Pope Rejects Lunch with Boehner, Pelosi, McConnell, Reid: He will be Dining with the Homeless

Pope Rejects Lunch with Boehner, Pelosi, McConnell, Reid: He will be Dining with the Homeless

— September 23, 2015

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We now know why the United States Congress absolutely did not want Pope Francis to come to America. He makes them look like the complete as*holes they are. Obviously, Congress thought Pope Francis would be honored to dine with them, and all their pomp and prestige. They were wrong.

Pope Francis says he didn’t have the time because he already had a date eating with the homeless. In fact, he is not only going to be eating with them, but serving them. The meal will take place at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington, D.C.

Rather than try to write some great prose about this situation, Ring of Fire will simply quoteEric March from the website Upworthy, because he nailed it:

Unlike some of his predecessors, Francis has reminded journalists and world leaders time and time again that the church is for the poor, blasted the global financial system which causes so much poverty in the first place, and called on Catholics across the globe to take action and start lifting up the most vulnerable among them.

He’s also spoken out forcefully against economic inequality.

Including some of the worst, most exploitative labor practices in the world, which create conditions that allow hardship and desperation to thrive.

Blowing off John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi to serve the homeless is pretty much the kind of badassery we’ve come to expect from this pope when it comes to speaking up for the world’s most hard-up.

“Pope Francis is the ultimate Washington outsider. His priorities are not Washington’s priorities,” said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. “We think we are the center of the world. We are not the center of Pope Francis’ world. He is frankly more comfortable in the slums of Argentina than in the corridors of power.”

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DeMaio-Reed Pension Measure Flops, For Now

DeMaio-Reed Pension Measure Flops, For Now Posted: 23 Sep 2015 10:21 AM PDT By Doug Porter Former  City Councilman Carl DeMaio, along with former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, are headed back to the drawing board, following the failure of their latest pension “reform” ballot proposal to gain traction in California.DeMaio and Reed were hoping to attract funding and political support for a pension reform initiative involving voter approval for each and every future plan throughout the state, negating what is now part of the collective bargaining process. The California Republican Party failed to endorse the measure during its Anaheim convention last weekend. DeMaio and Reed cried foul last month after the State Attorney General’s office gave the proposed reforms ballot language not to their liking.   [Read more...] San Diego Free Press shared from

The Citizens’ Watch of Mission Valley: “Manchester Project” Approved and Work Begins on Valley’s Largest (and Only) Park Posted: 23 Sep 2015 07:24 AM PDT To outsiders, Mission Valley at times feels like it's in its own intense universe. Other times, it seems like San Diego's own "black hole"- once you enter Mission Valley, you immediately get swept into its traffic craziness and grid-lock. But what happens in Mission Valley deeply affects the rest of San Diego, especially the coastal areas directly to the west - like Ocean Beach, the Peninsula, Mission Beach, PB - but also other nearby communities such as Clairemont and Grantville. Because of this close proximity these other communities are impacted by both the increases in population and density in Mission Valley and - due to the lack of infrastructure in the valley - are also impacted by strains on their infrastructure. Because of these - let's call them - interconnections - , we have been running a series of articles about what is being developed and being planned in Mission Valley. With these articles, we've instituted a type of 'Citizen Watch of Mission Valley' - and here, we continue this irregular series on the continued development and destruction of Mission Valley. Here's our latest: ...   [Read more...]

Returning From Darkness: National Suicide Prevention Month Posted: 23 Sep 2015 07:19 AM PDT By Will Falk I am an attempted suicide survivor. I tried to kill myself twice - once in April, 2013 and again in August, 2013. It has been over two years and I am still struggling to make sense of what I did. I just learned that September is National Suicide Prevention Month and for the last several days I have lost myself reading heart-breaking story after heart-breaking story of those affected by suicide - both attempted and successful. The first time I tried to kill myself I was in Milwaukee, WI. I was a public defender in Kenosha, WI and was overcome with anxiety, guilt, and a spiritual kind of exhaustion when I came back to my empty apartment on a snowy, Wednesday night. Looking myself in the eye in the mirror, I realized I did not want to wake up the next morning. I put on my pajamas, brushed my teeth, and swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills. I woke up in the emergency room - my throat coated in charcoal, the hair on my chest ripped from the monitors, my arms and hands pricked with needle marks where they missed my veins with the I.V. in the ambulance. A doctor asked me if I knew what happened. "I tried to kill myself,” I said. So, they involuntarily committed me to the psyche ward of St. Francis Hospital on the shores of Lake Michigan on the south side of Milwaukee.   [Read more...]

The System Failed Ahmed Mohamed Posted: 23 Sep 2015 07:15 AM PDT

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Positive Election Outlook Has Bernie Sanders Grinning

The pope focused his first U.S. address on one thing: climate change. But while the pope and others are making a moral argument for going green, Santorum (a devout Catholic) want the pope to back off, while Donald Trump just courageously admitted that he believes in...weather? Volkswagon has admitted to cheating the EPA; here are4 questions about the massive scandal that still need answering. And Bernie Sanders is grinning in New Hampshire -- here's why. For this coverage and more, check out our top stories of the day: Positive Election Outlook Has Bernie Sanders Grinning PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Minutes after opening a new field office on the New Hampshire coast and firing up a crowd of local supporters, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) shuffled over to reporters, a grin replacing his usually gruff expression. ...(read more) ‘Pharma Bro’ Financially Supports Several Punk Bands, And They Hate Him Now In First U.S. Address, Pope Francis Spends Most Of His Time Talking About Climate Change In his first public address during his visit to the United States, Pope Francis spent the majority of his time harping on one issue: Climate change....(read more) Colbert Brilliantly Exposes Trump’s Duplicity On Birtherism Debtors’ Prisons Are Back. This Is The Fight To Get Rid Of Them. Amanda Underwood has missed two of her children’s birthdays sitting in jail because she didn’t have a couple of hundred dollars on hand....(read more) ThinkProgress | Center for American Progress Action Fund 1333 H ST NW | Washington, DC 20005 Contributions to Center for American Progress Action Fund are not tax deductible

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The Case Against the Roberts Court

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Scott Walker Proves You Can’t Union-Bash Your Way To The White House

MORNING MESSAGE Bill Scher Scott Walker Proves You Can’t Union-Bash Your Way To The White House ...his inclination to tie everything back to union-busting quickly became pathetic. It was only one month later when he said about ISIS, “If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe.” Even conservatives recognized that was a disturbingly glib answer to a complex foreign policy challenge. In the waning days of his campaign, he offered his one big idea: eliminate federal worker unions and abolish the National Labor Relations Board. Nobody cared. OBAMA AND POPE TO MEET Moral Action on Climate Justice Rally to coincide with Pope Francis’ congressional address tomorrow:Join the Moral Action for Climate Justice Rally to demand urgent action on the climate crisis – and a strong response to the cry of the Poor. Join the rally between 3rd and 7th Streets on the National Mall, 9/24, 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM. More info at FollowFrancis.org and #followfrancis on Twitter. Pope and President meet today. Roll Call:“Francis and Obama will discuss a host of shared interests, including improving economic opportunity, alleviating poverty, the environment, religious freedom and immigration, per the White House.” Chinese president says he won’t manipulate currency, in advance of meeting with Obama. Reuters:“Xi, delivering a keynote address to some 650 business executives and other guests in Seattle, touched on a litany of issues that have strained U.S.-China ties. China will not manipulate its currency to boost exports and will never engage in commercial theft, he said, adding it will not discriminate against foreign businesses, will speed its market opening and make efforts to improve human rights.” CLINTON OPPOSES KEYSTONE Hillary Clinton comes out against Keystone. The Hill:“Clinton announced her shift at a campaign event in Iowa, one of two early-voting states where some polls have shown Sanders in the lead. ‘I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I think it is, as a distraction to the important work we have to do on climate change,’ she said.” Will Hillary go farther on the environment? TNR’s Rebecca Leber:“The key is whether she continues to focus on policies that discourage the production of fossil fuels, like mining and drilling on public lands. The federal government leases 67 million acres to the fossil fuel industry, and Obama has approved leases for a quarter of them.” Nine major corporations to pledge 100% renewable energy use. NYT:“Nine major companies are expected on Wednesday to join a global coalition of firms intent on converting to renewable energy. The new members include Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks,Walmart and Goldman Sachs.” BIDEN BOOM? Biden bump in Bloomberg poll:“Clinton, once the prohibitive front-runner, is now the top choice of 33 percent of registered Democrats and those who lean Democrat, the poll shows. Biden places second with 25 percent and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is at 24 percent.” Clinton would empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. The Hill:“[Clinton] accused pharmaceutical companies of ‘price gouging’ and ‘profiteering’ while millions of people struggle with skyrocketing healthcare prices … Like Sanders, Clinton on Tuesdaypledged to give Medicare bargaining power over drug prices — a position she also adopted in her 2008 campaign.” The Nation’s William Greider says neither Sanders or Trump are populists:“… they are both working within the established order. By definition, populism requires plain people in rebellion … but the great disturbances already roiling party politics suggest that the political status quo is vulnerable to more upheavals, particularly if timidity and stalemate continue to suppress meaningful change.” SENATE GOP VS. HOUSE GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte tells fellow Republicans not to shutdown. The Hill:“‘We all know where the votes are, and it’s not going to happen,’ the New Hampshire Republican said from the Senate floor. ‘I’m tired of the people on my side of the aisle who have been pushing this strategy…'” Other Republican senators back “clean” bill to keep government open. Roll Call:“[Sen. Susan] Collins, R-Maine, said Tuesday after the weekly conference lunch that Republicans across the Rotunda should see the writing on the wall … ‘[Let’s] see, as the leader said, where the votes are, and then go to Plan B,’ Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota said … ‘I would support a clean CR,’ said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn …” Federal workers prepare for shutdown. W. Post:“…the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is following a playbook last used in 2013 when a similar standoff resulted in parts of the government being closed for more than two weeks.” Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's Future.more »

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Every solar system model you've seen is wrong

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A man asks online for volunteers to repaint an elder neighbor's home. He gets over 6,000 responses.

A man asks online for volunteers to repaint an elder neighbor's home. He gets over 6,000 responses. shared from

A Scottish boy couldn't stand a preacher's homophobic rant, so he whipped out his bagpipes.

A man asks online for volunteers to repaint an elder neighbor's home. He gets over 6,000 responses.

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