Saturday midday open thread: FAA warns of Iranian risks to airliners; snake oil 'cure' in Uganda

What’s coming up on Sunday Kos:

Why would allies trust congenital liar Trump on Iran threat when he's already lied about Iran nukes? by Ian Reifowitz Just how much is confirmed from the Christopher Steele Dossier? by Frank Vyan Walton Three things I learned from Elizabeth Warren's amazing town hall, by David Akadjian Farmers are angry as Trump's trade war with China causes record losses, by Sher Watts Spooner Democrats beware: Trump could ride tariffs to a presidential win, by Egberto Willies Should the White House press corps be disbanded, by Eric Boehlert

We should be discussing reparations for slavery. Beware those with a right-wing agenda, by Denise Oliver Velez

Wrong-way Trump is on a one-way road to war with Iran, by Jon Perr

Have we learned nothing about wars in the Middle East?, by Mark E Andersen

• FAA issues warning that Iran, amid growing tensions, might mistakenly misidentify commercial airliners for targeting: 

“Although Iran likely has no intention to target civil aircraft, the presence of multiple long-range, advanced anti-aircraft-capable weapons in a tense environment poses a possible risk of miscalculation or misidentification, especially during periods of heightened political tension and rhetoric,” the warning said. [...]

The warning comes 30 years after the USS Vincennes mistook an Iran Air commercial jetliner for an Iranian F-14, shooting it down and killing all 290 people onboard. That was not lost on Iran’s mission to the United Nations, which dismissed the warning as America’s “psychological war against Iran.”

For years after the shoot-down, the U.S. denied the USS Vincennes was in Iranian territorial waters when it brought the airliner down. 

• Escaped wild parrots are now naturalized in 23 states, scientists say: One community with an estimated 2,000 of these parrots is South Pasadena, California. Some days you can hear, from quite a distance, a chorus of these birds squawking away. They used to hang out at the local Blockbuster video and game rental store (remember that operation?).

MIDDAY TWEET

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The Australian election results were a shock, given every single poll suggested a different outcome. Of course, because of universal Attendance at the polls, this was not about misreading turnout. It should give us all a cautionary warning about 2020 preelection polls

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) May 18, 2019

• Anybody else curious about why this story on China’s and Russia’s ability to knock out a U.S. aircraft carrier was published at this particular point in time? It’s not exactly new news. Add to that the lazy subhead: And it would mean all out war. A cruise missile attack on a $4.7 billion U.S. warship killing thousands of American sailors and members of its air crew would spark a war. Really? 

• As more and more people relocate on their own, Louisiana releases plan for resilience and retreat to deal with climate change: 

The plan, Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE), looks at future flood risks in six coastal parishes and recommends a series of policy changes that could help mitigate those risks—from enhanced transportation routes to elevated houses and new urban centers. [...]

"There's a sort of self-displacement that's occurring over the past 15 years or so," [executive director of Louisiana's Office of Community Development, Pat] Forbes said. As large numbers of people move out of coastal communities, the shift is likely a sign that they are sick of flooding, worried about inability to get to schools or jobs or unable to pay rising flood insurance rates. "I'm sure it's a combination of all those things and more," he said.

• U.S. pastor pushes snake oil remedy of industrial bleach in Uganda that he says is a miracle cure for cancer, HIV, and other ailments: Robert Baldwin has “trained” about 1,200 Ugandan clerics to administer this dangerous chlorine flouride “treatment” he calls the “miracle mineral solution.” To persuade pastors to commit themselves to spreading the so-called bleach cure, he gives them free smartphones. Baldwin operates under a ministry he founded called Global Healing. His “church” promotes this as “using the power of Almighty God … to greatly reduce the loss of life” in Africa. Free-lance journalist Fiona O’Leary, who writes and campaigns about medical quackery, let a reporter from The Guardian listen to a recorded conversation she had with Baldwin, who said: “When you draw attention to MMS you run the risk of getting in trouble with the government or drug companies. You have to do it low key. That’s why I set it up through the church.”

• In an interview at The New Republic, Barry Sussman, who edited Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at The Washington Post, discusses how Donald Trump “leads the press around by the nose.”

Monday through Friday you can catch the Kagro in the Morning Show 9 AM ET by dropping in here, or you can download the Stitcher app (found in the app stores or at Stitcher.com), and find a live stream there, by searching for "Netroots Radio.”

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2JRXmuL