Out d’Coup | Bans off Our Bodies; Senate Report on J6; Pandora Papers; FB Whistleblower; Climate Action; Energy Transfer Charged; Corman Golfs; Mikey Stacks; Capt. Kirk to Space; Biniek BioTech Brews

Hundreds of Bans Off Our Bodies rallies were held across Pennsylvania and the United States last Saturday.  The demonstrations brought out hundreds of thousands of people supporting access to abortion and reproductive healthcare.   

The Senate Judiciary Committee releases a report saying we were much closer to a serious Constitutional crisis than we thought...and we already thought we were pretty close. And, of course, some PA regulars are in the cross hairs. 

The House January 6 Commission says it will start issuing criminal subpoenas 

The Pandora Papers dropped, exposing how world leaders, celebrities, and the uber rich are using U.S. tax havens and real estate to park their riches out of the reach of taxation and public scrutiny.  As described in The Washington Post, “The investigation identified 206 U.S.-based trusts linked to 41 countries. Nearly 30 of the trusts held assets connected to people or companies accused of fraud, bribery or human rights abuses in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.”

Bernie Sanders is pretty much done with coddling Joe Manchin. 

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus all go down the day after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower appeared on 60 Minutes and spilled the beans on Facebook ignoring its own research that its platform was causing real-world damage to democracy and well-being. 

The American Prospect lays out - again - how Biden can use executive actions to take decisive action on climate. So, what’s it going to be, Biden? The climate or Joe Manchin’s Foo Foos. 

And a great piece in In These Times, discusses a new report from Democratic Party consultants that shows evidence that the fate of the Democratic Party is intimately tied to the decline of union power. Pointing to the fact that the Democratic Party and the labor movement itself needs to throw everything it has into new organizing.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed 48 criminal charges against Energy Transfer Partners for environmental damage and contamination from the Mariner East Pipeline. 

March on Harrisburg rained on Jake Corman’s fundraising golf outing at Toftrees resort near Penn State. Wealthy donors paid between $500 - $10,000 to bend Corman’s ear on the back 9. Activists lined the trail between the 10th and 11th hole, attempting to engage donors and holding signs that read “Senator Corman - Meet with Voters Not with Donors;” “Lawmaker Bribery: Par for the Course;” and “The Gift Ban Should be a Gimme.” Activists took this latest action after Senate Pro Tempore Jake Corman refused to bring Gift Ban legislation up for a vote. 

School Board craziness continues. 

I continue to dodge COVID. 

Mikey Stacks is Back trying to get a hold of his old senate seat.  Stack’s old senate seat went to John Sabatina - a Stack protege - when Mike Stack became Lt Gov.  Senator Sabatina is leaving the Pennsylvania Senate for a Philadelphia court seat.  Sabatina was picked as a replacement democratic nominee when the original nominee dropped out of the race.  Philly politics at its finest.  

Captain Kirk is going to get a shot to go to space...or a part of space at least. That’s right, William Shatner is getting a ride on the next Blue Origin scheduled for Tuesday, October 12. At 90 years old, he’ll be the oldest person to go to space. 

Special shout out to Matthew Biniek for the nice cache of Half-Orc Pumpkin Ale, homebrewed by Biniek BioTech Brews.

And, Happy Birthday to my son who becomes a teenager this weekend! Love ya, Rowan!