October 8, 2019

Stephen Colbert: Guest Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Finding Extraterrestrial Life Might Unify Earth's Residents



America's favorite astrophysicist predicts what might happen if (or when) the people of Earth confirm the existence of life beyond this planet.




Neil deGrasse Tyson Shares His Letters In New Book



Big time movie star and author of 'Letters from an Astrophysicist,' Neil deGrasse Tyson, shares some of the stories behind the letters he included in his new book.

October 8, 2019

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 10/7/19

President Trump, In His 'Great And Unmatched Wisdom,' Decides To Abandon Kurds



Another day, another problematic presidential phone call, this time with the leader of Turkey. But don't worry, America, your leader possesses unmatched wisdom.




Republicans Stick To The Party Line: 'The President Was Joking' About China



After the President went on live television and appealed to China to investigate Joe Biden, his defenders in the Republican Party insisted Trump was just kidding around.




The Whistleblowers Perform 'It Takes Two'



Anyone can whistleblow, baby, but two can make a crime so real.

October 8, 2019

The Daily Show: Bernie Sanders's Heart Procedure

Bernie Sanders reinforces his Medicare-for-All plan after a sudden heart surgery.

October 8, 2019

Seth Meyers - GOP Says Trump Was Joking About China as Damning Ukraine Texts Emerge: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at how more evidence is emerging in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

October 8, 2019

The Daily Show: Trump Withdraws Troops from Syria

In a move that surprises the Pentagon and abandons the U.S.’ Kurdish allies, Trump pulls troops out of northern Syria, heightening the turmoil of the Middle East, and eliciting bipartisan condemnation.

October 7, 2019

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - One Child Policy

John Oliver discusses China’s one-child policy, and all its consequences, intended and not.

October 7, 2019

Giuliani Caught Trying to Score Cash From Ukraine Gas Company

Giuliani Caught Trying to Score Cash From Ukraine Gas Company – Exactly What He Accused Hunter Biden of Doing

In an ironic twist, Rudy Giuliani has been caught trying to make money off of a Ukraine gas company while trying to accuse former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter of doing the same.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Giuliani was trying to score major cash while manifesting a conspiracy theory to sink the Bidens.

“Their aims were profit, not politics,” the AP reported. “This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine’s massive state gas company. Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.”

Meanwhile, Giuliani and Trump were trying to get Ukraine leaders to say the Bidens were the corrupt ones.

The plan “hit a snag,” the AP reported, after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lost his reelection to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who ran on a campaign of ridding the country of its corruption problems. Zelenskiy, however, is now caught up in a corruption scandal with Giuliani and Trump.

Read more: https://apnews.com/d7440cffba4940f5b85cd3dfa3500fb2


AP sources: Trump allies sought changes at Ukraine utility
https://apnews.com/d7440cffba4940f5b85cd3dfa3500fb2

October 6, 2019

Utility Giant Sets Up Critical Test For Top 2020 Democrats On Nuclear Power

As Duke Energy preps renewal requests for its reactors, it’s unclear how the leading candidates would rule on a major issue in carbon-free power.


One of the nation’s largest utilities last month announced plans to request new licenses for 11 nuclear reactors, setting up a critical new test for Democratic presidential candidates on how to achieve zero-carbon energy generation.

Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, said it plans to submit its renewal applications for reactors at six power plants in the Carolinas starting in 2021, which could put those decisions in the hands of a new White House if a Democrat unseats President Donald Trump next year.

As it stands, it’s unclear where the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination would stand on relicensing. Despite intense focus on energy and climate policy, on which there are clear divisions among the candidates, the issue of nuclear power has largely been ignored in the Democratic debates. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and businessman Andrew Yang are all in, pledging to keep open safe plants and invest heavily in researching advanced reactors. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who promised to halt construction on new reactors and issue a moratorium on nuclear plant license renewals.

The views of the candidates in between are less certain. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) endorsed erstwhile climate candidate Jay Inslee’s proposal, which calls for keeping existing nuclear plants open. But at a CNN town hall last month, she vowed to start “weaning ourselves off nuclear energy” with the goal of shutting down existing plants by 2035.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, long a critic of the nuclear industry, proposed new funding for advanced reactors but hasn’t taken a definitive position on extending the lives of existing nuclear plants.

Much more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2020-nuclear_n_5d97adb4e4b0993897ffabf1



Steam rises from the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island. The Exelon-owned Pennsylvania plant, whose partial meltdown in 1979 cultivated deep public distrust of nuclear energy, closed last month. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS VIA GETTY IMAGES

October 6, 2019

Democrats Beg Trump to Stop Impeaching Himself So They Have Something to Do

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an unexpected twist in the impeachment drama engulfing Washington, leading congressional Democrats have begged Donald Trump to stop impeaching himself so that they have something to do.

In a press conference on Friday morning, Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, both implored Trump to stop relentlessly spewing impeachable offenses, complaining that this practice was rendering their jobs irrelevant.

“Mr. President, as much as we appreciate your help, please, stop doing our work for us,” Pelosi said. “Give us a reason to get up in the morning and go to the office.”

“I know that you’re in no mood to do me a favor, Mr. President, but hear me out,” Schiff added. “I’m trained as a prosecutor. My entire life has been building to a case like your impeachment. But if you persist in impeaching yourself on an almost hourly basis, that really wrecks the challenge for me.”

Just minutes after the Democrats’ press conference, Trump appeared to turn a deaf ear to their entreaties, as he publicly asked the nations of Belgium, Turkmenistan, Malta, and Peru to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.


Short article, no more at link: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/democrats-beg-trump-to-stop-impeaching-himself-so-they-have-something-to-do



Photograph by Susan Walsh / AP / Shutterstock

October 6, 2019

SNL: Mid-Day News

News anchors (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd) report the local news while trying not to react to the race of each subject.