAJOR sour release this week. A trio of deliciousness was released on Wednesday. Their margarita-inspired sour, 5th of May, will be released Saturday on Cinco de Mayo. Plus, great sound!

Mike and Pasquale discuss human dumpster Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's Facebook rant for the ages, Pasquale's trip to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee's National Candidate Training, Pennsylvania's voting machines entering the 21st Century, What Did Millennials Kill This Week, the Young Dems' upcoming PA-5 candidates debate, and and Delco's death-defying top rope finishing move. Then, Noah and Mike sit down with Mary Gay Scanlon, candidate for the 5th US House District, about voting rights, charter schools, organizing the airport response to the Muslim Ban, and weird names for pets. Please join us on Thursday, April 26th, 2018, at Galdo's Catering in South Philadelphia for a 5th District Candidates Debate, co-sponsored by the Delco Young Dems, the Philly Young Dems, and the Women's Democratic Club of Delaware County. A Facebook event with more details can be found here. Music: "Generation to Generation" by Tinmouth, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US

Mike, Amanda, and Noah discuss the recent Delco Dems nominating convention forth 5th Congressional District, are completely surprised by Republicans destroying an anti-gerrymandering bill, discover that Paul Ryan was That Guy in high school, ask What Did Millennials Kill This Week, and talk about why we shouldn't body-shame Reince Priebus. Then, Noah and Mike sit down with Rich Lazer, Democratic candidate for the 5th US House District, for a chat about organized labor, universal pre-K, Philly vs. Delco, and easy answers to complex questions. Music: "Generation to Generation" by Tinmouth, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US

Apart from House members flitting in and out of various low-profile meetings, the state Capitol has been mostly deserted this week, and devoid of official legislative activity. The only exception was Wednesday, when House State Government Committee chairman Daryl Metcalfe convened an “informational meeting” on Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack’s heavy use of government money. Paula … Continue reading "Episode 20: Stack’s snacks get attention, but budget stays stalled"