Out d'Coup | Closing Out Impeachment; Sanders Surge; Establishment Attacks; PASSHE Drama; Freedom Foundation; Space Force or Star Trek; Free Will Releases
The Senate is expected to vote to reject calling witnesses in the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump. That is almost certain now that key GOP Senator Lamar Alexander says he will not vote to include new evidence in the Senate trial. That pretty allows always-pretending-to-be-moderate Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkoski a virtually cost-free way to vote for witnesses without placing Trump in any real difficulty.
Bernie Sanders is now on top in Iowa polls. The Real Clear Politics average shows Sanders 3.6 points above Biden, followed by Buttigieg in third and Warren falling to fourth. The Iowa Caucuses will be held on Monday. (Check out the full calendar)
Sanders is also at the top of the New Hampshire polls, 9.5 points above Biden’s second place. In other early voting states, Biden is up 5.7 points above Bernie in Nevada and 17.4 points in South Carolina. The biggest contest will be on Super Tuesday, March 3rd. The Pennsylvania primary isn’t until April 28th.
Looks like the Democratic Party establishment is getting really nervous as they unleash waves of attack ads against Bernie Sanders just a few days before the Iowa caucuses. The Democratic super PAC Democratic Majority for Israel was scheduled to run negative ads beginning Wednesday. In response, the Sanders campaign raised more than $1.3 million in one day. And true to that pattern, AOC has received over one million dollars in small contributions in the month since the DCCC attacked her for not paying her dues.
Biden’s out swinging at Bernie, pulling out the devastating critique that Sanders is not a Democrat. Oh. That hurts.
Another billionaire-backed anti-union front group is making its way into Pennsylvania. This time it’s the Freedom Foundation and, well, they gave away their playbook in a 5-minute press conference.
A new package of bills to reform the PA State System of Higher Education was unveiled last week by House Education Committee Chairman Curt Sonney (R-Erie) and Reps. Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Franklin/Fulton) and Meghan Schroeder (R-Bucks). They were joined by Chancellor Daniel Greenstein and chair of the State System's Board of Governors Cynthia Shapira. They claimed the package of bills is “designed to equip the State System with the reforms necessary to meet its responsibility of providing a high-quality, affordable post-secondary educational pathway.” The bills are designed to alter Act 188 - the bill that gave birth to the State System.
Among the reforms is House Bill 2171 which would allow the Board of Governors to close individual universities. House Bill 2172 would grant PASSHE “sovereign immunity,” protecting the system from lawsuits from...closing universities maybe?
APSCUF’s President delivers remarks to the Board of Governors. Warns of people who may be “harboring resentments...waiting to pounce on failure.” We’ll unpack that a bit.
Kutztown University administration issues statement to faculty saying that there was a “misunderstanding” with the faculty union. KU President said that the administration is not going to cut 63 faculty members. Well...actually…they said they were not “contemplating retrenchment.” What they are doing is “rightsizing our workforce through attrition and by limiting hiring.” That was the official statement. According to union sources, the administration said they wanted to avoid retrenchment, but they would need the union’s help in cutting adjunct faculty or reducing their teaching load to part-time. Can you feel the warmth?
And Lock Haven University joins Kutztown University in the moldy building spotlight.
Space Force rips off Star Trek logo, laying the groundwork for the Terran Empire of Star Trek Discovery’s Mirror Universe to take hold right here in ‘Merica. George Takai took to the pages of the Washington Post to give voice to Star Trek fans everywhere who looked to the Star Trek university as a space of post-capitalist hope.
Big releases from Free Will this week: Chocolate Hazelnut C.O.B. - Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale with Chocolate and Hazelnut. White Chocolate Cinnamon Latte C.O.B. - Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale with White Chocolate, Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Milk Sugar. And, Released this past Thursday, Scrambled Pron: Episode 2 - Hazy IPA brewed with flaked oats and barley, hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe, and Calypso then fermented with mango, red currant, and vanilla.
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