Podcasts about pa state system

On today's show, we dig into Kutztown University's back to school plans. If you've been following this show at all you'll know that the KU administration has been a bit belligerent when it comes to ensuring the health and safety of faculty, staff, and students. During the last academic year, KU had one of highest rates of COVID cases in the PA State System of Higher Education.  As the delta variant rages, KU is determined to head back to campus using PR to help fend off the risks. Well, OK, there is a mask mandate. But there will be no requirement for notifying the university of vaccination status; no systematic testing to get ahead of an outbreak; and, no contract tracing.   To make matters worse, the administration has denied some faculty requests to keep an all online schedule, despite being at high risk for dire consequences from contracting COVID. On today's show we'll get into the story of one faculty member, Steve Oross, who is being forced to make an awful choice between his job and his personal well-being. Today, we will set the stage for what's happening and next week we'll be talking directly to those faculty members on this podcast.  Some faculty are not taking this lying down. They are circulating a petition among faculty, staff, students, and parents, calling on the university to require vaccination or, at the very least, to mandate regular testing for unvaccinated individuals. You can check out the petition here: http://bit.ly/KUFall2021Petition You can help support homegrown, progressive media by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month: https://www.patreon.com/rcpress  

Out d'Coup's Friday politics round-up is off this week. I thought that since we've been talking a lot about PASSHE Chancellor Greenstein's plans to "redesign" PA public higher ed that I'd post a replay of an Out d'Coup LIVE from March in which I breakdown some of the history of "PASSHE-in-crisis" and Chancellor Greenstein's rhetorical strategies to get people to buy into his plans for consolidation and austerity under his "redesign" brand.  Kevin Mahoney ___________________________ The Chancellor of the PA State System of Higher Education, Dan Greenstein, has dropped a few bombshells this week about the future of the 14 state owned university system. Public higher education in PA is facing an uncertain future now. We'll be taking your calls about PASSHE and the future of public higher ed. Sound from this week's PA State Senate higher ed appropriation hearings, unpacking the rhetorical strategy of PASSHE Chancellor, and so much more.  A special shout out to Jonathan Mann who wrote our intro song, “There Are No People in the Future.” Check out all is great stuff on his YouTube page and follow him on Twitter @songadaymann

President Biden made an unvarnished case for taxing the rich on Wednesday, facing reporters steeped in decades of anti-tax dogma. In another surprise move, Biden came out in favor of suspending patents for vaccine makers in order to make the vaccine more readily available to the world. However, Germany is pushing back against waivers, which will lead to a global showdown over access to the life-saving shots.  India’s COVID cases continued to climb this week to more than 412,000 cases in one day. Only about 2% of Indians have been vaccinated and hospitals continue to face oxygen shortages as the Modi government faces charges of fumbling or actively worsening conditions.  More than 25 people are dead in Colombia after more than a week of protests over a tax plan put forward to cover costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Colombia is has also been hit by mass unemployment due to lockdowns.  Right-wing Republican Liz Cheyney is on the verge of losing her House leadership position because she won’t tow the party line that Trump actually won the election. New York’s morphing power-Trumpista, Elise Stefanik looks like she may take over Cheyney’s leadership position.  Texas Republican’s pass more voter suppression legislation. Good thing the Texas GOP dominated Senate passed legislation the day before allowing concealed carry without a permit.  A Trump appointed federal judge, Dabney Friedrich, struck down the CDC’s eviction moratorium on Wednesday, spreading that much more concern among tenants hit hard by the pandemic.  Irish Republican’s remembered the IRA’s Bobby Sands this week on the 40th anniversary of his death in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Check out my friend Stu’s amazing book on the hunger strikes, Smashing H-Block: The Popular Campaign against Criminalization and the Irish Hunger Strikes 1976-1982, from Liverpool University Press.  Ski Patrollers at Breckenridge Resort in Colorado voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America. Breckenridge Resort is part of Vail Resorts which has seen a string of union drives over the past few years as patrollers point to declining wages and working conditions.  Trump launched a new blog.  And births fall to a 42-year low in the U.S. due largely to pandemic social distancing. However, if you follow calls for a “Hot Vax Summer” on social media, we just might see a new boom in little ones by next spring.  Governor Wolf fired every member on the Charter Appeals Board and sent nominations to the Pennsylvania Senate.  One of the nominees include former state senate candidate and music teacher, Shanna Danielson. The Charter Appeals Board was filled with holdovers with expired terms from the Corbett administration.  The race for Philadelphia District Attorney is getting underway and Philly politics is showing everyone what they got.  Late last week, the Philadelphia FOP was handing out Mr. Softee ice cream cones in front of Larry Krasner’s offices.   In response to this stunt, Ben Cohen from Ben and Jerry’s put Mr Softee on blast.  In a press release, Mr. Cohen stated: “The FOP is out of control, regularly lashing out at anyone who threatens their unquestioned power,” “To be clear, Mr. Softee isn’t even ice cream. It is pumped up with a lot of hot air, which is somehow frozen in a limp sort of way. It is chock full of artificial ingredients. In short, it’s fake ice cream. Just like the lies that the FOP has been telling about a courageous fighter for true justice and one of the best D.A.’s in the U.S.” Then following Wednesday’s debate, Krasner’s opponent, Carlos Vega tried taunting Krasner once the debate finished. The taunting was caught on a hot-mic and Vega said “I’m your worst nightmare” and “I’ve been in your head for a long time.”  Krasner responded by saying “Sure Carlos.” Vega claims to be living “rent-free” in Krasner’s head, but Vega filed a bullshit lawsuit trying to sue Krasner and his supporters from social media because of “mean tweets.” Will Bunch wrote a scathing column writing that moves to dismantle the PA State System of Higher Education are actively turning the American Dream into a nightmare. He lays the bulk of the blame at the feet of GOP legislators who have been beating the drum of austerity since the 1980s. Oh, and thanks to Rep. Russ Diamond. Russ decided to troll us after our Monday show and, as a result, we’ve got a whole bunch of new listeners! An 18 ton Chinese rocket segment is set to come crashing down to Earth most likely this weekend and no one knows where exactly it will land. Normally a piece of equipment that large would reenter the atmosphere in a controlled descent. Not the case here. After delivering the first module of China’s first space station to orbit, the booster started to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled descent. So, as they say, heads up this weekend.  SpaceX finally sticks a Starship landing. The SN15 Starship rocket made a successful high-latitude test on Wednesday - this time without the explosive landing.  Pennsylvania House is taking up a critical question that’s on everyone’s post-pandemic mind: will we still be able to get our cocktails to-go? Well, we have an answer - at least part of an answer: on Tuesday, the PA House Liquor Control Committee voted 23-0 to approve Republican Rep. Kurt Masser’s legislation to make drinks-to-go a permanent part of living the PA life.  Free Will Brewing releases: Spruce - Barrel Aged Saison with Spruce Tips; Tentacle - Pale Ale hopped with EXP10416, Amarillo, and Huell Melon; and, Safeword - Imperial IPA with Mangoes and Habanero Peppers.  Sean is turning to wine for the next chapter of his lifestyle channel. 

One day ahead of his 100th day in office, Biden addressed a joint session of Congress to layout out another ambitious policy agenda in his “American Families Plan.” As reported in the New York Times,  Also this week, Biden signed an executive order increasing the minimum wage for all federal contractors to $15/hour. The increase will impact hundreds of thousands of workers.  The FBI raided Rudy Giuliani’s home and office this week, seizing computers and cell phones. According to new reporting in the New York Times, the probe centers on the firing of the US Ambassador to Ukraine. If there are any feds listening to this podcast, please send us all conversations between Rudy and Doug Mastriano. Tucker Carlson tests the boundaries of extremism. Carlson used his top-rated, Fox News show to claim that requiring children to wear masks was “child abuse.” He said, “your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart...Call the police immediately, contact child protective services. Keep calling until someone arrives. What you’re looking at is abuse, it’s child abuse and you are morally obligated to attempt to prevent it.”  The game of musical chairs has begun as the Census Bureau released the new state population numbers, which determine the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives.  Gains: Texas (2), Florida (1), North Carolina (1), Colorado (1), Oregon (1), Montana (1) Losses: California (1), New York (1), Illinois (1), Pennsylvania (1), Ohio (1), Michigan (1), West Virginia (1) Matt Gaetz’s wing man decided to sing.  Pennsylvania Spotlight relaunched their website!  This is a project that has been in the works for months and thank you to everyone who helped make this possible, especially Scott Wagner and Mike Turzai.  Senator Doug Mastriano and Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidate Paula Patrick were slated to speak at the “Up Front in the Prophetic” Q-Anon conference happening in Gettysburg this June, but both issued statements condemning the event and movement. Unconfirmed reports are that Mastriano issued this statement with a wink and a nod.  A case by Pennsylvania high school student Brandi Levy made it to the Supreme Court after she was suspended from her cheerleading tea m after posting harsh comments about her school on Snapchat. When she failed to make the varsity cheerleading team, she posted a picture of herself flipping the bird captioned with “F___ school f___ softball f___ cheer f___ everything.” The case raises significant questions about the authority of schools to punish students for speech that occurs off school grounds.  This was a major week for the future of the PA State System of Higher Education. On Wednesday, Chancellor Greenstein’s plans to merge six universities into two was accepted by the Board of Governors, triggering a 60 comment period and legislative hearings. A new report by the U Mass-based Political Economy Research Institute found that Greenstein’s plans will lead to over 1,500 direct job losses, leading to over 700 additional “indirect” or “induced” lost jobs in the Commonwealth. The question on the table now is whether Governor Wolf wants the destruction of PA public higher ed to be his lasting legacy.  In my neck of the woods, there’s a team of right-wing extremists running for the Pennridge School Board. At least they are making it easy to know who NOT to vote for. So, DO NOT vote for Christine Batycki, Jordan Blomgren, Ricki Chaikin and Bob Cormack. The Mars Helicopter Ingenuity failed to make a fourth flight yesterday when it failed to switch into flight mode.  China launched the main main module for its first permanent space station on Thursday. The launch is the first of 11 missions necessary to complete the station and establish China a major player in the future of space. China will also land its first rover on Mars next month.  Last Friday, SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission launched a new crew to the International Space Station. On their way to the space station, a piece of space junk came unexpectedly close to colliding with the capsule.  The four astronauts that arrived at the International Space Station were scheduled to depart the ISS later today, but they have been delayed for the second time due to weather. Or, maybe they want a few more days for sightseeing?  Free Will Brewing new releases: Strawberry Banana Mash & Longful Hunt. Last weekend Free Will launched Sunday Sessions - live music at the Brewery. Sklyar Love kicked off the season for the first show. This Sunday, John Valerio will be taking the stage from 1-4pm. No tickets required. There will be 19 beers on tap, wine from Pennswood, and food by Tre’ Locally Sourced.

On tonight’s show, I welcome Dr. Jamie Martin to the show. Martin is the president of the APSCUF, the faculty union representing the 14 state-owned universities making up the PA State System of Higher Education. Faculty, staff, and students are facing a precarious future as the Chancellor of the state system, Daniel Greenstein, pushes forward his agenda to merge six universities into two, layoff scores of faculty and staff, throw students' academic programs into flux, and force more classes online. Greenstein tells a fairy tale narrative of his "Redesign" plans, but many faculty, students, and staff aren't buying in. Earlier today, Greenstein dropped his 439 page university merger plan - a plan that will be presented to the Board of Governors this Wednesday, April 28. We'll talk about how we got here and where we need to go. Martin graduated from IUP with bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate in criminology. Her research has focused on qualitative research, corrections, and criminal-justice ethics. She has published articles in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education and American Journal of Criminal Justice, and she has also published a book called Looking Out: Jailed Fathers’ Perceptions about Separation from Their Children. Additionally, she won the Center for Teaching Excellence Award in 2004 and the Outstanding Teacher Award in the College of Health and Human Services in 2008. Resources: April 27 – LHU APSCUF town hall Lock Haven University’s APSCUF chapter will host an online Q&A session for alumni to discuss consolidation. The session runs 7–8 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, in Zoom meeting ID # 977 1143 0089. April 28 – Consolidation-plan presentation and Day of Action: 8:30 a.m. | BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING (livestreamed) — Click here for details about how to watch and how to participate in public comment that morning. 11:30 a.m. | SAVE OUR STATE SCHOOLS will host a streamed event to discuss advocacy surrounding the plan. We’ll share registration when it is available; better yet, you can sign up for SOSS email alerts to hear directly from them. Follow Save Out State Schools on Twitter: @OurStateSchools. Look for additional. Sign up for additional information and email alerts on their webpage: SaveOurStateSchools.org. Check out APSCUF's student page with additional events and organizing info.   A special shout out to Jonathan Mann who wrote our intro song, “There Are No People in the Future.” Check out all is great stuff on his YouTube page and follow him on Twitter @songadaymann

The Chancellor of the PA State System of Higher Education, Dan Greenstein, has dropped a few bombshells this week about the future of the 14 state owned university system. Public higher education in PA is facing an uncertain future now. We'll be taking your calls about PASSHE and the future of public higher ed. Sound from this week's PA State Senate higher ed appropriation hearings, unpacking the rhetorical strategy of PASSHE Chancellor, and so much more.  A special shout out to Jonathan Mann who wrote our intro song, “There Are No People in the Future.” Check out all is great stuff on his YouTube page and follow him on Twitter @songadaymann

We’re talking about the PA State System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Greenstein’s plans to merge three state universities - Bloomsburg University, Mansfield University, and Lock Haven University - the university at which tonight’s guests teach and work. As you might recall, Chancellor Greenstein is also forcing mergers on three additional campus in Western PA - California, Clarion, and Edinboro. Just at Lock Haven, the Chancellor wants to cut 30% of the faculty; slash 56 custodial and grounds keeping jobs; end 12 academic programs; and, send a small PA town into economic uncertainty.    On tonight's show I welcome: Peter Campbell: is the president of the Lock Haven chapter of the faculty union APSCUF.  Campbell is a professor in the Sport Administration program at Lock Haven. He teaches courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs including: Contemporary Issues and Problems in Sport Administration, Sport Law and Ethics, Governance of Sport, Sport Facility Management and Operation, Sport Administration Professional Field Experience, and Legal and Policy Issues in Sport.  Shawn O’Dell: President of AFSCME Council 13, Local 2360 which includes many employees at Lock Haven University including custodians, grounds keepers, maintenance, mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, painters, HVAC, electricians, secretaries, and support staff.  As she puts it, AFSCME members are the backbone of the LHU community, without them, LHU could not exist. O’Dell is also a graduate LHU with a BA in English.  She was a nontraditional student and graduated at age 41 and then was given an opportunity to work with the Upward Bound program.  That opportunity opened the way to move to the Center for Global Engagement and the Global Honors Program where I work as their secretary.   Matt Girton: Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication at Lock Haven University. He is also a former president of the Lock Haven chapter of APSCUF. On the State APSCUF Exec Council. The State System Universities have been part of his entire life. He grew up 10 miles from Bloomsburg where, swam in the old Centennial Gym pool and went to Celebrity Artist Series productions in Haas Auditorium. His high school band director took Matt and other students to Mansfield for weekly music lessons. He returned to BU in the mid-90’s for his MA in Communication, and while finishing his doctorate at Florida State University, he worked as an adjunct for a year at Shippensburg. How to stay involved and help with the fight:  Follow Lock Haven APSCUF on Facebook Follow Lock Haven APSCUF on Twitter Follow Save Our State Schools on Twitter and click the "Get Involved" button on the Save Our State Schools website If you are in the Lock Haven area, join the Rally to Save Lock Haven University Jobs, this Saturday, March 20 @ 10:00 am Find your state legislator and write and/or call them. Let them know you do not want to see Lock Haven merged Call the PASSHE Board of Governors @ 717-720-4010 or fax them @ 717-720-4011 and tell them to "Save the Haven" Share this interview on all your social media A special shout out to Jonathan Mann who wrote our intro song, “There Are No People in the Future.” Check out all is great stuff on his YouTube page and follow him on Twitter @songadaymann

Join Black Lives Matter at School activists and educators for a conversation about the new uprising for educational justice, Philly-style. ---------------------------------------------------- Education activists Tamara Anderson, Jesse Hagopian, Ismael Jimenez, Dana Morrison join Edwin Mayorga for a conversation about the struggle against systemic racism in schools, how we can win real educational justice and the lessons from Black Lives Matter at School organizing in Philadelphia and beyond. ---------------------------------------------------- Speakers: Tamara Anderson is an advocate for children and teens, an antiracist trainer, a professional artist, an editor, a freelance journalist, and a blogger with over twenty years of experience as an educator. She supervises middle and high school pre-service teachers at La Salle University and serves as an adjunct at West Chester University. Her work with juvenile justice led to her being the recipient of the Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant. Jesse Hagopian is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle's Garfield High School. He is the co-editor of Black Lives Matter at School, an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine and is a co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives. Ismael Jimenez is a dedicated educator, who for the last fifteen years has worked with students in Philadelphia from preschool age to high school. Ismael assisted in the development of the updated social studies curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia. Ismael is a core member of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Black Lives Matter Philly, a founding member of the Melnated Educators Collective and a co-founder of the Philadelphia Black History Collaborative. Dana Morrison is an Assistant Professor in West Chester University's Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies. She began working on higher education outreach for the week of action in Philadelphia in 2017 and has since organized Black Lives Matter events with students, faculty and staff throughout the PA State System of Higher Education. Edwin Mayorga (moderator) is a parent, educator, scholar-activist. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies and the Program in Latin American and Latino Studies at Swarthmore College (PA). He is host of the podcast Encuentros Políticos/Political Encounters on USALAmedia. ---------------------------------------------------- Order a copy of Black Lives Matter at School: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1554-black-lives-matter-at-school Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/zkN_kOrgjSg Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

On today’s show, I welcome Brian Bailie back to the podcast. Bailie is an Assistant Professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of Cincinnati’s Blue Ash College. Brian’s latest articles include,“Are We an Academic Journal? Editing as Ethical Practice for Change,” co-authored with Steve Parks, in Reflections: A Journal of Community Engaged Writing and Rhetoric, and the ever-timely piece in Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society, “So, Richard Spencer is Coming to Your Campus. How He was Allowed on, and How You Can Confront Him.”  I wanted to have Brian back on the show to update us on some of the many assaults on public higher education during the pandemic. Tonight we’ll talk about the attempt by lawmakers in Iowa to strip tenure from faculty in all state public colleges and universities. Then we’ll ask why a dead professor is teaching an art course for Concordia University. Then there’s the U of Florida installing "tattle buttons" to narc on faculty who moved some in-person classes on-line. Oh, yea, then in our backyard the PA State System of Higher Education is gutting faculty and staff at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. But we won’t leave you with all doom and gloom. We'll talk about the fight back. UC students with Boldly Bankrupt are doing great work and building coalitions. A special shout out to Jonathan Mann who wrote our intro song, “There Are No People in the Future.” Check out all is great stuff on his YouTube page and follow him on Twitter @songadaymann Check out Boldly Bankrupt: https://boldlybankrupt.cargo.site/ Dead professors teaching at Concordia University: https://slate.com/technology/2021/01/dead-professor-teaching-online-class.html Iowa attack on tenure: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/iowa-lawmakers-advance-bill-to-eliminate-tenure-20210126 IUP Cuts: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/us/college-coronavirus-tuition.html (we didn't get to talk too much about this tonight. I'll focus on it on another show).

Louisville agrees to pay Breonna’s Taylor’s family $12 million in a historic settlement. The city also announced significant police reforms. According to CNN, “the city agreed to establish a housing credit program as an incentive for officers to live in the areas they serve; use social workers to provide support on certain police runs; and require commanders to review and approve search warrants before seeking judicial approval, among other changes.” The New York Times broke the news last night that the Trump administration is posting coronavirus testing guidelines on the CDC’s website against and without the knowledge of CDC scientists. The story broke last night as the CDC is expected to post new testing guidelines today that are direct from the Trump administration, not CDC scientists. These are the same guidelines that schools, colleges and universities, and state agencies are using to determine their local policies.  A new study published in the medical journal Health Affairs finds that at least 42% of school employees are at high risk of developing severe cases of COVID-19. Hurricane Sally brought devastation and massive flooding to the Gulf Coast this week as the slow-moving storm dumped over 30 inches of rain across the region. Pensacola, Florida saw 30 inches of rain, which is the equivalent of four months of rain in four hours. Sally was a category 2 hurricane. Hurricane Teddy, a nasty category 4 hurricane - the second category 4 hurricane of the season, has intensified in the Atlantic. Currently, Teddy is not expected to hit already ravaged regions in the Gulf, but it is a testament to just how much energy has been put into the climate by our refusal to address the climate crisis.  Smoke from the West Coast’s historic wildfires reached the East Coast this week leading to an eerie sun reminding that climate change affects us all.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA has a new a Trump appointee to help run the organization into the ground. David Legates, an academic best known as being the fossil-fuel funded climate denier who was forced out of his position in 2011 as Delaware’s state climatologist due to his climate-crisis denialism. Apparently, Legates will be serving as the new deputy assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, reporting directly to NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs.  A federal judge rules that Governor Wolf’s shutdown order is unconstitutional. Wolf will file an appeal, but in the meantime, there are real-world impacts.  Good news on the mail-in ballot front. Late yesterday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled that voters will be able to submit their ballots through drop off boxes in a blow to the Trump campaign and PA Republicans. The Court also ruled that ballots that arrived up to three days after Election Day could still be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.  Sorry, Howie. The PA Supreme Court also stated in the same ruling that Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins will not appear on November’s ballot, because the campaign “failed to comply with the Election Code’s strict mandate” for how nomination paperwork should be handled. That’s important because the dispute held up the mailing of ballots to Pennsylvanians who requested a mail-in ballot.  In a related ruling, the Court also rejected the request from Democrats to allow third-party groups to deliver people’s ballots with their permission. The Court said, “third-party delivery of absentee ballots is not permitted.”  In yet another plot twist in the so-called redesign of the PA State System of Higher Education, California University, Edinboro University, and Clarion University say they are affiliating in the latest moves at consolidation enabled by new legislation pushed by PASSHE Chancellor Greenstein. Greenstein and University presidents used a lot of words to praise themselves and their decision to join together, but details were thin for what this will mean for students, faculty, and staff. The faculty union said they were “surprised” by the announcement.  Last week, Jamain Stephens, a 20-year-old defensive tackle on the California University of Pennsylvania’s football team, died from a blood clot in his heart after contracting COVID-19. Kutztown University now has over 269 students and employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus as of yesterday. That’s a total of 83 cases this week. Today’s figures will be released around 4:00 pm. This week the Kutztown Area School District reported seven cases of coronavirus - the first cases at the schools. Connection? Meanwhile, the Reading Eagle reports that Kutztown University lost $3.5 million after its reopening schemes flop and about 1,000 students leave campus and get their housing money back.  The television production company Space Hero LLC, yesterday announced it was planning a global, unscripted reality show called “Space Hero.” “Space Hero” which would send the “the first globally-elected space explorer” to the International Space Station in 2023. According to the head of Space Hero LLC, Marty Pompadur, “Space Hero is the new frontier for the entertainment sector, offering the first-ever truly off-planet experience. We aim to reinvent the reality TV category by creating a multichannel experience that offers the biggest prize ever, to the biggest audience possible.” This either signals the further commercialization of space or a huge, good old fashioned terrestrial grift. Free Will has got some great stuff canned this week. Rise Up Singing is a Hazy Pale Ale with Amarillo and Cascade coming in at a sessionable 5.5% ABV I am most excited about the return of Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash. I loved this when they first released it last month. The new batch was released yesterday. Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash is a Sour Ale with blueberry, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and milk sugar. 7.5% ABV And since we did a very abbreviated show last week, I didn’t get a chance to plug Free Will’s newest IPA, In the Balance - a Hazy IPA brewed with a base of wheat and flaked oats, hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Lemondrop. Notes of lemon squares, pina colada, and cotton candy grapes. 7% ABV⁣ And, I’ve got to say, I’m becoming a little obsessed with West Chester’s Levante Brewing. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered three great beers, Hop Cartell: El Cinco - a Double IPA; Cloudy & C cumbersome Guava IPA; Intergalactic Deals Vanilla Double IPA; and, the delicious Glitter Parts Lemon Meringue IPA. Really great stuff. This week they have me considering yet another shipment. Why: Listen to these: The latest Glitter Parts, this time with Peach. Glitter Parts (Peach) is a tropically-hopped smoothie laced with fuzzy peach and rich vanilla additions. A base of honey-sweet malt is sprinkled with sticky hops, Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, and El Dorado, which lend additional fragrances of passion fruit, blended pineapple, and clementine. 7% ABV. Fruit Fetish - Baker’s Dozen: An apple cider donut infused collaboration with our friends at Highland Orchards. This tart sour ale is amplified with semi-dry apple cider grown and pressed at the orchards and finished with sugar-coated apple cider donuts baked fresh at Highland. 6.2% ABV. King of the Campfire - S’more Imperial Stout - a thick stout is rich with melting Hershey's chocolate, crunchy graham crackers, and plenty of vanilla marshmallowy goodness. *Contains Lactose*  11.7% ABV.

** Apologies in advance for the bad sound at the beginning. Looks like my new soundboard set up is not going to cut it **   Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell has held up an agreement on a new COVID-19 relief package saying that he will not pass a bill without a “liability shield” for employers. However, Republicans can’t agree with themselves and have failed to reach an agreement as expanded unemployment benefits expire today and the moratorium on evictions expired last weekend.  The Democratic National Committee passed a platform this week that they are touting as the “boldest Democratic platform in American history.” Scratch the surface of that talking point, though, and you learn that they refused to back Medicare for All; would not back marijuana legalization; refused to call for the end of qualified immunity for police officers; poo-pooed a federal jobs guarantee; passed on a comprehensive plant for implementing a Green New Deal; and, scoffed at placing conditions on aid to Israel.    Following Attorney General Barr’s House testimony, Federal troops are being withdrawn from Portland after they brutally suppressed protests since the beginning of July.The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security compiled “intelligence reports” on American journalists covering the Portland protests.    Frustrated? Want to get back to “normal” news stories? Ok, try these on for size: Baghdad Iraq hit a record-shattering 125 degrees on Tuesday. On Monday the temperature was 123 and on Wednesday it was 124. The electricity grid began to fail and two protesters were shot dead by security forces during protests over a lack of electricity and basic municipal services.    Can’t stand the heat? Well, about a quarter of Bangladesh is flooded after torrential rains have wreaked havoc on the nation that was pummeled by a cyclone just two months ago. More than a million homes are underwater, 4.7 million people are affected, and at least 54 people - mostly children - lost their lives.    One more? According to a new study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, up to 171 million people today face the risk of coastal flooding from extreme high tides and storm surges.    Pennsylvania saw an additional 860 new positive coronavirus cases, bringing the slow, but steady increase in cases to 111,078. The PA Department of Health reports a significant increase in cases among younger people, especially those between 19 and 24.    Pro-COVID-19 Republican state legislator, Russ Diamond shows his colors again by mocking Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine’s call for tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ people. Levine spoke out after dealing with escalating and harassment by Pro-COVID-19 brown shirts. Governor Wolf calls on the state legislature to censure Diamond.    Half of the universities that make up the PA State System of Higher education have reversed course, moving most classes online. Kutztown University is one of the holdouts. Students, faculty, and staff working under the banner of the Healthy Campus Bill of Rights, will be holding a town hall on Wednesday, August 5th.   In related news, KU’s president Hawkinson is planning a town hall of his own next Tuesday. It is an invite-only to select VIPs, donors, and alumni. The event is being billed as “a unique opportunity to learn about KU’s vision for the fall 2020 semester directly from university leadership,” and is being sponsored by the KU Foundation.   Now is a perfect time to request your Vote by Mail ballot. If you are PA voter go to https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/ and click “Mail-in Ballot Application” to get the process moving.    Mike Pence was in Western, PA campaigning for Trump yesterday. His campaign bus crashed into a dump truck. There’s a joke in there somewhere. Maybe...something with #dumptrump?    It was a big week in space news...like really big. NASA successfully launched the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover Thursday morning.    Perseverance will also land with a little friend. For the first time NASA will attempt to fly Ingenuity, a four pound helicopter built for the Martian atmosphere.   The two astronauts who flew the first successful Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station are expected to return to Earth on Sunday..  On Tuesday, NASA announced the crew for SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission to the ISS in Spring 2021.    And, finally, Virgin Galactic unveiled the cabin for its SpaceShipTwo, a swanky space liner that is designed to carry six space tourists to suborbital heights for the cost of a $250,000 ticket. About 600 people have already booked a seat.    Free Will Brewing releases (this and this); awesome collaboration from Levante Brewing; and, a back-to-campus in the pandemic pic from New Trail Brewing. 

We’re back in record territory when it comes to new COVID-19 cases. New cases are rising in 27 states with Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida showing some the most alarming increases. The enormous Texas Medical Center in Houston reached 100% capacity yesterday. The CDC now says that more than 20 million Americans could have contracted the virus - 10 times more than the official counts.  Unlike the initial explosion of COVID-19 cases that saw older Americans accounting for most cases, younger people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s The Voice of America is now Trump Radio.  Jamaal Bowman ousts Warhawk, Eliot Engle, in the Democratic Party Primary in New York’s 16th district which spans parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. Bowman won the nomination by 25 points.  In another huge exclamation point in growing progressive power in the Democratic Party, AOC blew out her corporate-backed challenger in New York’s 14th district by 51 points. 70% v. Michelle Caruso-Cabrera’s 19%. AOC took to Twitter following her victory to say: “Wall Street CEOs, from Goldman Sachs to Blackstone, poured in millions to defeat our grassroots campaign tonight. But their money couldn’t buy a movement. Thank you #NY14, and every person who pitched in for tonight’s victory. Here’s to speaking truth to power.” Charles Booker pulls ahead of Amy McGrath in the fight for the Democratic Party nomination to challenge Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky Senate race.  In New York’s 17th district, Mondaire Jones looks to be heading to Washington after blowing out a three-way race for the Democratic Party nomination. If his twenty-point lead holds, he’ll be one of the first openly gay black men in Congress.  Tik Tok and KPop help sink Trump’s great hope of sell-out crowds in Tulsa.  Bad news for Devin Nunes. A judge rules that he can’t sue Twitter because fake cow hurt his fufus on the platform. That’s a win for Devin Nunes’s Cow and Devin Nunes’s Mom.  There’s a giant dust cloud racing across the Atlantic.  I bet none of you had that on your 2020 bingo card? And...here we go...My Little Pony fans are kicking out the white supremacists from their fan pages. Yes. That My Little Pony.  New York Times releases a damning video that reconstructs the I-676 tear gassing and toruture the Philadelphia Police unleashed on protesters on June 1st.  The Philadelphia Police Department and the City of Philadelphia’s statements on the incident were discredited the day following the event, but the city and the police department drug their feet for 24 days before apologizing and banning the use of tear gas.  Mayor Kenney and Commissioner Outlaw were hoping that an internal investigation would have kept this in the dark.   Move over Bill De Blasio, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney still thinks his political career has any relevance.  He launched a statewide PAC that are leading many to believe that he’s gearing up for a 2022 run at the Governor’s seat.  Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza in Philly is coming down because the people defending the statue caused so much bullshit attacking black lives matter protesters that the city is removing it.  In a PA Grand Jury report released yesterday slams the PA Department of Environmental Protection for failing to protect people from the effects of fracking. The grand jury said the natural gas industry should bear the expense and risk of fracking, but the DEP “did not take sufficient action in response to the fracking boom.”  PA Stands Up held its 5th The Crisis and The Opportunity Virtual Forum last night featuring Shanna Danielson, Nikil Saval, Summer Lee, Elizabeth Fiedler, and Sara Innamorato. I got to listen in to most of the discussion. It was a great space and you can watch the recording at PA Stands Up Facebook page.   The State Senate passed on Wednesday a major plan that clears the way for the restructuring of the PA State System of Higher Education. The plan will give more power to the Board of Governors and the Chancellor to consolidate schools, eliminate programs, turn existing schools into branch campuses, create new schools, and share administrative services. And speaking of PASSHE, the state-owned universities are rolling out their “return-to-campus plans” this week. Kutztown University’s COVID-19 Public Relations campaign - I mean “Fall 2020 Planning COVID-19 Response” plan - is just loaded with goodies. Students will be required to come up with their own “Safety Plan;” students working in dorms as Community Assistants will now be responsible for the “emotional wellbeing, physical health, and social support,” of students living in their newly establish “KU Family Pod Area” (can’t make this shit up); students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to report suspicious COVID-like behavior to the administration; and, the university will use the pandemic as cover to increase the use of online teaching “even after the current COVID-19 crisis has abated.”  NASA names its headquarters after Mary Jackson, the first black woman engineer. You might remember her as one the three leads in the film Hidden Figures.  I’m on to the second book in Octavia Butler’s Earthseed series: The Parable of the Talents, published in 1998. It was more than freaky that Parable of the Talents takes place during the rise of a right-wing zealot - Senator Jarret from Texas - who whips up racism and promise to “make America great again.” I mean...those exact words.  It was Father’s Day this past weekend which means I got a chance to sample some awesome beer. The highlights from Free Will included the AMAZING Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash and of course one of my favorites, Safeword.  Free Will also came out with a new release this week: Walk Awhile With Me - English style Pub Ale brewed with a base of Maris Otter and a bit of Crystal malt, hopped with Golding and Chinook. Notes of crispy toffee, biscuit, and herbs of the earth. 4.2% ABV I was also gifted two crowler’s from McAllister Brewing Company based in North Wales - Mandated Introvert, an “IPA Sour” and Shovel Buddy, a really nice New England IPA.

Calls to defund police departments across the country gain traction. Alex Vitale, the author of The End of Policing and a professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College, has been making the media rounds making the case for divesting from policing and reinvesting in our communities. While defunding the police is freaking out failed state extremists on the right, we’ll talk a little about what defunding the police actually means. When you consider the U.S. police budget is bigger than nearly every other nation’s military budget - $115 billion - you begin to see the kind of funding we’ve channeled to police while cutting community investment.  And the statues came tumbling down. Statues of Christopher Columbus, John Colston, slave traders, and confederate soldiers were toppled all over the US this week. And, and, and...even NASCAR has outlawed the confederate flag.  Go get your shine box because all three NYPD cop unions went on a media blitz this week asking Trump to bring in the troops to stop the peaceful protesting. And they were also advertising that these white cops are willing to be Trump's fascist street fighters in order to suppress the Black Lives Matter movement and protect the Trump regime. Trump announces a return to in-person mega rallies. The first will be held in Tulsa, OK on June 19th. That’s right, Trump’s first rally since the COVID-19 quarantine is being held on Juneteenth - the holiday to commemorate the day the Emancipation Proclamation was read out in Texas to newly freed black Americans. Texas was the last Confederate state to announce the proclamation. This year is the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in which white mobs burned and looted black-owned businesses on Tulsa’s Black Wall Street. Over 6,000 black Americans were hospitalized and at least 36 people were killed. What do you think the chances are that Trump chose that city on that day so that he could offer a message of racial reconciliation? Chicago police were caught on tape lounging around U.S. Representative Bobby Rush’s district office as the streets outside the office were being looted and damaged. At least 13 officers were caught making popcorn, brewing coffee, taking naps, and lounging with feet up on desks. Oh, did I mention they did not have Rush’s permission to be in Rush’s office? He only found out after he got a notice of a break into his office. The security tape revealed the truth. Bobby Rush was co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in the 60s and had to go into hiding after Chicago police assassinated Fred Hampton. Coincidence, huh?  Activists declare an autonomous zone in a six-block area in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, declaring it a “no-cop zone.” Trump looks to be gearing up to militarize the repression, calling the activists “domestic terrorists.” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan tells Trump to “go back to your bunker,” even as she faces calls by activists for her resignation.  Remember Janus? You know, that Supreme Court decision that took aim at gutting public-sector union? Yeah, well, the guy who brought the suit, Mark Janus, now works for the right-wing Liberty Justice Center, and he’s got a new case moving through the courts. This time, Janus wants public-sector unions to make the Court’s 2018 Janus decision retroactive, forcing public-sector unions to refund millions of dollars of fair-share fees collected before the 2018 decision. The Court will decide next week if it will hear the case.  And today is the 4th anniversary of the mass shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando. 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded. The shooting stands as the deadliest attack against the LGBT community in U.S. history.   And yet another sober memorial. Medgar Evers was assassinated on this day in 1963 by a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  While large Black Lives Matter protests in Pennsylvania’s large cities made national news, this past week saw more than 100 protests in at least 61 of the state’s 67 counties.  The Pennsylvania House Legislative Black Caucus pulled a coup at the start of the session on Monday. They took over the House Speaker’s rostrum out of protest and shared their feelings on the House Republicans’ inaction on police reform since Antwon Rose was murdered by an East Pittsburgh cop. Turzai promised the Black Caucus a special session to combat police violence, but... Speaker Turzai announced he was resigning on Wednesday and while failing to follow through on his promise of a special session. However, the House Judiciary Committee will meet next week to potentially vote some of these bills out of committee. PA State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors announced plans to return to “some form of” face-to-face instruction in the fall. Chancellor Daniel Greenstein says that plans will be finalized in the coming weeks. Who’s making those plans? Based on what criteria? It would be good to know, right?  The Senate Armed Services Committee passed a bill on Wednesday that established a Space Force National Guard.  And, remember when we told you that the Space Force was seeking over 7,000 volunteers to transfer from their Air Force commission to the Space Force? Well, this week Space Force officials announced that they far exceeded expectations, More than 8,500 airmen and women volunteered to join the Space Force. Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force said the new volunteers “made the bold decision to volunteer to join the U.S. Space Force and defend the ultimate high ground.”  Speaking of the Space Force, did you check out Netflix’s Space Force? We’ll have a little breakdown.  Mahoney just finished Station Eleven, and it was freaking awesome. He’s on to rereading Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, from her Earthseed series.  Free Will Brewing joins the wave of voices speaking on in support of the protests following the police murder of George “Perry” Floyd. They said, “In the past, we have always kept our message about beer and stayed out of social and political issues. We told ourselves we should only be judged by our actions.⁣ No more being quiet.⁣” We’ll have their full statement for you.  And the people have spoken and Free Will has responded - Safeword is back in stock, ready for pick up or shipping to your door. Safeword is an Imperial IPA w/ Mangoes & Habaneros coming in at a big 10.2% ABV. It’s one of my favorites. You can get 4 packs of Safeword and several other selections - including Haymaker Mead - at their online store https://freewillbrewing.store/. 

Bloomberg takes a beating at his first Democratic Presidential Debate in Nevada. As Ryan Bort wrote in Rolling Stone, “The billionaire had his ass handed to him in his first showdown against his fellow candidates.” Elizabeth Warren led the charge right out of the gate. As Krystal Ball put it on her show, Rising, Warren “gutted him like a fish.”  The latest Nevada poll released early this morning has Bernie Sanders with a 13 point lead ahead of tomorrow’s caucuses. That puts Sanders at +14 in the Real Clear Politics average. Sanders continues to take on a frontrunner status in state and national polls. We shall see how things shake out after the debates and the results of tomorrow’s caucuses.  Roger Stone gets sentenced to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress. Trump opens the gates of Arkham Asylum, pardoning a crew of grifters and corrupt officials. Erik Prince, founder of the private military service company Blackwater (now called Xe Services) is under federal investigation for attempting to modify two crop-dusting planes into attack aircraft, according to new reporting in the Intercept.  The Keystone Progress Summit is coming up! It will be held on March 6 and March 7 in Philadelphia.  You can find a link for your tickets in today’s show notes.   Democratic Politics in Allegheny County went nuclear this past weekend and the fallout of embarrassing media stories is still happening.  The Allegheny County Democratic Committee voted to endorse trump loving Democrat Heather Kass over labor organizer and disability rights advocate Jessica Benham.  The committee also snubbed Summer Lee for an oil and gas and building trades backed mouthpiece.  Sean explains the Lindy Li saga that unfolded over the past week and why he was featured in Chris Brennan’s Clout blog. The tensions between pro-fossil fuel unions in the Building Trades and the climate crisis is coming to a head, especially in Western PA.  Leaders of APSCUF, the union representing faculty at the PA State System of Higher Education, were caught flat-footed as the Chancellor went public with warnings of major structural changes at state system schools. In a letter to University presidents, a blog post and media releases, Chancellor Greenstein seemed to say the ax is coming. Apparently, he forgot to tell his new friends in APSCUF what he was planning to do.  Next week, a group of faculty, staff, and students will be holding a town hall to build on the newly launched Healthy Campus Bill of Rights.  We did not get into LV Podcast Festival. :-( As the Verge reported this week, a new deepfake video posted by TheFakening puts Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the pilot episode of the original Star Trek, “The Cage” “In this particular AI-powered face swap, Bezos plays a Talosian alien with a huge bald head, while Musk plays Captain Christopher Pike (who is the captain of the USS Enterprise before James T. Kirk).” Loved it.  Speaking of Star Trek, Picard is still rocking it.  And speaking of Elon Musk, Tesla just got environmental waivers to cut down a forest outside Berlin, Germany to build a new Gigafactory producing batteries for Tesla cars.  Kutztown University launches a new eSports arena. Free Will Brewing has some amazing releases coming out this weekend: Saturday - Coconut Chocolate Sharing Size - Imperial Oatmeal Stout with coconut, chocolate, and milk sugar. Chocolate Caramel Cookie Sharing Size - Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Chocolate, Caramel, Graham Cracker, and Milk Sugar. Sunday - Benjamin 1832 - Cream Ale brewed with flaked maize and hopped with Mandarina Bavaria.

The Senate is expected to vote to reject calling witnesses in the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump. That is almost certain now that key GOP Senator Lamar Alexander says he will not vote to include new evidence in the Senate trial. That pretty allows always-pretending-to-be-moderate Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkoski a virtually cost-free way to vote for witnesses without placing Trump in any real difficulty.  Bernie Sanders is now on top in Iowa polls. The Real Clear Politics average shows Sanders 3.6 points above Biden, followed by Buttigieg in third and Warren falling to fourth. The Iowa Caucuses will be held on Monday. (Check out the full calendar) Sanders is also at the top of the New Hampshire polls, 9.5 points above Biden’s second place. In other early voting states, Biden is up 5.7 points above Bernie in Nevada and 17.4 points in South Carolina. The biggest contest will be on Super Tuesday, March 3rd. The Pennsylvania primary isn’t until April 28th. Looks like the Democratic Party establishment is getting really nervous as they unleash waves of attack ads against Bernie Sanders just a few days before the Iowa caucuses. The Democratic super PAC Democratic Majority for Israel was scheduled to run negative ads beginning Wednesday. In response, the Sanders campaign raised more than $1.3 million in one day. And true to that pattern, AOC has received over one million dollars in small contributions in the month since the DCCC attacked her for not paying her dues.  Biden’s out swinging at Bernie, pulling out the devastating critique that Sanders is not a Democrat. Oh. That hurts.  Another billionaire-backed anti-union front group is making its way into Pennsylvania.  This time it’s the Freedom Foundation and, well, they gave away their playbook in a 5-minute press conference. A new package of bills to reform the PA State System of Higher Education was unveiled last week by House Education Committee Chairman Curt Sonney (R-Erie) and Reps. Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Franklin/Fulton) and Meghan Schroeder (R-Bucks). They were joined by Chancellor Daniel Greenstein and chair of the State System's Board of Governors Cynthia Shapira. They claimed the package of bills is “designed to equip the State System with the reforms necessary to meet its responsibility of providing a high-quality, affordable post-secondary educational pathway.” The bills are designed to alter Act 188 - the bill that gave birth to the State System.  Among the reforms is House Bill 2171 which would allow the Board of Governors to close individual universities. House Bill 2172 would grant PASSHE “sovereign immunity,” protecting the system from lawsuits from...closing universities maybe?  APSCUF’s President delivers remarks to the Board of Governors. Warns of people who may be “harboring resentments...waiting to pounce on failure.” We’ll unpack that a bit. Kutztown University administration issues statement to faculty saying that there was a “misunderstanding” with the faculty union. KU President said that the administration is not going to cut 63 faculty members. Well...actually…they said they were not “contemplating retrenchment.” What they are doing is “rightsizing our workforce through attrition and by limiting hiring.” That was the official statement. According to union sources, the administration said they wanted to avoid retrenchment, but they would need the union’s help in cutting adjunct faculty or reducing their teaching load to part-time. Can you feel the warmth?  And Lock Haven University joins Kutztown University in the moldy building spotlight.  Space Force rips off Star Trek logo, laying the groundwork for the Terran Empire of Star Trek Discovery’s Mirror Universe to take hold right here in ‘Merica. George Takai took to the pages of the Washington Post to give voice to Star Trek fans everywhere who looked to the Star Trek university as a space of post-capitalist hope.  Big releases from Free Will this week: Chocolate Hazelnut C.O.B. - Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale with Chocolate and Hazelnut. White Chocolate Cinnamon Latte C.O.B. - Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale with White Chocolate, Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Milk Sugar. And, Released this past Thursday, Scrambled Pron: Episode 2 - Hazy IPA brewed with flaked oats and barley, hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe, and Calypso then fermented with mango, red currant, and vanilla.

As Trump ramps up tensions in Iran, this latest archive episode of Out d'Coup podcast returns to the rise of Indivisible, the Women's March, and DSA as a reminder that the political culture has changed since the lead up to the last war. This time, the left is already organizing and is on cusp of nominating a transformational candidate for president.  Here's the original show notes from this archive edition of Out d'Coup podcast from January 17, 2017: It’s Friday, January 27, 2017. I am Kevin Mahoney, editor and founder of Raging Chicken Press and Raging Chicken Media. Each week I talk to our Capitol muckraker-in-chief, Sean Kitchen, about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. One week out from the inauguration of the Trump Organization and the Doomsday Clock has moved 30 seconds closer to midnight according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Looking questionable if Democrats really have the spine to seriously resist. The Trump organization continues to crackdown on journalists as it gets ready to launch State Run Trump Media. Meanwhile people are not waiting around as millions of people take to the streets and STAY THERE in the days following the inauguration. Meanwhile here in Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers pushing a bill that would punish Sanctuary Cities and Counties. The Chancellor of the PA State System of Higher Education looking to deepen the austerity by closing or merging universities. Thousands take to the streets in Philadelphia to protest the GOP retreat. It’s been quite a week. All that and more on today’s show. Remember folks, we need you to help keep progressive, activist media going strong. Become a member of Raging Chicken for as little at $5/month! Simply go to www.patreon.com/rcpress. Or, if you are not ready to become a member, you can make a one-time donation by clicking “Donate.” We are digging in for 2017 and Trumplandia. We need you - the progressive community - to help us deepen pull-no-punches, progressive media that will hold power accountable.   

Joe Biden’s Revisionist History Tour kicked off in Philadelphia this weekend. Biden goes all in on a middle of the road climate policy? Really? How do you cut a deal with a climate crisis, Joe? Welcome to the gates of Gilead. Extreme abortion bans set the stage for a Supreme Court challenge to Roe v. Wade. 8 states now have passed anti-abortion bills this year, the worst, of course, being this week's bans in Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. Elizabeth Warren announces one of the most aggressive plan to defend reproductive rights. If you have not read Rebecca Traister’s article in New York Magazine this past week, do yourself a favor and read it. Her piece “Our Fury Over Abortion Was Dismissed for Decades As Hysteria,” resonates on so many levels. Your anger is an asset and when a political party tells you otherwise, there is a problem with the party. What do you do after you say the president is the biggest threat to American democracy? You fight hard for robocall legislation, of course. Really, Bill de Blasio? Good luck to you and your pals from Montana and Colorado. Beto O’Rourke will certainly be your friend. Where’s the ball? Where’s the ball? 23 Democrats now in the race. AOC gives her staff 3 months of paid parental leave. I would love to be a fly on the wall of Congress right now. While we were away, noted Islamophobe Stephanie Borowicz was caught taking selfies with white-nationalists from the American Guard. The Pennsylvania House passed another unconstitutional abortion ban. This time outlawing abortion of fetuses that may have down syndrome. Fifteen Democrats reached across the aisle to support this bill and even though this bill cleared the House, it passed with the lowest vote total an abortion ban has had in decades. And for the legislators who voted against the bill, well, they got an email from Pennsylvanians for Human Life that compared their votes to Hitler and the Holocaust. APSCUF and PA State System approve an early retirement plan outside of the contract. They say this is what “working together” looks like. The public chumminess leaves out the fact that the plan allows for an expansion of the part-time faculty cap. Martin Tower, the former international headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, is no more. The building was imploded on May 19th. I’ll be working the polls in tomorrow’s PA primary election. I’m out there for One Pennridge for the Pennridge School Board election. The team of Kelley Peloquin, Peter Yarnell, Kyle Esposito, Lisa Wilson, and Alex Rajan are the folks to pull the lever for on Tuesday - that’s tomorrow. A new study warns that unless we start setting rules now, future plans to mine the solar system could destroy our little corner of the Milky Way. The study calls for designating 85% of our solar system as protected wilderness. Dogfish Head Brewery merging with Sam Adams. What we were up to during our break.

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern moves to ban all assault rifles and automatic or semi-automatic weapons. Just like that Vulcan and Moloch are thrown back to the underworld. #EggBoy becomes global hero for egging fascist Australian politician, Fraser Anning. And, predictably, liberal guardians of civility decide to discipline #EggBoy and “both-sides” the issue. Wisconsin Republican’s plan to strip power of incoming Democratic governor shot down as unconstitutional. The flooding in Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa in the aftermath of the latest “Bomb Cyclone” should be shaking us awake about our climate future. We have less than 12 years now folks. Some union leaders from the AFL-CIO come out hard against the Green New Deal and right-wing and corporate media eats it up. PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale hosted a public hearing on Penn State’s campus on the impacts of climate change on the state. DePasquale said, “Every time there’s a disaster in Pennsylvania, it’s a hit to the state’s taxpayers, as opposed to if we were able to do something beforehand to mitigate this.” A report will be forthcoming. Democratic Presidential hopeful former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper makes his primetime campaign debut by telling the world about the time he went to go see Deep Throat with this mom. Then in his recovery, he asks why women candidates aren’t asked if they plan on choosing a male running-mate. Bernie’s campaign makes history as campaign staffers form a union! Wooo. Bernie goes public with his support and uses the moment to advocate for more unionization across the country. Speaking of moms, Devin Nunes is not happy with his Twitter mom, so he’s going to sue her. And her cow. When Devin Nunes’ Cow tweeted, “Devin’s boots are full of manure. “He’s udder-ly worthless and it’s pasture time to mooove him to prison.” Beto O’Rourke brings in some big fundraising numbers, $6.1 million. He’s a little vague on the details, though. Pennsylvania House Republicans failed at fast-tracking an anti-union bill through the chamber this week and it was a call for a roll call vote that killed it, for now. SEIU Healthcare PA, PASNAP and the Coalition of Nurses were in the capitol on Wednesday to lobby for safe patient ratios in hospitals across the state PA Promise Rally in the Capitol next Wednesday. The PA Promise is legislation that would bring tuition-free college to the PA State System of Higher Education. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center held its annual Budget Summit this week. Vice President’s baby, the National Space Council, will be pushing hard to make the June 2020 launch date to return humans to the moon. Better bring the Preparation H because NASA researchers finding that the longer astronauts spend in space, the more like they are to reactivate the herpes virus. Galactic capitalists getting really excited about turning the eighth continent, the Moon, into a mining and rocket fuel operation. For real. Toyota is getting tapped by Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency to develop a big-ass, off-road lunar rover. As expected, Boeing is delaying the test launch of its crew capsule from April to August. Known millennial hater, Mark Price, is popping up in some odd places doing some pithy subtweeting. This Sunday, Free Will is hosting The March Meltdown 5K from 10 am - 1 pm. The Meltdown begins and ends at Free Will Brewing Company in Perkasie, PA. This unique 5k race takes place on the scenic trails in and around Perkasie and along the East Branch of the Perkiomen Creek. The Meltdown is open to runners and walkers of all ages, but you must be 21 or older (with a valid ID) to get your free craft brew from Free Will. And Free Will releases Holographic Universe tomorrow, March 23 - Sour Ale with boysenberry, plum, sweet basil, and milk sugar (6.4%) is available in cans and on draft this Saturday, March 23rd in both Perkasie and Peddler’s Village taprooms!

In this episode, our host Kristin Wolff talks with Dr. Kate Akers, who, after having guided the development of KY’s education and workforce data efforts for six years, and leading the evolution of the state’s P20W Data Collaborative project into what is now the KY Center for Statistics, will be heading to Harrisburg, PA to become the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Education and Business Intelligence with the PA State System of Higher Education. When KY, a partner in the US Department of Labor’s Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI), launched its longitudinal data effort, it wanted to improve research and policy. Building on what had been a strong data culture, KY’s education and workforce stakeholders wanted to move beyond just counting. Less than a decade later, a suite of report cards, dashboards, and a slate of ongoing research products and questions were in play, and Kate and her team were travelling across the state helping people understand what data was available and how to use it to make better decisions. It’s an amazing story. Have a listen. For more information: * KY Center for Statistics: https://kystats.ky.gov/ * KY Center for Statistics Press Kit: https://kystats.ky.gov/News/Media * Key Reports (PFD and interactive): https://kystats.ky.gov/Reports/Reports * Labor Market Report: https://kystats.ky.gov/KYLMI Social: https://twitter.com/kystats https://twitter.com/KyEdWorkforce _______   Disclaimer: This podcast was produced by Social Policy Research and Workforce 180 with support from the US Department of Labor. The views expressed are those of the speakers and should not be attributed to the US Department of Labor or other public agencies (state, federal, or local). Mentions of trade names, commercial products or organizations does not imply endorsement of same by the US Government or representatives.

From Making Better Work Podcast: In this episode, our host Kristin Wolff talks with Dr. Kate Akers, who, after having guided the development of KY’s education and workforce data efforts for six years, and leading the evolution of the state’s P20W Data Collaborative project into what is now the KY Center for Statistics, will be heading to Harrisburg, PA to become the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Education and Business Intelligence with the PA State System of Higher Education.

Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about his new report, released jointly with the PA Budget and Policy Center, about institutions of higher education promoting economic mobility for Pennsylvania students – most specifically the schools that are part of the PA State System of higher Education. Find the new report here: http://bit.ly/2onZP6y

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the strike by faculty members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which began this week after months of negotiations have failed to result in a new contract.