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Latest Featured Reports | Friday, November 29, 2024
Sunday 'No Such Agreement' Toons
THIS WEEK: A Cabinet of Crooks, Kooks and Corrupted Curiosities...and more! In our latest collection of the week's most toxic toons...
How (and Why!) to 'Extend an Olive Branch' to MAGA Family Members Over the Holidays: 'BradCast' 11/21/24
Guest: Leaving MAGA's Rich Logis; Also: Bibi's 'war crimes'; Hegseth 'assault'; Gaetz out!...
'Green News Report' 11/21/24
  w/ Brad & Desi
Back-to-back killer storms in NW; Huge cache of 'rare earth' elements discovered in U.S.; Climate change worsened every hurricane; PLUS: NY revives congestion pricing...
Previous GNRs: 11/19/24 - 11/14/24 - Archives...
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Former Federal Prosecutor: Trump Must Be Sentenced in NY Before Taking Office Again: 'BradCast' 11/20/24
Guest: Randall D. Eliason; Also: Repubs cover for Gaetz; FCC nom threatens censorship...
'Bullet Ballot' Claims, Other Arguments for Hand-Counting 2024 Battleground Votes: 'BradCast' 11/19/24
Also: PA Supremes order votes tossed before Senate recount; Gaetz files reportedly hacked...
'Green News Report' 11/19/24
Trump nominates fracking CEO, climate denier to head Dept. of Energy; Winters warming quickly in U.S.; PLUS: Biden heads to Amazon Rainforest to offer hope...
Trump Already Violating Law (He Signed!) During Transition: 'BradCast' 11/18/24
Guest: Former Dep. Asst. A.G. Lisa Graves; Also: Flood of unqualified, corrupt Trump noms for top cabinet posts...
Sunday 'Into the Gaetz of Hell' Toons
THIS WEEK: Pyrrhic Victories ... Cabinet Clowns ... Blame Games ... Sharpie Shooters ... And more! In our latest collection of the week's sleaziest toons...
'Green News Report' 11/14/24
NY, NJ drought, wildfires; GOP wins House, power to overturn Biden climate action; PLUS: Very high stakes as U.N. climate summit kicks off in Baku, Azerbaijan...
BARCODED BALLOTS AND BALLOT MARKING DEVICES
BMDs pose a new threat to democracy in all 50 states...
VIDEO: 'Rise of the Tea Bags'
Brad interviews American patriots...
'Democracy's Gold Standard'
Hand-marked, hand-counted ballots...
Brad's Upcoming Appearances
(All times listed as PACIFIC TIME unless noted)
Media Appearance Archives...
'Special Coverage' Archives
GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal 2012...
VA GOP VOTER REG FRAUDSTER OFF HOOK
Felony charges dropped against VA Republican caught trashing voter registrations before last year's election. Did GOP AG, Prosecutor conflicts of interest play role?...

Criminal GOP Voter Registration Fraud Probe Expanding in VA
State investigators widening criminal probe of man arrested destroying registration forms, said now looking at violations of law by Nathan Sproul's RNC-hired firm...

DOJ PROBE SOUGHT AFTER VA ARREST
Arrest of RNC/Sproul man caught destroying registration forms brings official calls for wider criminal probe from compromised VA AG Cuccinelli and U.S. AG Holder...

Arrest in VA: GOP Voter Reg Scandal Widens
'RNC official' charged on 13 counts, for allegely trashing voter registration forms in a dumpster, worked for Romney consultant, 'fired' GOP operative Nathan Sproul...

ALL TOGETHER: ROVE, SPROUL, KOCHS, RNC
His Super-PAC, his voter registration (fraud) firm & their 'Americans for Prosperity' are all based out of same top RNC legal office in Virginia...

LATimes: RNC's 'Fired' Sproul Working for Repubs in 'as Many as 30 States'
So much for the RNC's 'zero tolerance' policy, as discredited Republican registration fraud operative still hiring for dozens of GOP 'Get Out The Vote' campaigns...

'Fired' Sproul Group 'Cloned', Still Working for Republicans in At Least 10 States
The other companies of Romney's GOP operative Nathan Sproul, at center of Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, still at it; Congressional Dems seek answers...

FINALLY: FOX ON GOP REG FRAUD SCANDAL
The belated and begrudging coverage by Fox' Eric Shawn includes two different video reports featuring an interview with The BRAD BLOG's Brad Friedman...

COLORADO FOLLOWS FLORIDA WITH GOP CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Repub Sec. of State Gessler ignores expanding GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, rants about evidence-free 'Dem Voter Fraud' at Tea Party event...

CRIMINAL PROBE LAUNCHED INTO GOP VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL IN FL
FL Dept. of Law Enforcement confirms 'enough evidence to warrant full-blown investigation'; Election officials told fraudulent forms 'may become evidence in court'...

Brad Breaks PA Photo ID & GOP Registration Fraud Scandal News on Hartmann TV
Another visit on Thom Hartmann's Big Picture with new news on several developing Election Integrity stories...

CAUGHT ON TAPE: COORDINATED NATIONWIDE GOP VOTER REG SCAM
The GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal reveals insidious nationwide registration scheme to keep Obama supporters from even registering to vote...

CRIMINAL ELECTION FRAUD COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST GOP 'FRAUD' FIRM
Scandal spreads to 11 FL counties, other states; RNC, Romney try to contain damage, split from GOP operative...

RICK SCOTT GETS ROLLED IN GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) sends blistering letter to Gov. Rick Scott (R) demanding bi-partisan reg fraud probe in FL; Slams 'shocking and hypocritical' silence, lack of action...

VIDEO: Brad Breaks GOP Reg Fraud Scandal on Hartmann TV
Breaking coverage as the RNC fires their Romney-tied voter registration firm, Strategic Allied Consulting...

RNC FIRES NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM FOR FRAUD
After FL & NC GOP fire Romney-tied group, RNC does same; Dead people found reg'd as new voters; RNC paid firm over $3m over 2 months in 5 battleground states...

EXCLUSIVE: Intvw w/ FL Official Who First Discovered GOP Reg Fraud
After fraudulent registration forms from Romney-tied GOP firm found in Palm Beach, Election Supe says state's 'fraud'-obsessed top election official failed to return call...

GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD FOUND IN FL
State GOP fires Romney-tied registration firm after fraudulent forms found in Palm Beach; Firm hired 'at request of RNC' in FL, NC, VA, NV & CO...
The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigns. What did the President know and when did he know it?...
By Brad Friedman on 2/14/2017 6:25pm PT  

On today's BradCast: Is it just me, or is it getting Nixon in here? [Audio link to show is posted below.]

As they asked during Watergate: "What did the President known and when did he know it?" That's just one of the many questions quickly emerging in the hours since last night's resignation of National Security Advisor, Lt. General Michael Flynn, following revelations that he spoke with the Russian Ambassador about U.S. sanctions prior to Trump's inauguration and then lied about it to the media, the public, Vice President Mike Pence --- and perhaps even the FBI.

As they also said during Watergate: "It's not the crime, it's the cover-up." The Logan Act, as I explain today, was never really the problem. It's a weak statute and has never actually been prosecuted in its history, dating back to the 1790's. It's the lies and the possibility of blackmail in the wake of those lies that are now (among) the many problems for this White House.

The continuing --- and growing --- disarray of the not-even-one-month-old Trump Administration extends to the amazing contradictions from high-level officials at the White House about all of this over the past 24 hours, and to Trump himself, who, just last Friday, seemed to feign ignorance about Flynn's conversations with Russian officials. That, before the White House confirmed this afternoon that the President was directly informed about all of this by the Department of Justice weeks ago.

Among questions now being raised, even by some Republicans in the House and Senate: Why didn't Trump act weeks ago on this? Is it plausible in anyway that Flynn went "rogue", or was he, in fact, authorized and/or directed --- by someone on the Trump transition team --- to discuss lifting sanctions against Russia with their Ambassador? If so, by whom? Was he also directed to lie about it? If so, by whom and why are so many seemingly lying about it all now? We discuss those questions and many others on today's show.

Also today: the Republican-majority Senate confirms former Goldman Sachs exec and billionaire Wall St. "Foreclosure King" Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary along party lines (though with the help of one Democratic senator); A federal court denies the Trump Administration's attempt to forestall hearings on his Muslim travel ban Executive Order; and Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report with the latest on the Oroville Dam crisis in California and much more...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 2/14/2017 12:21pm PT  


Follow @GreenNewsReport...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: California dodges a bullet --- for the moment --- at Oroville Dam; U.S. not prepared for climate impacts on infrastructure; Judge rejects tribe's request to halt Dakota Access Pipeline construction; PLUS: Extreme heat waves brings extreme fire danger to Australia... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Oroville Dam is a window into a warmer future; New England CO2 emissions spike after Vermont Yankee nuclear closure; Locals say protesters willing to give their lives to stop Dakota Access Pipeline; Humans causing climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces; Ohio Critics Hope Bats Might Slow Down Pipeline Project; Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and ministers were told wind not to blame for South Australia blackout; DuPont settles lawsuits over leak of chemical used to make Teflon... PLUS: Trump Would Face Legal Battle For Dumping Treaty... and much, MUCH more! ...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

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Guest: Eric Wesselman of FriendsoftheRiver.org on 12-year old warning, now-potential disaster at Oroville Dam in Northern California...
By Brad Friedman on 2/13/2017 6:09pm PT  

Officials were warned. Twelve years ago. On today's BradCast: Another round of storms are on the way and the state of California is on edge, as the nation's tallest dam remains at imminent risk of failure and some 188,000 residents have been forced to flea the path of what could result in one of the nation's worst dam disasters. [Audio link to show posted below.]

On Sunday night, California state officials issued the emergency evacuation order in Northern California, for cities and counties beneath the Lake Oroville Dam, 150 miles north-east of San Francisco (and directly north of the state Capitol in Sacramento), as the auxiliary spillway at the nation's tallest dam appeared to be in imminent danger of collapse and an historic catastrophe.

As of Monday, the hillside beneath the spillway's lip is reportedly holding, for now, but the lake, which supplies drinking water to much of the state, is near capacity with a week of rains predicted to be on their way, and the main spillway already crippled by a nearly 300 foot wide gash.

The disturbing scenario playing out at this hour is precisely what had been predicted by environmental groups 12 years ago, but their warnings were discounted by both state and local officials.

Eric Wesselman, the Executive Director of FriendsOfTheRiver.org --- one of the groups who attempted to warn officials a dozen years ago, of precisely this scenario, joins us with the latest details on the potential collapse, human and environmental impacts, and some thoughts on why it was that his group's warnings were ignored back in 2005.

"We have a little reprieve here," Wesselman tells me about attempts to mitigate disaster during the current break in the weather. "That is a critical little window of opportunity because there's an expected [storm] system coming in, if not two or three, on the heels of the one we just had. They're using this time to do what they can to shore up the spillways and to continue releases so that they can lower the level of the reservoir to make room for expected inflow," he says, adding: "It's gonna be a nail-biter"

"If it's not drought, it's floods," he notes, concerning California's ongoing battle with climate change, while explaining his organization's efforts to avoid such disasters, like the one we're now seeing, before they become reality. "The goal of Friends of the River is not to have a 'gotcha' moment here --- but it's to get to a place where stakeholder groups like ours are taken more seriously at the table when critical decisions are being made and considered, and that we're not just dismissed."

We also discuss some of the heroic action now being taken to not only save countless human lives and property beneath the dam, but those of endangered species. Wesselman also warns about what he fears may be the "mis-reaction" or "knee-jerk" response to this crisis from both the Trump Administration and Congress.

Speaking of which, also on today's show: The federal courts may have put a hold, for now, on Trump's "Muslim travel ban" Executive Order, but his other orders on immigration proceed apace, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency raids reportedly rounding up hundreds of allegedly undocumented aliens for deportation in about a dozen states over the past several days, even as Trump continues to lie about the effects of those raids. Again: Watch what he does, not what he says!

Oh, and happy World Radio Day! In 2016, more people still listened to the radio than watched TV or smartphones! Yes, our public airwaves still matter! I suspect about 188,000 Americans caught in traffic, for hours, trying to flee last night's potential dam disaster, may agree.

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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By PDiddie on 2/12/2017 6:41am PT  

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Guest: Maria Castro of People United for Justice | Plus: Senate confirms Price in middle of night, Racists celebrate Sessions as new A.G....
By Brad Friedman on 2/10/2017 6:09pm PT  

On today's BradCast, Trump took a serious thumping from a federal appeals court this week, but his other Executive Orders on immigration move forward nonetheless, resulting, for a start, in the heart-breaking deportation of an undocumented married mother of two young U.S. born children on Thursday. [Link to full audio posted below.]

Today we cover both Trump's embarassing smack-down by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late yesterday, and the real life effect of his extreme immigration policies. For the latter, we are joined by Maria Castro, a 23-year old organizer with People United for Justice. She was was arrested in Phoenix this week along with other supporters of 36-year old Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who was deported to Mexico on Thursday, after coming to the U.S. when she was 14 years old.

Castro, an American-born citizen, describes how she and her family find themselves in a similar situation with her own undocumented immigrant mother who originally came here 24 years ago on a legal visa, but is now at risk of deportation. She discusses her arrest and efforts to help Garcia de Rayos who had been dutifully meeting with officials from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency every six months since her 2008 arrest during a raid at her workplace in Mesa, Arizona. Garcia de Rayos she was convicted of a 6th-degree felony for using a fraudulent Social Security number so she could work (and pay into benefits that she would likely never receive back.)

During our conversation, Castro, who successfully worked to defeat controversial Maricopa County (Phoenix) Sheriff Joe Arpaio last November, describes the mixed feelings of the community as he lost while Trump won. We also discuss the mood in the community among those now threatened by Trump's policies, how they plan to fight it (along with your support), and her criticism of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who has been outspoken against the Garcia de Rayos deportation, even while, Castro charges, helping to facilitate it in a number of ways.

"My mother is undocumented," Castro tells me, adding that even a jay-walking ticket could now result in her being sent away. "Anything could happen. Any type of interaction with law enforcement could lead to her deportation. She was deported (over a decade ago) and she fought her way back to us. I was 12 years old and my little sister was in kindergarten. We needed our mom, and she made it happen."

As to going public with her name on the record, she tells me: "I have faith in my community and in the resistance, and the work that we do. I feel that the more I lean on my community, the more people I have to support me, the better. For us, for me, what we need to do as a community and community organizers, is we need to start to come together. We can no longer sit in our homes and watch TV and share things on Facebook."

I hope you'll tune in for today's interview. I think it's important to hear.

Finally, in the middle of the night last night (2:30am), Republicans in the U.S. Senate, on a party-line vote, confirmed Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Trump's nominee to head Health and Human Services, despite a long list of corruption allegations concerning insider stock trading and more, and racists across the country celebrated the confirmation this week of new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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Guest: Michael Slater of Project Vote on 'voter fraud' lies and fighting back; Also: Sessions confirmed as AG; Should Manchin be primaried?; And, helping Dems to NOT fall for Trump's SCOTUS bait...
By Brad Friedman on 2/9/2017 5:58pm PT  

Today on The BradCast, a story out of France today, discussed at top of show, proves that things could be much, much worse. That said, with things as bad as they are, we discuss what needs to be done to restore sanity to Congress and how to save the Supreme Court, the right to vote, the truth, and everything else that is supposed to come with "democracy". [Audio link to show is posted below.]

Among the stories covered on today's show...

• Civil rights opponent Jeff Sessions of Alabama was confirmed last night as the U.S. Attorney General largely on party lines, save for West Virginia's Democratic Senator Joe Manchin who voted for him. Should Manchin be primaried? Or is the fight for a Democratic majority as a check against Trump and the GOP more important? (I welcome your short and sweet comments on that for possible use on air! Email me, if you like: BradCast - at - BradBlog.com)

• Then, are Democrats taking the bait by taking the side of Trump's stolen Supreme Court nominee Neal Gorsuch, who claims to be "disheartened" by Trump's recent attacks against a federal judge? Answer: Yes, they are. But you can help stop that.

• Next, after new Attorney General Sessions takes office and immediately lies about violent crime statistics, what would he be willing to lie about next in order to make it harder for Democratic-leaning Americans to vote? Michael Slater, President and Executive Director of Project Vote joins us to discuss not only the "voter fraud" myths being perpetuated by Trump, but how American voters need to start working NOW on how to prevent (more) voter suppression and assure the right to vote.

While Slater tells me he believes the media are getting much better in their response to GOP "voter fraud" lies, he warns that Democrats still need a lot of help and organizations when it comes to keeping their eye on the ball. "The Democrats have never been as supportive of voting rights, and put as much energy into expanding voting rights, as we have seen the Republicans in their efforts to restrict voting rights," he notes, during our, at times, chilling, but hopefully enlightening conversation.

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report, as news breaks that the 3-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously rejected Trump's bid to restore his stayed Executive Order banning immigrants, travelers and refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries...

All of that and much more on today's BradCast!...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 2/9/2017 12:09pm PT  


Follow @GreenNewsReport...

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Pandora
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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Standing Rock Sioux tribe vows to keep fighting against Dakota Access Pipeline; New study finds owners of the pipeline reported 69 spills in the last 2 years; Air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia; More Americans now work in solar jobs than in coal jobs; PLUS: Sweden votes to go zero emissions by 2050... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): House Science Committee Hearing Renews Battle of Science Vs. Denial; Reality finally sets in for the media: Trump's presidency will be a disaster for the climate; At least 7 tornadoes touch down in Louisiana, state of emergency declared; Conservation success: Canary rockfish no longer considered overfished; Scientists are figuring out how to lower L.A.'s temperture; The state of residential solar power; 'Whistleblower' says protocol was breached but no data fraud... PLUS: U.S. utilities seek solar power as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels... and much, MUCH more! ...

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By Brad Friedman on 2/8/2017 5:40pm PT  

On today's BradCast: The full letter and the full story behind the letter from Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King, that resulted in Senate Republicans voting to force Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to sit down and shut up for the duration of debate over Donald Trump's objectionable nominee for Attorney General, Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (R-AL). [Audio link to show follows below.]

We detail Sessions' failed 1985 "voter fraud" prosecution/harassment of black civil rights workers in Monroe, Alabama which resulted in the Senate's rare, bi-partisan 1986 rejection of Sessions for a federal judgeship under Ronald Reagan and why the fight for the right to vote matters as much now as it did back then...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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Yemen raid debacle; Drumbeat for war in Iran; DeVos confirmed; Dakota Access approved; Repubs move to scrap U.S. election protection agency...
By Brad Friedman on 2/7/2017 6:57pm PT  

On today's BradCast: If those friendly to America are rising up against Donald Trump's disastrous Presidency, imagine what our actual enemies think! Well, we don't have to imagine quite as much as of today, even as Republicans in Congress continue their work to undermine American democracy. [Audio link to full show follows below.]

Donald Trump's Yemen raid last week --- the first special ops mission he approved after becoming President --- was an unmitigated disaster during which a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed along with a number civilians, including an 8-year old American girl. The target was reportedly meant to be the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who is still alive and well and mocking Trump this week, even as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer ridiculously declared the failed mission "a successful operation by all standards."

Also mocking Trump today is the Supreme Leader of Iran, who thanked the new President for "showing the real face of America" after Trump banned Iranian travelers and put the country "on notice" in a Tweet last week, threatening military action and emboldening Iran's hardliners in the process of an increasing alarming drumbeat toward war. (Corporate media chasing all of Trump's idiotic statements may want to start paying much closer attention to this. Please?)

Back at home, the President's wildly controversial and wholly unqualified nominee for Education Secretary, billionaire Betsy DeVos, became the first cabinet nominee in history to be approved by the U.S. Senate after a tie vote in which the Vice President had to cast the decisive vote. At least this time the Democrats finally stood unified in voting against DeVos, along with two Republican Senators who joined them.

In the meantime, while The Netherlands announces that, due to hacking fears, they will do away with computer tabulation machines in favor of hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots ("Democracy's Gold Standard") for their upcoming election, Republicans in the U.S. House moved to abolish the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the only federal agency tasked with setting standards for our nation's oft-failed, easily-hacked electronic voting and tabulation systems.

As explained in detail on today program, the EAC has been a disaster on several levels since its creation following the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida. Among countless BradBlog.com stories highlighting their failures over the years, was our 2006 exclusive on the un-aired network interview with the EAC's first Chair, the Bush-appointed Rev. DeForest Soaries. He described the agency in the interview as a "charade" and warned that our computerized voting and tabulation system is "ripe for stealing elections and for fraud." (Also, as mentioned today, see the chapter I contributed with Michael Richardson and John Gideon to Mark Crispin Miller's Loser Take All, revealing how, in 2004, Nevada's then Sec. of State, now U.S. Senator Dean Heller illegally certified and lied about his state's touch-screen voting systems, which are still in use today, with an assist from the corrupt EAC.)

Nonetheless, despite its many failures, the answer to the EAC's problems is not to abolish the agency, but to fund it properly and make it work. That the GOP is prepared to eliminate it entirely --- even amidst Trump's false claims of millions of fraudulent votes cast in the 2016 election --- is quite telling.

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report, along with today's late breaking news that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in court papers that it plans to grant the final permit needed to complete the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, despite former President Obama's order to conduct a full environmental impact study before construction is completed on the $3.8 billion pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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While we post The BradCast here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they're available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or our native RSS feed!
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With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 2/7/2017 12:09pm PT  


Follow @GreenNewsReport...

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Pandora
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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: 400 former EPA officials tell U.S. Senate to vote 'No' on Scott Pruitt's nomination to head EPA; Another heat wave in the Arctic leaves scientists in 'stunned' disbelief; Electric vehicle sales jump nearly 40 per cent in one year; China to slash coal use in Beijing again; PLUS: The March for Science is on for Earth Day 2017... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): 'Whistleblower' says protocol was breached but no data fraud; Donald Trump and Steve Bannon have turned the White House against America; Reality finally sets in for the media: Trump’s presidency will be a disaster for the climate; There are now twice as many solar jobs as coal jobs in the US; No Data Was Manipulated in a Widely Cited 2015 Climate Study; Extreme Radiation Levels Detected At Fukushima Reactor; Car ban fails to curb air pollution in Mexico City; Once-cautious climate economist reverses course, issues warning against the cost of inaction... PLUS: #RIP: 3 minutes with Hans Rosling will change your mind about the world... and much, MUCH more! ...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

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Guest: Lindsay Gibbs, Think Progress sports reporter with some much-needed progressive perspective on the Superbowl...
By Brad Friedman on 2/6/2017 6:57pm PT  

On today's BradCast: Despite the New England Patriots' amazing, come-from-behind overtime victory at the Superbowl, it was yet another very rough weekend for Donald Trump. [Audio link to show follows below.]

More startling insider reports continued to pour out from the leakiest White House ever over the weekend, as a federal judge appointed by George W. Bush temporarily blocked Trump's entire Muslim immigration and refugee ban on Friday, and then refused to reinstate it late on Saturday, despite an emergency motion by the Administration.

Moreover, more than 100 major corporations told the court they opposed the ban on Sunday, and a bunch of very senior former security and intelligence officials and cabinet secretaries (mostly Dems, but also a number of Republicans) filed a brief with the court on Monday explaining why Trump's order makes the U.S. less, not more, safe.

All of that took place before John Yoo, the GOP lawyer who penned the infamous "torture memos", arguing in favor of brutal and sweeping executive powers on behalf of the Bush Administration, announced in an op-ed today that even he thinks Trump has gone too far. As if all of that wasn't bad enough for Trump, even conservative members of parliament from one of our oldest and best allies are now announcing they want nothing to do with him, following what they describe as his racism and disrespect for the judiciary after his weekend Tweets blasting the federal judge who stayed his travel ban.

But one thing didn't suck for Trump this weekend, the "gobsmacking" victory by his friend Tom Brady and the Patriots over the Atlanta Falcons, who managed to lose despite a 25-point margin. The Falcons' stunning loss --- grasped from the jaws of what seemed like certain victory --- had a disturbingly familiar ring for many Democrats watching the game. But Lindsay Gibbs, sports writer at Think Progress, joins us for some much-needed perspective for progressives on the politics surrounding and, at times, overtaking Sunday's big game.

"With Trump, everything is political these days. There's no escaping our reality right now," argues Gibbs. "These days, even saying stuff like 'America is Beautiful' is seen as a politically charged statement." But, she notes, citing many of the surprisingly progressive and not-sexist-as-usual ads aired during the game (including the stunning spot from 84 Lumber, which Fox would not allow to run in full), "the fact that all these ads were touting these progressive values, or were openly mocking Trump, does say that right now companies think inclusiveness sells."

Finally today, another disturbing update from the still-insanely-warm-and-getting-warmer Arctic.

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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By PDiddie on 2/5/2017 6:22am PT  

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Guest: Jess Hanson of National Immigration Law Center; Plus: IG launches probe of Trump order; Impeachment getting popular quickly; U.S. Capitol phones are jammed; And other encouraging signs of hope...
By Brad Friedman on 2/3/2017 6:23pm PT  

On today's BradCast: The 'Muslim Ban', one week after it was ordered, is even worse than it initially appeared. But, despite the chaos and heartbreak, the response from Americans and those around the world, is heartening. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

Chaos continues in the wake of Trump's executive order banning most travel from 7 majority-Muslim countries. And there were reportedly audible gasps in a federal courtroom in Virginia on Friday, as a U.S. Government attorney revealed that some 100,000 legal visas had been rescinded in the week since Donald Trump's order was signed. (A State Department official later claimed the number was really 'only' about 60,000.)

Jess Hanson of the National Immigration Law Center joins us to describe the continuing crises as "terrifying", as her organization works to assist green card holders who are still being prevented from entering or returning to the U.S., immigrants and other legal visa holders still being detained without legal representation or blocked from traveling here despite federal court orders, and those who are otherwise unconstitutionally losing their rights under the order.

"There have been a lot of organizing efforts with volunteer attorneys on the ground, in U.S. airports, and a massive effort to try to communicate with people who are traveling to the U.S. who are in this situation, to let an attorney on the ground know what airport they're arriving to so that if the individual is allowed to board their flight, when they land in the United States, there is an attorney waiting for them," she explains. But, she adds, "not everyone has the opportunity or resources to find a U.S. attorney before they leave their country of origin" and "a lot of these cases of detention and not allowing someone to speak with an attorney are simply slipping through the cracks."

"Tens of thousands of people...their family, their friends, whatever reason they were going to come to the United States or return to the United States, that has a ripple effect. It's affecting all of us," Hanson tells me. "It's easy to dehumanize numbers --- 'Oh yeah, 60,000 out of 11 million, that's just a drop in the bucket'. But 60,000 or 100,000, whatever the numbers are, that's a lot of people, and it's having global --- honestly global --- effects."

We discuss all of that, as well as the other immigration-related Executive Orders receiving much less coverage since Trump's ban was enacted. Hanson also details a number of ways that you can help.

Also today: The Dept. of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General announces a probe into the Trump Administration's disastrous implementation of the ban; A large swath of Americans already want to see the wildly unpopular Trump impeached; GOP Senators are apologizing to our allies for Trump; Phones are ringing off the hook at the U.S. Capitol; And we share a few more signs of hope and encouragement (and even some laughs!) from both home and abroad after just two weeks(!) of this insanely inept and calamitous Administration.

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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Guest: Former senior CDC official, Dr. Mark Rosenberg...
By Brad Friedman on 2/2/2017 6:36pm PT  

Today on The BradCast: You're all "on notice"! Public pressure begins to put both Congress and the President on notice. Donald Trump puts Australia(!) and Iran on notice. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seem to be putting themselves on notice. [Audio link to show posted below.]

Nationwide protests and phone calls to Congress seems to be working. At least a bit. We cover a number of encouraging points in that regard today, from businesses like Harley-Davidson shying away from hosting a visit by the President at their Wisconsin factory for fear of huge protests, to one Congressman killing his own bill that would have sold off millions of acres of public lands, to still-plummeting approval ratings for both Trump and his wildly unpopular Executive Orders.

But, in the meantime, Trump continues to tick off international friend and foe alike with his incompetent, make-it-up-as-you-go "foreign policy". It's distressing, if amusing, when he pisses off friends like Australia and Mexico, but it's chilling and damned dangerous when he begins saber rattling with nations like Iran, which he is now threatening with military action and new sanctions for some reason.

Then, as the Administration takes action to dismantle environmental protection by agencies like the EPA, some federal agencies, like the CDC, seem to be sabotaging themselves, rather than waiting for Trump to do so. At least it seems that with the CDC's recent cancellation of long-planned conferences on climate change and LGBT issues.

Former CDC official Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who helped found the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control before going on to eventually become President Emeritus of The Task Force for Global Health, joins me today to help us understand the culture and some of the thinking that seems to be going on amongst the CDC's leadership since the election of the new, anti-science, anti-fact President.

"They act in response to signals," Rosenberg says about the CDC, citing the Trump Administration's aggressive early steps to undermine science-based federal agencies. "Things like that don't go unnoticed. It may be that people at CDC say we're committed to helping the public but we don't want to lose our jobs."

Rosenberg, who worked at the CDC for 20 years, famously battled the gun lobby-funded Congress in the 90s, as they passed the Dickey Amendment legislation to prevent research into gun violence prevention. (My interview with Rosenberg last year, on that topic specifically, is here.)

While he explains that "most of the people at CDC are very committed to serving public health and the public good" and "work very hard to protect the nation --- whether its from Ebola, heart disease, diabetes, bird flu, or climate change," he adds that he was eventually fired "by a Director of CDC who decided that he would rather keep his job than protect the science. And I think that was a terrible turning point for CDC."

Rosenberg explains the agency's role in helping to determine the many "health effects of climate change" which, he notes, "even the politicians who are pro-business and pro-economic development need to understand. You can't respond in a rational way, or a productive way, if you don't understand the problem."

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report where, as usual, everything is awesome!...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

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With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
By Desi Doyen on 2/2/2017 12:15pm PT  


Follow @GreenNewsReport...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court not a big fan of federal agencies; Former ExxonMobil CEO now in charge of U.S. diplomacy; Trump's controversial EPA nominee muscled through GOP Senate Committee; PLUS: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe gears up for another court battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump Supreme Court Nominee Could Hear Case Affecting Trump Golf Courses; Clean Water Protections Under Attack in Early Days of 115th Congress; As Drought Winds Down, CA Lawmakers Set Stage for Future Water Wars; 3 GOP governors invest in clean energy; Green movement 'greatest threat to freedom', says Trump adviser; Lawmaker Wants To Ease Rules On Drilling In Natl Parks... PLUS: Climate economist sounds the alarm... and much, MUCH more! ...

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