Brazil fishermen turn to mobile app to combat pollution scourge

Agence France-Presse
August 20, 2024 

Guanabara Bay, a natural port of about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), battles pollution not only from visiting vessels and oil rig accidents, but also runoff from cities and old ships abandoned in its waters (Pablo PORCIUNCULA/AFP)

Brazilian activist and fisherman Alexandre Anderson uses one hand to steer his boat, and the other to film an oil stain spreading over Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay.

He will upload the video to an app developed to expose environmental damage in the iconic bay crucial for tourism and the fishing industry, but plagued by spills of oil, chemicals and untreated wastewater.

Guanabara Bay, a natural port of about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), battles pollution not only from visiting vessels and oil rig accidents, but also from old ships abandoned in its waters and runoff from cities.

Frustrated with what they see as a lack of official response, the bay's fishermen decided to take matters into their own hands, and with the backing of non-governmental organization 350.org, had an app developed for them.

"We used to take pictures with our cell phone or a camera," but without exact geolocation data, it was of little use, Anderson -- president of the bay's Ahomar fishermen's association -- told AFP as he filmed a steady stream of wastewater being dumped from a ship.

The app, however, "gives me the precise" data with which to file a complaint, anonymously.

The information is verified by a moderator and published on a dedicated website, after which it is reported to authorities such as the country's Ibama environmental regulator or Brazil's navy, which patrols the bay.

Every time he monitors the dark waters for just a few hours, Anderson encounters several illegal spills, he says.

Within three weeks of the app launching on July 26, 20 complaints were posted on the web, and more than 100 others are under analysis, according to administrators.


- 'Practically' no more sea bass or hake -

"The inspection agencies always claimed they don't have the tools to deal with complaints," said Paulo Barone, who belongs to another local fishermen's association.

But with this new app, he said, the authorities "can no longer deny or ignore" the complaints.

For 350.org's Brazil coordinator Luiz Afonso Rosario, artisanal fishermen have been on the "front lines" for too long.

"Oil and gas companies, in addition to polluting the waters that are a source of food, income and leisure for thousands of families, aggravate the climate crisis... by providing fossil fuels that are the main cause of global warming," he said.

Fishermen were particularly hard hit by a spill in 2000 that saw 1.3 million liters of oil dumped into the bay from a Petrobras refinery.

"That ended the fishing. You practically don't find any sea bass (or) hake anymore," said Roberto Marques Resende, who still fishes in the region.

For some, the battle is about more than even subsistence.

Anderson, who has been standing up to the petrochemical industry for years, says he has been the target of threats and attacks for years and hopes that the app will help ensure that "those responsible are really punished."

"Only then will we solve these problems," he said.

Pakistan's Sindh orders inquiry into monsoon child brides

Agence France-Presse
August 20, 2024 

Members of the NGO Sujag Sansar put on a performance to create awareness of underage marriages in Sindh province on August 4. AFP's report on the rise in child brides has prompted an investigation by the provincial government (Asif HASSAN/AFP)

A Pakistan provincial government has ordered an inquiry into child marriages in areas affected by floods in 2022 following an exclusive AFP story on the subject.

Pakistan's high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022 rights workers warned that such weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.

In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages hard hit by the floods in Sindh province.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry into the matter, his spokesman Rasheed Channa told AFP.

"The Chief Minister wants to understand the social impact of the rains on the people of this area. After the report is submitted, he will visit the area and generate recommendations.

"My personal opinion is that there has always been this tradition of early marriages, but the floods have made people very desperate."

In the village of Khan Mohammad Mallah, 45 underage girls have been married since last year's monsoon rains -- 15 of them in May and June this year, the NGO Sujag Sansar told AFP.

The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.

"This has led to a new trend of 'monsoon brides'," said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.


Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.

"Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area," 65-year-old village elder Mai Hajani told AFP.

Protesters tear down security fence, thousands march outside Democratic National Convention

August 19, 2024 4:31 PMupdate August 19, 2024 
By Associated Press

Police break up a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

chicago —

Dozens of protesters broke through a security fence near the site of the Democratic National Convention on its opening day Monday as thousands took to the streets to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza.

Families with babies in strollers, students, elected leaders and others holding signs and flags joined the march to the United Center, where the convention is being held, to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. As the larger group marched peacefully, a few dozen who broke away tore down pieces of the security fence.

Several protesters who had managed to get through the fence were detained and handcuffed by the police. Officers put on gas masks as some protesters tried to bring down a second fence set up in front of police. Authorities said the inner security perimeter surrounding the convention site was not breached and there was no threat to those attending the convention.

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said some of the protesters who took down the fence threw water bottles and other items at police. Police de-escalated the situation without using their batons or chemicals, he said.

A protester confronts police during a demonstration at the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

"When you have people infiltrate a crowd and they want to commit acts of violence, vandalism, we are going to stop them," said Snelling, who walked in a group of officers ahead of the protesters Monday. "We are not going to tolerate anyone who is going to vandalize things in our city."

Members of the crowd chanted "End the occupation now" and then "The whole world is watching!" just as anti-Vietnam War protesters did during the infamous 1968 convention in Chicago when police clashed with protesters on live television. Families gathered on their porches and outside their doors as protesters marched by. Some children wore keffiyeh, blew bubbles or held "free fist bumps" signs.

The march happened just as President Joe Biden, who has been the target of intense criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, including the marchers, was doing a walk-through of the largely empty United Center. Biden was scheduled to address the party in the evening.

"Biden, you can't hide. We charge you with genocide," the marchers chanted amid the beating of drums. They also referred to him as "Genocide Joe" and lodged similar chants at Vice President Kamala Harris.

Protesters gather for a march to the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

'You got to do something'

Protesters said their plans have not changed since Biden left the race and the party quickly rallied behind Harris, who will formally accept the Democratic nomination this week. Activists said they were ready to amplify their progressive message before the nation's top Democratic leaders.

"People are dying," said Cameron Benrud, 25, a high school special education teacher from Minneapolis. He drove five hours to attend the rally at Union Park to call on Democratic officials to halt funding to Israel.

"I'm from little old Minnesota, and you feel kind of powerless. ... You got to do something," he said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said authorities were well prepared. "The city of Chicago is really good at things like this," he told a news conference. "We are ready."

Organizers had hoped at least 20,000 people would take part in Monday's rally and march, but it appeared that only a few thousand were present, though city officials declined to give a crowd estimate.

A protester yells during a demonstration before a march to the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

"We're proud of the turnout, especially considering the degree of the repression from the city," said organizer Faayani Aboma Mijana.

The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the nation, and buses were bringing activists from all over the country.

Taylor Cook, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, traveled from Atlanta for the march. Cook said the group was pushing all Democrats to call for an end to aid to Israel, with a particular focus on Harris.

"We're saying to Kamala, she has been complicit in this. People think it's just Joe Biden, but she is vice president," Cook said. "So we're saying, you need to stop if you want our vote."

Medea Benjamin, who traveled to Chicago from Washington, D.C., with a women-led group of protesters calling for peace, said she was shocked that the Biden administration recently approved an additional $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel.

"There's an incredible discrepancy in what people are calling for in this country and what the administration is doing," she said ahead of the rally in Union Park. "We're so disgusted by this."

Pro-Palestinian supporters descended on the park, west of the Loop business district, for the rally.

Prior to the march, independent presidential candidate Cornel West addressed the crowd, which welcomed him with cheers.

"This is not about some Machiavellian politics or some utilitarian calculation about an election," he yelled into a microphone. "This is about morality. This is about spirituality."

Counterprotesters arrive at Union Park before a march to the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

Pro-Israel supporters

Around 40 pro-Israel supporters walked around the park during the rally. Remaining mostly silent while waving Israeli flags, they were accompanied by about 20 police officers on bicycles. Although tensions flared at times, there were no physical altercations.

Josh Weiner, a co-founder of Chicago Jewish Alliance who walked with the pro-Israel group, said their intent was to "make our presence felt." He said the group applied for permits that were not approved by the city.

"The pro-Palestine protesters have gotten multiple permits, including a march, which seems to be a little bit weighted on one side," Weiner said.

Snelling praised police and march organizers for a peaceful Sunday night protest calling for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights and an end to the war in Gaza. Chicago police said two people were arrested on misdemeanor charges of resisting police and damaging property.

Some businesses boarded up their windows as a precaution, and county courts said they would open more space in case of mass arrests. Chicago police say officers have undergone extensive training on constitutional policing and de-escalation tactics.

Coalition activists and the city have been at odds over the location of the protests and other logistics. A judge sided with the city over an approximately 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) march route, which organizers argued was not big enough for the expected crowds.

Not a single speaker or spectator showed up to a speakers' stage offered by city officials near the United Center. Eight groups with progressive agendas had signed up for 45-minute speaking slots on Monday. On other days, some conservative groups, including the Illinois Policy Institute think tank, have plans to speak.

Also Monday, the Philadelphia-based Poor People's Army, which advocates for economic justice, planned to set up at Humboldt Park on the city's northwest side to feature events with third-party presidential candidates Jill Stein and West, plus a 5-kilometer march.

FOX FINDS COMMUNISTS UNDER THE BUSHEL 

Communist activist slams Dems for 'deceptive' messaging at DNC: 'They need votes'

Thousands of left-wing protesters descend on Chicago as DNC kicks off

By Emma Colton , Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published August 19, 2024 8:44pm EDT


Anti-Israel protesters gather outside DNC

Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the Democratic National Convention to protest the party's perceived support for the alleged genocide of the Palestinian people.

CHICAGO — Communist protesters outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago slammed Democrats' message of "unity" this week, saying it's a narrative commonly revived by party leaders when they "need votes."

"They ask for unity when they need votes. But when you're struggling, when you can't pay rent, you know, it's hard to afford groceries, then there's no unity. Then you're on your own. Then they're all just like, 'It's your fault. You don't make enough money, you're just poor and dumb or whatever.' Then there's no talk of unity," a co-founder of the Revolutionary Communists of America told Fox News Digital in an interview outside the United Center.

"And then when they need votes and just get rich off their career in politics, then there's unity. So, completely false, completely deceptive. Our task is to kind of expose that to everyone," he continued.

Thousands of protesters descended on Chicago this week to rail against the Biden administration's handling of the war in the Middle East and its support of Israel after Hamas' attack on the nation last year. Protesters ranging from socialist, feminist, communist and environmental groups gathered at Union Park on Monday morning, which is located just blocks from the DNC's campus, before marching in the city.

The DNC kicks off in earnest Monday evening, when it will spotlight high-level Democrats in speeches, including President Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Revolutionary Communists of America told Fox Digital that they anticipate Biden's speech on Monday evening will be riddled with "lies and deception," noting he's unsure if Democrats overall can quell the war in the Middle East.

"We expect just empty phrases, lip service, lies and deception," the communist activists continued.

"We don't, you know, necessarily believe the Democrats are capable of doing anything for the Palestinian people," the group's co-founder added.

Communist protesters are shown outside the DNC in Chicago. (Fox Digital)

Signs reading "Democrats fund the genocide of Palestinians" and "End U.S. aid to Israel" dominated the protest on Monday as dozens of left-wing groups joined the "March on the DNC 2024." The protest demands U.S. leaders cut all funding to Israel as well as "Immigrant Rights and Legalization for All!" "Defend LGBTQIA+ & Reproductive Rights!" and "Stop police crimes! Community control of the police now!" according to the group's website.


Co-founder of the Revolutionary Communists of America speaks to Fox Digital in Chicago. (Fox Digital)

"The Democratic Party is complicit in the surging right-wing attacks on women, workers, and the LGBTQ+ community. In spite of their lip service to the women’s and LGBTQ+ movements, the Democratic Party has not backed their words with actions," the protest website reads.

A demonstrator is led away by police outside the United Center where the DNC is being held in Chicago on Aug. 19 2024. (Fox News Digital)

The protests escalated Monday as the convention center began to fill with high-profile elected officials, delegates and supporters of the Harris-Walz ticket. Protesters managed to dismantle at least three panels of fencing surrounding the convention early Monday evening before police detained a handful of protesters.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Prime-Time Speech Reflects Long March To Mainstream

The New York congresswoman shook the establishment when she ousted a senior Democrat but has since become a progressive inside player.

By Daniel Marans and
Kevin Robillard
Aug 19, 2024,

By handing her a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night, the Democratic Party has fully embraced New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — a still-occasional insurgent against the party’s leadership who opened her career with the shocking ouster of an incumbent.

It was not even Ocasio-Cortez’s idea to speak at the convention, according to a senior aide. The convention organizers contacted her about the opportunity and gave her a prime-time spot better than the slot given to New York’s governor. And she used it to deliver a stemwinder, generating some of the loudest cheers of the convention’s first night and leaving the crowd chanting “A-O-C” as she walked off the stage.

“In Kamala Harris, we have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class because she is from the middle class,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The embrace does not mean Ocasio-Cortez’s disagreements with senior Democrats have wholly disappeared. And it definitely does not mean the Democratic Party establishment fully embraces Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive agenda.

But it does mean the two sides have decided that working together can benefit them both. The Democratic Party can use Ocasio-Cortez’s best-in-class communications skills and massive social media footprint to talk to finicky and hard-to-reach young voters, and Ocasio-Cortez can have more influence over the party’s agenda when she has a strong working relationship with its leaders.

Ocasio-Cortez’s speech made a left-leaning, populist case for Harris, focusing on how she will stand up to large corporations and tearing into Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“We know Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends,” she said. “And I, for one, am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day.”

She also made the first mention of the conflict in Gaza from the convention stage, saying Harris was “working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bringing the hostages home.”

Once an outsider, AOC now has the entire dnc hall chanting her name. pic.twitter.com/uVTHiyRiWq— Daniel Marans (@danielmarans) August 20, 2024

It is hard to overstate how difficult it would be to imagine Ocasio-Cortez landing Monday’s speaking spot when she first won her seat. Ocasio-Cortez, who is still just 34 years old, was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she defeated Rep. Joe Crowley, then the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, to represent a bright-blue seat covering portions of the Bronx and Queens during the 2018 midterm elections.

“Six years ago, I was taking omelette orders as a waitress in New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the opening of her speech.

Ocasio-Cortez, who stumped for other progressive primary challengers and joined a climate action sit-in on her first day in Congress at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, had a splashy — and often contentious — first term in office. She quickly became one of the most famous members of Congress, with a massive social media presence and digital fundraising footprint.

Republicans villainized her relentlessly in conservative media, treating the New York congresswoman as evidence of Democrats’ radicalism. And fellow Democrats worried they’d be next on the left’s primary list. Ocasio-Cortez teamed up with other progressives of color to form the “Squad,” establishing themselves as the party’s left flank and embracing policies that terrified moderates, including abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, supporting Medicare-for-All and restricting weapons transfers to Israel.

It’s those progressive views that still lead many Democrats in swing districts to keep their distance from Ocasio-Cortez. Asked about her speaking slot, Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a moderate, largely ducked the question.

“We have a very diverse and big caucus from all over the country. I actually think that’s one thing that makes the Democratic caucus so strong, because we have folks who share our values in wanting to govern and move our country forward,” DelBene said. “You’re going to be hearing a lot of folks speaking tonight.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s pragmatism has been on display since the 2020 presidential election, however.

After endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and giving his campaign a critical boost, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Joe Biden in the general election in exchange for influence over his agenda. Biden championed climate policy with his Inflation Reduction Act; this past Earth Day, Ocasio-Cortez joined Biden at an event touting the creation of the American Climate Corps, a passion project of progressive climate activists with whom Ocasio-Cortez is aligned.

She continued backing Biden, even sticking with him when many other Democrats pushed him to exit the presidential race, despite breaking with him over his unflinching support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the president of youth vote group NextGen America, told HuffPost that handing a prime speaking slot to Ocasio-Cortez showed the party was taking young voters and the progressive policies they support seriously.

“We are seeing young people fully invested in and taken seriously by the Democratic Party and understood that they are not just nice to have as a voting bloc, but a requirement to win,” Ramirez said. “And I think that you are also seeing the Democratic Party respond to their policy demands.”

'Trump's a scab' chants ring out as UAW chief Shawn Fain rips former president

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
August 20, 2024 

United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)


The president of the United Auto Workers used his appearance onstage during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday to blast Republican nominee Donald Trump as a union-buster who "laughs about firing workers who go on strike."

About halfway through his remarks, Shawn Fain removed his jacket to reveal a shirt emblazoned with the words, "Trump Is a Scab"—a line that the DNC audience chanted throughout the UAW president's speech as he condemned the GOP nominee's anti-worker record and praised Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

"For the UAW and for working-class people everywhere, this election comes down to one question: Which side are you on?" said Fain. "On one side, we have Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the working class. On the other side, we have Trump and [Republican Sen.] JD Vance, two lap dogs for the billionaire class who only serve themselves."

"So for us in the labor movement, it's real simple," he continued. "Kamala Harris is one of us, she's a fighter for the working class. And Donald Trump is a scab."


Watch Fain's full speech:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Fain also used his national platform to shout out members of his union who launched a strike at Cornell University late Sunday as well as Stellantis workers who are threatening to walk off the job as the automaker reneges on its contract commitments.

"The UAW will take whatever action necessary at Stellantis or any other corporation to stand up and hold corporate America accountable," Fain said Monday night. "And when the UAW stands up, we know who stands with us and who stands against us. Donald Trump laughs about firing workers who go on strike. And Kamala Harris stands shoulder-to-shoulder with workers when they're on strike."

Last week, the UAW filed federal labor charges against Trump and billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the former president praised the world's richest man for terminating striking workers.

"When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean," Fain said at the time.

Fain was one of a number of union leaders who took the stage on the first night of the Democratic convention. Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler; Service Employees International Union president April Verrett; and Communications Workers of America president Claude Cummings also made an appearance in Chicago.

"This election is about two economic visions," Shuler said in her remarks from the DNC stage. "One, where families live paycheck-to-paycheck, where people have no right to join a union: a CEO's dream, but a worker's nightmare."

"Or," Shuler continued, "an opportunity economy, where we lower the costs of groceries, prescriptions, and housing; where we go after Big Pharma, corporate landlords, and price gougers; where there's no such thing as a man's job or a woman's job or, like Donald Trump would say, a black job. Just a good, union job."

A new generation of protesters takes on DNC in Chicago

With the DNC back in Chicago, thousands are once again protesting. Mark Strassmann spoke with new organizers and those who took part in the infamous 1968 demonstrations about what they expect to see this year.

Maxine Waters highlights historic nature of Harris’s candidacy at DNC

Waters compares Harris to famous civil rights and voting activist Fannie Lou Hamer

US Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA., speaking during the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)


By Clara Harter | charter@scng.com
UPDATED: August 19,  2024

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters took to the DNC stage on Monday, Aug. 19, to cheer on Vice President Kamala Harris and recognize her place at the forefront of America’s civil rights and women’s rights movements.

Harris is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. If she wins in November, she will became America’s first female head of state.

In a three-minute address Waters, a civil rights and women’s rights champion, compared Harris to the Black activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

Waters recalled being just 22 years old when Fannie Lou Hamer arrived at the 1964 DNC in Atlantic City and asked that a group of Black delegates from Mississippi be seated in place of the state’s all-white delegation.

“She (Hamer) told the people in the room about the violence she suffered at the hands of white police because she, a black woman, had demanded her right to vote,” said Waters. “When she finished, she asked the country a simple but profound question, ‘Is this America?’”

Although Hamer’s delegation was turned away in 1964, she made history when she became part of the Mississippi delegation to the 1968 DNC.

“Now, here we are, 60 years later, at another Democratic convention with Kamala Harris as our party’s nominee,” said Waters. “I know there is no better leader to marshal us into the future.”

Waters said that Hamer is one of Harris’s personal heroes, adding that if Harris becomes president in November, “We can ask ourselves ‘is this America?’ And we will be able to say loudly and proudly ‘You’re damn right it is’.”

At 86, Waters is one of the oldest and most experienced members of Congress and a trailblazer in her own right.

Waters was the first female and first African American Chair of the House Financial Services Committee. She is also a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Once one of the loudest voices calling for Biden to remain in the race, Waters has quickly become a fierce champion for Harris and recently hosted an event in Los Angeles to rally Black voters in support of the vice president.

Voices

As the Democratic convention begins, this is why Kamala and Coach Walz are a runaway train

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Absent an unforeseen catastrophe, and God knows this election has been full of surprises, the upcoming election should be historic, writes John Casey.

John Casey
August 19 2024 

THE ADVOCATE

I like to think I’m not superstitious, but I am when it comes to important things, so I took great pains to knock on all the wood I could find before I sat down to write this. But as the Democraticnvention starts this week in Chicago, I can’t help but be optimistic about what the upcoming election holds for the party’s two top stars.

I’ve been connecting the dots for the last few days about the prospects of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and how they will fare in November, and the best analogy I can come up with is that they are a runaway train — but in a good way

Let’s connect those dots. First, Donald Trump is a very bad candidate, full of negativity and doom, with no message, with no organized support from varied constituencies, with a criminal and civil record of guilty verdicts, and — and this is most important — people have had it with him. They are exhausted. To have him everywhere, all the time, for the next four years? No, thank you.

Trump was always a bad candidate from the minute he came down that escalator in 2015. But at the time, to some, he was a breath of fresh air. He ended up being nominated in a plurality of candidates — he did not have a majority.

Then he went up against Hillary Clinton. She had been omnipresent for almost 25 years in 2016, and Americans were exhausted with all the Clinton drama. They looked at Trump and said,“ Why not?” Enough of them, anyway, to squeak out victories for Trump in enough battleground states. Enough of Clinton, they said. But there weren’t enough of them for Trump to win the popular vote. Clinton beat Trump by almost 3 million votes.

Trump lost the midterms in 2018, lost the presidential election in 2020, with Trump at the helm of the party in the 2022 midterms, Democrats held the Senate and lost seats in the House. Trump had never been a winner. Never. And he’s just gotten worse the longer he’s been around.

In 2024, Trump’s only advantage was being three years younger than Joe Biden and being more…mmm…demonstrative. President Biden’s age was always the Democrats' biggest liability. Not only because he looked and sounded much older than he did in 2020, and age always wins. Biden’s age prevented the Democrats' message from getting through. After the debate, there was no chance that the message would ever get through. Biden equals old. That was the only message.

That was an easy liability for Trump to go up against because Trump has never really had any strong messages, just a list of grievances. Trump was coasting with Biden on the other side. Every speech, word, and walk by Biden was the news of the day. Trump didn’t have to do anything but look like he was healthier than Biden.

And Biden’s slowness and its hold over the media, took the wind out of the sails of a Democratic Party that was bursting at the seams for change. When the change didn’t come, and things were getting worse, Democrats became tepid about the whole thing. For context, I have a Democratic friend who told a pollster he was for Trump. “I did it more out of spite,” he told me. He wasn’t the only one, I am sure. Trump became a proxy for alive and kicking.

Then Trump, to underscore that, survived an assassination attempt. Then a good convention — according to some. And he got the proverbial convention bounce in the polls — not much but enough to show that he had momentum. His pick of JD Vance as his running mate started to come under intense scrutiny, a harbinger, perhaps, that the ticket wasn’t healthy.

And then the bottom fell out. Biden withdrew, endorsed his vice president, and then the Democratic dams burst open — with glee united against weirdness.

Money poured in, mostly from small donors. Volunteers banged on the doors to help. And organically, coalitions started springing up: White Dudes for Harris, Win With Black Women, Latino Men for Harris, LGBTQ+ for Harris, Rural Americans for Harris, Cat Ladies for Harris, Republicans for Harris, Evangelicals for Harris, and on and on and on. And the numbers amassed for these Zoom meetings were eye-popping, i.e 70,000 Republicans.

Trump’s trying to campaign on high crime, but it’s actually plummeting. Immigration and migrants — most numbers are better under Biden than Trump. Inflation — the latest numbers say it is easing. In fact, retail spending unexpectedly surged in July, proof that the economy is heading in the right direction. Try as he might, Trump can’t find any policy footing — not that he ever had sound policy to begin with.

Case in point: Trump gave an economic policy speech in North Carolina recently. He called it an “intellectual speech” and compared Harris’s laugh to that of a “crazy” person, and said she wasn’t “smart” or “intellectual.” And believe it or not, it got dumber. Trump said he would call on his cabinet secretaries to figure out how to lower inflation in the first 100 days. That is about the most unintellectual economic policy ever uttered by a presidential candidate.

As a side note, like he did in his North Carolina speech, Trump will not be able to stick to the script, and will continue to hurl all manner of insults toward Harris, which has been a major turn-off for voters.

In other words, Trump has nothing. No ideas, no record to stand on, no character, no campaign strategy, no constituencies beyond the MAGA base, no credible running mate, no joy, no positivity, and no momentum on the campaign trail or in all the polling. And he is no longer the “youthful” candidate.

Trump is not on the winning side of abortion, and regardless of how he tries to undo himself, he’s stuck with being fervently anti-choice. There are abortion amendments in several key states on the ballot in November, including Florida, Arizona, and Nevada. There have been clues about how these initiatives might turn out. Abortion rights have won in every state so far, including in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont. Women have come out in droves to support these measures.

There is nothing positive about Trump’s campaign. The only thing he does have is a strong opponent against him that is the antithesis to all the above — and more.

If history repeats, after the Democratic convention this week concludes, Harris should get a post-convention bump in the polls which will augment the trajectory she’s currently on — that is, if polls matter;, just depends on who you ask.


I can’t help but think that Harris and Walz will win the upcoming election in a landslide. The confluences of events and circumstances are all moving in the same direction for Harris — up, and for Trump, down, way down. The key component in all of this is to sustain the current voter enthusiasm for Harris through election day, so that turnout is convincingly strong.

Unless there’s some unforeseen catastrophe, and God knows this election has been full of surprises, the upcoming election should be a historic one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to knock on all the wood I can find in my apartment.

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2024 DNC opens with land acknowledgment of 'forcibly removed' tribal nation

The Democratic Party released a party platform that also recognized Indigenous tribes

By Lindsay Kornick Fox News
Published August 19, 2024 

The Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday with an introduction reminding delegates how the convention is being held on land that was "forcibly removed" from Indigenous tribes.

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Council Vice-Chairman Zach Pahmahmie and Tribal Council Secretary Lorrie Melchior took to the stage at the start of the convention where they welcomed the Democratic Party to their "ancestral homelands."

"Here we are, together on our ancestral homelands of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and our sister Potawatomi nations. We also honor the spirit of the other tribal nations who traveled westward to this beautiful area. Welcome 2024 Democratic National Convention to our homelands. This land has and always will carry enormous importance to its original stewards, our ancestors and our present-day communities," Pahmahmie said.

He continued, "From time immemorial, our ancestors lived in the Great Lakes region. However, in 1849, an illegal auction by the U.S. government forcibly removed our tribe from our homeland. Since then, we have been working to reclaim it."

Pahmahmie celebrated the Department of the Interior allocating some ancestral lands in a trust and formally recognizing the tribe in Chicago.

"Finally, this year, the Department of the Interior placed some of our ancestral lands west of Chicago into a trust. Thanks to the resolve of our tribal community and the Biden-Harris administration, we reclaimed a piece of our home. We became the only federally recognized tribal nation in Illinois in 175 years. Together in our homelands, let's have a joyful, historic convention. Blessings to you all," Pahmahmie said.

The Democratic Party previously released its 2024 platform that similarly acknowledged Chicago being built on tribal land.

"The Democratic National Committee wishes to acknowledge that we gather together to state our values on lands that have been stewarded through many centuries by the ancestors and descendants of Tribal Nations who have been here since time immemorial. We honor the communities native to this continent, and recognize that our country was built on Indigenous homelands. We pay our respects to the millions of Indigenous people throughout history who have protected our lands, waters, and animals," the platform read.

The Democratic Party released a statement regarding Indigenous tribes early that day. 

It continued, "While we meet in Chicago, we also recognize and honor the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, also known as the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. We acknowledge the many other tribes who consider this area their traditional homeland, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. Democrats continue to support tribes as they advocate for the United States to uphold treaty and trust responsibilities."

Amid GOP freakout, expert says Harris is 'exactly right' to target price gouging

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
August 19, 2024 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the National Baptist Convention on September 08, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The executive director of a leading progressive think tank said in an appearance on CNBC Monday that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is "exactly right" to target corporate price gouging as part of her broader economic agenda, countering a flurry of bad-faith attacks on the proposal from economists, pundits, Republican lawmakers, and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

"This is not price controls," Lindsay Owens of the Groundwork Collaborative said of Harris' proposed crackdown on food and grocery corporations that exploit emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic to jack up prices.

Owens stressed that some 40 U.S. states—including Republican-dominated Texas—have laws in place to prevent corporate price gouging in times of crisis and pointed out that Trump, who described Harris' plan as "full communist," used the Defense Production Act (DPA) in an effort to prevent the price gouging of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The American Bar Association noted that the Trump administration turned to the DPA "due to the lack of comprehensive federal legislation addressing price gouging."

Owens went on to observe that a federal jury recently found Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. and other major egg suppliers guilty of conspiring to limit egg supply in the U.S. in order to keep prices elevated. Cal-Maine came under fire last year for posting a massive profit surge that the company blamed on disruptions caused by a bird flu outbreak.

"So this is a common-sense set of policies," Owens said of Harris' proposed federal ban on price gouging in the grocery and food sectors. "We need a new ban at the federal level on the books."
Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, applauded Owens for "citing actual evidence of price gouging by egg producers, including that they were culling their flocks during a shortage to hike prices."

"Imagine that, evidence!" Stoller wrote on social media.

Owens' remarks came after CNBC anchor Joe Kernen and Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Trump and a senior visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation—the far-right group spearheading Project 2025—spent several minutes attacking Harris' proposed federal price gouging ban as a violation of "Economics 101" and a "real assault on the whole free enterprise system."

Such assessments are characteristic of much of the response Harris' plan has received from talking heads, newspaper columnists and editorial boards, GOP lawmakers, and establishment economists. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), whose home state has an anti-price-gouging law on the books, claimed Harris' plan would result in "bread lines."

And while The Washington Post's editorial board and other critics of Harris' plan simply asserted that "'price gouging' is not causing inflation," recent survey data shows that U.S. voters blame large corporations for "taking advantage of inflation" to drive up prices—a view bolstered by research.

A Groundwork report released earlier this year estimated that corporate profits drove more than half of U.S. inflation between April and September 2023.

On top of proposing the first-ever federal ban on price gouging in the food and grocery sectors, Harris is calling for "clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can't unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive profits on food and groceries" as well as "new authority" for the Federal Trade Commission "and state attorneys general to investigate and impose strict new penalties on companies that break the rules."

"As president, I will go after the bad actors," Harris said during a Friday rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. "My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead."