Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’RourkeBeto O’RourkeBiden will help close out Texas Democrats’ virtual convention: report O’Rourke on Texas reopening: ‘Dangerous, dumb and weak’ Parties gear up for battle over Texas state House MORE on Friday acknowledged that he was part of a hacking group as a teenager, saying he is not “proud” of the fact. The former Texas congressman told reporters in Iowa while on the campaign trail that the hacking group was something “that I was part of as a teenager, not anything that I’m proud of today,” according to The Texas Tribune. ADVERTISEMENT “That’s the long and short of it,” he added. Reuters reported earlier Friday that O’Rourke joined…

As GOP fearmongering about the so-called looming socialist menace continues to intensify ahead of the 2020 elections, President Donald Trump has reportedly expressed concern behind the scenes that anti-socialist messaging may not be as popular or effective as Republican strategists appear to believe. The Daily Beast, citing anonymous sources close to the president, reported Sunday night that “Trump has repeatedly told friends and donors that running against ‘socialism’ in a general election may not be ‘so easy’ because of its populist draw.” “I get the sense Trump knows the reckoning is coming and is worried about being exposed as a fraud. No Sharpie edits will save him.” —Faiz Shakir, campaign…

While there is certainly no top level U.S. official from recent administrations who can claim with a straight face to have clean hands when it comes to the manner in which the world’s wealthiest and most militarized country operates in the world, more than 300 former national security professionals—all of whom served under former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, or both—publicly called out President Donald Trump on Friday for what they say is an “unconscionable abuse of power’ and flagrant violation of his oath of office. “President Trump appears to have leveraged the authority and resources of the highest office in the land to invite additional foreign interference into…

Activist Ady Barkan on Wednesday asked former Vice President Joe Biden, the only contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination who has not sat down with the dying healthcare activist, to find time to meet and discuss Medicare for All.  Barkan, who is suffering from ALS, made the request in a video produced by Now This released Wednesday. The activist is going into surgery thursday for a tracheostomy to help him breathe, but said that after after his recovery, he and Biden should sit down.  “The surgery will be intense, and I’ll be in the hospital for a week of recovery,” Barkan says in the video, speaking through his standard video…

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday took aim at her former rival, Joe Crowley, in an email to supporters that presented the Democratic Senate primary in Massachusetts between incumbent Ed Markey and challenger Rep. Joe Kennedy III as an unlikely battle between their party’s progressive and establishment wings.  “It’s not about primaries for the sake of primaries. It’s about the *policy.*”—Emma Vigeland, The Young Turks “While Ed Markey is fighting for the Green New Deal in the Senate, Joe Kennedy is getting campaign support from Crowley hosting a high-dollar fundraiser on October 15th,” Ocasio-Cortez’s team wrote in an appeal for donations that would be split between her and Markey. “Joe Kennedy thinks…

On the first anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh, activists across the U.S. called for a concerted effort to fight back against the white supremacist ideology that motivated the shooter in the attack to target the synagogue. “They were killed by white nationalism,” tweeted activist collective Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “We must commit to defeating it.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in a tweet, echoed that message of resistance. “Today marks one year since the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history,” said Sanders. “We mourn for the eleven victims, and we remain committed to fighting white supremacist violence as…

The State Department on Friday made clear that the American military will not abide by the requests of the Iraqi government to leave the country and instead will stay indefinitely.   “America is a force for good in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus claimed in a statement reaffirming that the U.S. will remain in Iraq. The statement comes after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement Friday that the U.S. needs to figure out how to abide by a decision by Iraq to remove its military from the country. As Common Dreams reported, the Iraqi Parliament voted on January 5 to ask U.S. forces to leave the country. U.S.-Iraqi…

Calvin Klein has partnered up with Kith on an underwear collaboration for its 2020 campaign, this marks the first time another brand logo will be on the same waistband as Calvin Klein. The campaign is fronted by Gigi Hadid and is inspired by Calvin Klein’s 1990s aesthetic, according to Kith. There are two categories of the underwear: Classic and Seasonal. The Classic style blends both colour palettes of the brands, with Kith’s monogram pattern across the underwear’s top and bottom, and a special co-branded waistband. The womenswear collection offers a women’s bralette and thong in the colours: black, cinder, light heather grey, shark, white and woodrose, and the menswear includes…

Click:dance costume costumes Press play to listen to this article Voiced by Amazon Polly For two months, Bulgarians have packed the streets every night to protest that an oligarchic mafia has captured the state and extended its reach deep into institutions such as the judiciary, media and security services. They are demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Chief Prosecutor Ivan “The Cap” Geshev. Many Bulgarians are incensed that their prospects and those of their children are being thwarted in the EU’s poorest state, where a mafia elite acts above the law and has a stranglehold over the economy. This summer’s corruption crisis has offered startling examples of…

Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) has made a key addition to his 2020 campaign, adding Arizona activist Belén Sisa, who has declared herself an immigrant without legal status, to his team as a deputy press secretary. The Washington Examiner initially reported the 25-year-old’s addition to the campaign, noting a Facebook post from the activist that called the job an “emotional” moment. A Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, Sisa’s benefits and legal protections are reportedly set to expire in a year. ADVERTISEMENT…