By Jen Sorensen
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
36 Million in U.S. Cast Early Votes, Shattering Records for Young People & People of Color
Millions of voters head to the polls today for a midterm election that’s widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency, with both houses of Congress and 36 governor’s races in the balance. In fact, millions have already voted: A record 36 million Americans voted early this year, with participation high among young people and people of color. That’s up from 27 million four years ago, leading many to predict a record turnout for a midterm election. “If you look at the numbers, early voting is shattering records among young people, among people of color,” says Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones. “We’re seeing a lot more people that typically sit out midterm elections going and showing up because they believe these races are so important.”
“Smoking Gun” Evidence Shows Trump Admin’s Top Anti-Immigrant Officials Trying to Rig the Census
We look at a federal trial underway in New York City that could overturn the Trump administration’s plans to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Voting rights activists fear the question will deter immigrants from participating in the census, leading to a vast undercount in states with large immigrant communities. This could impact everything from the redrawing of congressional maps to the allocation of federal funding. The citizenship question was announced in March by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who touted it as a way to enforce the Voting Rights Act and protect minorities against voter discrimination. But on Sunday evening, the plaintiffs released a deposition that seems to contradict the Trump administration’s stated purpose for adding the citizenship question to the census. We speak with reporter Ari Berman, who has been following the case and says, “The fix was in from the very beginning. This was done by Kris Kobach, Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions—the most anti-immigrant figures in the Republican Party.” Berman’s newest story is headlined “Trial over Census Citizenship Question Kicks Off Amid Revelation of Trump Administration Deception.”
Women of Color Hope to Make History in 2018 Election with Wins in Congress and Governor’s Races
A historic number of women of color are running for public office in today’s election. At least 255 women are on the ballot as congressional candidates, including a record number of women of color. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams hopes to become the state’s first black governor—and the country’s first black woman governor. Meanwhile in New Mexico, Deb Haaland could become the nation’s first Native American woman to serve in Congress. Amid a rash of racist ads by Abrams’s opponent Brian Kemp, there is something “deeply transformational about the electoral organizing and the campaign that Stacey Abrams represents,” says Aimee Allison, president of Democracy in Color and founder of She the People.
Oil & Gas Industry Giants Spend Millions in Attempt to Defeat Anti-Fracking Proposition in Colorado
Colorado voters have managed to get a statewide anti-fracking measure on the November ballot. Proposition 112 would require companies to place new wells at least 2,500 feet from homes, schools, waterways and other areas designated as “vulnerable.” This distance is two-and-a-half to five times the current state regulation. The initiative is unprecedented in its scope because it potentially bars new wells on 95 percent of land in top-producing counties. Industry executives are watching with concern, fearful that Proposition 112 could encourage similar measures across the nation. In response, the oil and gas industry has spent millions to defeat Proposition 112, while at the same time putting millions of dollars behind a different measure on the ballot that would amend the constitution to allow property owners to sue their local governments for regulating industries like fracking. David Sirota, investigative reporter for Capital & Main is interviewed.
Florida’s Amendment 4 Would Restore Voting Rights to 1.4 Million People with Nonviolent Felonies
Florida voters are preparing to vote on Amendment 4, a measure that would restore voting rights to 1.4 million people with nonviolent felonies who have fully completed their sentences. One in five African Americans in Florida and 10 percent of the state’s adult population are ineligible to vote because of a criminal record. Across the United States, more than 6.1 million people with felony convictions are not eligible to vote. Florida is one of just four states that bar them from voting for life. In October, Amy Goodman traveled to Melbourne, Florida, and spoke with Desmond Meade, the president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, who is a formerly homeless returning citizen who is leading the fight to re-enfranchise people with felony convictions in Florida.
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
You may feel like the world is alive with experience and intrigue, but it’s all going on in some secret room that you don’t have access to. The thing is, you do have access, though it’s unlikely to be through the front entrance or the box office. This is more like being given a backstage pass and let in through the side door. Anyway, the real theater is in your mind, and you will access it by going to those places you cannot go with ordinary consciousness. The action is focused in Pisces, which almost always represents the inner reality (as opposed to Aries, which usually represents the outer reality). Therefore, use those paths which are likely to take you inside: creative exploration (rather than social contact) in nearly any form will do that, such as music, painting, photography or writing. The idea is to do a lot of something that draws you into yourself rather than out of yourself (a distinction not described often enough). Spend time alone. Get past the restless feeling to the sensation of entering an inner space. Notice where you are and how you feel.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our Galaxy, Backstage and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
“He Set Out to Kill Women”: Self-Proclaimed Misogynist Murders 2 Women at Florida Yoga Studio
Two women were shot and killed at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, on Friday when a far-right extremist and self-proclaimed misogynist entered a yoga class and opened fire. Forty-year-old gunman Scott Beierle murdered 61-year-old Nancy Van Vessem, a medical doctor and a faculty member at Florida State University, and Florida State University student 21-year-old Maura Binkley in the deadly shooting. He critically injured four other women, including one woman who was shot nine times. Beierle also pistol-whipped a man in the rampage before turning the gun on himself. Police say Beierle was found dead at the yoga studio from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Beierle had a track record of attacking women, black people and immigrants via online videos and songs and had previously been investigated for harassing women and arrested at least twice, once on allegations of battery against women. Soraya Chemaly in Washington, D.C. is interviewed. She is a longtime writer and feminist activist and author of the new book “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger.” She is also director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project.
Noam Chomsky on Midterms: Republican Party Is the “Most Dangerous Organization in Human History”
In the run-up to the U.S. midterm elections, the world-renowned linguist, dissident and author Noam Chomsky is interviewed. “What are the domestic policies of the Trump administration?” Chomsky says. “Very straightforward: lavish gifts on the rich, powerful corporate sector and try to undermine and destroy anything that might be of benefit to the general population.”
A March to Disaster: Noam Chomsky Condemns Trump for Pulling Out of Landmark Nuclear Arms Treaty
President Donald Trump recently announced plans to pull the United States out of a landmark nuclear arms pact with Russia in a move that could spark a new arms race. President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987. The INF banned all nuclear and non-nuclear missiles with short and medium ranges. The treaty helped to eliminate thousands of land-based missiles. World-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky speaks about the significance of the INF treaty and the impact of Trump’s plan to pull out.
Noam Chomsky: The Future of Organized Human Life Is At Risk Thanks to GOP’s Climate Change Denialism
Just weeks after the United Nations warned that humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate global warming and limit the scope of global catastrophe, world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky comments. He says, “We have to make decisions now which will literally determine whether organized human life can survive in any decent form.”
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
For every problem, there is a solution. If you can remember just that one fact, you can head off any frustrations before they happen. As regards to any exasperating circumstances you may now be facing, remember two additional things. First, as the late, great astrologer Rachelle “Rockie” Gardiner so often reminded her readers: “Patience is the key to heaven.” Second, you are rarely, if ever, alone with your concerns. Somewhere in your community of friends, peers and citizens there are almost certainly a number of people who share (or at least empathize with) the issues that are important to you. So long as you can make your needs known to those communities while also patiently participating in finding a remedy, contentment should ultimately be yours. — By Len Wallick.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our Galaxy, Backstage and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
Every story in your life right now seems to be about commitment. And, despite being associated with attachment and bonding, one of the places you seem to hold the most self-doubt involves commitment to others. That is where to draw the line: it’s easy for you to confuse your investment in a relationship with an investment in your own life. Yes, there is a fine line, though the people who care about you the most understand that they provide a forum for you to self-actualize. Look carefully at the relationships in your life and make sure that you know which ones fit this description; that you understand who exists in your world for the purpose of consciously (as in willingly) holding space for you to get to know yourself. I recognize that this may seem ‘one sided’, though I would offer the idea that when your deepest relationships have this as their primary element, you are more available to others, not less. So, far from being self-centered for its own sake, I am talking about being self-aware and fully involved with your own growth, so that you are able to participate with greater depth and involvement in your relationships. You only run into trouble when you make some kind of significant compromise of your personal truth, which means you can only be half-present — and that’s as useful as not being present at all. Forget the fact that some people insist that’s what you do. There are others who want you uncompromised and at full strength.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our Galaxy, Backstage and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
The real meaning of recent events is likely to be surfacing, at least on the level of how you feel about what’s occurred, and what continues to unfold, no matter how unusual, abstract or amazing it all seems. Stay with your feelings, tempted as you may be to put the whole thing into intellectual terms. If you’re going to do any conversions, feelings-to-art will be tons more fun and productive than feelings-to-mental analysis. Just get your story across, get your sentiments across, as best you can, allowing the miracle human vibration (simpatico) to do most of the communicating for you — both the speaking, and the listening, by the way.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our Galaxy, Backstage and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.
Noam Chomsky: Members of Migrant Caravan Are Fleeing from Misery & Horrors Created by the U.S.
As President Trump escalated his attacks and threats against the Central American migrant caravans making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration unveiled new sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba on Thursday. National security adviser John Bolton declared Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua to be part of a “troika of tyranny” and a “triangle of terror.” World-renowned professor, linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky speaks about U.S. foreign policy in Central America. He now teaches at the University of Arizona. Chomsky is also institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught for 50 years.
Noam Chomsky on Pittsburgh Attack: Revival of Hate Is Encouraged by Trump’s Rhetoric
The nation is continuing to grieve the 11 Jewish worshipers who were gunned down at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday in what is being described as the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. Funerals were held Thursday for three more victims of the shooting: husband and wife Sylvan and Bernice Simon, and Richard Gottfried. Robert Bowers, who is accused of the mass shooting, pleaded not guilty Thursday. Bowers is charged with 44 counts, including murder and hate crimes. Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned professor, linguist and dissident, speaks about the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and other recent white supremacist and right-wing attacks.
Broad City’s Ilana Glazer: Why I Canceled My Event at a NY Synagogue After Anti-Semitic Vandalism
A political event hosted by Ilana Glazer of Comedy Central’s “Broad City” at the Union Temple Synagogue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, was canceled Thursday night after anti-Semitic and racist messages were found scrawled on walls throughout the building. Among the messages were “Jew Better Be Ready” “Insert Oven Here” “End is now,” “Hitler,” “Free Smoke for [N-word] Jews” and ”FPEE PR.” The graffiti comes amid a surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes nationwide, including Saturday’s massacre of 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Amy Goodman was scheduled to speak at the event about coverage of the midterm elections. We speak with Ilana Glazer in New York City. She is the co-creator and star of the hit Comedy Central show “Broad City.”
As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.